"PROMISES"

Happy Friday, may you all be blessed with safety on this memorial day weekend. Our skies are not as gloomy as yesterday, we are at 51 degrees this morning, no sunshine as of yet but no rain either...so all is good !!! This morning in prayer I felt empty, I cannot explain what it was that I was feeling, maybe disconnect is a good world for it. I prayed as usual asking God to continue to bless those in the storm ravaged states as they begin to dig out and rebuild, as they morn the loss of their loved ones, as they stand in sheer dismay as to what "was" only a few short days ago, and what "is" right now. I prayed for my friends and family, asking God to continue to bless them with health, financial relief, with peace in failed relationships, with knowledge for unruly children, with sense of "worth" for themselves, with affirmation that they are on the right track....I ask God, as I always do, to fill my heart with someones needs, to allow me something that will touch someone, that will confirm to them that God is love, that God is peace, that God is their hope. I sat, my head lifted to the heavens, the birds singing, the noises of the world awakening, I opened my eyes toward the sky and I felt so strongly the word "PROMISE" have you ever made a promise and due to circumstance been unable to keep it? Has someone promised you something and then not followed through? When we are children we promise our parents many things, when we become parents we promise our children to protect them, to love them, to nurture them...we all make promises, some we keep, some we break...Our Father in Heaven has promised us many things, sometimes we feel he has broken his promise to us, sometimes we are so let down when we do not feel he has answered prayers. At times in our lives when everything seems to be going wrong, when we suffer heart wrenching loss of loved ones, when we lose possessions that we hold dear to us, when the stress of getting out of bed each morning is to much to bear, when we look at the bills and at our bank books and see that the numbers are much more in favor of the "owed" and the list goes on and on....we feel let down, we feel alone, we feel scared, we feel disappointment, we feel like he is not keeping his promise. Many times I personally have lifted my arms to him and cried..."why" what is this all about, why do people have to suffer, why is there illness, why is there death,  what is there addictions, why...why...why, if you can make a promise to love and protect us, why do we have to hurt and suffer?  Why do we have to have "blind faith" why do we have to live on what is written as your "promise" Could it be that God does not want "half heart" Could it be that God does not want "junk" could it be that we have free agency to make our own choices, to make our own decisions...right and wrong have been laid out in front of us, but we have to decide which way we will turn...God's promises are based upon us choosing what is right,  us living a life that is pleasing to him, us trusting him, in allowing him to work through us, and our reward is what he "PROMISES" It took me a long time to give in, to relent to a promise that I could not see facts, to believe in the unknown, but when I did let go, when I did relent, when I did believe...this is when my life changed. I cling to his PROMISE now, I believe that if I live according to his will that he will make good on all that he is offering me. I ask you today, do you believe? If you have a hard time with this..look at times in your life that you did not think you could take another step, look at the times in your life when you felt defeated and that there was no way you were going to be able to  "pay that bill" to get that promotion, or live without your partner, to be able to function when you lost a loved one...all of the times when you could see no way out, and then boom...a miracle happened, low and behold you were given what was needed to get you through, coincidence...I don't think so. God knows the desires of our hearts and he gets us through when there is no earthly way...Let his promises wash over your heart today, allow him to make good on what he is offering, and the price for him doing this???? Love him, believe in him, live according to his word, love others, be kind, be compassionate, be as Christlike as you can...not a big price to pay for calm, comfort and peace is it? I pray that today, we all allow our loving Father in heaven to make good on his "Promise" may his love be the clay that you need to mold yourself in our saviors image! May you feel the spirit in you today and may you know that he is true and he is real. God bless each of you:)