My daughter Alex is coming home today from college. We haven’t seen her in three months since dropping her off. When I was catching up with her dietitian it was discovered that Alex lost 6 pounds in three months. This is not good. Her dietitian also shared that she feels Alex is not engaged in recovery. She’s just showing up for her meetings but not participating much. I was disappointed to hear this news. Plus the trauma of witnessing her disturbed mental state in the past year was also making me anxious and fearful. Holy Spirit, I will rely on You even more. I will also recall the many prayers that have gone up for Alex by so many believers and good friends. Be good and merciful to me and our family. 🙏❤️

On a positive note, it appears that the antidepressants are helping Alex with her social anxieties. She seems much more comfortable dealing with people and group settings. Praise the Lord Jesus. I forget the exact numbers but a quarter of college students in the USA are on antidepressants. I’d imagine this number is higher now since that number was pre-Covid.

From this place of receiving bad news, a message came out for my prayer group ladies that morning. I hope it blesses you too.

Hello ladies! I think you’ll appreciate this story of King Asa, one of the kings of Israel. Perhaps it’s because I walked away from the Lord twice (once as a teenager and later as a young adult) and I just want to make sure that this won’t happen ever again. Therefore I reflect back on my life and carefully consider what went wrong so that I don’t make the same mistake ever again. I do pray often for myself and ask the Lord Jesus to help me to end strong in faith. My highest priority for myself is that at the end of my life (whenever this is) I will die in faith and leave a good legacy of faith for my family and community.

There are many lessons recorded in the Bible for those who want to learn from other’s mistakes. If you are not learning from the Old Testament stories then you will make their mistakes too. Lack of knowledge will cost you many heartaches, painful losses and years too. I hope and pray that you will read what happened to King Asa and also be warned so you don’t end life like he did.

This is a great verse that gets quoted often with inspiring background photos.
2 Chronicles 16:9a (NLT) – “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

However many posts stop there. If you put the entire verse it reads: “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.” 😳

This was spoken to King Asa by God’s VERY brave prophet who was thrown into jail afterwards. Please read this article about King Asa’s good start and how he ended his life poorly. Then after read the full chapter.

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/things-christians-can-learn-from-asa-mistakes.html

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%2016&version=NLT

Recently, I had a horrible thought (implanted by the enemy) that “what if“ like Apostle Peter I will deny or walk away from Jesus Christ a third time. The very next morning in my quiet time I brought it up for discussion to God and prayed “Lord, please don’t ever let this happen again, I’d rather die younger. My faith and endurance is so puny.“ Various “what if” scenarios were rabbled in my prayers. I poured out my heart to God who is good and faithful. Later in the same day, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “Don’t worry this will not happen again. And if you want to know, you did reject Jesus three times -first is when you were born.” Ohh! This knowledge comforted and reassured me so much. I already rejected Jesus Christ three times just like Peter did. I’m good then. 👍😃

Ladies, you don’t need to be foolish and walk away from Jesus Christ like I did.  I was young and ignorant.  That is why I want to educate you about the importance of studying Bible history.  Stay safe and firm in your faith.  If your heart is wavering right now, please ask for prayers from your church leaders and friends.  You will be amazed how quickly and powerful the prayers of a righteous person is!  

If my heart gets fearful and doubtful about God’s plan and intentions; I first pour out my heart to Him during my quiet time, then wait for Him to answer me, and my third step is to ask for prayers from those who I know are committed followers of Jesus Christ.  Since I received my answer that same day, I didn’t need to ask others to pray over my concerns.  If I did not, I would ask for prayers the next time I had opportunity to praying together with others.  And in these very challenging times, I have surrounded myself with many opportunities to pray with others every week – about 5-6 times per week.  Trust me, it is so worth it! 

I hope the rest of the Psalm 112 comforts you too. With love and prayers from your librarian.

Psalm 112 (TLB)

Praise the Lord! For all who fear God and trust in him are blessed beyond expression. Yes, happy is the man who delights in doing his commands.² His children shall be honored everywhere, for good men’s sons have a special heritage. ³ He himself shall be wealthy, and his good deeds will never be forgotten. ⁴ When darkness overtakes him, light will come bursting in. He is kind and merciful— ⁵ and all goes well for the generous man who conducts his business fairly.⁶ Such a man will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it. ⁷ He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. ⁸ That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes. ⁹ He gives generously to those in need. His deeds will never be forgotten. He shall have influence and honor.¹⁰ Evil-minded men will be infuriated when they see all this; they will gnash their teeth in anger and slink away, their hopes thwarted.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20112&version=TLB,NKJV