Author: naesnotes

Strength. Who doesn’t need strength in their lives to face the day. Isaiah 40:31 is often quoted when looking for strength. Looking back to verse 28 reveals a few extra things to note.

1. God is the Everlasting God who does not become weary or tired. That’s hard to comprehend as a daily part of our lives is experiencing tired or weariness either emotionally or physically. God does not become tired or weary waiting for us to focus on what He has for us.
2. Verse 28 also states that God’s understanding is inscrutable (NRSV). Inscrutable means incapable of being analyzed; mysterious; unfathomable. Therefore, we cannot understand God’s understanding of us. That can sound confusing at first. We don’t understand sometimes why we do things or others do things. God’s understanding of us is something that cannot be analyzed, which is a good thing. Most of us would have given up on ourselves or others at some point in the journey because we can’t understand things the way God does.
3. Verse 30 talks about youth growing tired and weary and vigorous people stumbling badly (NRSV). Some people feel they were much more energetic and capable when they were younger, especially physically. The next sentence in v. 31 says that “those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength”. Many people rush to do things or make judgements about situations or wish they could have something right now. We often lament the fervor of our youth. However, the word ”new” is the key. Think about it: If we wait on God, He will not only give us strength but ”new” strength. New-fresh-something we haven’t had before. This can be better than anything we had, even our youthful strength and energy!

New strength and a fresh perspective can only come from waiting on God, the one who understands us and doesn’t grow tired or weary in helping us thrive toward our best!

The following verse is quoted often:

“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast (that is committed and focused on You in both inclination and character) because he trusts and takes refuge in You (with hope and confident expectation). Trust (confidently) in the Lord forever (He is your fortress, shield, your banner), for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4 AMP

There’s a a lot packed into that verse, especially in that version. So many times we tend to gloss over the familiar or things we think we know. We all know that we can have peace if we trust in God. However, upon reading this, there seems to be a little more to it. Look at the Google definitions of a few words from above:

• Perfect-absolute, complete
• Constant-occurring continuously over a period of time
• Inclination-a person’s natural tendency or urge to act or feel in a particular way
• Character-the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual

So it starts with confident trust-unwavering, in a mind that is inclined to focus on God as part of their character. The result is absolute and continuous peace. Most people would say they have never experienced absolute and continuous peace, but it’s because we don’t make trust in God part of our character. There are so many other things to focus on today. The surviving comes when we focus on the other things and forget that we can thrive and have peace when we make trust and focus on God part of who we are.

Not a word anyone wants to hear or admit they have experienced. Reality is that everyone has been lost at some time in his/her life. Physically lost when going to a new place or trying to get back to a place you’ve only been once and don’t use directions. Mentally lost when there’s a change in your job and you have to start a new routine. Emotionally lost when families grow and change and you’re trying to find your place in the new situations. Spiritually lost when you are out of church for awhile or let the busyness of the world invade your time. Most people have probably experienced all of the above examples at different stages of their lives.

Lost is defined as having gone astray or missed the way (dictionary.com). Webster’s 1828 dictionary uses the following definitions: not able to find the right way or the way intended; bewildered; perplexed; alienated. Definition number 7 says, “not perceptible to the senses; not visible”. All of the above are different levels of “lost”. However, they all lead to the next step being “not perceptible to the senses; not visible”. So how does the next step become visible?

First, you have to want it. You have to want to stop being lost and be found. It’s easy to start the pity party and wallow in your feelings. Unfortunately, that won’t yield any results or point you in the right direction to be found. We are surrounded by people who know us and may be able to help based on their own past situations. There is, however, only one who truly knows how to help you be found…God. When you’re lost, you typically feel far from God and don’t know how to get back. The good news is that God has not moved away from you. You can still communicate through prayer. You can also find some scriptures to help you focus on God and not on your situation. The book of Psalm is full of prayers from David for the Lord’s help. You can also read a Proverb a day to help gain wisdom and give examples of how you should live. That will help take your focus off being lost and put it on to finding your way back.

We are not intended to live life alone or wandering through each day as if we were lost. Each day has a purpose just as each person has a purpose. Seek God and God’s purpose for your life so you can stop surviving and start thriving!

Goodness…what is that really? Merriam-Websters’s dictionary says “the state or quality of being good”. The Webster’s 1828 dictionary includes words like “favor shown”, “compassion”, “mercy”. These days it can be a struggle to find good things to say to others or good things to talk about. I know people who have had some things happen that aren’t good. It’s hard to stay focused on “good” when all you see is not good. And what do you say to them as friends or colleagues? “Everything’s going to be fine? Don’t worry… this will pass.” Nice words but probably not what they want to hear. That’s where you have to turn off your brain to logic and turn on your brain to faith.

That’s where goodness jumps in the picture. A well-known example of this in the Bible is the children of Israel wandering through the desert. It started with God showing his goodness (favor) to them by having Pharaoh allow them to leave the slavery they were in during their time in Egypt. It continued with them being saved from the army when crossing the Red Sea. Then in the desert, He provided food for them when there seemed to be none. Next came the grumbling, complaining, and doubt about entering the promised land. God could have halted everything there and left them to create their new home in the desert. Instead, progress was delayed. He did postpone their entering the final destination by allowing them to wander in the desert for 40 years. However, it was only postponed. He continued to show them goodness (compassion, mercy) while in the desert because they had food and things they needed in order to live. The promised land was the main event of goodness, but the provisions in the desert were another type of display of goodness. Without the provisions in the desert, the Israelites would not have survived to make it to the promised land. Surviving was good. We will also survive our trials through God’s goodness (compassion, mercy). Staying faithful and focusing on God during the trial will lead us into thriving in His goodness (favor) when the trial season ends.

Don’t give up in the midst of your trial. Take time each day to focus on at least one good thing, even if it seems small. You want to survive so you can thrive!

Regret. Mistakes. Missed opportunities. We all have them. Some may have been life changing while others may have only helped our daily lives run more smoothly. I was thinking about some future things the other day and caught myself regretting the fact that I missed some opportunities to plan for some things. I started to wonder, “What will happen when….?” I ultimately know the answer based on the events I have already experienced. The answer is, “God will show up.” I know this because He has shown up for me in the past.

The Bible says, “It is the LORD who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭31:8‬ ‭AMP‬‬ A good example of this is the story of Abraham in Genesis 22 when the Lord asked him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham was sensitive to God’s voice at the beginning of the chapter when he responded with, “Here I am,” when God called. Then God asked him to do a difficult thing, but Abraham obeyed. When he arrived at the mountain, he was prepared to complete the task at hand. However, a messenger of God again called to him and he answered, “Here I am,”. God showed up and provided an animal for the sacrifice. It’s like somehow Abraham knew God would show up because He had showed up for him in the past. However, I found myself wondering how different that would have turned out had Abraham not answered the messenger immediately. Abraham wasn’t so distracted that he missed God showing up and providing for him.

Abraham had to tune out everything around him in order to hear God and what he was supposed to do. Our lives are so busy with things that distract us from seeking God and spending time with Him. Our minds are filled with more clutter than clarity. Make a conscious effort to tune out the clutter so God can show up and you can thrive instead of survive!

“Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith (through experience) produces endurance (leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace).” James 1:2-3 AMP.

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines consider as the following: to fix the mind on; to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on. Thinking on these definitions gives new light to the verse above and how we should act in trials. The verse says to consider it nothing but joy. So when we substitute some of the definitions, we get to fix the mind on joy; to meditate on joy. I’ve heard this verse before and seemed to pass over the first sentence, which is actually the command or instruction we should follow. The last thing we want to do when facing trials or disruptions in our lives is to consider it joy. It feels good to complain about our trials, our disruptions, and our interruptions. Most people don’t judge too harshly when we do because they have been there too. It doesn’t take any extra effort or brain power to complain about our situation. It usually feels good to tell other people about it and get their sympathy.

How do we get out of our feelings and off the easy route to actually consider it joy in these situations? It comes in our focus of minute by minute reminding ourselves of all the good things we have. For example, when disruptions come at your job, focus on being joyful you actually have a job. When you have to adjust something in your family schedule to accommodate activities, be thankful you can attend those activities. As we focus on, ponder, and think on the things we can do, we will find more joy in the situation than frustration. We will feel better though the situation and also gain the promises of the verse, endurance and inner peace. Those are some powerful promises! I don’t want to feel like I’m in turmoil or not equipped to do the things I need to do in my life.

Don’t merely survive each day by giving in to your feelings. Next time consider joy so you can thrive!

So much of what we do and talk about today has to do with feelings. “I feel tired.” “I feel happy.” “I feel sad.” “I feel confused.” “I feel confident.” “I feel comfortable.” We do various things throughout the day based on what we feel. We rank activities based on how they make us feel. Most of the time I choose what I want to eat based on my current feelings. I’m what could be called an emotional eater. I eat well when I am confident and comfortable, and I eat poorly when I am not confident or am worried about something. This has not served me well as I have grown older mostly because my poor food choices cause me to need new clothing. Now don’t get me wrong. I like shopping and buying new clothes. However, I don’t like being forced in to buying new clothes because I’m outgrowing the old ones. I have done my share of reading and researching healthy foods and eating plans. I know what I should eat. Honestly, when I eat well I do feel better. Those are the times I’m using wisdom to guide my food choices.

Using wisdom in all of our life choices is really the way to go. Ecclesiastes 2:13 says, “Then I saw that wisdom is better then folly and self-indulgence as light excels darkness.” (AMP) Self-indulgence in the foods that make me feel better emotionally only causes brief periods of satisfaction. When I use wisdom and make healthy eating choices, my whole body feels better. If I can avoid giving in to my feelings temporarily then I benefit more permanently.

I know it may seem odd to use this verse and the subject of eating to make a point. However, I believe this truly applies to all areas of our lives. I can survive my temporary indulgence in foods that improve my mood, but I thrive when I choose ones that are good for my health. What areas can you use wisdom in to help improve your day?

Verse 3 of Psalm 66 says, “Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you’.” (NIV)

I was struck by the words, “say to God”. This is basically telling us to tell God how great He is. At first I thought this was an unusual thing to say. The Psalms are filled with words like sing praises to Him, tell of His works, and shout for joy, all of which are done when we praise God. When we do those things we are telling God and others about His goodness and the good things He has done. God is good and will do good things for us, which we are to thank and praise Him for doing. However, the specific instruction of “say to God” seemed a little stronger than a suggestion but makes sense when you think about it.

Think of it like this: We all want to do good things for our families and our jobs because we want to show goodness. Many times those deeds go unnoticed. They are still appreciated, but you don’t always get recognition or a thank you for what you’ve done. That tends to make us a little slower to act next time because we feel under appreciated. We don’t stop doing the good things, but we wonder if they are noticed. We like the praise. The same is true for God. He’s not going to stop being good to us if we don’t thank Him and praise Him for what He does. However, praising Him gets our eyes off of ourselves and our circumstances and focuses us back on Him and His plans for us. Even when things are tough, find something good where you can give God praise. We will survive and continue on without praise, but we thrive more when we get praise. Choose to thrive today by giving God praise!

We need words, whether they are spoken or written. Many words don’t cause harm or controversy. However, it seems that as we use more words and increase our communication, more people are offended or hurt by words. It happens many different ways. A wrong word at the wrong time; a wrong word spoken hastily; a right word at the wrong time; a right word spoken harshly. Proverbs 25:11-12 says, “The right word at the right time is like a custom made piece of jewelry, and a wise friend’s timely reprimand is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.” (MSG) Some people might not be interested in jewelry. You can think about it in terms of anything you think is valuable. So wise words or words spoken appropriately are valuable.

Proverbs 29:20 says, “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (NSRV). Proverbs talks a lot about fools -not favorably. It even says that wise words in the mouth of a fool are useless, (Proverbs 26:7). This makes a lot of sense when I think about my own experience. When I don’t choose my words carefully or speak hastily, I feel foolish. Proverbs 28:26 says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered.” (NSRV) So, the opposite of a fool is one who is wise. There are many promises in Proverbs for those who are wise, including the words above about being delivered. Thanks to God’s grace, I can survive the times I don’t watch my words and appear foolish. However, I can thrive if I put aside foolish ways and choose my words wisely.

I came across this verse that stated, “If you are slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited.” (Proverbs 24:10 NSRV). Webster’s 1828 dictionary has one definition of slack as “weak” or “not holding fast”. This happens to many of us when we encounter trouble of any kind. Our world is full of things that want to steal our peace of mind and cause us to focus on things that are not encouraging. Many times the things that distract us are not necessarily bad things. I get distracted with work. I enjoy my job and want to do well. Doing well in my job makes me feel successful. That success is limited to what happens in my job on a daily basis. I can’t control everything that happens in my job. Therefore, I have days where I feel limited because something unexpected interrupted my day. Those are the days I have to force myself to stop looking at the immediate and focus more on the big picture. I don’t abandon the processes that have helped me be successful in the past. I “hold fast” to the practices where I have experienced success in the past.

The same holds true for our lives as a whole. We can’t allow ourselves to abandon the truths of God’s word when the “day of distress” comes. His words don’t change. Verse 16 later in the same chapter says, “A righteous man falls seven times, and rises again…”. That is the truth that doesn’t change regardless of our circumstances. You can survive your day of distress, but why not hold fast to God’s word and thrive through the day of distress!