A Prayer to Travel the Opposite Path

But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.

    If you keep to my path,
    I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Psalm 50:23 NLT

Abba,

The giving of thanks is hardly a sacrifice when I consider all that You have done for me! 

I know I am human, and when going through a rough patch it is difficult to lift my eyes and see all the blessings I have been handed. The enemy wants me to focus on everything that is wrong, any perceived injustice, any slight, any time I feel taken for granted.

And it's true those things happen; and a big part of the reason why people around me zero in on those wrongs and dwell on them so much they are blinded to the goodness.

But as a believer, I should fixate my attention opposite from the focus of the worldly. My eyes should be on Jesus and the incredible gift of salvation and the promise of a forever Home where none of the trials and injustices here on earth will happen.

It's been said our destiny is determined by our choice. As a believer, I choose You and the future I have with You - not only in the hereafter but also in the here and now.

Because I know that trials will come, but You will deliver me out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)

I stand on Your promise to share my burden. (Matthew 11:28)

I know You have promised to guide us on the right path. (Psalm 48:14)

And finally, I believe with everything in my heart goodness and mercy are pursuing me all the way Home to You. (Psalm 23:6)

In Jesus' holy name, I pray, so be it, amen.

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

~~

This post was written in response to the Five Minute Friday community's prompt, "Obedience."  

Disclosure: I wrote the prayer in 5 minutes, but added the scriptures and graphic later.

I have been blogging a long time, so this subject has been discussed before. 

Check out the archives:  

The Opposite Life

But God Says

Opposite 

Relevant - the story of two opposite sisters

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday and 

InstaEncouragements Link-Up

Tell His Story 

Let's Have Coffee

Prayer of the Week - Preserved

This year, I've been focusing my written prayers on the names and attributes of God. Today, I'm sharing a prayer I wrote a few days ago about God being our hiding place. Several thoughts came to mind as I dwelt on this scripture:

Hiding Place
Psalm 32:7 New King James Version
⁷ You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
 
The NLT version says “You shall surround me with songs of victory!”
 
Abba,
 
I imagine David singing songs of victory to encourage himself in times of trouble; but I wonder if there is more to this idea than that because it says YOU shall surround Me with songs. Could it be You and your angels are singing songs in the heavens about our victory? Could we hear them if we listen closely? Or perhaps the Holy Spirit is singing them into our spirit?
 
However it is, I’m so thankful to know I can run to you and hide when life gets too much. Your word says you preserve me from trouble. I know trouble tries to touch us – life here is not heaven! – but it cannot destroy us. We are preserved.
 
Thank you for sustaining us, for defending us from evil! We glorify Your name, we praise and honor You, now and forever.
 
In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen.

~~

My first thought regarding this scripture was how amazing it is that the believer can live surrounded by songs of victory. Hopefully, we are in the mindset of joining in with the heavenly music; but even more mind-blowing is the thought of heaven  singing victory for us! Lord, open our spiritual ears to hear.

My second thought was about being preserved. When something is preserved, its goodness is stored up for later. I thought of blueberry preserves - because I love them - and how the blueberries go through a process before they end up being a sweet taste in my mouth. They are sweetened, heated, the bubbly scum drained off, then packed in clean, hot jars and sealed for later. 

Perhaps life has heated up for us, maybe we are getting unnecessary things drained off our lives, or maybe we feel we are sealed up, waiting to be used. However it is, our God is not a God who wastes anything. All will be well in the end.

Let us keep attached to the Vine. Fruitfulness is coming!

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

Sharing at Sweet Tea & Friends

InstaEncouragements Link-Up 

Let's Have Coffee

Casting Your Care

  

Is it ever okay to worry? Short answer: Not for the Christian.

Then He said to His disciples: "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life ... 

Don't worry - it's not a suggestion, it's a command. You can read His words in context here. They are from the most famous sermon ever, The Sermon on the Mount. Basically, He is telling us to trust Him. He knows what we need, and He has our best interest at heart.

God created us to have full abundant lives.  He doesn’t want us to be consumed with thoughts of things that are not our responsibility.  Our job is to trust.  His job is to provide.

But hey! We are human. Worry wants to sneak in. What if God doesn't notice or care about what is happening in my life?

Never fear, God will do His part. We are not to be filled with pride and think we can fix everything ourselves. Instead, we are to cast all our care on him!  Both the Old and New Testaments tell us this:

 

 “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22 HCSB

 

And

 

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 HCSB

 

Casting is not a passive word, it’s an active one.  You don’t limply hand your worry over – You vigorously sling it out there! 

 

To me, "casting" is a fisherman's term. (God loves fisherman, as we know from His choosing of several fishermen to be His disciples.) A fisherman casts his rod out there – he doesn’t just plop it near his feet. Also, there is aim when a fisherman casts. He intends to go to a certain area of the lake.

 

So, the casting of our care takes effort, because it is so human to keep it ourselves and stew over it ... and think we are accomplishing something.

 

We cast it upon the Lord, not just willy nilly over our backs ...

 

Also, when a fisherman casts, he must LET IT GO!  I don't mean he lets go of the pole, he knows where it is, but he releases the reel to let the bait go. Now, in Peter’s day, we know from the Word, that he cast nets. Throwing a net would be much more difficult and involve way more effort than a pole!

 

Finally, you let the bait go in hope of reaping a blessing in the form of a fish. We let the worry go and reap a blessing in answered prayer ... and in peace of mind.

 

When you can really believe He cares about YOU, worry won't be a problem.

 

~~~

What about you? Do you struggle with worry? Join me in focusing on this scripture and prayer:

 

Philippians 4:4-7 New Living Translation

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

 

Father,

 

I never saw it before. We are to tell You what we need and thank You for what You’ve done, THEN WE WILL HAVE PEACE!

 

So simple!

 

I mean, after all, we should be in relationship, right? We tell our best friend our needs. We praise our friends and family when they do good. (Or at least, we should!)

 

So, we should treat You the same. And then, because we trust You, knowing You have been there for us in the past; we can now have peace, knowing You will do it again.

 

You are the best! We praise You forever.

 

Now Lord, today I ask You to show up big in the lives of my readers. They might not understand the whole situation they are in, but You do. Father, give them mercy and favor, and we will give You the honor.

 

In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen

 

~~

Adapted from a previous post.

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

Sharing at InstaEncouragements Link-Up

Path to Becoming A Writer

Photo taken by Elissa Miller

I've had a life-long dream to becoming a writer but I didn't seriously pursue my dream until 2008 until I published my first blog.

What a trip! I could write anything I wanted and I was boss whether it got published or not.

I spent several years writing about family stories, participating in memes and writing bible studies.

Then, sometime in 2017, a divine appointment happened. I met an author who came to speak at our Ladies meeting, Adrienne Ross, who wrote "Push Your Way to Purpose."

Sometime later, Adrienne, who had been a creative writing teacher for a couple of decades, decided to put on Facebook some writing challenges. Anyone could participate for free, so of course, I dove in and had so much free writing on her prompts. Later, she held a writing club that I joined. Eventually, I even was a part of a John Maxwell Leadership Mastermind.

All of things stretched me as a writer. I discovered I loved writing fiction and dialogue.

In 2018, I was inspired to write a novel about a girl with a huge family secret. It took me a year to flesh out all my characters and discover there was more than one book in me. I wanted to become a series writer.

I felt God had given me this story, but it needed polishing. I knew I needed to learn how to make my characters and settings spring to life. But I also was afraid, so I saved my novel to my hard drive and just waited.

One day, Adrienne and I crossed paths again. She had some coaching slots open for writers. I decided to take the plunge and invest money into my dream. She and I worked on my novel for 14 months. (We both had very busy schedules!) 

And then, the novel was done! I felt very proud of what I had accomplished.

But now, the burning question in my mind: "How do I get published?"

I looked into the options. Frankly, they all looked scary and I either didn't have the social media platform or the money to do any of the options.

I prayed and waited and prayed some more. One day, I saw a little writing challenge about legacy that Hopewriters was sponsoring. They said to submit a story about someone whose legacy made a difference in your life. You might even be considered to be a part of their collaborative work honoring Family Legacy.

Right away, I knew I should write about my Granny Violet who was such an influence in our family and in her community.

So I did. And I was chosen to be one of the ten authors for the book, "Family Legacy: Passing Down Love, Wisdom, and Tradition." It will be published this September, 2025!

And that is how God led me down the path to becoming a published author.

I still intend to write my series but this is a first step in learning about publishing. I'm thankful for the opportunity.

~~

I began this post writing on the prompt, "Path," provided by the community at Five Minute Friday, but it took longer than five minutes to tell the story. Sorry, Kate and FMF writers, I will try to limit myself next time!

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

This time of year is the perfect time to consider how much margin is in your life. You may want to read my series  A Rich and Satisying Life on my other blog, (No, it’s not about money.)

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday and Let's Have Coffee

Panic and Overwhelm

Created in PicMonkey by me

Dear Readers:

Today, I want to discus panic which I feel happens when we are overwhelmed. Before we start a discussion, I feel it would be helpful to consider what both "panic," and "overwhelm" mean.

Panic is "sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior." [Google]

Feeling overwhelmed means having a situation that is "too much to deal with," and/or feeling "sudden strong emotion": [Cambridge}

GO [setting a timer for 5 minutes]

Here are my thoughts:

I think panic happens when you are feeling overwhelmed. And overwhelm happens when you are not prepared for something and wait to the last minute to achieve your goals. Can we say procrastination?

Panic can also happen when the cause of overwhelm is not so much the feeling of not being prepared; but situations are piling up and you begin to feel that everything rests on you.

For a believer, part of the solution is realize you are not in control. You have accepted Christ as your savior. Your old carnal nature is now dead and Christ is in control of your life.

We sometimes need to be reminded of that fact. If Christ is in charge, everything will work out for good in the end. (See Romans 8:28)

So, if you are feeling anxious or in a panic, STOP and breathe win me:

Deep breath in and think, "The Lord is my Shepherd."

Breathe out and think, "I have what I need."

Repeat as many times as needed.

STOP

~~

Back in February of this year, the Lord gave me this scripture and prayer I would like to share with you since it mentions overwhelm in a positive sense:

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:37 NLT

Father,

 

I praise you for victory – and not just any victory, but overwhelming victory.

 

Yes, we will face things. You never said we wouldn’t. But we will come through these things victorious and looking more like You. You use all the things we go through to mold and shape us into Christ’s image.

 

And, as this chapter of Romans reminds us – if God is for us, who can be against us, and also, nothing will be able to separate us from Your love.

 

Do we believe Your word or not? Let us walk in confidence trusting In Your word, for every word of it will be fulfilled! Thank You, Lord, for all You do for us; for all You’ve given us!

 

In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen.

~~

This post was written in response to the prompt, "panic," provided by the Five Minute Friday community of writers. As always, I free write on the prompt for five minutes, later going back to add scriptures, links, and photos.

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

This time of year is the perfect time to consider how much margin is in your life. You may want to read my series  A Rich and Satisying Life on my other blog, (No, it’s not about money.)

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

Today, I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday and at InstaEncouragements Link-Up and Let's Have Coffee

An Honor to Represent

Created in PicMonkey by me

 

Today, the prompt at the Five Minute Friday group of free-writers is the word "honor."

This is what immediately came to mind:

Often when someone has been chosen out of a group of people, they will say, "It's an honor to represent you." 

Ambassadors are chosen to be an authorized representative or messenger. What an honor it would be to represent your country to the world!

Along the same vein, what an honor believers have because they are ambassadors for Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:20 New Living Translation 
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

I've got to be honest, I don't always feel honored if I state I'm a believer in certain settings.. Sometimes, because of our own thoughtlessness, we have not been a great witness to the world about the power of living for Christ.

How do we show the world we are Christians? Jesus himself said the world would know we are His by the love we show one another. (See John 13:35).

In another place in scripture we are told the world will know  God had sent Jesus by our unity. (See John 17:21).

Love and unity. Easy to talk about, hard to do.

I pray we, as the universal church, will start taking baby steps toward these goals. Let's focus more on ways we are alike then our doctrinal differences.

The important thing is ... if we love Jesus, we need to show it to the world. Shine our lights like a city on a hill. Darkness just makes light brighter.

~~

As always, when participating with the Five Minute Friday writers, I free write on the prompt for five minutes, later going back to add scriptures and photos.

For the past year or so, I've been writing scripture prayers. So often, there will be a prayer that goes along with the prompt; so I'm sharing a scripture and a prayer from November of 2024 that speaks about the honor of being a temple of the Lord. Hope you enjoy!

4 The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
6 Then I will hold my head high
above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.
Psalm 27:4-6 NLT

Father,

I love this passage of scripture because I’m a church girl at heart. I love to be at Your house. And it seems to me, the sanctuary is the safest place to be.

 

Yet, I know wherever a child of God is, he is the temple of God and You are there with him! What an honor! You are actually doing everyday life with us.

 

But I also notice the scripture that says we will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy … hmm … could it be our worship is too quiet?

 

Granted, there are times with worship is reflection and there is a peaceful atmosphere; but on the whole, should there be more shouting going on? More singing? More praising?

 

Lord, lead us to worship You as You desire – not only when we are gathered together, but also in our daily lives.

 

I ask now for blessing and protection for my friends and me. Guide us into our callings and make us fruitful. Bless our families and may there be harmony in the dwelling of every Christ follower.

 

In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen.

~~

Today, I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday  and InstaEncouragements Link-Up

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

This time of year is the perfect time to consider how much margin is in your life. You may want to read my series on my other blog, A Rich and Satisying Life. (No, it’s not about money.)

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

Can't Think Like the World Anymore

 
I choose to live a disciplined life.

And the main tool I need to accomplish that goal is have a disciplined thought life. 

I cannot dwell on any thought that comes to my mind. Feeding on doubt, worry, fear and anxiety leads to disaster. Following rabbit trails can waste tons of my time. I choose to fix my thoughts on good things, on noble and praiseworthy things.

Created at PicMonkey.com by me

In fact, I choose to fix my thoughts on Jesus, the one to whom I have given my life.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 KJV

He taught me how to do this by His example - He kept his eyes on the joy that was set before Him. His joy is being the Way for millions of believers to come Home with Him.

My joy is to become more like Him and arrive Home with the words "Well done, good and faithful servant," ringing in my ears.

Because of that goal, I can't think like the world anymore.

~~

This post was written in response to the prompt, "anymore," provided by the Five Minute Friday community of writers. As always, I free write on the prompt for five minutes, later going back to add scriptures and photos.

Today, I'm also sharing a scripture and a prayer I wrote in May of 2024 that mirrors my thoughts for the prompt. Obviously, I've been thinking about this for a while!

So I tell you and encourage you in the Lord’s name not to live any longer like other people in the world. Their minds are set on worthless things. Ephesians 4:17 God's Word Translation

 
Father,
 
Help us to spend our lives being different from the world. Help us to fill our minds with good, beautiful, true, and praiseworthy things. Help us to walk in the path of our calling with our eyes focused on You, so that when we finally see Your face, You will say, “well done, good and faithful servant.” Reaching that goal is really the only thing that matters.
 
Help us remember this when we are in the thick of our struggles.
 
We love You, Lord! Thank you for a great Sunday, and we look forward to what You are going to do this week.
 
In Jesus’ name, so be it, amen.

~~

Today, I'm sharing at Five Minute Friday and at Sweet Tea and Friends and Let's Have Coffee

Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

This time of year is the perfect time to consider how much margin is in your life. You may want to read my series on my other blog, A Rich and Satisying Life. (No, it’s not about money.)

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy.