“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
 Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take.”
                                                 Proverbs 3:5,6

As we prepare for Christmas and, perhaps with some trepidation, look to the year ahead, my prayer for you is that you would learn to trust the Lord more.  Trusting the Lord, really trusting him, is learned and we grow into it gradually.  And, perhaps, it is the thing we need most from God.

If we grow in trusting the Lord, we experience more peace, no matter our circumstances. As we trust the Lord, our fear has no place to grab onto our thoughts and lead us astray.  Since it is so important God does not make it difficult to do.  But we can make it more difficult than it is. 

The key is found in the first commandment.  Jesus told us, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39) The apostle John tells us that we cannot love God as we should until we believe that he loved us first.  (1 Jn.4:10)

Most of us know, in our heads, that Father God loves us.  That is why he sent Jesus to take the penalty for our sin, so we might live with him forever.  Can I ask?  When was the last time you sat and just received his love? 

Romans 5:5 tells us that the Holy Spirit fills our heart with the Father’s love.  As we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with God’s love, it drives out fears.  It enables us to face our problems with confidence that God will use them for our good.  When our ability to receive God’s love grows, our trust grows. As our trust grows, we are able to live relying on Christ’s victory for us every day, in every occasion.  Would you agree, this is what we need as we face the year ahead?

Dear friends, be richly blessed as you trust that Father God loves you and develop a discipline of receiving more of his love daily.  Be delighted as you realize that his love flows from you to bless the people in your life.  May you smile as you face the year ahead overflowing with his love and trusting in God more. Amen.

Mary Sumner ~ December 2, 2025

     And we know that God causes everything to work together
     for the good of those who love God and are called
     according to his purpose for them.
                                                                                      Romans 8:28
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the busyness and responsibilities of daily life.  We were raised to prioritize things in our life as our parents and those people we interacted with the most did.  We naturally assume their perspective of life should be ours.

But what happens when we take time to stop and ask God how he sees our life and the priorities we have placed on what we do and see?  Where do we even start?  Well, the Bible is a good place to start.  Becoming familiar with what the Word of God says, we soon recognize that it views life from the eternal perspective, and what matters to God, not the temporal viewpoint.

We discover that God is all about love, and prioritizes our loving God and loving people.  The overarching theme in the Bible is learning to trust God, not ourselves, for the truth, for the strength and for the motivation that propels us along in life.  It becomes clear that Father God values us.  We are made in his image.  He gave his only Son to rescue us and to become a model for us on how to live.  It may surprise us that he loves us so much, despite knowing what we have done or even think. 

When we accept that God loves us so much, so faithfully, overwhelmingly, and eternally, no matter the circumstances we are in, it makes it easier to accept our purpose for living.  Above the other reasons, we are called to know God and make him known to others.  We learn to entrust our lives to God, the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, works in us and through us, to accomplish what we are called to do.
 
If we accept that we are created to love and to be loved, living is simplified.  Since we are created to know God and grow in trusting him in everything, our perspective gradually changes into a heavenly one.  Sitting at the feet of Jesus in Heaven, our problems take on a different meaning and importance.  We start each day trusting God with the details and choosing to be open to opportunities to love him and others.  We give the heavy lifting to the Lord and trust we will see his fingerprints in everything we do.  And rest in Christ!

 Dear friends, be richly blessed as you choose to simplify your life by taking on God’s perspective.  May you learn to trust the Lord and choose to love him with all your heart, mind and strength and to love others as yourself.  May the Lord be glorified in whatever you do in love. Let’s rejoice and rest in our life in Christ!

Mary Sumner ~October 7, 2025

      Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  
     Be thankful in all circumstances,
     for this is God’s will for you
     who belong to Christ Jesus.
                             1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
 
Have you ever wondered when you should stop praying for something?  I imagine all of us have had problems or concerns that keep hanging on, so we keep bringing them to God. We may wonder if it shows lack of faith to keep repeating those prayers to the Lord when he has heard them many times before.
 
When we wonder how many times we should pray the same prayer, perhaps the Lord had us in mind, when he taught his disciples this lesson in Matthew 7:7,8:

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Jesus follows that with the example of a good father, who delights in giving his children what they need.  So, let’s remember, not only to keep on praying, but, also, let us remember to whom we pray.  We have a wonderful, good and loving Father who knows us better than anyone else and is willing and able to answer our prayers in the perfect way and in the perfect timing.  We are told to approach his throne of grace boldly to receive what we need from our heavenly Father. (Hebrews 4:16)

Recently, I heard someone on Moody Radio give the acronym P.U.S.H. in relation to prayer. PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS.  It’s simple, but it sticks with you.  So, let’s show God that we trust him by continuing to pray, expecting to see his goodness, grace and miraculous power manifested through our prayers.  The answer may not be exactly what we expected, but it will always be something good for us and the people for whom we pray.

Dear friends, be blessed to grow ever nearer to the Lord through prayer.  Be blessed as you think of God and talk with him as you go about your day.  As you grow in your understanding of God through your growing intimacy with him, may you grow in confidence in the authority and power he has entrusted to you as you pray. Amen.

Mary Sumner ~ September 3, 2025