Beloved,

I look out on a beautiful scene today.(Much like the picture..) The snow is swirling and blowing and I am on the inside looking out. This thought then leads to think of all of His beloved who have no home, who are cold and lonely and my heart just doesn’t enjoy the snow as much. What a way to start a letter today, eh? Yet, the Lord calls us to pray and to act on behalf of our poor, His beloved. James 5:16..Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. AMP http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=james%205&version=AMP

Trading my sorrows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rkFsIKRgMU

See, I get very focused on me. What I’m doing, where I am going, what I need to do NEXT, what I need to do tomorrow..plan, plan, plan. Hurry, hurry, hurry..and I forget. Now when I begin my day with the Lord saying, what is your will for me today? And I am filled with His Spirit, do you know what happens? God shows up big time and leads me to His appointments within my day. I am forever changed by listening to the leading of His Spirit when I keep in the forefront of my mind His will, His plan. I was reminded of a quote by (I think Woody Allen, sigh..) If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. 😉

He Is Wonderful : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaXxYXVexSo

I want to be transformed by His Word. I want to live fully in the Spirit, how about you? How about your husband, your children? Are you praying for their transformation? Are you living a life that seeks Him first? All else will be added to me, to you if we do so. ( But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. Matt 6:33 AMP)

Colossians 4:
5Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity.
6Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].

Words here need to be defined. AMP gives some help but let’s go deeper!

Behave yourselves: figuratively, “signifying the whole round of the activities of the individual life,…in wisdom, Col 4:5, to walk; Hebrew for, to live; to regulate one’s life; to conduct one’s self(http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4043)

Wisely(wisdom):devout and proper prudence in intercourse with men not disciples of Christ, skill and discretion in imparting Christian truth, the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4678)

Opportunity: primarily, “due measure, fitness, proportion,” is used in the NT to signify “a season, a time, a period” possessed of certain characteristics, frequently rendered “time” or “times;” in the following the RV substitutes “season” for the AV “time,” thus distinguishing the meaning from chronos” (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2540)

Grace: that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech, good will, loving-kindness, favour (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G5485)

How to pray? 😉 Allow the Lord to use these definitions to lead you in a time of prayer for you, your spouse, family, friends, neighbors. Our interactions with others MATTER. And before you get hung up on, “[knowing] how to answer anyone who puts a question to you,” remember, this is why we live, move and have our being in THE SPIRIT. We walk into a conversation, Lord will you bless this conversation? Will you lead and guide my speech?

Mercy, you know He longs to answer that!

Pray on, beloved. The Lord longs to answer and fill you.