God Will Provide
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)
Many of you have been faithful followers and prayer warriors following my family’s “Journey of Change” these past few years since I have been blogging. From May 2008 to present we have journeyed from losing our 1800 sq. ft. home in Phoenix, Arizona; downsizing to an 800 sq. ft. apartment; followed the leading of the Lord for my husband to resign the church he ministered for 12 years and resign a full time teaching position to move across country to Pennsylvania to live closer to my family after being away for 33 years; Jim received a teaching and administrative position at a Christian school for a 1/3 of his income in Arizona (no benefits, i.e. health insurance, etc.); and Jim and I living in a 36 ft. 5th wheel travel trailer for the last 18 months.
God hears and answers prayers!
Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! Psalm 66:16-20 (NIV)
Since July of 2009 Jim has been assisting a struggling church in the Schuylkill Haven area (about 14 miles north of where we currently live). A few months ago Jim and I received peace from the Lord that Higher Ground Worship Center was where the Lord wanted us to call our church home. Since this was where the Lord desires us to worship, we felt we needed to live closer to the church so we could enjoy the fellowship of the dear people of Higher Ground. We began to pray for the Lord to open doors for us to move into an affordable rental or even by some miracle purchase a home. We also know – and greatly appreciate your prayers as well these past 18 months for the Lord to provide“more permanent” and healthier living arrangements for Jim and me.
God is the God of miracles!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, Psalm 105:5 (NKJV)
Through your greatly appreciated prayers these past 18 months for the Lord to provide “more permanent” and healthier living arrangements for Jim and I, the Lord God – Jehovah Jireh miraculously provided a 1977 single wide, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 934 sq. ft. refurbished mobile home for us to purchase and we will be moving this week! After living in a travel trailer for 18 months it will seem like a mansion!
Continued Prayers
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 (NIV)
We still need your prayers for the following:
• Weather and safety while moving– we have about a foot of snow on the ground already and this coming Tues. and Wed. the forecast is for more snow and temps in the low 20’s on Friday thru the weekend!
• Need furniture – living room furniture, lamps, etc.
• Need a handicap ramp to enter the home.
• And this is the biggie – we need to sell our 5th wheel.
• Down the road – storage shed, air conditioner unit, patio furniture, and funds to make some improvements.
• Health needs – for my continual chronic health needs and Jim’s health; also that he will not “over do it” concerning heavy lifting because of his degenerative disc disease in his back
Thank you again for all your prayers.
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. I always pray for you, and I make my requests with a heart full of joy Philippians 1:3, 4 (NLT)
Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, I come to You with a grateful heart knowing that You have promised to provide all our needs. I thank You for hearing and answering our prayers according to Your perfect will. If there is someone reading this devotion and struggling in their day to day life wondering if God will provide their need, I ask that You would give them peace and reassurance that You are their provider. I ask Lord that You continue to bless those reading this devotion. Thank You Lord for each prayer warrior that has so faithfully prayed for my family. Thank You Lord for being our Provider. In Jesus precious name, amen.
Deny Myself?
When I was in college, I had very little spending money to go around, so I learned early on to be frugal. I remember looking through the cereal boxes for the cheapest one and landing on Kashi (back then it was just one type of cereal, not all the yummy great stuff they have today). This saved my morning meal and then I had generic shampoos and soaps and definitely nothing fancy or special (and by that I mean, popcorn or new mascara). It really didn’t matter to me at the time though because I was too busy enjoying school and friends to worry about material things.
After marriage, I began to feel a little differently though. I was working full time, making enough money to enjoy a cappuccino daily in the morning and a hairstylist in an actual salon. Pretty soon, those things that had once seemed extravagant to me now seemed like necessities and just a part of my every day life. I had denied myself for a while, so it was time to make up for it with plenty of pampering.
Coffee, scones, new shoes, designer makeup, a gym membership… In a short period of time, I had bought into the world’s thinking. “I deserve this,” preceded small indulgences. Or, more likely, I never thought twice about my rationale for purchasing things because I just assumed there was nothing wrong with making myself comfortable.
Comfortable - that’s all we really ask for these days, isn’t it? I want comfortable shoes, a comfy chair at work, a comfortable environment at the corner restaurant and I want to feel comfortable in my relationships too. Being uncomfortable is just so, well, uncomfortable!
I seek out comfort in every avenue of my life: work, home, around town, and even church. We want to go to church and hear words to calm our hearts and encourage us, but don’t push us past our comfort zones. Shouldn’t church be a comfortable place? Of course, we want everyone to feel accepted and welcomed at church, but is our goal the comfort of the congregation?
When I read some of Jesus’ words, I start to get really uncomfortable.
Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me.
Ahem, well Lord, I want to come to church and hear your voice, but are you sure that’s what you want to say to me? What about something a little more cheery - you know, like Rejoice in the Lord always? I’m not so sure I like being challenged like this, being asked to obey, to risk, to surrender, to…..
get uncomfortable for Jesus.
And so, some of those things that I just got in the habit of expecting, some of that attitude of pampering myself, some of that entitlement is going to the cross today. And as I see my sinful self dying, I realize that I’d much rather be uncomfortable with Jesus by my side than back in my cushy lifestyle wrapped up in myself.
The Song of God
A gentle snow fell today. The white flakes swirled gracefully from the gray sky to the objects below waiting to be blanketed by them. We’ve had an abundance of snow this winter, so my first inclination was to be discouraged, even depressed.
Between the snow, ice, and then the thaw that turned the ground into mud, our steep, narrow gauged dirt road with 100 foot drop offs has become nearly impassable. Just the other night coming home from work, the mud turned my car in a tail spin and I nearly spun off the mountain. So when I saw the snow, I knew I’d once again be held captive in my home for who knows how long because I’m too afraid to drive my car back down the mountain.
I wrapped myself up in my light green fleece sweater and went out on the porch to fill the empty bird feeder. It was there, on the porch, that I heard it.
It wasn’t loud and full of vibrato. It was a calm, soothing tone. It was the tune the snowflakes danced to with great joy. The tune was so beautiful that even the birds remained silent. The gray trees with snow on their limbs swayed, but they never once clapped their branches together. Instead, all creation stood silent so I could hear it.
It was the Song of God. And He was singing over me with exuberant joy. It was a song of great delight.
“See the way the snowflakes dance with joy? Drink it in! It’s all for you, it’s a gift.
When you feel tempted to fall into discouragement, give Me praise, just like these dancing ice crystals falling from the sky. I am your help and lifter of your countenance, the water for your thirst. Lift up your voice, even in the smallest strains, and sing.
Rise up on the wings of prayer, My beloved, and let the song I have born in you arise; and you will hear My voice in harmony with yours.
Come sing with Me.
Come dance with Me.
Come in joy and jubilation, for I have dealt lovingly with you.
Don’t feel imprisoned by this snow, sing.
Don’t be captured by disappointment, sing.
I have not taught you to sing only when you are happy and free from troubles. I have shown you that the turmoils of life cannot defeat you. Sit upon the strength of My shoulders and sing!
Sing from a thankful heart, and I will sing with you.”
And I joined Him. I sang the song of God.
“I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.”
Psalm 13:6
The Humming Bird Atheist
I snapped this photo last night from my family room window. We are looking into the backyard. It’s twilight in this scene. It’s the mad rush of the Hummingbirds. The winter months offer very little in the way of sweet nectar for these tiny birds so they find my overly sweetened concoction the perfect treat right before bed.
For 15 minutes prior to darkness, these tiny birds go wild. They fight, they buzz each other, they are quite loud in their protests as they tweet warnings to one another as they compete for a spot to land and drink. Actually they compete for ownership of this feeder not only in the evening, but there is an ongoing power struggle that plays out in this corner of my yard every day.
I love these birds. They are a delight to watch and a joy in my life.
I am annoyed by these birds as well and this is why. Every time I walk past this feeder, I’m nearly frightened out of my thoughts. I pass by and out of the surrounding shrubs, one or two will descend upon me. They fly with lightning speed straight at my head. Buzzing around my face. I flinch and immediately raise my arms to cover my face. Sheesh. To tick me off further one will purposely hover in front of me showing me her tiny-eyed-glower to insure I have received the warning:
Stay away from MY food.
Now being that I am blonde and not afraid to talk to the birds in my back yard, I stare back at this tiny thing and tell her, “Excuse me, but don’t you realize that I’m the one who is feeding you?”
She flies back to her perch in the shrubs, unaware that I am saving her life. She is uncaring and remains hostile to the blonde lady who lovingly mixes an extra sweet delight just for her. She is unmoved to change her disposition. As I watch her flee, I’m hit smack in the face with a thought,
I GET IT.
I get it.
It is absolutely obvious that I provide the nectar to help sustain these birds through winter. They fight over what I freely give. I am so extraordinarily large in their scheme of life, so foreign to their living and it’s likely that I appear threatening.
Whoa! Do you think this is how God sees us?
It’s absolutely obvious that He created everything. I mean everything. He loves to give us extra sweet gifts but are we too small to conceive they are of Him? The very hand who feeds us is the one we are convinced is a threat. God faithfully and lovingly removes things from our lives that He knows will one day harm us, yet we fight with all our might to cling to our little corner of the yard.
I think about my unbelieving husband. He can’t see God. Yet God is all around him. He fights against the power that is helping him as God stands near and speaks, “Can’t you see it’s me. Everything good and edifying in your life, I stand near you and provide.”
I once hear a an atheist on a radio program say that when he dies and if by some slim chance there is a God, he will demand an answer of Him, “Why didn’t you reveal yourself?”
God will reply,” Every time you opened the front door and took a step into my creation, you were looking into the face of God.”
Luke 12:6 (NIV) Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies ? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. ~Nor the hummingbirds….
I would love to share a few more of my photos over at my place. Stop in. Leave a prayer request for the atheist in your life, leave a link to your bird photos.(I love photos of God’s creation), and let’s walk together as we journey toward heaven.
Read MoreChoose Him More
I don’t usually post to my blog on Sundays. However, on Sunday Jan 16th, some thoughts came to mind and I quickly wrote a short post, entitled “Just Do It” and pressed publish. It could have been my last post. The following evening I was in a car accident. Thankfully no one was hurt.
At the moment before impact my life didn’t flash before my eyes as people often say it does. It happened too quickly. There was much time for reflections afterward however.
As I sat at home later that night, still quite shaken I thought about my day, weekend and the previous week. Thoughts of, “Am I living in readiness for His coming?” and “Were my decisions in those previous days pleasing to my Lord?” flew through my mind.
To the best of my ability I try to live a life that is pleasing in His sight. I dare say however that if I knew with utmost certainty the day and the hour that He was going to call my name I’d probably make a few different choices in those days leading up to His calling me home.
But, I don’t know when He is going to call me. None of us do. The Bible says,
35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn.[a] But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready. Luke 12:35-38 (NLT)
I know that had last Monday been my last day on this earth I would now be present with my Lord. I also know that I would have stood before Him with the knowledge that there was so much more He had for me to accomplish here on earth if I’d just chosen Him more than fear, tiredness, busyness… Unfortunately, it would be too late for me to do any thing about it. Thankfully, I’m still here. I can still do those things He has predestined me to do.
Maybe He’s telling me, you, us, that although we may have already chosen Him before, to simply choose Him more.
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