To conclude this week’s postings Lord, I’d like to say a couple of prayers if I may.
First off Father, it’s hot here today… in fact, dangerously so. With a temperature of around 100 degrees and high humidity, the heat index shows us at around 117 degrees outside. For those of us who are Blessed with good health it’s oppressive enough, but for those who are more vulnerable to the effects of these conditions (young children, the elderly, asthmatics, etc.) this weather can pose serious health risks. Please wrap all those affected by these climatic conditions in Your Protective Embrace. Let them feel the cooling breeze of Your Holy Spirit, and give them the resources needed to combat the effects of this weather.
Secondly Lord, several of my “Bloggy” friends are attending the “She Speaks” Conference this weekend. I pray that Your Presence is felt in abundance at this gathering, and that their hearts and minds are opened wide to gain what this experience has to offer. Please protect and watch over their families while they’re away, and bring them home safely when it’s completed.
And finally Father, I’d like to thank You for leading me to find the Glo Bible website today. I’m always on the lookout for new sources of information to assist me in my Walk with you, and the Glo Bible is an amazing tool. After downloading the free version and working with it for part of the morning, I ended up purchasing the Premium content as well. I’m looking forward to spending time exploring it this weekend, and placing it in Jonathan’s hands as well. With all the rich multimedia and interactive tools Glo contains, I think it could open a whole new line of thought and prayer for him as he delves deeper into Your Word.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for yet another Blessing-filled week. I pray that Your Divine Peace and Comfort is felt by all those in need, and for Your continued Guidance in making choices and decisions that best glorify Your Will for us. Amen.
You know Lord, I love it when You plant a seed in my heart and it drives me to seek out answers. Such was the case with the Scripture verse I posted to my Facebook Wall today:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
But apparently You weren’t done with me on this one. Over the following hours, the phrase “Strive for full restoration…” kept running through my head, over and over. Finally, I decided to do some research on that particular expression in context and see where it led me.
Now Father, as You know I usually reference the New International Version (NIV) Bible as that’s the version that speaks to my heart most often. However, when I run into a passage that churns in my head one of the first things I do is to compare it to other translations to see it from other perspectives. In the case of this verse, the variance seems to be significant across translations… even in the case of the previous NIV (1984):
“Finally, brothers, good‑by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NIV 1984)
“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” – (KJV)
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NET)
“And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.” – (MSG)
Wow… There’s obviously some differences there Lord. Realizing that these translations stem from words that may not have an exact English equivalent, I then decided to dig deeper and see what the Biblical Scholars had to say on this phrase. From what I found, it appears the original word was Καταρτιζεσθε, which according to Clarke’s Commentary converts to mean : “Be compact; get into joint again; let unity and harmony be restored”. Other commentaries were similar, but the description that finally settled my heart was from Wesley’s Notes which stated : “Be perfect – Aspire to the highest degree of holiness.”.
Strive for full restoration…
I love seeing where Your whispers take me Father.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for making Your Presence known through these quiet instructions to my heart. I pray that You continue to challenge me to dig deeper into Your Word, so as to bring my Walk even closer to Your side. Amen.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been one of those people who delights in doing several things at the same time. My brain tends to work on overdrive most of the time, processing stimuli from a number of different directions all at once and reacting accordingly. Combine that with the amazing array of smartphones, tablets, personal organizers and computers that pervade my world, and I spend quite a bit of my day on overload. And while it’s been a useful condition over the years for dealing with a rapidly moving business environment, I’ve come to realize that in many cases my predilection for multitasking is not only problematic, but can be unhealthy as well…
I have significant problems with insomnia.
I get frustrated easily when things around me don’t “keep up”.
I suffer from high blood pressure and hypertension.
My patience with others can become very limited.
I find that when I don’t accomplish as much as I expected to, it leads to feelings of self-doubt.
Thankfully Father, with Your help I’ve been making some headway in controlling this side of my persona. By deliberately choosing to focus my attention on one project at a time, and listening to Your Voice for guidance all the while, I find I actually achieve more and at the same time gain the strength and peace of Your Presence as well. I’ve also been doing some things to “disconnect” myself from the high-speed world around me such as…
Limiting my smartphone usage to emergencies and family needs only outside of working hours (this has been a difficult change for me).
Not spending time logged into Facebook, Twitter or social networking sites when I’m home in the evenings.
Going for long walks in the woods, along the shore, or other places where I can dwell in Your Abundance.
Spending quiet time in prayer, studying Scripture or reading other Christian-focused books.
While I realize that we live in a world that emphasizes constant connectivity and productivity Lord, I’m finding that as my Walk with You progresses my time spent in simpler pursuits is far more satisfying. I’m not planning on finding a cave and becoming a hermit mind You, but I am enjoying the balance and clarity that comes from “unplugging” from the world, and “plugging” into You. 🙂
Well Father, we come again to the end of yet another work-week and I’ll admit to being excited this time. Tomorrow morning, my family and I leave for a week’s vacation at Chestnut Grove Resort in the Pocono Mountains. The kids love it there Lord, and I’ve found that it’s someplace that I can truly relax and spend quiet, meditative time in Your Presence. As Internet connectivity is quite limited, I don’t expect to be able to post our conversations every day, but hope to be able to at least a couple times over the course of the week. Funny enough, it makes perfect sense that in places where my connections to the world are more limited, my connection to You opens up wider. 🙂
In preparation for our time away, I spent some time yesterday picking out new books to read, and music to travel by. For reading material (other than my trusty YouVersion.com Bible App on my Android tablet), I have “Heaven is Real” written by Don Piper, and “Just Too Busy: Taking your Family on a Radical Sabbatical” by Joanne Kraft (Thanks so much Elaine!). As for music, while my iPod is already quite loaded with inspiring songs, I just had to add the albums “Blessings” by Laura Story, and “On Fire” from Peter Furler to the mix. Peter’s song “Reach” has been running through my head a lot the last couple weeks, so I’m excited to have the rest of his solo premier album to enjoy as well…
While we’re up there, we’ve also been invited by friends of ours to attend services at Pocono Community Church. From what they tell us, it’s a wonderful House of Worship and we’re very much looking forward to hearing the Pastor’s message on Sunday morning.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for all the Blessings You’ve bestowed on us this week, and for Your abundant Presence in our lives each day. I look forward with anticipation to spending communal time with You this coming week, and pray that You’ll keep us in Your Loving Embrace as we venture away from home. Amen.
And once again Father, we come to the Thankful Thursday edition at phatherphil.org! It’s been an eventful seven days to be sure, and I’ve felt Your Blessings overflowing around me throughout. I usually have to take some time to go back over the past week carefully in my head to pick out the little Blessings I’ve missed, but today for some reason they sprang to mind quickly and easily. It’s wonderful to have days of such clarity, and to feel like I’m walking the right path with You. 🙂
Anyways Lord, on to the list! This week, some things I’ve been thankful for are:
121. Living in a country that allows me to worship You without fear of persecution.
135. The medical technology that allows Jonathan to live a normal life.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for all the Blessings you grace us with, both those that are seen and those that may pass unnoticed. You are indeed a God of compassion and of wonders, and I pray that my choices, decisions and actions will properly Glorify Your gifts to us all. Amen.
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.
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. 
