Just a thought by coppi

Just a thought by coppi – written in 2015

A light house does not blow fog horns but it only shines.  

When I read the above I thought of our walk as Christians.  Does our life reflect the light  of Jesus.  St Mark 4:21: and he said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? And not to be set on a candlestick?  A candle beams its flickering light so we may find our way in the dark as does the Lighthouse.  As Christians we should let our light shine & walk in the light of Christ.  We need not blow fog horns but just shine & let the Holy Spirit beam through us.  Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord……i grew up in a very legalistic religion & if we did have a little light, it was totally blown out with dos & don’ts & lots of fear. 1 John 4:7: Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God….10: herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us & sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4 is filled with scriptures of love.  The pendulum swings both ways but should be in balance.  I guess my desire is not to be a fog horn but a flickering light for our Lord.

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F. B. Meyer was right when he said, “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”

“The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Do you ever feel as though you are bound with chains?  Bound between 

anxiety and worry or fear and hopelessness.  Whatever your chains are Jesus can and will break those chains. He wants to set you free to live an abundant life.  Following is some thoughts I gleaned in my readings:

1. Don’t figure things out by yourself. …
2. Be real with how you feel. …
3. Be OK with some things being out of your control. …
4. Practice self-care. …
5. Be conscious of your intentions. …
6. Focus on positive thoughts. …
7. Practice mindfulness.

How do we send our anxiety to God? First, Conclusively: “cast” refers to “once and for all, throw our burdens to Jesus!” When the worries of life press us down, we do not have to bear them! Thank God, He is willing to carry our load. Thirdly, notice “all your anxiety.” He tells us to give Him everything – he will carry our load.

“We don’t always know how or when God will answer our prayers. But continue praying for those in need, and trust that God will hear and answer you. We may never know on this side of heaven the eternal consequences of such faithfulness.”  (Jim Denison 1/18/23)

For myself, I journalize my feelings—truthfully.  Even though I am ashamed to admit them, I come to Jesus humbly with an honest heart.  I also have a secret place I go, kneel, and pray.  I would like to say I leave it there all the time,but I don’t.  I pick up my prayer requests and load them back on my wagon of hurts/anxieties, and go on with my fretting and hurting.  Jesus said “Cast – once and for all throw our burdens to Him”.  Yes, that’s where they belong.  On Him.  Not me.

Just a thought by coppi

Just a thought by coppi

Prayer is laying hold of God’s willingness not His reluctance.

Relatively few people really doubt God’s ability, but rather, it is our doubt of His willingness to use His ability on our behalf that causes most people to do without.  Jesus is assuring us that God’s love, & His willingness to demonstrate that love, is far greater than we can ever experience in any human relationship.  (Andrew Wommack)

Yes, indeed this is something I need to think about.

Just a thought by coppi

Just a thought by coppi

I read the following this morning by Sheila Walsh – it’s something I try to do before I start the day.  Why?  Because I find if I start the day with God, my day is better.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,�My love will fall and fail, but God’s love never will.��for I have placed my trust in you.�The psalmist is very intentional here: trusting God is an act of the will.��Show me the way I should go,�I pray, “Show me, Father, which way I should go today.”��for to you I entrust my life.�I say, “My life is Yours, Lord, and I trust You with everything.”

Then I pray these simple words:

“Good morning, Lord! I don’t know where You are going today, but wherever You’re going, I’m comin’ with You!”��A good way to start the day every single day is to declare the Word of God and thank Him for it.

It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening. – Psalm 92:2�

Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human. (Henri Nouwen)

1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

When I started writing “just a thought” years ago, I knew I had to open myself and be vulnerable if I was going to help anyone suffering the same fears, etc, I was going through. Being vulnerable is not easy, because I wanted to impress the world with perfection. But when I took a course in “A Way Out”, and I saw a room filled with people in all walks of life. Men and women.  So many different masks we were all hiding behind! The good thing was when the masks were lifted, humanity came forth, and hurts, fears, regrets, etc, came spilling out.  Just like Alcohol Anonymous, we were told “what is said in this room stays here”.   Going through this class, helped me to “find Me” and to be “Me”, the person God created – warts and all.

Just a thought by coppi

“The key to failure is trying to please everybody. The key to success is to realize you can’t please everyone and to have the courage to make changes that may initially upset some.” – Seth Godin

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

King David is now experiencing anguish. He is attacked by the enemy.  God has forsaken him.  I too experience the times of anguish and the good times of joy and peace. I guess as long as I am in this human body that will be the case. David begins bargaining with God, telling God what he will do when He delivers him from his foes.  “For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” (Ps 22:22) – ( Ps 22:24) “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you etc ?”   Gee, I remember myself bargaining with God….“Please Jesus give me the strength to get through this, – I will do this and that if you do”

He always came through for me –  my dear friend,  Joyce Carter,  once said to me “do you have a direct line to Jesus, you pray and He answers”.  Nope, it wasn’t that way.  He answered, but sometimes I had to wait in my agony.  As I read about David and all the prophets and their sufferings, I am glad all their torment was left in the Bible, because it shows their humanity of living and their dependence on the living God.   Sometimes life throws us lemons – it is up to us to make lemonade out of the lemons.   I can, but not without the help of Jesus in my life. 

Just a thought by coppi

Lord, in moments of despair and anguish, I find peace in knowing that even Jesus, Your own Son, experienced the depths of human suffering.

“The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever. Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Reading this today brought tears to my eyes.  “Why”, I say.   “God is unrelenting in His love, and He is faithful.”

Just a thought by coppi

“Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭20‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“In this verse, David is responding to the congregation’s prayers for him, assuring them that God will deliver his anointed. David knew that the Lord would answer him from heaven and reach down with his mighty right hand to deliver him from the enemy.” 

David’s faith is something to  behold.  But David had his moments of despair also. Yet even  in his despair he called out to God for help.  I can relate to that – even when I was fighting the battle of the enemy with his tormenting thoughts, I knew in my heart Jesus would hear my prayers and answer them. He is faithful even when the darkness is overwhelming, I know the sun (son) would brighten the dark times of my life.  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but I trust in the name of God”.  I have to ask myself truthfully what chariots and horses am I trusting in?  David was a King. He chose to trust in God rather than all his Kingship offered him.  I live in a world not like in the times of King David, but my world has other distractions to keep me occupied in lieu of going directly to the source I know can help me – Jesus!

“May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭20‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭20‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Just a thought by coppi

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭4

I love nature – always have. I feel the presence of God when I am out in His creation.  I have said this many times, but will reiterate:    I grew up on small farm in Fredericksburg, Tx.  There was no TV, phones, etc, to divert my life therefore hiking around through fields, mountains, and the Pedernales river was always a joy for me.  Creation spoke to me through the rivers, trees, mountains, rocks, etc – I heard no sounds, but yet the resounding beauty of being in God’s creation spoke to me a resounding message – “I love you”.

Just a thought by coppi

I am reading the Psalms in the morning, and then I am trying to be silent.  I want to hear what God is saying through the Psalms to me. I gleaned this study habit from Rick Hamlin, Guidepost executive editor. 

“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.””

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus you have been a part of my life as long as I can remember. As a child, I remember walking and talking to you as I hiked through fields and creek beds.  I knew you were my refuge and I was safe with you.  I never wanted to be apart from you. 

“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I am always amazed that solutions to different concerns in my life will come to me in my dreams. I remember I had great fear against someone , and I dreamed the reason why.  I awakened, saying to myself “now I know why”.  So many times you have instructed me at night, and I praise you and thank you for being with me at my right hand. 

“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭17‬:‭6‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

My foes are not David foes, but they are as damaging. The foes of not being enough. Constantly fighting to overcome fears and wrong thinking are enemies of the soul. 

I call out to God and He answers me; I take refuge in Him, and he hides me in the shadow of His wings.  Where would I be without my faith in God and His protection and love for me. 

Just a thought by coppi

I am reading the Psalms in the morning, and then I am trying to be silent.  I want to hear what God is saying through the Psalms to me. I gleaned this study habit from Rick Hamlin, Guidepost executive editor. 

“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.””

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus you have been a part of my life as long as I can remember. As a child, I remember walking and talking to you as I hiked through fields and creek beds.  I knew you were my refuge and I was safe with you.  I never wanted to be apart from you. 

“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I am always amazed that solutions to different concerns in my life will come to me in my dreams. I remember I had great fear against someone , and I dreamed the reason why.  I awakened, saying to myself “now I know why”.  So many times you have instructed me at night, and I praise you and thank you for being with me at my right hand. 

“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭17‬:‭6‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

My foes are not David foes, but they are as damaging. The foes of not being enough. Constantly fighting to overcome fears and wrong thinking are enemies of the soul. 

I call out to God and He answers me; I take refuge in Him, and he hides me in the shadow of His wings.  Where would I be without my faith in God and His protection and love for me. 

Just a thought by coppi