As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about PROBLEM-SOLVING. I know a lot of friends who were raised to not talk about their problems, and that denial has caused them even greater issues. Sometimes we spend more time reacting to a problem than just taking care of it, just solving it.

All people have problems they have to work through. Just because you have problems does not mean that God is punishing you; in fact, that is absurd. Problems are just a part of life, but what we do with them is the real test. We need to focus to solve them. Sometimes this means setting aside time in the morning to work on them. When we face our problems, it is easy to stay focused in the present moment.

So today, face and SOLVE only today’s problems. Don’t worry about yesterday’s; there is nothing you can do about them. Turn to God and ask for guidance and help! For it says in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.” And Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. I do not lean on your own understanding.” And Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find it; knock, and it will be open to you.”

Today, turn to the Lord, solve the problems at hand, and then let them go to live in HIS peace and love!

Have a great day!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking of a reflection I read that said, “God invites us to drop our burden on Him, and unlike the dry cleaning, you don’t have to pick it up again.” Sometimes we need to laugh at ourselves. We say we TRUST Jesus, we surrender our problems to HIM, and if we don’t see an immediate response, we pick those problems up again and we hold on to them tightly.

Surrendering is an ART that we all must practice. It takes trust, it takes perseverance, and it takes love. Sometimes I must surrender things ten to fifteen times a day because I keep wanting to take them back and turn them into worry.

So, today, unlike the dry cleaning, I’m not going to pick those problems up. I’m going to let them go, because Jesus can handle it. HE always has and always will. 

Have a blessed day…and don’t forget the dry cleaning!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I am thinking about the word NEW. Don’t you love it when something is brand new? The smell of a new car or when you get a new house, or even new shoes. Brides and grooms always look forward to their brand-new life together (those of you who have been married over 20 years know that there are challenges they have no idea will come their way!). 

One day we will have a new earth! Jesus tells us, in Revelations 21:5, that “I am making everything new!.” One day, everything will be made NEW, a new Heaven and a new Earth. I am excited to know that I am a part of that, as are you. It’s the promise of our baptism. Yes, we may have to endure suffering in this life, and pain and loss, but we count on the fact that our home in Heaven is going to be BRAND NEW. There will be no more pain and suffering, no more tears and anguish.

Today is a BRAND-NEW day and it’s going to be exactly what you make out of it. So, celebrate the gift of something NEW and look around at all of the blessings you have. 

Today is going to be a great BRAND-NEW blessed day!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about PROBLEM SOLVING. I know a lot of friends who were raised not to talk about their problems and that denial has caused even greater issues. Sometimes we spend more time reacting to a problem than just taking care of it and solving it. 

All people have problems they have to work through. We need to focus on solving our problems. Sometimes this means setting a time frame, collecting data, or sometimes even just letting it go. Just because we have problems does not mean that God is punishing us, in fact, that is absurd. Problems are just a part of life; what we do with them is the real test.

So today, face and SOLVE today’s problems. Don’t worry about yesterday’s, there’s nothing you can do about them. Turn to God and ask for guidance and help! It says in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.“ Proverbs 3:5,“ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, I do not lean on your own understanding.“ Matthew 7:7,“ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find it; knock, and it will be open to you.“

Today, turn to the Lord, solve the problems at hand, and then let them Go. Live in HIS peace and love! 

Have a great day!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was reflecting on a quote that someone posted yesterday.  It said,”Every miracle in the Bible first started out as a problem.”  That is really GOOD NEWS!  Think about any problem you have going on right now and know that it’s the making of a miracle.

I’ll bet if we went back and looked at our lives with its many problems, we would see many MIRACLES; prayers that were answered, problems that were solved, ways in which God‘s hand was at work.  All we have to do is TRUST that God is using the problems we are facing to perform miracles.  If HE can take water and turn it into wine, choice wine, if HE can take Lazarus and RAISE him from the dead, then HE can turn our problems INTO miracles!

Today, I put my trust in Jesus.  Today, I name and give Him the problems I face, and I see a potential MIRACLE.  In fact, yesterday, I witnessed three of those miracles.  From now on, I want to see every problem as a miracle IN THE MAKING! 

Have a miraculous day! 

Having my late cup of coffee with Jesus this morning, I guess He slept in, or maybe that was me!  Either way, we are both here!  So, I was thinking, do you ever wonder what belongs to you and what belongs to others?  I wonder why we spend so much time taking care of what belongs to other people.  It could be another person’s addiction, or problems, or feelings, or negative behavior.  It all belongs to them and yet sometimes we try to own it.

People’s behaviors are their own, their hopes and dreams are their own, their lies and deceptions are their own, but so often we want to become their “office manager.”  It is not the job that GOD assigned to us.  We must become our own LIFE managers, not everyone else’s.  We have enough of our own issues and problems ourselves, and we need to own them.  We need to take care of them ourselves. 

Today, let us work on a clear sense of what belongs to us and let others handle what belongs to them.  Today, I will deal with only myself, my issues, and my responsibilities, and I will take my hands off what is not mine.  I do this, believing and trusting that God cannot work when I am interfering in someone else’s life.

So, I am really excited today!  I only have to handle my own stuff!  Oops, look at that big pile over there…I think it’s mine! 

Have a blessed day, managing your own life!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus with my new mug, I was thinking about the need to REACH OUT.  Sometimes in our daily walk, our energy is low.  We might be fighting depression, or we just feel overwhelmed with problems, and that’s when we should hear the words from our Lord, REACH OUT!

In times like this, we need to go outside of ourselves and reach out. Call a friend, visit someone who is sick, write a card to somebody who is in a hospital, make sandwiches for the homeless, do something to get out of self-REACH OUT!

And while you are reaching out, REACH OUT to the Lord.  Ask HIM to bring light into your life and into your heart.  Ask HIM to inspire you so you can inspire others, and ask HIM to lift you out of darkness into his loving embrace. 

REACH OUT!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was reflecting on a quote that someone posted yesterday.  It said,” Every miracle in the Bible first started out as a problem.”  That is really GOOD NEWS!  Think about any problem you have going on right now and know that it’s the making of a miracle.

I’ll bet if we went back and looked at our lives with their many problems, we would see many MIRACLES; prayers that were answered, problems that were solved, and ways in which God‘s hand was at work.  All we have to do is TRUST that God is using the problems we are facing to perform miracles.  If HE can take water and turn it into wine, choose wine, if HE can take Lazarus and RAISE him from the dead, then HE can turn our problems INTO miracles!

Today, I put my trust in Jesus.  Today, I name and give Him the problems I face, and I see a potential MIRACLE.  In fact, yesterday, I witnessed three of those miracles.  From now on, I want to see every problem as a miracle IN THE MAKING! 

Have a miraculous day! 

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about LIFE. Yesterday, my seven-year-old grandson got a Happy Meal and in it was a miniature version of the game of Life.  We played it for a couple of hours and laughed over and over again.  

Sometimes we can take LIFE too seriously.  Instead of basking in the beauty of God’s creation, the little miracles HE shows us each day, we get caught up in the problems of LIFE.  To truly live means to have a LIFE. 

Every once in a while I say to someone, “You need to get a LIFE!”  But the life that God has planned for us is perfect!  Sometimes we need to just surrender and go with the flow.  There will always be things that challenge us in this LIFE, but when we allow Jesus in, there is nothing we cannot handle. 

Today, I am going to celebrate LIFE, not just my personal LIFE, but the LIFE of my community, the life of my family, and the life of my friends.  Today, I will celebrate LIFE, with gratitude and thanksgiving. 

Have a blessed day!

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about PROBLEM SOLVING. I know a lot of friends who were raised not to talk about their problems and that denial has caused even greater issues. Sometimes we spend more time reacting to a problem than just taking care of it and solving it. 

All people have problems they have to work through. We need to focus on solving our problems. Sometimes this means setting a time frame, collecting data, or sometimes even just letting it go. Just because we have problems does not mean that God is punishing us, in fact, that is absurd. Problems are just a part of life; what we do with them is the real test.

So today, face and SOLVE today’s problems. Don’t worry about yesterday’s, there’s nothing you can do about them. Turn to God and ask for guidance and help! It says in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.“ Proverbs 3:5,“ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, I do not lean on your own understanding.“ Matthew 7:7,“ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find it; knock, and it will be open to you.“

Today, turn to the Lord, solve the problems at hand, and then let them Go. Live in HIS peace and love! 

Have a great day!