Category: Confidence

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I Was Lost…

and now I’m found!

What a day. It was a normal day until we heard the message come across our walkie-talkies. Little boy in one of our campsites was missing!

Our hearts sank as we requested more information – name, age, what was he wearing. Any pertinent medical issues. As we were waiting for the answers we had already begun to walk toward the forest behind his campsite and above the lake.

It seemed as if the entire campground had moved into action. We were scrambling over boulders and through the trees, calling his name. Hoping to hear a reply. Praying for his safety and a quick discovery as to his where abouts.

And after what seemed an eternity of searching, the call came, “He’s been found!” And he’s ok.

Thank you Lord!!

When the search began, my friend and I had talked to his mom. She asked, “are you looking for my little boy”. She was so anxious. When he had been found we talked to his grandmother. She brought her grandson around to show us all he was ok and to thank us for our search. She said, “I knew the Lord was watching over him”.

The emotion, the concerted effort of the campers and the successful end of the search reminded me of the way our heavenly Father is always searching for His lost children.

“Then Jesus told them this story: 4 “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep, but one of them gets lost. What will you do? You will leave the other 99 sheep there in the field and go out and look for the lost sheep. You will continue to search for it until you find it. 5 And when you find it, you will be very happy. You will carry it 6 home, go to your friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’ 7 In the same way, I tell you, heaven is a happy place when one sinner decides to change.” Luke 15:3-7 ERV

The Father is full of compassion; He makes a way so that no one needs to be lost. He sends those who search for the lost – they may be your neighbors, a family member, friends or perhaps strangers in a campground.

“Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. 10  The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.” Luke 19:9-10 CEV

Zacchaeus went to a parade and ended up with Jesus coming to his home for lunch and this changed his entire life.

There is no moment so dark that the light of God’s love cannot penetrate it; there is no forest so dense that presence of the Father can’t provide a way out. There is no mind so entangled in depression and anxiety that the peace of God cannot restore it.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost! Let the words of the old hymn encourage you today. Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I was once lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.

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Each Day Has Promise

I know some are waking up this morning filled with a sense of regret. Don’t let past failures, current obstacles or the devil’s lies rob you of this day’s promises.

“God’s way is perfect. The Lord’s promise always proves to be true. He protects those who trust in him.” Psalm 18:30 ERV

Embrace God’s promise for today. Let His word be your focus and sense of strength. Don’t let 3% of difficulties overwhelm the 97% of God’s goodness. In fact, the 97% of difficulty is never greater than just 3% of what God’s faithfulness can do.

“Lord, listen to me and understand what I am trying to say. 2 My God and King, listen to my prayer. 3 Every morning, Lord, I lay my gifts before you and look to you for help. And every morning you hear my prayers.

4 God, you don’t want evil people near you. They cannot stay in your presence. 5 Fools come near you. You hate those who do evil. 6 You destroy those who tell lies. Lord, you hate those who make secret plans to hurt others.

7 But by your great mercy, I can enter your house. I can worship in your holy Temple with fear and respect for you. 8 Lord, show me your right way of living, and make it easy for me to follow. People are looking for my weaknesses, so show me how you want me to live.

9 My enemies never tell the truth. They only want to destroy people. Their words come from mouths that are like open graves. They use their lying tongues to deceive others. 10 Punish them, God! Let them be caught in their own traps. They have turned against you, so punish them for their many crimes.

11 But let those who trust in you be happy forever. Protect and strengthen those who love your name. 12 Lord, when you bless good people, you surround them with your love, like a large shield that protects them.” Psalm 5 ERV

We are surrounded by His love!

The Father’s love protects and gives us strength!

This is our promise for today, it’s as real as the rainbow in the sky. Never doubt the Father’s love!

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Common Sense

Wisdom – a commodity to be treasured. Some call it common sense but it’s far from common.

People seek for knowledge but don’t know what to do with it – not sure how to apply it. The application of that knowledge is wisdom.

Here’s the Bible records about Solomon:

“God made Solomon very wise. Solomon could understand more than you can imagine. 30 He was wiser than anyone in the Eastor in Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone on earth, even Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. King Solomon became famous in all the surrounding countries. 32 By the end of his life, he had written 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs.

33 Solomon also knew very much about nature. He taught about many different kinds of plants—everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the little vines that grow out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, and snakes. 34 People from every nation came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. Kings all over the world sent their people to listen to him.” I Kings 4:30-34 ERV

When the Lord asked Solomon what he wanted Solomon didn’t ask for money or strength or power, he asked for wisdom so that he could rule well. God blessed him in that way and added the other blessings also.

What is it that you find yourself asking the Lord for? Do you ask Him for wisdom – direction to finish a project, the ability to lead well, understanding of the unknown? The Lord desires to aide us in our day to day life and He will give us the wisdom we ask for – it comes from Him.

“Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom. 6 But when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind. ” James 1:5-6 ERV

I found it “coincidental” that as I was reading about Solormon’s great wisdom that I also started reading Proverbs again. Look at the first few verses there.

” These are the proverbs of Solomon, the son of David and king of Israel. 2 They will help you learn to be wise, to accept correction, and to understand wise sayings. 3 They will teach you to develop your mind in the right way. You will learn to do what is right and to be honest and fair. 4 These proverbs will make even those without education smart. They will teach young people what they need to know and how to use what they have learned. 5 Even the wise could become wiser by listening to these proverbs. They will gain understanding and learn to solve difficult problems. 6 These sayings will help you understand proverbs, stories with hidden meanings, words of the wise, and other difficult sayings. 7 Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the Lord, but stubborn fools hate wisdom and refuse to learn.” Proverbs 1:1-7 ERV

Let me encourage you to spend time each day reading in Proverbs. Learn from the wisdom that God gave Solomon. If we ask, the Lord will give us wisdom also.

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It’s Ok to Say “Help”

Yesterday was the busiest day for receiving campers, the first day of a holiday weekend!

We thought we were prepared for the influx but it exceeded our imagination. Over 80 camping families arrived in the afternoon. All needed to be greeted, checked in and reminded of a few rules of the campground.

13+ campers an hour for six hours. Works out to one every 4 minutes. Whoa!

Dave and I couldn’t have done it on our own. We are so thankful for the team that we are a part of. The other host couples jumped in to help with the work. Some cleaned bathrooms while others collected license plate numbers and helped keep the line of campers and trailers flowing smoothly.

Praise God! What a blessing.

“I call to God, I cry to God to help me. From his palace he hears my call; my cry brings me right into his presence— a private audience!” Psalm 18:6 MSG

I was blessed with a good night’s sleep but my body was weary when I woke. Have you ever been there? I prayed and said “Father, help me. Help me to be ready for this day. Strengthen me so that I will be a testimony of your love”.

“The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.” II Timothy 1:7 ERV

The Father blesses us with strength for our minds, our emotions and our bodies. He has never intended for us to go through this life without His strength. He gives it freely. He wants us to depend on Him.

Jesus said “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened down. I will give you rest.”

Remember, it’s ok to ask for help. When we ask, He provides!

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Perseverance

Never give up!

Around Christmas time a friend gave me a book by Samuel Rodriguez, “Persevere with Power”. It sat on my shelf until a couple weeks ago. It is such an encouraging read.

Pastor Rodriguez uses examples from the life of Elijah and Elisha on staying the course, regardless of the circumstances and opposition. Most of his examples are lessons I have taught on about the faithfulness and provision of God. Yet, his personal perspective has given those examples fresh insight.

I would like to share some of what I was reading last night:

“You may have grown tired of waiting on God, but He will never give up on you. You may have let go of God, but He has never let go of you. You may even have stopped believing in God, but God has never stopped believing in you! He has equipped you for times such as these. Right now, you are about to receive a new outpouring of His Spirit that will sustain you for the next race to be run.

Yes, others will try and stop you. As we have seen, the devil will try to derail you and deride you and destroy you. But what heaven has launched, hell can never halt. Even if it appears foolhardy to enter the race, to tuck and run, to expect anything other than second place, it is time to trust God and run. I love the way Peter coaches us to keep going no matter how many obstacles we may face:

 ‘Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.’ I Peter 5:8-11 MSG

When you run the good race to the full extent of the divine power bequeathed to you, then you can leave the results to God…”

Tempted to quit?

I have been many times. I’ve even sidelined myself and felt I was no longer fit to be used even though I knew the Father had a message for me to bring – a message of hope and encouragement.

Persevere! Trust the Holy Spirit to give you the strength you need to run the race God has called you too.

Don’t quit!

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A Strong Heart

This morning my Bible reading took me to two different stories in the Old Testament. The main character of the first story was David and the second story had a female heroine named Esther.

Both of these people displayed strength of character, they had strong hearts.

David was just a young man when he went to visit his brothers on the battlefield. The entire army of Israel stood paralyzed by fear because of one man, Goliath. Enter David. He had a confidence in the Lord, his God. He knew God could and can do anything, so instead of letting fear control him, he moved forward with a heart full of faith and defeated the enemy.

“ David said to the Philistine, “You come to me using sword, spear, and javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the armies of Israel. You have said bad things about him. 46 Today the Lord will let me defeat you. I will kill you. I will cut off your head and feed your body to the birds and wild animals. And we will do the same thing to all the other Philistines too. Then all the world will know there is a God in Israel. 47 All the people gathered here will know that the Lord doesn’t need swords or spears to save people. The battle belongs to the Lord, and he will help us defeat all of you.” I Samuel 17:45-47 ERV

Esther was a young Jewish girl who had been taken captive to Persia, along with many of her countrymen. Through a series of God-directed events, she became the queen. An evil man, Haman, had persuaded the king to write an edict condemning all the Jews to death. Esther asked all the Jews to pray for her so that she would have favor when approaching the king to have the edict overturned.

“ Then Esther sent this answer to Mordecai: “Mordecai, go and get all the Jews in Susa together, and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days and nights. I and my women servants will fast too. After we fast, I will go to the king. I know it is against the law to go to the king if he didn’t call me, but I will do it anyway. If I die, I die.” Esther 4:15-16 ERV

Esther was granted an audience with the king and she explained the plot that had been conspired against her people. Haman was hanged and the plot against the Jews was reversed. It happened because a young woman had a bold heart and a desire to honor God.

Both David and Esther could have been totally consumed by fear and their stories would have had an entirely different ending. BUT…they didn’t. They trusted in the Lord, their God.

“Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:13-14 KJV

Keep me from the presumptuous sin of fear – don’t let it control me! What a challenging prayer. Let my heart meditate on You, Lord. You are my strength and the One who saves me.

These were the thoughts of both David and Esther.

Lord, may these be our thoughts today. May we overcome fear by meditating on You. Strengthen our hearts this day!

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A Lesson from Pooh

I hope this morning’s image makes you smile. It does me.

The Lord brings so many different characters into our lives; each one of them are beloved by Him. I sometimes forget that. Years ago, I gained insight on giving “others” more value while reading some of the stories of Winnie the Pooh. Each day I meet new characters and the Lord reminds me that although they are different from my norm, they are valuable.

I developed a philosophy that every person could be identified as one of the characters in that story, Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga & Roo. All very different personalities yet they all work together to bring love & understanding to their world and to accomplish their tasks.

While reading I Corinthians 12 I am reminded of these characters and how they interact when I read these words that Paul wrote.

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6 and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do. 7 The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.” I Corinthians 12:4-7 CEV

God the Father has written our story with purpose and design, Jesus came to show love to all of us and the Holy Spirit is here to lead us each day.

While some of us act like owl with the gift of administration, others show hospitality like Tigger. Pooh is always encouraging, and Rabbit makes sure everyone has a task to do. Piglet and Roo are there to remind us that we should always reassure those who are younger and inexperienced while Kanga provides the nurturing and love that we all need. Eeyore reminds us that everyone has fears and self-doubts that we need our friends to help us through the tough times.

Instead of looking at those around us and either being jealous of their gifts or critical of them it’s important for us to remember that it is God who gives the gifts, and they are not for our benefit but the benefit of others.

Who do you see around you? Some are here to help us grow and others need our help.

Let the Spirit lead!

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It’s Broken

Father’s Day will be here soon. This morning I was reminiscing about stories I have heard of father’s coming to the rescue.

I heard a story once about a little boy who had a broken wagon. He came to his father with tears streaming down his cheeks asking his father to fix the wagon. It was the child’s favorite toy. Each time the father would reach for the toy, the child would tighten his grip and tell his father of another fond memory or special time he had in his wagon.

Finally, the father in loving firmness said to his son, “If you want me to fix it, you have to let go. You can trust me. I love you and I’ll fix your wagon.”

How many times have we come to the Father with our “wagon” that needs fixing? Asking for help but not wanting to let go!

“7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

8 Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

9 Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.” I Peter 5:7-9 AMP

We are to cast our cares on the Father. Than means our worries, our fears and our problems. If we don’t, our enemy will seize upon our fears and defeat us. But if we do, we will be able to stand strong in faith (believing God to fix it) and be victorious.

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” Psalm 103:13 NLT

Bring your wagon to the Father today and let Him fix it.

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Guard Your Thoughts

Do you ever daydream? You know what I’m talking about – you’re alone with your thoughts planning for something special, going over the details and then out of the blue a disturbing thought enters in.

It’s some thought that wants to take you in a wrong direction – it can be unnerving and even make you fearful.

How do you counter that?

“ My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words. 21 Don’t let them out of your sight. Never stop thinking about them. 22 These words are the secret of life and health to all who discover them. 23 Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life.” Proverbs 4:20-23 ERV

Be careful how you think…

Good advice from a very wise man, Solomon. Now here are some words from Solomon’s father, King David.

“May my words and thoughts please you. Lord, you are my Rock—the one who rescues me.” Psalm 19:14 ERV

“The heavens tell about the glory of God. The skies announce what his hands have made.
2 Each new day tells more of the story, and each night reveals more and more about God’s power.” Psalm 19:1-2 ERV

These verses are from the same chapter – one from the beginning of the Psalm and the other is the last. King David tells us how to keep our thoughts centered – we stay focused on the glory of God and His power at the beginning and ending of each day, our thoughts will please our Father.

When troubling thoughts come, and they will, we counter them with God’s promises. especially those verses that counter fear.

“And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds.” Philippians 4:7 ERV

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Isaiah 26:3 NLT

I find such peace in the beauty of the morning sunrise and the evening sunset. They are a constant reminder to me of God’s power and provision. For all of time past, there has never been a day that there wasn’t a sunrise or a sunset. Since God keeps all of nature on its course, He surely has established a plan for my well-being. I can trust Him!

“ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT

Father, I keep my mind fixed on You and Your good plan for me. Your peace will stand guard over my thoughts. I trust you!

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The Trees Will Clap

It has been a windy May and now that we are in June it is starting to subside. I’m glad for that. However, yesterday afternoon’s breeze became my teacher.

“The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like yours.
    Your ways are not like mine.
9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways,
    and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

10 “Rain and snow fall from the sky
    and don’t return until they have watered the ground.
Then the ground causes the plants to sprout and grow,
    and they produce seeds for the farmer and food for people to eat.
11 In the same way, my words leave my mouth,
    and they don’t come back without results.
My words make the things happen that I want to happen.
    They succeed in doing what I send them to do.

12 “So you will go out from there with joy.
    You will be led out in peace.
When you come to the mountains and hills, they will begin singing.
    All the trees in the fields will clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:8-12 ERV

The trees in the fields will clap their hands. I heard the trees clapping yesterday afternoon as the breeze lightly rustled their boughs. I stopped to listen, without complaint, and wondered who the Lord was bringing out of their place of captivity.

That’s what these verses tell us. The Israelites had been held captive and the Lord said “you will go out with joy and peace”. They were coming home and they would hear the mountains singing and the trees clapping at their deliverance.

Was it you the trees were clapping for?

Has sickness or depression held you as a captive? Did the Lord reveal something to you from His word that set you free? In the midst of your circumstance did you experience the joy and peace of being released?

The Lord’s thoughts are higher than ours. When we see only captivity, He sees release. When all we are focused on is the problem, He is formulating the answer. If we say “there is no way out of this”, He is making a way where there seems no way.

And He does is all with His word.

In the same way that the rain and snow moisten the earth and cause the seeds to grow and produce, God sends His word into our lives to soften our hearts, bringing life-giving water to our souls and a change that will nourish us. A change that delivers joy and peace.

Do you understand why I love God’s word as much as I do? His thoughts and ways are higher, much higher than mine, so He sends His Word to change my circumstances and bring me to a better way of life.

Listen carefully. Do you hear the trees clapping for you?

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