A Beautiful Life!

Good morning! My name is Charlotte and I am writing to help us give our first thoughts to the Lord.

Remember Forest Gump saying 'Life is like a piece of chocolate.' This is what his mother had taught him. The thought was that when you bit into it you might get caramel, you might get mint but whatever you find in your chocolate, eat and enjoy.

When we look at God, we can compare His way with a jigsaw puzzle. Without Him to sort through and bring things out on top, life is a mess sometimes. Colossians 1:17 says HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER.

His way is to be KNIT TOGETHER IN LOVE according to 2:2. THAT THEIR HEARTS MAY BE ENCOURAGED, HAVING BEEN KNIT TOGETHER IN LOVE, AND ATTAINING TO ALL THE WEALTH THAT COMES FROM THE FULL ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING, RESULTING IN A TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S MYSTERY, THAT IS, CHRIST HIMSELF.

I love to work jigsaw puzzles. There is something so fascinating to me to take all those pieces and complete putting them together and the whole, after the last piece is in place, becomes a wonderful picture. My friends and I have spent a lot of fun times together putting together puzzles. You have to be careful though, I have found with children helping put it together, because some pieces appear to fit but actually do not. Just one piece out of kilter and it throws the whole puzzle off.

That is somewhat like our life. The decisions we make sometimes, although they seem to be right at the time, can set us on a path that leads to places we do not want to go.

A Baptist preacher shared this with me one time. In Israel one of the things they make is rugs. They have a loom and one person stands on one side and throws the cord over the loom. The other person works the shuttle, which presses the cord down tight to form a design. The action of the two is very fast and sometimes the person who throws the cord over picks up the wrong color for the design. Do they stop and take it out? No. What they do is change the design of the rug according to what colors have been put in.

That is what we have to do sometimes in our lives when we take a shortcut we should have missed. God doesn't just discard us, and we can't go back, so what do we do? We just allow God to redesign our lives and in the long run when the last piece is put in, we become a beautiful picture.

In short, when life hands you a lemon, you make a lemonade.

1 Timothy 2 says FIRST OF ALL, THEN, I URGE THAT ENTREATIES AND PRAYERS, PETITIONS AND THANKSGIVINGS, BE MADE ON BEHALF OF ALL MEN, FOR KINGS AND ALL WHO ARE IN AUTHORITY, SO THAT WE MAY LEAD A TRANQUIL AND QUIET LIFE IN ALL GODLINESS AND DIGNITY. THIS IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD OUR SAVIOR, WHO DESIRES ALL MEN TO BE SAVED AND TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH.

Just think about it...God's will for us is to lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

So many times in relationships, life is just the opposite. It is not tranquil and not quiet, not godly and we find no respect or dignity. That is not the way God wants us to live. You've got to remember, however, that the all these things begin with one person......you. It takes two people to upset the tranquility and peace in a home. When you stay prayed up, and even though the temptation is there to retaliate, you show love, soon things will start changing for the better. At least you will have your dignity knowing that you have done the right thing.

I have been in bad relationships and sometimes there is nothing that can be done except just keep trusting in God. He is the puzzle master and knows right where every piece goes down to the last piece, and when we trust in God, our picture always comes out beautiful.

Have a great day today!

Ms. Charlotte