Sleep Advice

No caffeine after 4 pm.

Make a to do list for the next day and then do not allow yourself to think about it until morning.

Warm shower.

Gentle stretches.

Apply external pain relievers as needed.

Read or do something that causes your eyes to move back and forth like needle point would or other stitch work.

Insert comfortable ear plugs if your spouse snores.

Breathe relaxation in-- stress out.

Pray.

Recite the 23^rd Psalm to yourself or some other soothing poem.

Do you have any suggestions to add?

Smile! God loves you!

Even in difficult times we can smile because we know that God loves us.

One time there was a young man who decided he didn’t want to be married anymore.  Someone asked him if he knew where he came from and why he was here? He had no answer.  There are so many who have no idea of the meaning and purpose of life.  Each one does as he knows best and it isn’t the way that God would have them to live.  Here is a thirty minute talk by Tim Keller on a reason for living: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts7F6dqrC-s

Christianity has the answers for the meaning and purpose of life but many people are not able to understand the truth because they are in bondage to sin.  Ravi Zacharias likens the bondage that the Israelites were in in Egypt to the sin that traps us until we accept the free gift of salvation that God wants to give us.  There is so much evil in the world –people have called good bad and bad good so much that people are confused and have given in to evil.  Here is a five minute You Tube of Andy Lewis, Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church pastor in Greenville, SC.  He talks about the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado.  Now we have had another tragedy in Washington D.C.-- his thoughts would apply to this also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gGmgUfRSjI

If we can admit our sin and turn our lives over to Jesus then God will bring us out of bondage.  After God brought the Israelites out of bondage He gave them the moral law—the Ten Commandments.  These same Commandments are given to us to show us that we cannot follow the law perfectly.  We need a Savior to pay the price of death that God must require because He is holy and just.   But He himself paid that price by coming to earth to die for us so that we may have eternal life with Him.

Now there are many people attending church who have head knowledge of Jesus but not heart knowledge. Instead of studying the Bible and seeking God to know Him, seeking Him to help them, and seeking Him to forgive them, they live according to the lies of Hollywood and television.  It has been preached for years through this media that it is up to each one to decide when they will have sex.  Not so—God in his word said in I Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  

Most Christians will admit that if we worship anyone other than God, if we commit adultery, if we become involved in homosexuality, if we steal, if we lust after things that do not belong to us, if we are drunks, use foul language, or cheat others we are not living according to how God wants us to live.  But the word “fornicator” is in there also.  Many single Christians deceive themselves and live and or sleep together before marriage.  Abstinence education is laughed at because they say people will have sex anyway so we might as well give out free condoms.  This is saying that humans have no self control—that we are not made in God’s image, but that we are just animals.    Churches and parents either have not been convinced that purity until marriage is God’s way, or have not been teaching purity before marriage.  Somehow our society is confused and not convinced that God expects purity.  In fact those who remain a virgin, like athletes Tim Tebow and LoLo Jones, are put down, and given a bad time for their convictions.

My prayer is that Christians will study the Bible, and seek God to know Him Who is the truth, and be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we may live lives that will point the lost to Jesus!  And that God will bring the lost out of the bondage to sin, and that they will live life with meaning and purpose! 

Whatever You Do, Work At It With All Your Heart, As Working For The Lord, Not For Men. Colossians 3:23

God has designed everyone to do some kind of work.  Even Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden tilled the ground and looked after the garden.  When I came down with fibromyalgia thirty years ago, I was in so much pain, from the torn muscles that never repaired themselves, I couldn’t imagine what work I could do.  I knew it was important for me to do something.  Somehow, through eliminating many activities from my life, I narrowed my labor down to providing food, clean clothing, and listening ears to my family.  I added prayer, Bible study, and exercise for me.  But, when I would become involved in PTA, volunteering in the schools, participation in politics, even involvement in church, my pain would increase.  (When I became suicidal because of the pain in the middle of teaching a Sunday school class, I finally got the point that this wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing.) However, I still wanted to do more.  I prayed about it and decided that I could write for short periods of time.  I love to read so I set about learning to write. 

Later, my son suggested that I write a blog.  My family calls me “Billy Bob” after Billy Graham because I like to preach to them.  My son thought I could do my preaching in a blog!    I have enjoyed writing my blog and two people even told me that they enjoyed reading it!

However, I could preach in my blog all I wanted to but was this all I was supposed to do?  After reading a few blogs on the persecuted Christians around the world I wondered if there was something I could do to help?  With this desire in my heart I became aware of a blog from the Voice of the Martyrs.  Those writing the blog let us know that letters to Christians in prison in foreign lands do make a difference.  Here is a link to the story: http://www.persecutionblog.com/2013/09/repost-letters-to-prisoners-do-make-a-difference.html

 Now writing letters was something that even within my limits , I could do.  So I stepped out in faith and wrote my first letter to a prisoner for Christ in Pakistan.  I’m praying it gets there and that it will make a difference for that imprisoned Christian!

Prayer, Children, and the Internet

Evelyn Christianson (http://evelynchristensonministries.org/) tricked me in to praying out loud.  I had never prayed aloud even though I had been a Christian for years.  Maybe one reason this was true was that I couldn’t put my heart felt trust in God in to words.  I’ve never been a writer or a speaker.  But when I attended a Sunday school workshop, led by Evelyn Christianson, she had us form small groups of three or four.  I thought we were going to discuss a subject she would give us.  Instead she asked each member in the group to pray a one-sentence prayer.  Wow!  I was able to do that!  Who knew?  God knew.  So when I came down with fibromyalgia twelve years later, and I couldn’t work, I asked God what I could do?  He put on my heart that I could pray.

By that time Fern Nichols, (http://www.momsinprayer.org/about-us/fern-nichols), had founded Moms in Prayer, a group to pray for our children, teachers, and schools.    I have been involved in groups since my son was in 6^th grade and my daughter was in college.  It has been a tremendous blessing to our family to have the prayer support of many wonderful moms.  God has answered our prayers again and again.

Well, coming up on September 15, 2013, is Bless our schools Sunday.  (http://www.momsinprayer.org/events/bless-our-schools) And our kids, teachers, and schools need a lot of prayer.  A prayer request from one teacher is, “PLEASE PRAY FOR THE STUDENT’S LIVES AND CHALLENGES, AND THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO FOCUS AND ACCOMPOLISH ALL THE YEAR HOLDS FOR THEM.  I WOULD ALSO ASK FOR YOUR PRAYERS THAT I CAN HAVE THE ENERGY, PATIENCE AND LOVE TO HELP MY STUDENTS BE SUCCESSFUL, AND THAT THROUGH ME THEY WILL SEE GOD’S LOVE.”

I think our prayers for our kids are even more urgent than ever.  I listened to a Revive Our Hearts podcast with Josh McDowell, (http://www.josh.org/), and heard this alarming message: http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/revive-our-hearts/small-conversations-big-results/.  The Internet is a dangerous place for our kids but it has good stuff on it too.  So we need to have such a good relationship with our kids that they can tell us anything and we can have wisdom to steer them in the right direction.  (When our daughter was in college every two weeks she would call and say she was going to quit college.  She usually had a paper or a test coming up.  I would suggest that she wait two weeks, and then we would talk again.  In two weeks she had decided to stay.  She got a Bachelors degree and is now working on her Masters! Meanwhile, during that time, my moms prayer group would be praying like crazy!) 

So check out getting involved in prayer for our kids.  I’m now leading a career prayer group.  I still pray succinct prayers and I know that God is OK with that!

Evolution vs God

The above You Tube is a must watch for Christian college students.  If you are planning on majoring in biology this will get your thoughts going.  

A Time To Love And A Time To Hate, A Time For War And A Time For Peace. Ecclesiastes 3:8

Chris and I have been watching old episodes of Foyles War, a PBS series set during World War II.  It shows how people in a small English village, outside of the war zone, cope with daily life, their lack of food, lack of supplies, and with an occasional bombing, along with requisition of their land.  Foyle is a godly, unflappable man who solves crimes with much wisdom, and moral character.  In one episode he mentions that he thinks everyone should be going to church to come together to pray for the end of the war.   His sidekick, Samantha, who is his driver, lends a sweet, cheerful element to the shows.

I suppose that during WWII the people of the Unites States suffered because of rationing and giving priority to the war effort.  But we have been far enough away from war geographically to have been somewhat protected.  For instance I haven’t heard of any land being seized for building airports or anything like that.  A friend of mine has a neighbor, who moved to the United States from England at the end of World War II, so that she could drink orange juice.  There was no possible way of getting anything like that in London after the war. 

In this country we didn’t suffer during the Viet Nam war, at least I didn’t.  Life went on as usual.  I was able to get a teaching job right out of college, etc. Our military did all the suffering for us.  We were insulated from having to give up or sacrifice in any way.  After the Communists killed over 100,000 people in Asia the United States had to do something.

 Now there has been continuous unrest and war in the Middle East since 2001. I’ve been praying for the people of the Middle East;  first, that God would direct all the regime changes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, and the other countries. Now I’m praying that God would intervene in the civil war in Syria. I'm also praying for our president and those surrounding him that they will seek God for wisdom from above as to what to do. Here is what Joel Rosenberg advises:  http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/why-i-cannot-support-the-resolution-to-support-this-particular-president-going-to-war-in-syria/   I’m saddened by all the killing and destruction of Christians, churches, and institutions.  Here is a link to see the list of things that have been wiped out: http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=28764&sendtofriend=11640

I’m praying that God will protect His people in the Middle East and give them boldness for Christ to get the Gospel out before it is too late.  Here is an hour program on Understanding the Times called When a Great Nation Becomes Lawless:   - Understanding the Times Radio Broadcasts
Link: http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/understanding-the-times/ .

Joel Rosenberg wrote about the four camps of thought on Syria here in the United States.  Here is the link: http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/analysis-how-should-the-us-respond-to-assad-regime-experts-fall-into-four-basic-camps/

Then I also pray for the Christians in the United States that we will get the Gospel out here before Jesus comes back.  Today I was reading in Ezekiel 17.  In verse 8 it talks about Egypt, but I thought this would be a good prayer to pray for our churches—That we would be planted in good soil, by abundant water, so that we would produce branches, bear fruit, and become a splendid vine.  I’m not sure what this would look like but I’m trusting God to lead us. But I’m excited too.  Could this unrest in the Middle East mean that Jesus is coming back soon?  How long will He tarry?