Going Out of Town

Dear Ones -

I am travelling this weekend, leaving in the morning. I do not know what kind of access I will have to write via this blogspot. Hopefully, it will work out. If not, meet me back here on Monday evening, okay? Blessings to you and yours!

We Didn't Plan It That Way

Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
Ephesians 1:4-6 The Message

As we enter into the Christmas season this year, almost everyone has plans of some kind. Plans to shop for gifts for family or friends. Maybe you have plans for friends' parties or the office get-together. Or maybe you're one who just plans to hide out till it's all over.

Maybe you had plans for this year that didn't work out and you haven't reconciled with it. Maybe you suffered the worst - the death of a loved one that no one can plan for. (((💔))) I'm so sorry...

We can plan and save and work but sometimes, it seems our plans are all for naught. Things don't turn out the way we planned them. Listen, I want to encourage you. Don't quit. Don't give up. God's been planning our lives since "long before he laid down earth's foundations... Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son." 

God DOES have a plan for each of us. Sometimes, it's very difficult to see. However, if we will work WITH Him instead of against Him, it will work...even if we didn't plan it that way.

Prayer:

Father,
          We don't always understand. It's hard for us to walk out the living Word of  'Your ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours'. We choose to trust You. We choose Your Son, Your will, Your way over everything the world has to offer. Increase our faith, God. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Repeat Reminder!

My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the Lord.  And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT

I am always driven to these 2 verses when things happen or are happening that I can't understand. Used to be, I would rant and rail at God, explaining to Him all the reasons those things shouldn't be happening and touting what I believed would be a better plan (usually mine...) Thank God, I've finally come to the place that I believe whatever God does is ultimately for our good. Whatever He allows to touch our lives is there to help us grow in faith and love and trust.

I've been sitting here, trying to find the right words to convey the depth of His love in these two verses, but all I keep hearing is Laura Story's song called  Blessings. So that's what I'm sending along. I've included the link, or you can copy and paste it. I've also included the lyrics. Open your heart to the Lord and let this song wash over your spirit.

This is NOT a message of apologetics. It's about a God who doesn't have to explain Himself, but does anyway, because of His great love for us. The question is, can we understand Him?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ&feature=related

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not - this is not our home

It's not our home

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Prayer:

Father,

          We love You and we trust You. Use whatever it takes to get our attention and keep it on You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Scattered

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.

But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
Acts 8:1,4 NLT

Scattered. Persecuted. Running for their lives! All because they were believers... It was bad! They were being hunted and thrown in prison and killed just for being Christians. Did it stop them? Did they forever go into hiding? Did it paralyze them in fear? No! The Bible says they preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. [emphasis mine]

They had recently watched Jesus die on the Cross. All hope should have been gone... but they had met the Master. They witnessed His everyday-walking-around life and they had been changed forever... and because of it, they were changing the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. The blessed salvation message - all while scattered. Not in their homes. Not with their families. Not with their friends. Scattered. Spread the Word; the Good News wherever you are scattered.

Prayer:

Father,

           Help us to fix our hearts and minds on You. Let nothing get in the way of sharing Your Good News to a lost and dying world. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

I Have to Do Everything

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
Philippians 2:14-16 NIV

I don't know when it happened. I'm not even sure how it happened, I just know that I've caught myself doing it, and I don't like it. Grumbling. Complaining. Being negative. I told my sister today, that is NOT who I want to be. I have to rip out that bad seed by the root, get rid of the thorns and re-work the hardened soil of my heart and soul! Jeremiah 4:3 tells us, Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. I am thanking God this day that He shines His light on the Truth of His Word and loves me enough to correct me.

Michelle offered that we should refocus our hearts and minds by actively communicating every day what we are thankful for. Knowing my sister and I are two peas in a pod, I readily agreed with one stipulation: We have to be truly grateful, not negatively grateful. What do I mean by that? Well, none of this - "I'm grateful I didn't smack the snot out of anyone today who ticked me off, even though I had ample opportunity." To which she replied, "Yeah, I was thinking no - 'I'm so grateful God gave me good perceptive skills so I could see an idiot coming from a mile away' kind of thing, either." (Yes, you can see for yourself we needed to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God... Confessing our faults one to another, praying for one another that we might be healed.) It is God's Word - His Living Word - that changes the hearts and minds of mankind.

Yes, I have to do everything - without grumbling and complaining or arguing! We choose to control what comes out of our mouths by following Your Word, I will bless the Lord at all times: Your praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Prayer:

Father,
           According to Your Word in Philippians 4:7, we choose not to worry about anything, but to tell You every detail of our needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and Your peace which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over our hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. Make our hearts pure so that when we speak out of its fullness our words will be pure. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Like I Believe

If you love me, obey my commandments.
John 14:15 NLT

You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. 
1st Corinthians 6:19b-20a NLT

If you are married and you believe in the principles of marriage till death do you part, and you LIVE like you are married till death do you part because you value the relationship, then you won't be swayed by the temptations that WILL come your way. You will quickly recognize they don't line up with what you believe and so, you won't compromise your marriage relationship. 

Same thing with your job. If you learn the company policies and procedures and put them into practice, you will know when an action does not line up with the company's guidelines. And if you value what you do for the company, you won't compromise the business relationship for a lesser standard.

Strong and solid relationships are worth the extra time and effort needed to nurture them and keep them alive.

If you are married and you act like you are single, you won't be married very long. If you are employed by a company and you act like the rules don't apply to you, you won't be there for long. Would you agree?

The same is true in our relationship with the Lord. Nowhere in His Word does it say God suggests anything. It's His rules, His way for this life we live because He paid for our lives. If we love Him, we will keep His commandments. No ifs, ands or buts... If you live like you believe His Word then you won't be swayed by the temptations that WILL come your way. You will quickly recognize they don't line up with what you believe.

Do you live like you believe? If so, is that good or bad?

Prayer:

Father,
         Breathe on us. Cause Your Word to come alive in us to bring forth the fruit You have purposed for our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

God is Good

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalm 136:1 NKJV

My youngest granddaughter spent the night with me last night - one of my favorite things in the world - Sleepover at Granna's house. That means there are other things that are put aside, writing being one of them. However, I found this sermon on line that is a great reminder of the goodness of God and I want to share part of it with you. It was written by Lloyd Stilley, who at the time of its writing (almost 5 years ago), was the pastor at First Baptist in Gulf Shores, Alabama, USA.

Lend me your ears now for two stories, and see if you can detect the common denominator they share. The first is one of those ripping good parables that Jesus told about our Heavenly Father. Once upon a time, there was a wealthy man who, early one morning, dropped by the marketplace, which was the ancient equivalent to the unemployment office. There he hired a bunch of guys to work in his vineyard for an agreed upon rate of pay. A few hours later, he went back again and then again later that same day, each time employing more and more men. In fact, as Jesus told it, the owner of the vineyard hired extra workers right up until quitting time. The last men were hired just one hour before sunset. 

As the last light of day faded, the workers gathered to receive their pay. They were lined up in order from the last ones hired and working backward. And this is when Jesus tucked a zinger into the story. Every man, no matter how long they had worked that day, received exactly the same pay: one day's wages. 

I don't have to tell you that things got a little testy by the time the line reached its end. A low murmur passed among those who were hired early that morning. Finally someone just said it: "This is not right. We got a bum deal. You have short-changed us! We did most of the work today. We carried the burden under the hot sun. But you treated them as equals in the labor! 

Jesus put these words in the mouth of the owner of the vineyard: "Didn't we agree together on what I would pay you? I've kept my word to you. Now don't begrudge my desire to be generous! For reasons that are mine, I wanted to do something unexpected, something crazy, something that would make these men run home to their wives and say, 'You're not going to believe what happened to me today!'" (Based on Matthew 20) 

Now for the second story, which took place in a classroom at Hannibal-LaGrange College in Missouri back in 2002. It was the day for final exams. Denise Banderman walked into the classroom minutes before the professor arrived. Everybody in the room was doing last-minute cramming. Then the professor enters and takes a few minutes to review. Most of it was familiar, but there were some things that no one remembered ever hearing. The professor responded with what sends cold chills up every student's spine: "This is in your textbook, and you are responsible for the content on this exam.
The time came for the test. He gave the word, every student took up their pen and turned over their test. I want you to hear this in Denise's own words: "I couldn't believe it! To my astonishment every answer on the test was filled in. My name was even written on the exam in red ink." 

A wordless stir traveled like a wave over the class as each student looked at their completed exam. On the bottom of the last page of every test was this note from the professor: "All the answers on your test are correct. You will receive an A on the final exam. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A."  (Denise Banderman, Hannibal, Missouri; cited in PreachingToday.com, "Professor Takes Students' Test for Them") 

Now, consider what you have heard. There was the story about laborers who were paid a full day's wages for one hour's work. There was the story of an already-completed exam that gave every student an undeserved "A." What do these stories have in common? Call it out! 

Can I tell you something? Those aren't just the experiences in other people's lives. There isn't a single person in this room who hasn't experienced outrageous, lavish, unexpected, undeserved kindness. What is more, we experience these serendipities every single day. They are poured out over us constantly. I know this, and I declare it with total confidence today because of one unchanging truth that permeates every crease of reality: God is good! 

If you want to see God for Who He really is, here's a good starting point. "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good" (1st Chronicles 16:34). "Taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8) "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him and praise His name! For the Lord is good and His love is eternal, and His faithfulness endures to all generations." (Psalm 100:4-5)

Prayer:

Father,
            We enter into Your gates with thanksgiving for all You've done for us and continue to do. In our finite minds, we cannot even begin to fathom Your goodness and mercy and love toward us! How do we even begin to thank You for Your eternal love and faithfulness? Open our hearts to receive Your love in its fullness. Open our eyes to see Your goodness in every day. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Pastor Stilley's sermon in its entirety can be found here: https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/sermon-god-goodness-psalm-145-107