Queasy...queasy..what's up with that?

Sometimes I wonder about queasy! Not exactly a knot in my stomach, but just a queasy feeling. It can and does happen in the middle of the night....and then the next morning. Maybe it's when I get upset about something that I am not even aware of...but my stomach knows. I think love or rather my perception of the lack of it....probably is the reason. Get a grip Mary Ann... #1. Jesus loves you and proved His love by dying and suffering for you. 2. He has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell you for comfort, assuring you of God's unfailing love. 3. He is your All in All....and has given you the Fruit of the Spirit. 4. He wants your focus to be on Jesus as you read His Word and surrender to His control. 5. He is your "Burden Bearer" as you pray and give Him all your concerns about your family. Only He can draw people to Himself.
Well....it seems my queasiness has abated as I have given all my concerns to Jesus...my best Friend and the "Lover of my soul". Thank you Jesus.

Spirit Rising by Jim Cymbala

"The prophet Nehemiah said, "The joy of the Lord is (our) strength" (Neh. 8:10) We require that joy for survival. We will never stand victoriously against Satan's daily assaults if our souls are filled with anger and resentment. (Taken from Jim Cymbala's new book Spirit Rising....foreword by Francis Chan)
His point here..."But let's remember how vitally important joy is to our spiritual growth" (Phil. 1:25) "Paul linked our progress and growth in the faith with the joy that increases as we mature in Christ. Faith grows best in the soil of a heart that rejoices in Jesus despite what's going on around it."
So grateful to be reading this right now. Listening to talk shows on the radio, watching TV news, and reading blogs all affect me in one way or the other. Not all is bad, but most is negative and I think about what I have heard throughout the day and then I repeat what I have heard and it's mostly negative!!! Yikes...Lord please forgive me for my bad attitude and critical and complaining spirit. Thank You for the reminder that "The joy of the Lord is my strength". Jesus first, others second and myself last. I love you Lord!

Psalm 131:2

"To wait is to learn the spiritual grace of detachment, the freedom of desire. Not the absence of desire, but desire at rest."

"St. John of the Cross lamented that 'the desires weary and fatigue the soul; for they are like restless and discontented children, who are ever demanding this or that from their mother, and are never contented.'"

"Detachment is coming to the place where those demanding children are at peace. As King David said,

I have stilled and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:2)

"Such a beautiful picture, a young one leaning against her mother's breast, There is no fussing, no insistent tears. She has learned to wait."

-John Eldredge (The Journey of Desire)

D.Frahm's FB-Journey of Desire-John Eldredge

"Life is loss and I must grieve regularly, so as to give up trying to possess. I will not arrive in the golden place until I am home with God."

"The paradox of grief is that it is healing; it somehow restores our souls, when all the while we thought it would leave us in despair. Control is the enemy; grief is our friend...Grief is good. It is cleansing. It undoes my world--and that is the best part of it. I need to be undone; simply undone. No regrouping. We need to mourn; it is the only way our hearts can remain both free and alive in this world. Why? Because it, like nothing else, puts a stop to the constant striving."

"I believe we must add two spiritual disciplines to everyday life. The first is worship. We must adore God deliberately, regularly. The other is grief. We must allow time for sorrow to do our own personal sowing. I see no other way to care for our hearts."

'Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
(Psalm 126:5,6)

-Eldredge

Wow....this is just what I need to hear right now. "Control is the enemy" (whether it's me trying to control or someone else trying to control me)!! "And so I am grieving....Lord help me!

grief is our friend...Grief is good. It is cleansing. It undoes my world--and that is the best part of it. I need to be undone; simply undone. No regrouping. We need to mourn; it is the only way our hearts can remain both free and alive in this world. Why? Because it, like nothing else, puts a stop to the constant striving."