To Be

 

In order to let the dust settle, it has to stop being kicked around.

This world of networking in every way imagined has us stirred up like never before.  The bombardment of other peoples’ ideas, good or bad, has us in constant mental motion. 

Reading observations, realizations, inspirations, frustrations, persuasions, exasperation's, elation's and on; I got to the point where I wanted to shake the dust off from it all and for a bit,
just be. 

Be in this moment.

Be nothing more.

Be nothing less. 

Be.

That’s it.

And I found that place of peace. Quiet. And love. Just as I am.

A friend shared this with me and it came back to mind.  It’s Psalm 46:10a  and it is said in a slow way reaching the one word, “Be.”

“Be still and know that I am God.”

“Be still and know that I am.”

“Be still and know that I.”

“Be still and know that.”

“Be still and know.”

“Be still and.”

“Be still.”

“Be.”

Taking a moment to reach the  simplicity of peace that draws Him near.

Who Do You Say I Am?

Lately, I have observed in a much greater degree, the friction of opinion, especially in the Church.  One article after another has Christian bloggers and article writers writing what’s wrong with this person’s doctrine or what is lacking or what is being over-stated.  Imagining an observer reading some of this who doesn’t believe or know for themselves, I can see where they are tossed about by some of the waves.

Every Bible teacher is coming from a place of interpretation. They interpret the way they personally see Jesus because it is their viewpoint coming from their place in life, what they've read, experienced and how they perceive it.

Joyce Meyer had a lot of abuse and anger in her past.  She teaches very directly and believes emotions are harmful; probably because of the hurt she encountered through her own life and the issues she has had with anger.  She knows the saving grace of God and His healing and His power and the transformation He makes in lives by helping her get a handle on anger and forgiveness.  Hers is an amazing story and she serves Him because she’s grateful and she loves Him.

Joel Osteen is one happy camper and he received a whopping ministry, church and growth.  He sees God as an awesome provider beyond his wildest dreams.  Of course he’s going to teach on the endless supply of God’s abundance.  It landed on him like a ton of gold from a golden dump truck.  His father passed away and he inherited a ministry more than he ever thought he was capable or worthy of, except he knew he loved the LORD and the ministry took off.  He is grateful and wowed.

Teachers teach from what they know and how they know the LORD.  It is relational and it comes from the place and way He impacted them most from the view of where they came from and who they are because of Him.

It also comes from the way the LORD revealed Himself to them.

Some Bible teachers have great knowledge and they are wired to detail and the letter and study and teach from a knowledge base of writings.  Some teach from ways of experience and relationship through His Spirit.  Those tend to be less detail minded and more open to the anything-type of move of His; teaching more on love, joy, peace, hope, miracles and encouragement.  I enjoy learning from those who teach a combination of both.

I confess that I watch and listen to probably 3-4 sermons/ messages a day.  It has been more than that at times.  I enjoy learning the perspectives and views from a variety of people, knowing that we all see Jesus from how He has revealed Himself.  My criteria to consider their teaching is that they acknowledge Christ as LORD, His death and resurrection and we have need of His salvation that was given out of His love for us with the gift of eternal life.

In listening and watching them, I see how He loves them.  Every teacher is imperfect and yet moved to proclaim Him.  I see His grace in their lives and I also notice when their words drift from that grace.  Then, I pray for them that they would make their focus back to His face and who He is for them so that they can best use the platform they have been given. 

Some people become big followers of a person or teacher.  I understand that.  There are people I better receive from than others.  Right now, I’m a fan of Creflo Dollar and his Bible teaching.  I had my Joseph Prince days of incredible grace teaching, Beth Moore days of insight and womanly-heart teaching, Joyce Meyer’s no-nonsense, Joel Osteen’s  kid-at-Christmas joy and Christine Caine’s Holy Spirit guided slur of sentences that cut to the marrow while said through her delightful, little grin.

Teachers of Hebrew have been enticing to me as well. God Himself  has been teaching me a bit of Hebrew. (I write words I believe He is telling me and He will sometimes run a line of Hebrew in which I write it down phonetically and then have to look it up to translate it.  He has also said lines I discovered were Aramaic, Sanskrit and once German. It keeps my ears tuned and I’m learning. I love it when He does that.)

Remember to pray for your Bible teachers.  They are people.  Don’t let a teacher be your end-all-be-all, but find your own learning and insights from the Great Teacher. 

 Your relationship with Jesus is a view like no one else’s and it is meant for you from Him.  Let Him show you that Himself and let His Spirit guide you to Who He is for you.  It is your place of His grace and love for you that reaches your soul for exactly the way you need and then some. 

Don’t put a teacher’s teaching above Jesus’.  Guard yourself with that.  Keep your heart recognizing Bible teachers for the full gospel of Jesus as LORD and savior.  Love them, encourage them and pray for them that they will continue to know Him more  personally every day.  We can't teach what we don't know.

We will always have different takes here and there because everyone has their own view.  We also have our own relationship with Jesus.  Let’s love one another as we grow every day nearer to Him and asking for His truth.

Sometimes He will show you Himself through others, through His Word and in your life.  Figure out who you say that He is.  He calls us to that and it is that moment of one on One when it comes down to you and Him.

Luke 9:18-20 ESV

18Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

19They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

20“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” 

Ephesians 4: 13-15 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ

 

Let's enjoy the variety of ways the LORD has shown Himself to one another. I think of it like a potluck.  We bring our best dish and share what we have.  Holding to His truth in love as we mature in Christ and keep Him head of the table.

 

 

Heaven and Our Son's Experience



Morning After



Our son, Sam has always had a thing with Jesus.  When he was only two years old I was reading a Little Golden Book about Jesus to him.  He would wave at the drawings of Jesus at every turn of the page.  I didn’t encourage him, he did it himself. 

Over the years (he is now eight) he has had a faith that is strong.  When his tummy hurt, he’d ask me to pray for it to be better and he’d walk away from me confident that it would be.  It would. 

In a car ride to go boating with friends, the sky got dark and it began to downpour and a storm seemed to be ending our plans.  He sat in his child car seat, folded his little hands, bowed his head and clenched his eyes tightly shut as he prayed asking God, "Please, make the storm go away."  The clouds parted and there were blue skies.  It impacted one of our friends in the car so much that he wrote a blog post about the faith of Sam. 

Our son has often said things that were always spot on at the moment needed. One of those times I was in quiet prayer early in the morning and asking the LORD to help me be more aware of giving.  Our son awoke  and walked up to me.  He said, “Mom, I’ve been thinking.  Giving to people is like giving to God.”

Last year, he really surprised us.  He said to our oldest daughter, “You are going to have a baby this year.”  My eyes bugged out and our daughter laughingly told him that she didn’t know how that would be possible.  She had been diagnosed in her teens as clinically sterile.  Just the month before he said this, she had been so sick from the complications of her condition that the physicians were recommending a hysterectomy.

Ten months later, our grandson was born.  

Sam doesn’t see himself as anything unusual.  This is normal to him.  This is part of his relationship with Jesus; believing and looking to Him and saying the things placed on his heart.  He says and does them without hesitation or questioning, because as a child’s faith is, it is without doubt and filled with expectation.

When he was around five he had a dream that Jesus was a lion and the Jesus-lion was laying on him while covering and protecting him from mean animals.  He said, “It was so loving; He loved me!  He roared at the others and they backed away and then He licked me, snuggled me and purred.  It felt so good!  It felt SO good!”  Sam had never heard of the Lion of Judah or had ever seen or read a one of C. S. Lewis' books about Narnia like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe yet.  I showed him a cover of one of those books later as we walked through a store and I asked him if Jesus looked like that kind of lion and he said, “Yes.”

 This week Sam came down with a high fever.  He was lethargic.  He has had many cycles of sickness like this that we had become accustomed to.  He would often miss a few days of school until it went away.  This time he found it hard to move and the fever seemed really high as I carried him to bed for the night.  I didn’t take his temperature so as not to disturb him more, but I went to bed very concerned.  The medicine wasn’t decreasing the fever and I was considering the number of sick days ahead.

The next morning I let him sleep and called the school saying he wouldn’t be there that day.  Shortly after, he came walking out of his room.  He said, “Mom, I’m healed!  I dreamed Jesus healed me!”  I jumped up and felt his head.  The fever was gone.  I asked if he still hurt anyplace and he told me, no.  He was well!

I asked what it was that he dreamed.  He said, “I was in heaven.  Jesus told them, ‘Sam is very sick and this makes Me sad.  I’m going to heal him.’  Then Jesus turned to me and said, ‘Be healed.’”

Asking him if Jesus put His hands on him, he told me, “No, He just said it. ‘Be healed.’” I was in awe.  I saw how happy Sam was and how bright his eyes were. 

Continuing to check on Sam and feeling his head, no fever came back.  He was certain he was healed and I had kept checking.  (I’m convicted of this now.)

Once I settled into this having happened, I asked Sam if he remembered anything else about his dream.  He exclaimed, “I remember lots of things!”  I eagerly asked him what.

He said, “There were lots of streets and they really ARE made of gold! Every road is gold!” 

“It was beautiful. BEAUTIFUL!” 

“There were lots of churches everywhere! Everything we like is there.  Everything!  There were Bibles everywhere and books and shops filled with Bibles and books!”

“I saw houses, lots of houses!  I saw the houses!! The houses are all SOFT!  You can sit anywhere and lay down anywhere in them and it doesn’t hurt because they are all soft!   He wants us COMFORTABLE!!”

“I saw our house!  It even said, ‘Willey House’ on it!”  His joy kept growing as he shared more and more.

“I saw Grandpa Willey.  He was partying!”  Sam laughed and he made a gesture of dancing.  “Grandpa said, ‘Hi,’ to me and then he went back to partying!”  Again, Sam laughed.

“Everything you LIKE is there, EVERYTHING!  I’m going to play floor hockey ALL OF THE TIME!” 

I was soaking in every word he had to say and held to his exuberance, certainty and authority in the way he said them.  Then I asked him who Jesus was talking to when He was telling them that he was sick and that Jesus was sad and that He was going to heal him.  He said, “He was talking to the angels!”

“There were so many angels!  An army of angels!  There were thousands, no, MILLIONS! It was an army of angels and they were all in front of Him!”  I asked Sam again what Jesus said to him and he again said, “Be healed.”

When Sam had shared about the angels I knew what he was talking about.  I hadn’t shared with very many others what he so freely shared with me.  I had been in prayer a couple of years ago at an ARC (Alliance of Renewal Churches) gathering and I had a vision.  Jesus was standing behind me with His arms around my waist and His head over my shoulder and along side my face as we stood facing forward.  In front of me was the army of angels facing forward, too.  They were lined up, row after row for as far as I could see.  They were in white and stood strong with broad, straight shoulders.  The air of strength and impenetrable protection overwhelmed me.

 I can still remember the fragrance of Jesus.  It was the most lovely, fresh and clean fragrance.  I had wept after seeing His angels and being embraced by His love like that; to feel Him and know Him that near.  Later, when I heard the song by Chris Tomlin, “Whom Shall I Fear” (God of Angel Armies) I knew exactly the truth of it.

One evening, on a different occasion, I was in bed and praying.  I opened my eyes and I saw gold overhead.  It was even lower than the ceiling of the room.  It was all gold, the most beautiful sparking gold.  I knew I was seeing the underside of heaven and I realized how near to us it is.  It’s just right there! 

This quote is a quote I received today by Graham Cooke and it sums this up well.

 “Ours is a life of resolute expectation.  God’s goal is that you would be fully persuaded, secure and unafraid in His steadfast love for you.”

Reminding our son of all the LORD has done to show him who He is and how He loves him, I pointed out the places in his dream of His protection, comfort, love, joy, power, sorrow for his suffering and power of His words of healing.  That the Bible matters and the Word of God is forever and that the words in other books that were there were words that passed with eternal and lasting value.

 I showed him how family mattered, that he saw a home with our name and we will be together again and we can have joy for those who get to go to heaven before us.  I told him to hold to these things because Jesus is giving him a strong faith by letting him know Him so well.  He readily and knowingly nodded through it all.

Jesus is also letting us know Him through the experiences that Sam has freely shared.  When we share, it is a giving and a gain for those who receive it. Sam and I hope that by sharing this, you will know how much Jesus loves you, too, and that Jesus is worth knowing now and for always.

 

Melchizedek

Solid food eaters welcome.

You are going to need to call your own thoughts together and discern this for yourself.  I am not going to tell you what to believe.  Judge for yourselves what seems to be right or wrong.

 I have a conversational flow with the LORD.  I have for a while and if I am to believe any of the things I believe He has spoken to me, I have to believe this. 

Receiving some words nine months ago, it was so hot I had to just let it sit.  I didn’t know what to do with it.  I felt like Charlton Heston as Moses coming down from the mountain with white hair.  It has since sat and cooled and my brunette has grown back in. Okay, I color it. I’d poke at this message every now and then and now I’m confident enough that I can write it.

Melchizedek is a person in the Bible that has every commentator writing on his mystery.  No one knows for sure.  They make guesses and analyze the scriptures to try and find answers, but it too is mysteriously written.  And then again, it seems clear.

The first verse where Melchizedek is mentioned is Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine.

Plain and simple: Melchizedek means King of Righteousness in Hebrew.

Salem means peace in Hebrew.  King of Peace.

Melchizedek brought bread and wine.  These are the two elements that Christ used in teaching us as a remembrance of his body, blood and sacrifice.  Scripturally it says that Jesus took the cup.  It is assuming that there is wine in it.  Jesus' first miracle was turning the water into wine, where Moses' turned the water into blood.  If Jesus was sharing a "cup" and referencing it as his blood, it is wise to consider it being wine.

“A priest of God Most High”

Hebrews 4:14  Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

The definition for righteous is: without sin or fault.  He’s King of it.

Melchizedek comes out of the chutes as a Christ typology.

Genesis 14:19-20  19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the good he had recovered.

Here are the words that I believe I received.  Because of them, I set out to understand if it could be true.  Did I hear right? 

Hear My Name, Jehovah Immanuel.  The giver of Life.  The one living among you.  The Messiah.  I AM in all things all the Spirit shows.  I bring life into all things dead, into all things new and into all things renewed for I AM the giver of Life. 

Melchizedek is my name in the times of Abram, for none but Christ could bless in the name of the LORD except by Priesthood.  I AM He whom you call for I rule the heavens and earth.  My staff is about Me, My sword is My Spirit and My words speak forth.

Hear Me, O Israel.  I AM He for I AM the Messiah, King of the Jews, Prince of Peace, House of Bread and wine of life.  My blood pours forth your forgiveness and my lips speak out in blessing and truth.

If you have seen Me you know the Father.  I refresh.  I bless. I provide and I aid in the life worth living and everlasting. I AM He who walks on waters. I AM He who walks from fire and I AM He who blesses the man named Abraham to the day Christ Jesus fulfills all law.  I AM, says the LORD of hosts.  I AM He.

Maybe you can see why I had to let it cool a bit before I wrote.  Here is where I tussled.  Was Melchizedek Him?  Abram recognized the LORD when He came to see him under the tree with two other men in Genesis 18.  It says that Abram bowed down before him.  It doesn’t say that he bowed to Melchizedek and so I questioned. The LORD reminded me that Abram gave Melchizedek ten percent of everything he had gained in his victories.  I was reminded that it was an offering made in way of honor and sacrifice to his mediator.

Later, when God appoints Aaron into priesthood, part of the requirement of the Hebrew people to Aaron and the Levitical priests are that they are to give their priests ten percent.  These are the ones that mediate between them and God.  But these priests are only men and have to make their own sacrifices and offerings before the LORD along with the offerings of the people.  Melchizedek did not make a sacrifice for himself.

Hebrews chapters 5,6,7 and 8 are about Jesus as High Priest and the references of Melchizedek.  All around it, as if dancing with the news, is written as Christ being in the order of Melchizedek. 

Hebrews 7:2-3

2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

The Psalmist prophesied to this in Psalm 110:4  The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:15-28

15This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is witnessed of him,

“You are a priest forever,

after the order of Melchizedek.”

 18For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind,

‘You are a priest forever.’”

 22This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost because of those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

You can spend lots of time in these chapters looking at the ways Christ is in place or order of Melchizedek.  Chapter 7:26 describes Jesus as holy, innocent, unstained.  These are the qualities of righteousness.  Where Christ became Messiah, which means savior, He died as the sacrifice for all.  The verse before says, “Consequently, he is able to save.”  When the time had come to fulfill all law, He did so and then sacrificed Himself for us once and for all as the perfect High Priest who lives forever.

If Melchizedek fully represents Christ typology, I saw His counterpart who had approached Abram at the same time; the king of Sodom.  Sodom is shortly destroyed because of the evil that was within it.  Prior to that and immediately following Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek, the king of Sodom says in Genesis 14:21, “Give back my people who were captured.  But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered.” 22 Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I solemnly swear to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you.  Otherwise you might say, “I am the one who made Abram rich.”

 The king of Sodom is a tempter with worldly wealth and would have changed the plan and promise and blessing of the LORD had Abram given into him.  He appears to represent Satan typology.  In the same way in Matthew 4, as Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the desert by offering him all of the worldly kingdoms if he worshipped him, Satan was trying to change the plan that God had in place and promised at the beginning with Abraham.

Speaking to us in the way that I received the message, it is as if the LORD is making a bold statement of revelation for a people to know Him.

 Romans 11:15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

And the prophesies of Jeremiah 23:5-6

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.

Jeremiah 33:16

In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness’

I hope that you will study for yourselves these chapters and recognize the depths of learning that His Spirit provides.  It is part of our Spiritual maturity and growth.  Had not His Spirit opened up the revelation of the words I believe He told me, I would not have matured in my understanding of the teaching.  Hebrews 5:11-14 addresses the call to become mature and that “solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ~ John 14:26

Giving Challenged

 

 

I scored low on giving. 

If you have ever taken those spiritual gifts tests; giving is considered a gift.  My high marks were encouragement, mercy and teaching.

I’ve carried that thought of ranking low on giving for a while.  Or more truthfully; carried the shame. 

Great gift ideas don’t come naturally to me.  I watch other people in amazement with the ability to give great gifts.  For Christmas, my daughter’s boyfriend gave me fancy chocolates and a special bottle of wine, the same kind they celebrated with on their one year dating anniversary. 

I gave him some birch bark stuffed inside a Mason jar. 

It was my idea of the beauty of nature that I made into a pencil holder because he likes to write.  The poor guy.  He unscrewed the lid to see what was inside.  The least I could have done was to think to put some pens in it.  Nope.  Ugh.

This subject of giving was not even my idea to write about.  I wait on the LORD when it comes to what to write.  This was the subject matter and I have sat with it for a few weeks.  I have other ideas stacked up, but until I got this one out, they had to wait.

Timing on this particular subject of giving has been one of the latest things I have had to live and learn in.  It’s a new place.  Recently I was invited to come and teach at a Women’s Conference in Durham, England along with my husband who was asked to share his testimony.  We don’t have the funds for this trip that is supposed to happen in May. 

Enter new territory.

We have had to ask others if they would want to partner by giving to a fund to help make this happen.  I have never had to ask for this kind of help.

Asking others to give.

It was backwards to me and it is embarrassing.  Having to ask others if they would be interested to give is a definite pride breaker for me.  There were days in the past when we could have done this financially ourselves.  Now we are being asked to do this when we financially can’t.  Yet, we reach out in faith to ask, burying what people may think of us to do what we know is something that could bless others and grow faith; teaching others the heart of their LORD.

As I looked into the subject of giving, we received our first donation.  On the check was a little post-it- note. 

“Love you! Happy to help!”

The heart of the giving jumped out at me.

 2 Corinthians 9:7  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

They were cheerful givers.  I wasn’t expecting this.  I was feeling like a burden.

They saw a way to help.

A way that they could.

 

I wrestled with the idea of giving and had this boxed and locked up idea that giving was financial.  Because finances weren’t there in us, my sense of joys in giving were tainted with shame and lack and embarrassment.

I began to see things differently. 

Our spiritual gifts are for the giving. 

Encouragement, mercy and teaching is what I wanted to give.  I love to give like that and I do it without thinking of it as giving.  It is merely thinking of another and being happy to help in a way that I am able.  It comes from a place of love.

All that we have is first from the LORD.  It’s what we do with what He has given us that matters. 

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change

Seeing all of the Spiritual Gifts and the ways people use them are places for giving.

I began to see what I had to give and not what I didn’t have.

We give in ways we don’t even think of; our attention, our time, our words, and more.  Even touch is a form of giving from a neck rub, to a gentle stroke to a pet.  We use our strengths in even little things like screwing a jar lid off for another to the greatest gift of giving birth.  Giving is doing something good with someone else in mind instead of oneself.

Grand Daddy Giver:  For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…

For-Giveness 

Forgiving another is a giving like no other. 

Forgiving restores relationships, washes away pasts, frees from burdens and shame and puts faith and hope into a new day as the opened door pours out love and life.

…so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Even when you may think you have nothing to give, you still do.  I visited one of our family friends.  She had prayed for me often through my childhood and on.  She was near the end of her fight against cancer.  I went to visit her with my mom and our son who was quite young at the time. 

My son became restless and I knew I would need to leave.  Before leaving, I asked her if I could pray for her.  She was unable to speak and she nodded her head.  I placed my hand on hers and my little boy put his hand on her, too.  As I prayed out loud for her I had a strong sensation.  I finished and said, “Amen.”  Then I said to her, “You were praying for me just then, weren’t you?”  She nodded her head, yes. 

From her bed, unable to even speak, having nothing; she gave.  She gave to me during my prayer.  She prayed for me.  We can always pray for another for as long as we have breath in our bodies and our minds are able to carry thought.  Her prayer in her last days was a gift like few others.

We have much to give because we have been given much.  May you know the cheerful places of thinking of others from a place of love for their good and your joy.   

Give outside the box. 

From the book “Come Away my Beloved- Devotional” by Frances J. Roberts

Mercy is the extension of My grace.  Whenever you show mercy to another, you express My love.  I rejoice in forgiveness.  I do not give grudgingly.  You have been told to give cheerfully of your substance; now I say unto you, do the same in the Spirit.

 



New

Resolutions

Fresh Starts

Goal setting

Renewed hopes

Celebrating the birth of a new year is a gift of the hope of a better life.  People become opened to unknown possibilities and look forward to what might be. For some, the relief from the disappointment from that which wasn’t attained in the past may now be hopefully attained this year.  The learning from past failures brings a forward hope to do it better or right the next year.   Sometimes it is a matter of hardship that is finally behind and encased in that old year.  The new one doesn’t carry its weight.

Hope is born in the newness of a new year.   And we are opened to what it may bring.  Eager.  Expectant. Forward thinking…

And willing to try.

What if we kept this attitude?  What if we didn’t have to wait for a whole new year after let downs or unachieved goals or hopes dashed?  What if we remained opened to something new?  Invigorated with expectancy for the birth of what may lie ahead.

We can.

Lamentations 3:22-24

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

Because of His great LOVE His mercies never end!  Keeping the heart, mind and soul attitude of knowing and believing and living in this; every day is a new day and our hope is eternal.  Every passing day draws us nearer to that hope realized.

The definitions of mercy from Bing Dictionary are:

1.compassion: kindness or forgiveness shown especially to somebody a person has power over

2.compassionate disposition: a disposition to be compassionate or forgiving of others

3.something to be thankful for: a welcome event or situation that provides relief or prevents something unpleasant from happening

The vibrancy of life lived in this is without limits. Each day can be a day of a newness of heart, hope, and blessing.

His mercies are His blessings, forgiveness and compassion! 

Because of His steadfast love! 

When at the end of a day that didn’t accomplish what you’d hoped or you behaved less than the way you had resolved to, we have the great joy and promise that His mercies do not run out on our failures. They are NEW every morning.  A new day.

Living in this promise gives us the ability to be invigorated for fresh starts, new possibilities, blessings and our eternal hope.  It is a gift of His love.  Every day.  Every 365 of them a year.

This is the hope of today.  The promises of the plans He has for you; plans to give you a future and a hope.  Jeremiah 29:11

Sleep well in His love, letting go of hurt and disappointment.  Tomorrow is a new day; a new day to love others better with His mercies.  Anything is possible.  Happy New Day!

Mark 9:23 "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."

 

 

 

Testing

Art use permission by Amanda Geisinger

 

 

Coming off of another rough year of uncertainty, cuts and threats and even verbal abuse in mine and my husband’s work situations, it has been a learning and growing process for us spiritually.

In the midst of what sometimes seemed like silence from the LORD, it was our seeking for Him that He desired.  I recently saw an image that read, “The teacher is usually quiet during a test.” Had He instantly rushed to our aid we would have thought less of Him being the one that provides it.  We wouldn’t have asked for His help, nor would we have seen our own weaknesses.  We wouldn’t have learned to come to Him in all things and trust in Him in these ways of challenges.  Also, we wouldn’t have seen our own weaknesses of where we were untrusting, afraid and the poor behavior in those things.   

Hardships bring about strengthening if we decide to hold to faith.  We are never left on our own; God doesn’t leave us. Test times in the Bible often show up in the number forty.  Forty years of wandering in the desert and then the Promised Land.  But, they still had some overcoming to do to gain that.  It rained forty days and forty nights before it stopped and the waters began to recede.  Four hundred years in exile was a forty times ten.

Jesus was tempted in the desert for forty days.   Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  That verse blew my mind the first time I read it.  He was purposely led by the Spirit to be tempted.  Tested.  It made some of my temptations and tests take on a divine purpose.  As exhausting and difficult as they were and are, they help me to become stronger and equipped.  Like I said, God also doesn’t leave us. Matthew  4:11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Exhausted by the testing and fasting, Jesus endured as one in our own human weaknesses, angels came to Him when it was over to strengthen Him and attend to Him.  Then Jesus began His ministry.  He had withstood the temptations and tests.  Graduation was His.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.

This is talking about Jesus.  He empathizes with us.  The last part, –yet he did not sin.  Ooph, how often have I sinned in following through with the temptation or the time I was so challenged by verbal abuse that I lied to keep from calling that person for fear of being abused again.  I detested what fear had driven me to do.  But, having gone through it, I am stronger.  I am aware of my weaknesses and more aware of God’s strength and what He can see me through when I hold to Him.  Tests show us what we know and don’t know. 

At the height of finals time for college students, I found an article written Nov. 10, 2013 by Stanford administrators for Stanford College students.  It was helping them relieve test anxiety.  It carefully reminded the students that their value is not diminished on how they performed, but that the tests are to help them see what they have learned and therefore strengthening their confidence in those matters as well as making them aware of areas that they may need to learn more in order to become stronger in it.  It categorized “learning deeply.”

1.What does it mean?

2.How does it work

3.Why is it important?

4.How does it fit with the other things I’m learning

As we endure those tests and hardships it’s like a faith work-out.  After some testing it has been exhausting, but I get restored by others or helped in the midst of it.  When that same type of test comes around again, I notice how much stronger I am.  My faith abs have become like steel, so to speak and it can be looked at as Stanford indicates “learning deeply.”

Enduring and learning from them allows us to learn the answers.  When someone else is going through the same type of tests in their life, it’s okay to share the answers you learned!  You just may be a “ministering angel” to someone else.  The other part is that like Jesus, we can empathize with them.  That in itself is a gift to one in the midst of trying to find the answers.  Empathizers do minister even if they don’t have exactly my answers, but can recognize the hardship and offer comfort and hope.

Ultimately, every test is an opportunity to draw nearer to the LORD.  Coming into His presence and place is perfect peace. Everything circumstantially can be more than we can handle, but when we put our faith in Him, the peace comes, strength comes and hope comes. 

When similar tests come back around again, the strength to face them and react more strongly in faith has blessed me to let me know how much He has grown me and strengthened me over that time.  I quickly fill in the blank with the answer I learned and see just how much He has taught me.  

When Mary returned to the grave site of Jesus, He had already risen and He made Himself known to her.

 

John 20:16 “Mary!" Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (which is Hebrew for "Teacher").

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

-Special thanks to Amanda Geisinger for giving me permission to use her art.  She is a skate boarder and talented artist in New York City working for Nickelodeon and she has her own personal blog of art work.  She is intellectual with an ability to tell a simple story through her art.  Two of her personal comics are “Amanda Goes to Church” and the other, “ Amanda Stays In Church.”  She includes in the sub title that she was an atheist with a cross out insertion to An “former” atheist's assorted explorations of Christianity.

Asking permission for art use and photo use has been one of the most fun parts of my blogging.  The people I get to connect with have been outstanding!