A good nights sleep!

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26 NIV)

Eventually everyone needs a old night sleep. I know many people that have a difficult time getting rest. I have not had major problems doing that, but I have times where I wake up in the middle of the night an can't get back to sleep. At those times I just can't get my mind to stop thinking long enough to fall back to sleep. When that happens several nights in a row it "my flesh and my heart fail". I can feel my lack of sleep affecting my day and thus the people around me.

Or those of you that have advanced sleep disorders, I apologize for the simplicity of my solution. I have found my best defense to an overactive brain in the middle of the night is to pray. Speaking to my creator, sharing my concerns, expressing my joy, and listening to the spirit, are so soothing it sends me to sleep. I believe in the power of God. He can cure all things and heal us from anything. Sleeplessness is not any different. God is the strength of my heart. He is my portion forever. Praise God for his healing power and the ability to get a good nights sleep. 

God hear the prayers of the weak!

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. (Psalm 53:1 NIV)

Who is they? We are the "they" of this verse. As a Christian with the confidence where I'm going, it would be easy to be pompous. I could always refer to "they" as those sinners who have not committed to Jesus. But, I have to constantly remind myself that I am not as great as I think I am. I am a part of THEY. Today brought that to my attention.

I was called on to visit a family whose mother is near death in a Fort Wayne Hospital. They asked me to pray for the mother like I was someone special. I'm not. I felt so inadequate. Yet, I do know someone who has the complete power to heal . They were so gracious and worried about there mother. We prayed for a miracle. We prayed for healing and I know the power of my savior. I know if it is in his will, he will heal this woman. Yet, I also know his will is perfect and he does not always choose to heal here on Earth. I just don't understand,but I love him and I know he is in charge. His ways are beyond me and I'm more than okay with that. In my narrow vision, I would love to see a complete healing that will bring a Glory to God and this family to its knees. It's ideal, I know. But God says to bring it all to him, so I did and do again tonight.

I also have one of my early spiritual mentors fighting a brain tumor. This man has brought so many to know Jesus. He counseled my wife and I as we were teenagers planning to marry. He and his lovely wife brought me through my teen years and were key in the development of my relationship with God. This wonderful, God filled man was also instrumental in the early faith of my own children. I feel so powerless in calling on Jesus for him.

Dear Lord, please hear my prayer. I ask for healing for this woman and Ted for your Glory, for your purposes and for your kingdom. I pray your love will be revealed through this entire situation that these family members would draw nearer to you. I pray for the doctors, surgeons, nurses and hospital staff that you will guide the treatment and miracle healing. I praise you God for your power, mercy and love. I love you and trust you. Thank you Jesus for loving this terribly inadequate person and making something out of nothing in my life. Amen!

My aching Body!

Romans 7--  ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature^[d] a slave to the law of sin.

My body is getting old. When we have home football games, my body is always so sore on Saturday? Sometimes it even lingers to Sunday! Today is no different. I hauled about 100 cases of pop this week, painted the football field, set-up tents, tables, chairs, and set the sideline tarps, plus all the regular duties of homecoming, volleyball and soccer games. I got up this morning to do a little cleanup at the field and went to watch my grandaughter in her Cross Country Meet. All this PHYSICAL activity has caught up to me and I just had to take a LONG nap this afternoon. I meant to sleep for an hour and slept for 3 hours. (It felt good!) When I finally got up, I could barely move. Every bone in my body aches. I feel like I'm about 70 years old.

As I get older and older this "wretched body" needs some serious rescue. Spiritually, I need the same rescue. My spiritual body is also weak. I constantly fight and weary from the battle over sin. Like Paul I know what I should do, but have a hard time doing it. Praise God that he provides the strength and the healing for my sinful nature. What he did on the cross defeats the sin within me. I am healed through Christ. 

It's going to take some time to heal my body. My heart will also be healed, in time, and I will get to spend eternity with my savior. The ultimate healing will be mine.

Evil Thoughts!

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

 ¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely...................

...............................................................

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.

Ok, I am still struggling personally. My mind is going a hundred miles an hour and I am fighting "Evil Thoughts". Don't panic. I'm not talking REAL evil thoughts. I'm not talking about doing something stupid or committing some heinous crime. I'm talking about thoughts that Loving Christians shouldn't have. I hope I'm not the only one that's had evil thoughts. I imagine all of us have had thoughts we are not proud of. I am guilty. God knows. 

We can't hide our thoughts from God. We shouldn't even try. God knows our thoughts when we wake up and when we lie down. He knows our anxious thoughts when we wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep. He knows us. He made us. He knit us in the womb. Every fiber of our being was created by him.

So what do we do about those offensive thoughts? 

How do we get rid of them? 

We ask God to lead us in the better way. We ask him to re-direct our thoughts to him and his ways. I need to be in constant prayer for the Lord to redirect my offensive thoughts. God and I have had some long conversations. I have and will continue to talk with God about my thoughts. I don't use "Church Pew Language" or "Christianese". I don't use any "thees" or "thous". We have a conversation like I would have with my best friend. When I am so angry and I can't even speak to anyone, I always know I can "unload" on God. I share my anger. I share my frustrations.  I share my "evil thoughts". Nothing remains hidden. He's ok with that. He can handle it. He's God!

Open your heart to God, invite him to heal your heart and mind. He knows your thoughts. He knows your struggles. He will heal you. 

I expect to be healed!

Sick of Being Sick

Psalm 3

 ¹ LORD, how many are my foes!
   How many rise up against me!
² Many are saying of me,
   “God will not deliver him.”^[b]

 ³ But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
   my glory, the One who lifts my head high. 
⁴ I call out to the LORD,
   and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I am Praising God today, I am finally feeling better. I have been sick since Monday. I can truly say I am sick of being sick. At first I thought it was just the flu. On Wednesday, I found I had a urinary tract infection. It has take until today for the "Drugs" to kick in. So, I have been laying around the house with fever, headache and total body aches for 5 days. 

God has been good to me over this past week even though I was sick. He has certainly been the shield around me. He has provided me with great people who have completely taken care of me. That starts with my lovely wife. She was my nurse. She has taken care of me all week. My great secretary at school has been the Athletic Director all week even though she is just back from her own surgery and recovery. Don't tell anyone but she is the reason for the great Athletic Department at GHS! All the other people I work with at school have pitched in to make sure things continued while I was out. They were wonderful.

When you're sick, it's hard to hold your head high. When you are beaten down by a fever and the aches of an infection, you just can't raise your head. God can. As we go through life we will always have pain, illness, and depression. We need to know that God is there to hold our head high even when we can't do it on our own. God has put in place people who love us, people who care for us, and people who will support us when we can't do it on our own. It doesn't matter if it's illness or some other set back. God will deliver us, he will hold up our head, he will sustain us and cure us. He is in control.

Dear Lord, Thank you for your healing touch and Thank You for providing for me when I can't life my own head. You are an amazing God! Thank You! Amen!