Category: Faithfulness

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Pulled to Safety

I just wanted to share this Psalm with you as a way of following up on yesterday’s blog.

There are so many who feel helpless and without hope because of the situations they are in. They don’t have that rock solid foundation that I was talking about. If you know someone like that – wondering what to do, where to go, how to manage, I pray you will share these Scriptures with them.

God knows, He cares, He’s here with the answer.

“I patiently waited, Lord,
    for you to hear my prayer.
You listened 2 and pulled me
from a lonely pit
    full of mud and mire.
You let me stand on a rock
    with my feet firm,
3 and you gave me a new song,
    a song of praise to you.
Many will see this,
and they will honor and trust
    you, the Lord God.

4 You bless all of those
    who trust you, Lord,
and refuse to worship idols
    or follow false gods.
5 You, Lord God, have done
    many wonderful things,
and you have planned
    marvelous things for us.
No one is like you!
I would never be able to tell
    all you have done.

6 Sacrifices and offerings
    are not what please you;
gifts and payment for sin
    are not what you demand.
But you made me willing
    to listen and obey.
7 And so, I said, “I am here
    to do what is written
about me in the book,
    where it says,
8 ‘I enjoy pleasing you.
    Your Law is in my heart.’ ”

9 When your people worshiped,
you know I told them,
    “Our Lord always helps!”
10 When all your people met,
    I did not keep silent.
I said, “Our Lord is kind.
He is faithful and caring,
    and he saves us.”

11 You, Lord, never fail
    to have pity on me;
your love and faithfulness
    always keep me secure.

12 I have more troubles
    than I can count.
My sins are all around me,
    and I can’t find my way.
My sins outnumber
the hairs on my head,
    and I feel weak.
13 Please show that you care
and come to my rescue.
    Hurry and help me!

14 Disgrace and confuse
    all who want me dead;
turn away and disgrace
    all who want to hurt me.
15 Embarrass and shame
everyone who says,
    “Just look at you now!”

16 Our Lord, let your worshipers
    rejoice and be glad.
They love you for saving them,
so let them always say,
    “The Lord is wonderful!”

17 I am poor and needy,
but, Lord God,
    you care about me,
and you come to my rescue.
    Please hurry and help.” Psalm 40 CEV

The Lord IS wonderful, He is great! I will magnify Him for He IS all I need!

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Following God’s Plan

Twelve years ago today, everything we owned was either in a U-Haul box van or in the back of the Excursion. We said goodbye to neighbors and friends and left Montana for our home in Arizona.

We felt like the children of Israel coming to the Promised Land. We had been marching in the wilderness for more years than we had cared to admit.

Trying to do things our way and not realizing what the Lord was directing us to do was frustrating to say the least. And all the time we “thought” we were following the Lord.

When good things would happen we would give Him glory and when times were tough we were praying and asking His direction. However, many times we would go with the thing that “seemed right” and logical instead of really waiting to see if that’s what He really wanted.

God was always faithful. His arms were always open wide and His love was always unconditional!

We can look back now and see how He did guide us even when we chose the path and how He brought us full circle to bring us Home!

Thank you Father for your faithfulness.

“You are my God. I worship you. In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert. 2 I have seen your power and your glory in the place of worship. 3 Your love means more than life to me, and I praise you. 4 As long as I live, I will pray to you. 5 I will sing joyful praises and be filled with excitement like a guest at a banquet. 6 I think about you before I go to sleep, and my thoughts turn to you during the night. 7 You have helped me, and I sing happy songs in the shadow of your wings. 8 I stay close to you, and your powerful arm supports me.” Psalm 63:1-8 CEV

“My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.” vs 8 KJV

I hear people talk about their “forever” homes. I felt I had a couple of those – once in Idaho, then in Montana and in Rio Rico. Each one felt like the place I would be for the rest of my life.

But God had a different plan. I’m so glad He did!

By moving on, our lives have been enriched by many of you reading this blog. People we would have never met or had a personal contact with. Never have I regretted leaving a place when the Lord was leading the way.

“ Abraham lived in the country that God promised to give him. He lived there like a visitor who did not belong. He did this because he had faith. He lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who also received the same promise from God. 10 Abraham was waiting for the city[a] that has real foundations. He was waiting for the city that is planned and built by God.” Hebrews 11:9-10 ERV

To quote the words of a song – “This world is not my home”. Just waiting for the city whose ruler and builder is God. The rest of this is temporary, so we live with a heavenly purpose and destiny.

While we are content to be here and doing what the Lord desires, placing greater value on heavenly things will cause us to avoid greed and jealousy.

Following hard after the Lord – the only way!

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Amazing Love

Each morning I try to take time to focus on the unconditional love of the Father. As I follow that path, my thoughts are overwhelmed with His goodness and grace.

“ I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you. 20 With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen. ” Ephesians 3:17-21 ERV

This was the Apostle Paul’s prayer, written thousands of years ago, and it is still a life-impacting, life-empowering, life-changing prayer for all who read it and take it to heart.

There’s an old hymn, written by John Wesley who was a great preacher. He marveled at the amazing love of God.

“And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

Refrain:
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me!”

These words were written in the 1700’s and repeated in a more modern song which was written by a current Christian artist, Chris Tomlin.

“I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your sprit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.
(Repeat x2)

[Chorus:]
Amazing love,
How can it be?
That You, my King would die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it’s true.
It’s my joy to honour You,
In all I do, I honour You.”

Sometimes all I can do is sit silently and let my heart sing in worship of my Lord and Savior. Never has He forsaken me, never have I been abandoned, never has He lied to me.

““The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has chosen me to tell good news to the poor. He sent me to tell prisoners that they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again. He sent me to free those who have been treated badly 19  and to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness.”

Always forgiven, always accepted, always loved. AMAZING LOVE!

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I Miss My Garden

When Dave and I downsized to our tiny home we embraced the adventure. It has been wonderful to be less encumbered with a house and property that needed maintenance and upkeep.

Cleaning that used to consume hours each week has been condensed to minutes. But there is one thing I miss – my garden!

Around this time of year, I would already be out staking up the tomatoes and the pepper plants. The bulbs in my flowerpots had already come to full bloom. Dead heading geraniums and petunias was a special type of quiet time – just me and the Lord.

Imagine my delight when I read these verses this morning.

“Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. 17 But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. 18 When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.” James 3:16-18 CEV

Ahh, seeds of peace. I don’t need potting soil for those. Just a tender heart toward God.

 “Again Jesus said: God’s kingdom is like what happens when a farmer scatters seed in a field. 27 The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn’t understand how. 28 It is the ground that makes the seeds sprout and grow into plants that produce grain. 29  Then when harvest season comes and the grain is ripe, the farmer cuts it with a sickle.

30 Finally, Jesus said: What is God’s kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it? 31 It is like what happens when a mustard seed is planted in the ground. It is the smallest seed in all the world. 32 But once it is planted, it grows larger than any garden plant. It even puts out branches that are big enough for birds to nest in its shade.” Mark 4:26-32 CEV

Right before these two examples Jesus told the people that a man went out and sowed some seeds, but the seeds were the word of God. Yesterday’s blog was about a seed of faith, today’s is about a seed of peace.

Putting God’s word into our hearts each day is like planting a garden. We need to keep it watered and pull out the weeds of bitterness, unbelief, worry and distraction. When we do we will gather a bountiful harvest.

“But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. 20 The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and welcome the message. They produce 30 or 60 or even 100 times as much as was planted.” Mark 4:19-20 CEV

One of the keys to a good garden is good soil. Each day I pray that my heart is prepared to hear and plant God’s word.

I do miss my garden but I have come to realize that my heart is the garden God wants me to tend!

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Recognizing God’s Presence

“You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of time.” Matthew 28:20b ERV

“ Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with what you have. God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.‘” Hebrews 13:5 ERV

“ You will show me the way of life. Being with You is to be full of joy. In Your right hand there is happiness forever.” Psalm 16:11 NLV

“ If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me. ” Psalm 139:9-10 NLV

As I sat here this morning, I was thanking the Lord for yesterday’s events. A trip to the grocery store and to the dentist both revealed God’s presence and provision.

God is in the small, routine occurrence and also in the miraculous.

Our failing comes in seeking the miraculous before we acknowledge God’s presence.

I was asked once by a group of college students if I was one of those “born again Christians”. I could tell by their tone that they had been turned off to religious people with their piety and condemning ways.

So, I answered their question truthfully. “No, not the way you’re asking but something much deeper. I am born again because I have received a new life through my relationship with Christ. A christian? Yes, because that word means “Christ like one”. I went on to say, “You see, I trust God for everything I do each day. I believe God wants to be involved in my trips to the grocery store and in seeing that my children grow up healthy and strong. I believe He wants my marriage to be great and for me to acknowledge His leading each and every day.”

Oh, sometimes I have failed at that, thinking I had to take matters into my own hands because I knew how to handle a situation without first going to Him and asking for His leading and wisdom. Those times didn’t turn out so well.

But now…I make it a point to practice His presence.

If I find that my joy is gone and I’m stressing over things like finances and lack, personal relationships, world issues or health issues I remind myself that my Father is always with me. Leading me to green pastures where I will find rest. Knowing He has not abandoned me or left me to my own strength.

Recognizing the Presence of God isn’t just something we do when we are in a church service or in our morning quiet time. His presence is closer than the air we breathe or the warmth of the sun.

Recognize His presence today. Hear Him say to you, “Lo, I am with you ALWAYS”!

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Always Faithful

For days I have been encouraging you to stand strong on God’s word. He is faithful, He does not fail!

But sometimes, we get weary. Let me tell you about a man who never gave up even when circumstances seemed undaunting.

Let me tell you about a man who had a good heart and knew that he is destined for greatness. He had been assigned a place of leadership, however, the current leader was still actiively fulfilling the role.

The current leader became jealous and did everything he could to destroy his successor. Constantly he thought of ways to pursue and destroy this man. He enlisted the help of well-meaning by-standers.

The current leader’s pursuit was so relentless that this man with the good heart became exhausted by his efforts to avoid conflict.

He let God be his defense and his strength! He didn’t retaliate or bad mouth his pursuer. He did all he could to remain humble and pure of heart.

This is the story of David who was anointed king while Saul was still ruling. Saul sought to kill David and pursued him relentlessly. David avoided capture. Even when David had opportunity to kill Saul, he didn’t.

“The Lord put you within my grasp today in the cave, but I refused to kill you. I was merciful to you. I said, ‘I won’t hurt my master. Saul is the Lord’s chosen king.’… Now, I want you to understand this. I want you to know that I am not planning anything against you. I did nothing wrong to you, but you are hunting me and trying to kill me. 12 Let the Lord be the judge. I hope the Lord will punish you for the wrong you did to me, but I won’t fight you myself.” I Samuel 24:10-12 ERV

I don’t know who or what is pursuing you today – who is making it their personal vendetta to destroy you, but you can trust the Lord to be your strength and your defender.

“Praise the Lord! He has heard my prayer for mercy.7 The Lord is my strength and shield. I trusted him with all my heart. He helped me, so I am happy. I sing songs of praise to him.8 The Lord protects his chosen one. He saves him and gives him strength.” Psalm 26:6-8 ERV

If you are going through a particularly tough time right now and feel like you are being harassed and attacked I encourage you to read I Samuel 18-31. Read how the Lord protected David through all of Saul’s plotting. These words in the Psalms will have greater meaning when you realize this is the situation that surrounded them.

God is always faithful!

“I look to the hills! Where will I find help? 2 It will come from the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth. 3 The Lord is your protector, and he won’t go to sleep or let you stumble.” Psalm 121:1-3 CEV

“So the Lord is waiting to show his mercy to you. He wants to rise and comfort you. The Lord is the God who does the right thing, so he will bless everyone who waits for his help.” Isaiah 30:18 ERV

God is always faithful; even to a thousand generations!

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Before Take Off…

For the last several days I have been reminding you of what God’s word says about the storms or anxious moments we face.

Why the repetition?

Well… that’s what God has put on my heart to encourage and inform you of His promises.

So, this morning when I heard the Holy Spirit prompting me, one more time, to share more on this message I did say, “Lord, they are probably getting tired of hearing this. Can I come back to it later”?

That’s when I saw, in my mind’s eye, those flight attendants who stand in the aisleways before every flight telling us about seat belt placement, life vests and oxygen masks. Yes, they probably have other things they would like to do but their first priority is our safety. They follow the same routine on every flight. The same script. The same communication with the cockpit. Everything is done to ensure our safety and theirs.

That’s why, once again, I’m going to remind you of the promises God has given us for our daily safety and protection.

Before we take off on the day let’s go over them once more. Take out the safety instructions, the Bible, and let’s go over them together.

“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

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” II Corinthians 1:20 NIV

“I will soon die, as everyone must. But deep in your hearts you know that the Lord has kept every promise he ever made to you. Not one of them has been broken. 15-16 Yes, when the Lord makes a promise, he does what he has promised. But when he makes a threat, he will also do what he has threatened. The Lord is our God.” Joshua 23:14-16 CEV (This is an amazing testimony to God’s faithfulness. Joshua died at 110. He never saw God break a promise.)

“God is no mere human! He doesn’t tell lies or change his mind. God always keeps his promises.” Numbers 23:19 CEV

“The Lord will keep you safe from secret traps and deadly diseases. 4 He will spread his wings over you and keep you secure. His faithfulness is like a shield or a city wall. 5 You won’t need to worry about dangers at night or arrows during the day. 6 And you won’t fear diseases that strike in the dark or sudden disaster at noon.” Psalm 91:3-6 CEV

And finally, from Jesus’ mouth to our ears:

“I tell you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food or clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky! They don’t plant or harvest. They don’t even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren’t you worth much more than birds? Matthew 6:25-26 CEV

You are now prepared for take off. Enjoy today’s flight. God has you secure under His wings!

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Bringing Life Into Focus

How many of you started wearing glasses when you were a kid? I was one of those kids. My mom took me to the optometrist when I was in sixth grade.

My teacher told her I seemed to be having trouble seeing the blackboard and then Mom noticed that I was leaning in, close to my music books on the piano when I sat down to practice. Sure enough, I was nearsighted.

Going to school on the first day with glasses was embarrassing. My lenses were thick and the frames were anything but stylish. I was now a nerd.

But there was no denying that I could see better. In fact, it was amazing! I could see across a room without squinting to make things come into focus.

This morning I was reading some verses that prompted the memory I just shared.

“I pray that God will be kind to you and will let you live in perfect peace! May you keep learning more and more about God and our Lord Jesus. 3 We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. 4 God made great and marvelous promises, so his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.

5 Do your best to improve your faith by adding goodness, understanding, 6 self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7 concern for others, and love. 8 If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. 9 But if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.

10 My friends, you must do all you can to show God has really chosen and selected you. If you keep on doing this, you won’t stumble and fall.” II Peter 1:2-10 CEV

Those words – “if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind”, jumped off the page. For years I wasn’t just nearsighted physically but also spiritually.

I knew that God wanted to forgive my sins, but little did I know that He wanted me to be living a life where I wouldn’t stumble or fall. He had given me great and precious promises and I didn’t see it.

Those promises are filled with victory and power, peace and joy, love and forgiveness. Now, the blurriness is gone. God’s promises have come into focus and I see with clarity what He has given me.

“Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 5 No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.” I John 5:4-5 CEV

Maybe it’s time for a check-up. We can all use a spiritual adjustment in bringing life into focus based on the promises of God’s word.

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Storm Warning

Have you ever been in a storm? I mean a real storm! An “all hope is lost” time in your life? That’s what I was reading about this morning.

The Apostle Paul is prisoner on a ship headed for Italy. He had told the captain that they should stay where they were because the seas would be rough. However, things appeared calm and since is was late in the sailing season the captain didn’t want to lose any more time and they set sail.

But, the weather started getting rough…you know how it goes.

“But then a very strong wind called the “Northeaster” came from across the island. 15 This wind took the ship and carried it away. The ship could not sail against the wind, so we stopped trying and let the wind blow us…20 For many days we could not see the sun or the stars. The storm was very bad. We lost all hope of staying alive—we thought we would die.” Acts 27:14- 20 ERV

I have never been in a ship on rough seas and for that I am grateful but I’ve been in tornado warnings, monsoons, blizzards, etc. Some other storms that caused me to lose hope -storms of financial devastation, betrayal, fractured relationships. Not every storm has high winds, boisterous seas or floods of destruction.

Listen to what Paul said.

“21 The men did not eat for a long time. Then one day Paul stood up before them and said, ‘Men, I told you not to leave Crete. You should have listened to me. Then you would not have all this trouble and loss. 22 But now I tell you to be happy. None of you will die, but the ship will be lost. 23 Last night an angel came to me from God—the God I worship and belong to. 24 The angel said, ‘Paul, don’t be afraid! You must stand before Caesar. And God has given you this promise: He will save the lives of all those sailing with you.’ 25 So men, there is nothing to worry about. I trust God, and I am sure everything will happen just as his angel told me. 26 But we will crash on an island.” Acts 27:21-26 ERV

How can this be good news? First he started with I told you so and ended with we are going to crash…but be happy because none of you will die! They had been in this storm for 14 days. How long had you been in your storm? 14 years? Be encouraged although the things around you may be destroyed; don’t worry you won’t die.

Remember our verses from yesterday?

“ So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] will be like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock. 25 And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 AMPC

When we know a storm is coming, we can prepare. We can build with God’s word, prayer, and trust in God’s faithfulness.

Now look back at Paul.

“Just before dawn Paul began persuading all the people to eat something. He said, ‘For the past two weeks you have been waiting and watching. You have not eaten for 14 days. 34 Now I beg you to eat something. You need it to stay alive. None of you will lose even one hair off your heads.” Acts 27:33-34 ERV

Let me paraphrase what Paul said. Don’t worry, trust God and let’s eat and live.

Let God guide you through the storm. Stop worrying, trust Him and live! Remember what Jesus said to another storm – “Peace, be still” and the winds ceased.

Praise God today for getting you through!

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God is Trustworthy

COMPLETE TRUST!

What an amazing truth! I’m not sure I can say that I have complete trust – if that shocks some of you, I apologize but I am being honest. I know in my heart of hearts that God is always faithful, His love is unconditional and His Word never fails but I don’t always let that lead me.

I guess I’m kind of like Peter. This morning I was reading in John 21. Peter and some of the others had gone fishing. It had been a couple of weeks since Jesus’ resurrection but they were no longer living in daily contact with Jesus. In fact, this account says it was the third time they had encountered Jesus since His resurrection.

They were probably at a loss of direction, so they went back to doing what they had done before they began following Jesus. They went fishing and having fished all night, they caught nothing.

As they were bringing their boats back to shore, Jesus called to them and told them to cast their nets to the right side of their boat. The Bible said they didn’t recognize that it was Jesus but they obeyed. They trusted Him. Their nets filled with fish and almost broke.

John told Peter, “It’s Jesus.” Peter threw on his outer coat, jumped in the water and headed to shore. Jesus was waiting with fresh bread and grilled fish.

I find it interesting that Jesus met them again where He had originally met them, at the seaside, and called them to be fishers of men. Jesus fed them physically and then He asked them to follow Him, once again.

“Then he said to Peter, ‘Follow me!‘” John 21:19 ERV

In spite of Peter’s actions – his denial of knowing Christ, his fear of the religious leaders after the crucifixion, his return to his old ways of fishing – Jesus still reached out to Peter, restored him and reminded him to trust.

I know that God can’t and doesn’t lie – I know His love never fails – I know that He is faithful to a thousand generations! I know that He is my Savior, my healer, my provider, my counselor, my peace, my protection, my all-in-all!

Then why do I let fear or anxiety, frustration or anger, or self will invade my world? It’s because like Peter I take my eyes off Jesus and look at my own efforts. I neglect to “consider” the one thing that always provides the right answer.

The Apostle Paul said that we are to renew our minds and not be conformed to this world. Jesus went aside to pray and spend time with His Father on many occasions, renewing His mind and refreshing His spirit.

Complete Trust!

It’s something we grow toward and grow in as we spend more time in God’s word and in prayer, bringing our minds into obedience with His word. There is only one thing that has always been right – God and His word!

Trust God and follow Him!

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