“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)  
 
There are only a few people who are not hungry: the dead, the sick, and those who just ate. When we are hungry, we look for ways to quench our hunger and thirst. Hunger is a sign that we need something. When we feel hungry or thirsty our bodies are signaling to us that it needs nourishment. Here hunger is not from food for our physical bodies but, a hunger for something else. Some people are hungry for respect, love, power, or even money. This is not the hunger that satisfies people but, instead it leaves people craving for more. This hunger pertains to our spiritual health a hunger for righteousness is a hunger for something deeper than the world cannot offer.

A hunger for righteousness comes from knowing God. By knowing God, we know what he desires and what he dislikes we can look around at the world at all the injustice and develop a deep craving to do the next right thing. It does not involve just wishing that everything would be made right. This involves a deep soul-searching and understanding of seeing what is going wrong in the world from taking care of the environment, fair treatment of individuals, and education. By knowing God, we recognize our need for God’s grace and strive to live a life in a worthy manner.

There are practical steps that we can take by doing the next right thing we can recycle, treat people fairly, volunteer, donate, and even raise awareness. There will be a day when our hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. The world can feel overwhelming at times with all the injustices, evil, and pain don’t lose hope for one day there will be no more injustices.
 
Heavenly Father, the world seems overwhelming with all the injustices that are happening help us to do the next right thing to help take care of our neighbors, friends, and those we care about.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
 
Little children are amazing they have no problem asking if a friend can take their tongue and lick their elbow or why questions. I am not sure who even tells a child “You need to ask why” but they somehow just get to the point of asking why regarding various subjects in life. They are confident in coming to any person and asking. It is the same for us today we can be confident when come before God in prayer. We can become confident because we know that God is faithful and desires to take care of his children. As we continue to walk a faith journey with him, we become more confident in our prayers and what we are asking for from him. 

Often, in our prayers we only list out the situation but forget that we must ask God. He wants us to make our requests. Our requests are not just desires that we want. God is not a genie granting wishes of the things that we desire for he knows some of the items that we desire in life is not good for our relationships, health, or who he has made us to be. We are to ask according to his will which can be difficult.
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Asking according to God’s will makes us first have to step back and reconnect our heart to God. From spending time with him we get to know what he truly desires and wants for us. It changes how we pray we go from praying for a certain amount of money to praying to learn to steward our money better. God’s will is written throughout scripture if you are unsure seek guidance from a pastor. God earnestly desires to hear from all of us for he loves all of us. When we ask according to his will our prayers become bold.
 
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of prayer and you hear our prayers and answer them according to your will. Lord help me to not just list my situation to you but ask you for what I need according to your will.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)  
 
There is a great line in the Avengers when Bruce Banner reveals his ability to turn into the Hulk whenever he chooses by stating “That’s my secret, Captain; I’m always angry.” His secret is being able to keep strength under control, instead of having spikes of angry outbursts at random he learned to keep his anger at a certain point that he was in control. He took a powerful personality and properly controlled it and no longer let it control him.

It is okay to be angry over things that happen. It is how we respond within our anger which is more important. Those who are meek do not seek malice or vengeance for the wrong that was done to them, nor does it mean that they just lay low and let others just walk all over them. Many have taken the word meek to be those who are weak and simply passive who are easily pushed around. This is not the case the meek are those who have been disciplined enough to be able to restrain their anger in obedience to God. They are people who can be angry and not do wrong to others or their selves nor be easily provoked by others.

I​t can take a lot of practice not to be provoked by others over simple little things. Through prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit we can become gentler in our spirit. We become meek when we are confident that God watches over us. Our behavior changes and we become gentle, humble, and mild in temperament. We can look to Jesus as our example as being meek for, he is gentle and humble in heart. He is not weak but kept his strength under control for he knew his identity as being the son of God.
 
Heavenly Father, help us to become meek like your son Jesus may you help my spirit to become gentle, temper mild, and humble.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy  Watkins

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” (Matthew 5:4)
 
Each of us has had to mourn in our life. Whether it was over a loss of a job, dream, relationship, abuse, or even divorce we still know the pain and hurt of the situation that we had to grieve over. Many people when a friend is crying often, feel overwhelmed and tell them “Do not cry,” however, there is nothing wrong with crying over a loss and having to let go of something that they held dear to them. We tell people not to cry but, God made us with the capacity to cry and shed tears over the things that we hold dear to us. One major thing that we must grieve over is our own heart and wicked nature.

Mourning in this instance here relates to inner spiritual grieving of a broken and contrite heart. When we grieve over the sorrowful state of our own evil heart we then can be comforted by the mercy and saving grace from God. When we come to realize our own brokenness and can grieve it then we can allow God to work within us. We must be vulnerable and allow God into the dark parts of our souls and work within us.

​True repentance and confession include an element of grief. Although we can rejoice in the promise of God’s forgiveness, we must mourn that we have done evil acts that God is not proud of. Repentance is possible when we come to mourn over our own wicked behavior. We may struggle our entire lives with a particular wicked behavior, addiction, or language but when we want to truly overcome an addiction, we must hate it in our souls. We must mourn the harm that it caused ourselves and others. Those who grieve will be comforted. God comforts his children when they turn their hearts back to him.
 
Heavenly Father, may we recognize our own brokenness and learn to grieve the pain and hurt that you have felt when I turn away from you. Lord, may I turn my eyes to you and seek your comforting embrace.
                   
Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:3)
 
There is a verse in the song We Believe in God by Amy Grant that recognizes we all need someone else’s help because life is hard “We believe in God, and we all need Jesus cause life is hard.” When my cousin was around three, she would go around singing this song but instead say “we all need Mommy cause life is hard.”  Life for three-year-olds can be difficult with people making them take a nap and playing with stuffed animals all the time. However, she recognized that there were things that she could not do for herself, and she needed help. She needed someone she could depend on to help her in her time of need.

Generally, when we think of people who are blessed in their lives our minds think of the wealthy, those with good careers, and close family relationships. However, Jesus does not say these people are blessed, but those who are poor in spirit. Jesus states, that the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven. Here he is not looking at the person’s financial status but, the depth of their spirituality is broken, bankrupt, and apart from Christ. The poor in spirit recognize that they are incapable of providing by their own strength, goodness, or even righteousness they need someone else to help them along. We must realize our own spiritual emptiness and humbly approach God about our wrong doings in life and where we need help whether it is with addiction, loneliness, or even controlling our temper.

​The Message Bible translates the verse as “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more God and his rule.” When we exhaust all our resources and see no possible solution, we become blessed since we lean onto the one who made everything. When we get out of our own way from being prideful and recognize that we need help we allow for God to work within us.
 
Heavenly Father, Lord, give us a heart that is humble in spirit and not dependent on my own merit.
 
Walking with you
Stacy Watkins

“And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”
            Hebrews 10:24-25

The last few weeks have been spent gathering with different friends, and family members celebrating the various holidays. We can remember the days of laughter expressed with joy. Some of the encounters might not be completely fun while others were filled with debates that left you feeling annoyed and even with worry but, the holidays remind us that we are made for companionship that with the right people we are better together.

When we have been hurt by so many people in our past, often we come to believe that we do not need people in our life we can do everything on our own, but we were not created for isolation. We are created to live life with people and for a purpose. The hardest part is finding the right people to become a part of your community. As we age, we might become skeptical of having anyone become a part of our community when we see a new face often, we do not want to trust them since we do not know them, or we do not want to be hurt like we have been in a previous friendship. It is hard to trust after being hurt, but we cannot go through life alone.
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Trusting a new person can be hard since we must be vulnerable. We must let them know who we are it can be scary; however, at the same time we must be brave and willing to be loved by another person. We need people in our communities that will encourage us to become our better selves, learn to grow, and develop to thrive. When we find the right people to become a part of our community we do not just grow, but flourish. We become even more than what we expected we can become.
 
Heavenly Father, may you place the right people in my path that will continue to challenge, encourage, and even help me flourish. May your Spirit help me discern who I need to let in and who I need to stay away from.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15)
 
Gratitude is an individual choice. We can walk through life complaining that there is nothing to be grateful for because of our life circumstance. Where we want to be may seem completely out of reach, because of our financial or relationship situations we forget that there are parts of our lives that we can be grateful for.

There are several things in life that we do not think about being grateful for: gravity, if there was not gravity we would just float into the atmosphere. The earth for continuing rotating without us even having to worry about it. If God did not keep the earth from rotating, there would be catastrophic consequences our days could become longer, and the weather would drastically change. We can thank God that we do not need to worry about floating off the planet because there is gravity that keeps us grounded. We can thank God that we are not in charge of making sure that earth keeps rotating. Someone might forget unless it’s on their daily checklist.

Everyday there are small things that we can think to be thankful for. We can be thankful that we are alive and get to live this day, since we will never live this day again. We can be grateful for the people who influence us each day and continue to encourage us to do better. We can be thankful that we have savior that died for our sins on the cross so that we can have a right relationship with God. When we learn to be grateful and thankful we find ways to enjoy life even when we do not have much.
 
Heavenly Father, sometimes it is hard to be grateful when I am blinded with situation that is right in front me. Help me to take time each day to become grateful for everything that surrounds me.
 
Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins

“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
 
This past week brought about a lot of tension between friends, family, and even coworkers. Each of our friends have burdens that many of us do not know about. To know our friends better we must create space for them to vulnerable. Create space to let them discuss their lived experience and what is currently burdening them right now. We must humble ourselves and be willing to listen regardless of our feelings.

When we love our friends and neighbors, we walk with them through their struggles, their struggle becomes our own struggle. One burden is the temptation to do things that is not good for our health or even for relationships. It might be difficult but, we are to share with those who we trust what temptations we are facing. Those within our circle can hold us accountable.

Some burdens feel a little harder to talk about like being lonely during the holidays or learning to make new friends in a different state. It may feel strange to ask someone if they can sit with you because you do not want to be alone but, they will be glad to be there for you. Christ carried all our burdens when he died on the cross for all of us. There is nothing we must face alone since he is always with us and will never forsake us.
 
Heavenly Father, thank you for carrying our burdens to the cross. Everything that we are facing we do not face alone because you are with us each step of the way. May we continue to lean on you.
 
Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins

“So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. “(Romans 14:19)
 
The past few months have been filled with whose policy is right or wrong. There have been people getting into fights because they want a particular candidate to win. Some friends no longer talk to each because of viewpoints of government policies. However, it is not about right or wrong but what builds another person up and promotes peace.

To build something there must be a firm foundation for many of us it involves who we are this is formed by our world view. Our world view encompasses how the world works based on our background from growing up and our lived experiences. During our lifetime we might face injustices: racial, poverty, healthcare, immigration it matters how we respond. There are ways we can contribute to aid to fight against these injustices we do not need to wait four years for an election year. The focus should be towards peace and bringing people together.

Often, many individuals think they have nothing to contribute but, we all have gifts and talents. Our talents may be different from someone else but, that is the beauty of community we can all contribute by bringing something different to the table.  What promotes peace is working together for a common good. Jesus is known as the Prince of Peace he is the ultimate promoter of providing peace so that we might come into a right relationship with God.  

Not only are we to promote peace build another person up. This can be done by small and large gestures such as having a conversation, smiling, and even saying an encouraging word.

Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus who is the ultimate idea of peace, during the next few days may we seek to promote peace and build one another up even when times are hard.
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Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Colossians 3:18)
 
The word submit makes me want to cringe. Often it is used as a reason for women to obey their spouse regardless of what they say or how they treat them. This is not the case.

Submission can be seen in two ways in a military context we submit to the leaders who are over the unit. However, your spouse is not in a military regimen with just you and them. It would be difficult to conquer a nation with just the two of you. Submit here is used meaning a voluntary attitude of cooperating, assuming responsibility, and obedience. It is voluntary not mandated. Your spouse has a choice in cooperating in what you are requesting of them, they get to decide if they want to obey or assume responsibility. The decision rests with them. The spouse is a cooperative partner. A partner in your relationship.

“As is fitting in the Lord.” The type of love that is fitting in the Lord is one of sacrificial love that Christ calls for husbands to led by. They are the example as the head of the household of how to protect those under their care, support them, and sacrifice for them. Just as Jesus submitted to the Father. The aim of submission is unity. Jesus submits to the Father to bring mankind into a right relationship with the Father. Spouses submit to each other to create a stronger family unit.
 
Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins