Tag: Jehova Jireh

Faith

Look at the Butterflies

meghanewhite

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Living in a warm climate has its advantages. We still have flowers blooming, and butterflies are still showing up to eat nectar. Monarch butterflies swarmed our garden in early November during their migration to Mexico. There were dozens of monarch’s all over our Mexican sunflowers. It was amazing! 

There is something so peaceful and beautiful about butterflies. I love nature. I love being outside. I see God everywhere I look. The sky, flowers, birds, insects, trees, and all of it. He made everything. There is no denying a Creator when you stand in His creation. 

Here is a short video of the butterflies that were in the garden on Saturday, January 1, 2022. 

What an incredible way to start off the new year. Butterflies happily feeding on my sunflowers in the middle of winter. It makes me smile. Those butterflies have not a single concern. They do exactly what they were designed to do. Eat nectar, and get to Mexico for the winter. Sounds pretty good to me. 

God takes care of the butterflies. He provides flowers with nectar for them. He also gave monarch’s the instinct to migrate south for the winter. Monarch’s use environmental cues to know when it’s time to make the migration to Mexico and California. Amazing! If God cares for butterflies, then He is definitely going to care for us too. 

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26, NIV 

You are much more valuable than a butterfly, or a bird. God loves you. He loves caring for you. Take a deep breath in, and know God is watching over you. Trust Him. Now get outside, if it’s not too cold, and watch how He cares for all of creation. You are worth more than that. He’s got you.

Love you all,

Meghan 

If you need prayer leave your request in the comments, or send it to meghanewhiteauthor@gmail.com

Prayer, Trials

God Is Answering Our Prayers

meghanewhite

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I have another praise report. I am so happy to share with you that my husband is doing much better. His catheter was removed earlier this week, after 10 weeks! He was in constant pain. Sometimes it was unbearable. No pain meds, and the few prescriptions the doctors gave him to alleviate pain did not work. So, my amazing husband endured. He is my hero.

Tom’s kidneys are slowly beginning to recover. His numbers keep improving. We are praising and thanking God. It is an answer to our prayers, and the prayers of so many friends, family, and strangers from all over the world. Countless people have been praying for Tom. We cannot thank you enough.

We are still believing for complete healing. We trust God to get Tom to the other side fully healed. We have not arrived yet, as he has another surgery soon. God has brought us this far, and He will finish what He started.

Our faith has been tried and tested. We have had some discouraging difficult days through all of this. God continues to care, comfort, carry, and provide for us. He is faithful even when we cannot see. That’s part of the faith test. Sometimes its dark, but you have to trust in what you cannot see. We trust God.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; and trust also in me.” John 14:1, NIV

Thank you so much for your many prayers! May God bless you abundantly for being a blessing to us.

If you need prayer please leave your request in the comments or send an email to meghanewhiteauthor@gmail.com

Love you all,

Meghan

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers. Your love and faithfulness is overwhelming. You are our perfect Father. Praise your name! Bless each person who has prayed for us. Strengthen their faith, provide for their every need, and bring blessings to their homes and lives.

In Jesus name,

Amen

God, Jesus

Birds Don’t Worry

meghanewhite

photography of small blue and brown bird
Photo by Tina Nord on Pexels.com

If there was a contest for the best worrier I would have been in the running. I may have even won. The old me was a worry wart. I like to say that I was a born worrier. I was very good at it. The champion of worriers. This is not the kind of accomplishment to be proud of.

These days I worry much less. Worry still tries to rear its ugly head and take over my thoughts, but now it doesn’t have me captive. When worry threatens to take over, I know how to fight back. I did not learn this overnight. This has taken many years by the grace and mercy of God.

Jesus is quite clear that we are not to worry. He does not suggest or recommend that we do not worry, Jesus commands us not to worry. He uses the illustration of birds to show the importance of trusting God to take care of us.

Birds are beautiful, majestic creatures. I love bird watching. The lovely songs they sing, and their extraordinary colors are awe inspiring. With all their flying and forging they aren’t worrying. Birds don’t have barns or warehouses for their food, yet they are always fed because their creator, Father God, feeds them.

You and I are much more valuable than birds. We are made in the image of God, the pinnacle of His creation. If God takes care of the birds, won’t He take care of us?

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Matthew 6:25-27, NIV

I love this passage in Matthew. I have read it so many times over the years that the page is falling out of my Bible. These incredible words from Jesus have penetrated my heart and my mind to set me free from worry. That’s how much our Heavenly Father loves us. He does not want us worrying. He cares for our every need and we do not have to worry.

Worry does no good, only harm.

Worry changes absolutely nothing.

Worry places our focus on our problems, or potential problems.

Worry cannot take care of our needs.

Worry takes our eyes off of Jesus.

God loves all of His creation. He cares for the birds He made by providing food and shelter for them. We are much more precious to God then birds. God knows what we need.

God will take care of you.

There is a key component to trusting God for all of our needs. We must seek His kingdom and His righteousness first.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33, NIV

We must seek God first and foremost. If we are earnestly seeking God, we must expect to find Him.

God is sovereign over everything. He rules over all creation, including us. He is our provider and we need to look to Him and trust Him, because He is trustworthy. God loves us and will take care of our needs.

What are you worrying about today?

You can give every single worry over to your Heavenly Father. He is able to take care of your every need. Seek Him, and His Kingdom, and He will take care of your needs. He will replace your worry with peace.

Love you all,

Meghan

Father God,

You are worthy of all our praise. Forgive us when we don’t trust You and we worry. Replace our worry with faith, peace, and complete trust in You. Thank You for loving us and providing our every need.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Read the entire passage in Matthew at the link below.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206%3A25-34&version=NIV

Parables, Prayer

Always Pray and Never Give Up

meghanewhite
brown mountain near body of water
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com  

Have you given up? Have you lost hope? Have you stopped praying?

It’s easy to get down and discouraged. Life is hard, but God is good. There are no perfect people, including Christ Followers. We are not super Christians. We are ordinary people, who serve an extraordinary God.

We can all take a deep breath and know that it’s perfectly normal to get down sometimes. Being down is a great opportunity to be lifted up by Jesus. When I am down there’s one direction to go, up.

Jesus is the ultimate encourager. He was consistently encouraging the disciples to have faith and to trust Him. One great example of this is a parable in Luke.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:1-8 NIV

This unjust judge who has no faith in God, ultimately answers the widow’s plea and serves justice on her behalf. How much more will our perfect Father God answer our pleas? God is the true judge, without corruption. God who is just, will help His children. God loves us beyond our comprehension and delights in helping us.

Sometimes we give up on praying. We stop asking because we aren’t seeing any results. We may think, “Does God hear me?” “Does God see me and my struggle?” The answer is yes! God sees everything and knows everything. God sees our pain, and heartache, and trials. God has answers to our prayers in His perfect timing, in His perfect way, according to His perfect will.

Praying can be hard. Persistent prayer can be even harder. The unjust judge answers the widow because she persisted. We are to pray fervently. We are to be in a spirit of prayer. It’s a continual reliance on God all throughout the day, all the time. We are weak, needy humans. The only thing that can satisfy us is Jesus Christ. Persistent prayer strengthens our faith, and changes us to be more and more like Jesus.

Do not give up.

Things may look hopeless in your life today. Your circumstances may be impossible. God does some of His best work in impossible situations. God has no limits. He really wants our hearts more than anything. Ask Him for help. Ask Him for peace. Ask Him for wisdom. Ask for His will to be done in your life.

Always pray.

God loves you and has good things planned just for you. Trust God.

Love you all,

Meghan

I love to pray for you. Please send me your prayer requests meghanewhiteauthor@gmail.com