God blessed me in an absolutely wonderful way today. I had been supported financially by another church who had told us they would send their gift to me for six months. It may not sound like much to you, but they contributed half of my income. Half! The six months ended in April.
Today I received one more check in the mail. What a blessing that was! Not to mention a surprise. We weren't expecting it at all. As a matter of fact, I just mailed the thank you notes yesterday to thank the other church for their kind and generous support.
God blessed us earlier this week as well. We had wanted to get our grandson something really special for his first birthday. We wanted to buy the little guy a wagon because he absolutely wants to be outside all of the time and his stroller doesn't provide a panoramic view. God provided enough for us to purchase the primo wagon... the ultimate, ultra mega-platinum, wonder-mobile complete with sunshade. Not only did God provide over and above our paychecks, but He gave us to the penny what we needed. Not one cent more. Not one cent less. And it wasn't for us. It was to bless our precious little outdoors-y baby.
This is the story of our lives. We are blessed, indeed. We have been over and over again.
How does all that happen? Not because Ray and I drop a certain amount of money in the offering plate each and every week, although perhaps that has something to do with it. (Luke 6:38 "Give and it will be given to you, A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.")
I think it has more to do with the fact Ray and I gave our finances to God long ago. It's not our money. It's His. It's not about what we have, it's about what we do with it.
And we do it gladly. Ahhh, the proper attitude.
Proper attitude verse: (Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6,7 NASB)
A few years ago God even called us to do more than the 10% tithe. Substantially more. I have to admit the first few months weren't easy. It seemed like there was always too much month left at the end of the money. It involved some, ok, a lot of complaining to God and perhaps a few tears (mine, not God's.)
Until my attitude changed. (See above-referenced proper attitude verse.) When I told Ray what I felt God was calling us to do he almost had a stroke. Well, not really. But it did take him by surprise. Until he prayed about it and God spoke to his heart as well.
Unfortunately, many will miss out on the blessings God gives, whether it pertains to finances, giving of our time, our energies or whatever He might call you to give to others. Why? Because we complain when we are asked to give. We cry. We moan. We develop an attitude of "it should always be about ME!" We throw whatever He asked us to give to Him for His purposes and say something like "THERE! TAKE IT!" There isn't any joy involved in it. When the joy accompanies the gift, the gift is blessed. No matter what you're giving.
I know people who drop a tithe in the offering on Sunday and expect an immediate payout, kinda like an ATM. God never works that way. Never. So they stop and say giving doesn't work, they tried it a month ago and nothing happened.
I may have people who don't agree with the next statement, but here goes. It's only money.
Now money can't buy happiness, we all know that. However, Ray and I came to realize quite some time ago that our true provider isn't the church treasurer who writes our paycheck. It's God. And God is the source of all joy, our source of blessing. And happiness.
We have had our backs up against financial walls many times in our years together. Many, many times. But God (my favorite words of all time) has never let us down. Not once. Even when it seemed like He might. Even when the clocked ticked to the financial midnight... He has always come through.
He has always blessed, and in many more ways than finances. Always. We have four amazing daughters we love with all we have. Each of them are serving God in some capacity. We have the most wonderful grandchildren to ever walk the face of the earth and are expecting yet another to cuddle and hold. We have been given so much more than we deserve. And we acknowledge who gives good gifts (James 1:17 - every good and perfect gift comes from God.)
As a matter of fact, this is the Vineyard's stance on giving: We give to get to give. The more we give, the more God gives us so we can give more. Remember, I'm not just talking about money here.
Did I write this today to brag about how much we give? Absolutely not. I never told you what we give when God asks. I am writing today to brag on my God who has always given to us liberally and in abundance. I wrote to give a testimony to His faithfulness in never letting us down. To say Malachi 3:10 is true and accurate (10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. "
As a matter of fact, I knew I was supposed to write about finances when I came into work this morning. I didn't know why. I was seriously thinking about writing on learning to live on less. But I got busy doing other things which also needed to be done today so I put off writing this blog until this afternoon. The mail comes at 11:00.
God knew what I would be writing about today. Being a cheerful giver. Knowing God gives all good things.
And sometimes He delights in surprising us.
Ray is watching the movie "Last of the Mohicans" whilst I click away on my keyboard. It's the movie that catapulted Daniel Day Lewis into stardom. The long hair, maybe? That doesn't do it for me.
What makes me think this is a romantic movie is when DDL shouts to Madeleine Stowe, "I will find you." Well, how hard could it be? She could only be anywhere on the Eastern seaboard. With no technological devices to help. A GPS-free era.
And yet he finds her. Well, he did have to run all over the place to locate her.
Weren't' there doubts in her mind that DDL would eventually show up? Wasn't she questioning whether this man would tire of running from forest to forest to try and seek her out?
You would think.
Yet her heart must have been pounding as she was pulled away from him and taken to who knows where. And she waits for her love to find her.
Well, as much as a fictional character's heart can pound.
There's a greater love story than this. One about seeking and finding. The lover of your very soul is waiting to be found... by you. He isn't hiding. He is right there in front of you. He isn't going to run away before you get to where He is. He is patient.
Yet His promises are that if you look for Him... you will most certainly find Him. If you seek after Him, He will be waiting.
Why would we do this? Besides the obvious gifts He has to share with those who chase after Him?
We would seek after God because of His very presence. We would be able to find Him so that we would be able to stand awe-struck before Him. We would be able to fall at His feet in humble gratitude for His very existence.
Unless you have been wooed by God to begin the Sacred Romance he has to offer you, there is no way you could understand how important seeking and finding Him could be. Call out to Him...
He can be found.
How did Cecil B. DeMille miss this? The movie "The Ten Commandments" should have been just a tad different.
Ok, there are several places it should have been different if it was to be true to the Word of God, but this is a biggee. He should have written this into the script.
Imagine this: (Exodus 14) The Israelites are camping at the shore of the Red Sea. God spoke to Moses and told him He would harden Pharaoh's heart so he will pursue them. He says he is going to do it so the Israelites will know God is in charge.
It happened just as God said it would. They were stuck at the Red Sea. Pharaoh is behind them with chariots. Did they whine? Sure. All million plus of them. They complained they could have just stayed in Egypt instead of having to travel into the wilderness to die.
Moses boldly states "Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace."
That's nice.
What is God's response? You won't believe it. "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward."
Uhhhh.... Lord, there's a sea there. Full of deep water.
He continues. "But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it."
Ohhh... ok then. As long as we know what to do. Raise the rod and divide the sea. Ok. We were confused there for a minute.
WHAT???? Now really, who would just start walking forward into the Red Sea. Wouldn't that seem like suicide to you? It does to me.
And yet it worked. Just as God said it would. Not only that, but when they had crossed the Sea on dry land God told Moses to stretch out his hand again and the waters would close. It didn't happen on its own.
I had been taught in Sunday School years and years ago that the soldiers of the army had been swept away by the Sea. Not so. Keep reading (Exodus 14:30). "...and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore."
Talk about your walking by faith. There's the Red Sea, but hey, go ahead. You'll be fine. My response would have been something like "I'm good... I'll wait until the others have crossed... don't want to push my way through."
As it turns out, I'm sure there was a skeptic or two in the crowd. Yet the Bible tells us they all made it safely across. The Israelites, that is. The Egyptians... not so much.
It must have something to do with walking by faith instead of by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) Being sure you hear God's voice telling you to do something. And then do it.
No matter how deep the water that lies ahead. If God needs it to part to accomplish His purposes, it will part.
If you read yesterday's blog, you know that I logged out of Facebook for the first time in five years. Today it tells me I am an unrecognized user. I cannot get back into my account or the church's account or fan page. Great.
Unrecognized user? I think I have been one of their most frequent users. I have thousands of pictures, I comment on absolutely everything, I post on my page, the church page and our fan page. Still, today, they don't know me. Ray can get in. But then he didn't log out.
I think Facebook is mad at me.
Normally I would write something about attending church on our home page. I would invite people. Remind them there is a S.H.A.P.E. meeting this morning at 9:15. But I cannot.
I hardly know what to do with myself.
I am thankful there is one place I am known and will never be forgotten. I am able to enter in to the throne room of God. Boldly, which is good because just about everything I do, I do boldly. I totally grasp the concept of "fear not."
Today I was looking for a Bible verse that speaks of entering into the throne room of God. To come before His presence in a spirit of humility and awe. Reverence. Worship.
I found a lot of verses having to do with God sitting on that throne. I am going to go with Isaiah 6:1-8.
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”Entering His throne room. Boldly. A place filled with smoke so we may be protected from His glory. Crying out holy, holy, holy. I can imagine there is little else you can say when you stand before God Almighty other than "holy." Do you notice what happens when you stand before God? He looks for someone to do His will. Here am I. Send me. When we utter those words before His presence, He knows exactly who we are. We are a friend of His only Son, Jesus. Washed by His blood. Made worthy to stand before the Almighty Creator, Lord and God. Because to God... we will never be unknown.
I was thinking about going to Illinois today just because I can. It's not that far, really. If I walked outside my office door and looked south, I could see it. I wouldn't be making a major trip.
I wonder if God would part the river for me so I could cross on dry land?
God doesn't part rivers you say? Yes. He has. At least once.
A lot of time has been given to God parting the Red Sea. Charlton Heston gave a pretty grand performance re-enacting the feat. But do many people even know God did it again on the Jordan River? It's found in Joshua 3.
Joshua is now the leader of the Israelites but the people weren't really seeing him as a leader. God told Joshua to get the ark of the covenant ready to travel and the tribes of Israel were instructed to follow at a distance of 1000 yards lest they get too close to the presence of God.
Here's the best part. In Joshua 3:7-8 God says "today I will exalt you in the eyes of all Israel so they may know I am with you as I was with Moses." There's nothing people remember more about Moses than standing at the edge of the Red Sea and having the waters part. I saw the movie. It was really exciting.
He further goes on to tell Joshua how to tell God is with them. He will drive out all of the tribes of "ites." Canaanites, Jebusites, Hittites and their ilk.
Joshua is to choose 12 men to carry the ark. As soon as they set foot in the Jordan [River] its waters will stop flowing downstream and it will stand in a heap. Yep. A heap of water. On either shore.
it happened, of course. Just like God said it would. The water stood in heaps and the Israelites walked on (this is the amazing part) dry land to cross the river. Even if the water parting and forming two heaps could be explained, the dry land cannot. Apart from God.
God chose to part the waters to show that anything He could do once He could do again. He wanted to show He favored Joshua so the people would follow him as leader. You want to know how much I love Joshua (God speaking)? Watch this.
What are we supposed to get from this? God can move heaven and earth to provide for His people. He can make water heap up by the shore if you need it to be so. He can do anything.
What is it you need for Him to do for you today? He's pretty amazing. He can do it all. More than once, if He has to.
I think it would be pretty cool if the Mississippi parted and I could cross over to Illinois on dry land. But then, I'm not carrying the ark of the covenant with me.
And besides that, God would probably tell me to take the bridge.
Weren't we all wearing shorts and flip flops about a week ago? I had considered turning my a/c on in the house one night when it just seemed a tad too warm to sleep. Today I'm wearing jeans and sweater. Weird. It seems we have hit all of the seaons in a single month. March. Snow, check. Spring-like weather, check, Summer with temps in the 80's, check. And I still have leaves left in my yard from last fall, so... check. Just in case we're wondering if God has a sense of humor, I guess we can just watch the 10:00 news and see what the weather guy has to say about tomorrow. We just never know what to expect. A week or so ago I wrote about my Dad's teaching on the word "luck" and how it has no part in the vocabulary of a Christian. Today I'm writing on the term "Mother Nature" not having a part as well. It's interesting that if you do a search on google of the term "Mother Earth" you are taken to Wikipedia, answers.com, the website of a 1960's rock band named "Mother Earth," and then page after page of pagan websites. What??? Pagan sites?? Yep. The term Mother Earth is actually a name for the goddess of the earth. She is the other half of the "Sky Father" god and I'm not talking about God who created the heavens and the earth. Some are taking it so far as to say Mother Earth deserves rights as any other "being" and the world council and United Nations are considering giving human-type rights to the earth. That we not be allowed to drill, excavate, etc., because it infringes on the rights of the earth. I listed a website at the bottom of this blog to back it up. If we talk about and extol Mother Nature ("she" gave us a good day, cloudy weather, or caused something to grow, etc.) aren't we putting a god before God? And aren't we warned about that in the Old and New Testaments? The Bible says a great deal about God controlling the weather. he Bible has a lot to say about God and how He controls the weather. (Psalms 78:26 NASB) He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His power He directed the south wind. (Psalms 107:25 NASB) For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, Which lifted up the waves of the sea. (Psalms 135:7 NASB) He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries. (Psalms 148:8 NASB) Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; (Proverbs 30:4 NASB) Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son’s name? Surely you know! (Mark 4:39 NASB) And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. There are more verses, but I think you get the idea. God created the Heavens and the Earth and He controls the weather. So, you may ask, “Why does God allow this terrible weather to cause us all kinds of problems?” The answer is that God is Sovereign. He can do whatever He wants. He is in control and nothing gets by Him. I think it's strange that we glorify Mother Nature when things grow, when the sun shines and we get the rain we need. On the other hand, if my home is destroyed by a tornado, it's an Act of God. My insurance papers say it's so. We have attributed wonderful things to a pagan diety and acts of violence to Almighty God. That is wrong on so many levels. Isn't it time we start giving the glory for good weather to God instead of a pagan goddess? Thanking Him for things that grow. Praying when we need rain instead of hoping some pagan spirit knows what's best for us? Seriously. We need to stop using the phrase "Mother Nature." God is the Creator. God is in control of the weather. God can tell a storm to "be quiet" and it will. Perhaps God is giving us some weird weather lately to remind us that He is in control. That we have very little to say about what happens weather-wise. Maybe He's trying to get our attention because something bigger is in store. “If legal systems recognized the rights of other-than-human beings,” he says, such as mountains, rivers, forests and animals, “courts and tribunals could deal with the fundamental issues of environmental contamination.” Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/18/prepares-debate-rights-mother-earth/#ixzz1qcb3RBRd
I think I just heard someone whistle. Ok, maybe not.
I was thinking today about some of the things we say. One of the phrases I used to use often and try to never use anymore is "Oh My God!"
It used to just flow out of my lips like nothing. When I was surprised. Or offended. Or hurt. It wasn't used in the manner that would bring praise to God. It was ... offensive.
And I didn't really think about what I was saying. But what if I said it like this using a name like "Othello." (I'm really hoping no one reading this is named Othello.)
Oh My Othello! -- when I'm upset.
Oh, Othello! Are you kidding me? -- when I'm shocked
Oh, Othello! Get out of here -- when I'm annoyed.
Oh, Othello!!!! -- when I can't stand to be around someone.
How would Othello feel if I used his name every time I wanted to show how upset, shocked and annoyed I was? I am thinking that just sounds ugly. Especially to Othello.
What if I just used his initials OMO! I used it when I tweeted. Or texted. On FB. OMO!! OMO!! And people would think it was cute.... wouldn't they???
What if I used Othello's name to put someone down? To show my disgust with a situation I would scream out the words "Oh My Othello!!" so that everyone would know how very upset I am.
How bad of a person would I be to do that to Othello?
But what if I praised Othello? Told others of his goodness, his mercy and kindness.
What if I used Othello's name so that when others heard me say it they would compare it to everything good. All good gifts. Praise to Othello would continually be in my mouth.
Oh that would be good.
Now... what if Othello's name was actually... God???
Today (March 19) is National Poultry Day. Well, it just doesn't get much more exciting than that.
Such a day is surely worthy of celebration. A day to celebrate the chicken nugget. Preschoolers everywhere should rejoice.
But it does make you wonder... who decided March 19 should be such a day? Apparently the Poultry lobbyists are a powerful group.
One must further inquire, why do we need a day in praise of the fowl creature?
Why not? We are culture that seems to make a big deal out of almost everything. It doesn't even really matter what we're celebrating. We love to celebrate.
There are days in honor of peanut butter, chocolate, the cupcake, and salted nut day, chips and dip day, and chocolate covered raisin day. Those I can understand.
But Tuesday is Festival Of Extraterrestrial Abductions Day. Really? We need a day for that?
What if we had a day that was really worth celebrating? And it could happen every day... Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord has made; we will be full of joy and delight in it.
To delight in today just because we can. He made a day full of blessings in store for us. A day rich in promise and delight. We are told to find joy in it.
Not happiness. Joy.
Happiness depends upon our circumstances. We get a speeding ticket, or get some bad news... not too likely to be happy. Probably more likely to be sad or tearful instead of happy.
But joy doesn't depend on circumstances. Joy is much deeper than that. It is based on knowing who is in charge of the day, not what happens in it.
Delight in the day... God gave it to you to enjoy. To flourish. And to celebrate His goodness and love.
Nuggets for everyone.
I know... who would believe that anyone could be busted by something that appeared on a home-making, hobby-building, time-engaging, recipe card-building, kid-craft idea, style-mongering, quotable website.
Me. I was.
I was creeping on one of my friends Pinterest boards and I ran across a photo of a Bible verse. Philippians 4:6-7
6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. The Message Bible
Busted.
Why? Because I was fretting. Worrying. So much so that last night it took me almost three hours to fall asleep. I'm good at worrying when I want to be. I have years of experience at it. Now that I'm done worrying, I can rest.
What happened? I'm not going to bore you with the details. Let's just say it's a big thing for me personally.
Here's the gist of where I am right now. At peace. At total peace.
Oh, I wasn't yesterday. I did have a major attack of the old flesh that almost did me in. In the past those attacks have lasted days, if not weeks. And they usually brought fighting, arguing, bickering, whatever you want to call it, between Ray and me. Those attacks that bring worry, stress, nail-biting, and sleeplessness. As I have matured in the Lord, I have those far less often. A lot more time between attacks.
I know I should probably have a stroke or something just to make matters better because worry, stress and strokes always make things better. (Don't they?) But I'm not.
Not this time.
I've been in this place before... this place of having nowhere to look but up. And it has always been enough before. It will be enough now.
It will always be enough.
I just ate a granola bar that tasted so awful I just know it had to be good for me. Too dry. Too crunchy. Too much .... meh, and not enough.... yum! Whatever will I do with the rest of the box? The problem is, only sugar and fat taste good. Wait, wait, wait.... I just thought of all of the comments that could end up at the bottom of this page. Maybe we can agree on this. Sugar and fat make a lot of things taste better. Apple. Caramel Apple. See? I think it's safe to say most American's prefer food that tastes good as opposed to food that is healthy and good for you but tastes like... nothing. Why? It's comfortable. We feel good about ourselves when we feel all cozy and comfy on the inside. But what about the guilt tomorrow? The "Oh-no-why-did-I-eat-all-of-that?" syndrome we have the morning after a delectable taste treat the night before. Back in the day there was a commercial where some guy said the words "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." The more he ate in take after take, the more he was feeling the regret of ever having started. There's the "I-can't-believe-I...." syndrome for a lot of things in life. - I can't believe I said that....
- did that....
- watched that...
You get the idea, don't you? We all want to have "do-overs" for the things in life that bring a little bit (or a lotta bit) of shame once we sit and think about it. We give in because it is too good or too tempting not to do so. We're in a weak moment when the thing that tempts us is right before our eyes. Taunting us... I don't need to have my arm twisted. Just a taste.... turns into "I can't believe it...." What to do? What to do??? "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) Pray about avoiding cupcakes? Sure. If they're tempting you and you already know better than to give in. Or maybe you need to pray about avoiding some other kind of temptation. Any kind. All kinds. God wants us to ask Him about everything. It falls under the "Pray always" verse of I Thessalonians 5:16-18. Even cupcakes and caramel apples. So that we might be victorious in every area of life. Not only are we supposed to avoid temptation, we are to flee from it. But some of us don't flee as quickly as we should. And we get caught up in it. Before you know it, all that's left is a paper wrapper and a few crumbs. And the "I-can't-believe-it" cycle begins again. There's forgiveness. No matter what the temptation. No matter what the lure... God provides a way out or around. The chance to flee. To get out quickly. And when we cannot, we are to quickly repent of what we did. To quickly let God know that we know that He knows what we did. And we won't do it again. Lord, make us fleet of feet when it comes to resisting temptation. And because we know you can do anything, we know we can count on you.... repeatedly. Amen.
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