Unshackled Life Ministries

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ July 7 ~ White Lie Found Guilty

I told a lie about a week ago, to my mother even. I repented immediately and retold the story truthfully. But still it had happened. It wasn't a huge, horrible lie. It very well may have been the worse kind of lie. I have become suspicious that the innocent lie, the little white lie, is actually the darkest and most evil of all lies, because it is able to convince us otherwise. The innocent lie tricks us into believing that it really isn't bad and therefore doesn't have to be corrected, or repented, and the other person doesn't have to know, because it really doesn't change things much, or the essence. It doesn't really matter, says the white lie, and so we choose to let it remain believed rather than practicing rigorous honesty and living and walking in truth. In the end, the little white lie is a form of deception that we justify and excuse, instead of putting away from us all forms of lying for the truth.

My lie wasn't huge. Technically it could be argued that the words were true. Everything that I said occurred, happened. I simply move one event from before something to after it. It doesn't change the truth of the story, not really. All I did was place a little more emphasis on something to make the event sound even better, to sound a little more spiritual, to brighten the spotlight on myself just a little. No big deal and certainly not worth the embarrassment of repeating the story with the events in the corrected order drawing attention to what I had done. That would be overkill. It isn't that bad. And that easily, an innocent lie can justify itself.

But if it really didn't effect anything, and if it really didn't change anything, why did it come out in the first place? Why did we drop the white lie when the truth would have been as easy to tell? The innocent lie is not so innocent after all. It reveals a stumble, a slipping back into self. The innocent lie, the little white lie, is almost always a way to subtly justify what we have done, or it gives us a little more glory as we make ourselves look a little better, a little more heroic, a little more loving, a little more spiritual, or a little less petty, a little less vindictive, a little less selfish, etc. I just tell the story in such a way that without saying it I show you why you should understand and agree with why I did what I did. It puts the focus squarely on me and my actions rather than letting God have the glory.

That car pulled out right in front of me, and I came within inches off hitting it! I don't know how I reacted so quickly, but I avoided a wreck, and I didn't even chase them down and let them have it! I've sure made progress.

That car pulled out about two car lengths in front of me. I didn't really have any trouble not hitting it, except that I kind of wanted to, because it made me have to slow down to a near stop. They accelerated slowly, making me even more frustrated and angry and impatient. I laid on my horn for a good 10 seconds, you know screaming at them with my car, before switching lanes and whipping around them, cussing them out even though they couldn't hear me, before swerving back into their lane, cutting them off so they could see what it feels like. I didn't stop at a red light and get out to physically confront them or anything, which I guess is progress, but I acted a fool and very unloving. I should repent and ask God for grace not to act like that in the future before my road rage gets me or someone else killed.

Technically the only thing innacurate in the first version was how close the car pulled out in front, the level of danger. But the truth is the entire event had become shrouded in deception to change the impression of self that is made. But if we are set free from the bondage of self and walk in that freedom we don't have to protect or bolster our repetition. We can stop the old habit of trying to justify everything that we do, of trying to make ourselves look a little more or a little less anything or everything. Our stories share our experiences, our strength, and our hope in the grace of God to give us the ability to walk with Him free from the things that used to rule us.

When we tell an embarrassing story, or a story of our failure, it should simply serve to show that we needed, still need and will need tomorrow a Savior. We need to avoid the temptation to make it sound a little worse, to make the dungeon a bit darker. God doesn't need to be glorified through exaggeration. The truth will suffice. That overdose was serious enough. We don't need to have had out heart stop three times in the ambulance to make it somehow a better, more effective. The blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony are weapons of our warfare to invade enemy territory and help set the captives free. The truth makes us free. Deception doesn't help. There is no such thing as an innocent lie.

We don't have to be cruel with the truth. Sometimes it might be better not to say anything at all. Looking for something loving or positive to say when asked an opinion is not deception. It is choosing to act in love, which fulfills the law. So if someone asks if I like their new car, there is no need for me to insult them or their taste in vehicles by telling them I wouldn't own it if someone gave it to me and surely wouldn't pay anything for it. That's just mean. But I also don't have to, no, can't afford to, say that I love it when I don't. We don't have to justify what we have done when we tell a story. Our justification is not found in manipulation but rather provided by Christ. We don't need to make ourselves look better, or worse for that matter.

We can simply live the truth. It felt a little embarrassing to be in the middle of a story, stop, back up two sentences and reverse the order before continuing, correcting the telling of it. My mother didn't even seem to notice, but it made me contemplate the why of what had happened. I didn't even think about it beforehand. It simply came out twisted slightly to present myself in the best possible light, because I still want to please my Mom and make her proud of me. But walking in the truth will do that far more effectively.

We are called to live lives of rigorous honesty. It is in and through truth that we have access to the grace of God to have relationship with our Creator and to walk free. When we are wrong, we can admit it without justification because of the truth that we are forgiven. Today, let us not try to justify or glorify our self by manipulating the truth in any way, shape, form or fashion. Let us hold fast to that which is true, and let us remember there is nothing innocent about an innocent lie.

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Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ July 6 ~ Where Are You God?

Something happened to me last night that is embarrassing to admit. I took my glasses off to put my final dose off drops in my eyes, started talking to Leah, took my Melatonin and began hunting for my glasses. I put them on the bed to take my drops. I remembered doing it. They weren't there. I couldn't believe they were gone. I knew I hadn't taken them off anywhere else, but it had been that kind of day.

Leah's stylus had gone missing yesterday morning, and it had taken much effort and time, including remaking the bed three times and searching the chest in front of the bed and going through everything in the night stand and by the bed and, and, and... Leah found it later, and I am still not sure how it got to where it ended up. Leah had a pretty good idea, but it definitely wasn't obvious enough of a theory to make us search there. Light coming through the blinds caught her attention, and she happened to spot the stylus on the carpet. I think it was the grace of God, as I doubt either of us would have searched that part of the room any time soon.

Perhaps it was The Strange Case of the Missing Stylus that freaked me out about the missing glasses. Maybe it was something else, like being nervous about the MRI I have this morning. I don't know, but freak out I did. What had happened? I knew I had taken them off and set them down on the bed. Leah helped me look for them for about 15 or 20 seconds before busting out laughing. "They're on your face," she told me, seriously nearly crying from laughing so hard.

I almost laughed. I almost cried. I walked into the kitchen to set up the coffee maker for the morning and felt my cheeks warm. I had indeed been wearing my glasses, even as I searched for them and grew frustrated over not being able to find them. I felt stupid and foolish. It was kind of funny, but also a little frightening. I'm not sure why I didn't realize that I was wearing them. I took them off to see if they were so dirty or my eyes were in one of their bad phases causing the glasses to be ineffective to the point that I couldn't tell the difference between having them on or off. There was a lot of difference. I could see quite a bit better with my glasses on. I should have realized I was wearing them just by how well I could see, never mind the weight and physical feel of them.

Not only had I not realized that I had them on or how much they were helping me see, but I had worked myself into a near frenzy trying to figure out what had happened to them and where they were, since they we not where I had left them. No, they were not where I had taken them off, because I had already put them back on. So I felt foolish, but it made me think about how often I do the same thing spiritually. I had never searched for glasses while wearing them before, but I have done the spiritual equivalent.

The situation begins to feel uncomfortable or I begin to grow anxious, and suddenly I begin searching for God. Where is He? Why isn't He there helping me? Why isn't my ever present help in time of need helping and providing me with refuge? Foolishly, I seek and do not find. It's not that He can't be found. It's that I already have what I'm looking for. I'm sitting in the storm cellar praying for shelter and freaking out over the wind that can't even reach me to blow my hair around. I'm already in the refuge. I'm looking for the assistance and presence of God as though it isn't there, or as if I left it somewhere else, while being in His presence and receiving His help. If He were to remove His grace the difference would be so apparent, but thankfully He doesn't go well, if you can't tell that I am helping you, I'll just stop helping.

He is there. He is working for my good. He is providing protection and shelter. He is holding me in His hands. And my forgetting that or failing to realize it does not make it any less true, any more than my forgetting I had put my glasses on and failing to realize I was wearing them didn't make them work any less to make me see. Today, let us remember that we are wearing our glasses. Let us remember that God's word is true and He is our ever present help and will never leave or forsake us, no matter what happens with our awareness of His help and presence.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ July 5 ~ Carry Out The Execution

There are mornings when I rise and determine to keep my self in check for the day. I'm going to make sure that I do not act or react in the manner of my old nature. I will not engage in those habitual sins, character defects and bad attitudes that ruled my life outside of Christ. This is the day I will walk with Christ, like Christ. I will live a life of faithful obedience and love.

Sometimes, but not often, this vow will survive till late morning, perhaps even all the way to lunch. I can not remember a time when I succeeded in such a vow, when my determination was successful. Those times that I tried and failed are reminders that I shouldn't have been making the attempt at all. I'm not saying that I shouldn't be attempting to live obedient love, that I shouldn't desire to walk with God as Jesus walked. That is indeed the calling of our lives.

The attempt that shouldn't be made is to play jailer. I have taken a ruthless, dangerous prisoner whom the Judge has sentenced to be executed, given him a stay and tried to keep him caged instead. Rather than taking my old nature, my self will, my carnal, fleshly mind and starting the day with his execution, with nailing him to the cross, I have attempted to control him and keep him caged. But I have proven repeatedly my inability to control or contain this escape artist. I go on about my day, after determining to control my self with my self, and before I even realize what is happening, he's escaped and running loose, wreaking havoc.

We can not fix ourselves with ourselves, we can not repair our broken minds with our broken minds, and we can not contain or control our self, which doesn't wish to be controlled or contained, with our self. Self must die. The execution is scheduled and must be carried out. Daily we pick up our cross. Daily we lay our self on the altar and sacrifice our will to God. Then we get up from our knees with self not caged but dead and follow Jesus. We are then in the correct position to walk with God. We are not jailers of self. We are obedient servants. We are not self disciplined and controlled, but rather we are controlled by the Spirit as we walk in the power of God's grace. Dying daily we can live free from sin, in love.

Monday, July 4, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ July 4 ~ Fireworks Frustration

Here in the United States July 4 is a day of remembering the beginning of our nation. It represents and reminds us to cherish our freedoms and the great history of the country. It's a time of celebration, family and fireworks. For many, fireworks are more a part of the Fourth than anything else. It's like a decorated tree at Christmas. The holiday just seems a little less complete without them.

Our dogs, and apparently pretty much every dog within earshot of our house, do not like fireworks. They get frightened and agitated. And they bark. They bark and bark, refusing to obey commands to quiet until the popping and explosions cease. This used to bother me a lot. I hated the dogs being stupid and barking every evening from shortly after dark till after midnight during the holiday. This year the Fourth landed on a Monday, which meant the explosions started three nights ago, on the weekend, and will likely be the worst tonight. But they don't bother me, and it doesn't bother me that dogs get upset and bark anymore either.

For me, the agitated baying has become a call to prayer. A couple of years ago, as I became frustrated with the dogs, the Spirit spoke to my spirit and showed me that I was the one being foolish, not the dogs. They can't help the way they feel and react to the noise. It's an unnatural situation for them that they don't understand. The noise puts them in a panic and state of fear that they have little to no control over. Then I felt reminded of all the situations that most people do every day with no problem that can put me in a state of severe agitation and fear, can cause panic attacks because of my past and what I experienced in the years I spent incarcerated. Logically I understand I'm no longer in that place and the situations are different. I understand that I am safe and free, and the nightmare is over. But emotionally I can't stop the feelings once triggered. Others on the outside, who do not have my triggers may even think it no big deal what I am going through, or they may think I just need to realize the situation is different and control my emotions. I can't. It takes grace for me to make it through those times.

Now, the dogs do not have PTSD, and they don't need grace. But there are men and women all over this country this weekend, tonight, and every Fourth, who will not be able to enjoy this holiday with their families. They cannot relax and celebrate and light up the night sky with their children, who cannot fully understand that the noise we associate with festivity fills them with fear and triggers violent reactions as it takes them back to a place of war. Fireworks are not fun for everyone. For some who have spent time away from home to help ensure the freedoms of the rest of us, they are memory triggers of battles they can never forget.

Now, when the dogs freak out over the fireworks I hear a call to pray for those suffering the effects of PTSD from battles. I pray for the soldiers and vets that have learned to hate the holiday that celebrates the very freedom they fought for. The difference in my perspective and reaction has changed everything for me. Now the sound of the dogs no longer frustrates or annoys me. What used to be a sound of irritation now is a sweet sound, calling me to prayer for others. It takes me out of self.

Today, as we celebrate let us remember those for whom this day is not a blessing, those who face triggers sending them to a bad place at every turn. Let us step out of self and our pleasure long enough to pray for them. And let us also look for guidance from the Spirit every day to turn each and every situation that brings us irritation and frustration into a call and a chance to minister in prayer. How wonderful it would be if all the things that used to take us to a place of selfish frustration could be transformed into a sweet call to prayer, a reminder to step out of self and give ourselves to intercede for others. Our lives would be more peaceful and full of contentment, and the lives of others would be blessed as well.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Unshackled Moment - July 3 ~ Happy God

...according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

- I Timothy 1:11

I read the above verse this morning. It follows a string of offenses that are contrary to the doctrine of God and a statement that the law is not for the righteous or good but for those who are unrighteous. I took a look at the Greek to see exactly what the terms of offenses had been in the original text, and saw something I had never noticed before that completely took me by surprise.

The word that caught me off guard was not in the list of offenses but in verse 11. That word translated as blessed in basically every translation of the Bible is, in the literal Greek, a word that actually means happy. The glorious gospel of our happy God. What an awesome thought! What a novel idea!

I don't know about most people, but when I read blessed God I always thought of the usual definition of blessed, as in sacred and holy. It never occurred to me before that in this particular place it was more the way I would use the word blessed when I look at my beautiful wife, realize how happy I am to be with her and exclaim that I am a blessed man. It's not because she did anything. She may just be sitting there reading, not even thinking about me, but she said yes when I asked her to marry me, and that makes me happy, blessed.

Sometimes we think about wanting to make God happy by pleasing Him. Sometimes we think about making Him unhappy when we step outside of His will. It's all too easy to imagine and picture an angry God full of righteous wrath. But have we ever considered the image of a happy God? Can you see a God who is full of joy and happy because He has a relationship with us and not because of anything we do or don't do other than saying yes? The good news, or gospel, is that God asked us all to be in relationship with Him and sent His Son to make that possible. He is happy because we said yes!

We are told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It's the Lord's joy, not ours, that makes us strong and helps us endure. We may be aware of that without ever stopping to think about what that really means, In order for the joy of Jesus, the Lord's joy. to give us strength, the Lord must be joyful, happy. Jesus is full of joy, and He shares the heart of the Father. That means Daddy is happy. Daddy is full of joy. We have a happy God. He is happy because we said yes. So let us never fear to approach Him and spend time in His presence. Let us get as close to Him as possible so that we can share His happiness.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ July 2 ~ Unanswered Prayers

There is an old county song released by Garth Brooks called Unanswered Prayers. It's a good song, in my opinion. It's catchy and sentimental and has just enough truth to make it enjoyable while it makes you think. That combination makes for a good song, but catchy with a touch of truth isn't really good enough to live by for long. Now I am not getting on ol' Garth, the two co-writers or the song in general when I say that.

For those that don't know, the song is about a man meeting his high school flame at a football game years later, remembering how much he'd wanted her and prayed God would bring them together for life and then looking at his wife and thanking God for unanswered prayers. One of my favorite lines is when he is so grateful for who he is married to and that he is not married to the former flame and says, "I guess the Lord knows what He's doing after all." "Some of God's greatest gifts," the song goes on to remind us, "are unanswered prayers."

I think the appeal of the song, and the reason it came to mind this morning while I meditated on the concept of faith, is that we often respond to God a lot like the man in the song. The truest aspect of the song is not the spirituality and the philosophy but the view point and thoughts of the character. No matter how often God proves Himself mighty and faithful and worthy of our trust, no matter how deeply we believe that He cares for us and is our hope and refuge, when we get in a tight spot or when God leads us in a different direction than we wanted or expected, or when He locks a door we prayed for Him to open, there is often that aspect within us, that little voice that doubts God's love that says does He really care? Does He know what He's doing to me and with me?

Later, we often see the benefit of what God was doing. His hand, protection, care, wisdom and blessing are more clearly seen in retrospect. Then we exclaim with gratitude and, yes, the hint of surprise, now I see what God was doing! Now I see the evidence of His hand and presence! And in a way, what we're saying is I guess the Lord knows what He's doing after all.

It's so difficult for us to accept and get past the idea that we don't know what's best for us. That we really can't make the right and best decisions for our lives. That God's plan is better than our plan, our dreams and our desires. We get trapped into the idea that faith is believing that God will give us what we want, or at least what we believe we need. And then if He doesn't, we question His love and whether or not we can really and truly and completely trust Him. Rather than listening and looking for the direction God wants to take us in, we try to manufacture more faith, because we start believing the lie that if we believe enough we can somehow force or obligate God to give us what we want.

Joni Eareckson Tada, is an amazing minister of God and writer. She inspires and helps many people have a better relationship with God, especially women. She's also been a quadriplegic and wheel chair bound since she was a teen after breaking her neck in 1967. I am sure there were many prayers by her and for her for her physical healing. Sometimes God does indeed heal physically. But healing our hearts and souls, giving us the best chance for the deepest most intimate relationship with Him, and our greatest ability to be of service for the healing and restoration of others, of living lives of light that show the world His love and power and grace are higher on God's list of priorities than physical healing, or any other obvious or natural solution to a problem we face. The joy Joni has, the love she has experienced and the relationship she has with God despite not receiving physical healing, I dare say, are greater miracles and have shone a greater light on the heart and glory of God than her getting up and walking out of that hospital nearly 50 years ago ever would have.

It's hard to believe sometimes. It's hard not to be disappointed when the answer we hope for isn't the answer God gives, when the door that makes sense as best from our point of view is not the one God wants to open, when the healing doesn't come, but the truth is that the Lord does indeed know what He's doing. He does love us and care for us, even when He doesn't do it the way we would. Faith is not believing that God will do what we want or think would be the best solution to the problems and difficulties we face. Faith is believing and trusting that God will do what is right and best on an eternal level.

Someday, Joni is going to walk the streets of gold with Jesus, whole and completely healed. And someday we are going to be completely whole and perfect as He is perfect as well, And on that side of eternity, we are going to be able to see the tapestry of our lives from His perspective, and we will see perfectly the beauty, love and wisdom of His choices in and for our lives. One thing that is always true, no matter how He answers of doesn't answer our prayers, is that God loves us, He is good, and He will always do what is best and right for us, whether we can see that at the time or understand it or not. Believing that, and walking in assurance of that truth is what constitutes faith.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ July 1 ~ Sometimes The Detour Is Better

I do not overwhelm myself with life’s problems, and how much more work needs to be done. I let myself be comforted in knowing that my life is now in the hands of my Higher Power, a master craftsman who is shaping each part of my life into a unique work of art.

- from July 1 entry Daily Reflections

I read these words this morning from today's Daily Reflections entry, much later than I usually do, much later than I had planned to, much later than I wanted to. As I write this, it's almost 11:30 Am, and I am at least a couple of hours behind schedule. It's been one of those mornings. It's been a wonderful morning. If those last two sentences seem contradictory, they are in a way.

This has been the kind of morning that I usually find myself irritable and frustrated, the kind of morning that starts the day off all kinds of wrong, and I have to struggle to reset the day and my attitude. First, I slept poorly and woke far too early. But I didn't get up. I felt groggy and miserable. I rolled back over and went back to a restless sleep. Way too quickly after that, my alarm went off. Leah had risen early, also unable to rest this morning but smart enough to just go ahead and get up. So, I wasn't worried about her being late and after hitting the snooze button twice, I simply turned the alarm off. Five minutes and an hour after the time my alarm was set, I forced myself out of bed. I could barely walk and couldn't see worth a flip. This was the worst my eyes have been in the morning in weeks.

Then I couldn't find my glasses. They weren't where I always set them at night so that I can find them easily by feel. Already over an hour behind on the day and blind, I gave up and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the start of the day and my morning devotions. I looked again for my glasses after putting on my comfy PJs to lounge in and finally found them. I kissed Leah good morning and sat down at the computer to read. The next couple of hours were spent trying to pray, doing the various reading of Scripture and devotions that I do in the mornings and with interruptions, lots and lots of interruptions. Any and every time I began to get to that place where I like to go spiritually to spend some time with God and set my attitude and tone for the day, interruption. I felt yanked back into the harshness of the day. I couldn't get settled. I couldn't find peace. On top of the frustration of wanting to enter my quiet place in the awareness of the presence of God sat the feeling of being behind, of running late, and the fight within myself not to rush through this important time in my day so that I could get on with all the things that needed to get done today.

I cried out to God for grace. I hoped for an answer to prayer that would be something along the lines of time slowing down so that I wouldn't get further behind and for the interruptions to miraculously cease. Instead I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Chill." Yes, God talks to me, and yes, sometimes He tells me to chill. Sometimes He tells me to shut up and listen. He speaks so that we can hear, and while these words might not work for you, they are sometimes just what I need to hear to get me out of self and quiet enough to hear the rest of what He wants to tell me.

In II Kings there is a story of Elijah facing an army of enemies. His servant is freaking out, and Elijah calmly asks the Lord to open the eyes of the servant. God grants the request, and the servant sees the hand of God at work and angels all around. Things looked a lot different from God's perspective then from what the servant had been seeing. It felt a little like that for me as I stopped fretting long enough for the Holy Spirit to open my eyes.

One of the main and most frequent interruptions was actually an answer to prayer, a chance to minister and be of service. What better time than when I had already begun immersing myself in the Word? I was better able to check my reactions and let the Spirit guide my words because I was already trying so hard to access that place of awareness of the Spirit. Thank you Lord.

Another came when I opened the door for it. I had missed a text this morning due to my ringer being off. I noticed it when I grabbed my phone to have it handy in case Leah, who had already left, needed to reach me. It had been over an hour and a half since the text had come through, so I felt obligated to respond then instead of waiting until I finished devotions. Suddenly a conversation started. Every few minutes, as I tried to read, my phone would go off. It was a trivial conversation on the surface and breaking my train of thought. I started to send a text asking if we could talk more once I had completed my morning time, when, just a few moments after realizing the other interruption was a chance for service and not an intrusion, the Spirit stopped me. It occurred to me that this trivial conversation was exactly the kind of thing I had been hoping to have happen and praying for years to happen. It wasn't an intrusion or an interruption. It was a blessing and an answer to prayer.

Some of Jesus' most awesome encounters with people during His physical ministry on earth came when He as busy going other places and was stopped, interrupted, called to deviate from the day's agenda. Heading somewhere He would hear the cry of, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He would stop and someone's life would be changed. Maybe He was five minutes or an hour later getting where He needed to go, where the Father had told Him to go, but He was also doing the work of the Father, giving love and being of service to the people Daddy had sent Him to help. The agenda can wait. The plans can change. The Spirit knows better how the time is to be spent, even when the agenda is set in service to God.

I had been struggling to enter into an awareness of the presence of God, and then getting frustrated by an interruption I had started (that I had instigated, which frustrated me more than the interruption I think), until God showed me that the very thing I was fretting over was evidence of His presence and the restoration work He's being doing. I nearly wept with joy and gratitude. I suddenly realized my agenda, my plans didn't matter. There was nothing that still couldn't get done by grace, or, if it wasn't done, it wouldn't matter on the eternal scale of things. I had found that awareness of the presence of God in my life and my morning I had been seeking. It wasn't because I finally found the freedom to engage my routine. It was precisely because the routine had been shattered.

God is a Master Artist. and He's making something beautiful that we can see, feel and be a part of if we are willing to let our plans, our routines, our agendas be shattered. We don't have to be overwhelmed by what we feel needs to be done. What truly needs to be done will be done. God never fails to meet our needs, and therefore will never lead us away from what needs to be done. But sometimes what we feel desperately needs to be done now can wait or doesn't actually need to be done at all. A few minutes after I finally reached this understanding in my spirit, I read the devotion with the above quote. It's always nice to receive a confirmation of what the Spirit is saying to you, and since we are called to freely give what we have freely received, I knew today's Moment would be my sharing this.

Today, let us relax our grips on the to-do list, on our plans and on our agendas. Let us be open to be flexible to what the Spirit wants to do in our lives and through our lives. And let us pray that we can see the horizon through the eyes of the spirit rather than the material so that we can always be aware of the hand of God at work and not be overwhelmed by all the things that seem to be in the way or coming against us. Most of all, let us never forget that we live our lives in the presence of God, whether we are aware of it or not, with or without conscious contact He is there, and let us be ever grateful for that truth.

ULM