Happy Monday Y’all!

I don’t know where all of you live, but here in the Atlanta area, it is BACK TO SCHOOL MONDAY!! Traffic was just dandy and my fellow drivers seemed to be in such relaxed moods!!! 🙂

Obviously, I speak sarcastically, but it brings me to the My Choice Monday topic of the day:

Turning Traffic Into Tranquility

5 Tips For Making Your Drive To Work A Blessing

• Audible: Download the app on your phone and discover the joy of listening to great books on the way to work. It’s inexpensive and if you’re busy like the rest of the world, it can make reading that book you’ve been meaning to read a possibility!
• Podcasts: Learn about subjects and topics that interest you or delve further into the subject your pastor spoke about on Sunday!
  • Podbean http://www.podbean.com/religion_and_spirituality
  • Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/stitcher-list/
• The Bible From 30,000 Feet: Skip Heitzig, pastor of Calvary Chapel Albequerque in New Mexico, did a series several years ago that is available on both Audible & as a podcast. It goes over every single book of the Bible, not verse by verse, but in detail with attention to historical background and Jewish custom. Craig and I typically read a book of the Bible and then follow-up by listening to Skip’s podcast/chapter on that book.
  • http://www.biblefrom30k.com/subscribe.asp
    • Options for iTunes & Android users!
    • Via Audible
• Prayer: Make your travel time your prayer time. I find some of my best conversations with God happen in the car. I can worship and belt out some of my favorite songs to Him. I can pray, cry, scream out loud to Him with abandon. Consider this your first meeting of the morning. You won’t have to worry about dialing-in or being late, because He is always right there. Waiting.
• Two of my favorite devotional books are by the same author, Sarah Young, who wrote both “Jesus Calling” and it’s ‘sequel’ – “Jesus Today”. This past Friday’s “Jesus Today” reading had this to say:

“When world events are swirling around you and your personal world feels unsteady, don’t let your mind linger on those stressors. Tell yourself the truth: ‘Yes, this world is full of trouble, but Jesus is with me and He is in control.’ 

I don’t know about you, but I need to write that on my hand with a Sharpie and make a sticky note to put in my car too:

“…but Jesus is with me, and He is in control!”

That should be our mantra for traffic, stressful work situations, family squabbles, disagreements, political issues, the disturbing news of the world. Let us be reminded that no matter what, He’s got the whole world in His hands. We are His children and as long as we follow Him closely, we will be just fine.

When the horns honk and my blood pressure begins to rise as a car cuts me off, I will take a deep breath and, instead of yelling, remind myself:

“…but Jesus is with me, and He is in control!”

If you didn’t grab our free printable on Friday, here’s another chance, because this also fits well into the theme of tranquility in the midst of stress. Isaiah 43 is one of many places in the Bible to be reminded of His great and wondrous, overwhelming love for us:

But now, O Jacob, listen to the lord who created you.

O Israel, the one who formed you says,

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.

I have called you by name; you are mine.

When you go through deep waters,

I will be with you.

When you go through rivers of difficulty,

you will not drown.

When you walk through the fire of oppression,

you will not be burned up;

the flames will not consume you.

For I am the lord, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;

I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

Others were given in exchange for you.

I traded their lives for yours

because you are precious to me.

You are honored, and I love you.

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

I will gather you and your children from east and west.

I will say to the north and south,

‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel

from the distant corners of the earth.

Bring all who claim me as their God,

for I have made them for my glory.

It was I who created them.’”

Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind,

who have ears but are deaf.

Gather the nations together!

Assemble the peoples of the world!

Which of their idols has ever foretold such things?

Which can predict what will happen tomorrow?

Where are the witnesses of such predictions?

Who can verify that they spoke the truth?

“But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says thelord.

“You are my servant.

You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,

and understand that I alone am God.

There is no other God—

there never has been, and there never will be.

I, yes I, am the lord,

and there is no other Savior.

First I predicted your rescue,

then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.

No foreign god has ever done this.

You are witnesses that I am the only God,”

says the lord.

“From eternity to eternity I am God.

No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.

No one can undo what I have done.”

The lord’s Promise of Victory

This is what the lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,

forcing the Babylonians to flee in those ships they are so proud of.

I am the lord, your Holy One,

Israel’s Creator and King.

I am the lord, who opened a way through the waters,

making a dry path through the sea.

I called forth the mighty army of Egypt

with all its chariots and horses.

I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,

their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

“But forget all that—

it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

For I am about to do something new.

See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

The wild animals in the fields will thank me,

the jackals and owls, too,

for giving them water in the desert.

Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland

so my chosen people can be refreshed.

I have made Israel for myself,

and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

“But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help.

You have grown tired of me, O Israel!

You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.

You have not honored me with sacrifices,

though I have not burdened and wearied you

with requests for grain offerings and frankincense.

You have not brought me fragrant calamus

or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices.

Instead, you have burdened me with your sins

and wearied me with your faults.

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake

and will never think of them again.

Let us review the situation together,

and you can present your case to prove your innocence.

From the very beginning, your first ancestor sinned against me;

all your leaders broke my laws.

That is why I have disgraced your priests;

I have decreed complete destruction for Jacob

and shame for Israel.

Have a blessed Monday, friends!