by Tracy | Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
(A picture of me & Brigette, my dear friend of 17 years)
“For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.” Galatians 5:14, The Message Translation
What kind of a friend are you?
– Do you hold confidences or break them?
– Do you celebrate successes or respond in jealousy?
– Do you “give” in the relationship or simply “take”?
– Do you thank God daily for their friendship or take them for granted?
– Do you listen or do all the talking?
– Do you tell them how much they mean to you or assume they already know?
– Do you encourage them when they are down or pick them apart with your words?
– Do you bringing your friends closer to Christ or pull them farther away?
– Do you love at all times or just when it’s about you?
– Do you speak highly of others or gossip about them behind their back?
– Do you forgive or hold bitterness in your heart?
– Do you see the best in others or assume the worst?
– Do you judge quickly or give the benefit of the doubt?
So let me ask you again: What kind of a friend you are?
It is so easy to see faults in other people, yet fail to see the truth about us. Earlier this year, I encouraged you to do a “friend check” (click here if you did not read this blog) and give God permission to remove anyone who is a wrong influence in your life and bring new friendships, which will encourage you to fulfill your destiny in Christ. I have heard from so many of you how God is moving in your life concerning your friendships. However, it is now time to do some self-reflection and make sure that you are being the kind of friend you are expecting everyone else to be.
Lord,
“Help me to be the kind of friend I am expecting others to be to me. Forgive me Lord for gossip, jealousy, unforgiveness, assumption, selfishness and not sharing how important my friends and family are to me. I speak blessings over those You have brought into my life and I ask that goodness and mercy follow them all of their days. You are my best friend Jesus and I long to be a faithful friend to You here on earth. Open my eyes to see Your goodness and ears to hear Your voice this day. I am so thankful that I can call You my friend. I am never alone or forsaken. Thank you Lord for always being there for me. Your love is amazing and I worship you this day.” Amen.
PS:
Dear Tracyhurst.com Readers,
As many of you know, Heather from www.especiallyheather.com is having surgery Thursday at the Mayo Clinic. Please be in prayer for her and her healing. For more information and to sign up for prayer cover click here onto Kelli’s site.
by Tracy | Life With Alyssa, Practical, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Unto You, O Lord do I bring my life. O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on and am confident in you. Let me not be put to shame or {my hope in You} be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me.” – Psalm 25:1-2, Amplified Bible
Just this morning the Holy Spirit informed me that I have not been fully trusting in God. My first reaction was “who me?” After all, I am the one who often speaks on the topic of faith. Ask anyone – I always believe God for the impossible. But of course the Holy Spirit is always right and I can be so wrong! He showed me how recently I was full of worry and concern about my daughter. Alyssa had caught a stomach virus and as I rummaged through some medical books – panic set in. She was showing signs of dehydration. As a new mom I felt utterly helpless! Alyssa cried her first tears of pain and I must admit that I also broke down and cried. My mind was filled with the “what if’s” and formulating a plan to bring quick relief.
Instead of having faith that God loves Alyssa and trusting that He will take care of her, I was full of fear. When fear enters our hearts and minds, faith goes out the window! But the opposite is also true: When faith enters our hearts and minds, fear must leave! Faith and Fear cannot co-exist. We have to make a choice everyday to either live in fear or faith.
It is only through us having confidence in God’s love, that we can remain in perfect peace. No matter what you may be facing today – DO NOT allow fear and the cares of this world to rob your confidence in God! Psalm 138:8 states, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” We must CHOOSE to believe Jesus at His Word. Needless to say, Alyssa is on her way back to health, and me, well I’m on my way back to faith.
Prayer:
“Lord, forgive me for allowing fear and the cares of this world to rob my faith and confidence in You. I choose to believe Your Word and that You will take care of the things heavy on my heart this day. I submit my thoughts and emotions to you. I thank you that Your Word is greater than my thoughts and emotions and that You know ALL THINGS! Thank you for loving me and taking care of my concerns this day.” Amen.
Image above is from: www.freefotocom
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)
Image above is from: www.freefoto.com
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.
Image above is from: www.freefoto.com
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.
Image above is from: www.freefoto.com
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.
Image above is from: www.freefoto.com
