FOLLOW THE LEADER
Contemporary Equine Art Horse Oil Daily Painting by Laurie Justus Pace
SOLD
24 x 36 Private Collection Colorado Springs, CO.
Contact me for Commission Work: Laurie
Contemporary Equine Art Horse Oil Daily Painting by Laurie Justus Pace
SOLD
24 x 36 Private Collection Colorado Springs, CO.
Contact me for Commission Work: Laurie
"I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live."--John 11:25
Rain greets the Easter Morning here in Dallas. Much needed rain, but not exactly the ideal thought of a brilliant sunrise on Easter, where you go to early sunrise service and watch or celebrate the SON risen in the sky...
So much is deeper than that and I am only just beginning to grasp it at my age. A sudden light bulb turned on in my head this weekend. Always, ALWAYS, I have shared a testimonial of when I heard God speak to me and the situation I was in and He most clearly said, "I will be there with you, you will not be alone. I will be walking next to you."
For my entire life I have believed that He walks with me and He is with me always. I have written in this blog many times that it is essential to spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word. The light bulb moment which I am still comprehending in slow realization... I have to be in Him. Not necessarily Him in me. I go about my life making my decisions, often with out praying and just knowing He is right there as I make my moves and go off on my will. I truly try and make decisions based on information I have and often spend days and weeks pondering and making lists, (Yes, Daddy, thanks to you I am a list maker...my father ALWAYS had me make lists as a child to identify the pros and cons) and then I make a decision based on all the facts, the probabilities and the possibilities and with prayer...about not just today but trying to look ahead and make wise decisions for tomorrow.
Do you do this? I hope I am not alone in this.
In reality we are driven by our anxieties to control our journey. We are constantly rationalizing our decisions to be the best for us now and our tomorrow. We remain tense and anxious as the days fold out and most of the time it is not anything like we thought it would be. We did it our way and not His way...just like we always do.
Trusting God the Father is the most difficult thing in our human existence. We are driven to distraction worrying about tomorrow and the what ifs and making decisions to protect ourselves from the what ifs. Our anxiety is there; is it from our belief that God is not working on our behalf so we have to step in? If so, we truly do not know the results of pure faith and trust.
Living in Him requires letting go of all those anxieties of worry about tomorrow. Take your job for instance. You have to have a job to pay the bills, have health insurance, feed the family, pay for your car note...and so what? Is your faith so limited that you think God will not provide? This is not a reflection to go become a couch potato...God would not laugh at that one at all. It just seems like much of what we do is based on fear of tomorrow and not trust of today. I believe that the "control" we think we have over our lives is an illusion. Our jobs are important to our life but there are other things more important. Our relationship with God, our family, our parents, our children, our neighbors; living life fully in Him is most important. Taking care of the gifts He has given us first and then sharing what we have with others.
God is not a fairy godmother that waves a magic wand to make things better or the way you want things. You should not question His love for you. He is your Father. He knows what you need before you know what you need. Sometimes He has to take away the things you hold so near and dear so that you realize that are just 'things'. It clears a path for you to come and be in Him...a way for Him to bring you into His life. Morgan, our youngest son said... it is a freedom. He said life truly begins at the point you feel stripped of everything and all you have left is Him. Jesus did it for us, He was stripped of everything earthly, but He was in God.
So on this Easter Morning, as we celebrate the risen Christ, be in Him. Be in Him always, in everything that you do and say.
Laurie
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;" 2 Corinthians 9:8
So much is deeper than that and I am only just beginning to grasp it at my age. A sudden light bulb turned on in my head this weekend. Always, ALWAYS, I have shared a testimonial of when I heard God speak to me and the situation I was in and He most clearly said, "I will be there with you, you will not be alone. I will be walking next to you."
For my entire life I have believed that He walks with me and He is with me always. I have written in this blog many times that it is essential to spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word. The light bulb moment which I am still comprehending in slow realization... I have to be in Him. Not necessarily Him in me. I go about my life making my decisions, often with out praying and just knowing He is right there as I make my moves and go off on my will. I truly try and make decisions based on information I have and often spend days and weeks pondering and making lists, (Yes, Daddy, thanks to you I am a list maker...my father ALWAYS had me make lists as a child to identify the pros and cons) and then I make a decision based on all the facts, the probabilities and the possibilities and with prayer...about not just today but trying to look ahead and make wise decisions for tomorrow.
Do you do this? I hope I am not alone in this.
In reality we are driven by our anxieties to control our journey. We are constantly rationalizing our decisions to be the best for us now and our tomorrow. We remain tense and anxious as the days fold out and most of the time it is not anything like we thought it would be. We did it our way and not His way...just like we always do.
Trusting God the Father is the most difficult thing in our human existence. We are driven to distraction worrying about tomorrow and the what ifs and making decisions to protect ourselves from the what ifs. Our anxiety is there; is it from our belief that God is not working on our behalf so we have to step in? If so, we truly do not know the results of pure faith and trust.
Living in Him requires letting go of all those anxieties of worry about tomorrow. Take your job for instance. You have to have a job to pay the bills, have health insurance, feed the family, pay for your car note...and so what? Is your faith so limited that you think God will not provide? This is not a reflection to go become a couch potato...God would not laugh at that one at all. It just seems like much of what we do is based on fear of tomorrow and not trust of today. I believe that the "control" we think we have over our lives is an illusion. Our jobs are important to our life but there are other things more important. Our relationship with God, our family, our parents, our children, our neighbors; living life fully in Him is most important. Taking care of the gifts He has given us first and then sharing what we have with others.
God is not a fairy godmother that waves a magic wand to make things better or the way you want things. You should not question His love for you. He is your Father. He knows what you need before you know what you need. Sometimes He has to take away the things you hold so near and dear so that you realize that are just 'things'. It clears a path for you to come and be in Him...a way for Him to bring you into His life. Morgan, our youngest son said... it is a freedom. He said life truly begins at the point you feel stripped of everything and all you have left is Him. Jesus did it for us, He was stripped of everything earthly, but He was in God.
So on this Easter Morning, as we celebrate the risen Christ, be in Him. Be in Him always, in everything that you do and say.
Laurie
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;" 2 Corinthians 9:8
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