So Many Blessings | Thankful Thursday

Last week I missed my Friday blog post: Fuel for the Weekend. I also missed posting my 5 Minute Friday on my YouTube channel. I had been up late waiting on my husband to get off work around midnight Friday morning. We talked a little bit and then I went to sleep because I had a very early doctor's appointment that I absolutely needed to keep for work. I brought home some breakfast for Javan and Paul and myself and then I laid down to take a nap. I have not been sleeping well lately and my allergies are really bothering me. My sister called me but I did not realize it. When I woke up I saw a text message from her and a missed call. My brother sent me and our other sister a text message telling us that our oldest sister was in an accident with our brother-in-law.

I immediately called her and found that she was in the Emergency Room. They had been hit by another driver who was going too fast in the rainy conditions. They tried to swerve to avoid the person but was hit head on. Their vehicle flipped and struck a tree which came crashing down into their sunroof area. Glass went everywhere including my sister's hair. My brother-in-law suffered no major injuries. My sister has a fracture in her knee. God had his hands on them and the person who hit them was not injured at all. He was driving so fast because he was late for a meeting.

I let my brother and our other sister know what was going on. I called my mom and she was at her friend's house, a wonderful woman of God, and we began to pray. My aunt called and had the prayer chain going in Florida, where she used to live. Other prayer chains began to go around here in Indiana. I believe heaven was bombarded with prayer for them and God was right with them all along in Tennessee. He has been doing one miraculous thing after another for them and I give God all the glory. She goes back to the doctor soon and is expecting them to not find anything wrong with her leg. They said she might need surgery to fix the fracture. But we know God heals and delivers and saves and sets free. We believe He is going to get all the glory, honor, and praise for all that He is doing! It is coming in ripples!!!

Please do continue to pray for my sister and brother-in-law. Their car is totaled and we all understand what a hassle dealing with insurance companies can be. She is in a wheelchair and unable to bear weight on that leg, but we know God is already working it all out.

Today I am so thankful for my sister and brother-in-law to be spared and for the gifts and callings on their life. They love the LORD with all their heart and are never too busy to pray for others in need. I am so thankful for them and for what God is doing in their lives and in the life of their son, my sweet nephew! He is now in the family of God, gave his heart to the Lord and is getting baptized! What a wonderful work He is doing in their lives. I am so thankful.

What are you thankful for today? I am counting my blessings and there are so many other things I do not have the time or space to write about that He is doing in our lives. I am also thankful for my new job and how God has worked out all those details and allowed me to be able to see my son off to his first day of high school. He had a wonderful day and I am so thankful. God is answering so many of our prayers!!

EPHESIANS 3:20-21 Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen.

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Psalm Chapter One | Bible Study Wednesday

PSALM CHAPTER ONE BIBLE STUDY

Verse one says those are blessed who choose not to live their lives after ungodly advise. Blessed are those who choose not to spend time with the ungodly. Blessed are the ones who do not sit and fellowship with scorners. The book of Proverbs tells us in chapter four, verse 14, "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men."

The Psalms are written by David, Moses, and others. My Bible does not say who wrote this first Psalm but it is one of my favorite passages to read. It is packed with wisdom; real-life, timeless knowledge that has remained true through the ages.

So if the blessed person is one who does not do those things, what should they be doing? Verse two tells us that they delight in the law of the LORD and think about it day and night. These people are actively pursuing the things of God. They check in with Him before they make decisions or go about their day. These are the ones who have focused on putting God first in their lives and the Bible calls them BLESSED. In Joshua chapter one, verse eight it reads, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make they way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Staying in the Word of God is key to being successful in 2022.

The promise of God to those blessed people, (which includes you and me if we are doing those things), is found in verse three. You and I will be like a tree planted by a water source like a river. The roots go deep and are watered by the river. We can plant ourselves in the center of God's Will. He is the Water of Life and we are to drink freely. He sustains us. He nourishes us. He refreshes us. In time, in the right season, we will produce fruit that shows we are rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus. The things we say, the way we do anything, the way we treat others will all reflect back on our relationship with Jesus and we will bear much fruit. 

The Bible says our leaves won't even wither. This is huge!!! The scorching sun beats down on the plants and when it hasn't rained and it has not been watered, the leaves dehydrate and shrivel up. If we get away from the source of life-giving water, which is Jesus Christ, then we will dehydrate. We will become sick, and dry and we will collapse. The Christians who crawl through troubles and tribulations are those who have been disconnected from the water source. They need refreshing from the well that won't run dry! If you can relate and you say, "2021 drained me dry," then I have great news for you, get up, crawl if you must, but go to the source of the living water. His name is Jesus and call upon Him. Ask Him for a refreshing and watch Him do it.

We get disconnected from the life-sustaining water source when we take our eyes off Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith. When we grow weary in the waiting, we look at the circumstances and temporary situation we are in. This distraction has now caused us to worry, doubt, fear the future, and lose hope. We start to dehydrate. The situation God placed us in for a time, but not forever, has now become a source of despair and with the disconnection to the well of Living Water, we are now collapsing beneath the weight of the worry and sorrow we have allowed to take up residence in our hearts. If we had remained connected to the Living Water, we would have been unmovable. Have you ever seen a tree near a river? Those things are huge! They are strong and you cannot budge them an inch! They are steady and unmovable. That is the way God wants us to be: strong and unmovable regardless of what is going on around us. Snow and bitter cold may be near the icy stream but you cannot knock that tree down! Extreme heat and dry ground may be around the tree but the roots are down into that river and it is not going anywhere!

Jeremiah chapter 17, verses 7 & 8 read, "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green: and shall not be careful (or anxious) in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." The key to producing fruit when others are not, when the circumstances around you says you should be failing, too, is remaining connected to the God who can never fail. How do we do that? We look to God, hope in His Word, and trust Him to see us through. We understand that things are tough and less than ideal, and maybe even scary, but we know our God is bigger and capable of bringing us out better than when we entered.

What about those who choose to live life on their own terms? We were given the choice to follow God or to say no and do our own thing. God will never force anyone to serve Him or love Him. He does not desire robots to do His bidding, but rather desires a relationship with His children that He loves so much. The Bible has a promise for them, too. Verse four says that these promises are not for the ungodly. They are life chaff, not much substance to them, and when the wind blows it scatters them. They are not steady, they are not secure. They are blown away and separated from the familiar and what once held them together. Job 21:18 says it like this, "They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away." Isaiah paints a vivid picture of what this look like. In Isaiah 17:13 it reads, "The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind." Chaff is the unusable part of wheat. It gets discarded. We are to be like the wheat and not the chaff. Let's remain rooted in Christ so we can be useful to Him and not blown away when life's storms threaten us.

One day God will return for His people. We all face the judgment seat of Christ. Some will see that they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and are wearing the righteousness of Christ. They will receive the crown of life that has been promised to them. Others will stand before God as judge and jury. He will have Jesus sitting right by His side and they will be without excuse. The perfect Lamb of God offered them the gift of eternal life and they refused. Verse five says this, "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment." Remember the way the leaves collapse without water? These trees were never rooted and grounded. Their leaves always dried up and withered and were unable to stand erect. These people are unable to stand in the day of judgment. There is nothing they can do but bow the knee and confess Jesus Christ is Lord, though they will forever be separated from Him. Verse five goes on to say, "Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." God will separate the sheep from the goats. There will be no sinners among the congregation of the righteous. The righteous made a choice to follow Jesus and live for Him. There is no fellowship with sinners because they do not want to hear about the things of God. They do not want to praise God or talk about His goodness or read His Word. So they will not be found in the congregation of the righteous. Why would they be? They do not desire to be among God's people.

The sixth and final verse says that the LORD knows the way of the righteous. In Psalm 37:18 & 19 we read, "The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." What an incredible illustration of how good God is. When the rest of the world is starving, God's people will be not only filled, but satisfied. They will have more than enough! The end of verse six is this, "but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

Today is the day of salvation. If we are rooted and grounded in Christ, we have promises to be: sustained, satisfied, helped, refreshed, renewed, and bear fruit. If we are not, we have a chance today to get connected to the life-giving Living Water of Jesus Christ. If you once were rooted and grounded but you feel yourself slipping away, leaves withering, collapsing beneath the load of care, it's not too late for you. Plant yourself in the Word of God and allow the fertile soil to give you nutrients you are longing for. Stay by the River of Life and allow your roots to be hydrated by the source that will never run out. Come back to the refreshing stream.

I want to pray with you all before we end our Bible Study session today,

Heavenly Father,

I thank You for my friends and family that read my blog. I do not know every single person You lead here but I am thankful for them just the same. Lord I am asking that You bless my brothers and sisters in Christ who are planted by the streams of Living Water. I ask that You continue to bless them and nourish them like only You can. Father God, I am asking that You would show my brothers and sisters who were once deeply rooted and grounded in You, how to make their way back to You. Your arms are always open and You love them so much. Help them plant themselves in Your perfect will and help them to heal and refresh and renew at Your healing waters. Raise them up God so their leaves never wither or dry up. And God I am asking that You would save those who do not know You. You love them so much You sent Your Son Jesus to die on the cross of Calvary to give them eternal life. He died but You raised Him from the dead and I ask that Your resurrection power would quicken the spirits of those who do not know You. LORD I pray that they would forever be changed and would begin to grow roots that will ground them to You and Your Word in the precious name of Jesus. Amen

I hope something you have read today has given you strength for your journey and light for your way.

God bless you,

Bridgett Owens

Blessed Mourning | Thankful Thursday

Jesus said in Matthew 5:4, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." What an incredible statement. When you have lost nothing, and nothing has been taken from you recently, it sounds so beautiful and encouraging. It seems like it is a wonderful promise that maybe when someone you love dies it won't hurt as bad. But that is not the promise. Maybe it makes us think that we, as believers, get a pass on the grieving process, but that simply is not true. It is not what Jesus is saying at all.

Jesus said the people that grieve, no matter what that loss looks like, regardless of what the object is, be it a loved one, a beloved pet, a job, an opportunity, finances, physical health, mental health, it could be anything at all, --those people are blessed. Blessed?? It sure doesn't feel like I'm blessed when I lose something or someone. But if we just stop at Blessed are they that mourn and we don't read the rest of the sentence we miss the whole point. It sounds kind of cruel almost to bless someone because they are grieving. Why are we blessed? Why did Jesus call us blessed when we mourn?

The promise is not that we will never hurt, or that we won't ever have hard times. Jesus told us in the Gospels that in this world we would have trouble. In John 16:33, in the red letters, Jesus again speaking says, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

The reason we are blessed when we mourn is because we have Hope, the Blessed Hope. We have Jesus and He has given us a promise from His own mouth in Matthew that promises we SHALL be comforted. We will be consoled. We will be cared for in the lowest moments, in the lowest valleys. Jesus told us a couple chapters back in John 14:16-18 "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."

Now do you see where the mourners are blessed with Comfort? Jesus is coming to each and every one of us that serve Him and He through the Holy Spirit comforts us. He is the Comforter! That is why we can face the uncertainty of tomorrow and all fear can be gone because Jesus lives. He lives inside each of His children and He is comforting those that mourn.

This Thankful Thursday I am thankful for my cousin, Tim. I am thankful that I knew him and that he loved me and cared for me and gave me some wonderful memories. He nicknamed me, "Bridgett the Midget" when I was a little kid. I understand the term "midget" is not politically correct but he just called me that because I was a short kid and it rhymed. It was just in jest. I am thankful for the privilege to be able to hold his hand and pray over him and I know God moved on Tim's behalf. I am thankful for the power of prayer and for what God can do. I am thankful that Jesus is alive and that means we have HOPE because Tim placed his faith in God. He received his license to minister and preached last Sunday. Now he is Home. Everything he lived for in these last days of his life... the message he shared with his whole heart... he gets to see the fruit of his labor as he now is in the presence of the Lord. the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:8, We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

It may seem strange that on this Thankful Thursday I am grateful for this topic, but I am thankful that I do not mourn like the world who is without hope. I have the blessed assurance that Tim is in a far better place than I am. He is with God and he has no more cancer, no more sickness, no more pain, no more suffering, no more swelling, no more torment. He saw through a glass darkly but now face to face. It just encourages me to draw nearer to God. Lord, help us all be ready when You call our name. We must labor while we have the chance, friends. Work now while you can. We are not promised tomorrow and one day it will be over. Our fighting and striving for the good fight we are battling in this life will be over and we will have Jesus welcome us in to His paradise. What a day that will be!

I am 42 years old and most of my family has died now, the majority of them through some type of cancer. It has swept through our family swiftly and there are very few of us left, many are not in good health that remain. I do not take my days on earth lightly. If I could have one wish, one desire, one goal it would be to reach the whole world for Jesus Christ. It would be that I would tell everyone about the goodness of God. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. He is loving and kind and quick to forgive. Jesus already paid for your salvation. It is free. It is yours just by putting your trust in Him. Have you done that? If you have, I am so thankful! Let's help encourage one another, pray for and uplift each other on our journey we have left. If you haven't, please don't wait. You never know when time is up. Please do not put off making the best decision you could ever make. Ask Jesus to be your Savior. Tell Him that you believe Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for your sins. Confess with your mouth that you believe Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and now is alive forevermore. If you ask Him to forgive you of your sins and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you are saved. It is that easy! It is that free! But don't stop there.

Find a church that is teaching from the Holy Bible and get yourself a Bible. Tell me if you need a Bible and I will make sure you have one. Read it every single day. Pray and ask Holy Spirit to help you understand what it means. It is spiritually discerned so that means you cannot read it like a regular book. You need Him to give you wisdom and knowledge to help you understand it. Surround yourself with other believers and if you have the opportunity to get baptized in Jesus' name then do that! Give your life to Jesus and you will soon see that your life changes. You will make better choices and you may have to change who you spend time with. You will lose your desire for the things you once craved in this world but you will get a hunger and a thirst for His righteousness and the Bible says you will be filled! You will never regret making Jesus the Lord of your life. You will never be the same.

I am thankful Jesus saved me with His merciful grace. He loves me and He has never given up on me. I would have given up on me by now but Jesus never does. He loves us all so much He gave His life for us. Do not wait another minute to ask Him into your heart.

I pray something I have shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens