CHOOSE: FRETLESS

To be "Fretless in Memphis," one has to fret less and trust more. 
Cut out the worrying. That means fret NOT, Dots! (That's scriptural---just read Psalms 37: 1, 7, 8! Okay so it doesn't say Dots---feel free to insert your own name.

Choose faith not fretting.
Easier said than done, sometimes. Maybe if I were "more" fretless it would render me less sleeplessness. What a praise that would be!
But God....through Cole Huffman's  Philippians 4:4-7 sermon (3/19/17), reminded me of 2 things I know. Two things that give me peace.

1. I know I am not in control. (God is)
2. I know that I am cared for.  (By God)

Knowing those 2 truths reminds me that in the midst of fears (basis for much of my fretting) the Lord is at hand! (v. 5, ESV) Therefore, I not only can lean into His control but I can also lean into His care.

Fretless hot tea drinkers see their cuppa as 1/2 full, NOT 1/2 empty. A cuppa positive-TEA!

CHOOSE: TO RELINQUISH

Choosing to relinquish, for me, is choosing NOT to choose.
Today, it's choosing not to choose 4F.
4F can be a reference to the basics of evolution, which I would not choose to extrapolate here. 

But....in the spiritual realm, there are "4 Fs" I "try" not to choose.

• Fretting I tend to "stew" about way to much in my life---my family might use the indefinite pronoun "everything" to encapsulate all my fretting. But God....lists several "FRET NOTs" (or fret synonyms) in His word, at least 3 in Psalm 37 alone. "Fret not yourself;" (Psalm 37:8) God says in Proverbs 24:19, "Do NOT fret because of evildoers." (emphasis, mine) The nightly news tends to have me fretting daily at 5:30 pm.
• Fussing (My "F" word for anxiety) Anxious thoughts build. Worry grips. So hard for a world class worrier . There I said it---I exposed my besetting sin. But God....says, "Be anxious for nothing..." (Philippians 4:6, NASB)
• Fruitless I desire to be fruitful, not fruitless. To bear the fruit of the Spirit in my own life (Galatians 5:22-23) being fruitful even through suffering, (Genesis 48:15-21) as well as to bear fruit for His kingdom as I abide in Him. (John 15:4-5)
• Fear "FEAR NOT, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God: I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10) (emphasis, mine) Enough said.

Therefore, today I choose to relinquish the 4 Fs in my life---or as my little Lucy sings, "Let it go; let it go!"

After all, that's what relinquishing is.....a "letting go and letting God."

FIREWORKS

7/4/09
Wasn’t planning on “blogging” until Monday-----but God……………..was planning on writing about fruit of the spirit---but God…………..so now I’m here typing about “ugly stuff”---my tendency to have a “come apart” just because not one, but two of my pencils quit on me in the middle of my prayer/quiet time----I’m also polishing off a 15 stick pack of Extra gum, “Classic Bubble” flavor. Why? I haven’t a clue----okay, maybe I do a little bit. I have just had a glorious week of reconnecting with family and old friends and connecting with a very special “new” friend and yet somewhere along the way I haven’t felt connected to Him as I returned home. Oh I know I’m connected---because He never lets go. But……….Home is reality----there’s no escaping, which can be my path of choice sometimes. Thank goodness I had lunch with a dear friend yesterday and dinner with more dear friends last night or I might have really chosen to ESCAPE by hiding out.
I have been “fretting” and “stewing” in my mind for weeks now mostly over stuff I cannot control and it’s taking its toll. Circumstances can do that when they become your focus.
But God………….used My Utmost for His Highest entry today to remind me that I need to “Fret not.” (Psalm 37) My marginalia showed PTP (Practice Thy Presence) Today I added Praise, Thank, Praise! I have so many notes, asterisks** and BOLD underlines on this one entry that I decided to let you read it for yourself---make your own notes—-& maybe have your own heart convicted.

ONE OF GOD”S GREAT DON’TS

"Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil doing." Psalm 37:8 (R.V.)

• Fretting means getting out at elbows mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say "Fret not," but a very different thing to have such a disposition that you find yourself able not to fret. It sounds so easy to talk about "resting in the Lord" and "waiting patiently for Him" until the nest is upset - until we live, as so many are doing, in tumult and anguish, is it possible then to rest in the Lord? If this "don't" does not work there, it will work nowhere. This "don't" must work in days of perplexity as well as in days of peace, or it never will work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work in anyone else's case. Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself. (emphasis mine)

• Fussing always ends in sin. We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are; it is much more an indication of how really wicked we are. Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not "out" to realize His own ideas; He was "out" to realize God's ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God.

• Have you been bolstering up that stupid soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God? Put all "supposing" on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.

Wynellen had also reminded me weeks ago of the June 1 entry in Streams in the Desert, which focused on worry/fretting. “What possible use does your worrying serve?” (I know the correct answer here---sometimes I just don’t live like I know it.) “…yet you worry as if you were the captain of the vessel.” (This vessel called life.) “….implore you to not (emphasis mine) give in to despair. Hopelessness constricts and withers the heart, rendering it unable to sense God’s blessings and grace.” “………….causes you to exaggerate the burdens of life and makes your burdens seem too heavy for you to bear. “ (Madame Guyon)

Happy 4th If you hear “fireworks coming from my way, it could be because I’ve been fretting instead of abiding, and repressing feelings instead of giving them to the Lord. All of that is “calculating without God” and could easily cause an explosion. But God………….He loves me and so (today) I choose not to fret and not to give in to despair. I have to do this one day at a time because I know I’m just one “fret” away from calculating without Him.
May my fireworks (today) be a declaration of the freedom and grace I have in Him.