Our Few Days
by Marilyn J. Ehle
**Do you harbor ill-will toward your partner? Here is a Study that will help your relationship to grow stronger. http://thelife.com/study/lovebusters.html
“Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should” (Psalm 90:12 Living Bible).
Do you read the obituaries in your local paper? Lately I find my attention drawn to several sobering issues as I scan this page. First, my heart aches when I read about an infant: “Born yesterday, died today.” How devastated must be these parents, grandparents and friends. Expectations of joy have suddenly been replaced with grief. Precious newly purchased baby clothes must be folded with tears and packed away.
Next, I read about equally loved elders who have lived eighty or ninety years and are now gone. These families must soon sort through papers, clothing and long-stored memorabilia – often with tears but perhaps also with gentle smiles as days in the distant past are recalled.
Perhaps most jarring are the paragraphs that detail the sudden death of a person in the prime of life. Too often in our scarred world these deaths occur because of senseless violence or tragic accidents. It is during this reading that the psalmist’s words vividly leap to mind: Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should. In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases it this way: Teach us to live wisely and well.
If I knew that my obituary would be written tomorrow, would I change the activities of today? Would I alter my attitude toward today’s activities? Would I allow petty disagreements to linger? Would I harbor ill-will based on incomplete truth? Facts as well as experience teach us that life is short but we too often live as though that obituary will never be written.
~Lord, help me live each day with inner joy and a “clean slate” regarding my relationship both with You and with others. Amen.
Questions: What do you need to do to make today a fresh start? Perhaps you will want to write a note of apology or gratitude. Make it a practice to enter each new day with a cleansed heart.
About the Author: http://talk.thelife.com/experience/devotionalforwomen/authors/marilyn-ehle/
Tags: disagreements, habor, ill-will, petty, teach
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Dear kanj, thank you for your kind words and warm welcome back — spending time with my dear sisters here is a great blessing to me! We all learn so much about our Lord and His faithfulness on this blog, through the heartfelt sharings of His daughters, the struggles that He walks (sometimes carries) us through, and the victories He celebrates with us! I treasure my sisters here, each with her own story of His redemptive work in her life, allowing His work in her to minister to others! May God bless you, dear one, as you continue to deepen your intimacy with our Lord! :)
marilyn,
i too, am glad to see you back. your responses, comments, prayers and input are very much respected. you have an inner peace about you that i find comforting.
Thank you dear Linda, for your kind welcome back! :) Computer issues, as well as CWT technical issues, combined to make visiting the blog difficult. But, God is good, and I am very grateful to rejoin my dear sisters-in-Christ! Anon, I don’t believe that I have misunderstood your intent. I understand unforgiveness well, and I know the challenges of forgiving chronic abusers/transgressors. But, dear one, I so long for you to have joy and peace in your faithwalk, to not be hindered by the past, but to look forward to the finish line, and see the Prize that awaits us, Jesus!! You cannot undo your past, but don’t let your past undo you!! I join you, Linda R, in praying for our sister, Pat! May the Lord’s Spirit minister to you, Pat, in a tender way, that you know you’ve been touched by the Master’s hand!
Gracious Lord, we come before You in awe of Your goodness to us! So unworthy are we, yet You have redeemed us by the blood of Your Son, and adopted us into Your family! Thank You for inviting us to share eternity with you, to spend the rest of time praising and worshipping You! Tonight, Lord, we ask for Your lovingcare for Pat, as she longs for her joy of salvation to be restored. Protect her from Satan’s deceit, guard her heart from his lies. Remind her of Your promises, Lord, and Your steadfast faithfulness to her in the past! As You have so graciously forgiven her, Lord, help her to forgive herself and let go of past failures. Reassure her that You have cast them into the depths of the sea, and she must stop fishing for them. Set her free, Lord, to enjoy her relationship with You, that the assurance of salvation would bring her great peace and joy again! We ask these things in Your precious name, Jesus, Amen!
wow!, today my husband and I had something happen and I blew up blaming him from his lost job to why he has not found a new one yet! the things that spued from my mouth was horrible. As a christian i knew better. but the emotions rolled. after I was done my husband
said we need to pray about the situation. I open my email to find this devotional. thank you lord for sending this my way. sometimes the human pride can rise up. And yes I did ask for my husbands forgiveness. time is short and I want joy and peace with my spouse.
Welcome Back Marilyn!!! We have missed you!
Dear Heavenly Father I just bring Pat before You right now, Lord I just ask that You would minister to her. Jesus I just pray that You Would fill her to over flowing with Your Joy, Love, Peace, Encouragement and just help her to remember she is a Child of The King! I pray You will take away those Doubts and fears that satan is planting in her mind but instead fill her mind with thought of You and songs of Praise and scripture verses. I just ask all these things In Your Name In Faith Believing Amen and Amen! Hugs, Linda
Pat, thank you for being so honest and for your words. You’re not alone. May we pray for one another on this blog, and may God help us and remind us we can live each day with Him, in faith. God bless.
Sorry, my computer messed up. As I get older I think about how precious life is and I seemed to have lost my joy. I need to be reminded of how much God loves me and wants the best for me. This really helped me today. I just want to be happy and enjoy each day, but Satan is always ready to take my joy away. He is constantly reminding me of thinks that I have done wrong in the past and putting doubts and fears in my thoughts and mind. I have to overcome this and I CAN with God’s help. Thanks for listening.
This was so timely for me, as I get older , I too think about what I rut
Sister Marilyn, thank you for your reminders. As we know though, it is often a process and God knows the details of what has happened in each of our lives. Personally, I’ve walked through a lot with regard to the path of ‘forgiveness’ (and believe me, God is doing things I’m just trying to keep-up). It is not that we do not want to forgive or let go, but sometimes it is tough to ‘simply’ forget overnight (especially depending on everyone’s different case). I hope that my words online do not come off misunderstood, because I know God commands us to forgive. I know I am standing and breathing by God’s grace alone today, and His forgiveness! Praise God for His Grace upon us, as imperfect as we can be.. But I guess all I meant by posting that was asking for a prayer. Sometimes a prayer can be the most encouraging thing. Thank you so much for your prayer, and for your heart to reach out to sisters. God bless You today.
Precious Lord, we thank You for loving us so and forgiving us our transgressions! Thank You for Your grace that washes over us each day, for Your Spirit that convicts us and restores us! Help us, Lord, to engage Your Spirit, as we seek to be molded and transformed into Your image! Cultivate the fruits of the Spirit in us, that others would see You in us, and be drawn to the Savior! May hearts that harbor painful memories and past hurts be purged of any bitterness and unforgiveness, Lord, that Your will for them be realized, and their joy of salvation be renewed. We ask these things in Your mighty Name, Jesus, Amen!
Dear Sharon and anon, how much God wants to set you free from the bondage of unforgiveness, but He needs a surrendered heart to do so! A surrendered heart relinquishes it’s right to avenge the transgressor, instead offering grace in response to evil. We are not capable of forgiving the unforgivable without first receiving God’s forgiveness. And, we are not capable of experiencing His forgiveness, without recognizing our own need of it! We must allow the Holy Spirit to undress our hearts, to see the areas of our own lives that nailed Jesus to the cross. Until we see ourselves as totally unworthy of his mercy and grace, we will not experience the depth of gratitude we owe. And, it is this overwhelming spirit of thanksgiving that transforms the heart of stone into a heart of flesh, allowing it to extend grace and mercy to those whom we may deem ‘unworthy!’ Remember, dear sisters, grace is unmerited favor. Undeserved. If it is deserved, then it is not grace. And, as our Lord instructed us to pray that ‘God would forgive us as we forgive others’, He not only demonstrated for us His ‘amazing grace,’ but He offers us His Spirit to enable us. Praise Him for his goodness! God bless, dear sisters!
wow, I totally hear you! I feel like God knew we were both going through that or something. I have, by God’s grace, been trying to work on it.. actually when I kept saying I was ‘healing’ from stuff, it was b/c of things like that. May God help us in this area.
i need to learn to be more forgiving and not let things from a past long gone upset me so much
sharon
hi Sheryl, thanks for that verse and for the reminder that our lives are short. Although I might be considered still fairly young by societal standards, I think the things I’ve been through in the past convict me about the time we have.. I pray God will help us to remember our time here, and use it wisely. God bless you!
Thank you for that timely reminder. Our lives are tuely just a vapour. I am caring for my parents who are both now in their 80′s. As their bodies and minds deteriorate I know too that Jesus be not come I will too follow.
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”. Psalm 90:12