February 2017 - Turning the Page on Suicide | Turning the Page on Suicide

Monthly Archives: February 2017

The Best Remedy is Jesus

Posted February 26, 2017 | Karisa Moore

1 Peter 5:7Â Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

So, I am blessed with strep and possibly the flu this weekend. There is not a joint in my body that doesn’t hurt right now. Yet, God in his infinite wisdom, brings me peace and perspective in the midst of my discomfort.

It is so important to see that the world doesn’t stop running when I am incapacitated. Many of you know how hard it is for me to allow others to care for me. I kept trying to push through, but my entire family insisted that I rest and allow them to do my routine. I have slept more now, than I have in weeks. Brian took care of the dog and cat I’m pet sitting. Daniel was my gofer yesterday while Daddy and Natalie danced the night away at a Father Daughter Dance. He heard the phone page (I have no voice) and came running to help me in anyway he could.

So many of us must be brought to our breaking point before we allow God to help us. We need to relax into his love, compassion, and care. Get used to operating within his easy yoke (Matthew 11:29-30).Why do you think it is so difficult for us to cast our anxieties on Jesus? What is at the heart of this human struggle?

Cast Your Cares Video

I Didn’t Press Replay

Posted February 25, 2017 | Karisa Moore

I didn’t pressÂ replay but, there you were

smirking in my dreams, and I search each one

hoping to find a clue.

It is Not About Our Circumstances

Posted February 24, 2017 | Karisa Moore

Scripture:

Romans 1:15Â That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16Â I am not ashamed of theÂ gospel, because it is the power of GodÂ for salvation to everyone who believes,first to the Jew, then to the Greek. 17Â For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: â€œThe righteous will live by faith.â€â€¦

Thoughts:

If faith in Jesus Christ were dependent upon where we were born, who our parents are, or what religion we were brought up in, then the divisions in our beliefs would be concrete walls that were impenetrable. But trust in God, belief in His son Jesus is found throughout the world. Why?

God desires a relationship with his creation
Creation itself testifies that he is God
Men and women testifying to the nations about what they have seen and heard of Jesus
The Holy Spirit goes ahead, directs and softens, prepares, convicts and inspires
The truth of Christ is emboldened by persecution rather than crushed
We can test and see that God is good
His word does not go out and come back void

Prayer:

Father, I praise you that you want to be known! You are not an inactive, distant God. Your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you for letting me be an instrument of your will. May my testimony of what I see and hear of you encourage all who cross my path. Amen

Being with Jesus is the Fountain of Youth

Posted February 10, 2017 | Karisa Moore

Isaiah 41:â€¦30Â Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, 31Â Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walkÂ and not become weary.

This is the strength I desire Lord! Being with you is the refreshment I need to do your will today. Thank you for being present with me, loving me, disciplining me, giving me hope. You are the reason I turn my page, and you alone turn my sorrow into gladness. Amen

I Tremble at Writer’s Block

Posted February 7, 2017 | Karisa Moore

I tremble at blank pages.Â Penning

next days crumbled outtakesÂ until

there are no words left for today.So I

steep myself in tea

and toss words like an abstract artist

until the page is stained

with tea and ink blots resembling

hope and substance.

Telling Our Grief Story: The Forgotten Audience

Posted February 6, 2017 | Karisa Moore

Just as Joseph lived out his story in an Egyptian prison, he share it with two people and years later one remembered the interpreter of dreams and told Pharaoh. We never know where our story leads in the context of God’s story, but we know that He has the salvation of many in mind.

Emptying the Ex-Box

Posted February 3, 2017 | Karisa Moore

Zechariah 7: 9â€œThus has the LORD of hosts said, â€˜Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10Â and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.â€™

Some of are still holding onto the Ex box. The Ex box is anything from our past, our old life that we do not let go of, or give over completely to God.Â It can be photos, notes, an object and ultimately it can be held tightly in our thoughts. I am pausing from sorting through Jonathan’s box of things to tell you I just threw away a bad memory I gripped tightly. Jonathan had many harsh realities to deal with, and he had some choice words he wrote down on paper about someone who was hurting him. Why keep such a note?

Because it feeds my own wounds
Because I’m angry
Because there has not been satisfactory justice
Because it vindicates me

These are the reasons I have held onto this sheet of paper. And even as I read it, I felt my heartache stirred. But, I declared out loud, “THIS DOES NOT HELP ME!” And, in a decisive move I balled it up and tossed the note in the trash.

Trust God’s justice
Acknowledge that God saw Jonathan’s pain
God alone is judge
Forgiveness frees me, and offers hope to the wrong doer

What do you have in your box? Is there one thing you can give to God that you desperately want solved, fixed, or don’t understand? Declare out loud the truth over the object and release it. Embrace the far better future God has for us and let go of the Ex.

My prayers are with you!