Ask The Why

A story is told of a young bride that was baking a ham.  When her husband asked why she was cutting off the end of the ham, she replied that her mother made the best hams and she always cut off the ends.

He asked if she would mind if he called her up and asked why she cut the ends off the ham.

"Sure. Call her up."

"Hello mother. May I asked you a question?," he inquired.

"Sure."

"I noticed my wife is cutting off the end of the ham, and when I asked her why she said that you always did and you baked the best hams. May I ask why you cut off the ends of the ham?"

"My mother made the best hams in the county and she always cut off the ends."

"Hmmm, do you mind if I call her up and ask her why?"

"Sure. Call her up."

"Hello grandmother. I noticed my wife is cutting off the ends of the ham and when I questioned why she said her mother always did.  When I questioned her mother, she said it is because you always did and you baked the best ham in the county. May I ask why you cut off the ends of the ham?"

"Oh yes son, I cut off the ends because my pan was too small."

THE PROBLEM WITH TRADITION:

Matthew 15:1-3 (NKJV) Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?"

You Mean I Have to Love Everybody?

I need to make a confession, because I need the blood of Jesus to cleanse me of it.

I recently went on a retreat where I was alone for five days. I knew the Lord was present, He had been dealing with me about issues in my heart. I was also getting answers to long-standing questions so there was no doubt that I was not totally alone at the cabin. I just didn't have any face-to-face human interaction.

About halfway through the retreat, I confessed to the Lord that I was missing that human presence. It actually came as a surprise to me because I am very, very introverted and love my times of isolation. One of the things that I enjoy about writing is that I am most alive when left alone. But there at the cabin, the opposite occurred. Being so isolated made me miss human interaction. The Lord said of Adam, "It is not good that man should be alone."

The very next day after I got home, we had guests in our home. For some reason, I kept getting barraged with questions about why I kept things as I did in my home. Who and what and where and when and why and how. I felt like I was on trial for my housekeeping, organizing skills, or lack there of.

Suddenly, I began to resent the presence of human beings in my house. I could have returned to the cabin right then and there and been totally at peace with total seclusion. The frustration I felt that day has not left me, and I'm still feeling some kind of way about it. It didn't seem to offer me the feeling I was longing for at the cabin.

Since I've been back from the cabin, I happened to run across a passage of scripture in Matthew where Jesus was teaching on love. Whoops.

Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, do good to both evil people and good people, imitating the Father perfectly in this regard. Whoops again.

At the cabin, there was no one there to offend me therefore, I had an opportunity to miss them. Back home for one day, and they came into my house and offended me, and weeks later I am still struggling.

The book of James says we should confess our sins, trespasses, unfaithfulness, and iniquities to one another so we may pray for one another. The prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. Pray for me y'all.

Heavenly Father,

   I know I am a work in progress. The epistle of First John asks how can we say we love You whom we have not seen, and not love our brother whom we have seen. I don't know the answer to this question, but You can change my heart to love my neighbor as myself, and to walk in the fruit of the Spirit while I am still on this earth. I need to somehow put aside thinking of myself, so I'm not so easily offended, and learn how to come to love the unlovely. Let Your love abide in my heart toward my fellow man. Where ever there is peace on earth, let me play a part in it by sowing my peace with it. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

When faith is tested

Endurance grows

When endurance is fully developed

We will be perfect and complete.

All Things Working Together

In every single aspect of our lives, God is weaving together the threads to make something beautiful. When you look at the backside of an embroidery piece, the stitching is wild and messy. That's life. Messy. But God has a purpose for everything He allows. He is the great artist of our souls, intertwining every single thread of our lives to weave an extraordinary masterpiece.

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:10 (NKJV)

Nothing we go through in life is wasted on God, He uses all of it. He takes our messy lives and works it together for our good. We are the work of His hands, and His work is not inferior. You're a one-of-a-kind work of art, even when all you can see is the backside of messy life.

Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

And we know that all things

work together for good

to those who love God,

to those who are the called

according to His purpose.

 

Souls Under Construction

Our tender souls have been embodied by this world’s value system… love those who love you and hate those who hate you, for example (Matt. 5:43). But the believer in Christ must not be governed by the behavior of this world’s system. Once we receive Christ through faith and belief, we are indwelt by His Holy Spirit who begins to change us by guiding and re-shaping our thought patterns, which ultimately governs our behavior. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them (Matt. 7:20).

Our souls begin to gradually change form when our minds and hearts are renewed and reconstructed. New wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved (Luke 5:38). The more we become Christ-like the greater our effectiveness in the body of Christ and in His kingdom. We become beacons of light on a motion sensor, shining in a dark world… when you walk by it, the light come on. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16 NKJV).

Regeneration of the soul is instantaneous at the time of conversion, but transformation takes time and is a steady, continuous effort.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2 NKJV).

Shortly after my conversion, the Lord showed me a vision. I was looking at my reflection in the mirror and my facial features began to change. My eyes, nose, ears, mouth, jawbone, and forehead all began to morph slowly one-by-one until my reflection in the mirror was Christ’s. The apostle Paul says, “All believers behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from faith to faith and glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).

And I am certain that God, who began this good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns (Phil. 1:6 NLT).

#myperspective

Justice Cometh - Blacks Lives Matter

The fact that we are having COVID-19 and race crusades side-by-side in America is a testament to the fact that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (quote from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.). God eventually does come to the aide of oppressed people. He said of the Israelites in Exodus 3:8, “I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.” He led them out of slavery and into the Promised Land.

When we say Black Lives Matter, it is not to disqualify all other lives - nor is it to imply that all lives don’t matter except the Black ones. It is to simply highlight a long history of Black lives not mattering in this country. It is to raise a consciousness that Blacks are not inferior to any other race simply because of the color of our skin.

Black Lives Matter is simply a movement in peaceful protest for how we are being treated in this country since the time Plymouth Rock landed on us and we were brought here in shackles. For the sake of having the conversation on race relations and civil injustice, it is how we protest... that alongside all other races in America, Black lives certainly do matter. We are not superior, and we are not inferior.

When athletes kneel in protest, they are not dishonoring veterans, nor the flag, nor the country – they are simply using their platform as a professional athlete in America to raise the level of consciousness in peaceful protest against a country continually undermining Black folk, who are just as much a part of this country as everyone else.

The Constitution says, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice..."

God says, "I am come down to ensure this said Justice, is truly established among all citizens of the United States of America, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Let's make America great, truly great, by eliminating racism where it begins, in our own hearts.

God said, "If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (from COVID-19)."

Justice will not come until those who are not injured, are just as outraged as those who are. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

We Shall Overcome Someday is an old Negro spiritual that rang throughout the initial civil rights movement. Try to pretend, if you will, that systemic racism does not exist in America, but it's everywhere and visibly apparent and obvious, even to the blind. This country has oppressed African Americans well after the Emancipation Proclamation was invoked, from generation to generation, even to this very day (voter suppression for example). Deep in my heart, I do believe that we have overcome today.  #myperspective

 BLACK LIVES MATTER.

1 Kings 8:59 (NLT) May these words that I have prayed in the presence of the LORD be before Him constantly, day and night, so that the LORD our God may give justice to me and to His people.

Psalm 37:28 (NKJV) For the LORD loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

Psalm 72:4 (NKJV) He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor.

Psalm 89:14 (NKJV) Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.

Psalm 103:6 ( NKJV) The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

Psalm 140:12 (NKJV) I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor.

Proverbs 2:8 (NKJV) He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints.

Isaiah 12:4-5 (NKJV) And in that day you will say: “Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the people, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth."

Amen.

Truth About Paul's Thorn in the Flesh

The Truth About the Apostle Paul's

Thorn in the Flesh

This post was updated.

Please follow this link to the updated version.

https://richardsonblogger.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-thorn-in-pauls-flesh.html

The Promise of Answered Prayers

My compassionate High Priest is the source of making it possible to get my prayers answered when all “these things” are stacked against me.  ●  He is at the right hand of Father God making intercession for me.  ●  He is the Mediator between me and God and He always live to make intercession for me in the presence of Father God.  ●  And likewise, the Holy Spirit also helps in my weaknesses, because I don’t know what I should pray for as I ought to, but He Himself makes intercession for me according to the will of God.  ●  Now, this is the confidence that I have in Christ Jesus, that if I ask anything according to God’s will, He hears me. And if I know that He hears me, whatever I’m asking, I know that I have the petitions that I’ve asked of Him.  ●  If I abide in Him, and His word abides in me, I can ask for what I desire, and it shall be done.  ●  Whatever I ask of Father God, in Jesus’s name, He will give it to me.  ●  Let it be as He has said. Amen.

 

Unanswered Calls and Unanswered Prayers

 

For about 3 years now I have been struggling with unanswered prayers. Sending prayers up and getting no responses, completely ignoring me. It drove me to frustration and disappointment. Even my desire to pray grew cold and seemed useless. For the last couple of days the Lord has been ministering to me concerning my disappointments and helping me to feel better and He renewed my faith concerning prayer and its effectiveness.

This morning I got a glimpse of what it feels like to be God calling to us and getting no response. The Lord God said in Isaiah 65, "I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts." Judgment and punishment came to the whole nation of Israel because the Lord God said, "When I called, you did not answer, when I spoke, you did not hear but did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight."

The same way I felt about my unanswered prayers is how God felt about His unanswered calls. It is as if we saw Him on the Caller ID and refused to answer the phone.

So here we are at war with Coronavirus COVID-19, Racial division and civil unrest. Harmful effects of climate change. Disharmony in our nation's capitol and across our United States.

God called but we did not answer and here we are.

The prophet Isaiah compared the faithful to a small cluster of grapes in a large field that was about to be destroyed. God said, "I will not destroy them all, My faithful servants will be protected and restored. But the nation will suffer and grieve for sorrow of heart."

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Mark 12:30 (NKJV) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

My Encounter With Shame

When I was about eight years old, my sister and I walked to the neighborhood convenience store (now called Jeremy’s Grocery in the photo). On the way home I had to go to the bathroom really, really bad and I was pretty sure that I was not going to be able to hold it till I got to the toilet.

My sister was livid at the thought of my excreting in my britches right there on the city street. She screamed at me to hurry so we could make it home in time. But... I sat down on the side of the road and relieved myself.

She beat me back to the house by about 30 seconds, and by the time I walked in the door, everyone who was in the house knew of the shameful thing that had just occurred in my short little life, and hers.

Another time, around that same age, someone caught me digging in my nose and eating a booger. For I don’t know how long, people started addressing me as The Booger Girl.

Shame and humiliation can be the backbone for many kinds of emotional pain that are side effects and consequences of shame. There was no such thing as social media when I was eight years old, but what if it was, and they had put my humiliating experiences on blast? I would not have been able to live it down, or know how to get over it. Even now, I can remember the negative emotions that washed over me when someone would look me in the face and say, “Booger Girl!” I regretted that they had caught me eating boogers.

I heard a preacher say that someone asked him, “If every thought that you ever had would be exposed on a screen right now, would you still have your job as pastor?” He responded, “Oh God no! Would you still have any friends?” If others could sometimes hear what we were thinking about them, they would leave us to our thoughts permanently.

My husband’s daughter and her three children have had to move in with us and I have hated nearly every minute of it. My lifestyle and their lifestyle differs on so many levels, and the ugly thoughts that invades my mind is quite embarrassing and I am truly glad that they are not exposed on a screen or heard aloud. It would be more shameful than excreting in my britches on the city street.

As Christians, we are encouraged to love others as we love ourselves. Jesus said, “Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” I am ashamed to say that these are no where near the thoughts I have been having about this situation. And it is no where near how I have even prayed about it. I have tried to pretend on the outside that I am okay with this, while wearing my inner mask to cover the shame of my real thoughts. I even considered leaving my husband to escape this situation, but I love my husband. So, I am stuck... pretending on the outside and feeling shame and dissatisfied on the inside, hoping that my Heavenly Father is not too grieved at my hypocrisy.

A story is told in Mark chapter 1 of a leper that came to Jesus with his shame. The leper said, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus said, “I am willing.” He healed the man’s shame immediately. The leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

The apostle John said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12, that for the joy set before Him, Christ endured the cross despising the shame. Now, having disarmed principalities and powers, He has made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them at the cross. He is now on the opposite end of shame, sitting honorably at the right hand of the throne of God.

We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and our need for feeling humiliated has been squashed at the cross. I am daughter of the King, and He has declared that in that day I shall not be shamed for any of my deeds in which I transgress against Him (Zephaniah 3:11). The Lord has spoken, let it be as He has said. Amen.

The Day Satan Was Kicked Out

Introduction to The Gap Theory

Between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, something catastrophic happened. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The next verse says, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

The images of chaos, disaster, darkness and devastation says something occurred between verses 1 and 2 that is not recorded there. What happened in the gap of Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 that caused the earth to become without form, and void of inhabitants?

As a result of God’s fierce anger, Satan got kicked out of heaven, that’s what happened. He hit earth at the speed of lightning, and with such force, that it became without form and void.

God Saw That It Was Good

During creation week described in Genesis 1:3 through 1:31, everything God created, He saw that it was good. God did not move forward in the creation process till He confirmed what He had just completed was good.

The first thing God did in this re-formation process was to establish light in the physical darkness, because He is light, and it represents His presence. He called out light and saw that it was good. He divided the already existing waters of earth from the clouds. He separated already existing seas and dry land and saw that it was good. He made grass and vegetation and saw that it was good. He made the sun, moon and the stars and saw that it was good. He made all the sea creatures, and every living thing that moves, and the birds, and saw that it was good. He made all animal life, both walking and creeping and saw that it was good. Then God looked at everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

God did not create the heavens and the earth and then leave it in a state of chaos… empty and dark. Everything God created, He saw that it was good. It is written by the prophet Isaiah that earth was created to be inhabited, not to be formless and empty.

For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:18)

The Original Creation in The Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

The heavens and the earth were perfect in the beginning, until it somehow became without form and void.

I believe there was an original creation that took place in the beginning, and also a reformation of creation after something happened that put it in a state of chaos. Both times, I believe that God used six days to complete the task of making and re-making heaven and earth.

Matter is not eternal. Without any pre-existing material God brought the earth and all matter into existence.

All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3)

Before time began, the Word (who is the pre-incarnate Christ Jesus) was already in existence. He is eternal. He is a part of God. He was in the bosom of the Father. He was involved in the creationary process. He became flesh and blood through the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary.

In a conversation that God had with Job from the land of Uz, He gives a meticulous account of the earth’s creation to include the angels singing and rejoicing at its wonderful splendor. They did not shout for joy over something that was without form and void. When God laid the foundations of earth, He took careful measurements placing it in perfect alignment in the solar system. There was nothing left to chance, He used wisdom to create everything.

“Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7)

You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. (Heb. 1:10)

He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heaven by His understanding. (Jer. 51:15)

The original creation in Genesis 1:1 was a place where dinosaurs lived. What ever fossils scientists have found that date back millions of years, I believe, did exist on earth prior to the devastation.

Lucifer in The Beginning

Prior to Satan’s fall, his name was Lucifer which means Day Star - Son of the Morning. He was one of God’s three archangels. He was in a place called Eden, the garden of God but this was not the same Garden of Eden that was the home of Adam and Eve. This place existed many, many millions of years before Adam and Eve… maybe even before time began. God created Lucifer, and of course, He saw that it was good. Everything was created by God, including the devil. Lucifer was perfect at his creation, and beautiful in appearance, probably the most beautiful angel God ever created. The prophet Ezekiel describes how majestic he was, using the king of Tyrus as a backdrop.

Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.’” (Ezekiel 28:12-15)

Lucifer’s Downfall

Lucifer became filled with pride because of his beauty. Lucifer said he would exalt his throne above the stars of God. I’m sure that means all the other angels. Angels are often referred to as stars. In God’s fierce anger (Jer. 4:26), Satan was cast out of heaven and his beauty was destroyed. The eternal Word, (Jesus pre-incarnate) said He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. He was no longer Lucifer (son of the morning), but he was now Satan (the adversary). He no longer held any authority in God’s angelic kingdom. Satan along with a third of the heavenly beings are now adversaries who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom they may devour.

And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18)

Jesus (the Word pre-incarnate) saw Satan’s forceful eviction from heaven (the seat of authority). This doesn’t mean that Satan had no further access to heaven, for other Scriptures clearly indicate that Satan maintained this access even after his fall (Job 1:6, 2:1). However, Ezekiel 28:18 indicates that Satan was absolutely and completely cast out of God’s heavenly government and his place of authority.

You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. (Ezek. 28:18)

The Triumph Over Evil

When the 70 appointed disciples returned from ministry, they enthusiastically told that the demons were subject to them in Jesus’s name. But Jesus was not surprised nor impressed. He remembers the demise of Satan’s authority and power. He gives this authority over the enemy to His disciples to trample on him and rise above any means which the enemy would use to hurt them.

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)

No weapons formed against us shall prosper. The enemy has been disarmed and rendered powerless under the mighty name of Jesus.

Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (the cross). (Colossians 2:15)

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (Revelation 12:9-12)

Bibliography

Holy Bible, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc., 1997, 2011, 2012.  Scripture from any Thomas Nelson Bible translation may be quoted in any form up to 500 verses or less without written permission.

The King James Version Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc. 1994.

It Coulda Been Me

Early Saturday morning I went online to check the results of the lottery ticket my husband bought us. Before I was able to get to the website, I got to thinking about a time when I was broke and being evicted from my apartment.

I had found a women's shelter that would take me in. They told me to be there first thing the next morning. They only had one bed left and they promised it to me.

When I arrived they had given my bed to someone else. I was very upset and didn't know what to do.

The lady in the front office suggested I speak with her colleague who might be able to help. He met with me but was clearly annoyed by the intrusion first thing in the morning without an appointment. He made no effort to cover up his frustration.

I prayed!

Against his own will, this young man went to great lengths to get me the assistance I needed. I got two months of paid rent to avoid the eviction and six months of food stamps. This gave me time to get on my feet and move on.

As I sat in our living room recalling the experience, I remembered a song written by Walter Hawkins that our choir used to sing many, many years ago.

Wanna hear it? Here it goes...

Tragedies are common place

All kinds of diseases, people are slipping away

Economy's down, people can't get enough pay

But as for me, all I can say is

Thank You Lord for all You've done for me.

Folks without homes, living out in the streets

And the drug habits some say, they just can't beat

Muggers and robbers, no place seems to be safe

But You've been my protection every step of the way

And I want to say

Thank You Lord for all You've done for me.

It could've been me

Outdoors

No food

No clothes

Or left alone

Without one friend

Or just another number

With a tragic end

But You didn't see fit to let none of these things be

And everyday by Your power

You keep on keeping me

And I want to say

Thank You Lord for all You've done for me.

I wanna thank You for Your for love

Thank You for Your power

Thank You for protection

Every hour

I want to thank You for mercy

Wanna thank You for so much grace

Thank You for holding me

Thank You for loving me

Thank You for keeping me

Thank You for leading me

Thank You for guiding me

Thank You for protecting me

Where would I go?

No place to sleep

But You made a way for me

I want to say thank You

I could have been lost

In my sin

But You quickened my heart

And You brought me in.

Thank You for picking me up

Thank You for turning me around

Thank You for placing my feet

On solid ground.

I want to say thank you

Early in the morning

Brand new mercies I see

Thank you Lord for all You've done for me.

As I sang the song in my head, tears flooded my face. It could 've been me on the street, but God is faithful and didn't see fit to let it be.

As we struggle through this pandemic, tragedies are definitely commonplace. Somehow in the midst of it all, I remembered this testimony of God's faithfulness to me.

As a way to pay it forward, I sometimes volunteer to feed the homeless at The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center aka The Stewpot.

Well, we didn't hit the lottery this time, but I thank You Lord for all You've done for me. Amen.

Let's Sing

I woke up this morning singing...

Father, Father, Father we praise You!
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus we love You!
Holy Spirit, yes! We adore You!
Yes we do!

Then the first devotional I read was about singing and how music helps us through hard times. The closing prayer was...

Father, I thank You that Your mercies are new every morning and Your faithfulness is great. Empower me to sing the song of Your great love—even when I must sing it through my tears.

My ending to this prayer is...

Father, help me remember Your character is love and that You still love me even when my life is in turmoil. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen.

Blessed Assurance - Jesus Is Mine

Jesus was greatly misunderstood as He ministered to the people. He told the people that you must eat My flesh and drink My blood and at the last day I'll raise you up. They did not know He was speaking in a spiritual sense. They thought He was speaking of cannibalism, and He did not make the correction.

Many of His disciples turned and walked away and did not follow Him anymore. Jesus asked the 12 disciples, "Do you also want to go away? Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." This did not mitigate their confusion but they knew in their hearts that they did not want to walk away. Jesus spoke figuratively and it confused even His closest disciples. But they did not walk away from Him.

Apostle John wrote, much later, that they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have no doubt continued with us. When false believers walked away they revealed that they did not belong to the Christian community. They were never true believers in the first place.

Jesus said to His disciples, "You did not choose Me, but I chose and appointed you." He also prayed over  the twelve saying, "Those whom You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." So even though the disciples were very confused at times, they were being spiritually kept and could not turn their backs on the Lord.

I also experienced this when I up and decided to break up with the Lord because we could not see eye to eye. I got down on my knees to pray my good-bye prayer, and when I had said all I wanted to say, I got up to walk away and collapsed back down on my knees in a heap of wailing as never before seen. I could not do it, in the same way that Jesus's disciples were being kept, I couldn't walk away from Eternal Life.

As Christians, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. This impartation is called anointing. It joins us to the Anointed One and we share in His anointing.

There are those falsely professing Christ that don't share in His anointing. Of these people in the last day Jesus will say to them, "I never knew you. Depart from Me."

But of those who ate of His flesh and drank of His blood, they will have everlasting life, just as He said. We are kept by the power of His anointing. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine 

O what a foretaste of glory divine 

Heir of salvation, purchase of God 

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood 

Perfect submission, all is at rest 

I in my Savior am happy and blessed 

Watching and waiting, looking above 

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love 

This is my story, this is my song 

Praising my Savior all the day long 

This is my story, this is my song 

Praising my Savior all the day long 

Blessed Assurance by Third Day

The Story of My Life

Psalm 139:16 (NLT) You saw me before I was born. Everyday of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

God IS done writing our story, but He is certainly not done carrying it out. This is not how our story ends.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Sermon Excerpt from Talbert Swan:

God exercises rule and providential authority over the affairs of our lives. So if He allows us to get to this point, He also has a strategy for getting us through it.

God is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Beginning and the End. That means when God started, He was already at the end looking at Himself start. God does not wait for you to get into trouble to react to what the enemy is doing. God started at the end of your life and backed up, saw you would need a way out of no way, and put it in there. Backed up again, saw you would need healing, and put it in there. Backed up again, saw your child would be strung out needing deliverance, and put that in there. Then when He had backed all the way to the beginning of your life, He said, "Now start."

Your life to God is like Gilligan's Island. It's just a rerun. He has already been there and done that... already worked it out.

Keep your head up, looking toward Heaven. This is where our help comes from.

Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)

May the LORD bless you

and protect you.

May the LORD smile on you

and be gracious to you.

May the LORD show you His favor

and give you His peace.

Amen.

Unanswered Prayers

Lately I have been seeking the Lord about my unanswered prayers, because it seems like I am starting to lose faith in praying because of the multitude of unanswered ones piling up.

A long time ago I came across a poem that still blesses me to this day.