Got this little book in the mail yesterday from Allen Jackson ministries. It is titled “Let’s Pray for AMERICA”; Thirty Prayers for Our Nation’s Future.

Here is one of them:

FOR PROTECTION OF OUR LAND

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”
~ Psalm 34:7

 
“We have a uniquely beautiful nation with miles upon miles of scenic beaches and great lakes. We have majestic mountain ranges and vast deserts, great plains and picturesque forests. It’s an exceptional nation filled with space and resources. There is not another place on Earth, that even remotely resembles what we take for granted.
 
“It’s true we have seen many tragedies in our nation’s history----wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wars, and pandemics----but through great loss, we have endured. God has blessed America, and as our world spins toward instability and chaos, let’s be diligent to pray for God to protect this great land from storms and harm as may not foresee. Let’s ask Him to place His angels around our homes, our cities, our businesses, our natural resources, our borders, and our beautiful landscapes and vistas---that any threat to life or property would be diminished. He is sovereign Lord over all the earth, and He is our Protection.

LET’S PRAY
 
“Heavenly Father, thank You that You are our Protector. We rejoice in it, and we declare that no disaster will overtake us. We dwell under the shadow of Your protection. Thank You for watching over our homes, our communities and the great nation we call home. You are our refuge and security. Protect this land and its people from the threats of weather, natural disaster, and strife. The winds and the waves answer to You, and we pray that You would intervene in whatever storms and challenges we may face now and in the future.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
 
***

This Isaiah Bible verse is familiar to many of us. It talks about ‘waiting’. God sometimes asks us to wait. We don’t like waiting: for the weather to change; for our finances to improve; for changes in a relationship or two; for the world situation to improve; for the political campaign ads to end!

Here is something God says:

 
"He (God) gives power to the tired and worn out,
and strength to the weak.
Even the youth shall be exhausted,
and the young men will all give up.
But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint."

~ Isaiah 40:29 - 31 LAB

*

Bible Commentary:  "Even the strongest people get tired at times, but God's power and strength never diminish. He is never too tired or too busy to help and listen. His strength is our source of strength. When we feel all of life crushing us, and we cannot go another step, we need to remember that we can call upon God to renew our strength.
 
“We all need regular times to listen to God. Waiting on the Lord is expecting his promised strength to help us rise above distractions and difficulties. Listening to God helps us to be prepared for when he speaks to us, to be patient when he asks us to wait, and to expect him to fulfill the promises found in the Bible.”

***

Yesterday's Max Lucado. It is a good one!

STUDIO OF DIVINE ART

"Do your days feel like a hike on an Appalachian Trail in winter? A struggle to place one foot in front of the other? If so, I urge you friend, hang on, hang on. Don’t give up. Help is here. It may not come in the manner you requested or as quickly as you desire, but it will come.

"Assume that something good is going to happen. The door of tomorrow is unlocked from the inside. Just turn the knob and step out. The divine artist isn’t finished. The earth is his studio. Every person on earth is one of his projects. Every event on earth is a part of his great mural. He is not finished. The scripture says in Philippians 1:6 (NCV), “God began doing a good work in you, and I’m sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.” Remember friend, you are never alone."

****

As rainy as it was last week, I didn’t get out to check my garden like I sometimes do. It seems like my cantaloupe can go from green to orange pretty fast.

My ‘sort of green’ ones move to ‘orange’ in about two days. As I grabbed to pick the ‘ripe’ one, it about disintegrated in my hand. Notoriously, once the outsides turn the least little bit orange, a few black bugs make their way into the stem.

Not this time, the entourage of black bugs had made their way into the fruit and had completely eaten the insides! Leaving nothing but the shell!!

I couldn’t help bug think about our lives and minor things that ‘infest’ our lives, either in thoughts or deeds, which can eventually ‘eat away’ at us!

Only one cure:  God helping us!

We need to give the ‘black bugs’ to Him. Let Him help handle it for us! We don’t have to be
hollowed out by things that tempt us to be ‘eaten alive’. We don’t have to do this ‘thing called life’ alone. He wants to help us; to take care of us; to love us unconditionally!

He wants us to bear good fruit for Him and His Kingdom!
 

Lord,
Thank You that You want to take care of every detail of our lives.
Thank for the way that You want to take care of us.
Forgive us for all the ways that we want to do things ourselves.
Thank You for Your Love and Care………
Just for today!
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

Sometimes I enjoy looking back on some of the things I have read or written. Such is today's from seventeen years ago this month. Five year old Luke is now 22!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did re-reading it.

Today is Friday, October 9th, 2009; Karen's Korner #1670

A couple of weeks ago our five-year-old grandson Luke was here to visit for a few hours after school. One of the things which he wanted to do was 'build roads'. All summer we had a pile of gravel which became a 'kids playground'. With shovels, buckets, hoes, rakes, and a battery-powered dump truck, we built roads.....
 
Among others things this time, the adventure included scooping up gravel-and-grass clods at the side of our country grave; road.
 
"How many of these clods are we going to do?" I asked Luke.
 
"Twenty-five", was his reply.
 
At first, I wanted to chuckle. What kind of a number is 25 to a five-year-old? Does he have any idea how many that is and how long it would take to pick up 25 of them? The sun was beginning to set. And time before he needed to go home was limited.
 
There is a lot that young kids don't know, I thought.
 
Then I thought better, "How often do we do the same things?"
 
I know I sometimes work on lofty goals and thoughts....
 
"I will never again eat....??" And we eat it!
 
"I will pay off my credit cards by next month or end of the year......" In spite of the fact it has taken us years to accumulate the balances.
 
"I will lose thirty pounds (in next to no time)...." What has taken us years to get.
 
"I will faithfully do ???.....;" we promise God. and once again it is an idle pledge.
 
No, we aren't much better than Luke and his 25 piles. We make promises to ourselves and maybe to God that we both know we won't or can't keep.
 
But God wants to help us! We need to tell Him what we would like to have happen and then ask Him to help us! We may not get to our desired destination on our first attempt but we might be closer. And He will be there guarding and guiding....
 
Even though I knew Luke and I weren't going to get to 25; it didn't stop me from helping him run the shovels and carry the buckets. Our job was to begin........together!
 
We did four!
 

Dear Father in Heaven,
thank You that You make all things possible.
Show us what You want us to do
and how You want us to do it.
Thank You for Your interest in each one of us as Your Children
and for wanting to do so many wonderful things
in and through us.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.

Light. Bible Gateway says that ‘light’ is mentioned in the Bible 263 times!

Sometimes this world is clouded by darkness. We need light!

Jesus says in John 8:12,
“I am the Light of the world.
So if you follow Me,
you won’t be stumbling in the darkness,
for living light will flood your path.”

*

 “Thank You, God,

For being Light in the world.
Thank You that I, we, don’t need to be The Light,
But just follow The Light, Your Light!
If we but follow You and Your Light,
We won’t need to stumble in the darkness.
Rather we will help to light up the dark places in the world, our world!
Thank You for Your plans.
For Your care.
That we can be the reflections of You,
Your Light,
Your Love.
Thank You just for today!
In Jesus’ Name we pray.
Amen

I enjoy reading “365 Days of Prayer for Women” by Stephanie Sample.

I don’t read it all the time, but when I do, I like it. This morning I was reading a few days of her writings. This one is for October 1, which is tomorrow.

Hope you like it too; if you want to read it on the ‘right day’, read it again tomorrow!
 

GUARD MY HEART
“Set your minds on things that are above,
Not on things that are on earth.”
~ Colossians 3:2 NKJV

“God, I love your creation! This world is dazzling in its beauty, opportunity, and variety. It’s also a huge distraction, and one I am very susceptible to. Please guard my heart from worldliness, Father! I want to appreciate and respect the work of your hands without it turning to worship. Lift my eyes heavenward when they stray too long on my possessions or my own body, God! Help me to be grateful for my home without turning it into an idol. Help me dedicate myself to my work without allowing it to consume me. Help me respect and care for my body without feeling like it defines me. Only you define me, and I want your love to be all that consumes me.”
 
“Have you set your mind on the things that are above?:

****

Our ecumenical Bible study group is studying the Bible book of James. And I am enjoying reading various chapters in it.

Here is one I read this morning:

"Look here, 
you people who say,
'Today or tomorrow we are going
to such and such a town,
stay here a year,
and open a profitable business.'
How do you know what is going
to happen tomorrow?
For the length of your lives
is as uncertain as the morning fog---
now you see it; soon it is gone.
What you ought to say is
'If the Lord wants us to,
we shall live
and do this or that.'
Otherwise you will be bragging
about your own plans,
and such self-confidence
never pleases God."

~ James 4:13 - 16 LAB

*

Bible Commentary:  "It is good to have goals, but goals can disappoint us if we leave God out of them There is no point in making plans as though God does not exist, because the future is in His hands. What would we like to be doing ten years from now? One year from now? Tomorrow? How will we react if God steps in and rearranges our plans? Plan ahead, but we are to hang on to our plans lightly. If we put God's desires at the center of our planning, we will not be disappointed.

"Life is short no matter how long we live. We are not to be deceived in to thinking we have lots of remaining time to live for Christ, to enjoy our loved ones, or to do what we know we should. We are to live for God today! Then no matter when our life ends, we will have fulfilled God's plan for each of us."

***

Another milestone - #5700!

This morning I was looking back at some previous Karen's Korners. This one is from about the same time of year, but 14 years ago. Amazingly, the more things change; the more they stay the same!

Today is Friday, September 26th, 2014; Karen's Korner #2910

Many times life is more difficult than we can handle on our own. We need extra POWER; God is the only one who can give us more of what we need.

So many verses in the Bible tell us of His Power, and how He shares that power with us, as His Children.

Here's one:

"Do you not know? Have you not heard?

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

"He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases power of the weak.

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint."

~ Isaiah 40:28 - 31

*

Bible Commentary:  "Even the strongest people get tired at times, but God's power and strength never diminish. He is never too tired or too busy to help and listen. His strength is our source of strength. When you feel all of life crushing you and you cannot go another step, remember that you can call upon God to renew your strength.

We all need regular times to listen to God. Waiting on the Lord is expecting his promised strength to help us rise above life's distractions and difficulties. Listening to God helps us to be prepared for when he speaks to us, to be patient when he asks us to wait, and to expect him to fulfill the promises found in his Word."

***