Soul Sister Time

              How can suffering be blessed?  There is one and only one way.  It is when you suffer while you love God.  In fact, Peter tell us that we are called to obtain the blessing because we do not revile when we are reviled.  Peter seems to assume that each one of us will have opportunities to follow Christ in the way of suffering unjustly.  Here are a few of Peter’s thoughts on the subject of blessed suffering: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.   Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing…..   Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?   But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed (I Peter 3:8-9; 13-14).               Laura Story wrote the words to the song : Blessings after her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and she was challenged by her sister

              How can you control your fears in the crazy world in which we live?   The key is self-control and sober-mindedness.  Why?  So you can pray.  Peter tells us this is in 1 Peter 4:7:    The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers .               I find living as if the end of all things is at hand is the very opposite of my natural instincts.  Rather than looking at that dress I admire and thinking through how long that will be in style, how many years I can wear it, why I might need a new dress when my closet is full of dresses (some I haven’t worn this year). I just want it.  I want it now.  I am a good enough steward, though, to forgo the purchase if it can’t be accounted for in my budget.  But does God have a better way for me to spend that money?  If I am sober-minded thinking about the end of the things of this world, it will lead me to pray about my purchase and make the best choice.  Sometimes I do

              Every life is a chapter in God’s ongoing story.  He never tires of reading the stories we write each day we live.  I’ve got to believe that so many of our stories must bring tears to His eyes as he thinks about the cruel things we say and do to one another.  Yet He records our lifetime experience, each life a book that has the potential to become a bestseller in God’s eyes.                Revelation 12:11 says: They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony .  It’s important that we recognize the power in telling our stories.  Once you tell what you saw God do in your life to someone else, you have received it deeper into your truest reality.  We do overcome by the power of telling our story.  Telling our experience in walking with God to another person solidifies what you believe about your experience.               Many avoid telling their stories because of the way they have seen others rejected for speaking about God’s mov