Author: Tina "Richele" Ballinger

We spend so much of our time looking toward something rather than really enjoying where we are at any given moment. If we stop to enjoy the moment for exactly what it is we might discover something we will otherwise miss. Today pause, breathe for a moment with your eyes closed and experience the exact moment in which you find yourself. Consider the fact that never will you be exactly where you are in the exact moment of time in which you currently find yourself. Remember to see the beauty as it is happening right now !!! Wherever you are life is happening, choose to experience that rather than allow it to pass by without even noticing !!! Wherever you are LIVE the moment !!!!

“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19

When we find the ability to let go of what once was and look to the future, God has promised to make a “new thing”. His promises are always true, exceeding even our greatest imaginations. Even when we do not see a way, He prepares the way and brings things to be that we never thought possible. When things become new we see His hand in all that He does, recognizing His great love for us and the wonder of all His plans for our lives. Each new day I am amazed by His power, the miracles that He brings to be, the beauty of all that He creates and the vast immeasurability of His faithfulness. Each day is a gift to believe. . .  to have hope  . . . to see the power of God  . . .  to fulfill the plans that He has established for our lives . . . for “When God Makes a New Thing” . . .  old things cease to be !!!!!

In the chaos of the day I find myself feeling overcome with stress and anxiety.  Everywhere I turn this world is full of confusion, if I allow it to, it will overtake me leaving me with feelings of inadequacy as I become less and less capable of handling life. Even the small tasks can become unsurmountable as I lose perspective among the chaos. I find myself becoming worn and empty. But, when I chose to listen; when I pause to hear the sounds of God all around me, I find His voice ready to still the storm that has overtaken me.

“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:39)”

But, when I chose to listen  . . . in the stillness I can hear the birds chirp and the breeze blow through the trees. I can see the sunlight as it glistens across the water; I can feel God’s calming voice spreading through my soul bringing peace in the midst of the stress of life. Just like a cool glass of water that courses through a thirsty body, God’s peace renews me bringing perspective to the day. For “when I chose to listen” God is all around me filling me with peace.

So many times I find myself looking backwards at all of my failures, it drains the life out of me and leaves me feeling empty.  Each day becomes a constant battle to look forward and leave the past behind us. God promises that he will forgive us all our sin, remembering them no more. “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17

If God forgives us and remembers our past sins no more, who are we to continue to remember them?? All we are doing is robbing from all that we could accomplish for Christ in the future, if we left the past in the past. Our future is only defined by our past if we lack the ability to let go of it. It is a tool of Satan to constantly remind us of our past failures, he knows that a forgiven sinner can accomplish great things for Christ if they possess the ability to let go and trust Christ with their future. It becomes a daily battle to refocus on what is ahead and leave what is behind where it belongs!!!! God forgives us and casts our sins as far as the east is from the west!! He does not define our future with the events of our past. As far as he is concerned each day is a clean slate, waiting for us to fill it with all of the mighty things he has planned for our lives, “They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:23

I recently had a friend say, “I just have more life, than 24 hours will allow”.  Those words make a lot of sense!! So many of us find ourselves feeling the same way. It seems that with each passing day, life takes on the feeling of a never ending roller coaster spinning out of control going in a vicious cycle that never ends. Each new day brings new tasks and new challenges,  causing us to have to make choices as to which we will embrace and which we will leave to another day. The question becomes, “Are we filling our lives with things that matter or are we filling it with things that simply take up our time?” We are given 24 hours in each day to live our lives for one purpose and one purpose only. . .  to bring glory to our Creator. So at the end of each 24 hour period of time we will find ourselves full of peace or full of chaos depending on what we chose to fill our lives with that day.  Many are the days when we allow “Life to Overtake Us”. We spend our time concentrating on things that have no eternal value and leave us feeling empty. But on the other hand, there are also many things that we can fill our lives with that are good and wholesome things that do bring honor to our Creator; but the fact still remains there is only so much time in a 24 hour day if we allow it to become so filled that we leave out time for God, then we will soon find “Life has Overtaken Us” in the midst of the good. Even when we fill our lives with “good things” we still have to remember to balance our lives in such a way that “Life doesn’t Overtake Us”. We have to make time to be still and listen to God during the course of each day to ensure that our time is being filled in a way that is pleasing to Him. So next time you feel like “Life has Overtaken You’, pause and allow God to “Take Over Your Life“.

So the new year is off and running with no skip in step; not even so much as a moment to catch our breathe good before we hit the ground at a full sprint in 2015. Already a full week into the new year and time for a pause . . . a moment to reflect . . .  a reminder of all the purpose and resolve we had on December 31st for this new year. Above “ALL ELSE”, we need to stay focused on the resolve to make Christ center in our life making sure to include Him in each aspect of our day. Remembering that at the end of the day, just as it will be at the end of the year, the only thing that will be accomplished of any importance is that which we did through Him and for Him. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in the rat race of this chaotic world we will find ourselves looking back over yet another year during which we limited God’s ability to work in and through us. So. . .  how do we ensure this doesn’t happen????

We make sure to start each day by pausing to pray, reflect and refuel in God’s word. . . . taking Him and His word with us throughout the day !!! With Him as our partner for the marathon, there is nothing we can’t accomplish. . . . “For I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. . . Phillipians 4:13

“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever; forsake not the works of thine hands.” (Psalms 138:8)

Somedays I wonder, and somedays I have no idea how He is going to pull it off when all I seem to do is mess up. As we reflect over the past year one thing we seem to always do is look back at “all” the things we “messed up”. Growing up I was always amazed by the children of Israel’s inability to stay right with God, I could not for the life of me understand why they were constantly “messing up” allowing sin to take over their lives. I thought it to be the most absurd thing that they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years. All through Bible history it was a constant pattern of them “messing up” and falling into captivity followed by God forgiving them and rescuing them each and every time they called out to Him. But as life came my way and my youth faded away leaving me looking back over 40 years of my own life I began to see myself as one of the Israelites with constant episodes of my failure and God’s faithfulness to forgive.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

Jeremiah and God were having a conversation that I could totally relate to, during which God quite eloquently reminded Jeremiah of who He is and what He has the power to do. Yes, He acknowledged the iniquity of Israel and the wrath that had been poured out on their lives because of their sin; but He assured Jeremiah that He had the power to bring them back to where they needed to be and that He would honor the promise that He had made. “Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven the in mine anger, and in my fury and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place and I will cause then to dwell safely; And they shall be my people and I will be their God.” (Jeremiah 32: 37-38)

And if that wasn’t convincing enough for Jeremiah, God continued. “Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things , which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3) So many times we forget exactly who God is, we seem to place on Him the same parameter of abilities as those we possess. We seem to forget that we are talking about God, the maker of the universe, the very one that spoke everything into existence. If He says He will perfect that which concerneth me, then that is exactly what He will do. I just need to get out of His way and stop bemoaning the woes of who I am or have been and trust the promise of who He says I will one day be. Yes, I am going to “mess up”. Yes, I am going to have moments when I fail Him, but each day that I look to Him trusting the work that He is doing in my life I will find myself one step closer to who I am to one day become in Him. It is through Him that I will be perfected, it is through nothing that I can or ever will do. Just like the children of Isreal I will be His and He will be my God and then I will know the promise of Jeremiah 33: 6. “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.” One day we will be cured of the sin that we are faced with in this world and in that moment we will know the abundance of peace and truth.

As the new year approaches we will all have those moments when we purpose in our hearts to do things “better” in 2015 than in 2014, its a vicious cycle that we all go through as each year passes. I know one of the most common is that of the “exercise demon” . . .  we all know that we need to, we all purpose to do a better job next year; because we all know that it is through a regular workout that we strengthen our bodies. The same holds true with our faith. . .  though none of us enjoy going through times of trial, it is through the exercising of our faith that it becomes strong. Each day we face that brings us to the realization we cannot control things around us but must “trust” God to handle what we cannot, exercises the faith that we have placed in Him. Each day that ends with us recognizing one more time that it is through His strength that we made it through, exercises the faith that we have placed in Him. Each time we come to a situation that we have no idea how to face forcing us to reach out to Him in prayer for answers, exercises the faith that we have placed in Him.

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold which perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: ” (I Peter 1: 6-7)

As we look back over 2014, we become fully aware that God supplied every need that we had, He handled every situation that we brought to Him in prayer and He gave us the strength we needed no matter what came our way. Looking back we become fully aware of just how precious our “faith” in Him has become and looking forward we have the assurance that whatever we face in 2015 He will be right beside us the whole way. For it is through the trying of our faith that we come to realize just how ever present He is and just how much He supplies our ever need. If we did not have those moments during which we come to the end of ourselves and call out to Him, we would miss out on one of the most beautiful aspects of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Just as we seek to supply the needs of our Earthly children, our Heavenly Father seeks to supply our needs when we bring them to Him. Nothing we face is “too big” for our God. . . .  and one day when we stand before Him we will look back and realized just how precious our “faith” really was. . .  and then will our joy be complete as we are able to offer it before Jesus for His praise, honour and glory.  . .”Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (I Peter 1:8)

Each day we struggle and we try to hold on, trying with all our might to maintain some balance of life in the crazy world in which we live. But then at the end of the day we look back and realize we failed . . .  we simply stood powerless in the overwhelming struggles of life. However, the good news is that we don’t have to stand in our own power. . .  “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:5)” It is through the “power of God” that we are saved and kept in His hand; no one can remove us from the power of His grasp. Not only do we have salvation through His power, but we have the ability to live in the “power of God” once we have been saved. We are not complete within ourselves, we simply do not possess the power or strength to stand alone in this world. Unable to save ourselves we are also unable to overcome the pressures and struggles of life, but in Him all power is given unto us.

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19) God knows each thing we will face during the course of each day, it comes as no surprise to Him. He knew about it from the beginning of time and has set in place all that is necessary to enable us to overcome whatever the day may bring our way. It is when we fail to recognize the power He offers us that we find ourselves falling flat on our face beneath the weight of the day. Each time we attempt to take life on within our own power we fail. Once we fully comprehend what He has already bestowed upon us and claim His promise then and only then will we possess the power to triumph over whatever comes our way.

In Him, we possess the “power” to live in a troubled world . . .  and one day this power will be revealed within us in the last day!!!

I was reading from I Peter 1:1 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout. . . . “. This verse spoke to me as if God said. . . . I want you to write to the “strangers” scattered throughout!! I write from my heart to those I may never meet, to those that have hearts that stand in need of God’s healing grace  . . . . God’s healing peace, the only force on Earth that can bring true healing to the broken heart. As I continued to read from I Peter 1, I was overcome by the power of that grace and peace . . . In verse 2 Peter says. . . Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. That means continual and in abundance . . . . . But it is through the truth of the scriptures that follow we are able to see where that Grace and peace comes from, not within ourselves but through the work that God has established in His mercy toward us.

“(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”  . . .  His abundant mercy. . . . unto a lively hope . . . all because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. . .  that is where the true power of our peace comes from!!! But He didn’t stop there . . .  Verse 4 “To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” Not only does He give us grace, peace, mercy and hope in this life, but He promises us an inheritance that no one can take from us, reserved in heaven with our name on it !!!!!! My name is on “my mansion” in Heaven which God is preparing for “me”. . . . Let’s think on that for a bit. . . .

To the strangers scattered throughout. . . .  Grace and peace be multiplied !!!!!!