September 25, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on So don’t worry
Don’t worry—I am with you.
Don’t be afraid—I am your God.
I will make you strong and help you.
I will support you…
Isaiah 41:10
Lord, You know I worry far too much. Help me instead to trust in You, bold as a kitten exploring the world, knowing that You will always be there to protect and support me. Thank You!
[Tweet “God wants to make us strong and support us. He’s always ready to help!”]
September 23, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on My DIY heart
Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.
Is there anyone around who can explain God?
Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice?
Everything comes from him;
Everything happens through him;
Everything ends up in him.
Always glory! Always praise!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Romans 14: 33-36 The Message
Lord, I know You are there, ready and willing to help and support me. But I’m still looking to do it my own way, such a chronic do-it-myselfer!
In some things, DIY is good. I like learning new skills, having that satisfaction, maybe getting it done better and cheaper and nearer to what I want. When it comes to my spiritual growth, my DIY habit it gets in the way of me doing Your will. I feel like John Donne must have done when he wrote ‘Batter my Heart’. Maybe You need to get out the crow bar and force my heart open? Make me serve You more truly?
This “blow, breathe, and seek to mend” treatment You’re using doesn’t seem to be working!
Now I’m laughing and shaking my head at myself over that thought. Because again, I’m looking at it in my own timeframe and from my DIY/ I-know-best approach! I’m telling You how to fix me?
I know I can’t. I’m more like a toddler insisting “Me do, me do.” I only get in the way when I try to do it my way. Help me to trust that You know what You are doing, that the God who created heaven and earth maybe doesn’t need me to tell Him how He should run my life!
Help me to step aside and hand it all over to You,Lord. Show me how I can cooperate better with Your plan instead of getting in the way. Help me to get out of Your way so that Your will can truly be done in my life. I do want that. I want to serve You and live as Your obedient child and do Your will.
Thank You that You do know best, and that You are eternally patient with me!
[Tweet “If we want to grow spiritually, we need to give up the DIY and let God do it!”]
September 21, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Embracing peace
Heavenly wisdom centers on purity, peace, gentleness, deference, mercy, and other good fruits untainted by hypocrisy. The seed that flowers into righteousness will always be planted in peace by those who embrace peace.
James 3:17-18, The Voice
Dear Lord, Your wisdom is far above mine. Help me to seek Your wisdom, the good fruits that will ripen in me as I allow Your Spirit to flower in my life. The Living Bible says, it is “pure and full of quiet gentleness… peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere.” Those are the fruits I want to see myself producing. Please help me to grow in Your ways and embrace Your peace in my life, no matter how I sometimes sulk and tantrum about not getting my own way. I want peace in my heart. I want peace in my home. I want peace in the world. Help me to plant Your seeds of peace, and grow up wise and mature in You.
[Tweet “Peacemakers plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.”]
September 18, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on But as for me….
But as for me, I trust in You,
O Lord, I say, You are my God.
My times are in Your hand.
Psalm 31:14-15
Lord, You know my heart. You know I find it hard to surrender and trust You at times. But You ARE my God, and I know You hold my life tenderly and gently in your hands, like a father with a baby. Help me to grow in faith. Help me to grow in trust. Help me to know, really know and believe, that I truly am Your precious child who You will never ever forsake or abandon.
[Tweet “You are God’s precious child, who He will never ever forsake or abandon.”]
September 16, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Trust in God’s plan
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Lord, thank You that You have a plan for me. I know in my head that it will be what I most need, but my heart’s not finding it easy to trust in that right now, when You’re asking me to give up my own plans. Help me to be willing to surrender to You, placing my future completely in Your hands. Help me to be patient and willing to wait on Your timing, You know patience isn’t my strongest point! Help me to wait and trust with a sure hope – You keep Your promises.
[Tweet “Be patient. God has a far better plan for us than we can imagine.”]
September 14, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Be brave!
I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” John 14:33 ERV
Lord, much as I wish You did, You never promised we’d have an easy life. Instead, You promised that we’d never have to face anything alone, because You would always be with us. You overcame even death, so You are surely able to defeat any troubles I face! Help me to be strong in You, knowing Your peace. Help me to trust in You, knowing that You have already overcome it all. Help me to feel Your presence with me, knowing I am never alone.
[Tweet “Whatever trouble we face today, Jesus has already overcome it, and He stands beside us.”]
September 9, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Whatever happens…
Always be full of joy. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18
Lord, when my days seem hard, it’s easy for me to forget to pray. Please, help me to remember to give You thanks, not just on the good days but every day. The days I feel least like doing it are the days I need it most of all! Thanking You is the way to feel more joy, the joy You want to give to us, the joy You want us to live in, the joy You want us to overflow with.
[Tweet “Thanking God, even on the tough days, is the way to feel more joy.”]
September 7, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Peace of heart and mind
I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 The Living Bible
Lord, watching the news is scary. So much war, so much fear, so much trouble. And our lives and homes can reflect that, on a smaller scale. The world needs to know the peace You offer. Every one of us needs to know the peace You offer.
I want to help, but too often, I’m part of the problem. In my flawed and fallen human way, instead of bringing peace to my little part of the world, it’s far too easy for me to bring fear and anger and restlessness.
Please, help me to rest in You. Help me to open my heart and mind to You. Help me to open myself to Your comforting Spirit so completely that Your peace fills my heart and mind and washes away all that is not peace and love and trust in You. Help me to share Your peace with those around me. Thank You!
[Tweet “If we want to help create peace, we need to know God’s gift of peace in our own hearts and minds.”]
September 4, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Becoming new
When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 The Living Bible
Lord, thank You that my past life is forgiven and behind me. Thank You for the ways You’re always working in my life to make me new. Help me to accept the process of growth and change.
Help me to trust in You, when the process feels strange and frightening, even painful, as You change me from my old self to the new person You created me to be. Help me to trust You when it feels cramped and confined, like the butterfly still in its chrysalis. Help me to trust You when my wings are still crumpled and creased and I can’t fly yet.
And most of all, when You’re ready for me to fly, help me to know that I only do it through You. In my own strength, I can do nothing. Your power sustains all life, from every beat of a butterfly’s wings to every beat of my heart.
[Tweet “God sustains all things, from the beat of a butterfly’s wings to the beat of our hearts.”]
[Tweet “God will forgive our mistakes and make us new! Ask Him. Trust Him.”]
September 2, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Patience, please, and can I have it right now?
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard — things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Galatians 5:22,23 The Message
Lord, that saying “Give me patience and give it to me now” is a joke, I know. But it’s so true to how I feel at the moment. Help me to open my heart more and more to Your Spirit. Help me to make choices that grow Your fruit in my life. Help me to accept the circumstances of my life and the people in my life as they are, not how I want them to be. Help me to have a heart truly devoted to serving You, through willingly serving those You ask me to serve. Help me to feel Your joy and serenity and love, filling me to overflowing. And help me to accept Your time frame may not be mine, but to trust that Your will shall be done, in all things.
[Tweet “When we live God’s way, all sorts of good things grow in our lives”]