Friday Journaling Prompt...
Happy Good Friday ladies!
It’s been a hard week, but I am so thankful for what this weekend means for us!
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” I Peter 1:3-4
Praise God that we have this HOPE and Heaven is waiting for us!
I shared my heart on the blog on Tuesday and talked about coming to the end of ourselves (our will) and letting God show us what He wants for us. I also talked about being ROOTED in Christ and letting those roots be watered so they will grow deep. But sometimes it’s through trials that these roots grow and we can’t quite see everything clearly, right when we’d like to. You can read the rest of the post HERE
I also quoted Billy Graham’s quote:
“When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.”
So I wanted to bring this topic into the journaling prompt for today. Like I said, I’ve had a rough week and I don’t know why everything is happening at once. It’s not fun and I’m not sure what to do and in all honestly it’s unsettling to me. All I know to do is pray. To stay in God’s Word and trust that He will show me what to do.
Which brings me to the journaling prompt for this week:
When trials come, how do we firmly plant ourselves (and emotions) in His hands, trusting the Lord to handle everything?
To take it even deeper…
HOW do we come to the end of ourselves and begin with God?
A couple Friday’s ago I talked about trials. I had to look back on that post just now and see what God had shown me through writing it. I guess He really wants me to “get it” so I can understand the depth of His love and have that faith that produces steadfastness. You can find that blog post HERE if you’re also struggling to have JOY in your trials.
Here are the 2 verses I am trying to study and apply in my life and they may encourage you as well.
James 1 reminds us to: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Ephesians 3:16-19 tells us: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
So again, how do we remain ROOTED and established in God’s love, AND have that steadfastness that has its full effect in our lives? I’m still trying to figure that out…
But here’s what I wrote while in my car yesterday when I really wasn’t sure what to do next. As I was thinking and praying about everything, this is what the Lord reminded me :
Seek God first (begin with God)
Remain there and wait on Him
Trust in Him alone
Read His Word daily
Be open to His will
Let God’s Word water your soul
You’ll see the fruit
These are simple ways to be ROOTED in Christ and truly know God’s heart for our lives. I’d love to hear how you remain rooted in Christ as well, so please feel free to share in the comments or email me personally.
I don’t pretend to have it all together friends. I hope you know that usually when I blog about something it’s because it’s right where God is working on me too. My prayer is that through sharing, we can grow together in the strength of the Lord and find that JOY James is talking about!
I’ll leave you with a great Psalm, that happens to sit directly in the middle of the Bible. It comes after the shortest chapter in the Bible and right before the longest chapter in the Bible…
Psalm 118
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard,[a] so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.[b]
23 This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let us give thanks to God on this GOOD FRIDAY! For He IS good and His steadfast love endures forever!
We HAVE hope friends, because we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, rose again and our inheritance is waiting for us in Heaven, like 1 Peter tells us!
Anyone else ready for Heaven right about now?
By the way, I have been neglecting my manuscript and need to get back to that. So I am going to take the month of April off from Love, Tuesday. I will continue to bring you a Friday Journaling Prompt, but need that extra time to get through the editing process so I can get to the end. Thanks for understanding.
BUT, before that… I will have some EXCITING NEWS to share about our RETREATS next week, so check back on Monday morning and we will fill you all in!
I hope you all have a joy filled Easter weekend!
Hugs,
Laura McCollough
P.S. The picture below may give you a little hint of what’s to come…