God is Working

One of Danny’s cousins has had a problem with her foot for some time. An old injury is now causing huge problems. She worked on it until this summer. She finally got in to see a specialist and his response to the old injury was twofold. She has to stay off that foot at all costs. She also will be fitted with a special support device to help her not injure the foot anymore and to give her support when she does need to walk on it. The biggest problem is that the support device will take upwards of two months to be made. It’s a waiting period that is hard but there’s an outcome at the end that will help her tremendously and give her relief. Fortunately she trusts the Lord through it all. 

Oh beloved, God is working things out for you. The wait has been long and the pain is excruciating. You’re tired and worn to a frazzle. You’ve prayed and prayed. You’ve talked to God and asked Him to hurry. Relief is nowhere in sight as far as you can see. But precious believer, you can’t see what God sees and you can’t always know what He is doing. But you can be assured that while you are waiting the heavenlies are opened up and God is working on your behalf. 

Each of us are in the process of healing, restoration, revival or renewal. Sometimes God works instantly, sometimes He teaches us in a process. We can rest in these truths while we are waiting. He never ignores our pain, nor does He look at our problems and walk away. He has a support for each of us even while He is finishing the work. His support is heavenly, His care is divine and His outcomes for us are right on time. We don’t know how close it is to God handing us the answer. We can’t afford to give up now. 

He says it’s time to stop walking in your own strength. The injury will only be compounded as you try to work things out and fix problems on your own. Lay aside your fleshly desires to hurry and worry through. It’s time to rest in His promises, rest on His faithfulness and rest in the love He has lavishly poured out on you. 

God loves you and He’s for you. The outcome is in His hands and you can trust Him. His plans are far more lavish than you can imagine and unprecedented in nature. Praise Him in the process and rejoice in the truth as you live in the Light of His unparalleled divine loving care.

Romans 11:33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways.

Matthew 6:30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

I Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Surrender to Victory

Up in the night with our absent neighbor’s light on and Danny with stomach trouble we both have gotten little sleep. We have a few things on our hearts and minds as well. Since we’re up anyway why not pray? 

I hear God remind me of two things: 1 we wrestle not against flesh and blood… and 2 surrender. Always surrender everything to the Lord but never surrender to the enemy.

Oh beloved, we are very precious to the Lord but we are not fragile when it comes to life in Christ. We are born to fight the good fight of faith. We are renewed in our minds to know the battle plan of spiritual warfare. And we will be standing against our one foe all the way to heaven. The only rest we ever get is resting in The Lord. It’s not a hard life but it’s not for wimps. Lol that’s why when God changes a life through Christ He changes the weakest, the dirtiest, the sickest, the least likely into powerful people. He outfits us for battle in order that we become overcomers. Victory is His goal for us through everything the devil throws our way and through the natural life’s processes. 

God loves you and He’s for you. You are safe and able to meet challenges head on for you have the mind of Christ. Rejoice and let God lead you as you walk in His truth and cry victory in the light of His Word and His will.

Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

John 15:15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

Ephesians 6:10 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. Amplified

Alarms and Obits Call Out

I’m sitting here at my desk struggling through a temperamental computer. When you want things to go quickly is when they will slow down. It’s unusual for me to miss the alarm but I did this morning. Yesterday was a rough day. I wrote my first obituary for a loved one. The words came easy but the response of my heart to a life of 86 years reduced to a couple of paragraphs for the funeral home was not easy.

Oh beloved, this morning God reminds me to live life to the fullest. He’s saying to you and to me rejoice in the midst of it all. Laugh a lot. Love everyone. Keep time for yourself. Don’t hold grudges. But don’t let anyone talk ugly to you. Make sure you have plenty of time to worship the Lord. It really doesn’t matter what your obituary says it’s all about what the Lord says. He’s the One to please and He’s the one to give honor to. It’s okay to say no when everybody wants you to say yes. And love your spouse, love your spouse, love your spouse. 

And most of all love yourself. Cut yourself a lot of slack. Remind yourself there are no perfect wives, perfect moms, perfect children or perfect church members. Just keep remembering that you are being perfected in Christ. Every prayer matters and every tear you shed is held by the Lord. 

God loves you and He’s for you. That’s what you have to remember when things go wrong and life gets troublesome. You can’t solve your own problems but God is working all things together for your good and His glory. So live, laugh and love in the light of His Glory & Grace!
    

1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

I Peter 1:7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Psalm 119:116 LORD, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed.

Romans 5:5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Living Water Refreshes

We went to watch one of our daughters and her husband play ball last night. It was a pleasant, cloudy evening. But we noticed it got muggier as the evening wore on. By the time the game was over I had a sweet little granddaughter in my lap complaining about it all. She had played and raced around with friends all evening. But finally the mugginess combined with her tiredness got the best of her. She needed relief. I picked up her water bottle and poured some out in my hand and then onto her face and neck. It did bring relief. She went from languishing in my lap to laughing with one of her brothers. 

We get it don’t we? We start out in love with Jesus but we get in the mugginess of life and we just want relief. Wonder of wonders when we are at the end of our resources He comes to us and gives us His. 

Oh beloved, God knows you are languishing right now. You have run the race well. But now you are just tired of it. You have crawled up into Daddy God’s lap and you want relief! He’s about to pour living water on you. He’s going to pour in an extra flow of Holy Spirit. He’s not just going to hold you until things go away or get better. He’s going to pour Himself into you for revival of your heart and mind and soul. You’ve come to the right place. But it’s going beyond your normal desires. He’s got heavenly plans in mind and He wants to ensure you finish the race set before you. He’s going to revive you into more anointing and out of whining and begging and pleading. Ask Him for the life giving flow and watch as you sit up fully recovered in the Spirit! 

He says to you Arise, Shine! The Light has come and the glory of the Lord is rising upon you! He says receive this flow from My river that will never run dry. He says many quit the race because they try to run it on their own strength and power. But you have chosen the better way. And your reward will be finishing what He started in you through the Resurrection Power of Holy Spirit. You’ve not seen anything yet! This next leg of the journey of faith is going to be unprecedented for the latter rain is falling on you even now.

God loves you and He’s for you! Give yourself totally to Him this day and watch as He turns ordinary into extraordinary and natural into supernatural. And you will run your race in the Spirit’s flow because Jesus made the way for you.

John 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

John 4:11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?”

Psalm 119:88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.

Faith

Because I like bears I decided I wanted to watch a movie involving bears. So we picked one and began to watch. “Loosely based on a true story” this movie was tough to watch from the get go. I found within the first 10 minutes I was not able to watch the screen. The intensity of the storyline and the couple who were backpacking far from the crowds had me on the edge of my seat. Fear swept every bend in the path they walked. You just knew any moment something ominous was going to crash in on their idyllic vacation. So by the time the bear arrived on the scene I was completely undone. And I cried out “Turn it off!” as the bear began dragging the man out of the tent they were hiding in (yeah so very hidden.) Danny obliged and found something else to watch.  
We’re like that aren’t we? We are full of anticipation for a change in our lives. But then the change comes and we’re full of dread. Fear replaces our pioneer spirit. We can’t take another moment of the scene we didn’t ask for. We want to stop the film of our lives and go back to the last place we felt totally safe. The enemy is dragging us out of our fictitious place of safety and he wants to eat our faith alive. Except we can’t stop the film because this is life and it’s not loosely based on a true story, it’s our story! Blood guts and all – we are in the fight of our lives and we don’t know if we’ll live and we can’t shut it off.

Oh beloved, God wants you to know this morning He has already written your story. It may seem like horror right this moment but His stories always turn out glorious. The final chapter for you is heaven. The storyline is not meant to cause you to hold your breath or fear anything. His story about you contains acts of valor, points of intercession, and slaying the very things that try to drag you away from the faith. You are invincible in Christ. On your own you’re lost in the woods without even one companion. But with Christ you are secure in the dark, in the storms, through the floods and always, always you are rescued over and over throughout your life. Yes, it will be so very hard at times. Ask me how I know. But those hard times aren’t your pathway to destruction – they are your pathway to greater anointing and ministry. Those fears you have always entertained can be slain with the sword of the Spirit and you have that within your grasp even now. The enemy is only a one trick pony – fear is his vehicle. Fear of dying, fear of abandonment, fear of unknown, fear of…. You name your fear and then you begin to name the faith of God in its place. This is your shining hour – to put to death the very thing that wants to kill you and forever be changed into the most unprecedented warrior of valor ever known. 

God loves you and He’s for you. He is with you, He is within you, He is calling you out of the darkness of your fears and into the Light of His Wisdom. Power and Love. Run to Him this morning, thank Him for His plan and live fearlessly in the truth of His Everlasting Word!

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?

1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 

Psalm 27:3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident.

Psalm 112:8 His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.