PTSD in daily living

Post traumatic stress disorder sounds intimidating but it happens all around us, not just to soldiers. Children experience it from bullying at school or from constant tension at home. Men and women experience it at work as doctors, nurses, fire department personnel, police personnel and in tense arguments at home. Soldiers experience it anytime that they are in a dangerous and life threatening situation.

We are all in life threatening situations when we get on the highway but it seems so normal until we don’t see it that way until something happens around us or to us and our family.  Some days, just living can be a stress producing ordeal which can traumatize our minds. These are the times that we should be reaching out to God to be our constant companion in every situation. Our comforter and guide is always waiting for us to call on Him and He will be there.

Jesus said that we would receive a comforter when He went back to the Father and as Christians we have that but some of us don’t count on Him daily like we should. God loves us all, no matter where we are and until we allow Him to enter our hearts and live there daily, we can never know the depth of His love for us.

In many ways, the lack of commitment to being a servant of God is the reason for Post traumatic stress disorder.  If we would humble ourselves and come to Him daily, we would not have such stressful lives and if the stress was there we would have Him to comfort us in our time of need. There are many ways that people today have to find comfort. Some are legal and some are not but most of us find a way to find comfort whether it is temporary or permanent. The kind of comfort we find in serving Jesus is permanent.

Read the Bible, it is good for you and for your future. It also contains the most helpful wisdom that can be found in this life and it is the source of most “self-help” advice, in my opinion. Our Creator put your DNA together bit by bit before you were born and He knew you long before that. Give Him a chance in your life to prove that He really is the One, the Excellent Counselor and the Prince of Peace.  Romans 8:28

Friends

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

Our lives are touched daily by people that we know and some that we don’t, but the ones who make a lasting impression are friends. I claim Jesus as my friend and I hope you will too.

The friends which we have around us are those that we have found through work or school or in other circumstances in which we find ourselves. Whether it is through an accident, military, or other types of operations which puts us together, they are the ones that we rely on and miss the most when they are absent. The length of absence doesn’t make any difference between friends, there is always some common bond between you that will be there regardless of the circumstances life throws at you.

I had such an encounter recently with a friend that I haven’t seen in almost thirty years. Yet there was a bond which spanned that time and made it seem as if it wasn’t a concern. This friend and his family are important to me in ways that they do not realize and when the patriarch of their family moved on to his heavenly home it saddened me. But, I still feel joy because of it. I know that we will see each other in Heaven and we will have an eternity of service to our Lord together.

The friendship which Jesus offers to all is closer than those which we have here during our lifetimes. As God’s word says, “ I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6. This is the kind of friend we need, now more than ever in these troubled times. I pray that anyone who reads this will take this message to heart and accept Jesus into their lives so that you will have a friend forever!

Our world is changing

The world is getting more and more violent and a good bit of that violence and hatred is directed at Christians. Maybe not so much in the United States, but in other parts of the world where being a Christian is dangerous. Our Lord is gracious and merciful to all but those who are being persecuted don't feel it on a daily basis. He knows what they are going through and gives them peace that He will be with them no matter what. That knowledge is comforting and as long as they can hold on to that, they will be comforted.

Our job, meaning those of us who are not being persecuted, is to pray consistently for them and for the areas where they are being persecuted. Their lives are at stake and they need our prayers, especially if we cannot provide any other support. God loves them and the ones persecuting them, but His wrath will be directed at those who are hurting His church and the people of the body of Christ.

I pray that anyone reading this post will begin praying for their own salvation and for the salvation of others. Especially in countries where Christians are being killed, or put in prison, or intimidated. There are more of them than most people realize and our prayers may be the only real help they will get. God will be with them regardless, but our prayers will add to His comfort which He will extend to them.

I hope in Christ and pray that anyone reading this will accept Him and lend a prayer or a hand to any brother in Christ who is in need, no matter what the need is. God bless you all!