We Need Your Prayers Please

I'm afraid (a little.) I'm trying not to be. You see, we just came back from our first ultrasound appointment, and our calculations are either a little more than a week off, or the pregnancy is not viable. The reason I'm a little afraid is this is not the first time that has happened with me. The not knowing is the worst. I know that all things work to the good of those that love Him, and that fear is not of Him. So I ask this of you, please pray for this baby, that if it be His will, that the pregnancy is just off by a week, and that the baby is healthy. If it is not His will that this pregnancy continue, that my anxiety about it would be eased, and that we will find our comfort in Him. I also pray for my anxiety and that I keep my eyes and heart on Him at all times for the next 5 days. We go back in 5 days to find out for sure. I thank you all for your prayers.

Don't Worry Be Happy by Shalene

Most of you probably remember the song by Bobby McFerrin- "Dont' Worry Be Happy" from the late 80's (am I showing my age here?) And in it, he doesn't give us any Scriptural basis for this, per se. But did you know that there is a Scriptural basis for these words?

I was recently ministering to a friend of mine who was worried about some health issues she is having and I asked her if she would like me to share some scriptures with her that she could meditate on, while she was awaiting the results of some tests she had done. This is what I shared with her.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God Philippians 4:6 NKJV

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body.......... Matthew 6:25 NKJV

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble. Matthew 6:34 NKJV

Does worry bog you down? Do you become anxious, allowing the deceiver to speak lies into your life? Do you forget that God has a divine plan for you, and that nothing outside of His plan will come to pass? Do you forget that God gives us strength to overcome any trial or tribulation that He does allow into our lives?

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:2-6 NKJV

So what do you do with the worries and cares of the day? I am aware that it's not easy to just not worry. It's so much easier said than done. Therefore, I submit these additional verses for you to meditate on.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you 1 Peter 5:6-7 NKJV

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God Psalm 42:5 NKJV

--Lord, today I pray for the worries of the world. That I might be free of my worries, though they are blessedly few. I pray for the readers of these words, that they might know the freedom from worry that You alone can give. Blessed is he that trusts in You. I pray these things in Jesus' Holy Name. Amen.

And for your listening pleasure: Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy"


There is no "MORE" to this post.

This Is The Day by Shalene Kearney

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

I hear this psalm first thing every morning when I wake up, and I think "HAH! What if I don't want to rejoice? It is morning after all. I am not a morning person!" But the verse plays over and over in my head until I speak the words out loud. And then something miraculous happens. Though I'd still love to be asleep, I have now acknowledged that the Lord has indeed made another day for me, and I can do nothing but be glad in it.

Oh I know that the day may not be especially great, or that I may not like something that is likely to happen at some point in the day, but how can I not rejoice that the Lord has given me one more day with my children and my family.

I can rejoice that the sun is shining for another day; I can rejoice that I have the opportunity to reach out to others in Christ's name; I can rejoice that I am simply alive. I am aware that there are those that have a hard time with rejoicing that they are alive. I've been there, I understand. I too have had many dark, dark days. Days when I wished the sun would quit shining, because it seemed a slap in the face of my emotional being. However, a day came when I cried out to the Lord, and pleaded with Him to take my pain away, and to heal my brokenness. He has, all in the simple way that He moves the Spirit within me to recite these words over and over in my head until I say them out loud and believe them for myself.

I am not trying to tell anyone that they can just "snap out" of their negative emotional state. Quite the contrary, actually. What I am saying is that while we may suffer from bouts of depression, worry or anxiety, if we just keep our eyes and hearts on the Lord, and read His Word, we can overcome anything. He will help us through. He does not leave us alone during any of it. Though I usually think of God as a fatherly type figure, in this one instance, I kind of compare Him to a small child, who upon seeing their mother crying goes and picks a flower and gives her a hug to make her feel better. That's the way I see each new day that the Lord has made. As a great big hug and flowers to brighten my day. Because of this how can I not simply- rejoice and be glad in it?

---Lord, today I say a humble "Thank You" for this day you have made for me and for all mankind. You do not have to be with us each day, and you don't have to ease our hurts, but like any good father, you want to. You love us and it shows in everything You do. Even something so simple for you to do, as to provide another glorious day. I ask that you continue to remind me to rejoice and be glad in everyday. I ask this is Jesus' Holy Name.
Amen