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James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

Six days ago I thought I knew that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) 

Six days ago I also thought I had all my little duckies in a row (everything working together),

Six days ago I realized I might have forgotten to teach my duckies to swim according to God’s purpose.

Six days ago I found out I needed a little more endurance!

And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock (Matthew 7:24) Well, maybe not floods. Nonetheless, water came (cracked toilet) and slammed against my carefully constructed happy, peaceful, life. Who knew that a little water on the front porch would be the first indication that one of my little ducky named “All Is Well” became “A River Runs Through It”. 

We all know water will find the least resistant path to go where it wants to go. Apparently it wanted to flow downstairs and out the door, so it used gravity to move down – on the inside of walls and ceilings to give time before being discovered and stopped.

Six days later, with the shock wearing off, the noise and chaos of drying machines and their operators finishing the first stage of mitigating the little ducky’s swim lesson, I am finally able to hear my thoughts and begin to see my everyday faith in action.

It is surprising, (and somewhat embarrassing) that first thing, even after all these years of dining with Him, my old nature still cries out in shock, “Why ME, Lord? If You loved me…”

Even after all these years, I am STILL SHOCKED, when I come face to face with the fact that this ain’t heaven and God isn’t causing all things to be good, before using them for good!

Even after all the lessons God has faithfully carried me through, I find out I still need DAILY DISCIPLINE in KNOWING THE TRUTH and BEING SET FREE from the sin (the belief that I keep my duckies in line!) that so easily besets me.

I don’t believe it’s sinful to be shocked. I don’t believe my old nature crying out means I have sinned. I don’t believe our mini flood was caused by God to punish me/us and therefore teach me/us to act right!

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

Our struggle IS NOT against flesh and blood (including our own)… the enemy would like to have us believe his version of truth (God really hates us – He’s just waiting for THE BIG FAiLURE), all while he is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) 

Our struggle IS NOT against God!

1 Corinthians 2:9 but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 

God has prepared these things FOR us…

Romans 8:29-30 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 

Our struggle is against God preparing US for all these things… Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

Our struggle is … our need for discipline.  (Strong’s Definition: education or training which does indeed include disciplinary correction… Thayers Definition: the whole training and education of children…) Discipline, that for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who will be trained by it, afterwards it will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11)

Do I really need MORE discipline? Maybe a LITTLE LESS fruitiness?

What is righteousness?  Observing and remembering and being convinced that God IS and that He loves us. Righteousness is DECLARING if God is for us, who is against us?(Romans 8:31)

No matter what the chaos… no matter how loud the noise… no matter the length of the less than joyful event… we need to know God is not only for us but He is in us both to will and to work for His good and perfect pleasure!

After the shock… after the chaos and noise… I will know God causes all things to work together for good!

One more lesson CONVINCING ME, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

PERFECT!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Esther 4:14 who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

What a great question… Who knows?

I’ll admit it, lately I have been obsessing over the perfect “At A Glance” calendar format/ journal/how to spreadsheet I can come up with. A one stop spot to see; where I’ve been, where I’m at and where I’m going. Oh yes, and EVERYTHING I need to observe and remember as I’m running out the door (or am I coming in?).

That makes me sound so busy, right? Yeah… no. I don’t run anywhere or anytime! My days are so calm and ordinary and uneventful, I could fill out one page and just copy it for the next seven.

But there is ONE THING I do seem to obsess about… I might miss that one day… the day that might become a time such as this!

Maybe it’s already happened and I’ve just forgotten it. Maybe, it would have happened IF I put had put enough oil in my lamp. What if I’m a foolish virgin rather than a prudent one – falling asleep before remembering to go add oil to my grocery list?(Matthew 25:1-12 Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour)

Knowing the day… Knowing the hour… Knowing me! OK, NOW I’m worried!

Then God spoke… Matthew 6:27 Who of you (“HELLO, Mary, can you hear me now?) by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say (Mary, are you making a note of this?), “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

Mary, THIS IS THE DAY, I (the Lord) have made! 

Yes, and I (Mary) don’t want to miss it or forget it!

Then God said, “BUT, while you are obsessively trying to shove all things mind, body and spirit, into your EVERYDAY BOX, you are missing our Daddy/Daughter time. You turn your eyes from our dance and turn the day into practicing without your Dance Partner.

Rather than hearing My song, you turn up the volume on the latest line dance, made up by the hippest and coolest Christian preacher, writer, singer, church group, and think I (God) must be there because you are gathered with two or more.

I’m not… I’m still right here, waiting for My child to come and play!”

Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…Talk about attaining royalty!

Zephaniah 3:17 Adonai your God is in your midst— a mighty Savior! He will delight over you with joy. He will quiet you with His love. He will dance for joy over you with singing.’(Tree of Life version)… Talk about a time such as this!

My obsession with my At A Glance observing and remembering is causing me to miss the GREATEST TIME such as this… Philippians 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 

Certainly, I’m NOT missing the work God has done/is doing/will do in my life. His Will, will be done! I’m MISSING THE JOY/REJOICING of stepping up on His feet, abandoning all my own moves, being twirled and whirled and moved in the Spirit, to the SONG OF LOVE and PROPHECY, Daddy is singing as we dance. “For I know the plans that I have for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

God has indeed “Penciled Me In” for every dance! Psalm 23:1-3 He MAKES ME lie down in green pastures; He LEADS ME beside quiet waters. He RESTORES my soul; He GUIDES ME in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 

It is up to me to show up and dance.

Or… will I settle for filling our dance card with could’ve/should’ve/would’ve notes, rather than actually dancing in THIS moment?

Would you settle?

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom (His face) and His righteousness (His arms), and all these things (the could’ve/would’ve/should’ve notes) will be added  (at just the right time) to you. (Without the necessity of obsessive tasks!) Seek this dance, the ONLY DANCE suitable for a moment such as this!

Who knows? I might know… if my pencil become a pen written in God’s indelible ink, and I throw my at a glance planner/calendar/diary/how to book in the Waste of Time box. I might know… if I replaced my someday with the ONLY DAY worthy of observing and remembering… THIS is the day the LORD has made…

The day of our Abba/Child Dance.

A royal dance indeed!

May He have this dance?

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

 

 

Luke 6:32-35 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 

IT AIN’T EASY to be different, especially being the kind of different that MAKES a LASTING DIFFERENCE in the lives and memories and ways of those around us. God’s kind of different!

WHO impresses you and inspires you to be or do more than you have already accomplished?

WHAT sets a person apart from the crowd?

WHERE do you go to become the difference?

WHEN do you start to make a difference?

Lots of people stand out from the crowd. Lots of people have an impressive resume and to-die-for life. Lots of people can win the race before most of us get our shoes tied. Lots of people set out to be the best of the best. Lots of people are expert (or claim they are) king makers.

Different IS as different DOES is true for all of us, until we get to the WHY would you want to be different and HOW different do you want to be? 

WHY would you want to be different?

Over the years, I’ve had several reasons/incentives for going beyond what comes naturally to me. Most of them (if not all) had more to do with MY DESIRE than being the fearfully and wonderfully creature God planned me to be. Even after my Damascus Road encounter with Jesus, who gave Himself for my destination to heaven rather than the hell I was racing toward, I still took it upon myself to determine the difference (kind and depth) I was going to do!

James 1:22-24 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

It took me YEARS!

I HEARD the Word but I LISTENED, but with a faulty hearing aid. I listened to myself and others offer our best interpretations of what the WRITER of the WORD intended. We studied, and conversed, and observed our mentors. We desperately wanted to be the good child! So, we looked in the mirror, not God’s, our own and our favorite friend’s mirror, to see if we “looked like” someone we could be proud to be, then walked away while God made it so.

THANK GOD! Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Different is… being.a.doer… OF THE WORD! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, (John 1:14) A doer of God!

Thank God, His thoughts are not my thoughts, nor are my ways His ways,” (Isaiah 55:8-9)God gave me, not only new hearing aids but new EARS to hear HIM SPEAKING, and not only His MIRROR to look into, but new EYES to look beyond my natural face.

WHY would you want to be different? Because It is God who is at work in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

HOW different do you want to be? 

Different, God’s difference, isn’t in the DNA of natural man/woman. Nor is it honored and celebrated by the achievers of this world.

A Doer of DIFFERENCE must choose the race – World’s Not Quite So Different Marathon or God’s Discipleship Difference For Eternity Run – that meets both the destination and prize desired. A Doer of Difference must decide if they can agree to the rules and run the race to the end. A Doer of Difference must be ready to encounter the various trials, the many friends and enemies of the race, and themselves before, during and at the end of the race they choose.

Can’t decide? James 1:5-8 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him/her.

But…

He must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man/woman ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man/woman, unstable in all his/her ways.

Do I want to be so different that everyone I know will see Jesus and I will be labeled a Jesus Freak!?

Do I doubt that running God’s Discipleship race will indeed change me into His Jesus Freak!?

Do I look in the mirror and see a Jesus Freak Wanna Be but leave surfing the world’s oceans to see if I can have it ALL?!

Different IS as Different DOES…

Matthew 22:37-40 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.

Love… God’s Love… was/is/and always will be the difference that makes you different!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Psalm 78:11-12 They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them. He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

They forgot His deeds but didn’t even notice their own…

Psalm 78:40-41 How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert! Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel. 

Sounds just like me! Childlike, right?

A child who has a LOT TO LEARN!

Just like Israel, who was/and is God’s first fruits from nation planting… the children of the promise… God’s promise.

Romans 9:25-26 As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved.’” “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” 

They (Israel) didn’t know how to be sons of the living God, anymore than we do now.

Thank God His promise was never made on the foundation of our learning curve or our ability to EVER live up to the inheritance He has for us! Even with training (Train up a child in the way he should go – Proverbs 22:6) children will pretty much, always be childish. Imagine that!

Have you ever noticed, in your own world or the world of those around you, that we fully expect MAXIMUM benefits from MINIMUM effort?

What happens when things don’t work that way? Come on, say it with me… we rebel against Him! 

WHOA! “Not against God, NEVER against God!”

I say, because it is God who is at work in us to will and to work for His good pleasure, it is ALWAYS about rebelling against God.

“If God loved me… Where’s God when… I’M A GOOD PERSON… ever heard any of these proclamations? Ever heard them come from your own mouth/thoughts? I have – more than I care to share with you!

We forget His deeds And His miracles especially in the midst of pain, suffering, and general unhappiness. Even knowing He’s a “Good Good Father” (I love this song by Chris Tomlin!)… perfect in ALL of His ways, I sometimes declare war on His ways and means in me.

We’ve all heard and probably most of us have repeated the phrase, “No pain, no gain!” It’s true, NOT because God is a masochist but because WE ARE! My computer’s dictionary says… a masochist is a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious:… I don’t think we enjoy the actual pain but we are convinced that THE ACTIVITY (without the pain) will SATISFY ALL MY DESIRES AND SOLVE ALL MY PROBLEMS so we jump in with both feet without regard to those nasty consequences!

So it becomes God’s job, His directive from ME, to let me do whatever I want and to make sure I NEVER suffer… or else! Unfortunately, we never learn from this wonderful heartfelt idea. Our focus turns from our Father’s perfect love to… “Yes, but… What have you done for me lately?”

Having forgotten that our ways haven’t turned out well, we cry out for (fill in the blank) relief from whatever this moment is causing us to suffer. We FEEL the BURN!

God answers! With the same answer He gave to His child/apostle Paul,

2 Corinthians 12:9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” 

Perfected… THIS is God’s desire! For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Our way (without God) produces calamity and a future without hope, God’s way, because He will never leave us nor forsake us, is an eternal promise. WE WILL be changed, the perishable will put on the imperishable, and the mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:52-53) and be with Him in eternity.

Even when we “give up on God”, God never gives up on us! We will be perfected… BUT NOT IN OUR STRENGTH… in the power of Christ.

For God so loved the world…

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life

Not our way but God’s way…

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

They forgot His deeds And His miracles, have you?

If sending Jesus were God’s last (and we know it’s not because we are still breathing) deed and miracle, can I just say… JESUS IS ALWAYS ENOUGH! If salvation were God’s last deed and miracle, it (salvation) is ETERNAL!

But we know the GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY was/is “God with us”… Immanuel.

Power Perfected (God’s power) in weakness (our’s)… therefore… I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

What have You done for me lately?

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way

Let me NEVER forget… let me NEVER rebel… let me NEVER grieve You in the desert – tempt You – or pain You,  the Holy One of Israel.

Lead me on Lord!

Psalm 119:7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. 

And proclaim (the answer to the song, released by Janet Jackson in 1986) ALL that You have done for me lately!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

 

 

Luke 14:28-30 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Luke 14:31-32 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

I have this feeling that I am NOT the only one who has a problem “Doing the Math” but I have always had a problem! Yet in school, I was put in all the college prep math courses (the ones which ALWAYS ruined my GPA) because my mom, who passionately desired for me to be as smart as she was, demanded, from me and told EVERY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR that I was “GOING TO GO TO COLLEGE!” Come hell and/or high water, “MY CHILD WILL BE SMART!”

She was smart… at least as far as book smarts go… she was the VALEDICTORIAN of her class (I think there were 20 of them). She had plans, Bubba! She was going for the gold! She was going to College!!! From farming in a little bitty town in Iowa to the big city school of medicine for a degree in nursing… the oldest of her family and the first to SHOW the way.

In an era where women were rarely encouraged to leave the menfolk to care for themselves (the brothers were the apples of her parent’s eyes – yes, the very same brothers whose diapers she changed and dirty faces she washed), Mom set out, determined to pursue a higher calling in using her gifted mind. She would’ve gone all the way – she was a work of art when it came to discipline… but… she failed in convincing her heart that playtime had to wait its turn, when she met a man whose higher calling was PLAYTIME – which he pursued with his heart. He also was smart, one could say he was HEART SMART.

BOOM!

Doing the math happened (cause it always does), but only AFTER the perfect storm tried its best to destroy any future these two souls might have in freely pursuing happiness and a life worthy of living.

It’s a good thing that man plans and God laughs because, if all of life hinges on our math (or lack of it) and our planning skills, there would be no such thing as freedom, much less happiness and worthwhile living, there would only be Evil and his desire to destroy.

But God…

To any of my family members or people who question the existence of God, my parents are true evidence of a LOVE that binds up the broken-hearted, a SAVIOR Who saves those who are crushed in spirit, and an ABBA (Father) Who delivers His children, those who cry out to Him, from all their troubles (Psalm 34:17-18).

From the foundation that was laid with that moment of, “couldn’t possibly happen to US on the FRIST TIME”, God built a marriage and a family that was predicted by those wiser than Him (or so they thought) to be a complete and utter failure, worthy of no less than the “trash bins” of the poor and foolish. God built and breathed into life, a marriage of almost fifty years, filled its quiver with NINE almost perfect arrows (who of course produced fifty plus arrow juniors). Nine almost perfect arrows who were then fired (is that the right word?) from the bow of Mom and Dad, in order to aim for and hit God’s targets of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. 

I think Mom considered most of her life a failure (I’m sure she heard it enough from the wise fools hovering around her) because of a heart moment. I think she promised herself a “do over” through her children’s lives – especially her girls – where she would take no prisoners when it came to making the right choices. I think Dad was heart-broken mom felt that way and wished he could return them both to the joy of their first love.

Though Mom wasn’t a good archer (she missed the target she was shooting for more than she hit it), both she and Dad provided a LARGE (they weren’t stingy when it came to family planning), secure quiver, a love for their little arrows, and a desire for those arrows to grow up strong and sharp. Humanly speaking, this is as good as it gets… to be sure they didn’t get/give the bling of life, however, I would argue that bling NEVER makes anything or anyone stronger or sharper, it only sparkles for its moment in the sun.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child (our only opportunity) in the way he should go (our only math problem),even when he is old he will not depart from it(can’t begin to count the times I have “channeled” my mother).

My dad and mom did the very best they could do and I am sooooo very grateful for the miracles God wrought in their lives, not the least of which is me and my survival into my own pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They did teach me to count the cost of my plans and actions and consider the other kings I probably would meet in my future. They did try to HELP me CHOOSE the way I SHOULD GO.

Was the way they wanted to send me the way I should go???? I didn’t go that way so we will never know for sure!

I went my own way…

But God… Who was at work in me both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)… laughed while I planned also! Then He took over my training and taught me His Calculus.

Just as in my “youth” I’m still Math Challenged! But now I’m in God’s classroom.

 I  still sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it… the difference today is I crunch the numbers using my mind which is being transformed rather than conformed… Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that I may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

Then, I sit some more and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand… in addition, today, I take my plans and present them to God for the MOST ACCURATE number crunching… 2 Corinthians 10:5 I am destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and I am are taking every thought captive to the PLAN of Christ, 

Finally… sometimes with blood, sweat, and tears… in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6)

Matthew 5:37 I strive to let my statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is fertile ground for evil to mess with my mind.

This is God’s Math training (not your ordinary college prep course) in me. Maybe He has you in a similar classroom…

Go ahead… Do The Math… Just Make Sure to Use God’s Calculus!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

 

Joshua 24:15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

On this the 4th of July let there be NO DOUBT that we are free to choose!

“But Mary, it doesn’t FEEL like freedom! It FEELS like… prison… torture… like the apocalypse is right here, right now! I HAVE TO serve the one who rules over me. I didn’t choose this person, place or thing, I voted for the other guy! Even in America, where our blessings are far above what we could have asked for or imagined, it sucks to be me when I must suffer deprivation from that which I consider freely.rightly.mine!”

Maybe you have the wrong object of freedom… Choose for yourselves today

Maybe you expect the wrong profit of freedom… whom

Maybe you are unwilling to pay the price of freedom… you serve

The OBJECT of freedom is not my HIGHWAY to heaven, the OBJECT of freedom is choice – FREE WILL – the ability, the opportunity, and the desire to CHOOSE… 

The PROFIT of Freedom isn’t the paradise of all things perfect. Freedom doesn’t guarantee a perfect path or destination. If CHOICE is the OBJECT then the freedom of that choice is the PROFIT. Without regard to price, freedom is the vision that spurs us to journey on, no matter the people, places or things that hinder our pursuit of that which our heart desires more than life itself. Freedom isn’t the end of a journey, it’s the beginning. We, every person alive, must choose the God or god(s) we will follow to the END OF THIS JOURNEY.

Even Atheists (who do not believe in God/god) must choose whom and/or what their heart (their very soul) will pursue.

Even those who believe they ARE god, must serve someone or something in this life, until they are “fully revealed” in the next life.

The PRICE of Freedom is whatever is required in choosing and pursuing the choice you have made. The guarantee of freedom is not the ownership of all things wonderful, the guarantee of freedom is the choice and pursuit of our heart’s desire.

Our ultimate destination is the hope of spending all of our days, with our god/God in eternal peace and joy. A hope so valuable to us, we will suffer almost anything to arrive at our destination. Whether it’s the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living…we want to arrive!

We think the tasks good works we are given to do should garner grace for our journey.  Our pursuit SHOULD satisfy our god/God, after all we have chosen them. When the cost of maintaining our freedom to choose and pursue becomes more than we have bargained to give, we begin to DOUBT our god/God because, quite frankly OUR god/God should be GRATEFUL. These tasks  good works should make us FEEL happy, healthy and wise. Our service – our journey – our pursuit should never discourage or require more blood, sweat or tears than we are able to give without suffering blood, sweat and tears.

This is where I must be the bearer of the bad news. Freedom is choosing whom/what you set as the god/God of this life. The profit and price of such choice is up to the god/God! You choose whom you serve but whom you serve provides the eternal life and the hoops required to arrive. You don’t get to dictate to the god/God what is their choice to give. At the end of the day there is only two paths that determine the end of your days. The path of good and the path of evil. “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil;(Genesis 3:22) 

We were introduced to evil through temptation and chose to honor evil by disobeying the God of all good who created us and gave us Paradise. We were sent out of Paradise lest we eat from the tree of life (eternal life) and have to live the life of evil forever. Welcome to earth (which is not Paradise), where we get to choose whom we will pursue before the final bell of our life rings and the consequences of eternity are final.

Satan came to this world with us to protect his project (“Hatred of God”) and encourage his victim (God’s fearfully and wonderfully made creature) to choose him and break God’s heart.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

We are the only shot evil has to destroy all that God loves which, in his imagination, would then make him the ruler of all that is left. If that were true there would be no such thing as freedom. No matter what promise evil entices us with, what may look like wonderful will only lead to destruction and death. GUARANTEED! Evil hates God so much that he/it hates everything and everyone born from the hand of God.

Freedom to choose IS a gift given to us by God.  And because it is a gift from our good Creator God, it bears His image. The ability and opportunity to make heart choices. It is a gift that bears a profit worthy of all the wealth in the world. However, it also bears the responsibility to care for and use the gift well and to honor all of our fellow recipients in their care and use of their gift.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 

We don’t earn the gift of freedom to choose, nor do we give the gift of freedom to choose whom to serve, but we can and should seek full awareness of who and/or what our heart chooses to pursue. We can and should COUNT THE COST and the WORTH of god/God we serve/pursue.

There is only ONE TRUE GOD. The God who created us and the God who loves us so much He could not leave us in sin. The God who defeated the god of evil on the cross and offers eternal FREEDOM from sin and death.

You do the math and CHOOSE! Let Freedom Ring… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Revelation 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 

Come Lord, Come!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner-stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. 

Being the youngest of the family of 9 children and 2 very heavy laden adults, I must admit I was born into a house that was for the most part strangers (some very strange) and aliens (some from very fear away planets) to myself and I suspect in hindsight to each other.  As a family unit, we were taught to “live together”, and we did ok. But unfortunately we remained more like separate tiny houses rather than one big family. From my perspective, we refused to be built together by refusing to share the deeper things of our souls.

By the time I was able to comprehend life as more than MY needs (some would say this never happened), the “big” familyhouse was pretty empty because all the other little houses had moved out. Though I had lots of room to enlarge my tiny house, the few neighbors left to share the land,  stayed in their own tiny houses because they were just too tired to “visit” and certainly didn’t have the energy to “invite” me into their space for the purpose of BUILDING something more together!

I’m not criticizing my family, or calling them out as a bad example, nor am I complaining about the life I was given to live. I’m telling/explaining how I was trained to live in and teach others to live in our own tiny houses, right next door but never fitted together.

For the last 65 plus years it has seemed to be the way to go. Equal but separate!

That is, until this last week when God spoke (funny how a passage of Scripture sometimes is lifted off the page and becomes the LIVING WORD of God) to me inside my tiny house!

God intends to build us all together into a dwelling for Himself – ONE HOUSEHOLD into ONE DWELLING. Before this last week, when God intervened in my community outreach program, I was so busy constantly decorating and redecorating the tiny house I had built. I failed to notice the construction crew God was sending to tear down my not so tiny walls.

Meet Congregation Beth Messiah (online – live on Facebook – Saturday’s at 10AM Central time) a demolition team led by Rabbi Michael Vowell, sent to bulldoze my pride built walls and demolish all of the lies I have hoarded and hidden in my space.

It was shocking, yes, to realize my precious tiny home must come down (Rabbi Michael and CBM does sometime get the “Dirty Job” of rudely awakening God’s people to HIS truth).

Then God, as the Perfect Father, wraps His arms around me and whispers His love into my heart, as He rebuilds me, together with all His saints, into His household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner-stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Some might call this a church, and I have entertained that label too. What I discovered this week was, those labels (and the expected lifestyles described by them) are the very things that separate rather than draw us together. In my earthly family we knew only the surface of each other. From that small view, from our own walled in looking-glass, we imagined each other to be the characters we created. Rather than knowing and growing with the individual, we labeled them family and THEREFORE knew everything we needed to know!

God doesn’t do that… He doesn’t call us His family members… He calls us His child.

He doesn’t call us His church members… He calls us His Community… His saints (set apart people).

He doesn’t call us His one and only… he calls us His nation… branches … Israel – and the rest of us – a wild olive branch, grafted in among them and becoming a partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree… (Romans 11:17-18)

One tree – individual branches – partakers of the rich root of the Olive Tree!

Our labels tend to separate us in order for us to imagine we might BE THE ROOT who controls the growth. In God’s household there is only One Root… and He (Jesus) supports the entire tree… do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. Humanly speaking, we tend to be arrogant toward any and all who aren’t like us or aren’t us.

The only true cure for our arrogance, as I learned this week, is to be exposed to and live in the community of God. The place where we take our position, and practice our ministry. The dwelling where we consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

The day that is drawing near… the day He comes back to finalize His covenant which He has promised to all who believe and confess Him (Jesus) as Savior.

Isaiah 40:3 A voice is calling. “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”We need to be a community of voices crying in this earthly wilderness… “Make ready the way of the Lord”… He’s coming back!

I admit I have been a lonely child living in my tiny house. I learned this week I can live in the midst of the community of God, where there is no time for loneliness or separation or boredom, unless of course I choose to return to my own little world.

I need to be… letting the word of Christ richly dwell within me, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing my brothers and sisters with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in my heart to God. (Colossians 3:16)

In my newborn/toddler years I was in community with other saints, but I became one of those who gave up assembling with others, for many selfish reasons but mostly because I did not DO family well, and therefore I gave up many opportunities to give and receive love from the household of God.

I want a DO-OVER!

I see in the mirror dimly through my online community. I see those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, putting on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgives (Colossians 3:12-13)

I pray to have the opportunity in the flesh once again (the few times I have visited in person, I have received the BEST HUGS EVER!)… Until then…

I put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. I let the peace of Christ rule in my hearts, to which indeed I was called in one body; and I am thankful (Colossians 3:14-15) 

God is surely building… His Household…  our forever Family Home – Made in Heaven!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

John 11:21-22 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

The back story is, Martha’s brother, Lazarus, was sick. They immediately sent for their wonderful friend Jesus (“Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick” – John 11:3) whom they knew could and would, ask and gain healing from God. Then, they waited, patiently of course!

John 11:6-7 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place He was.

He did not come “in time”. His wonderful friend Lazarus died. Four days after he was put in the tomb, Jesus came.

Lord, if You had been here… how often do we say the same thing to our wonderful friend Jesus?

Verses 32-37 Mary, Martha and Lazarus’ other sister came to meet Jesus, and fell at His feet weeping, and the Jews with who came with her were also weeping. When Jesus therefore saw them weeping He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”

How often do we “encourage” ourselves and others with similar words, “Jesus CARES!”?

But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

And, how often do we wonder in our hearts “Couldn’t He?” when things look as if God has failed to answer our call to come.

How often does Jesus say to us what He said to Martha when she was concerned about the stench of death after FOUR DAYS IN THE GRAVE?

“Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Even Now…

When you pray for peace in our world and it appears things are going to hell in a hand basket, do you believe we will see the glory of God?

When you ask for intervention for you and/or someone you love and it appears that all hope for life is destroyed, do you believe we will see the glory of God?

When you have seen miracles and wonders rained down from heaven above, do you remember all of them with gratitude and belief? Does Christ dwell so deeply in your inner man that you are rooted and grounded in love and are able to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19)?

Or are your prayers, your request for intervention, your wishes, all cast with the EXPECTATION that they WILL BE fulfilled on your time-table, perfectly delivered to your specifications, every condition expertly managed to your specification? Do you desire to see the glory of God or demand your own will be done?

We are told to ASK! We are told to KEEP ON ASKING! We are also told… Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. (Galatians 6:9-10)

Martha and Mary and all the believers with them, KNEW God could heal and they KNEW Jesus was His Son.

What they didn’t know was God’s love was so much deeper, wider, longer, broader than keeping them from these moments of sadness. God wanted to raise THEM from the dead! He was preparing them (and us) for ETERNAL LIFE!

Through this one event, Jesus didn’t just heal Lazarus, He conquered death for this one person, for this one moment. Through this one event God foreshadowed His plan for all of us… For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Even Now…

1 John 4:15-18 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 

This world is full of reasons to fear. As humans we are vulnerable to the roar of evil. Our enemy (which is not flesh and blood) encamps around us and fires every weapon of violence and chaos he has at us, in order to destroy the work of God (Perfect and Perfecting LOVE) in this world. Our enemy does not care about us. Yes, he tries to destroy our health, our wealth, and our happiness, but it isn’t because WE are his worst nightmare. He hates God! But he can’t destroy God nor change God so he settles on causing God grief through His own creation. What better way than to steal the hearts of God’s possession?

Yet… Even Now… as He weeps with us just as He did with Mary and Martha… Jesus says to us… In this world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Even Now… in the midst of your tears… Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:4)

In the midst of your suffering – in the midst of your groaning – in the midst of everything our enemy throws at you… James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, (perfected and complete in LOVE) lacking in nothing.

Send word to Jesus that you or someone you care about needs Him! Wait for Jesus to come! Wait, but do not be discouraged when it is not in your way on your timeline…

Even Now you WILL see the glory of God!

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. 

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Genesis 4:6 the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?

What a perfect question for our world today. And yet, if you followed with the reason you are asking (like God did), you would be pummeled with all kinds of HOW DARE YOU! and QUIT JUDGING ME! Pummeled! For simply asking an obvious “Why?” based upon facial facts.

Unfortunately for Abel (Cain’s brother), Cain realized he shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t  pummel God, so he chose the next best thing. Go and spread the word that “God is not good because He made me feel bad! I offer Him fruit of the ground and He gives me NO REGARD (Genesis 4:5)!”

Evidently Abel wouldn’t play, how could he, he had the opposite experience with the same God. As far as Abel knew, God was well pleased with the FIRSTLINGS of his flock and of their FAT PORTIONS, which was wonderful because that’s EXACTLY what Abel desired when he specifically set them apart and raised them especially for his offering to God. Admittedly, fruit is harder to guarantee its freshness and quality, however pleasing God has to first (and last) come from the intent of the heart. “If you do well…

One can only imagine Abel’s answer when his brother told him what God just had the nerve to say to him. Whatever it was, verse 8 tells us that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

With anyone but God, Cain might have been able to get away with murder, but God called him out. Where is Abel your brother?

First murder, then the lie, then the excuse. Cain’s way lives on in our world today… “I do not know. (Well, maybe I do know) Am I my brother’s keeper? (Keeper? I did find a way to keep his mouth shut!) Been caught, been called out, but will NEVER EVER CONFESS!

Genesis 4:10-12 “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you;

Cursed by your own hand… but still it is God’s fault “My punishment is too great to bear! Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground;

Cain’s way lives on!

James 4:1-3 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Cain wanted to offer God the least – the easiest to give of his labor. God didn’t praise him for his lack of sacrifice. (Please note also, that God didn’t berate Cain publicly nor compare him to the “good” brother… God simply didn’t give him a participation trophy while honoring Abel for the love he had shown to Him.)

We DEMAND our Participation Trophy or else!!!!

Or else? God does not get or deserve our attention, much less our devotion or obedience! To those Abel’s out there… We will kill you because of your love for God and bury your altars that declare His love for this world!… sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you (Genesis 4:7) !!TRIGGER!!

Tantrum Time… I have NOT KILLED ANYONE! I AM A GOOD PERSON!!

But have you ever been angry with someone? Or called someone a “good-for nothing”? Or called someone, “FOOL!”?

Jesus says any of these are the same as murder – the court of perfect justice would call you guilty and punishment would be the same. (Matthew 5:22)

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Trigger yet another tantrum… “I AM a good person and if God doesn’t KNOW that, He’s no God of mine! In fact!… I don’t like you either because you just hurt my feelings! If I wasn’t such a good person I would kill you!”

We live in a world today that is having one gigantic tantrum. If it wasn’t so serious (and full of hate), I would giggle at the foot stomping going on today and laugh at the rhetoric that sounds like children on the playground trying to bully other children into playing THE RIGHT game – THEIR GAME.

But I can’t laugh while shedding tears for the devastation and destruction being wrought in the name of “good”. It’s a bloody war instigated and encouraged by none other than EVIL. It’s a war that will not end until EVIL is put down and RIGHTEOUSNESS reigns.

It is a war that is impossible for mankind to win. Evil whispered in our ear that we deserved to BE God because we looked just like Him. We believed him and killed the very thing that destroys Evil, our LOVE for God. We murdered the truth and buried it with our innocence toward “knowing” (intimacy with) Evil.

“What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood the blood of My love is crying to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood the blood of My love from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you;

Mankind is naked, unable to win the battle and sent away from the kingdom of perfect love. Just as Cain learned, “the punishment is too great to bear! Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth… whoever finds me will kill me!” (Genesis 4:15)We are dead meat without God and His kingdom of love.

Tantrum Time doesn’t change the truth… that’s the bad news (for those who think it should)!

Our world is throwing a gigantic tantrum, and some are having too good of time doing it they refuse to stop. But the good news is… Tantrum Time does not change God.

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 

Evil defeated us (for a time) but Evil NEVER DEFEATS love! What is impossible for man, is possible with God and His love for us.

I have a feeling… maybe it’s a prophecy…

This gigantic tantrum our world is mounting in their anger against God, will be the trigger that ushers in the GREATEST REVIVAL this world has ever seen… the revival of HEARTS GIVEN TO GOD WITH LOVE… and God will be well pleasedwith the offering!

Unlike me who sent my kids to their room (out of sight and hearing) when it was Tantrum Time, God comes nearer and whispers, “Come”… “Come to Me”… “I will give you rest!” … “You will have peace with Me!”

If we can “Be Still” for just a moment, quiet our tantrums so we might hear Him, “we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free.” (John 8:32)Rather than throwing our tantrum, we would be lifting our arms in confession and surrender and be gathered in His arms of love.

If not… the vagrant and a wanderer continues searching for their place of peace and rest… You’ll know them by the sound and fury of their tantrums, because for them it will always be… Tantrum Time!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.

I love to tell the story… I also love to hear the story! Evangelism 101 teaches us how to  “present” the gospel, and it is wonderful to learn, for it (the gospel) is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

As for me, I am not ashamed of it (Romans 1:16)… as a matter of fact I am eager to preach the gospel! (Romans 1:15)

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

But today… TODAY… I am eager to LIVE THE GOSPEL! And not just for your eyes only!

I want to BE. LIKE. A. TREE planted by the water!

I want to EXTEND my roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes!

I want my LEAVES TO BE GREEN!

But mostly… I want to NOT BE ANXIOUS in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit!

And then… not only can I preach the gospel but I. can. BE. the testimony of the gospel – my life can be the WITNESS that says, “My God is good (RIGHTEOUS!) all the time! And all the time, My God is good (RIGHTEOUS!)!”

Isaiah 26:3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he/she trusts in You.” 

Perfect peace… the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension – guards my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

I can…  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

I can… Let my gentle spirit be known to all men. (Philippians 4:5)

HELLO!… The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing! (Philippians 4:6)

By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving…  I will let my requests be made known to God… I will let Your story BE my story – my life!

It’s there in God’s Word! My story!

My name is all over Ephesians 2!

Ephesians 2:1 I (Mary) was dead in my trespasses and sins…

Ephesians 2:2 in which I (Mary) formerly walked according to the course of this world…

Ephesians 2:3 (Mary) formerly lived in the lusts of her flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and was by nature a child of wrath…

BUT GOD…

Ephesians 2:4 being rich in mercy. because of His great love with which He loves Mary…

Ephesians 2:5 even when she was dead in her transgressions, made her alive together with Christ (by grace she has been saved)…

Ephesians 2:6 and raised her up with Him, and seated Mary with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…

Ephesians 2:7 so that in the ages to come He might SHOW the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward Mary in Christ Jesus!

My life IS the story of HIS GRACE (For by grace you have been saved through faith;… the gift of God) toward me! A TESTIMONY of true life – LIFE raised up with Christ and SEATED with Him and IN Him… A LIVING WITNESS (not as a result of works, so that I may not boast) of the good news of the gospel – Emmanuel – God with us!

Ephesians 2:10 For I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God  prepared beforehand so that I (Mary) would walk in them.

I am saved! Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 

However… if I want to be saved AND be a testimony of that salvation…

Faith – my confession and belief, must turn into Trust – the evidence that I not only believe but I PURSUE His kingdom/His Way/His truth… His Righteousness, AS MY OWN. seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

My WITNESS – my TESTIMONY of Perfect peace can now be added to my story! The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he/she trusts in You.

Yesterday in my “This is the Day the Lord Has Made” journal, I wrote…

“You, Lord Jesus (Lord Yeshua), have been whispering to me for a long time that prayer in my prayer closet and prayer in Your throne room are BOTH equally valuable to me and pleasing to You. However, they are neither less than nor more than our time walking together – your hand in Mine – every moment of every day I have made for us.”

My response  passionate plea/request (Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God)… “As I order my day, let me NEVER go Life Walking without putting my hand in Yours!”

And then He said… “And always remember, no formal words, ways, and means, are necessary between Father/daughter – Brother/sister – Heart Dweller/beating heart… for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)”

And then I said… “Can I BE a witness, PLEASE?! God at work in me IS MY STORY!”

God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure…

Is it YOUR story?

Can I Get a Witness, Please?!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.