Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father! To begin with Lord, I want to thank You for another lovely weekend with my family and friends. I was able to get caught up on quite a bit of housework, did a little cooking, had fun time with the kids and even went out on a great date night with Shannon. All in all, a productive and relaxing couple of days away from work. Thank You so much for that much-needed respite!
This morning Father, I was thinking about all the different ways You and I communicate. Throughout my journey to You, I’ve found that the more “in-tune” I become with Your Presence, the more ways I see and hear Your Guidance in my everyday life. I’ve come to rely on Your Voice more and more, and love finding Your influence in the world around me during the course of the day.
So today, I thought I’d run down some of the places and ways I find Your Messages to me each day. Lets see…
Through reading and hearing Your Word; Whether it’s hearing verses quoted on the Christian Radio stations I listen to, reading passages in my Bible or finding quotes while searching the Internet, Your Book brings such amazing Guidance for all facets of my life.
Through Christian Music; Music gets into our soul in ways that not many other things can. The Godly messages and themes present in Christian Music help keep me focused, uplifted and energized over the course of my day.
By reading and interacting with Christian Devotional Blogs and their authors; The blogs I read each day and the wonderful people I’ve met by doing so are an amazing resource and Blessing for me Lord. They give me perspective, encouragement and an online fellowship that has been invaluable in my walk with You.
Through Prayer; Along with our conversations on this blog Father, prayer is my lifeline to You. Whether silent or verbal, much of the guidance and direction I receive from You over the course of the day comes from our “prayer connection”.
By the words and actions of others; As I’ve written to you so often Lord, I see Your Love and Influence in the actions of others. We’re surrounded by miracles every day, and the closer I walk to Christ’s footsteps the more obvious those wonders become to me.
Obviously Father, this isn’t a complete list by any means but these examples are what first came to my mind as I thought about our talks. I love the deepening connection You and I are forming, and I crave for it to expand more each day.
Your Son phrased it perfectly when he said :
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” – John 10:27-29
Heavenly Father, thank You so much for Your Loving Presence and Guidance in my life. The more I open myself to You, the fuller and more complete my life becomes. Amen.
Dear Lord; Good afternoon Father. As You’re aware Lord, I’ve had something on my mind the last few days that’s been bothering me. The funny thing is, my aggravations are regarding an event I’ve never really had much interest in; the Super Bowl.
I’ve never been a big football fan. In fact, other than a couple of games I went to when I was in college, I’ve never even attended a live game… It just never really caught my interest. This year really wasn’t much different, until I read a news story about a commercial that had been rejected by Fox Broadcasting Company for “delivering a religious message”. As I’ve seen some pretty racy and scary Super Bowl commercials over the years, I went and sought out the “offending” segment :
Really?? This was deemed to contain too much religious doctrine?? Wow… I am so terribly sorry Father. We’ve truly fallen from You as a society. From a country that has “In God We Trust” on our currency, this truly makes no sense to me. Fox certainly isn’t worried about offending viewers with the content on shows like “Family Guy” or Fox Sports’ Internet show “Cubed”, but they’re concerned that someone might take a reference to a Bible verse as an affront?
Fox issued a statement last week that stated :
“As a matter of company policy, Fox Broadcasting Company does not accept advertising from religious organizations for the purpose of advancing particular beliefs or practices. The Fixed Point Foundation was provided with our guidelines prior to their submission of storyboards for our review. Upon examination, the advertising submitted clearly delivers a religious message and as a result has been rejected.”
Ok, so the reason they’re airing commercials for the new movie “The Rite” is because it’s not from a religious organization? Wow… I’m completely at a loss on this one.
I realize that as a private company Fox has the right to choose what they do and don’t air on their network within FCC guidelines, but if a little of that “concern” about offending viewers were redirected to examining some of the programming and advertisements they do broadcast, I have a feeling the lineup would be far different than it is now.
Heavenly Father, thank You for letting me rant on about this today. As always, You’re a wonderful listener. Please fill our hearts and minds with Your Presence and Understanding, so that everyone can experience that Hope :
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
Dear Lord; This morning Father, I want to share a story with You; A very powerful story that brought both my wife and I to tears last night.
It was a long day yesterday Lord. Between the ice storm which led to school delays and then closings, and a number of other typical daily stresses, Shannon and I both came home a bit worn down. Grabbing the mail on the way in the house, Shannon spotted a hand-addressed envelope from the kids’ school. She opened it up, and inside was a letter written to us by one of the office staff regarding Jonathan. She quietly read the letter, laid it down and started to cry.
The letter was a personal note from one of the school administrative staff detailing a conversation she’d had with Jonathan the previous Friday. Apparently, Jonathan was assisting with shuttling some computer equipment between his classroom and the office, and helping with putting it away. At some point during this process, he started talking to one of the ladies in the office and asked her if she was familiar with a man called Jesus Christ. While surprised, she replied that yes, she was very familiar with Jesus. He then went on to tell her all about his disease (Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis), his surgeries, treatments and chemotherapy as an infant, and how he’d gotten through all those trials and was doing very well now. She told him how wonderful he looked and that she was glad everything was doing so well, at which time he then left to go back to class.
What Jonathan didn’t know however, was that her husband had been battling two forms of serious cancers for many years, and that it was only through the grace of Christ that he was still alive. Along with that, she indicated there were others within earshot going through similar trials who also took interest in his story. She wrote that Jonathan’s unprompted testimony was exactly what she and others needed at that moment, and she was sure he was meant to be there to deliver Your message. Her faith had been renewed, by the witness and encouragement of our little boy.
When I came home shortly thereafter and read the letter, there were tears in my eyes as well.
I talked to Jonathan later that evening about the conversation that prompted the letter (of course, not revealing what she’d written to me), and asked him : “What made you ask her if she knew Jesus?”. He answered that he really didn’t know, and honestly didn’t remember what led up to it; It just came to him at the time.
You spoke through him Father, and to him it seemed perfectly natural and reasonable at the time. May we all be that open to Your Voice Lord, and not be afraid to share it with others.
Thank You Father. This touched me in a way that only You can. Please bring Your Healing and Comfort to those going through these trials, and let us all be as effective and powerful a witness to Your Grace as the words of a child were that day. Amen.
Dear Lord; Well Father, it never ceases to amaze me where my thoughts are led when I’m communing with You. For whatever reason, this morning on my drive into the office I was thinking about how the news lately seems to be filled with nothing but tragedy and heartache, and the general despair and discord of our citizens. Senseless shootings, hateful protests, skyrocketing unemployment, financial hardships, a rising crime rate, natural disasters, and the list goes on and on. What the world needs I decided, is a Superhero. Someone who can swoop in and inspire hope, bring some righteous justice and order to things, and act as a beacon for people to rally around.
“I gave you one.” You whispered.
So You did! You gave us the single most impressive “Superhero” that the world could possibly know; Your Son, Jesus Christ.
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. – Acts 10:38
Wow… Even the fictional “man of steel” himself didn’t wield the Power of God. What an amazing Hero and Role Model You’ve given us!
Ok, so if we’ve been given the Ultimate Hero why are so many people in such despair?? Unfortunately, it’s because those folks just don’t know Him, and allow themselves to focus on earthly worries instead of allowing Him to lighten their burdens. If all of us use the “Bat-Phone” of prayer to call Him into our lives, the day (as well as our eternal souls) would indeed be Saved.
So as Christians, here’s our chance to be Heroes as well. If we live by His example, let God’s Light show through our words and actions, and share the Praises of His Good Works then we can bring that amazing power to more people. We can change the world, through Him.
Dear Lord; Well Father, December is upon us and at least here in Delaware I think you left the water running up there. 🙂 And although it’s a dreary, wet day outside my heart is opening to rejoice at the Season of Celebration for the Holy Birth of Your Son. I started this morning by shifting my iPod playlist over to Holiday music to get myself “in the spirit”. There’s nothing like the joyous sounds of Judy Collins, Bing Crosby, Harry Connick Jr. and Amy Grant singing Your praise to get my spirits in the right place. As I noted in yesterday’s email, music has a way of getting into my heart like not too many other things can, so I make sure to have appropriate uplifting songs playing for much of my day to keep me in the right frame of mind. Thank You for inspiring so many talented people and using their gifts as a conduit to our Souls.
Today’s prayers Lord, are for all those struggling to find their inspirations during this Blessed Season. It’s very easy to get mired down in the day-to-day troubles we all face, and to completely miss the Miracle that this time of year celebrates. Please open peoples’ hearts and minds to receive the true depth and meaning of this Blessed Event, and to focus on Your Loving Gifts to us instead of dwelling on earthly issues. Amen. ~Phather Phil
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. 
