"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."      2 Corinthians 1:3-4

As I was listening to a message this morning about our "Why do we do what we do"in regard to our writing, I couldn't help but think of you. I write because of you. I write because God put in my heart many years ago, to encourage women, with the same comfort I have been comforted with. It is a passion of mine, because I know so many women need encouragement. Jesus said,"In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."     {John 16:33} This verse brings me a lot of comfort because I don't know anyone else who can do what Jesus has done for me. When I allow Jesus to rule and reign in my life, I have good cheer, or in today's translation, lots of joy.

My fears and troubles are in the background, they do not lead me, He does. Do I understand all that there is to know about God's leading, no, but what I do know is that He is faithful, and He loves me, and with this, I can move ahead. This is what He has been making me aware of, that we keep moving ahead. Don't get caught in a dispute, or someone's else's opinion, do what you know to do because God says it in His word. He doesn't want us to be moved by every idea that comes our way, and He wants our hearts free from debates or arguments that will weigh us down. Let go of the little entanglement as well as the big ones, so you can be free to move ahead. I say this to myself more than to anyone else. What good is it, if I hold on to little spats or misunderstandings, and can't hear God? If I do this I can't be of any good to anyone.

It feels so good to let go of these things, because even though we may think of them as "not a big deal", they crowd together and can lead us to believe evil about others or groups of people. When these negative feeling go around in our heads it is as if there is a multiplication of ideas. These can distort what is true, and cause us to overreact. I have been there, and I’m guessing that you might have been there too. Stopping the negative at its root will save us embarrassment later on. I almost got myself into a situation like that today actually. Thank God I stopped and reworded my text before I sent it.

Words of grace are better than words of criticism. Ask the person if you misunderstood or have a wrong idea about a matter. I am usually wrong when I assume something that hasn’t been verified.
Give the other person the benefit of explaining to you what the circumstances are that you may not know. I know it is hard. I tend to jump to conclusions without much information, but I want that to change. This is my prayer. I hope this will help you are it has me. Blessings, until tomorrow.