by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Reliable friends who do what they say are like cool drinks in sweltering heat – refreshing!” Proverbs 25:13, The Message
Many of us are longing for so many things in life – money, recognition, a clean house or maybe your like me and would just love an occasional nap! 🙂 But no matter who you are or where you come from, I think we can all agree that God-centered friendships are priceless and a gift from Heaven above!
The truth is, if we have just one reliable friend – we are truly blessed. When the trails of life come knocking at our door, it is important for us to know whom to call upon for prayer and support. I often think about when Jesus himself asked a few disciples to come and pray with him at the Garden of Gethsemane. Isn’t that amazing? I mean, just think about this for a moment…even Jesus needed his most dependable friends near him during the darkest hours of his life. This fact has given me a new freedom. When the storms of life begin to blow, I immediately run to the shelter of God’s Word and I also know it is okay for me to call upon a few reliable friends to stand with me in prayer. We don’t have to fight the battles of life alone. We can call upon God and His people to stand by our side.
My prayer for you today is for God to shine a light on your reliable friends – those He has called to stand with you. And do not forget that YOU can be a reliable friend to those in your life! In Christ you have the power to offer a cool drink to a person in need today – now that’s refreshing!
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for always being with me. You are with me at every mountaintop and valley throughout my life. Please help me to be a reliable friend to those in need today. Shine Your light on the individuals You have called to stand with me for such a time as this. Thank you God for always being my most dependable friend. Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25
Have any of you had a dream that you knew was from God? I know that sometimes our dreams are a result of the pizza we ate the night before, but I have found in my life that God still speaks to His people through dreams from time to time. Today I would like to share with you a dream that has greatly impacted my life these past few months.
One night I had a dream that I was lying on the beach on a hot sunny day. I was alone and simply drinking in the beautiful views of the ocean, when all of a sudden I noticed that God was standing behind me. And although I was a little perplexed as to why He seemed so distant, I did not let this bother me and I continued soaking in the rays of the sun. Then I decided to go for a walk on the beach and once again I noticed that Jesus appeared to be following me. Puzzled, I turned to Him and asked Him, “Why are following me? And why were You standing behind me earlier?” Jesus replied ever so sweetly, “Tracy, I love you so much and I long to sit and talk with you, but you expect Me to follow your dreams and plans for your life, instead of what I have for you.” Tears filled my eyes at His response and I was so grieved by the fact that somewhere, somehow I had lost the art of following God. I did not realize that I was requiring God to bless my plans, my way and my dreams. Needless to say, I told Jesus how sorry I was and then we took a walk together. This time I followed Him 🙂 He led me to a beautiful cliff overlooking the majestic ocean. I turned to Him and stated, “This is so beautiful Lord and I never knew this view was here.” Jesus looked me straight in the eyes and lovingly told me, “Tracy I have so much I want to show you – if you will follow me.”
This dream has changed my life and I pray that it will encourage you and me to continually surrender everything to God. I cannot leave our time together today without asking you: Are you following Jesus or are you expecting Him to follow your plans and aspirations? We serve an awesome, loving God who is just waiting to show us amazing things – if we will follow Him.
Prayer:
Lord, I give you my life. I surrender my dreams and desires to you this day. Please forgive me for expecting You to follow my plans. My greatest passion in life is to follow You Jesus and fulfill my destiny on earth. I choose this day to embrace what is before me. I may not like all that is going on around me at this time, but I trust that according to Romans 8:28 – You will work all things out for my good. I know that as I follow You that my best days are yet ahead! I love you Lord and thank you for your grace and mercy. Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
Dear Jesus,
I find myself overwhelmed this morning with gratitude for the Cross and all that it represents for me. I have always been thankful for the Cross, yet it seems that the older I become the more I am aware of exactly what You did for me that day on Golgotha. And while I cannot fully understand nor comprehend why You would willingly lay down Your life for me, I cannot help but wonder, ….what if You hadn’t? What if You had ordered ten thousand angels to come to Your aid? What if you decided that following God’s plan for Your life was more than You could bear? What if…. Jesus, what if?
But because You willingly GAVE Your life for me, I cannot help but willingly GIVE You my life in return. If it were not for You, I would not be alive today and I can honestly say without hesitation that I can never repay You for what you did for me on the Cross. I love you Jesus and I give You my life – Everything I am and everything I am not is Yours Jesus. Take my life and may You be glorified through me.
Thank you for shedding Your Precious Blood for me. Thank you for conquering the devil, death and every disease for me that day. Thank you for eternal life that is now available to all believers and me. Thank you for the resurrection power that abides in all believers to overcome every obstacle that comes our way because of Your Precious Blood.
May we all be full of thanksgiving for the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus this Easter season. While the world is consumed with it’s commercialism of Easter, help us Lord to not become entrapped in the world’s way of thinking. Let us always remember that Easter is about You. It is Your day and I choose to acknowledge Your willingness to give Your life on the Cross that I may live forever with You in Heaven- Now that is something to celebrate! 🙂
Many Easter blessings to you and your family!
Tracy
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
This is my daughter’s favorite treat to unwrap!
“What I am trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.” -Matthew 6:32, Message Translation
Have you ever received a gift so beautifully wrapped that you hated to open it? While it may have been tempting to sit the package on a shelf and just stare at it, I think most of us have too much curiosity to not open it and see what is inside! After all, someone took time out of his or her day just to buy you a gift and it would be rude to not open it – right? Yet, so many of us have unopened gifts from God each and everyday. When life gets busy we often fail to respond to God’s gift giving. We can become all consumed with going to work, running errands, paying our bills and taking care of the tyranny of the urgent that we never open the gifts God has placed before us.
According to the scripture above, we have to stop being preoccupied with getting in order to receive something. Do you mean that God wants me to relax and receive a gift from Him everyday? Yes! Let me ask you a question: What are you in need of today? Whatever you maybe facing, God has the right gift to help you overcome every test and trial. So, I encourage you to unwrap and receive what God is longing to give you. Be expectant for a gift from heaven to fall upon you today!
Prayer:
Lord, help me to stop and receive the gift you are longing to give me this day. You know exactly what I need. Forgive me for being so preoccupied with life that I fail to spend time with You. Thank you for the gift of salvation and all that it contains. I choose to receive Your joy, peace, protection, healing, favor, provision, forgiveness, wisdom and anything else You see that I am in need of today. Thank you Lord for lavishing me with more gifts than I know what to do with. You are the greatest gift I have ever received in my life and I praise you! Amen.
It’s time to rest and receive gifts from Heaven! Watch out for unexpected gifts to fall into your lap. There are gifts that have been stored up, gifts that are just because He loves you, gifts so beautifully wrapped – but you are to open them – not just stare at their beauty. Happy unwrapping!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
James 1:17 NKJ
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.” -A Hymn by Annie S. Hawks & Robert Lowry
I find myself singing the Hymn above many days when I am aware that I need an infilling of God’s Presence in my life. And while I yearn for Jesus each day, there seem to be some days that I am more desperate for Him than usual – this morning was one of those times. I admit that during my years of private practice as a counselor I felt God’s Presence each day as I ministered to the hurting and I am aware of God’s anointing on my life when speaking to women at conference’s and retreats. But as a stay-at-home mother, I have often struggled with feeling God’s Presence while handling my everyday ordinary challenges, such as, temper tantrums, changing dirty diapers, laundry and keeping the house picked up (which is near-ending task with a toddler)!
No matter where you are in life – we all need God’s Presence with us during our everyday, ordinary life. God longs to be with us each day, no matter what we are doing. The truth is that God is just as powerful within us while standing in line at our local grocery store as He is at our church. Why is it that we put God in a box and simply “open” Him up for Sunday mornings and fail to see that He is always near us? Wherever we are is Holy ground. Selah (pause and think about that for a moment).
So let’s begin to ask for God’s Presence in our life no matter how mundane our day may seem. Our prayer might be something like, “Jesus, will you be with me today while I go to work, workout at the gym, cook dinner, talk to friends of the phone, play with the kids and take a few minutes to read the Bible and pray? Help me to hear your voice and acknowledge that Your Presence is with me at all times. Amen.”
All we have to do is ASK and He will help us with our everyday, ordinary life. I don’t know about you, but I need Jesus every hour! I want to experience His Presence every moment of everyday. It is because of the work of the cross and the Precious Blood of Jesus that we have the Holy Spirit who yearns to speak to us! Oh, that we would hear the voice of the Spirit this day!
Prayer:
Lord, I ask that you be with me today. Forgive me for not acknowledging Your Presence while performing my everyday, ordinary tasks. I am so grateful that I serve a God who longs to be with me every moment of my day. I ask that You go before me today and make all the crooked places straight, create rivers in the desert and move the obstacles that are before me. As the Hymn states above, “I need Thee; O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; Bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee!” Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.” Proverbs 3:27
*As my husband’s 40th birthday approached a few years ago, I decided that I was not going to let his typical response to dampen my plans to honor him. As anticipated, my husband was not into the “party idea” at all. But, one night while he was channel surfing I asked him who he wanted to attend his party. At first my husband looked at me as if my question was causing him pain, but finally with his cooperation, we listed twenty-three of our closest friends. And believe it or not, as the invitations went out, I began to sense that he was warming up to the idea of celebrating his birthday.
You see, I had heard that turning 40 for a man is much like how a woman feels when she turns 30 (and I had already experienced that trauma:). I remembered feeling discouraged at where I was in life and battled the thoughts of “I should be farther in life than I am.” I could see glimpses that my husband was struggling with similar feelings and I knew this party had to be more than just cake and ice cream – if you know what I mean.
As a Christian counselor I have the privilege of supporting and guiding people during the darkest hours of their life. Many individuals are perplexed that I can sit with people in their pain and not become depressed myself, but what they fail to realize is that my clients daily help me see God’s faithfulness in their lives! One life lesson I continually hear over and over again from my clients is the importance of honoring those you love before it is too late. And my party for my precious husband was my attempt at doing just that!
I asked each guest to bring with them a tribute (written words of how my husband has impacted their life for the better) and to share this with my husband the night of the party. The evening was magnificent, but when my husband and I think back to that event, we don’t remember the cake and punch, but the words our family and friends shared. My husband’s life was impacted that night and he was able to experience something many people never have the opportunity to undergo while living.
I encourage you this Valentine’s Day to honor those you love. Whether you write an encouraging note, make a nice dinner or send them some flowers to express how much someone means to you – take my client’s advice and honor those you love before it is too late. We can be mightily used by God to encourage and impact someone’s life today – now that is quite an honor!
*Published Article by Tracy Hurst, Christian Chronicle/2004
