Israel is important to us because she is important to, God!

   I truly do understand the good intentions behind the saying, “God bless America”.  I blogged on this several years ago. I do however feel it is a sentiment of futility at best, and wonder if it isn’t a slap in God’s face??

    

   The futility part is that this country was founded and based on God’s Kingdom principles. Out of that we have been a country that has given to other countries of our financial resources, and come to the aid of other countries with our military. God blessed us from the beginning because we were founded on Him. We have maintained that grace through two centuries because we have honored that founding relationship. We are now a country much like the Israelites with their idol golden calf. This country puts many things before God. This country has certainly become the stiff necked, hard hearted lot we see in, Sodom and Gomorrah. Billy Graham once said, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Our government is now defending and promoting homosexuality, abortion, and under the current administration there is a shunning of Israel. Franklin Graham has said, “I don’t think there’s any doubt that this rise in the culture of death in our own country coincides with the embrace of an immoral, sinful, godless worldview that rejects Christ.” Neither of these men are alarmist, and both are spot on right. God has blessed us, and we have enjoyed much grace. Yes, we are right in asking God for His blessing on this country, we should always be praying for her, and her leaders. But, Christians need to stand up and be heard. You can have all the faith you want, but without doing something with it, it is dead.

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James 2:14-17

   The time for “God bless America” to be the cry of the people was when our founding fathers were establishing this great country. Now it is, and truly always has been the time for Americans to offer up their praise and gratitude to God by BLESSING HIM. I am not going to go into any other conflict of sin this country is engaged in, but I will say this~ how we treat Israel is key to our destiny.

   God will not destroy the righteous with the ungodly. However, if America does not get their eyes off ungodly television and on the Word of God, get their hearts off of their own convenience and pleasure and fix their hearts on Jesus, get their backsides off the comfy seat of their choosing they are resting on and start seeking God and serving in the Kingdom of God, and vote for what is right and not what is seemingly good for their wallet, retirement plan, health care....., there is going to be a really big wreck~ and the aftermath is not going to be anything short of grievous, full of regret, and a colossally unnecessary state of affairs. Jesus was a Jew and the Bible sets out the future of Israel. It also shows God’s heart for the Jewish nation. Christians are adopted in and are the body of Christ, and we are now God’s chosen people also, but the Jews have always been His chosen people. "Social justice", as some like to claim they are interested in, rarely lines up with scripture, therefore God’s will, and will NEVER supersede or successfully usurp God and His Word.

   America, let us BLESS GOD by returning to Him, calling on His name and humbly pray for the healing of this land. Don’t wait until it is “trending” to do so (because it won’t trend), or until it is too late. Start now, please for your sake, everyone’s sake and for the glory of God get back to the Word of God, the Bible and a solid relationship with Him. 

“...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.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

If you are reading this and not a Christian, please get to a local church that does know Jesus. Here is are two links you can go to and see about how to be a part of the family of God. It is a great and wonderful place to belong.   Link one, link two.

Friends can be such a blessing!

   I received an email from a dear friend this morning that was encouraging, inspiring and for me ~ timely. This was one of those emails that implore you to send it on. I rarely do that, but this is most deserving of being shared. I believe this will truly lift you up.

       THIS WILL TRULY LIFT YOU UP SPIRITUALLY. 

 ENJOY & BELIEVE. 

“It shall come to pass

That before they call, I will answer;

And while they are still speaking, I will hear.

Isaiah 65:24

This is a story written by a doctor who worked in Africa .  

   One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).

   We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.  

   Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). 'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in  Central Africa  it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

   'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts Your job is to keep the baby warm.'

   The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

   During prayer time, one ten -year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. 'Please, God,' she prayed, 'send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.'
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?'

   As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen?' I just did not believe that God could do this.

   Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in   Africa   for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

   Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

   Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

   Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!' Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?' 'Of course,' I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator.
And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon.'

'Before they call, I will answer.' Isaiah 65:24 

   Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards. Let's continue praying for one another.

Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this. I ask You to minister to them. Where there is pain, help them to receive and walk in Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubting, help them to walk in renewed confidence so You can work through them; where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I ask they seek and receive Your understanding, guidance, and strength. Where there is fear, reveal Your love in a way they can receive the vastness of it, and be of good courage. Thank you for blessing their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them.  I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

P. S. Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend will bless you both. 

Passing this on to one not considered a friend is something Christ would do.

   As most of you know Jon and I are earnestly seeking God for a decision about our future. In the natural several really good opportunities have presented themselves. We stopped putting square pegs in round holes years ago. We learned that one the hard way, more than once. We had been praying for Him to lead us and show us where He wants us, and what He wants us to be doing.We have been pressing in, taking time in His Word and listening. We are now asking God to show us the desire He has placed in our heart. Recently we have been seeing things in His Word as we have never seen them before; things helpful for seeking God for His plan for your life. We have begun to have some break through there. Reading this email this morning reminded me of three things. 1. God heard our prayer in the beginning, remembers it, and hears our prayer now. 2. We do not need to pray for direction over and over. The answer was on the way when first we prayed Now we need to stay fine tuned to Him and walk closely with Him, simply thanking Him for His plan and that He is showing us. 3. We need to have the expectant faith this young girl had. Walking closely with Him and keeping our eyes and heart fixed on Him will empower us to effortlessly do just that.    

    This was the most timely email I have ever received.

I will close this with my response to the dear friend that sent this on to me.

Oh my darling, Gilly!!! if only you knew how timely this was, this very morning. I don't usually pass on email; this one I will. Thank you for sending this to me. I too want the intimate relationship with God this young girl had. I want to be as keen a vessel as that Sunday School teacher, hearing and obeying my Father. I desperately desire the innocence of trust in Him that pleases Him, unadulterated faith.

Much love,
Teresa

I am done doing it "my way".

This is what greeted me this lovely Sunday morning when I opened my front door to walk, Baxter.

     Last August I spiraled down to the most frustrated I have ever been. You can get more about that here if you like. The frustration I battled was invading every area of my life. Once I came to grips with the reason behind the resistance to follow God, and decided to follow the leading He put in my heart, I had peace and felt for the first time in such a long time like life had come back to me. I had been familiar with Proverbs 13:12, well at least the first half of it. This pivotal point in my life brought the second half of this wonderful verse to life (no pun intended) to me.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.  Proverbs 13:12

A little side note here. I do want to stop for a brief moment and say I know some look at the word “desire” as our own personal aspirations and dreams. Most of us are familiar with Psalm 37:4;

Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 

Delight means to have a great degree of pleasure of enjoyment. It involves happiness, gladness, to relish something and contentment. We must be in that state in our relationship with the Lord for the desire of our heart to see fruition. Why? Because when we walk that close to the Lord, He puts His calling, His desire in us. 

...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power... Ephesians 1:17-19

And when we are that close to Him that we will obey, He makes that desire a reality.

That is one of those bless me verses we like to grab and hold onto. We love the part  where God will give us the desires of our heart. I spent many years in a singles group and along with the verse that says it is not good for man to live alone, 

And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  Genesis 2:18,

this one about getting your desires ranked number one.  I personally liked and still like the one that says:

...that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3b  

     I am rambling. My point here is that the first part of Psalm 37:4 is crucial to see the second part manifested. We must “Delight ourselves in the LORD, first. 

So, I began Bible college. I was at a place where stepping out in faith and obeying became the only desire of my heart. Peace and life were a result. Remember how the Jewish nation would be blessed and then would start trying to figure things out on their own?  Well, that day I stepped out truly was pivotal and I have not recessed back to that frustration but have moved forward. God began putting on my heart the next level of my pursuing His calling and so I started reasoning, researching and slightly recessing my way back to frustration. Last Thursday I put a principle of God's kingdom into my life.

   Prayer. I am not going to go into a lot of detail here but just let me say I have always been intrigued by the what Paul said in 1Thessalonians 5:16-18;

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I now have a better understanding on that verse. For some time I have understood we don't thank God for everything, we thank Him in everything. But after some amazing lectures this term, I have received a much clearer, well I have received revelation on what the "without ceasing" and "in everything give thanks" and "rejoice always" is about.  Praying is not about begging and pleading. It really is not even about the way I was "taught" to pray,  P.U.S. H  AND  A.C.T.S.

Pray Until Something Happens  and Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.  While there is a small and limited amount of actual scriptural truth in those acronyms, they basically promote a regimented and self based style of prayer, at best. Our prayer life should be no less than a "life of prayer". Therein lies the secret to praying without ceasing. If we drop the begging and pleading and telling God about everything that is wrong, everything that we need or want to see happe and that He needs to be attending to in the next increment of time before we "get before Him" again and give Him our list of supplications, only of course after a few minutes of a little praise, a quick "oh forgive me for the wretch I am" and then a little thank you for all you do and start just praising Him in all we do and all the time, we would have less needs, more clarity and less frustration. There is a time for asking, but that needs to be with thanksgiving.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  Philippians 4:6

That was quite the run~on sentence I know, but there it is.

     I will wrap this up by saying I finally decided to just put all of what I knew about prayer and my relationship with God into my life and I started with the decisions about the next step in front of me regarding school. And, I knew there would be a last year of school to consider at some point, but I laid it ALL down. I then proceeded to walk out and make a permanent part of my life the way I now knew to pray and just live. I then sent an email that I knew could yield an answer that would put a dream I have had in my heart since third grade to its final resting place. I knew the possibility of not seeing that dream come true in my life could quite possibly be in the response I would get. But, I was willing to accept that if it were not in God's desire for me.

     The answer came! Not only did the answer take the confusion and stress out of the next step, not only did the answer make clear what the next step was, the step after that, the final decision about school was offered in that response. I am going to see the desire, the desire God put in my heart come to life in my life. I won't go into detail here but these things that must happen for all of this to take place are HUGE, and in the natural without exaggeration, not possible. One answer, one email and God had it all sorted out and gave it to me. Pushing and pleading I am done with. I never did feel it was right. Thank you Father for loving me and showing me how to live to please YOU!

These beautiful flowers this morning made me think of how thankful I am and I just thought I would share this story with you.

     Just like any other government or kingdom, the Kingdom of God is established on principles.  Whether you believe in God and have accepted His Son as your Savior or not, the world is governed by the principles God established for this world. If you have made Jesus the Lord of you life and are going along with what your personal ideas are on things, functioning in the traditions of man that nullify the Word of God, or follow religious doctrine that is not scriptural; you can go along as long as you like frustrated and bewildered about why things are the way they are for you. The good news is, when you get your Bible out and see what it says, really says, and apply those principles to your life, really do it God’s way and not your own, He doesn’t hold back. His principles work, they work every time and they always are for your good. Thank you, Father for Your patience with me and for Your faithfulness!