Category: Devotions

What’s growing in your garden???

Hey there! Whew today has been busy but I’m great. I had to go to the orthodontist today–last month I pray! I also had to get my brakes worked on. It took a while to finally get to my mechanic but it’s great to have an honest person tell you what’s wrong. The car was determined to bother me though. Every now and then it would make this noise that surprisingly disappears whenever I got over to the mechanic. But today it would not do anything for 30 minutes and I felt my frustration mounting. I was like please God just let it make the noises. Then yay it made the noises and I was happy because I could finally get it taken care of. I wasn’t in any way happy about spending my money lol but hey you gotta do what you need.

I ask what’s growing in your garden for a reason. We plant all different sorts of seeds with our words. We plant doubt when our money runs out before the month. We plant anger and hatred when someone lies on us or does something to us. We plant seeds of distrust in everyone when we get too many broken promises. Life is not a utopia. Heaven is!

In the parable about the sower, there were four types of seeds. (Mark 13:1-23) There were the seeds that fell along the path, the seeds that fell on the shallow soil mixed with rocks, the seeds that fell along thorns, and the seeds the fell on fertile soil. Obviously, this garden is your heart. But when we put certain words in our hearts and focus on bad situations, we turn our heart into that type of terrain. We create thorny gardens when we dwell on how we have been hurt and abused. Thorns hurt other people and they choke our hearts so that love cannot grow. We create rocky gardens when we know what God says and let situations wither away the Word in our hearts. We become the trodden path when we hear the Word and immediately fall victim to Satan’s attempts to distract us. But the relieving fact is that we were created to overcome. We can plant our own good seeds to change that. Again, I ask you to identify your problems and find scriptures to reverse your thinking. I recognize how it’s been helping me and I know it will work for you.

http://enterthemindofmarquita.blogspot.com

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

Marquita B. Priester

The Courage to Change the Things You Can

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

What a powerful prayer! In it’s simplicity, this prayer evokes acceptance and peace, courage, and wisdom.

A little background on the Serenity Prayer: actually, the author is unknown, but credits are often given to Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr. He brought the poem to the attention of one of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is upon reading the entire prayer that the purpose of life to take it as it is and simply change what you can, go along with what you can’t and be wise enough to know that there are definite differences. We must be strong and know that all things are possible through Christ’s sacrifice(Phi 4:13, Eph 6:13). We must know that God has a plan for us and will work it all out(Romans 8:28). Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” If this is declared in the Word, how hard can it be for us to simply acknowledge this and change what we can? Recognize those things and make moves!

Be blessed…

Here is the full version of the prayer below:

God grant me the Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the Courage to change the things I can,
and the Wisdom to know the difference;

Living one day at a time;
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it:

Trusting that you will make all things right
if I surrender to your will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with you forever in the next.