God is Amazing

A friend and I have been planning a trip to Indiana for a while now. Tickets were expensive and we kept returning to different sites to find fares. We prayed that God would open a door for us. Today I went to Expedia again, and the price for a ticket had dropped almost $200 per ticket!! And it had a note "only 2 tickets left at this price." We can't stop smiling!

This morning one of the first thoughts were "The very hairs of your head are all numbered." Matthew 10:30. What an amazing promise! God cares about the very hair on our head. He knows everything. As one wrote, it will take all eternity for us to learn who God really is. I believe that to be true. About the time we think we can figure something out, God does something totally extra-ordinary that totally blows our minds.

So once again we go back to the thought that "His ways are not my ways or His thoughts my thoughts." So when God disciplines me or takes me through a miracle, I'm convinced that there is more to it than my eye can see or my heart can understand. God is molding me for eternity. And you too.

God bless you.

Change Again

One step forward—I now have been released from the surgeon. He was pleased with the healing of my amputation. He was pleased with my walking—even took a video of it.

But the downside of the visit—I have been having a lot of pain in my wrist. Tendonitis. So I had my first cortisone shot which I wouldn't wish on anyone. And I have my wrist in a brace. So now I'm working with an arm and half! ha. Honestly it isn't so bad. I can take it off in intervals, so it is off so I can type a little. :)) Patrick thought God wanted me to know how it is to live with 1 arm. He as teasing. Doctor thinks this happened from having to use my walker so much.

Patrick is preparing to go to Haiti. This will be a very busy trip for him.

God is forever good..His grace is an indescribable gift

God bless you

Smelling Good

Ephesians 5:1-2 "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."

We are now on the last day of this week. What has been accomplished? Did you find yourself wondering if the week will ever end? I know there are those times when it seems no matter how hard we work, it just isn't enough. But I also know that most of us can find ourselves in situations where God never intended us to be. It isn't that we are doing bad, we just are doing more than God intended.

God is all about people. God is all about drawing people to Himself. We are to be imitators of God. How much of my activities this week was all about drawing people to God? Did I use every opportunity to share the Gospel, to encourage, to exhort and to pray for others? Did I leave a sweet-smelling aroma? Did I smell good to others?

To be imitators of God, means to give of ourselves. To give up what "I deserve" which is a lie of the devil. We don't deserve anything, not even Jesus. But the Grace of God gave freely for me and you.

If you didn't smell so good this week, then today is a good time to start. Send out a sweet aroma for Jesus!!

God bless you

Pray and Pray again

Watching hurricane Irene. Is she going to be nice, or slam into Florida? Our prayers are with those in the Bahamas. Everywhere there are natural disasters now—have we read about these before? Yes, we have and so we should not be amazed that it is actually coming to pass.

God has promised that in the last days we would see these things that we have never seen before. Are we seeing them now? How good does this world look to us? Is it worth holding on and wishing the Lord would wait just a bit longer? There is only one thing that should cause us to want a bit more time, and that is for those who are not saved.

I don't know if you do this, but at times when I turn on the TV, I wonder how far this world has gone from God. Do they even have a sense of a Holy God. The mockery is unbelievable. As if, there is no end to life and even if it were, they would return in another life. God help us!

If you want an example, Lady Gaga...look up her history on the internet. (Incidentally, I do not watch her on TV) But there are others who are more subtle. I am not saying this to bring on negativity. I am saying this because of the evil end time spirit. We need to pray!! Our kids are growing up in this. They attend school. They need the protection of God's wings. Pray!

God is faithful to those who call on His name.

God bless you.

Our Fears

The storm on the sea of Galilee was so scary for the disciples. Actually, the fear was so great they didn't recognize Jesus. Jesus was right there, He calmed the wind and the waves.

How big is your problem? Promise's problem today was humorous. Zion took her sponge letter "Y" and chewed it, then spit it on the table. A problem to little eyes.

The earthquake today was a problem for many people. Very scary. One remark that was made, showed me how far we have come in our fears. A man that was interviewed said, "At first I thought it was a bomb, but was much relieved when I realized it was an earthquake." People live in constant fear of terrorism.

What are your fears? Is there a way to conquer fears? Yes, Jesus is our conqueror. He takes us through the fears. Our eyes need to be on Jesus and not on our fears. To be honest, I don't know how I would do in another quake. I don't know how that would affect me. But one thing I do know, the God that took me through one quake will do it again if there is another quake. Maybe not in the same way, but His presence goes with me and you wherever He leads us.

So if you were in today's quake, I pray for you. I know what it is like. Jesus is our Rock. He doesn't move. Cling to Him. Hold on to Him and keep holding. But don't let go when the fears are past. Continue to hold to Him and hide under the shadow of His wing.

God bless you

My Debt

Ugh!! Do I need to mention debts first thing in the morning? Yes, I guess I do. Seems we hear about the national debt on news, which is exorbitant. Then of course, maxed out credit cards, car payments, behind on rent. You name it, someone is in the middle of all this mess.

Recently a friend of ours was unable to rent a vehicle because he didn't own a credit card. He doesn't want any debt. His remark to the company was, "so you'd rather rent to someone who really can't afford to rent and is in debt." But of course credit cards are a way of finding the person renting the vehicle.

Then yesterday in church—the teaching in Romans 11 was challenging "A life that has truly been changed will live a changed life." Do we live changed? Do we follow the world standards?

The verse that was key to me "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8. Since this is an outstanding debt, it tells me I can never love enough. There are always people to love.

So today let's love and love some more

God bless you.

Pruning

John 15:2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

This week has been a week of pruning. So many hurdles to jump over. So many turns in the road. It isn't really our story, but yes, we were involved. Billy and Debbie were bringing the bus and a vehicle down to take to the dock to send to Haiti. The bus broke down on their way to Miami. They had to leave it for repairs. The next day Debbie returned home to GA. Billy, Agape and Patrick returned for the bus. Got it to the dock. The papers weren't correct. So it was an evening of phone calls, emails, etc. to get the papers. Finally, on Friday evening the vehicles and papers were in order for Haiti.

Billy was planning to return to GA this morning. But he ran against so many brick walls. He finally was able to leave this evening for his home and anxious wife and boys. We are thankful we were here to help.

My encouragement was "Don't worry, God is just preparing you for the days ahead in Haiti."

God is good even in the midst of change of plans and roadblocks.

God bless you

Whatever I do

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Patrick's birthday—just enjoying being together Friends visiting from GA—helping them prepare for Haiti. Drinking coffee and tea with our friends—What fun!! Promise received school clothes from Aunt Mary—She loved it. A train puzzle for Zion—he learned it quickly. Last but not least—A clean slate from the prosthetic doctor. I only need to return if I have a problem!! YES!! This is what I have been waiting for. Now waiting for the appointment with the surgeon at the end of the month. Hopefully that will be the same news. A fun filled day, and God gave it to us. He is definitely the Greatest God to serve. The Only God. Thanking God for His blessings. God bless you

Traveling

Isaiah 50:7 ""For the Lord GOD will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed."

Today our hearts have been with Billy and Debbie as they are traveling to Miami with their bus to send to Haiti. This bus is to be their home. They are not without problems along the way. They are still not in Miami, instead have stopped to fix a tire. This is the 2nd stop for bus problems. We continue to pray for their safety and encouragement.

When I read this verse, I thought of them. Yes, to set your face as flint to your goal. Not to be discouraged or ashamed. Ashamed? Isn't it easy to think we have made a wrong move or decision when things go badly. But we know that trials along the way are for our strengthening. To keep our face as flint to our finish line, not looking to and fro. Keep going. Keep pushing ahead. We will arrive at the finish line. And then we will hear a most glorious voice, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." I can't think of anything that would top that welcome!

Pray for Billy and Debbie.

God bless you.

Above All Things

1 Peter 4:8 "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins."

Yesterday I shared about the strong power of God's love. Once we experience God's love in our hearts and lives, it is required of us to have fervent love for each other. Here are a few synonyms I found for fervent—burning, gleaming, luminous, radiant, passionate, enthusiastic and full of praise. My fervent love lacks in this list.

The last part of this verse is a clincher. This kind of love will cover a multitude of sins. Meaning that if we really love, we will not remember the faults of others. But do I really forget? Or want to? Is it more pleasurable for me to remember the hurts others have caused me? Do I want to love so that these sins can be covered.

It is so easy for married couples to keep a running list of faults our spouses have. Lack of true love. True love covers those faults and sins. Does it mean that we need not deal with sins? Absolutely not! It means that forgiveness and love cover them. We don't remember them. We love the other person through their sin to forgiveness.

God in his mercy has forgiven me and does not remember my sins. His love covers a multitude of my sins. Lord, help me to love as you love. Help me cover the sins of others in my fountain of love for them.

God bless you.

God's Love Transcends

As I was sitting in church this morning, listening to the worship songs, I began to reflect on those who are unsaved. I tried to visualize myself as one who had never heard of the Gospel and in the same time hearing such phrases as—His love reaches into my heart, I long to worship you, how powerful you are.

At the same time, there were no visual images to relate these terms to—no figure or image of any god that one may find in other religious cultures. I mean, really, it does seem a bit ridiculous. The word is "seem."

But it is reality and power! God's love is beyond an image. God's love transcends into our very soul and spirit. His word says out of us will flow streams of living water. God's love and our redemption cannot make sense without faith. In the book of Corinthians it says that the carnal man cannot understand the things of God. But it is so simple and so powerful, that when one asks God to come into his life, God's spirit is there to do just that.

No other god can enter into the spirit of man the way God can. His love is more powerful than any other power on earth. His love can break down walls of hate, revenge, rebellion, unforgiveness, only to mention a few. Those are the walls the worldly powers build.

Only when we come by faith and experience God's love can we even minutely begin to understand. Our vocabulary does not have a word that really describes God's love for us!!

I stand amazed at His love

God bless you

Time

Revelation 22:10 "And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand."

Time is so important to us. We almost live to the minute. Appointments should be kept within 5 minutes. This is so different from most Third World nations. One can sit for several hours in an office waiting to be served. Weddings run late. Church services can be late as well.

But this is not so with God. Although He is not limited to a clock, His will and plan will never be late. EVER!! That is comforting. Think about Jesus. He was born at exactly the time God had chosen. His ministry started on time, not when others thought he should or shouldn't start ministry. He arrived on the Sea of Galilee right on time before the storm swallowed up the disciples. His death was at the appointed time, as well as the resurrection and ascension. Time!

Are we on time? Will we be on time? God has an appointed time forJesus' return. We have everything we need to be prepared. God will be on time. The end is near.

Back to earth...Patrick's flight was delayed in Haiti. So he waits. His plane is scheduled to arrive in Miami at 9:07 tonight. Only 1 1/2 hours late.

Be prepared. Be waiting for our Lord's return.

God bless you.

Mount Everest and the Mustard Seed

I am sorry about yesterday's post. I don't know why it was deleted. As we know computers also have a mind of their own.

Matt. 17:20 "So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Agape and I were talking of the majestic Mount Everest. The highest mountain peak in the world—almost 30,000 feet. That is almost as high as jets fly!! And if that is majestic, God created it. Yes, He is majesty!!

Look at the verse...in the same verse, Jesus speaks of a mountain and the mustard seed. A mustard seed is a very small seed—the smallest of all seeds. Now if my faith is as a mustard seed, and it can move a mountain, my question is what size of a mountain? Our mountains can be quite high in our eyes. The mountains of tragedy, bills, sickness, amputations, etc. Are these mountains too high for God? Are they too high for our "mustard seed?" I want to say "no."

For myself, the mountain is usually what I perceive the problem to be. As soon as I claim the faith as a mustard seed, I am then looking at the God of the situation and not on the situation. I need to keep my eyes on God, and the mountain will move. When? Not sure. It doesn't matter. If I have God to climb the mountain, then It is fine. Yes, even with one leg! God will move my mountain.

Oh yes, there are days the situation looked like an Everest, but it moved. God is in our situations! He takes care of our "Mountains."

Just for the record, the verse doesn't say the mountain disappears, but it moves.

God bless you

Locusts of destruction

Joel chapter 1 opens with the Prophet Joel warning the people of the locusts destroying the land. He calls them drunken, as if they were totally unaware that the locusts had already destroyed the Lord's fig tree. Life was being crushed from them, and they were unaware of their near destruction.

There is massive destruction going on all over the world. I wonder if we, as God's people, really see the root of destruction. Do we see the Lord trying to get our attention? I believe a friend of ours said it well, "The church today needs a visit from God."

Some days I get so busy in the office, and work around the house. There is always something to do, correct? But I need to block out some time to make sure these little grandchildren are hearing God's word every day. Their hearts are tender and will soak in anything they hear. My prayer is that I will not pass this opportunity. Maybe that is the problem, we have busied ourselves with so many "things" that we have failed to warn our young people of the swarming "locusts"—drugs, alcohol, sex, evil environments, bad friends. These things are stealing our young people.

The Joy of the Lord is our strength. Weeping is for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Let's weep for our nations, but rejoice in the Lord.

Walking is an improvement every day. For this I am thankful.

God bless you

Your Highness

Promise, our granddaughter, has quite the imagination. Being 4 years old, she is involved in "pretend" play, especially with her dolls. She had received a princess dress and tiara last year for Christmas, but never seemed to want to "dress up." Now this is almost a daily part of her play.

A few days ago, all dressed up in her outfit, I remarked, "Promise, you are a beautiful princess." She looked at me and said, "You can call me "Your Highness." This came as quite a surprise, not even knowing she knew this phrase. A bit later, I called her for something, and she asked, "Grandma, did you just call me "Promise?" I told her I did. She reminded me, "You should call me Your Highness."

Thinking about this for a few days and watching the acting/pretend play, I started thinking about people. This is what we do all the time. We play out our lives as if we were "Your Highness." We build a throne filled with "self" and are sure it is fine with God. Well that is, until some catastrophe happens, and we cry out to God. TV is filled with phrases—you deserve it, it feels good, it makes you beautiful...on and on.

The Children of Israel did the same thing. When things got difficult they cried out to God. When life eased up, out came the "Your Highness" syndrome. They did things their way.

I have been studying Hosea...Hosea 11:1-4 God tells us how he loved Israel as a child, called him out of Egypt. Then they left the Lord and worshipped idols. God taught Ephraim how to walk, taking them in his arms, but hey didn't know it was God. In verse 4, "I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love..." In spite of that, the children of Israel thought they could do "it their way."

The book of Hosea closes with this verse: 14:9 "Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who imprudent: Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right. The righteous walk in them. But transgressors stumble in them."

You be the judge, who is truly the "Your Highness?"

God bless you.

Under His Wings

"How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of
men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings." Psalms 36:7

This is the verse I woke up to this morning. How fitting. The day that Tropical Storm Emily hits Haiti. Yes, Patrick is there, and many others. Patrick has a dry protected place to stay, there are thousands who are still living in tents. Praying that they will hide under the protected wings of God. But more than that, that they would trust in Jesus as their Savior.

There is another who needs the wings of God. My cousin is having surgery this morning. He has cancer in his sinuses, and is already spread toward the brain. My heart breaks for his wife, who is waiting while he is in surgery. Long day. I pray God will cover them with His wings.

Today is check-up day, both for my prosthesis and the surgeon. I am walking more and more every day without support of a cane or walker. Now I need to be more comfortable walking outside.

If you are experiencing stress or problems today, His wing span is big enough for you and me and the world all at one time. Hide under His wings! Be protected and loved.

God bless you

Don't Be a Fool

Psalm 14:1 "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God."

Promise came to me this morning with her pink princess dress and tiara. She said, "This makes me feel like a beautiful princess in my heart. And Zion is my beautiful prince." Assuring her, she is a beautiful princess, she is all smiles. Of course it is dress-up and make-believe play. Her make-believe ideas don't make her a "real" princess, only makes her "feel" like one.

The fool is really foolish. Just because he says there is No God, doesn't delete God from the scene. Actually it doesn't change who God is at all. It only changes who the fool is. And so it is with us. What we believe God to be doesn't change who He is. It changes who we are.

Our false suppositions don't change reality. But on the positive side, if we believe God cannot love us because of what we have done, that also is a lie. God loves us. He is ready to take us into His loving arms. None of us "deserve" God, but God showers us with His grace. But for the grace of God...we'd all be lost.

Praise God for His saving Grace. Don't be a fool.

God bless you

Travel Tips

Today we are getting Patrick ready for his trip to Haiti. He leaves tomorrow for a short 10 days. There are always so many things he could take. So the question is: What to take, and what not to take? And this lies true for most people who travel. What all can we squash into a suitcase? Then the final thought is: I hope we aren't forgetting anything. "Don't forget your passport." "Don't forget....and the list goes on."

We are all travelers. We are passing through this world, on our way to a glorious home for all eternity. Of course, this voyage also requires preparations. We know them—Believing on Jesus, loving, forgiving, forgiving, forgiving, how many times 70x7, in other words, always forgive.

Philippians 3:13 Paul tells us to forget those things which are behind. Basically forget those things which we consider to make us well-known on earth—our job, our degree, our wealth, our status. But says it is rubbish in comparison to what lies ahead in heaven for us. On our trip through this earth we need to pack in love, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, encouragement and this list goes on. The difference is that when we live out these things they become treasures that go on before us to Heaven. Hebrews 6:10 says that God won't forget our labor of love.

Forget those things which are of no eternal value, but be busy along the traveled road with those things of God.

Happy Travels.

God bless you