Conversation With My Body

Good morning, body. It’s me, again.
Looks like I’ll be living in you another day.
I’d appreciate your cooperation.
I’ll try to be considerate and not push you too hard.
You’ll get some fuel and basic maintenance today.
Hopefully, you won’t need any major overhaul any time soon.
I like your many automatic features.
Right now each department is efficiently at work, not vainly vying for attention.
Since God gave you to me and put us together temporarily, let’s get along.
I’ll not obsess over your warts and wrinkles and occasional rumblings.
God tells me that one day you and I will be parting. I’ll go to Heaven
and someone will lay you down.
My Heavenly Father is going to give me a new body.
Jesus got a wonderful resurrected body after He died on the cross for my sins,
so I know my new body will be wonderful.
But that’s then; this is now.
Meanwhile, I command you to be healed, restored, full of health and energy,
by the authority of Jesus Christ.
Right now I am asking the Lord for wisdom on how to cooperate
with the healing and renewal He is putting on you and my mind and emotions.
It will happen, in His way, in His time.
So, here we go, you and I, on today’s adventure by faith.
Signing off,
Your Boss, ME.

What does the Bible say?
• “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14.
• Jesus’ resurrection & His body: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20.
• Jesus healed & sent His disciples to heal: mentioned 53 times in the Gospels.
• “And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20.
• “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33.
• “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out . . .” Acts 3:19.
• “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:” Romans 6:5.
• “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52.
• “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:8.
• “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
• “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24.
• “. . . though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16.
• “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind” Ephesians 4:23.

Maybe You're Wondering, Too

What if God answered our prayers
With an immediate, “yes” every time,
so we could count on His speedy reply?
We’d be His boss, and He, our employee,
Our wisdom replacing His;
We wouldn’t reflect or ask ourselves, “Why?”

We’d be feeling self-important,
Neglecting our need to trust and obey,
Plunging recklessly into things we’ve planned.
Carelessly we would shortchange our learning,
Forgetting humility,
Miss quiet moments in His loving hand;

God won’t let us be in control;
He alone is awesome and almighty.
But we’re expecting, when it’s not yet time,
Rest and remember His Word and goodness;
Ask for discernment and grace,
So thankful He is merciful and kind.

Are We Praying the Right Way?

Many sincere believers have complicated their prayer life. Are you and I praying the right way?
First, consider the wonderful simplicity of prayer that our Lord demonstrated and taught.
Jesus prayed alone a lot of times, but obviously He also prayed so that the disciples heard because they asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1, and following).
Jesus gave them an amazing and beautiful answer. It was unlike anything they were used to hearing. The words He used are now called “the Lord’s Prayer.” (Matthew 6:9, and following).

Simplicity that Jesus demonstrated
We have overlooked some aspects of this prayer. To pray like Jesus instructed here all a person has to do is address the prayer to “Our Father Who are in Heaven.” We do not have to search out from a long list of saints the one who would be most favorable to our petition. We do not even go through any intermediary, such as Jesus’ earthly mother, Mary.
First in the prayer we give God praise for Who He is; we acknowledge that He has a Kingdom and His will is to be accomplished, both in Heaven and on earth.
We ask for our daily needs, we ask forgiveness for our shortcomings, we ask to be delivered from the evil one.
Note, too, there is no command from Jesus that we must repeat and repeat the words of this model prayer that serves as a pattern for us.
Of course, this is not all Jesus said when He spoke to His Father. He must have spent more time in worship, praise, and discussing the progress of His life on earth. When He was praying in the garden He prayed for God to spare Him the ordeal just ahead, but relinquished His own will to be obedient to the Father’s will. (Luke 22;42).
Jesus prayed, giving thanks for food, as did all Jews. (Matthew 14:19, Mark 7:34, Luke 9:16, Luke 24:30).

Simplicity that the disciples demonstrated
Fast forward to the upper room where the disciples gathered after Jesus ascended to His Father. Note that these men and women were praying. One woman’s name we notice in particular. Mary, His earthly mother was there. No one was giving her any extra attention or praying to her, (Acts 1:12-14).

Simplicity in the New Testament
Now recall the events related in the letters of the New Testament. Mary is not mentioned, nor is prayer to her or prayer to any other great person mentioned or instructed.
This makes praying more simplified and wonderful than we had thought. We approach God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, magnificent, holy, all-mighty, all-knowing, powerful loving Lord in these awesome words, “Our Father, Who are in Heaven.”
Such simplicity is the truth. Without elaboration the first believers practiced and taught about prayer that is so unlike what many people know.

What this simplicity means for us
We speak simply and honestly to God:
• with no “middle man,”
• no holy location,
• no payment of money,
• no need for organ music playing,
• no soft glow of candles,
• no stained glass windows.
We are free from needing
• prayer books,
• prayer instruction manuals,
• prayer teachers.
We are free from having
• the fear of “saying the wrong thing,”
• the fear of shocking God with our confession,
• the fear of forgetting all the details of what we need —and want—and when and how.

Prayer like this means we can commune directly with God. We may picture ourselves talking to Jesus or sitting on His lap, like one of those little children. (Matthew 19:13, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16).
Another time we may picture ourselves in a glowing cloud of God’s glory, like Isaiah, overcome with His tremendous power and majesty, (Isaiah 6:1-8).
All through the day we can speak silently in our hearts to the Lord, knowing God’s Holy Spirit is dwelling inside of us, (John 14:16-17). No need to worry about a prayer not “rising above the ceiling.”
Prayer is far more important that we recognize. Not that God does not know, not that He wants to hear our version, not that He waits to hear our suggestions on how to solve the problem.

We do not pray . . .
We do not pray to impress each other, the people in Sunday School, the pastor who sits at our dinner table. We do not pray at meetings to add announcements of coming events. We do not pray to inflict lengthy lessons upon our children.
We do not pray like the heathen: prayer flags waving in the breeze, prayer wheels spinning in a courtyard, incense burning in a cloud of scented smoke.
We do not put our minds into a trance to commune with God. We do not offer sacrifices of food, animals, blood.
We do not pray to a female goddess. We do not pray according to positions of the sun, moon, and stars. We do not bow to a statue.
We do not come on the basis of our own ability to keep laws and commandments.

We do pray . . .
In beautiful simplicity and truth we pray as Jesus taught, as we find in the Bible. We talk to God with confidence, peace of mind, joy.
Our prayer is different from the person who is just now realizing his/her sin problem and understands that they face eternity sooner or later. This person prays to acknowledge their need of a Savior and invites Jesus into their heart. God hears this prayer! It doesn’t have to be “fancy” words or a special location.
Each of us who have sincerely accepted Jesus Christ as our own Savior now have a walk of faith ahead. God wants to hear our prayer. It is refreshing to pray, knowing that He is teaching us to trust and obey Him more fully.

Where are you?
Where are you in your life at this time? Where are you in your relationship with God? Is it time for a new beginning?

Let God show you how.
You and I can communicate to our Father with ordinary words at any time. He wants to hear from us.
Whisper a prayer to Him right now. Ask Him to show you what you need to believe — and pray — and do. ❤

What does the Bible say?
In the Old Testament, “pray, prays, prayed, praying,” or “prayer” are used 346 times.
In the New Testament, “pray, prays, prayed, praying” or “prayer” are used 142 times.
Other words such as “ask” and “confess” also convey the concept of prayer.

Psalm 32:5, I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Psalm 51: 10, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Matthew 6:8, “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Luke 11:13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

John 14:13, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

Philippians 4:6, Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

James 1:5, 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.

1 John 5:14, Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Look up and read these verses in their context.
A word search can help you find many more verses so you can learn for yourself what the Bible says, and you can pray the right way.

13 Reasons to be Happy!

1. There is a God. We aren’t alone in the Universe.

2. He made an astoundingly interesting world for us to live on.

3. He made us with amazingly complex and useful bodies to live in.

4. He lets us choose what to do and how to do it. He allows each one of us one lifetime to learn by experience.

5. He allows us to be affected by various items, so we can be motivated to learn. These items include such things as natural events, other people, and our own thoughts and actions.

6. Life is not just physical; there are spiritual aspects, too. Deception, lies, and evil of all kinds originated with Satan, and continue to harass us, but we can do something about the negative spiritual aspects.

7. We can know God’s intentions and His desired results. We can know His methods from what His Word tells us.

8. God made a way so our imperfections and sins can be forgiven. If we do it His way we can spend Eternity with Him in awesome joy and love.

9. There is no other religion or system of beliefs that offers a way to be pardoned and set free from sin, its effects, and its certain future. If there were some other way to be forgiven Jesus would not have had to die on the cross.

10. When we own up to our slightly flawed attitude, our slightly selfish and sometimes lazy life-style, and our slightly mean tendencies towards other people, then we are on the way to a wonderful new beginning.

11. When we say, “Father, this is too hard. I need You,” and when we say, “Father, I am sorry,” He is pleased that we are learning to be honest. When we say, “I agree with You, Father,” He is pleased that we are paying attention.

12. Even in the biggest trouble we can find some reason to be happy. It could be worse. Other people have it worse. We can handle it better now than we did before, because we are stronger. God did not plan for us to become gods, ourselves. We will always need Him; this is good.

Yes there are more reasons than these. You can probably think of some. One of the happiest thoughts a person can have is this: Since I asked God to forgive me and I invited Jesus to be my Savior and Friend that means I am ready to meet my Maker, my Heavenly Father after I die, and according to His Word I will live forever and ever. This is the ultimate security, the happiest reason for the happiest life.

Summer's Choices

Complain of the heat and humidity,
Complain about the bugs?
Or, plan to do something special,
Give encouragement and hugs.

Stew about the long distance driving,
the bus, the train, the plane?
Gripe about the unexpected,
or relinquish stress and stay sane.

Unpredictable summer!
The choosing is up to me;
Anticipate, enjoy, remember,
I’ll make it fun, certainly.

— Elaine Hardt ©2006