by Tracy | Life With Alyssa, Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Give yourself to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will help you; He will make your righteousness shine like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:5-6
This afternoon, I was busy folding laundry when Alyssa decided that she wanted to come and “help.” You know, the kind of “help” that makes your work twice as hard? I had just separated and neatly folded the clothes into piles. Nevertheless, after just a few seconds, those neatly folded clothes were thrown all over the floor! As I began to pick up each item and fold them once again, I began pondering on this little exercise called the “laundry of life.” It is something that our Heavenly Father knows a lot about.
Let me ask you a question: How many a time has God neatly folded and taken care of the concerns in your life, only to have you come and “help” Him and create a total mess? Can I get an Amen from someone?
We serve a God who longs to put us in the washer of His grace. He longs to cleanse us in His love and forgiveness and warm us in the dryer of His Word. The truth is, there will always be the “laundry of life” (various challenges and trials), but we serve a God who will wash us, dry us, care for us, and even uniquely handle and fold the delicate issues dearest to our hearts.
Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for being fearful and not trusting You with various issues in my life. You did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. I will seek You in prayer and trust that You will show me if there is something I need to do. Otherwise, I will leave the details to You, Lord. Please wash me in your grace, dry me in your Word and uniquely handle and fold the concerns of my life this day.” Amen.
IF YOU DID NOT READ MY PREVIOUS POST FROM THURSDAY, APRIL 5th, PLEASE CLICK HERE (It’s an important announcement for tracyhurst.com readers)
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by Tracy | Life With Alyssa, Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 7:12, New American Standard Bible
As most of you know from my life with Alyssa blog, I recently put Alyssa in a Mother’s Morning Out program. And to my utter dismay, one of the moms dropped off her sick child. Needless to say, Alyssa, another child, the child’s mom and now my husband (who never gets sick) have caught this horrible cold! Ugh! I will admit that for several hours in the wee morning, I plotted and planned how I would handle this matter. Of course, these “plans” were not how Jesus would want me to handle them. My “fleshly” thoughts only led me to become even more outraged and unbeknownst to me at the time, I had fallen for an old, but familiar trap: THE TRAP OF OFFENSE.
The trap of offense will ruin your day and even your life if you let it seep in! Holding onto offenses and becoming bitter will leave you physically and emotionally exhausted. Once I realized that offense was trying to enter my mind, I knew I had a choice to make. It was a choice of life or death. I decided to extend forgiveness and I instantly felt better. A renewed strength filled my tired body as I chose the higher road and let go of offense!
The truth is we cannot control others, but we can control our lives and the choices that we make. With this in mind, let’s choose to forgive and not be bitter. Let’s choose to not judge, less we be judged. Let’s choose to love and not hate. Let’s choose to bless and not curse. Let’s choose to be the best that we can be. And I (Tracy) choose to practice the golden rule of “doing unto others as I would want done unto myself,” by never placing Alyssa in childcare of any kind while she is sick.
Prayer:
“Lord, I choose to forgive those who have hurt me or my family. I ask that you bless those who have cursed me. I extend forgiveness not only because it is Your will, but I also need forgiveness extended to me. I ask that Your love and grace fill my mind, body and spirit right now. Give me supernatural energy and ability to be the best that I can be for myself and my family. Thank you Jesus for forgiving me of all my sins. Amen.”
Point to ponder: Forgiveness is not based on a feeling, it is a choice.
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by Tracy | Inspirational, Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
“I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity; Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street…Are you confused about life, don’t know what’s going on? Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me! I’ve prepared a wonderful spread – fresh-baked bread, roast lamb, carefully selected wines. Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning.” Proverbs 8:11,9:3-4, Message Translation
Do you ever have days when you feel as if you are losing your sanity? There are times when confusion and worry fill my mind and when this happens, I literally turn into a different person! While I am usually a person of peace and joy, those precious gifts are nowhere to be found. I have learned that when I am in this state, I need to sit down and have “dinner” with God! The truth is that according to Proverbs 8, Lady Wisdom is calling to us everyday. The Wisdom of God will show us how to live well and enjoy life. The problem is that there are other voices calling us as well: The voices of the world, opinions of man, fear, temptation, greed and the list goes on and on.
My question for you today is: whom are you dining with tonight? Let’s choose Lady Wisdom as our dinner host and enjoy a wonderful meal. If you choose to dine and fellowship with the other voices listed above – you will surely be eating worms! It is our choice to which dinner invitation we reply a “yes.” I don’t know about you, but fresh-baked bread and roast of lamb sound good to me. Will you join Lady Wisdom and I for dinner tonight? I promise you will leave her table feeling of satisfied. And remember that Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street – who knows maybe we can join them for dessert (I’m sure they will be serving chocolate:)!
Prayer:
“Lord, I seek You for Wisdom this day. I give you all the concerns heavy on my heart. I ask that you take away the plate of confusion and worry from my life and replace it with heaping portions of Your Wisdom and Peace. Thank you for inviting me to eat “dinner” with You. I answer, “yes” to your invitation. I know that everything I need will be discussed and that your guidance will be given as we dine together tonight.” Amen.
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by Tracy | Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here’s what you do –
Say nothing evil or hurtful; snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you’re worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to do what he’s asked; but he turns his back on those who do evil things.” 1 Peter 3:10, Message Translation
Whenever I am around people who gossip, I always leave their presence feeling dirty and in need of a spiritual shower. Yet, as much as I hate gossip, occasionally I find myself listening with interest and even participating. Whenever gossip first begins in conversation, my spirit feels uncomfortable and I always try to change the subject. Nevertheless, at times I get pulled in and fall prey to this evil sin. This is why we must be careful with whom we spend time and allow in our inner circle. Our inner circle consists of individuals we socialize with on a regular basis. *The truth is: If these “friends” are talking about others with you, then they are talking about you with others! Are you hanging out with people who gossip and say evil things about others? Are you that person? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if this is true about you or the friends you associate with.
Once a year I do what I call a “friend check.” This ritual allows the Holy Spirit to show me if someone, for various reasons, needs to move from my inner circle. Although this is hard for me, I have learned to trust the hand of God. God will often remove someone who is a wrong influence in my life and bring new friendships, which will encourage me to fulfill my destiny in Christ. Don’t be afraid to ask God to do a “friend check” in your life – I’ve had the same best friends for ten plus years. But they are people who run after peace and speak well of others. God simply longs to fill our days up with good and look upon us with his approval as the scripture states. He is a forgiving God and is always looking out for our very best.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to be a woman who runs after peace and cultivates good wherever I go. I give you permission to show me if I have fallen prey to gossip and speaking evil of others. Please forgive me Jesus and cleanse me of this sin. Help me to speak only good of others and hold things in confidence. Give me wisdom about who is in my inner circle. I give you permission to remove anyone out of my inner circle and to bring in new friends for your purposes in my life. Thank you for looking upon me today with approval from heaven. Thank you for loving me. Amen.
Point to ponder: The people you hang out with today will determine who you become in five years!
