Tag: #GODisincontrol

This Season

Standing outside this morning, breathing in the deliciously cool Fall air and seeing the stars covering the sky like a carpet, I wonder how anyone can profess that God doesn’t exist. The sheer majesty of the heavens with the perfect placement of the stars and the constellations; the moon moving through it’s phases; the interaction with the sun, the tides, the seasons…. Lord, O Lord, How Majestic is Your Name, O LORD!

“This is what the LORD says, He Who made the earth, the LORD Who formed it and established it—the LORD is His Name: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ ” Jeremiah 33:2-3

We live in a great nation; a nation founded under God, for the people and by the people. A Republic, not a Democracy. Look up the difference. Pay attention to what is going on around you. It is a scary time, but I am reassured by God’s Words.

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NASB

Christians, we have a huge responsibility coming into this election season. I beg of you, look at the candidates. Look at their actions; don’t listen to the rhetoric.

Prayer. Do You Need It?

Jesus said: “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [ For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ ] For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:8‭-‬15 NASB

Do you remember Jeremiah, the “Weeping Prophet”? When the Hebrews were taken prisoner and moved from Jerusalem to Babylon, most of their prophets were telling them not to worry, this would be a very short captivity and then they would be able to return home. God had other plans, and He chose Jeremiah to give them the real plan….. and they considered him to be full of doom and gloom! I think we do that, too. When we don’t get the answer we want, we tend to be “Oh, woe is me!” We need to concentrate more on the Word and the positive that God is telling us.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’ ” Jeremiah 29:11‭-‬14 NASB

Most of us are not in physical exile like the Hebrews were, but we may feel trapped in a job or a relationship. God doesn’t create chaos; we do that through the exercise of our own free will and by neglecting to listen to the LORD. He allows us to do these things, but if we will turn back to Him, we can sometimes remove ourselves/be removed from the bad situation, and other times we learn to be content in it. Remember, bloom where you are planted. I know; much easier said than done sometimes!

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Daniel 3:17‭-‬18 NASB

• Pray for peace, and for prosperity for the place God has placed you.

• Pray for the economy, citizen safety, wisdom and integrity of our leaders/politics, and for prosperity of the community and the country.

• Beware of false Teachers and Prophets! Biblical prosperity does not resemble health and wealth. It is Peace with God.

• Trust God’s plan. The long term, not necessarily the immediate.

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17‭-‬18 NASB

• Finally, receive God’s blessing.

Don’t be IN or OF the community, but FOR the community you are in. Society today is not pro Christian, nor does it favor Christians. Wherever you are, be ALL there. Seek peace, practice practical loving. A community cannot be at peace, TRUE peace, until they are at peace with God through Jesus Christ. Pray for what you care about.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8 NASB

Seek HIM First

“This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:23‭-‬24 NASB

I think every part of my body hurts this morning; every muscle, every joint, even my brain. My eyeballs hurt. I am weary. I have to be thankful, though, because it slows me down so that I can see what a beautiful morning God has given us. It’s a very unusual morning for Oklahoma in August. At 7am, the temperature is in the high 60’s, and it is calm. There’s only an occasional breeze that floats by like a whisper. The birds are singing, and other than the birdsong, it is quiet. Since I live in an urban neighborhood, that’s pretty unusual, too!

“Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:30‭-‬31 NASB

Move forward. Remember that God is in control. No matter how bad it gets. Frustration, aches and pains, irritations, aggravations will all pass well. Look for the good in everything. I am alive. I’m not unhealthy (well, mostly!!), I have a home and 2 dogs who think I’m the best thing since sliced bread – especially when I share it with them!

Will life get tough? Oh, yes. Will bad things happen? Without a doubt. Will people disappoint you, betray you, let you down? Absolutely.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 NASB

GOD will never disappoint, He will never betray, He will never let you down. When everything looks black, when everyone has let you down, turn to Jesus.

Listen to Casting Crowns’ song East to West. Here’s part:

I start the day, the war begins
Endless reminding of my sin
And time and time again
Your truth is drowned out by the storm I’m in
Today I feel like I’m just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way

Jesus, can you show me just how far the east is from the west?

‘Cause I can’t bear to see the man I’ve been
Rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
I know you’ve washed me white
Turned my darkness into light
I need your peace to get me through
To get me through this night
I can’t live by what I feel
But by the truth your word reveals
And I’m not holding onto you
But you’re holding onto me
You’re holding onto me

JESUS is the answer. No one else will get through this life with you without hurting you. He is THE Way. THE Truth, and The Light. He is LIFE.

Can I get an Amen?

Dogs, Cats, Horses, Cows

Dogs. They come in just about every color, shape, and size; tiny teacup Chihuahuas to the mighty Great Dane that can be 3 feet tall, and the 130 pound Bull Mastiff, but we still call them all dogs.

Cats are the same. They range from the tiny Singapura as small as 4.5 pounds, to the large Maine Coone at almost 4 feet tall, from hairless to silky thick long hair, in every color you can imagine….. and we call them all cats.

Cows. Have you ever been to a fair or a farm or a dairy? Milk cows and beef cattle, miniatures and the mighty Longhorns. The variety in size and shape and color is outstanding in all of the different breeds, yet we still call them all cows.

Horse. Ah, the Horse. I’m convinced that God created the horse as a gift just for us women. They can be tiny or huge, dainty or muscle bound, and range between almost every color of the rainbow. From the (up to) 2400 pound, 17 hands tall draft breeds, to the tiny miniature horse at 34 inches tall. All beautiful. We still call them all horses, despite their differences.

Last, I want to look at HUMANS. We come in every size, color, and shape imaginable. Just like the animals I’ve talked about, God has allowed us to breed ourselves into a huge variety….. BUT….. and the is an important BUT….. we are all HUMAN. One race. Undivided. ALL are created in the image of GOD.

Every color. Every shape. Every size. Red and yellow, black and white, and every color in between, Jesus loves us. Every life matters. Black, white, yellow, red, blue, orange…. every life, born or unborn, mentally or physically challenged, sinner and saint* (the saint* doesn’t exist, because we are all sinners).

JESUS LOVES US. ALL OF US.

John 3:16 “For GOD so loved the world, He gave His Only Son….” Think about it. God is our Father. He created humanity; the human race. One race, and He allowed us to develop into different cultures and ethnicities. We are all brothers and sisters. No matter how white or black you think you are, that person in front of you is family. You are all my brothers and sisters from another mother. We share the Glorious, Amazing, Beautiful FATHER OF ALL.

Think about that.

Freedom Isn’t Free

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31‭-‬32 NASB

I was privileged to spend a large portion of my day yesterday with like minded individuals, all of us prepared to act to defend freedom of speech, and to protect one of our monuments in Oklahoma City. Before I left my house yesterday morning, I read these verses in Ephesians, and kept them close to my mind the rest of the day. We were faced with hateful speech, and people who pushed at us both verbally and physically, trying to get us to react. I’m proud that overall, the Patriots refused to engage in hurtful behavior. We were able to engage in conversations, and hopefully helped one or two of the protesters to see another way from the rhetoric they were blindly following. Overall, it was peaceful.

I am proud that I was able to be a part of a small army of Patriots protecting American, and Oklahoma, history. Is that history perfect? No. Is the story complete? No. Can we, together, join and add to the Land Run Monument so that it’s more complete? I hope so. Destroying our statues and monuments is following the path of dictators and communists. This is the greatest nation in the world, with all of her flaws. I don’t want to live in a socialist or communist country. If I did, there are plenty that already exist.

Keep America free.

What Is Important To You?

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace ….” Romans 8:6 NASB

My thoughts and desires – my “needs” (okay, my WANTS) often consume my thoughts so that nothing else seems to matter. That is death. Lord, help keep my mind on what’s REALLY important, especially when it seems to be impossible.

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro said “I don’t have to tie myself to an imaginary, unrelenting cycle to produce more, make more or try to outdo last week’s numbers. I have just so much time in the day, and I want to do what I can with all my heart involved. When the clock runs out, then I’ll say, “Come back tomorrow, and I’ll have more.”

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NASB

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:15‭-‬19 NASB

Do Not Fear

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7‭-‬8 NASB

There’s a lot to cause fear and dismay going on. It makes me sick to my stomach, seeing the ugliness and the destruction going on just to satisfy someone’s inner demons. Destroying our heritage? Throwing down statues? What does that solve? In the Middle Ages, books and buildings were destroyed because they didn’t conform to someone’s vision of their world. In Nazi Germany, books and buildings and statues were burned and destroyed, because they did not fit someone’s vision of their world. In Cuba, in Italy, in Iraq, the same thing has happened.

Does destruction make your life better?

“The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NASB

We need more dependence on GOD. Less dependence on people. People will always let us down, but the LORD will never stumble or fall with me – or you. Put your trust in the LORD. Read between the lines of whatever the “news” people and the politicians say. Look at their attitudes and their actions. Remember that they are all human and, therefore, imperfect.

Pray for our country. We don’t need to destroy it.

I Waited Patiently. ….. NOT

“I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of Praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD. How Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his Trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.” Psalms 40:1‭-‬4 NASB

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

Picture two vultures sitting on a branch, hungry, waiting on something to die so they can eat. One turns to the other and says “Patience my ass, I want to kill something.” ….. Yes, it’s crude, but very descriptive of how we often act when God doesn’t deliver WHAT we want, HOW we want, WHEN we want. I don’t like to wait. It’s often painful, and aggravating. We are God’s garden. Ask anyone who grows things, and they will tell you that plants often have to be aggressively pruned in order to get the best fruits and flowers and vegetables. They have to be patient, and wait for that plant to produce and mature. God is patient with us, and He is training us to produce the best. I’M not patient, but I’m very grateful that HE is.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NASB

This is so true. I married young because I wanted to. Emphasis on “I WANTED.” There were lots of reasons, but I was in LOVE. God wasn’t in that marriage, and it was a disaster. I spent years trying to “fix” my life without God, using human men as a poor, poor substitute. Ladies, pay attention to those who love God and who love you. Listen to their counsel. Pray about any relationship. If you feel ANY hesitation, STOP. Same for you guys. If GOD isn’t first in the relationship, It. Will. Be. A. Disaster. Might takes years, but without the LORD, no relationship will prosper. It’s no fun, seeing friends in relationships when you/I am not ….. but, back to that “patience” thing. Trust the LORD. He knows. He KNOWS.

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven….” Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB

God knows. He knows what we want, but more importantly He knows what is best for us. Really. We don’t. As difficult as it is, listen to Him, even when it isn’t what we want to hear. God is in control. Don’t be a backseat driver!

What Comes Into Your Mind When You Think About GOD?

A.W. Tozer said: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. … … For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”

And yet, in spite of us and our sin filled thoughts, GOD LOVES US. We are loved by God because of WHO we are, NOT what we do. Can we return this to our GOD, and love HIM for Who He is, rather than what we perceive is going on around us or to us? God doesn’t ‘make’ bad things happen. These things are courtesy of our enemy, the one who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden and introduced sin into the world. Blame him, not GOD!

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; [the longer He waits, the more people will be saved; therefore, the more we evangelize and share the Gospel, the quicker He will come/return] just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort [false teachers], as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved*, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard [Post a guard; beware of those who look and sound like Christians, but who are teaching wrong things/false doctrines] so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the GRACE [something we do not deserve by grasping/acknowledging the sin that we are in every day, constantly – sometimes grace is kind, and sometimes to make us grow have to have the ‘manure’ of life] AND KNOWLEDGE [from study and teaching the Truth – discernment, stability, realizing are sinners] of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:14‭-‬18 NASB

The final written words of the Apostle Peter : “To HIM be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”