Tracy's Blog

In Philippians 2:1, the Apostle Paul lists several things that believers in Christ have in Christ - encouragement from being united with Christ, comfort from his love, fellowship with the Holy Spirit, tenderness, compassion. The phrase "comfort from his love" caught my attention so I started to think about what is this love? this comfort? It's the love of God the Father who determined that it was good to create you. Love that wanted you in this world. Love that is gracious and compassionate toward you. Love that is demonstrated by the Father sending His Son (John 3:16). It is the love of the Son, Jesus Christ, who "while we were still sinners" laid down His life to die for us. Love of Jesus that empowered Him to serve when He is the One who is worthy of being served by all. It's the fruitful and productive love of the Holy Spirit that is powerful and creative. Love that transforms and renews. It is love that covers a multitude of sins; love that never fails;...

I have a confession to make. Sunday afternoon is one of my worst times in the week. I get grouchy and irritable. It usually starts once I get out of the car from church (although it may even start on the way home) and ends around 4 pm (that seems to be the time that I go for a walk). This has been going on fairly consistently for almost 20 years. So, one Sunday, with great patience and wisdom, Clint suggested that I write a prayer to move me through the transistion of leaving church to coming back home and then to blog it. I'm finally acting on that. Here is what I've come up with: O Lord, I want to stay in Your presence with Your people, simply being who I truly am. No pressure, no "to-do" lists. Loving and worshipping You, receiving Your love and grace. But I don't know how to do that when I get out of this car - back into the busy, complicated, messiness of my life. Please be with me as I go. Help me to continue to worship and love You on this Lord's Day. G...

Do you ever feel like there isn't enough time in your day to do all the things you want? I sure do. Part of my problem is that I think I need to spend a certain amount of time on certain activities: excercise: 30 minutes, time with God: 30 minutes, phone call to a friend: 30 minutes, reading: 30 minutes. You get the idea. When I add it all up, there just isn't enough time to do it all so I often don't do any of it. Recently I had an encouraging thought: do I have 5 minutes? Yes, I do. Isn't it worth spending some time (even only 5 minutes) on these activities if they are important to me? I think so. When it comes to time with God, what can happen in 5 minutes? Here are some of my experiences: Reading a passage of Scripture (for example: Psalm 62 takes only 30 seconds to read) and then answering the question: what does this passage teach me about God? From Psalm 62: My soul finds rest in Him; my salvation comes from Him; He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress...