Category: God’s Promises

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Loaded Up

Here we are just a few days before Thanksgiving and other than the grocery store commercials not a lot is being said about this day that was set aside for giving thanks. The focus is already on the Christmas shopping season and it has been for several weeks now.

It seems that less and less time is allotted for thankfulness. Our hearts should be overflowing with thankfulness. God has been gracious and kind. There may have been disappointments and even heart aches in the last year but God remains faithful and trustworthy.

He continues to bring blessings and benefits into our lives.

“Do not be misled, my beloved brothers and sisters. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes]. 18 It was of His own will that He gave us birth [as His children] by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of His creatures [a prime example of what He created to be set apart to Himself—sanctified, made holy for His divine purposes]. 19 Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving]; ” James 1:16-19 AMP

He is the giver of every good and perfect gift and He does not change. We need to listen more and murmur less. This will definitely bring us closer to thankful hearts.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” Psalm 68:19 NKJV

Daily, He loads us up with benefits…Selah means stop and think.

Yesterday I stopped in at our local grocery store to pick up a few things that I wanted to have on hand for our Thanksgiving meal next week. I saw a number of people who had their shopping carts loaded to the top. It made of think of this verse. I consider a full shopping cart to be a benefit from the Lord. Loaded up. I remember the days when we had very little in our weekly grocery budget and so my cart was never loaded. A full shopping cart always makes me grateful; I’m thankful for the blessing of enough to eat.

“After you eat and are full, give praise to the Lord your God for the good land he gave you. 11 Make sure that you never forget the Lord or disobey his laws and teachings that I am giving you today. If you always obey them, 12 you will have plenty to eat, and you will build good houses to live in.” Deuteronomy 8:10-12 CEV

As you go about your day, Stop and Think about the ways the Lord has been good to you. I guarantee it will make you thankful!

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Shout For Joy

I hope things get really noisy at your house today. I want you to shout for joy – yes, shout!

Does that sound silly to you? I hope not. We shout at sporting events for our favorite team, we rise to our feet in applause at the end of a concert or public performance; we shout when we are calling our kids home for dinner; we shout when we feel someone is in danger. So why not shout for joy?

Little kids do it all the time – they go outside to play and they shout – they giggle, they laugh, they yell with glee! At this time of year, we should be child like and overcome with excitement and joy. There’s so much to be thankful for – if you’ve been following along since the first of the month you have nineteen days of things you’re grateful for. Everyone of them should be worth shouting about.

On my list from yesterday I told the Lord I was grateful for His loving correction in my life. Yes, correction – I had talked to Him about a situation I was experiencing and He lovingly showed me that I needed to adjust my attitude. I was mumbling inside and it was disturbing my joy. I was quick to repent and my whole outlook changed.

I would shout right now but it would wake up the whole house, so…I will go outside in a little while and shout.

Today is a day to shout – Shout to the Lord, with a voice of triumph!!!

Remember in the movies when the battle would be over and those that were on the winning side would shout and toss their hats and other clothing in the air? That’s the picture I see when I read this verse – shout with a voice a triumph – not a voice of defeat or depression!!!!

“All of you nations, clap your hands and shout joyful praises to God. 2 The LORD Most High is fearsome, the ruler of all the earth. 3 God has put every nation under our power,
4 and he chose for us the land that was the pride of Jacob, his favorite. 5 God goes up to his throne, as people shout and trumpets blast. 6 Sing praises to God our King, 7 the ruler of all the earth! Praise God with songs. 8 God rules the nations from his sacred throne. 9 Their leaders come together and are now the people of Abraham’s God. All rulers on earth surrender their weapons, and God is greatly praised!” Psalm 47 CEV

Verse 5 reminds me of the children of Israel when they had marched around Jericho for seven days. For six days they had walked around the city in silence. On the seventh day they were given the command to march around the city in silence again but when the trumpets blew they were to SHOUT and the walls came crumbling down.

“The LORD said to Joshua:
With my help, you and your army will defeat the king of Jericho and his army, and you will capture the town. Here is how to do it: March slowly around Jericho once a day for six days. 4 Take along the sacred chest and have seven priests walk in front of it, carrying trumpets.
But on the seventh day, march slowly around the town seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. 5 Then the priests will blast on their trumpets, and everyone else will shout. The wall will fall down, and your soldiers can go straight in from every side.” Joshua 6:2-3

In obedience, they followed the Lord’s command and victory came! In obedience today, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice – why? Because you feel like it, probably not; because you can figure out the solution on your own, probably not; then why? Because God said so, He has a victory planned for you!

SHOUT!

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Prayer Warrior

This morning I found myself on the front lines of battle for friends of mine. I was dressed for the offensive, taking back ground that circumstances and the devil have stolen from them.

I knew it was going to be that kind of morning because each time I woke up during the night the lyrics of the song, Prayer Warrior, were going through my mind and settling in my heart.

We may see her in the grocery with her children
Or in the city nine to five each working day
She’s a mother or a teacher or a woman all alone
But she’s someone else entirely when she prays

She’s a prayer warrior down on her knees
Wrestling with power and principalities
Standing in the gap for others
For her sisters and her brothers
Reaching heaven with her heart – prayer warrior

We don’t see her lonely nights of intercession
Or that tear she shed with every whispered name
We may not see the simple things hidden in her heart
But the eyes of God are watching her with care

Bridge: And we’ll never wholly know the debt we owe her
For we’ll never know the evil we’ve been spared
Many nights she’s crushed through Satan’s strongholds
Reaching heaven with her prayers

Yes, prayer warriors! When someone tells me they are praying for me, it strengthens me. I honestly believe there is nothing more powerful that we can do than pray. When we pray, we take our need into God’s throne room and He provides the help we need.

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:16 NLT

Prayer is getting God involved; using the power He has given us in His word and we have His promise that His word does what it is sent to do.

““The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT

We have specific instruction from the Apostle Paul on what we need to do when we are facing battle whether it be spiritual, physical, financial, emotional or relational.

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:1-18 NLT

Our command is to pray all the time, on every occasion and for all believers everywhere. I hope you never say, “well, all we can do is pray”. That makes it sound like prayer is a last resort – we’ve done everything else so we might as well pray. No, prayer is an offensive attack on the enemy.

Put on your armor. Join me and become a prayer warrior!

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A Better Promise

Keeping our focus on the Lord’s faithfulness will keep us from being discouraged and depressed. When Israel faced overwhelming threats and attacks they could confidently call on the Lord for their deliverance. They knew they had a “covenant”, a promise or contract, with Almighty God. God had promised to be their GOD and to fight for them, to stand with them, to be their protection and their source of supply. As long as they walked in obedience to God’s word all these blessings were theirs.

Remember when Moses told the Israelites that God had set before them life and death, blessing and cursing? Then Moses said choose life. It was their choice to be a nation of blessed, victorious people. David knew this when he volunteered to fight Goliath – David’s comment, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?” Circumcision was a physical sign to the Jewish people that God had made covenant with Abraham and all of his descendants.

You and I have a covenant too. The writer of Hebrews said we have a new covenant with better promises.

“But the work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to those priests. In the same way, the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to his people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on better promises. 7 If there was nothing wrong with the first agreement, then there would be no need for a second agreement. 8 But God found something wrong with the people. He said, “The time is coming, says the Lord, when I will give a new agreement to the people of Israel and to the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the agreement that I gave to their fathers. That is the agreement I gave when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They did not continue following the agreement I gave them, and I turned away from them, says the Lord. 10 This is the new agreement I will give the people of Israel.
I will give this agreement in the future, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write my laws on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 Never again will anyone have to teach their neighbors or their family to know the Lord. All people—the greatest and the least important—will know me. 12 And I will forgive the wrongs they have done, and I will not remember their sins.”
13 God called this a new agreement, so he has made the first agreement old. And anything that is old and useless is ready to disappear.” Hebrews 8:6-13

God the Father is faithful and He made this new covenant for us with Jesus. Neither one of them will fail! Their covenant for us will not fail!

“God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a son of man, that He should be sorry for what He has said. Has He said, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not keep His Word?” Numbers 23:19

God promises will come to pass. His word is true – He is good!

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Man Overboard

I am often disappointed when movies are re-done to make them more current with new actors. I enjoyed the remake of True Grit but it wasn’t as good as the original. However, I did enjoy the second Thomas Crown Affair better than the first. But, just last week Dave and I came across the movie Overboard. We had enjoyed the original with Goldie Hawn so we thought we’d give this one a try – after only a few minutes of watching we turned it off. It didn’t measure up. We were disappointed again.

However, it got me to thinking about the term overboard. In the early 1980’s Dave and I had a good job working for an absentee farm owner. We ran 900 acres of alfalfa. We were provided with a new mobile home, were given a farm truck and fuel. Our only expenses were our clothing and our groceries. It was nice! We worked hard, very hard during the peak growing season but we enjoyed the work and our kids were being raised in a rural environment and life was good.

We had been praying that the Lord would provide someone to minister to local farmers and ranchers on a regular basis; working around the strange hours of farming and providing us with a good, solid Bible teaching and Christian fellowship. One day as Dave was driving from field to field he heard in his heart, not with his head, that the Lord said he had answered our prayer and provided someone.

Thank you Jesus!

Who? The next answer that came was completely unexpected. You! Not us Lord, we have a ranch to run and there aren’t enough hours in the day. But we gradually began getting invitations to preach to at local farms and ranches. We had a young couple who sang country gospel music and another man who had a country heart who would preach. Dave and I provided the organization and administration at first. We would travel on our weekends when we weren’t cutting or baling hay.

One day we knew it was time to quit farming and go fulltime with Bible Studies and teachings to the farmers, ranchers and kids who attended the youth rodeos in Arizona. The man we worked for was very gracious. He knew what we had been doing part time, he wished us well and sent us off with his blessing.

When we told family and friends that this was what we were going to do we had one well meaning soul tell us “now you don’t want to go overboard with this”. I loved it when I heard Dave reply, “if we don’t go overboard we’ll never walk on water”.

“A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples. 26 When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming.

27 At once, Jesus said to them, “Don’t worry! I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.” 28 Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him.

30 But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31 Right away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, “You surely don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?” 32 When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. 33 The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God!” Matthew 14:25-33 CEV

We felt like Peter. “Lord, if you really want us to go full time with this ministry we’ll get out of the boat but You have to help us or we’ll sink”. I can tell you God was faithful. (Maybe some day I will write a book to tell you about all the ways we saw the Father’s faithfulness.)

I want to encourage all of you this morning. If God has put a dream in your heart, go for it. The world will think you’ve lost your senses; you might lose friends but when you go overboard Jesus will be there to see that you walk on the water and don’t drown.

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Cure for Discouragement

Do you have times that you get discouraged and struggle when things aren’t going right?

For years I have been putting God’s word into my heart and mind. It brings hope, courage, peace, healing and joy. Many years back I shared some of my favorite Bible verses with you and as I was reading through them I knew it was time to share them again.

I look at Scripture verses like multivitamins. We don’t just take them one time and have them strengthen our physical system for years on end. No, they are called daily vitamins for a reason. Bible verses are better than vitamins. Once they are truly absorbed in our system they can strengthen and encourage for years on end.

“You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the Lord, and he rescued you.
20 By the power of his own word, he healed you  and saved you from destruction. 21 You should praise the Lord for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.” Psalm 107:19-21 CEV

God’s word brings the cure for any ailment.

I want to share a few of my favorite verses with you from the Amplified version of the Bible. I praise God for those who have been called to the work of translating the Bible, not just in foreign languages, but into versions that make it easier for us to use and understand. There are many modern translations and I like using the Amplified version because it gives a greater understanding to some phrases.

These verses have really helped me and I hope that there are one or two that provide what you need!

HE WILL NEVER LEAVE ME OR LET ME DOWN! GOD WON’T LET GO!
“Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]” Hebrews 13:5 AMP

WHEN CHRIST RULES, PEACE REIGNS
“And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].” Colossians 3:15 AMP

HE TAKES MY WORRIES & MY CARES
“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.” I Peter 5:7 AMP

I HAVE AN OVERFLOWING LIFE
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” John 10:10 AMP

GOD CAN’T LIE! “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it?” Numbers 23:19 AMP

MOSES AND I HAVE THE SAME GOD, THE GREAT I AM!
“And when that time comes, you will ask nothing of Me [you will need to ask Me no questions]. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that My Father will grant you whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I Am]. 24 Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I Am]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.” John 16:23-24 AMP

MY FATHER’S WORD GIVES ME CONFIDENCE
“And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. 15 And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.” I John 5:14-15 AMP

God’s word is filled with the power to change our lives. It never fails!

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer  and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT

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Choose Wisely

Friday – Are you thinking about what you’ll do this weekend? Maybe you’ve planned to be at the kids soccer or football games. Possibly taking the weekend away for one more trip to the mountains before it gets too chilly. Or maybe you’ve decided to just stay home and get some yardwork done. Better yet, just stay home and relax.

Choose wisely!

We make choices everyday. Some only effect us for the moment but others direct us for a lifetime. It amazes me how some people think that if they choose to follow the Lord their lives will be rigid, sad and no fun at all. They have a misconception of the Father. He gives us a choice, we have a free will. There is one choice that brings us to life and blessing and another that brings destruction and death. Moses told the children of Israel that God was giving them a choice:

“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:17-21 CEV

Moses made it very plain that the choice belonged to the people. However, he went on to say the best option was to choose life! Jesus made the same statement in His teaching.

“I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. 11 I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep.” John 10:9-11 CEV

A full life compared to one where we will be robbed, killed and destroyed. Yes, I choose life!

Choose wisely – choose life!

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Crippled by Life

Have you ever been crippled? Maybe broken an ankle, had foot surgery, broken a leg or two…Or was your crippling a fear that had you weakened, possibly you were an emotional cripple or even financially unable to move.

Most of us have been crippled at one point or another in life but imagine now that this wasn’t something you could get over and the longer you live with the limitation it begins to steal your hope.

That was the man that Jesus met by the pool side. He had been a cripple for thirty-eight years.

38 years!

Thirty-eight years he waited for his miracle and quite frankly I think he had lost hope. When Jesus found him the first question Jesus asked was do you want to get well. Now the crippled man didn’t really answer Jesus question but instead began to make excuses, “I don’t have anyone to put me in the water”.

Don’t you hear it – it’s not my fault I’m laying here and nobody will help me, there’s nothing I can do about my situation, I’m stuck! Before we judge him to harshly let’s examine our own life – what situation has crippled us and we find that you are blaming someone else for not giving us what we need -assistance, pity, money, understanding.

“Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some of them were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years. 6 Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So he asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

7 The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water when it starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.” John 5:3-7 ERV

Now look what Jesus said. No excuses accepted, no pity but words that demanded action and responsibility.

“Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and started walking. The day all this happened was a Sabbath day.” John 5:8-9 ERV

The power of the Word of God spoken over our lives is life changing if we obey. What made the difference? I’m sure this man sensed the power in those words, it brought hope and hope brought action. Now this man went from a cripple to a person of determination and strength.

“But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” John 5:11 ERV

If only we were so confident in God’s Word that we said I’m just doing what I was told! We would see the power of God working in our lives like never before. This isn’t just a nice story of healing that happened in the Bible long ago but it is an example to us for today.

Look what Jesus said when he was questioned by the Jewish leaders for healing the man on the Sabbath.

“Jesus was doing all this on the Sabbath day. So these Jews began trying to make him stop. 17 But he said to them, “My Father never stops working, and so I work too.” 18 This made them even more determined to kill him. They thought it was bad enough that he was breaking the law about the Sabbath day. And now he was saying that God is his Father, making himself equal with God! 19 But Jesus answered, “I assure you that the Son can do nothing alone. He does only what he sees his Father doing. The Son does the same things that the Father does.” John 5:16-19 ERV

Our Father never stops working! He is still working today and the things He does, He does because He loves us.

Have you been crippled? Follow God’s word, take up your bed and walk!

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Content With Life

I started my morning by looking at pictures that reflect contentment – so many images of serenity. I was content just looking at them.

Scenes of waves on a beach, a boat on a lake, a kitten curled up by the fire, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, big pillow-y clouds in a rich blue sky. If you were to photograph contentment what would your image be?

With some of the images there were quotes. Succinct sayings to convey the meaning of contentment.

  • 1. “To be content doesn’t mean you don’t desire more, it means you’re thankful for what you have and patient for what’s to come …
  • 2. “Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.”. Bilal Zahoor.
  • 3. “Contentment is an attitude that says, I will be satisfied with what God has given me.”. Anonymous.
  • 4. “Contentment comes from many great and small acceptances in life.”. Anonymous.

All too often we lose the joy and peace of today because we are striving to obtain more for our tomorrow. Perhaps, we are so busy reflecting on our losses of the past we forget to enjoy blessings of the present. These will both rob us of our contentment.

There is nothing wrong with ambition; with setting goals and having a vision. Those are good traits as long as we are letting the Lord be the one who sets our course and we are following Him.

I asked you what your picture of contentment would look like. When I asked that I had to stop because I was imagining what Daniel might have pictured – his would be sleeping among the lions. Peter’s image might be the inside of a prison cell and Jesus might take a picture of a boat on a rough and stormy sea. Paul and Silas would no doubt draw the inside of a dungeon during an earthquake and Jonah would possibly sketch the contents in the belly of the great fish.

Strange images, right? Not what you or I would choose to put on a the pages of a “serenity calendar” but these were places of contentment. In each of these places the occupants sensed the power and the presence of Almighty God. There they were content. The Apostle Paul said this:

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13 NLT

My heart is stirred to focus on God’s goodness and His peace. The world seems more out of control than it has ever been, yet, in this world Jesus says we can have peace.

“I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” John 16:33 ERV

We all know that things do not bring happiness or peace. We have examples of people everyday in the news who seem to have it all and they are miserable. Again we have the words of the Apostle Paul:

“…These people think religion is supposed to make you rich. 6 And religion does make your life rich, by making you content with what you have. 7 We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave. 8 So we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes.” I Timothy 6:5-8 CEV

Lest anyone thinks that I am saying that we should all be paupers, I’m not. Our lives in Christ are to be full and abundant. When we are focusing on our relationship with the Father, He provides for all our needs and we can be content.

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:31-33 NLT

I pray that we all find contentment in each day. Living in peace and enjoying the Father’s goodness.

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Step on Snakes

So some of you have seen the pictures I posted this morning of the rattlesnake that Dave killed at our front gate. I have to tell you the whole story because this is a real testimony to the protection the Lord provides.

Early this morning I let Glory out in the backyard. It’s the first thing she does in the morning. Out to take care of business. Before we came in she hurt her leg somehow; anyway, she back to me limping and crying. I took her in and look to see if she had a sticker or some sort of injury to her paw. She didn’t so I just massaged her foot and leg for a while. She limped to her foot bowl, ate and then laid down. I knew we wouldn’t be going for a morning walk.

When Dave got up she was still limping and so we decided we have another cup of coffee and not bother with the walk. As we were sitting there, Dave remembered that he needed to walk to the neighbors and put out their trash cans.

He put his flip flops on, grabbed the neighbors house key and out the door he went. In about a minute, literally, he was back in the front door.

“Man, that was close!” What? “There is a rattlesnake right out our front gate! It’s aggressive – striking. I need to get my shovel.” Out to the garage he went, grabbed the shovel and around to the front gate. The snake was on the move – he wasn’t under the cactus any longer but on his way across the sidewalk.

It should have been Glory and I going through the gate at that time.

Dave has much experience in killing rattlers, goes back to our days of farming alfalfa. He knows how to use a shovel with deadly force. I stayed in the house and I could hear it rattling from there. A couple of strikes with the shovel and the battle was over. He faced them down nearly everyday while we were farming.

Whew!

When we farmed alfalfa we learned to take this Scripture verse literally:

“I have given you the power to trample on snakes and scorpions and to defeat the power of your enemy Satan. Nothing can harm you.” Luke 10:19 CEV

It’s a verse we live by. So thankful for God’s protection!

“The Lord Most High  is your fortress. Run to him for safety,  and no terrible disasters will strike you or your home. 11 God will command his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will carry you  in their arms, and you won’t hurt your feet on the stones. 13 You will overpower the strongest lions and the most deadly snakes.” Psalm 91:10-13 CEV

Just had to testify of God’s goodness and let you know you can ALWAYS depend on Him! Thank you Jesus!

By the way, Glory is fine now and no more limping.

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