Are you in want?

Psalms 69:33 For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

Are you in a state of "want" today?  I am not necessarily talking about financially, but it applies as well.  Sometimes in life we can be in some very desperate positions.  Whether it be the need for a job or a need for a good report at the doctor.  Our prayers tend to be intense during these times of want and we can fret about everything if we aren't careful.

The more I live, the more I realize that everyone, and I mean everyone, is in need of something.  People are suffering.  They are in lack, in want and desperate for a myriad of reasons.  It is a heavy burden at times to think on everyone that I personally know who are going through major trials and then add all my own personal weights with those thoughts.  What are we to do?  Where are we to go?  How are we to survive during these times of life when the weight seems impossible to bear?

Well, a good starting point as a Christian is to think on how God views your situation.  That is the best perspective you are going to get.  Psalms 69 says that the Lord heareth the poor (those in want) and He despiseth not His prisoners.  That means He doesn't ignore those of His children who are literally or spiritually prisoners for His sake.  You and I are living in such perilous times that we may find out what it is like to be in actual bonds because of our faith.  Are you going to remember that God is remembering you?  I hope so, I hope I do.

God loves His children.  He will discipline them when they need correction and He will not forsake Truth in guiding them so they can be temporarily happy.  If God is not answering your prayer the way that you want it answered, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that He is doing something different that HE wants done and you can TRUST His decisions.  I know it isn't easy.  I know you want to throw up your hands and scream.  That is our flesh raging against the Spirit.  But don't give in to it!  Trust God.

Are you in want?  Are you desperate?  God says He hears you.  That should give you comfort.  Read these verses all day long and as long as it takes for you to rest in the knowledge that God DOES hear you and is in control:

1. Psalms 69:33 For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

2. Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

3. 1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

4. Psalms 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

5. Psalms 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

6. Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

***No sooner had I written this post then I was asked to pray for a dire, needy situation.  A situation that only God can resolve.  I immediately took comfort that God was hearing the prayers of His saints in want and I know I can trust in His will.  I prayed and was able to leave it in God's hands.  This, right here, is real life folks.  We must put our faith into action.***

Until next time, Lord willing,
Sheri

Is Your Family Ready to Go?

Re 1:1-4 ¶ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.       ¶Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Reading the Old Testament can be very emotional when you stop and ponder on the last book of the Bible, Revelation. If you haven’t read Revelation, lately, pick it up and read this tremendous book. Don’t tell yourself that you can’t understand it but ask God to open your eyes to Spiritual truth AND He will. Take your journal and as you read, draw yourself pictures, not for the Appleton Museum, but just for you. Use arrows, circles, magic markers…..anything to connect information to information. You will be amazed at what you remember.

We as born again believers have lived through so much of the scriptures and yet we were not alive when the Messiah, Jesus Christ, walked this earth. All those people in that day were witnesses to His healings and many other miracles. Many accepted the truth that He is indeed the Messiah and the healings and miracles were from God the Father while others rejected and so it goes on and on and on.  Some made it and some didn’t. We weren’t there but we have depended on this inspired Word of God. As we see the fulfilment of scripture we prepare ourselves for the next event ….. The rapture. You and I could very well be alive when we meet Christ in the air.  Is your family ready to go?

God didn’t bless me with sons, but He gave me two son-in-laws. With this great blessing came six grandchildren. I pray for them all, every day. As I read God’s Word, I read with them on my mind, ALWAYS, because I am responsible for my circle of life, family and friends. Does that make me a super Christian? NO, and ten thousand times, NO! If anything, I see myself the worst of all sinners which in reality helps me see others somewhere in eternity.

The trumpet sound can be heard afar off it seems as we read and listen to what is happening all over the world. Read Revelation this time with your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s pictures right in front of you. Do you see them? Are they ready for Christ’s return? Whether you believe in a literal rapture or not shouldn’t keep you from the reality that Christ IS RETURNING!

Get a hold of what will happen and ask yourself, “Are they born again, Father, and what do you want ME to do today to find out?”

Many times folks will say to me, “Well, I just don’t want to scare them away by saying something about Jesus or the church.” Oh really? Do you not trust Christ enough to believe that HE will put the exact words in your mouth to say to them what HE would say if HE were standing right there? Scare them away? From where, Hell? Oh me, dear friend, don’t be deceived by this lie from the enemy. YOU are the witness, friend……. you ARE the witness. No one may care enough to tell them but you love them more than anyone else. You care for them and they need to hear from YOU!

Recently, my daughter and I were passing out tracts and information about our church and radio station, 107.1, and a man greeted us by saying, “I’m an atheist.” I suppose he wanted to shock us, but I wanted to yell at him, “Sir, that is the reason we are passing out tracts! YOU NEED JESUS.” He refused the information. My daughter just smiled and I told her that one day he will see that re-run of himself rejecting Christ and it WILL BE TOO LATE! A fear beyond comprehension runs up and down my spine, friend, and I pray that you see the urgency of the hour. We find time for everything else we think we need, but people’s souls.

May I suggest the following to help you if you have struggled talking to your relatives or friends?    

  
 *Make yourself a list with their phone numbers. Call them and say, “I love you and was thinking about you today. Will you join me for church? I can fix lunch if you like.”

*Send them a message, “I love you and was thinking about you today. Will you join me for Sunday school or church? I will fix lunch if you want to eat with us or you can just take it home with you after church.”

*Visit them and say, “I love you and was thinking about you today. Is there a special need you would like for Mama (Grandma, Granny, Mema, Omaw, your name) to pray about? How about joining me for church and I will fix lunch.”

*Write them if they live out of town or call them regularly. Don’t preach to them, but always let them know you are praying for them. There is comfort to the lost or strayed when people pray for them. Sometimes, the hardest heart can be reached when we place our hand on their shoulder and pray for them.

*Set the right example or they will not listen to you. Remember Lot? Why would someone go to church with us, if we are not faithful ourselves? 

Don't hesitate because it may mean eternity in hell for that special loved one who just needs a "I love you, and was thinking about you today."

Until next time, Lord willing,

Sharon

Follow the pattern

2 Timothy 1:14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.

Last night I sat and listened to my dad instruct my oldest son about how to be the right kind of employee.  I inwardly smiled because I can remember Dad instructing me the same way when I was younger and I loved it that Wyatt was hearing the same, well grounded advice.

My dad is a no nonsense, hard working, man's man.  He does not understand how a person can sign a contract or commit to a project and then not complete his word.  He believes if you say you are going to do something, then by golly, you ought to do it, and do it well.  He told Wyatt that in our family we work and don't quit just because we get the sniffles or stub a toe.  Dad is turning 70 this year and my mom and sister will agree with me in telling you that Dad practices what he preaches.  He thanks God for his health and as long as he has it, he is going to show up to church and serve God.  Period. He wants his grandchildren to take that same hard work attitude and adopt it as their own.

I feel like I can hear Paul instructing Timothy with the same fervent spirit that my dad instructed my son.  Paul tells his spiritual son to hold fast to the Gospel that Paul has taught him.  That meant Timothy was to think about it, practice it and follow it.  Paul had given him the pattern of how to live and behave as a Christian and a preacher, so now Timothy didn't need to look elsewhere for how to do the will of God.  He needed to determine that he would follow the pattern!

Why do you and I want to get off track in our day to day lives?  Because we think we can try something better, something newer and fresher.  That is just plain foolish.  God has told us what He requires of us and what pleases Him.  And the only way we can adhere to His desires is to read His Word and determine to follow the pattern!

One of the greatest things about being a Christian is that we have SomeONE helping us "keep" everything we have been taught, and that is the Holy Spirit.  He guides us and helps us remember the little things.  Don't close your heart to His nudges.  When He reminds you of doctrine that you have left off following the pattern to, listen to Him and ask Him to help you make necessary changes in your spiritual walk. 

Follow the pattern!

Until next time, Lord willing,
Sheri

Turn On the Light!

2Ch 29:2-5 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.  And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

Sometimes we just don’t know the right and proper way to do something do we? But our hearts mean well as the desire to serve God is so evident in our daily walk with Him. God understands us more than we understand ourselves. He sees inside the heart and knows when we flounder around trying to be used of Him.

I was cleaning my back two bedrooms getting ready for Sheri and Wyatt to come home and found some pictures I had forgotten were tucked away. While cleaning out each and every drawer, I threw away a garbage bag full of trash, old clothes and books. It was just time to eliminate those items for which I had hung on too long. In the process I found Katie’s guitar and Amelia’s violin. I stopped, sat on the edge of the bed and cried. The memory of the moment was just too much for me. After my pity party, I pulled open a drawer full of cards, candy wrappers, sales slips and Christmas stockings.  Oh me….what is all this? I suppose in our haste to pack up Katie for college last year, we stuffed some trash in a drawer. I began to laugh out loud. Memories can do all kinds of things can’t they? I thought these rooms were in pretty good shape until I did a thorough cleaning.

Hezekiah did a thorough cleaning after Ahaz had left a mess. He was God’s man for God’s time in the lives of a people so confused and messed up that every drawer Hezekiah opened had to be dumped out and taken away. In the middle of cleaning house in Israel, he called for the Feast of the Passover. Amazing! You must read this additional passage of scripture in II Chronicles 29-32.

When we follow God’s pathway, He begins to show us little by little all the nooks and crannies to be cleaned if not totally removed! Don’t be too hard on yourself if sometimes it is overwhelming as you serve God. Take a crying break, wipe your tears and get up to finish the task at hand. Remember, God knows you better than you know yourself. Give Him time to help you focus on one drawer at a time. If your two back bedrooms are totally cleaned and you think you have arrived, then get ready for God’s hunt! He is the expert spring cleaner and He will point out the proud heart.

After vacuuming the rooms I placed the vacuum cleaner in the door way to remind me of one final run later in the week. In my haste of cleaning I forgot I had left the blinds opened and like a bull in a china cabinet I turned the corner to enter one of the rooms without turning on the light. You guessed it! I began to stumble over the cleaner, dancing my way with some pretty good moves if I must say so, catching my fat self before falling.  I didn’t know to laugh or to cry but quickly checked to see if I had eliminated a big toe! Again, don’t be too hasty in getting it all done. Open the Word of God, give yourself some light and take your time. One thing at a time is better than getting in a dead run just so you can mark something off your list! Dump the drawers, keep what is needed, and pat yourself on the back!

Hezekiah was quick to help the people but in the process he took his responsibility as a leader very seriously. He removed all the high places, and then broke the images. Out the door they went. He then cut down the groves. The brazen serpent for which Moses had made had to be eliminated because the people began to worship it. A good thing had turned bad. It will happen every time if we begin to take our eyes off the light of God’s Word. TURN THE LIGHT ON! Stay with the Word of God, eliminating those things not needed in your life. God’s Holy Spirit will show you and just like Hezekiah, you will find yourself getting your house in order for others to enjoy and worship God as well.

Happy Spring Cleaning!

Until next time, Lord willing.

Sharon

What scales are you using?

1 Timothy 2:1-3 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

This morning I stepped on the scales at my mom's house to see if all the junk I have eaten this week while traveling had affected my weight.  As I looked down I was surprised that I had lost 5 more pounds!  Wow!  Man, I was so excited, but then I wondered if they were right!  There was no way I have eaten like a hog the last week and lost weight!  So, I asked my mom for her other scales.  I stepped on and weighed once again.  These scales, which were much more accurate, showed I had not LOST 5lbs, but rather GAINED 5lbs.  It is a sad morning for me....boo hoo.

What scales are you weighing your spiritual life on today?  Are you lining up with God's Word, or are you gathering books that have a feel good Christianity to them so you can appear better than what God says you are?  Scary where we get led off to in our lives if we aren't careful isn't it?

God used Paul to give some instruction to Timothy that we can all follow.  He said that prayer was a good and acceptable thing to God our Saviour.  If God our Saviour is our balance and where we weigh ourselves spiritually, we can know for a fact we are weighing in at a good place if we are praying.

Prayer isn't something we understand completely.  Only God knows what takes place when we get on our knees or bow our heads and call out to Him.  But we trust in the knowledge that He listens and answers.  I touched on this topic last week, but I want to be clear that we are not to be measuring our prayer life against what someone else does, but against God's Word.  He says to come to Him and He instructs us that it is pleasing to Him when we pray.  So, if I am neglecting this aspect, I am not totally pleasing God with my life am I?

Call on Him today.  Talk to Him about your day, your life, your choices.  Beg Him for the people who have asked you to pray.  Ask Him to heal relationships, break chains of bondage and provide physical help where needed.  How can we get to know Him better if we don't, in fact, TALK to Him?  Look for our prayer group on Facebook called "Let's Talk to Him".  We have a small group there praying for each other every day.  Join us!

Pray today.

Until next time, Lord willing,
Sheri

Weekend Getaway #17

The Captured Mind

This post for today is a little long and has more scripture than usual. So get an extra cup of coffee and kick me later! :)

Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Php 3:17-19 ¶ Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

I cannot help but to believe that our minds are being stolen by the enemy more rapidly than we know. To be such a smart people we are of utmost ignorant! With the recent news of men wanting to be transformed into women and vice-versa, my stomach tightens up in a knot. I am disgusted with the news and tremble at the judgment of a righteous and holy God. I ask myself the same questions Habakkuk asked God,

Hab 1:2-4 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!  Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

Working with children I see their confusion when they attend our school hearing the Word of God preached and taught all through the day, and then leaving to go home where it is not the foundation of  THEIR home…….and my stomach once again tightens into a knot! These precious children are being fed by a rotten diet at night and on the week-end, and the result is a death to spiritual influence, unless through God, we get to their minds.

Apostasy:  the renunciation of a religious or political belief or allegiance. This word APOSTASY is not found in our Bible, but it comes from the Greek word, apostasia which means a falling away, abandon.

2Th 2:3 ¶ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

1Ti 4:1-2 ¶ Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

The warning has been given. God has spoken and many do not listen, but we must keep warning, teaching, preaching and hammering it every day for the rest of our lives! You will be deceived if you are not reading and studying God’s Word. The enemy is too powerful for you to wing it for one day! Your mind, just like our ancestor ….Eve.…will be captured and once captured, will turn your heart toward untruth.

Habakkuk argued with God and Jonah argued with God AND SO DO I at times! Haven’t you said to God, “Well God, I have done this for you and I have done that for you and what happens? Everything gets worse and worse and worse! What’s the use? I might as well enjoy what the rest of the world is enjoying rather than go through this pain on earth. WHY GOD? WHY!!!! And by the way, God, when are you going to take care of the enemies of the cross? They seem to be doing just fine, thank you very much!!!!”

Did I just hear lightening?  Oh my goodness, have we not read Revelation? Did we not read Habakkuk 3?

Hab 3:17-19 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

It is coming, friend:  The end of this World. Don’t fret and try to remember a few truths gleaned from Habakkuk before God pronounces judgement: 

1.       God expects us to do right, to THINK right in order to do right. Can’t do right if you don’t THINK right. This thought life comes from Words…..words read in the Bible. READ IT!

2.       Get rid of anything that will cause you to doubt that God is who He says He is.

3.       Don’t allow your children to bring into your home anything that is contrary to what the Bible teaches. They may not be as strong as you are, dear friend. Their music, their reading material, their friends? Check it out before it steals their minds. Trust me; it is not worth the gamble.

4.       Rejoice in the Lord. Praise Him while the fig tree is barren.

5.       Think on your salvation and know that heaven awaits the believer.

6.       Claim God’s strength today. He hands it to you every day whether you THINK you have a rotten banana day or a smell good air freshener day! It is yours for the claiming.

7.       Your feet are like hinds’ feet. You can stand on slippery, high places and not fall! You are grounded, friend, totally grounded! Is grounded a word?

8.       Not only can you stand while apostasy surrounds you, but you can walk upon His high places.  He placed you there. You are His witness to this sorry, reprobate world full of Christ rejecters.

Until next time, Lord willing! Go and read Habakkuk!

Sharon