DAILY DROPS ABOUT DIRECTION

Good morning, blogger friends!


This mornings brief blog is about answers to prayer!
The other day we had a major move going on in our family and I was praying and asking God to watch over us and lead in everything that went on.


He gave me a WORD for the day, here it is:

MOVING DAY – JULY 28,2012

HERE IS THE WORD OF THE LORD:

PSALM 31:3 -  “LORD, LEAD US AND GUIDE US TODAY – FOR YOUR NAME’S SAKE!”

PSALM 32:8   “I WILL INSTRUCT YOU AND TEACH YOU IN THE WAY YOU SHOULD GO; I WILL GUIDE YOU WITH MY EYE!”

ISAIAH 30:21 “YOUR EARS SHALL HEAR A WORD BEHIND YOU SAYING, THIS IS THE WAY WALK IN IT,  WHENEVER YOU TURN TO THE RIGHT HAND OR WHENEVER YOU TURN TO THE LEFT!

AMEN AND AMEN AND AMEN AND SO BE IT!!!

Well, I just want to tell you we all stood on this and we had a great day with good travel and wonderful friends who pitched in and made it happen in spite of impossible odds and a great time was had by all.  I, personally, was able to remain unruffled through it all.  

Well, mostly, I think!

Do you have a major challenge going on in your life?  Seek the face of the LORD, He has it all in His hands.  Leave it there and only do your part!  Yes, you have a part and He can tell you what it is!  But, Let Him do His!  He will see you through it in a way that you cannot imagine!  He loves to leave my eyeballs rolling around in my head!!

Oh yeah and keep praying for all your loved ones!  It really works!  It really works!  Did I say, it really works?  Well, it does!  Thank you, for all the direction and protection and provision, Adonai!!!!

That's all for today!  I pray that the Son is Shining in full strength into your life and family today and you can feel the warmth of His love surrounding you!

DAILY DROPS ABOUT CONNECTIONS

Good morning, blogger friends:


Praise God, I have some kind of internet connection this morning and so even though I do not feel as prepared as I like to be when I write and post a blog for all the world to see, I'm writing anyway just because I can.  

This is a picture of the pathways/connections in our brains!  we all know how they work sometimes and sometimes they don't!  lol
Connections are strange things!  Sometimes, here in the mountains, I can get through with no problem, but more often than not, I can't. 


I have been thinking about blogging with regard to another important connection - Prayer!  Thank God, it is one connection that only depends on our willingness to turn our hearts toward home and cry out..ET..phone home!

Ancient means of connecting..lol.

The other day I was reading in Isaiah 59 when verse 16 jumped out at me.  It says "the Lord wondered that there was no intercessor."  Imagine, if you can, something that makes the Lord wonder!!!  


I was struck by the promises that followed in verses 19 and 21.  In 21, "As for me," says the Lord,  "this is my covenant with them:  My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the Lord, "from this time and forevermore."  Contrary to what we might think, this promise is for God's people today as well as for Israel.  It is an eternal promise!

Eternal way of connecting with the real power!!

No wonder that God wonders... such awesome promises and so few intercessors to be praying them in and claiming them for their children and grandchildren.  I go so far as to add even the unborn children that will be coming into this family.  And today, I pray for a revelation to all grandparents about the power we have in prayer for our families.  It is the MOST powerful thing we can do!


Now I know what you are thinking... so much opposition in the lives of your loved ones.  All of Hell seems bent on destroying them, right?  Yes, I see the same thing with my physical eyes.  One friend of mine says in our world there exists a flood of words and visual images coming out of the mouth of Satan. I think he means the TV and the internet and other forms of media so prolific today.  I must add that these are not evil in and of themselves.  They often bring good as well.


Yes, the fact is that the flood of evil often comes from various places, no doubt.  But, drop back a couple of verses to verse 16 which states, "when the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him."   Here is another promise of God that may have some of you wondering, where is the fulfillment of it?  It is waiting for our prayers! 


 It is waiting for us to see with our spiritual eyes that which exists in another realm - the will of God!  For an understanding of what I say, read 2 Corinthians 4, the last verse says "the things which we can see are only temporary, but that which we cannot see (that other realm) is eternal."  We lose heart in our praying because when we only see with our physical eyes we become discouraged, naturally!  


A glimpse into the eternal heart of God will go a long way to encourage us.  An careful study of God's word reveals many wonderful promises which we are not seeing come to pass and we wait and we wonder why?  It is because God has called us to be co-creators with Himself by our prayers.  When we see these things that are not according to God's will for our children, we need to say, NO!!!  That is not what God says about my descendants.  He says that His Spirit and His Word will be our standard!  And I choose to stand in agreement with Him!


Jesus defeated the works of the enemy on Calvary!  (1 John 3:8)  But all of the work of Jesus and the promises of God are waiting for our Amen, for us to say "so be it" in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.  In prayer we can declare our agreement with the will of God and scripture says when we pray in accordance with His will we can know that we have what we ask for and can proceed to be thankful for those answers.  (1 John 5:14,15)

The Gap

This is the work of an intercessor - to stand in the gap between what is and what it ought to be.  (Ezekiel 22:30)  "So I sought for a man among them who would make up a hedge/wall/bridge, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found no one."  Our Lord wonders where those people are who can make the connection with Him and, therefore, connect their world with the eternal will of God.

Our prayers are the bridge between what is and what God says it ought to be!

Now it is my belief there are few intercessors, not because people do not care or would not do what they can to change their worlds.  It is because of ignorance!  A lack of teaching on the tools of prayer.  I know I prayed for years, if it be thy will, please do this or this.  Well, we can know what the will of the Lord is by reading His word and we have the authority and power to pray it in!


I wish I could say more, but this blog has gone on long enough.  For some time it has been on my heart to share some of those tools of prayer.  Pray for me that I will be inspired to do so and then will be freed up to do so.  Pray that I will "Rise up, take courage, and do it."


Thank you for your interest and for reading this blog.  And for those of you who have sent comments, I say a deep, heartfelt thank you!  I pray for all of you that the Son is shining with all of His strength in your world today!

DAILY DROPS OF COURAGE

Today's blog is about Courage!  


What is Courage?  One definition that I am partial to is "it is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of the fear."  A few blogs back we used a text that stated, "Rise up, take courage, and do it."  What is it that you need to rise up, take courage and do?  For me, it is to somehow overcome all the multitudinous tasks that fall onto my plate on a daily basis, to sort through them all and act on those that are most important and leave the rest alone!


Webster's dictionary defines courage as "the attitude of dealing with anything recognized as dangerous, difficult, or painful, instead of withdrawing from it;" and with this I agree.  It goes on, however, to say it is the "quality of being fearless or brave; valor".  With this I do not agree.  Just Elizabethology, of course, but I do not agree.  


It is very interesting to me that even the dictionary equates courage with heart and spirit having the connotation of having "the courage of one's convictions, the courage to do what one thinks is right."  This is the term that is used in the New Testament - to lose or not to lose heart.  Webster's says discourage means to dishearten, among other things.


If you will bear with me for a short span, I would like to refer to a few scriptures that are very meaningful to me and which encourage me on a routine basis.  Galations 6:9 "let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."  2 Corinthians 4:16 "even tho our outward man is perishing, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day."  Luke 18:1 & 2 Cor. 4:1 speaks of "praying and not losing heart".


Now, I don't know about you, but I have trouble "not losing heart". When I am faced with ongoing distractions and the daily situations that can present themselves just in the course of life, I tend toward discouragement or to lose the courage of my convictions to do what I know is right!  I'm not talking about doing something immoral; I'm talking about giving up in the face of this onslaught and giving in to the doing of what seems most important at the moment leaving what I know I am called to do undone.  In all honesty, sometimes am just too tired to do anything else when the dailies are over.  I bet many of you can relate to what I am saying.


In my study of this subject, I went back to Moses and Joshua.  The story of spying out the land is found in Numbers 13 where Moses selected the best of the men he could find...fathers and rulers, not inexperienced kids, to go and do the spying.  There were 12 of them and ten of them returned with good news and bad news.  

The good news was the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey and grapes that had to be carried a stalk at a time between two men.  The bad news was that there were giants in the land that they perceived as "stronger".  This word stronger has the connotation of violent or unyielding.  Does that make you think of life as you experience it on a day to day basis?  It does me!  It seems that the daily duties are stronger, sometimes seeming to be violently unyielding in their ability to stop me in my tracks.

Two men, Joshua and Caleb, gave another report, similar, but more encouraging.  Yes, there are giants, but "we are well able to possess the land".  The "well able" term means "goodness".  So they were looking to the goodness they knew they had backing them up, the goodness of God, Who had said the land was theirs for the taking.  Unfortunately, as it often happens, the majority ruled and the people did not enter in at that time.  Joshua and Caleb did get to go after all the others had died away many years later.


So what am I trying to say?  For today, just let me quote Moses who said to the people, "be strong and of good courage, for the Lord is the One who goes before you.  He will be with you.  He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed"!  He is the one who can give us the "courage" we need to do whatever He is leading us to do, whatever He is calling us to, He has already equipped us and made all the provisions we need to go forward.


Let's pray for each other on a daily basis that we will be able to walk this out in our lives and accomplish that to which we have been called!  Thank you for your prayers for me!  My prayers are for you too.

I pray that the Son is shining into your hearts and lives today!  And the strength of His goodness will encourage all of us to do what He promises to empower us to do... His will!

DAILY DROPS CONTINUING

So sorry, Blogger friends, for my absence the last few days.

We traveled uphome to the mountains on Sunday.   I have been “under the weather” with a throat condition that I understand many people have been having  in response to the ozone code orange which has been prevalent across the South in this extreme heat.  I also have been having difficulty with the internet connection. Very discouraging, all of it!  So this blog is about continuing even in the face of discouraging situations.

Therefore, I will continue my attempts to write today.  I just want to check in briefly and hope for better circumstances either tomorrow or the day after the Fourth.  We had a storm here in the mountains the other day with hail larger than golf balls.   My daughter got a picture of it.  I’m including a photo.  I think some damage must have incurred to receiving stations around here that might be interfering with internet availability.  But we will persevere to the best of our ability.

This is a lot like real life, I think.  We have the best of intentions and then life, real life, hits us whether we like it or not.  There are storms in life all the time between the times of sunshine.  Some of them are so minor we hardly notice and they don't slow us down a bit.  Others are like being rained upon by icy golf balls and we think possibly this time we might not make it.  We are sure we are going to die. 

Our kid's little three month old puppy was outside during this storm trying desperately to find a place to get away from that hail.  It was his first encounter with being bombarded from above.  I could only imagine what he was thinking.  Poor puppy!  Then I realized that I did know something of how he might be feeling.  This is what I was thinking. 

I really wanted to put in a picture of this adorable little creature, but again I could not download it or it never got to me.  Here's the pictures of our beautiful "Bo" and friends.

Many times we are hit for the first time with some experience in life and we scurry around looking for a place to hide all the while wondering what in the world is happening.  Where are our caregivers?  Where is God?  Why isn't He doing something about this?  Doesn't He know what is happening to us?  Or worse, doesn't He even care?  He could do anything; why isn't He doing something?  Have you ever felt this way?  I will certainly admit that I have.

Well, the puppy did find shelter until the storm passed and we, his caretakers, were inside watching him learn how to deal with hail.  His answer was found under the shelter of the nearest car where he was almost too big to hide, but he kept trying until he squeezed himself under it.  If he hadn't figured that out, one of us would have ventured out to bring him in to a place of protection.

  

We, his caretakers, could have and would have helped him, but he learned to help himself which is all a part of growing up for animals and humans, even children of God.  The key is learning where to hide…Ps. 91.. Under the Shelter of His Wings, and continue to rest there even when the sun is shining.

So, we are all in the continuing process.  Continuing to live and breathe and overcome the oppressive ozone surrounding us and continuing to learn to deal with new kinds of storms.  We continue on when the storm passes by and learn that we have survived the hail and the ozone and it is a new day.  I look outside and I see the sun shining on the grass and I am reminded that the Son is still shining in my heart.  I pray for all of us today in this continuing process of life even if the drops today come in the form of hail, golf ball sized pieces of ice, raining down upon us unmercifully.

And this is my prayer.  Numbers 6:23-27  "May the LORD Himself bless us and keep us and may He make His face/SON to shine upon us and be gracious unto us;  May the LORD lift up His countenance upon us, and give us His peace which passes all understanding. (Phillipians 4)  And may His name be upon us as His children and may we know that we will be blessed by Him."  (Liberties taken by Me, Sonshine.) 

Let us continue to walk today in His blessing no matter what the course we may have to travel or what kind of drops come our way!

DAILY DROPS ABOUT COMMITMENT

A few more drops of Living Water.... about commitment.

Yesterday I shared with you from the text Ezra10:4 "Rise up...take courage and do it."  Today I would like to include a few more excerpts from that devotional writing because I can't say it any better and I don't want to be guilty of plagiarism.  So I will quote the thoughts that stood out to me.  "Commitment is a willingness to do whatever it takes; it's a promise to yourself, from which you refuse to back down.  There's a difference between interest and commitment.  When you're interested you do it only when it's convenient, but when you're committed you accept no excuses--only results....Commitment means paying your dues.  It also means disregarding your critics.  Jesus did that."  Think about those lines; digest them.  It truly lays a clear difference between the things we will do over the long term and the multitudinous interests we may pursue along the way and just as quickly leave behind.

So what is it that is defined by the above characteristics in your life?  All of us probably have a few things we can say that we have carried out in that fashion.  For me, when I returned to the field of Academia and got my GED at 40 it was the beginning of an adventure that I feel very good about today.  After obtaining that long delayed certificate of completion, I then applied for college and put my nose to the grindstone for the next three and a half years.  It was hard, but I was committed and I did what it took and one day I walked across that stage to receive the long awaited reward.

Later I went back and obtained my Masters degree at age 50.  That was even harder and there were times when I thought I wouldn't make it.  Talk about events to distract you from your goal - my precious mother died during those years after a sickness of two years.  I was privileged to take off from school and spend her last days with her.  One priority over ruled the other.  I did, however, return to complete that degree and it is still a wonderful sense of accomplishment to me.  Besides I think Mom is pretty proud of me too.

Following graduation, a whole new life began for me and for the first time I felt that I was able to do what I was created to do in this life.  God called on me to start a women's ministry from nothing.  Nothing material, that is, but I had Him and He had called me to do it!  That ministry was a profound success!  Were there times when things happened in my life that could have been good reasons to quit?  Yes!  Were there times when I felt like giving up?  You bet!  Were there times when others gave me counsel contrary to what I heard from God.  Sure were!  But because I had heard His call clearly, I was always able to keep going!  I knew it was His will for me up until the time that His will changed.

So, for me, it is about hearing from the Lord regarding His plan for me.  What have you heard from Him?  Where are you with implementing what you heard?  Have you allowed yourself to be sidetracked?  That's OK!  You probably were not ready and you have learned some things since your last attempt!  Do not allow the enemy to convince you that you have missed the boat.  It is too late!  No, if there is life in your body and a longing to do what you heard Him call you to do, it is never too late!


So, today, I rose up and took courage and wrote because I'm sure that is what He wants me to be doing today!  Thanks for reading this blog and as I pray for all of you to be encouraged to reevaluate what you are doing with your time and energy I hope you will be praying for me to continue to respond to His call for me.


Blessings on you and yours today and always,

DAILY DROPS OF LIVING WATER

Good afternoon blogger friends!  

Hope all is well with you all and you are surviving the heat wave here in the South.  I would like to introduce a new idea...Daily Drops of Living Water!.  I love blogging in the way that I have in the last 10 posts, but the unfortunate thing is that I don't seem to find the time as often as I would like to write such a lengthy blog and include beautiful and appropriate pictures as I really enjoy doing.  It grieves me not to be able to do that more, but "it is what it is" as the saying goes.  So, if you will bear with me, here is the first dose of Daily Drops coming at ya.

My reading this morning came from a devotional called Word for Today that is given out free at my church.  Over the last several years I have found it to be meaningful on more occasions than not.  The text was Ezra 10:4 "Rise up..take courage and do it."  This verse spoke to me where I am today.  There are many things calling for my time, energy and actions every day.  What will I choose today?  Today, for this moment, I choose to take the time to share my thoughts in response to this reading.

The topic was stated as "Commitment and Courage".  Commitment is a favorite subject of mine only I now think of it as Covenant!  But let's start with commitment!  Let me ask you, what are  you committed to in your life? Do you have a battle with carrying out your commitments?  Of what do the battlefields consist?  Do you question if what you want to do is the Lord's will or your own, especially when you experience such opposition?  

Let me personally respond to my own questions.  I am committed to doing what the Lord created me and put me on the earth to do before I am called to leave it.  I am not always sure what that is for a certain day.  That is why it is important to me to know what I am committed to and what is my "mission statement" for my life.  When I ran a ministry years ago, having a mission statement helped me to make so many decisions.  If it was in line with the vision, then it was open for consideration.  If it was not, no matter how worthwhile it was, it was not for us.

I do have a battle everyday carrying out even what I know I want to do that is in line with my personal mission statement.  One of those things is writing!  The battlefield for me is everyday situations like what might be happening in the lives of the people who are dear to me.  When these battles come consistently I do often question if I am trying to do something the Lord is not in and is He allowing me to be deterred.

So, I guess you are hoping I have an answer.  No, I don't!  At least not a simple one.  But picking up a daily reading that says "Rise up..take courage and do it", is an impetus to continue to pursue direction from the Lord.  Opposition does not mean that it is not the right thing or even the best thing for me or you.  It may mean the very opposite..that, in fact, what I am attempting is God's plan for me and it is being thwarted by an enemy who knows that and fears that I will accomplish my God-given task in spite of all opposition.  

I pray God that I will rise up and do it, whatever it is, and that you will too.  I invite my readers to share with us what your struggles have been and some of the answers that have come to you.  I'd love to hear from you and I know the other readers would too.  If you experience problems posting to this blog, please, take courage and stick with it until you are successful in posting!  

Blessings to all today!

THE BLESSING OF A NEW FATHER

Happy Father’s Day!  Is it exclamation point or a question mark?

For some it is a blessed day in which they have opportunity to bless and/or be blessed. But for some there have been no Happy Father’s Days!  Like Mother’s Day, it brings the folks to my mind who would rather not think about it. When they see others celebrating it will leave a sick feeling in their stomach.  There are people who will be looking for a card that fits. Some, thankfully, will find that there is no card that says anything like how great their Dad has been to them.  And some, hoping to honor a dad who deserves none,  will struggle to find one that says something close to the truth without being a complete farce.

The new beginning I want to talk about in this blog is the possibility of having a new father.  My father was absent from my life as a child and it was a very detrimental experience for me.  I remember longing for him with all my heart.  My folks divorced when I was quite small after my Dad finished a long tour in the marines.  I really don’t remember him ever being around.  He remarried and moved away.  I rarely even got to see him in my very young years.

I can still remember with joy when I first understood the scripture that says “When my father and mother forsook me, God took me up!”  Ps.27:10.  Suddenly I realized that I had not been a fatherless child at all.  In fact, because I did not have an earthly Dad who was around, I got to have the BEST DADDY OF THEM ALL!

I am wondering about you out there, the readers of this blog.  How does Father’s Day feel to you?  Does it illicit good feelings or bad feelings?  There are some of you who had great Dads.  My husband is such a father type.  He loves unconditionally; he extends mercy and grace until he is given no other choice; he really just wants all the people he loves to be happy!  I celebrate him this year!  I hope you had one like this.  But if you didn’t, then I hope that you have become a child of the Father who is the best One ever! 

Perhaps you are His child but you have not yet begun to experience it as a real relationship.  That is sad because that is what He wants with all of us, a vital and living relationship.  I have found that I can talk to Him and He actually listens to me and He cares about everything that I care about.  I know this because the evidence is the way things change once I have taken my concerns to Him in prayer!  WOW!  I’ll say it backwards. WOW!

Perhaps you think you cannot talk to your Heavenly Father!  You can!  There is a concept known in parenting literature as mirroring.  It is also found in the holy scripture at 2 Cor. 3:18.  "But we all, with unveiled faces, behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."  We can get into the presence of God and gaze into His eyes and be changed!

Some of you may have had less than satisfactory dads and by some miracle have become the kind of Dad that people are meant to have in this earthly life.  That would be one who models for his children the meaning of Father so they will be able to transition to having that relationship with the Heavenly Father.  Congratulations to You!  Few people really understand what the odds were against that happening.  Few people really know how that earthly relationship will impact the possibility of a heavenly one.

Some of you, statistics say about fifteen percent, had really awesome fathers of your own, but now have had a bad experience with the father of your own children.  That is very sad, because you really know what they are missing and your heart aches for them.  Even in this case, you have the hope of helping them to avail themselves of the loving relationship that is available with God Almighty!

Fatherless children exist, that is unmistakably true!  It can be ignored, but it cannot be denied!  It is a devastating thing to not have a dad with the Father’s heart!  But there is no reason for any one of us to remain fatherless or orphans when the God of the whole universe has extended His invitation to be adopted by Him.  John 14:18 “I will not leave you orphans”.  He wants to come to us.  But we have to come to Him first by responding to His invitation.

Ephesians 1 lays it out for us like this:  The God and Father of Jesus wants to bless us with spiritual blessings because He chose us and planned ahead of time that we would be adopted by Him and be accepted in His Son, Jesus,  the Beloved.  And not only that, but it goes on to say He has an inheritance for us and a purpose for us to carry out in this world – to be the praise of His glory!   

There is more, so much more!  I hope that you will take the time to read it.  Let it be a reverse father’s day card to you about your real Father in heaven!

If He is your Father but you have not experienced Him as vitally alive to you, come to Him today!  He is waiting!  And He will be excited to see you!  Just see yourself with Him, face to face with your eyes on His and He will mirror back to you who you are to Him.  You will see love and acceptances, respect and delight in His eyes for you.  And yes, you will be changed!  I know because that is how I have been changed from a fatherless child to His child.

I pray that not one of you will close out this father’s day feeling lost or alone!  No one needs to be fatherless one day longer!  If you have never had a father, come to Him today!  Put your hand in His and look into His face of love!  If you would like to know about how to do this, email me at sonshine1938@yahoo.com.  I will be happy to share with you!