You know Lord, it always brings a smile to my face when I have one of those moments when I realize you’re trying to tell me something. 🙂
I spent some time today with a friend who’s been going through a series of rough personal situations over the last year or so. I’m not at liberty to go into much detail here as it was a private conversation, but You know who she is Father. We chatted for a while about the issues she’s been facing, how her life has changed over the past year, and the overall feelings of futility and frustration that have been troubling her as of late. I tried to give her an outside perspective of things, and reinforced the hope that she could look at these life-changes as opportunities, and to grow stronger from her trials. She seemed a little more upbeat by the time I left, but she certainly has a winding road ahead of her.
The one thing that stood out for me from our conversation though Father, was the lack of self-worth she portrayed. She’s a beautiful, sweet, intelligent lady but with all that she’s been through her impression of herself seems to have taken a pretty significant hit.
Back in my office a little later in the day, I sat down to write out some thoughts for today’s discussion with You, and suddenly I had a strong urge to see what I’d posted on this date last year. Although I hadn’t fully started writing full-length blog entries at that point Father, I was posting some “Quick Notes to God” on my Facebook wall every couple of days. The entry for August 31, 2010 read:
Dear Lord; Sometimes, when it feels as if the world is on our shoulders, it’s very difficult to see ourselves in a positive light. May all those in the throes of turmoil see themselves, if just for a moment, through Your loving eyes and know that warmth and peace. Amen. ~Phather Phil
I love it when You do this to me Father. 🙂
We all suffer from a lack of confidence and feelings of self-doubt now and again, but there are three very important truths we can use to combat those emotions:
1. We’re not alone. Friends, family and our Brothers and Sisters in Christ are some of Your most powerful Blessings to us Father. You gave us one another to lean on in times of trial, to mourn with in sadness, and to celebrate with in times of joy.
2. You believe in us. We are completely Your creations Lord; fearfully and wonderfully made, and You know what we’re capable of. Although our flawed natures may allow fear and doubt to creep in, You never lose confidence in us.
3. When we place our burdens at the foot of the Cross, You give us the strength we need. Sometimes it’s difficult to remember when we’re engulfed by stress, but we’re not meant to do this by ourselves. You’re bigger than anything we could possibly face, and when we open our hearts to Your guidance, we find the path forward.
Heavenly Father, please help us pierce the veil of self-doubt that can cloud our perception of ourselves. Wrap us in Your presence, and let us move forward with the knowledge that through all the trials we face in our lives, You’re always by our side.
We are special, we are loved, and we are Yours Father.
With hurricane Irene looming to our South Father, folks around here are very much consumed with preparing themselves for a difficult and potentially dangerous weekend. We’ve made basic preparations ourselves; ensuring adequate supplies of food, water, propane and medications, as well as taking in any loose items from the deck and yard. Tensions are running high for many people on the East Coast right now Lord, but Your Presence brings comfort to the chaos. I pray that Your peace is felt by all those living in the shadow of fear, and that they can rest easier knowing that even in the midst of seemingly uncontrollable forces, Your sovereignty never falters.
To help combat the “dark clouds” on the horizon Father, I thought I’d end the week on a lighter note. I came across a video today that just gave me a chuckle, so I decided to share it…
I was never a fan of the original song (I truly disliked it actually), but this version works for me! 🙂
Thank You Father, for all the Blessings You’ve bestowed on us this week. Please calm the swirling winds, and shelter those in harm’s way in Your protective embrace that they may know Your might.
This morning Lord, I had another one of those inspired geek moments that You grant me from time to time. I was working on a laptop PC that was in for service, with the primary customer complaint being that it was running very slowly. External malware and virus scans had come back clean, so I booted into the operating system to evaluate the situation.
It was clogged to the hilt with “stuff” starting up automatically every time it booted.
Now, this is something we see pretty regularly. Between the bundled software that comes loaded on new machines, “add-on” downloads that come along for the ride with installs over the Internet, and all the little “extras” that get installed automatically with new components like printers and scanners, unless you know what’s safe to remove or deselect, it builds up quickly. The result over time is a computer that takes a long time to boot up, and acts slow and sluggish when performing tasks.
As I started to strip away the layers of unnecessary bloat from the machine, my mind drifted back to yesterday, and the “fog” my mind had been in for most of the day…
I was slow…
I was sluggish…
I had problems focusing on tasks…
Your Voice wasn’t as clear as it usually is.
Hmmm… A parallel maybe? 🙂
Like the laptop in my care, my mind yesterday was filled with unnecessary “clutter”. Ponderings and concerns about everything from money, to groceries, to laundry preoccupied my thoughts, making focusing on more important matters (like talking with You) much more difficult.
Therefore Father, going into this weekend my prayer is a simple one:
Heavenly Father, please grant us Clarity;
Clarity of focus to see past our earthly concerns…
Clarity of mind to listen in the Stillness for Your Voice…
Clarity of purpose to make choices that best Glorify You…
Clarity of Spirit to draw us closer to Your Presence.
You know Lord, I love it when You plant a seed in my heart and it drives me to seek out answers. Such was the case with the Scripture verse I posted to my Facebook Wall today:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
But apparently You weren’t done with me on this one. Over the following hours, the phrase “Strive for full restoration…” kept running through my head, over and over. Finally, I decided to do some research on that particular expression in context and see where it led me.
Now Father, as You know I usually reference the New International Version (NIV) Bible as that’s the version that speaks to my heart most often. However, when I run into a passage that churns in my head one of the first things I do is to compare it to other translations to see it from other perspectives. In the case of this verse, the variance seems to be significant across translations… even in the case of the previous NIV (1984):
“Finally, brothers, good‑by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NIV 1984)
“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” – (KJV)
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NET)
“And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.” – (MSG)
Wow… There’s obviously some differences there Lord. Realizing that these translations stem from words that may not have an exact English equivalent, I then decided to dig deeper and see what the Biblical Scholars had to say on this phrase. From what I found, it appears the original word was Καταρτιζεσθε, which according to Clarke’s Commentary converts to mean : “Be compact; get into joint again; let unity and harmony be restored”. Other commentaries were similar, but the description that finally settled my heart was from Wesley’s Notes which stated : “Be perfect – Aspire to the highest degree of holiness.”.
Strive for full restoration…
I love seeing where Your whispers take me Father.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for making Your Presence known through these quiet instructions to my heart. I pray that You continue to challenge me to dig deeper into Your Word, so as to bring my Walk even closer to Your side. Amen.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been one of those people who delights in doing several things at the same time. My brain tends to work on overdrive most of the time, processing stimuli from a number of different directions all at once and reacting accordingly. Combine that with the amazing array of smartphones, tablets, personal organizers and computers that pervade my world, and I spend quite a bit of my day on overload. And while it’s been a useful condition over the years for dealing with a rapidly moving business environment, I’ve come to realize that in many cases my predilection for multitasking is not only problematic, but can be unhealthy as well…
I have significant problems with insomnia.
I get frustrated easily when things around me don’t “keep up”.
I suffer from high blood pressure and hypertension.
My patience with others can become very limited.
I find that when I don’t accomplish as much as I expected to, it leads to feelings of self-doubt.
Thankfully Father, with Your help I’ve been making some headway in controlling this side of my persona. By deliberately choosing to focus my attention on one project at a time, and listening to Your Voice for guidance all the while, I find I actually achieve more and at the same time gain the strength and peace of Your Presence as well. I’ve also been doing some things to “disconnect” myself from the high-speed world around me such as…
Limiting my smartphone usage to emergencies and family needs only outside of working hours (this has been a difficult change for me).
Not spending time logged into Facebook, Twitter or social networking sites when I’m home in the evenings.
Going for long walks in the woods, along the shore, or other places where I can dwell in Your Abundance.
Spending quiet time in prayer, studying Scripture or reading other Christian-focused books.
While I realize that we live in a world that emphasizes constant connectivity and productivity Lord, I’m finding that as my Walk with You progresses my time spent in simpler pursuits is far more satisfying. I’m not planning on finding a cave and becoming a hermit mind You, but I am enjoying the balance and clarity that comes from “unplugging” from the world, and “plugging” into You. 🙂
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. 
