The burden of infinite mystery

Release yourself from the burden
of trying to understand all,
let God carry that
burden of infinite mystery


The quote profoundly struck me today as I went through some of the thousands of emails that have accumulated while I've pondered the infinite mystery that is my life.

While the pondering has gone on way too long and in way too much detail in a sea of confusion by way of personal happiness, peace, sadness, conflicts, blah blah blah . . . I have managed to find a rather decent job in a world where becoming gainfully employed has become like hitting the jackpot at the casino.

Maybe I should have focused on finding that job rather than carry the burden of other things going on in my life . . . after all, it IS survival we are talking about. Perhaps the alternative of remaining unemployed any longer and the worrying that goes along with it should have taken front stage in my life. But it didn't . . . I released that task to God, knowing that he would eventually take care of that situation.

Now . . . if I could only release myself from some of those other burdens bothering me at this moment in my life . . . maybe I would enjoy and appreciate that mountain of peace, love and happiness that is staring me in the face.

Why do we as humans have to understand, make sense of and control every little detail of life? What will be will be anyway . . .

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Uproot the Fears in Your Life

What if this, what if that . . .
fear itself can be enough to prevent a person from
attempting the mere motions of living life normally.

Lately I've been in touch with my spiritual side
more than usual. As I have mentioned in the
past, I'm not here to preach, however the words
of God and reading the Bible has helped me
deal with life's frustrations and hopefully
they will help someone else.

Uproot the Fears in Your Life
Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt

You’ll find that in every garden, weeds that you never planted spring from the ground. Your heart and your garden are the same. Weeds – fears, worries, and evil imaginations invade your heart and mind that seem to come from nowhere. Jesus in trying to teach His disciples about how our heart and mind works used gardening and farming illustrations saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' " 'An enemy did this,' he replied.” Matthew 13:24-28,

Satan is always trying to plant seeds of fear in our heart. It’s by design. He would rather have you have faith in his fear than faith in God’s promises. Why? Because your faith is what brings forth its crop. When you allow weed seeds of fear to grow in your mind and heart - fear, discouragement, and hopelessness is the crop you will reap. Consequently, you have to work to keep out things you do not want in there. You have to dig up what shouldn’t be there and cast it out! What does a heart with weed seeds planted in it look like? Jeremiah 17:5-6 reveals this saying, “This is what the Lord says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives.”

When you plant good seeds planting them in good soil (a heart that loves and trusts God and puts faith and expectation in His promises) then you will reap a good crop. Hosea 10:12 (NLT) says, “I said, 'Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.”

What does a good crop from your heart look like? Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT) describes it like this: ‘But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.”

God’s Word is our riverbank for our roots to go down into. Remember today that the promise He promised you is this:Hosea 10:12 (NLT) “I said, 'Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.”

In His love,
Pastor Tim


Published by Pastor Tim Burt
Copyright© 2009 Tim Burt, All rights reserved.
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/

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Feeling lost

"When we are lost, we typically look at a map to figure out where we are and how to get to our chosen destination. This works well, assuming that there is a map of the territory in which we find ourselves, and assuming that we know our destination. However, this is not always the case. At this time in human history, we are all venturing into uncharted territory, whether we know it or not. And as individuals, we may find ourselves covering ground that our predecessors never even knew existed. When we look to them for guidance, they often come up short. Not knowing exactly where we are, we find ourselves unsure of which way to go, and eventually the uneasy feeling that we are lost presents itself.

The beauty of being lost is the same thing that makes it scary—it asks us to look within ourselves to find the way. If we have no map, we must go on instinct, relying on our inner compass to show us which way to go. This can be scary because so much seems to be riding on it. We fear we might go too far in the wrong direction, or become paralyzed and make no progress at all. And yet, this is the very challenge we need to develop our ability to trust ourselves. We are also learning to trust that the universe will support and guide us. We may believe this intellectually, but it is only through experience that it becomes knowledge of the heart. Learning to be okay with being lost and trusting that we will be guided, we begin our journey.

We can support ourselves by confirming that we don’t need to know exactly where we are going in order to take our first steps. We are learning to feel our own way, rather than following an established path, and in doing so we learn to trust ourselves. It is this trust that connects us to the universe and reminds us that no matter how lost we feel, and even as we journey, on the inner level we are already home."

Source: Daily Om

I couldn't say it better myself.

Sometimes the words and emotions are difficult to express.

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Unfailing love

I'm not here to preach, however, my strong faith and spirituality keeps me going through turbulent times as well as enhancing the good times. My faith in God is mixed in with my "Peace, Love and Happiness" in all ways . . .

Hope you can find some meaning in the following words . . . they speak volumes to me . . .



Unfailing Love

by Max Lucado

“Love,” Paul says, “never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8 NIV).

The verb Paul uses for the word fail is used elsewhere to describe the demise of a flower as it falls to the ground, withers, and decays. It carries the meaning of death and abolishment. God’s love, says the apostle, will never fall to the ground, wither, and decay. By its nature, it is permanent. It is never abolished.

Love “will last forever” (NLT).

It “never dies” (MSG).

It “never ends” (RSV).

Love “is eternal” (TEV).

God’s love “will never come to an end” (NEB).

Love never fails.


Governments will fail, but God’s love will last. Crowns are temporary, but love is eternal. Your money will run out, but his love never will.

How could God have a love like this? No one has unfailing love. No person can love with perfection. You’re right. No person can. But God is not a person. Unlike our love, his never fails. His love is immensely different from ours.

Our love depends on the receiver of the love. Let a thousand people pass before us, and we will not feel the same about each. Our love will be regulated by their appearance, by their personalities. Even when we find a few people we like, our feelings will fluctuate. How they treat us will affect how we love them. The receiver regulates our love.

Not so with the love of God. We have no thermostatic impact on his love for us. The love of God is born from within him, not from what he finds in us. His love is uncaused and spontaneous.

Does he love us because of our goodness? Because of our kindness? Because of our great faith? No, he loves us because of his goodness, kindness, and great faith. John says it like this: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (1 John 4:10 NIV).

Doesn’t this thought comfort you? God’s love does not hinge on yours. The abundance of your love does not increase his. The lack of your love does not diminish his. Your goodness does not enhance his love, nor does your weakness dilute it. What Moses said to Israel is what God says to us:

The LORD did not choose you and lavish his love on you because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! It was simply because the LORD loves you. (Deut. 7:7–8 NLT)

God loves you simply because he has chosen to do so.

He loves you when you don’t feel lovely.

He loves you when no one else loves you. Others may abandon you, divorce you, and ignore you, but God will love you. Always. No matter what.

This is his sentiment: “I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved” (Rom. 9:25 MSG).

This is his promise. “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself” (Jer. 31:3 NLT).


From A Love Worth Giving
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2002) Max Lucado

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Simple Abundance

You simply will not be the same person two 

months from now after consciously giving 

thanks each day for the abundance

that exists in your life.  And you will have

 set in motion an ancient spiritual law: 

the more you have and are grateful

 for, the more will be given you.

Sarah Ban Breathnach
Simple Abundance

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Lucky

After having some time to sleep and ponder my life circumstances, I woke up feeling extremely lucky.

Why am I feeling lucky?

I have a chance to start my life all over again . . . a clean slate. There is someone or something else out there for me, whether it be a job or another lover who will make me feel fulfilled and happy.

I'm grateful for this revelation and hopefully the end of all the tears and hating myself for not really knowing why . . . I did nothing wrong except love a man who doesn't know how to love.

On the other hand . . . maybe I'm being too impatient . . . I don't know.  

In the meantime, I love jeans . . . and myself!

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Understanding trust

You may have a greater sense of loyalty to your loved ones today. Even though you might have experienced betrayal in the past, being able to trust those you care about could deepen your devotion and increase your commitment to support them in their endeavors. Perhaps today you can better understand your ability to feel dedicated to others by considering what you bring to a relationship that produces trust. You might try thinking back to a time when someone entrusted you with personal information and reflect upon what you did in that situation. If they were able to count on you, you may ask yourself what it is that makes you trustworthy. Recognizing how others rely on you could make it easier to give your loved ones your full moral support.

Understanding our ability to trust and be trusted helps us remain committed to others. Trusting people is one of the most difficult challenges in life since there is always the fear of getting hurt. Giving to others without trusting ourselves first means that we aren’t offering them our full attention, since we might be providing support for deeper reasons of which we may not be conscious. Knowing how we trust and what we need in a relationship, however, lets us completely commit ourselves to it since by being honest with ourselves we can open ourselves fully to others. As you more deeply understand your ways of trusting today, you will be able to provide unconditional love and support to your loved ones.

Source: Daily OM

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