This morning Lord, I spent some time chatting online with a friend regarding some trials she and her family were going through. We were discussing the importance of remaining open to finding Your assistance in unexpected places, and a story I’d heard some time ago came to mind…
There was a man whose farm was located on the banks of a flood-swollen river. As the water rose, a neighbor drove up in a Jeep, urging him to leave before the farm was flooded. “Oh, no,” said the man confidently, “God will save me.”
The water rose higher, and the man was forced to move into the second story of the farmhouse. A police boat soon came, and the officers called for the man to hurry and get into their boat.
“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary,” the man insisted. “God will save me.”
Finally the house was completely engulfed in water, and a Coast Guard helicopter swooped in to rescue the man, now perched on the roof. Again he refused. Just then, a huge wave of water swept over the house, and the man drowned.
When he got to Heaven, he stormed at the Lord, asking WHY God had let him die when his faith had been so strong.
“What do you mean?” asked the heavenly Father. “I sent a Jeep, a boat, and a helicopter … and you wouldn’t budge!”
When I look at some of the most powerful Blessings You’ve brought into my life Father, a good many of them came about in ways that I never would have expected.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
Help us Lord…
To realize Your Blessings don’t always present themselves as we expect,
To recognize Your gifts when You place them in our path,
And to suspend our disbelief, accepting Your aid when it’s offered…
Well Father, to start off our week together I want to thank You wholeheartedly for the wonderful Christmas weekend You Blessed my family and I with. Saturday evening we attended a beautiful candlelight service at Ewell’s-St. Paul UMC, followed the next day by a lovely Christmas morning with the kids and a trip to my (earthly) father’s house for a family dinner. And most importantly Lord, I was Blessed to have three whole days spent wrapped in the love of my wife and children. It was an absolutely joy-filled time of respite and celebration Lord, and for that I am truly grateful.
Today Father, I’m very Blessed to have the opportunity to share a guest “Email to God” from a dear lady and fellow Christian Blogger; Jean Wise from HealthySpirituality.org. Jean’s posts never fail to inspire and encourage her readers (including me), and I’m excited to have her sharing her prayers here today.
Happy New Year, Lord!
I love the end of December – watching the transition from one year to the next. It is a time of new beginnings and renewed energy. You invite me to sit with You, reflecting on the past 12 months and praying about the coming year.
Lord as we “harvest” my journal, sort through my emotional ups and downs, and dig deep into my past experiences, help me to remember You were with me then, You are with me now, and will stay by my side into the unknown future.
I pause and lift up 2011 and my entire life journey once again into Your hands. With a highlighter and my favorite pen in hand, what shall we look for?
· Cherished moments.
· Unexpected joys and obstacles
· Reoccurring thoughts or stubborn nudges that You won’t let me forget
· Bible verses that guided me or still sing to me even if I don’t know why
· Times I felt Your presence and times I walk in lonely darkness
· Lessons I learned and lessons that will take a life time to fully comprehend
· Answered prayers and dreams that still bubbled with life and passion
Lord, be my companion, teacher, and guide as 2012 unfolds. Let this coming year be filled with warm relationships and the strength and wisdom to help those You place before me. Help me to love You more, love others as You do, and to love myself as only You can.
And Lord I ask for a bit a whimsical joy in 2012. Give me childlike wonder to see your creation with new eyes. I ask that You lavishly send love, peace, kindness, and patience to fill my heart and remove the pettiness, greed, and jealously that I hide in its corners.
The gift of 2012 is not for me, but an opportunity to serve You, love You, and give You glory. Father, the One who “makes all things new,” help me keep my eyes only on You the coming twelve months.
Thank You for being the God of our yesterdays, of our todays, and all of our tomorrows.
As You know Father, for the past several weeks our Tuesday night study group has been working through a DVD Book Study based on Pastor Pete Wilson’s book : “Plan B: What do you do when God doesn’t show up the way you thought He would”. I’d read the book earlier this year and very much enjoyed it, so when the time came to choose a new study, I was quite pleased that everyone agreed to pursue “Plan B”. As of this week, we’ve completed three sessions of the study and so far it’s been an inspiring and encouraging examination of how even in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations, You perform some of Your most powerful work in us.
As I was thinking today on some of the things we’ve been discussing in the group these past few weeks, it dawned on me that Christmas itself is the celebration of Mary and Joseph’s “Plan B”. Before being visited by the Angel Gabriel, Mary’s life was proceeding along a fairly normal path. She’d become betrothed to a man named Joseph, and was very likely planning for her role as his wife, and the future mother of their children.
And in a moment, her world turned upside down…
And our world was forever changed.
Her “Plan B” was Your “Plan A”.
This hammers home a very important point Father; in the midst of those situations where our lives seem to be flying desperately off course, You’re not shaken or confused. What we view as turmoil, You see as opportunity…
May we all seize those opportunities Father; embracing the understanding that our “Plan B” moments, were Your “Plan A”s all along. 🙂
And now Lord, on to this week’s Thankful Thursday list! This past week has been simply overflowing with Your Blessings Father, but I’d like to give special thanks for:
421. Having friends that pray for me.
422. Getting to spend much of the day Saturday cooking for family and friends.
423. A quick healing for the eye I scratched.
424. Some helpful advice from a friend that helped get the Jaguar running again.
425. New glasses for Jonathan.
426. That the Rimadyl is making an obvious improvement in Brandy’s pain level.
427. Having friends that can tell when I’m having a rough time, and pushing through my “wall”.
428. A quiet walk in Blackbird State Forest with Jonathan last Sunday.
429. That even though I fall short in so many ways, You know my heart and guide me ahead.
430. Candy Cane Hershey’s Kisses.
431. Real kisses from my loving wife.
432. The Kids Construction Workshops at Home Depot.
433. Seeing my children reach out with giving hearts.
434. Knowing that I’m Your Beloved Child.
435. Having a full collection of inspiring Christmas Music to play on my iPod during the day.
And so much more Lord.
Heavenly Father,
We thank You Lord, for the many Blessings you bestow on us each day; both those that announce Your presence like sirens in the night, and those that grace our lives in Stillness.
First off Father, I want to take a moment to thank You for a truly marvelous weekend. For once, we didn’t have much in the way of plans laid out in advance, so we used that wonderfully uncommitted time to spend enjoying each other’s company, sharing a meal and some laughter with friends, and reveling in the Blessings You’ve given us. It was a joy-filled, productive weekend Lord, and I thank You very much for that time of respite.
Last Friday Father, as I was driving to our veterinarian’s office to pick up some medication, Jason Gray’s song “Remind Me Who I Am” began to play on the radio. Now, I’ve heard this song more than a few times Lord, but for some reason this time the lyrics came alive for me and I found myself drawn into the song’s poignant message…
After a week comprised of what seemed to be a never-ending series of struggles and trials Lord, this simple reminder wrapped in verse made a wonderful connection for me. It brought to the surface an inescapable truth that my mind had laid to the sideline for much of the week…
We’re Your Beloved Children. Broken, hurting, rebellious or doubtful… You love us all the same.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” – 1 John 3:1 (ESV)
Through our rebirth in Christ, we exist as genuine Children of God; adopted completely into this divine family through the mercy of Your Fatherly love and grace. We walk in faith, knowing that the lure of this world need hold no control over us, as Your love has set us truly free. We live to be…
Your Beloved.
When the world seeks to draw me from You Lord, please, remind me who I am.
Well Father, the long Thanksgiving weekend has come to a close and once again we find ourselves in the grip of another workweek. And while I’m sorry to see that celebration of gratitude pass, my heart is already embracing the beginning of the Season of Advent. It’s a wondrously exciting time of year Lord, filled with a spark of anticipation as we celebrate the miraculous birth of our Savior, and at the same time eagerly long for His return.
This past Sunday, my family and I were Blessed to have the opportunity to light the first candle on the Advent Wreath at Ewell’s St. Paul UMC. Along with the lighting ceremony, Shannon and the boys recited some devotional statements, and I read to the congregation from the Gospel of Luke:
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” – Luke 1:26-38 (ESV)
Such a powerful, pivotal moment this passage describes. Approached by an Angel, and told that her virginal womb was to bear the Son of God, Mary handles this overwhelming news in a truly amazing way; with humility and obedience.
Here she was; betrothed to be married, maintaining her virginity prior to that marriage, and in the midst of her carefully laid plans an Angelic visit turned her world completely upside-down:
She didn’t know how Joseph would take the news…
She didn’t know how society would treat her…
She didn’t have a clue why You had chosen her for this…
And yet, even beneath that mountain of uncertainty, she placed all of her fears and doubts aside and affirmed her commitment to You Father:
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Such a commanding statement of faith Lord… And the beginning of a transformational journey.
Heavenly Father,
As we begin this Season of Advent Lord, please open our hearts to embrace the spirit of wonder and anticipation this holy time imbues. Guide us Father, to not only revel in the glory of this Season, but to take a cue from Mary’s example, and always place Your path above our own.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
