2011 - The Year in Review

In 5 days, the year 2011 will be over and a new year2012 will be ushered in.   So for today’s post I would like to leave you with some thoughts to ponder as you reflect on the year 2011.  For some of us as we reflect on this year we have different emotions- joy, and happiness, and for some sadness and despair.  Some cannot wait to say goodbye and others are clinging to it, embracing every last minute. Regardless of your emotion let us pause to thank God for His goodness and Mercy knowing that regardless of what we went through He was with us all te way as well as understanding that things could have been worse.

Most of us had plans, for what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do them.  Others had no plans and just rolled with the punches.  In whatever category you found yourself- Did you achieve the goals you had for 2011, your personal goals, as well as your family goals?  For some, our goal was to spend more time with the children and grandchildren.  For some it may have been to have more family prayer time, for others it may have been more family bible study, to get married, to get that promotion on the job, a new car or a new house.  Were you at least close?  If the answer is no, think about the reasons why you were not able to achieve them?  If you answered yes, think about what you did to accomplish your goals and see what you can repeat for 2012.

Here is some food for thought as you make your plans for 2012: What or who did you align yourself with in 2011 that was a hindrance to your progress and success, which you must leave behind and not drag into 2012?  Were your plans similar to the plans that God had for you?  Did you do what you promised God that you would have done for Him in 2011?

God has a purpose for you as a mother; do you know what this purpose is?  Have you wondered how many destinies may be wrapped up in your obedience to what God is asking of you?  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. So why not ask Him for 2012?

 It is better to be unsuccessful doing what God has planned for you to do, than being successful at what He did not ask you to do.
For 2012: It is my prayer that as mothers we will operate in the will of God and according to the word of God.  It is my hope that we will not do what is popular but instead will do what is righteous.  It is my hope that we will love not just our children more, but our neighbor’s children and the nation’s children.  It is my hope that we will remain steadfast, and will not give up easily, that we will exemplify the fruit of the spirit in our homes and everywhere we go.  It is my hope that any broken relationships with our children in 2011 will be mended for 2012 and that your children will rise up and call you blessed.

In His Service,

Vilma

The Perfect Gift

In 6 days it will be Christmas day.  The Christmas season on a whole is one of the most celebrated holiday seasons in a number of countries.  It would be correct to say that every person in this country regardless of their religious belief is usually affected in some way by the Christmas season.  The merchants are busy stocking and restocking their shelves, offering the latest and best in toys, appliances, electronics, and clothing, trying to satisfy the demand of shoppers giving them what they want and much more.  There are also the shoppers who are very busy depleting the store shelves giving the merchants and credit card companies what they want, money.  Some are finished shopping and are busy wrapping gifts, or hiding gifts, so that are can give what their children, other relatives, and friends want.  Some are working extra hours to give themselves the extra cash they need to spend.

There are still others who have just had relationships severed with little or no warning; there are those who are giving into depression because of loneliness, homelessness, or joblessness.  There are still others who have given into memories that make them dread the season, for some it may be the loss of a loved one or some other catastrophic event.  Last but not least, there are others who are filled with excitement and hope, knowing that if there was no Christmas, there life would be utterly meaningless.  Good or bad we are affected.

 There is one word that seems to be evident it all the scenarios I just described and that is the word “Giving”.  Hence we can come to the conclusion that the Christmas season is a time of Giving.  I sometimes question how many times we really nail it by giving or receiving the perfect gift?
For me I just do not like shopping, the crowds are one thing, but the main reason is that some people are just too hard to shop for.  Sometimes even when you are told the color you still get it wrong, for example a red sweater is not just a red sweater, because of the many shades of red, sometimes the size is off, or the brand is wrong, it may be too short too tight too…., (you can add yours) and sometimes even when you get it right, then they may have changed their mind and want something else. Did I hear somebody say GIFT CARD!!?
 It seems that the “perfect” gift was always elusive.  Why is this?  I am so glad you ask.  I believe it is impossible because THE PERFECT GIFT WAS ALREADY GIVEN, OVER 2000 YEARS AGO.  The name on of this gift was JESUS CHRIST THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.

“Twelve days of Christmas” is a very funny song that we usually sing around this season, but as I think about this little song, I reflect on my true love and what He gave to me and this is what I now sing. 

Many thousands of years ago, My True love looked on earth and He saw some sinners that He truly loved.  He tried different ways to wash away their sins, so He could have a relationship with them.  No person or thing He tried was able to get the job perfectly done.  Finally over 2000 years ago He looked at his son Jesus, perfect in every way and decided He would be the one.  In obedience to His father’s will Jesus did not hesitate but left his home in Heaven and came down to earth.  He was born in a manger to the virgin Mary, He was ridiculed, talked about, hated, and eventually was sacrificed on a cross, but as promised He rose up after 3 days with all power in his hand.  He had accomplished His mission, to save the world from their sins, and also to heal all their diseases.  Now He is at the right hand of God making intercession for us, and where He is we will also be. 

This perfect gift keeps on giving.  It will never get outdated.  After He went back to heaven He left us the Holy Spirit, to be our comforter and guide revealing to us all truths.  He gave life and Life more abundantly (John 10:10).  He has given us power/authority (Mat. 10:1), the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20).  The gift gives Love (John 3:16), Peace (John 14:27), Joy (Nehemiah 8:10), Faith (Romans 12:3).

 As a matter of fact whatever you need this gift can provide.  This gift is the right color, size, shape, and name brand.  It is not battery operated, neither does He depend on electricity.  It will never become outdated, will never spoil, and fits into every season of the year.  All you need to do is to accept this gift, do not worry that you may mess it up, it does come with a manual (the Bible) that will show us how to operate it, so that we can maximize His potential.  Every day you will discover new possibilities about this gift, and the more you share Him with others, the better He gets.
So for this very busy season as you give and receive gifts, remember what I have shared in this blog, and somehow start a conversation about this gift.  

Isaiah 9:6- For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

In His Service,
 

Vilma

Looking at His Promises - Isaiah 44:3-5

We have just completed our prayer for our children to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.  I hope this was helpful to all who were able to read them. 

Starting with today’s blog I would like us to look at some of the promises from God concerning our children.  As I mentioned in a previous post it is important to know these promises, so we can constantly remind ourselves of them, knowing that He who made these promises, will never go back on what He promised.  When we look on our children, what do we see?  Do we see potential/Possibilities?  Do we see hope and a future?  

I would like to share with you a promise form the book of Isaiah.  
Isaiah 44:3-5.  For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.  They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.  One will say, 'I belong to the LORD'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's,' and will take the name Israel.  (NIV)

God has promised not to sprinkle, wet, or make damp, but to Pour out His Spirit on your children (offspring) and His blessings on your descendants.  Not only your immediate child or children, (offspring) but their children and their children’s children and as far down the line as you can possible imagine (descendants).  It is the gift that keeps on giving.  God says our children will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing springs – think about it.  The poplar tree translated “white tree” though usually a shrub can grow up to twenty feet.  A shrub is not a tree but with the right care- by flowing streams -it can surpass many trees.  Do not discount what or who they are, with the right care you can bring them to their 20 feet. 

Father I thank you for my children, I pray that as they grow in your grace they will recognize who they truly are in you.  I pray that they will confirm who they are by the words from their mouth ‘I belong to the Lord’ or call themselves by the name of the Lord or they will confirm this by writing on their hand, “The LORD's,' In Jesus’ name Amen

Do you believe this?  If you do, then try to maintain your focus on it; though it may tarry it will surely come to pass.

In His Service,

Vilma

Prayer for Self-Control/Temperance .............. Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5: 22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is ……..meekness, TEMPERANCE: against such there is no law.
For this post we will look at the the final aspect of the fruit of the spirit which is TEMPERANCE. In the NIV the word SELF-CONTROL is used instead of the word TEMPERANCE. The word self-control  is self explanatory, however, I would like  share with you the definition from the New Ungers Bible dictionary which states: the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites. In other words having control over our “temper and emotions”.
Controlling our temper and emotions seems to be a difficult thing to do for most of us. We frequently will hear people justify their actions as being triggered by another person or thing. Whereas we cannot control other people’s action, we certainly need to know that we can control ours. We do have a choice of how we respond when confronted by certain situations. Because it is an “all you can eat buffet”, does not mean that I need to eat myself sick. Because the driver cuts me off, it does not mean I give him the finger, because a male may pay me a compliment , does not mean I need to  pursue a realtionship, because the cashier gave me too much change does not mean I put it in my wallet and leave. In all these situations I had the choice over my actions.  In other to control our emotions and passions we need to first start with the mind, we need to make sure that our minds are renewed daily with the word of God. We need to pause before we react and think of what would Jesus want us to do,counting to 10 may not be enough.

Father, I pray that my children will exhibit the fruit of self-control/temperance in their everyday life. Control over their emotions and passions, knowing when to say No, or Yes, or when to walk away. I pray that they will renew their mind with your word, and will pause before reacting to situations.  That they will not see this as a weakness but as a strength. As I pray for them, I pray that I too will exhibit before them this fruit of Self-control/Temperance in the way in which I respond to situations. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Of such there is no Law” Any person who exhibits these virtues of the fruit of the spirit, cannot be condemned!!!!!

In his Service,

Vilma  

Prayer for MEEKNESS - fruit of the Spirit

For today’s post we will continue to look at the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5: 22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is ……..MEEKNESS, temperance: against such there is no law.

MEEKNESS is a fruit of the Spirit that tends to be quite misunderstood by many.

What is Meeknes? According to the strong’s concordance the Greek word for Meekness is Praotes which means gentleness or humility. A furthur look at Humility denotes a lowliness of mind, an inwrought  grace of the soul that allows one to think of himself no more highly than he ought to think (New Ungers Bible Dictionary). The word gentleness, expresses a spirit of willingness and obedience and a lack of resistence to God’s dealings with us (New Ungers Bible Dictionary).

Most people associate meekness with weakness,and tend not to admire people who are meek. I prefer to agree with those who describe meekness as strength under control.

Meekness is a very important characteristics for christians.  Jesus addresses the issue of meekness in his teachings of the sermon on the Mount known as the Beatitudes. He said “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”  So in order for us to inherit the earth that Christ has placed us in we need to have an attitude of meekness. The bible gives us examples of people who were meek,Jesus Christ was our greatest example, and at no time could he be mistaken as weak. At all times He had His strenth under control. Moses was another example of a person who was Meek, He delivered the Children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness millions of complaining people, there was nothing weak about him.  Numbers 12: 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)  
   Having an attitude of meekness, is saying that we are dependent on someone other than ourselves and we do not get upset about things as we have the confidence that God is working things out on our behalf. In today’s society it would seem like agression is the way to go, bulldozing our way through people to get what we want, being loud and argumentative. Unfortunately as christians we cannot go with the world’standard.
Is it easy to be humble, and to think of others more highly than ourselves, to express a spirit of willingness and obedience and a lack of resistence to God’s  dealings- No but it is doable, why? God does not ask us to do what is impossible, that is His Job.

So here is our prayer for our Children: Father I thank you for my Children. I thank you that you want the best for them at all times. Father I thank you that you are the greatest example for us to follow, and that there is no temptation common to man for which you have not given us a way of escape. I pray that the spirit of Meekness will be manifested in my children. Help them to realize that by being meek they are showiing their confidence and dependence on you. As I pray for their meekness, help me as their mother to also be an example of meekness before them, In Jesus’s name Amen.

In His Service,

Vilma

Prayer for Faith/Faithfullness Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is…………FAITH, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Faith was previously addressed in my blog post on August 22, 2011.  I will include some of the information that was presented in that post, Just in case you prefer not go to the archives to find it.

The Greek word for Faith is “pistis”, which is translated as belief, trust, reliable and faithful.  The fundamental idea of Faith in the scripture is steadfastness and faithfulness.

Hebrews 11:1 now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (NIV).

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (KJV).

Faith is extremely important for Christians.  The bible says in Hebrews 11:6- And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (NIV).

 Put another way we cannot please God by our works, we can only please Him if we Trust/ believe in Him and in what He has done for us.  How would you feel if some person who you have always being kind and helpful to over the years, one day decides that they no longer believe or trust in your ability to help them?  Remember you have always been there for them, always come through for them.  I believe that this would make very unhappy, I know I would not be pleased.  This is what happens when we do not trust or believe the things that God promises to do for us, even when we know what His track record is. 
I often hear people saying things like “you have no faith” or he or she has more faith than I do.  However I would like to disagree with statements like this.  Here is my reasoning:
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The measure refers to a specific unit of measurement or amount.  If the Bible said a measure of Faith, then I could agree with you because it could mean that the amount of faith given differed according to what was used to measure it- a spoon, a cup, a glass or a bucket.  So why do some people seem to have more than the next person.  I would say that the more one exercises his Faith the more his Faith grows.  

In addition to having trust and a belief in God, we need our children to exhibit a character of faithfulness, and loyalty in their everyday life.  They need to exhibit faithfulness to God, to their family, in their church, on their job, in their school. As we pray for our children to exhibit the characteristic of FAITH, we need to make sure that we are an example to them of what it means to be faithfull.

Father, I thank you for my child/children.  I pray that they will develop trust, belief and loyalty in You and in your Word and as they grow in their trust, belief and loyalty for you this will be translated into a life of faithfulness in everything they say and do.  In Jesus’ Name Amen.

In His Service,

Prayer for Goodness - fruit of the Spirit

But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, GOODNESS, faith ……of such there is no law.  

GOODNESS is the next portion of the fruit of the Spirit that we will look at in today’s post.  To fully understand what we are asking for when we pray for our children to exhibit goodness as a part of their everyday lives, let us look more closely on what Goodness means.
  The Strong’s concordance Greek translation of GOODNESS is agathosune {ag-ath-o-soo'-nay} which means virtue or beneficence.  We can further define the word virtue as a benefit, a quality, an asset, or a plus.  The word beneficence on the other hand (from an ethical point of view) usually means “to do no harm”.  

Why should we strive to be good, or to do no harm to others?  Why should we strive to do the right thing and to do it for the right reason?  According to Pastor Melvin Newland, “One of our problems with goodness is the same problem we have with love.  The word "good" is used in so many ways, just as we use the word "love."  I do agree with this statement.  The word good does seem to be used indiscriminately and sometimes glibly and takes on the meaning of its context.

Our Standard for what Goodness is should be patterned after Jesus- that is the type of goodness that we should strive to exhibit.  The Bible tells us that Jesus went around doing good- He did no Harm

Acts:10: 38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Jesus went around doing good.  We also can, and should go around doing God.  He did not choose to do good to those who could reciprocate; neither did he do so just for those who followed Him or Loved Him.  He did good whenever there was a need.  A key point to notice is that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power as well as the fact that God was with Him.
The act of goodness should originate from the heart; it is not an act to draw attention to us.  Again this may be difficult to achieve, however it’s attainable.  This same power that Jesus Christ had while He was on earth is the same power that He left with us when He returned to heaven.  He also left the Holy Spirit with us and we too can get this anointing upon us.

Father I thank you for (insert name/names).  I pray for the spirit of goodness to be exhibited in their life.  I pray that they will seek to always do good and not evil to others.  Father I pray that they will not just do good things to be seen but will do good things as a prompt from their hearts.  As I pray for this attribute to be exhibited in (insert name/names) I pray that I myself will become an example of goodness to them.  In Jesus’ name. Amen

Prayer for Kindness/Gentlenss- Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5: 22: But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, KINDNESS, goodness……….against such things there is no law (NIV).
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, GENTLENESS, goodness, faith……..against such there is no law (KJV).

Today we will focus on “Kindness” or “Gentleness which is another aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. The word gentleness in the Greek is translated  usefulness, moral excellence(in character or demeanor) good, kindness. God wants us as christians to exhibit a character and demeanor that reflects moral excellence.  Showing Kindness is a tangible way of expressing the love of God to others. This Kindness or Gentleness that we are asked to demonstarte is not just for those who treat us right but even to our enemies or people who mistreat us. This is certainly not an easy thing to do, but again it is possible. God does not require impossible things from us. We can look at this as a process, that we need to continue in daily, and we will find that it gets easier each time. Gentleness or Kindness does not mean that we are weak or a push over as some may think. No it is a necessary fruit that we need to bear. We need to exhibit a moral character, in our home, at our jobs, in school, at the supermarket, driving on the street, yes and even when you feel like you are being backed in a corner. We have been given this gift, we need to use it, not put it away.

Father, I thank you for my children. I thank you for the gift of the fruit of the Spirit that you have graciously given to them. I thank you that included in this is Kindness/ Gentleness. I pray that they will exhibit this aspect of the fruit in their every day life. Help them not to react to situations but to think things through carefully then make the right decisions. Help them not to show kindness only to those who are kind to them but instead they will be kind and compassionate to everyone. As I paray for this for my children, help me to also exhibit kindness and gentleness towards them and others, setting a physical example for them to follow. In Jesus name, Amen.

In His Service,

Vilma

Prayer for Patience or Longsuffering

But the fruit of the Spirit is?

Galatians 5: 22: But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness……….against such things there is no law (NIV). In the KJV the word longsuffering is used instead of the word patience.

What does patience/longsuffering mean? In the Greek translation this means endurance, constancy, forbearance or fortitude. Patience is that calm and unruffled demeanor that one exhibits in the face of tribulation or turmoil. It means that you can have love joy, and peace even over a period of time when people and events annoy you. God does not easily get irritated with us and hence we should not be easily irritated with others. See Romans 9: 22

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?  I guess

If Satan is unable to overcome us by force then he will try to wear us down, the only way to overcome this is to remain patient and wait for Satan to get tired of his own game.

For this week let us pray for our Children to exhibit the spirit of Patience and Longsuffering in their everyday life.  In today’s society it would appear that patience is a thing of the past, it seems like every one is impatient, parents get easily impatient with their children and children with their parents, we get impatient with other drivers on the road, impatient as we stand in lines to be served.  We get impatient with the elderly, impatient with our job.  We want things yesterday, as put by someone- we are in a microwave age- where everything is fast.  We no longer write letters, we e-mail or text and with texting we use the shortest possible way to get our message across (like C U later, or 2morrow).  I am not saying we should remain in the dark ages, but we really need to slow down some.  I hear it so often, a patient is prescribed a medication today in the evening and they call you first thing the next morning to say it doesn’t work because they are not back to normal.  As we exhibit patience it allows us to reflect, to think, make right decisions and it builds strength and character in us.  It is possible to exhibit patience, as a Christian, we have the fruit of the spirit- Love, Joy, Peace longsuffering/patience, let us start to use it.  Let us wear Satan down, instead of him wearing us down.  Do not give in let us endure to the end.

Father, I thank you for my child or children.  I pray for the manifestation of Patience in their lives, with their friends, in school, with their co-workers, with their spouses and their own children. I pray that as they abide in you that patience will become easier each day. I pray that they will remember that they can do all things in Christ who gives them strength so being patient is possible. As I pray for their patience, I pray that I will be an example for them by exercising patienc with them. In Jesus’s name Amen.

In His Service,

Vilma

Prayer for the Manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit---------Peace

As we continue to continue to pray for the manifestation of the fruit of the spirit within our children, I hope that you believe that this is possible.  Again let me reiterate that God does not require us to do things that are impossible.  Whatever He requires from us, he has given us what we need to work with to achieve it. 

The third fruit of the Spirit that I want us to look at then pray about is Peace.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, PEACE,  ………..

I do believe that there are quite a number of people who would like to have peace in their lives.  Peace of mind, peace at home, peace on the job, peace with their neighbors, peace in their country, peace in the world.  Why does peace seem so elusive, when it is something that we have withon our reach?  What happened?  Why can't we grab a hold of it?  Here are some verses to confirm that we have peace.

John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Romans 5:1: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I believe the problem is not with having peace but the problem is with how we access and utilize this peace which we have.  Are we looking for peace according to what the world defines as peace?  The peace that Jesus left with us is one that will keep us settled and without fear or anxiety even when things are chaotic all around us. The peace that the world gives to us is temporary and changes according to our circumstance.

Isa 53:5: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  This verse is telling us that Jesus had to go through death on the cross for us to have this peace, we cannot take it for granted.  

Here is a secret to us obtaining this peace -let us look at Isaiah 26:3: Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee (KJV).  From looking at this verse peace is accessed by having our mind stayed or focused on God.  We focus on God through meditating on his word.  The more we know about Him and his attributes, and what he promises , and his ability to execute His plan, the more we become confident that whatever we are going through, and whatever the circumstance , we should not worry or fear- “God’s got it”

It is imperative that we not only seek peace but pursue it. This is made clear to us in Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.  As much as possible we need to go after peace, in our minds, our homes, at our jobs and with our neighbors, just to name a few.  Trust me I know this is not an easy thing to do, but it is possible. When we exhibit this kind of peace, people cannot understand us, they cannot figure out why we are not losing our minds. Let us look at Phil 4:7

Phil 4: 7: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Having God's kind of peace preserves our hearts and minds.

As we pray for peace to be manifested in our children, pray also that as their mother you will also exhibit this peace.  As you pray encourage them to read the word of God, send them scripture verses that will help to promote this.  Giving gifts like a daily devotion book will be helpful for them to develop a pattern of being in the word daily.  For those whose children are younger, demonstrate how to amicable settle disputes, how to pray over situations that may be stressful and overwhelming.  For most of us, achieving this type of peace may take us a while, but it is possible to achieve it as shown above.

Here is our Prayer: father I pray today for your peace to be manifested in {insert name (s).  I thank you God that when you left this earth you left us your peace, a peace that passes all understanding.  I pray that when {insert name (s)} gets anxious or fearful when faced with certain situations, that they will remember that you are with them and that you want him/her to cast his/her care on you.  Please help them to stay focused in your word getting to know who you really are and come to trust you more.  In Jesus name.

In His Service

Vilma

Prayer for Manifestation of Joy- fruit of the Spirit

For today’s blog we will continue to pray for the manisfestation of the fruit of the spirit in our children. Please remember tthat whenever we pray we need to believe that our prayers are answered.
Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit that we will pray for to be manisfested in our children. Joy  is something that so many people long for, but never seem to be able to have and some who have joy they are not able to maintain it.
The Greek word for Joy is Chara pronounced khä-rä' and is translated as cheerfulness, i.e. calm delight - gladness, x greatly, (x be exceeding) joy (-ful, -fully- fullness, -ous) (Strong’s concordance)

God desires us to have Joy in our lives, regardless of our circumstances.  He desires cheerfulness, calm-delight, gladness and exceeding fullness.  Happiness and laughter are sometimes mistaken for Joy, but they are not.  Happiness is short-lived; laughter is sometimes used as a cover up for pain, anxieties or even inadequacies.  Joy is a longer lasting thing and most times it comes with a knowing or assurance of who we are, who we belong to and knowing what he has promised us.

I Peter 1:8: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory

The fruit of the spirit is Love, Joy…… , how do we get this joy?

John 15:9 -11: As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

We only can get this joy from having a relation with Jesus Christ, from keeping his commandments and abiding in His love.  Joy will remain elusive if we separate ourselves from the Vine, or from his love.

Psalm 16:11: Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore.  
Here is what having Joy does for us.  -   It strengthens us - Nehemiah 8:10b ……..the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So Let us pray:

Father, I thank you for (insert name) I thank you that you love them so much more than I could ever love him/her.  I am so grateful that you know how to give good gifts to your children.  I pray today for the manifestation of Joy in (insert name) the second fruit of the Spirit.  I pray that he/she will have the desire to study your word and in doing so will get to know more about you and what you desire from him/her. I pray that they will remain in your presence.  In so doing, they will have that joy that they so desire.  Help them to know that this joy will provide the strength that they need in difficult times, times of sorrow, times of loneliness.  Help me to model Joy before them so they see that this is possible.  In Jesus name Amen.

In His Service

Vilma

Prayer for the Manifestion of the fruit of the Spirit - LOVE

As usual it is always a pleasure for me to speak to you all through the pages of this blog.  I am also humbled to hear from some mothers of how blessed they are from reading the blog as well as my weekly in touch e-mails.  It appears that in order to comment on the blog itself you do need to have a g-mail account.  If you do have a g-mail account please feel free to post your comments on the blog site so that others will have the opportunity to read them as well.  If you do not have a g-mail account and do not wish to change your e-mail address, that is also ok.  I would like you to know that regardless I do continue to thank my God for all of you.

For the next few weeks I would like to concentrate on us praying for the manifestation of the fruit of the spirit in the lives of our children who are saved.  

I encourage those of you whose child or children are not saved to continue praying for their salvation.  In addition to praying, please member to share the word of God with them.  If you are not able to do so your selves please pray that someone will cross their path who will share the gospel with them.  As you pray this prayer, please ask God to prepare their hearts so that the next time they hear the word of God they will receive it.

From time to time when we speak of the fruit of the spirit, it is always good to remind ourselves that we are talking about one fruit and not many fruits.  In explaining this concept to others I usually ask them to imagine the fruit of the spirit as a tangerine.  This one tangerine has a number of sections. Together each section makes up the whole fruit.

 In the simplest of terms, we need every section of the fruit of the spirit for it to function as a whole.  If one section is defective or missing the fruit becomes defective and is less effective, than if it was a whole fruit.  If we were dealing with many fruits, we could easily discard what we do not want to be bothered with and still have whole fruits left.  This is not so when there is only one fruit.  The fruit of the spirit can be seen as those gracious habits that the Holy Spirit produces in the Christian.

Galatians 5: 22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

It is important that our Children walk in the Spirit so that they do not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal 5: 16-18).  The manifestation of walking in the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit.  It is not a coincidence that Love is the first piece of the fruit to be mentioned.  It has been reported by some authors that this is so because Love encompasses all the other parts of the fruit of the Spirit.  Martin Luther was reported as saying that all of the other 8 areas of the fruit of the spirit are just a description of what Love in action looks like.  Love is a product of the Holy Spirit and not of our own efforts. We have the Holy Spirit and hence we have Love.  What we need is to have manifested in every area of our lives.

The word Love is from the Greek word Agape, and is often presented in the scripture as an attribute of God or as a Christian virtue.  Here it is used as a Christian virtue and is the only word in the Bible translated charity means love.  Love is said to be the chief test of Christian discipleship (John 13:35; Mat. 5:44; I John 3:14).  Agape love is a selfless love and it never stops giving and forgiving in spite of who has wronged us or treated us badly.  It holds no record of wrong.

How should we Pray?

Father I thank you for (insert name or names).  I thank you for the gift of Love in his/her/there life/lives.  I pray that this love will be manifested so that others may see and realize there is a difference in them. Through this love they will be able to lead others to you.  Father please help them to forgive those who have wronged them and in spite of how they may feel, they will keep no record of wrongs.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

In His Service,

Vilma

Praying for The Mind of Christ

I hope that as you prayed last week for your child or children’s mother you are rejuvenated and ready to start pushing again.  When I think of the word PUSH, I cannot help but think of other words like Effort, Energy, Posture, Excitement, Joy, Tiredness, and Pain.  I realize that it takes some effort to push something, I also realize that the amount of push that I will be able to do will be equivalent to how much energy that I have.  It is also true that I need to maintain the right posture to be as effective as possible, without hurting myself, especially when what I am pushing is large or heavy.  When I realize that I am getting somewhere, with what I am pushing I feel a sense of excitement and Joy.  After a hard day or week of work I do tend to feel tired and sometimes a bit of pain as my hands and knees may have gotten bruised and calloused along the way.  However, because I need to get somewhere, I keep going, I keep pushing until something happens!  So come on Let’s Pray Until Something Happens.

For this week, I would like to suggest that we pray for our children to have the mind of Christ.  We prayed initially for our children’s Salvation, then for them to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and as they do that we pray that they will manifest the mind of Christ.

You may be wondering if this is at all possible.  Let us look at I Cor. 2:16 confirm that not only we can but that we have.  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?  But we have the mind of Christ.

In Phil 2:5:  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.  Paul is essentially telling us to choose to have the kind of mind that Jesus Christ had.  What was the mind of Christ?  Let me suggest that the mind of Christ was one of humility, servitude and obedience to his Father.  Humility in that he left heaven and all its glory and became a man in obedience to his Father to die on the cross for our sins. Paul was not asking us to admire Christ but to imitate Him, follow or copy what he did and does.  When we have the mind of Christ we act like he does, we make righteous decisions and we frequently ask ourselves What Would Jesus Do?  We are not having the mind of God to become God, but we are changing our thinking so that we can become like Him.  We do not want our children to be unstable in their thinking, we want them to set the standard rather than follow every standard that people set for them, we want them to be leaders, not followers, we want them to walk in humility, knowing full well who they are in Christ.  We want this mind to transcend their relationships, their careers, and their education.  So many mistakes could be avoided in life, so many hurts could be averted, and so many more people would find comfort, if we would only exhibit the mind of Christ.

Let us pray:
Father, I thank you for my children, I thank you for their Salvation and their interest in growing in grace and knowledge of you.  Father I pray that as they continue to learn about you they will in turn exhibit the mind of Christ.  I pray that with this mind they will become obedient to what you are asking them to do.  I pray that they will think before they speak or before they act and ask themselves what would you do?  Father when they have your mind they will make right choices, they will influence and not be influenced, and they will not compromise, to be people pleasers, but instead will strive to please you.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

In His Service,

Vilma

 Here is a good resource to use.  http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.

Prayer for my Chidren's Mother

It seems that the days go by so quickly, and before you realize it another week has come and gone.  I know that for most of us mothers wish that we could get at least 2 more hours in our day, especially those working outside of the home and also have younger children to take care of.  Sometimes we are the first person to get up, trying to get a head start on our day, and the last person to go to bed again trying to get a start on the next day.  You are so tired, that you hasten to say a sentence or two as your prayer as you get ready to crawl into bed; you remember you did not pray for your children today.  As you try to tell yourself how tired you are and how much you have done, you slowly drift off to sleep.  Is that the alarm?  This could not be, after all I just closed my eyes, wait a minute, it is 5:30am and it is time to get up and start all over again.

Maybe your children are all grown up and have moved into their own homes, and have their own families.  All of a sudden you have so much time on your hand.  So you volunteer to be on the usher board, deaconess ministry and teach Sunday school.  Oh wait I have a couple more hours to spear, so I run to this meeting, that meeting, is a member of this prayer group and before long; you are back where you were when the children were home, tired, and drained.  You lay across the bed for just a little bit, but gets awaken by someone snoring, oh that was me, I better just get on my pajamas and go to bed, and as my head touched the pillow, “lord thank you for today- Amen.  I should really pray for my children, but God knows how very tired I am, I will do it tomorrow night. Oh I did say I would read Vilma's blog tonight , ah well, I'll do it another time, when I am more awake.

Am I speaking to anybody?  This looks like it was written by someone with experience!  Yes I have been there, done that, but not wearing that T shirt anymore.

 What am I saying?  Praying for our children is a decision.  We must re-prioritize our lives so that we make the time to prayer regularly for our children.  So for today, how about we pray for our children’s mothers.  Let us pray for their wisdom, strength, and for their ability to make right decisions in their daily encounters.

Father, I thank you for my children’s mother.  I thank you that you love her so much to bless her womb with the gift of children.  I thank you that you trusted her to care for these gifts and to help propel them into their destiny.  I pray for the manifestation of her wisdom, her strength and her decision making.  Help her never to get weary in praying consistently and offensively for her children.  Father, I realize that I am praying for myself right now, not my children, but in order to do right by them, like David I am encouraging myself.  Father I give you the glory and I give you the praise and I thank you for answered prayers.

 In his service,

Vilma