don’t give up

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

- Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

 

Sometimes life just gets overwhelming.
Work, family, traffic, everything just seems to be pitted against us, absolutely nothing is going right.

There are a lot of verses in the Bible about perseverance, and not giving up, stories about the things that others have endured.
And there is real life. 
When we are so far down the rabbit hole that we feel like we can’t even see the sun anymore, it feels like no amount of Bible verses will help.
Those who have been reading my writing for a while know that one thing I like to do is compare different versions of the Bible.
The EXB (Expanded Bible) (yeah, I didn’t know this was a thing either) translates this verse We must not become ·tired [or discouraged] of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life ·at the right [or in due] time if we do not give up.
Still, not very helpful. 
There is a poem I remember my mother had taped to the refrigerator, written by Edgar Albert Guest but often attributed to John Greenleaf Whittier (why do poets have three names?):
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

when the funds are low and the debts are high,

and you want to smile but you have to sigh,

when care is pressing you down a bit - rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.

As everyone of us sometimes learns.

And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow - you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup;

and he learned too late when the night came down,

how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

and when you never can tell how close you are,

it may be near when it seems afar;

so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem worst, you must not quit.

HMMM

According to the interwebs, it's all about perseverance, tenacity, determination, and will-power to not to give up - especially when the things are going wrong.

It’s hard.
No matter what verses or poems you read, no matter who you talk to, life is hard.
Let me say that again: Life. Is. Hard. 

Not giving up can be a full-time job piled on top of everything else going on.
I guess that I am just here to say the same thing – don’t give up. 
Tomorrow things may not be as bad. 
It may not be better tomorrow – but there are a million tomorrows as long as you don’t give up today.

   

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

glad for trouble

We are glad for our troubles also. We know that troubles help us learn not to give up. When we have learned not to give up, it shows we have stood the test. When we have stood the test, it gives us hope.

- Romans 5:3-4 (NLV)

 

It’s all good.

We hear that a lot, don’t we?

I often look at different versions of a verse when choosing for my “daily bread”. 
The New King James version reads: And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

And the New Living Translation says: We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
The words “problems and trials” and “troubles” and “we have stood the test” but “perseverance” is huge, and it is not a synonym for “endurance”.

OK – back to the verse.

It is all good.

We really go through some craziness in this life, but somehow, it all works out, we keep going.

Everything we go through that threatens to take us down, God is going to work something good out of it.

No, I don’t always understand it.

What “good” can come out of someone dying?

What “good” can come out of losing a job, a home, a marriage?

I don’t have the answer, but I do know that if we hang in there and trust God, we will find out.

And as we hang in there, we learn things like patience, character, and above all, hope.

Without hope, we have nothing.

   

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

can”t always get what you want

Beware! Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have. For real life and real living are not related to how rich we are.

- Luke 12:15 (TLB)

 

I have often asked my friends with children how old their kids were when they let them have cell phones.
It’s an odd question and it is usually followed up with a reason why that age was chosen, even I justify why we gave our youngest a phone 4 years earlier than his siblings.
I hear my granddaughter begging her mom for something because all her friends have one, and I am reminded of this verse, and our own human need for “stuff”.
I’m sure that we have all felt that if we could just have a little more of something, we’d be happy – like a little nicer house or a little newer car.

Sometimes it feels that our happiness in linked to our possessions, and we need to get out of that mindset sooner rather than later.

Remember that God will provide us with everything we need, and what we have is enough right now.

When Israel left Egypt, God provided manna every day, more than enough to feed everyone, and He told the people to gather only what they needed for that day, to trust that He would provide. 

In the parable of the rich fool, Jesus gives two brothers fighting over their inheritance a strong warning about thinking that their possessions can give their life worth and ultimate value.

The New King James version of this verse reads: And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Greed grips our hearts when we place material things (or anything) in the place of God and His ultimate approval and blessings in our life.

Don’t be greedy, nice things are nice, but they are just things.

Things go away, God Is forever.

Life doesn’t come down to what you own, but how you use it in glorifying God.

All our “stuff” won’t matter the day we meet our Savior face to face.

   

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

sin versus grace

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.

- Romans 5:20 (NIV)

 

A little twist today, I saw a saying on social media “be careful what you tolerate. . .  You are teaching people how to treat you.”

Whoa nellie!
When I first read this verse, it was the second half that hit me the hardest - where sin increased, grace increased all the more.

Then as I was researching the verse, I found the Message translation:  All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

Grace wins.

God's grace—giving good to us when we have earned bad—cannot be overwhelmed by our own sinfulness.

The more we sin, the more grace God gives.
Now, if we think heavy on this, we are supposed to be like Jesus, so that means that we need to give grace too.

The purpose of the law was to expose sin, making people more aware of their need for God's grace through Jesus Christ.
If we need Jesus, doesn’t everyone? 
Especially that person that continues to goad you and be the thorn in your side, that finds two wrongs for every right that you do?
If it is hard for us to show grace, should we consider the things we do, and still God shows us grace?

No matter how much someone sins, God’s grace is greater, and it is available to everyone.

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

myth or truth

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

- Titus 2:11 (NIV)

 

Since the dawn of time, people have been searching for the things that legends are made of.
The fountain of youth, the lost city of Atlantis, the enchanted village of Brigadoon, Avalon, all fascinating yet likely mythical places that will never be found.
The grace of God seems to have found a home among the things that cannot be found, but there is nothing further from the truth!
The grace of God is not a formula to be discovered, not an invention made by man, or even a place to be found on a treasure map.
The grace of God was revealed through the Son of God, the Word made flesh. 
Christ is the visible representation of God, who appeared on earth and through Him salvation was brought to all people.

We don’t need a treasure map, or a contingent of soldiers to find salvation and grace.
Christ alone redeems us; Jesus is the saving grace. 

It is through discipline and training in our daily life, that one day we will be like Him, and we shall see Him as He is.

In that future Christ will reward us by grace through faith, simply because He appeared, bringing salvation to all who would trust in His name.
   

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

tired

He gave me a new song to sing. It is a hymn of praise to our God. Many people will see and have respect for the Lord. They will put their trust in him.

- Psalm 40:3 (NIRV)

 

Scrolling through social media often gives me ideas for my “daily bread”.
It might be a meme, a photo with a bible verse or someone’s personal story, it just goes to show that you never know when inspiration will hit you.

Last week it was a meme that said, “Just when my hallelujah was tired, you gave me a new song”.

Oooooooooo . . .

I can’t even tell you how many times my hallelujah is tired.
Sometimes I am so tired of the way things are going that I just want to throw in the towel, give up.
My heart and soul, my ego and my mind become so broken, I just don’t know how to pick up the pieces and move on.
But God. 
He really does give us a new song to sing when we feel at our wits end. 
And when others see us so worn down yet still praising our God, then they turn to Him too.
Sometimes they ask us why we sing when our hearts are broken, and it opens a door for us to share how amazing our God really is.

When our hallelujah is tired, we should sing the next song.

   

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible

 

not disappointed

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

- Romans 5:5 (NKJV)

 

I can’t say that I am not disappointed in the way things have turned out over the past few months, things have definitely not been going my way.
But God. 
I keep pushing myself to move forward because I know that God’s got this, He’s got me.
We need to remember (I need to remember) that good things are coming, that God loves us too much to let us fail.
Sometimes there will be tears. 
Sometimes we even need to scream. 
And that is ok, as long as we remember that hope does not disappoint. 

God does not disappoint.
He loves us, every single one of us can be filled with His love. 

That should give us all the hope we need.

   

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible