| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again” Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Pray about it” Many Christians are too serious. Some of us go through life with long faces and heavy hearts, dreading what the day might hold. Sometimes our burdens and concerns seem more than we can bear and our countenance reflects it. People see us coming and they know before we even open our mouth that things are bothering us. But shouldn’t Christians live above their circumstances? With the power of the Holy Spirit in us, with the peace of Jesus pervading our hearts, and with the joy of salvation that is ours, shouldn’t we be able to handle the simple trials of life with a better attitude? The answer of course is “yes”, we should be able to. It’s certainly true that in every life there will be major events that cause us pain and suffering, and there will be moments of discouragement and even depression, but overall, our lives should be characterized by a light-hearted joy, a sunny and whimsical personality, and laughter. In Philippians 4:6-7 the Apostle Paul tells us how to achieve that. There he instructs us to pray about the things that are bothering us. It’s hard to remain downhearted and depressed if you really do bring your issue to God in prayer and then leave it there with Him. Like Paul says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” So, pray about it. You can even get creative about it. I recently read a story told by Pastor Chuck Swindoll about a woman he knew who desperately wanted to get married and have children. But at the age of 31 she was still single, with no man in sight. (This is a true story). So finally, she decided to get creative in her praying about this issue. She took a pair of men’s pants and hung them on the end of her bed. Then each night she prayed this: “Father in heaven, hear my prayer, and grant it if you can. I’ve hung these trousers here, as you can see, now please fill them with a man.” No kidding, within a year she was married and she had her first child at the age of 32. But the story didn’t end there. Pastor Chuck said he told that story once as a sermon illustration. A couple of weeks later a father in the congregation approached him with a grin on his face and said, “When you told that story two weeks ago my teenage son was sitting next to me. I noticed that while the rest of us were laughing he just sat there looking thoughtful. Last night I went into his bedroom to say goodnight and I saw that he had a bikini hanging on the foot of his bed!” So the lesson is, whatever circumstances you’re dealing with, pray about it (and you can even get creative with your praying). God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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