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.
“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 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.
“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” – James 1:17 (NLT)
When we allow our attitudes, our outlook, our words and our actions to be expressions of the many Blessings God places in our lives each and every day, we not only share His light with those around us but also find that our struggles and circumstances no longer define who we are.
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. 
