Think About Things That Are Lovely

 

Recently the above flower  appeared unexpectedly among my flowers.  I think it may have come up other years as well at this time of year, yet it was still a pleasant surprise.  Sometimes I find myself getting discouraged about the weeds and unwanted things which need to be either weeded out or pruned.  Sometimes that is all I see, and I fail to see the beauty in the flowers.

It is like that in life in general as well.  It is easy to focus on the "weeds" of our lives, to focus on the problems or difficult issues of life.  If we do that, however, we may miss out on seeing the blessings of life,  the blessings the Lord gives us every day.  Philippians 4:9 reminds us to think about things that are  true, lovely, pure, excellent, and praiseworthy.  It is easy to get our minds in a negative mindset.  Yet in the Lord we can focus on the beauty of the Lord. on His character, and and on His creation. As we discussed in our last post, let's get rid of the negative giants in our minds and replace them with lovely and beautiful thoughts.  https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-battle-in-our-minds.html

The Battle in Our Minds

In the Old Testament of our Bibles is recorded the well known story of David and the giant, Goliath.  David was just a young boy, but Goliath was a huge giant of a man.  All of the Israelite soldiers stood in fear of Goliath when he came out to taunt the troops.  No one dared to try to fight Goliath.  That was until David decided to come out and face Goliath.  In the Lord' s strength and with just his slingshot and five smooth stones David was able to victoriously defeat and kill Goliath that day! 

We, however, often face giants in our minds.  We often face the giant of delay.  When God does not answer our prayers on our timetable we may become fearful or impatient.  Other possible giants which may come in our minds include discouragement, disappointment, and doubt.  The only way to conquer those fears is to rest in the Lord.

To also conquer the giants in our minds we need to step forward  in faith even when we are afraid.  We need to stay focused on Jesus when feeling fearful or distracted.  Finally, we need to choose to worship the Lord and not worry, to pray and not panic.  Rest in the Lord!   Think about His character and faithfulness!  Think about things that are beautiful and lovely about Him and His creation!

Rest and Satisfaction in Him

In the last post we discovered that we can find ultimate and lasting satisfaction in the Lord alone.  You can find a link to the last post here, if you want to reread that post:   https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/06/satisfaction-found-in-lord-alone.html  

Everything and everyone else except the Lord God is temporary and fleeting.  This is true in spite of our sins and because of the Lord's death on the cross for us.  The Lord Jesus put our sins upon Himself, and in exchange we were clothed in His perfect righteousness.

In the Lord we have forgiveness, joy, cleansing, and peace.  The psalmist says in Psalm 16:2, "You are my Lord; apart from You  I have no good thing."  The psalmist goes on to say in verse 5. "Lord, You alone are my portion and cup; You make my lot secure."  

Therefore we need to desire and to seek His presence.  By doing this we need never be shaken by life's storms, trials, and tests.  The Lord will also always counsel us  through His Word and the Holy Spirit in us. In Him we find joy, rest, satisfaction, and eternal pleasures that can be found in Him alone.

Oh how wonderful, O how marvelous is my Savior's love for me!" says that precious hymn of old.  If everything else would be stripped away, He is sufficient.  He is providentially directing your and my lives step by step on the path He wants us to take.  He is doing this through His constant presence in our lives and through His awesome and trustworthy promises.  As yet another hymn says, "Wonderful grace of Jesus, all sufficient for me!"

Below is a link to that wonderful hymn, Wonderful Grace of Jesus. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsPc-Ix3_ow&list=RDvsPc-Ix3_ow&start_radio=1

Satisfaction Found in the Lord Alone

 

Satisfaction and joy in this life can be found in the Lord alone.  It can not be found in fame or in things money can buy.  It can not be found in youth or youthful pursuits, for that will fade with time. Human love can provide joy and satisfaction for a time, but it too will pass in time.  I personally have married, loved, and buried two husbands in my lifetime.

Friends and friendships also provide blessings in our lives, but they too are not permanent.  Friends and family can comfort me, but they can not meet my needs the way the Lord God does through Scripture and through the Holy Spirit's comfort and encouagement.  Friends and family can help me, but they cannot heal me.  Also only the Lord can promise to never leave me or forsake me.  Only the Lord can promise an eternal future with Him.  Only the Lord can provide lasting satisfaction, light, and joy.  

"Truly my soul finds rest  in God; my salvation comes from Him." (Psalm 62:1)  Other people, experiences and even things can be instruments of grace and blessing in our lives for a time, but only the Lord can provide lasting fullfillment and satisfaction.

Catching Our Tears in His Bottle

 

Psalm 56:8 says this in the NIV translation, "Record my misery, list my tears on your scroll-are they not in your record?  The Lord God  is aware of our times of grief and trials. He  is not only aware of these times, but they are noted and recorded in his  record!  The Lord cares that much about us as His children!  

The King James verson of that verse translates that verse saying that the Lord actually catches our tears His bottle.  This is such a beautiful image of the Lord's love and care for His children.  The shortest verse in the Bible says, "Jesus wept." (John 11:35)  In that story in John 11 Jesus' friend,  Lazarus, had died.  His friends and family were sad.  Even though Jesus already knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the grave, He wept.  Jesus cared that much about His friends' emotional pain and grief.  Our loving Lord and Savior loves us and cares about us in the same amazing way!  What a Savior!  

Father's Day

 

Sunday, June 15  is Father's Day in the United States.   Today I want to remember and honor the men who were special in my life and were fathers.  I think of my paternal grandpa who I remember for his kindness and ability to laugh.  I also remember how my grandpa and grandma would always bring full-sized candy bars for each of us children when they came to visit our home.  Although I did get to know my maternal Grandma, I unfortunately never knew my maternal Grandpa.  He passed away when my Mom was only sixteen years old.  I understand, however, that he was a very godly man, that he died from cancer, and that he had a very vivid dream about heaven not long before he passed away.

My own dad was a gentle, godly man.  He exhibited his faith in a quiet but sincere way.  He was also very hard working and cared deeply about his family's well-being.  My first husband, Wayne, and my children's father, exhibited many of these same character traits in his life as well.  That is most likely why I was attracted to him.  Wayne and I were married for over 34 years.  I have  pictures of my dad and Wayne below this paragraph.

Bob was my second husband who I married in July of 2019.  Sadly, he also passed away after only a little over five years of marrige.  I remember him for his ability to make me laugh in the early days and for his love for his children and grandchildren and for mine as well.  I have a picture of him below this paragraph.

Finally, I am thankful for my heavenly Father.  Earthly Fathers will one day pass away.  Our heavenly Father will never leave us, however.  He will be always with us throughout all the days of our lives on this earth and throughout eternity.

Beauty in the Broken

 

There is a certain beauty in experiencing brokenness in our lives.  Kintsugi, a Japanese expression of art expresses that concept beautifully.  In this expression of art a broken piece of pottery  is repaired with gold.  The cracks in the piece of pottery are filled in with gold.  This makes the repaired piece of pottery more beautiful,  exquisite,  and valuable than the original piece of pottery.  The broken piece of pottery repaired by gold surprisingly also becomes more resilient and strong.

So also our lives are often broken and even shattered by life's trials and struggles.  Yet if we submit these things to Lord, He restores us and makes us more beautiful people for His glory.  In His strength we become stronger and more resilient servants of Him. 

 In Job 23:10 in the midst of horrendous trial after trial Job said this concerning the Lord God, "He know where I am going, and when He tests me I will come out as PURE as GOLD.  The Lord God knows what He is doing when He allows trials and testing in our lives.  That is a time to pray, to wait in hope on the Lord, and to trust in Him.