Daily Inspirations
Scriptural “tidbits” and devotions to connect the Bible to our lives…
Tell Your Heart to Beat Again…
As Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us, for all things in this life there is a season…
“2 A time to be born, a time to die;
a time to plant, a time to collect the harvest;
3 A time to kill, a time to heal;
a time to tear down, a time to build up;
4 A time to cry, a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, a time to dance;
5 A time to scatter stones, a time to pile them up;
a time for a warm embrace, a time for keeping your distance;
6 A time to search, a time to give up as lost;
a time to keep, a time to throw out;
7 A time to tear apart, a time to bind together;
a time to be quiet, a time to speak up;
8 A time to love, a time to hate;
a time to go to war, a time to make peace.” (Ecc. 3:2-8, Voice)
God’s plan for our lives is very much based on balance; not necessarily that for each “bad” thing that happens to us that we’ll experience an equivalent “good” thing, but instead that throughout all the ups and downs in our lives He’ll be there to celebrate with us, guide us in times of uncertainty, or to draw us close and comfort us when the world we know comes crashing down. God’s balance for us is all about Grace and His unending pursuit of our hearts…
He… Is our balance.
This morning while driving in to work, Danny Gokey’s song “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again” started playing on the radio station I was listening to. As the song’s poignant message penetrated the barriers I’d put up lately, I felt God reminding me that through everything that’s happened this past year, He’d never left my side…
He was with me through that season, just as He was for the seasons before…
And He will be for the seasons to come…
And that It’s time to let my heart beat again. Thank you Father.
Let Love Prevail…
“Listen, stay alert, stand tall in the faith, be courageous, and be strong. Let love prevail in your life, words, and actions.” – Some closing encouragements from the Apostle Paul’s first Epistle to the church at Corinth… And a perspective that is still just as important for us to follow today…
Rest Easy…
The lyrics speak to the overwhelming love of our Heavenly Father for His beloved children… And this video gives a powerful example of a similar sacrificial love we see here on earth…
The Beauty of the Gift…
So very often we miss (at best) or choose to ignore the beauty and grace that surrounds us… This Christmas I pray that we all experience the wonder of the Gift we celebrate, and see that His love and majesty is in each and every one of us.
Just Be Held…
Fighting life’s battles day in and day out can make even the most stalwart heart feel overwhelmed and succumb to fear and doubt. It’s in those moments that we most need to remember what Jesus told us…
“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28 (NLT)
Come to Him… And just be held…
“So when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far away
You’re not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place
I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
Just be held, just be held…”
~Phather Phil
Your Will in Your Time Lord…
“The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”
“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”” – John 2:1-5 (NLT)
As I prayed over these verses the other morning, it dawned on me how often in my daily life I resemble Mary in this passage; insistent in my desire that things happen on my timing, instead of looking to God for His direction to be revealed in the proper moment.
Heavenly Father,
Today I pray that You grant me the patience to seek Your will in Your time… That I’m able to see through the clouds of my earthly situations, and draw comfort from the knowledge that Your promise to never leave me nor forsake me hasn’t changed simply because You didn’t show up when or how I expected.
For it’s in Your precious name I pray Jesus…
Amen.
~Phather Phil
I Am Not Alone…
In our daily lives it’s often easy to allow the world to overwhelm us and shake our faith, but even in those moments of doubt and disbelief we’re not alone…
Through The Lens of God’s Gifts
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27 (NLT)
Joy and Peace are gifts of grace already given to each and every one of us… Receiving, embracing and allowing those gifts to shape us however, is a choice. And when we make the choice to see our lives through the lens of those gifts, we begin to recognize how truly present God is with us every day.
The True Nature of Love
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)
As I read and prayed on these words this morning, God reminded me of the depth of this fundamental truth; that when we embrace the true nature of the Love He freely offers and seek to share that Love in all that we do, we clear the way for God’s peace and joy to overwhelm all those things in our lives that pull us down.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
