Joy in the Journey

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1a … while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13 My husband and I are standing in a room that is at once very familiar and not familiar at all. It is a room with no windows and no doors. If you’ve ever ridden the Haunted Mansion in Disney World you know what I’m talking about. You begin the journey in a room with a ceiling and walls that seemingly has no form of exit. In case you haven’t picked up on that yourself, a dark, creepy voice informs you that the only way out is his way, leaving no question in your mind that the rest of the journey is not going to be pretty. The room Otto and I find ourselves in is the same in that it has no windows, no doors and only one way out. The differences are the look of the room and the voice that is speaking to us. Our room is full of light. I get the feeling of a very pretty, airy blue, like ...

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,” plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” Jeremiah 29:11 Yesterday I heard a pastor preach on Psalm 8. He said that God has made each of us unique, that He has given us a passion and that He has a purpose for our lives. Those three words that begin with P, person, passion and purpose, each had their own little box. As I looked at my notes this morning, not reading them but just seeing them on my desk I realized that while there were Scripture references and salient points jotted in the boxes for person and purpose there was nothing noted in the passion box. Ah-ha! Listening to the pastor as he spoke I did jot down notes about my (our) importance to God, how dearly He loves each of us. I made notes about living according to His will and purpose for my life. I even jotted down a little joke the pastor made because I knew my husband, who wasn’t able to be with me, would love it. In the passion box I made no notes, not one single ...

Who Is Jesus? When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do you say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-17 “Who do you say that I am?” Who do you say that He is? Is your answer different today than it was yesterday or will be tomorrow? Do you answer that question with Simon Peter’s words or your own? Much time has passed since Jesus asked this question. Today’s answer on the surface is of course the same as Peter’s answer. But our response should go deeper. We, unlike Peter have been taught that Jesus is the Son of living God. That was not something we had to discern for ourselves. Our own experi...

Amazing Answers When the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:9-10 Yesterday I was blessed to be a part of a ministry effort gone somewhat south. In short, what we mortal beings had planned was not what God had in mind. We ended up helping in a very different way from what we expected. As one member of my group commented on that the woman we were helping just laughed. “It ain’t nothin’ honey.” She said. “I’m not surprised. You say a prayer and ask God for help and He jus’ sends it along. Isn’t He amazin’?” As I responded in agreement that yes, God is amazing I started to laugh. I turned to her and asked if she’d received similar answers to prayer before. She said yes and I said I had too, so why are we still so amazed? I think there are two answers to that question and I think both are true for me at var...

Found Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6a Often when people begin a relationship with God they are said to have “found” Him. That irks me a little. The idea that the God of the universe is so often lost. Does He wander about like some poor demented soul? No! God is not lost. God does not get lost, even when we in our anger or ignorance tell Him to do just that. God is never lost in the literal sense but He can be lost to us. Doing a study of the 23rd Psalm I spent a lot of time with the words, “goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.” God is love and love will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me? No wonder He gets lost so often! That doesn’t really make sense because the earlier part of the same psalm says He will lead me. Which only makes sense because oh, right, He’s God. He leads us,...

Hello My name is Tricia and this is my attempt to share with anyone who is interested, the words and thoughts that God has shared with me. Today is my first day as a blogger. This has been suggested to me numerous times and frankly I've been too old school to try it. It is my hope that the words I place here will bless and encourage those of you who are journeying toward home as I am. It is my goal to post a message each day that will include Scripture, a brief story to go with that Scripture and maybe a prayer or two. For some of you this will be quite familiar as it is the same style as in our e-mail days and in the book Joyful Perspective. As usual, I would love to hear your feedback. Blessings to all of you, Tricia