MY PSALM 302 DISCOURAGEMENT
Almighty Father, You who created me, You know me all too well. When I am discouraged, Bound by emotions which drain my energy And sap my strength, I pray deliverance.
When life’s struggles become burdensome, When I see the dark skies and feel overwhelmed, When death and disasters are clouds on my mind And the pain of sin overtakes my soul, I pray deliverance.
When I read in Psalms that David felt depression, I…..
MY PSALM 301 TRAGEDY Note: The tragic Parkland, FL school shooting, claiming seventeen lives, occurred the first day of Lent, 2018.
Heavenly Father, Creator of all things,
Abba, Father,
Praised be Your Name in the heavens and on earth,
For You have heard my cry; I can feel Your Presence Because Jesus brings me to Your loving arms When I cry out to You for strength this hour.
My heart is heavy with grief
Because Your children have…..
Lent 2025 begins today. It is a time of reflection and special worship leading up to the celebration of Easter. With God’s help, each day you will find a personal Psalm for your time of worship. These are from my book, Restore My Soul Psalms, A Lenten Journey. If you own the book, available on Amazon.com under my name Betty Whitaker Jackson, you will find a journal section for you to record your responses each day. I suggest it is a worthy…..
The Christian observance of Lent begins March 5 and extends to April 14, Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday, in preparation for Easter on April 17. As you know, Easter is a movable date based on ancient tradition.
Typically, Lent, for many, is a time of reflection, a time to renew our faith walk with forty days of reflection, self-examination, and a time to restore our faith walk. Some, during this time “give up” things as a discipline. Many do not,…..
Yes, it’s early in the morning, and some of my happiest memories are recalling Reginal Heber’s wonderful hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” And yes, it’s early in the morning, 3:21 to be specific. Why am I awake? Perhaps because of what has been occurring the last month or so. I have been on somewhat of a hiatus from writing… family crises can do that.
I have grown more spiritually during this time. As my readers know, I spent five months during…..
St. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” While I embrace this, and I promise you, I confidently try to live this way, knowing God is sovereign and God promised in Romans 8:28 and Philippians 4:6 that He indeed has everything under control for our good if we believe and pray continuously, this has been a week of teeter-totter and a see-saw week.
Remember the elementary…..
God is the Alpha and the Omega,. the beginning and the end. He does not change. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and we pray for His eternal blessing to be present with us as we begin a new year. For Him, a thousand years is but a moment, and 2025 is another beginning for us, but He knows the Day of Salvation and most certainly guides us to the end…..
How fitting that my Blessings for Every Day desk calendar, written by Susie Larson, would begin with “As the winds of change start to blow in your life.” We are all devastated by the California wild fires, and some of us are delighted by the anticipated changes in our government as the inauguration nears. No, this is not a political endorsement of all that may result from the latter, but there is a spirit of change in the air, and as…..
On this Lord’s Day, as worshipers around the world gather to sing praises to our God and to offer our petitions, we can’t help thinking about the Church universal in Los Angeles. Today, her people have no place to gather, for they are scattered into shelters, hotels, with family, or who knows where. Their churches are mere shells of what used to be, yet they are learning a lesson I learned at age eighteen when my beloved First Reformed Church…..
Those of us who believe that God guides our thoughts and influences us in our daily lives as I do, take time to reflect upon events and bring our distresses and joys to Him in prayer. The last few days, I have had many moments of reflection, and now it is time to record thoughts which have both challenged and enlightened me.
Once again, disaster has struck our people. This time it is not a hurricane, it is not a…..