Trust and Obey

While out shopping for Father’s day gifts, I made a purchase by credit card and a message popped up asking if I wanted cash back. I always say no when I see this message, but today something inside me said yes and I requested $20.00. 

Shortly afterwards, I noticed a couple in a parking lot standing by their vehicle with a sign that said “need food and gas to get back home.”  I felt compassion and thought I should pull into a drive through and buy some them some sandwiches. Then my skeptical mind started wondering if they were really stranded and desperate for help, or were they just taking advantage of people’s generosity so they could buy drugs or alcohol. (This was probably Satan tempting me with lies and distrust)

I pulled into a store instead and felt Jesus impress upon me to buy them some bottled water and lance crackers. I thought to myself, that’s good if they are traveling, this would be something needed for several hours. I also thought it would be better than giving money.  Then, the Lord told me to give them the $20.00 that I got from the credit card.

I saw several people stopping to give them money. I was still questioning whether I should do the same. I drove over and asked the young man for his story. He told me that their vehicle had broken down and they had to use their expense money for repairs and now they didn’t have enough money to get back home. I gave him the water, crackers and the $20.00. I told him that God would make sure they got home. I said God bless you and he said God bless you too. He then started getting ready to leave.

As I began to drive off, I spoke again and said. "if you are taking advantage of people, God will take care of that too." (Now why did I have to say something like that? Had to be Satan getting his last two cents in.) They looked grungy, but when I am traveling I don’t look my best either.  Jesus gently reminded me that it is not my place to judge but to obey. I felt such remorse and asked for forgiveness and grace.  

Even if the story wasn’t true, Jesus had asked me to give. As his follower, I was not to question what I was giving for, but just give. What I have and what I receive is not mine, but is provided by Him. It is by His grace that I have a job when so many are unemployed. Most likely, this couple was just tired, broke and desperate to get back home. Jesus had compassion upon them and was asking His children to help. God allowed me today to really see the meaning of “Trust and Obey.”

Later in the evening, my husband and son surprised me with an early birthday present and I learned that they purchased it just shortly after I had my encounter. When they got to the register, the item rang up $40.00 less than what they were expecting to pay.  The seed Jesus asked me to sow had been multiplied.

How many times do we miss out on blessing others and being blessed in return, because we let the enemy distract us with lies and distrust? Thank you, Lord, for teaching me this lesson. Help me to resist evil and always trust and obey.

Are you battle ready?

The medieval knight was the equivalent of the modern day tank. He was covered in multiple layers of armor, and could plow through foot soldiers standing in his way. No single foot soldier or archer could stand up to any one knight.

To become a knight, a boy would become a squire in service to a knight. His duties included taking care of knight’s armor and weapons, serving the knight and caring for his horse. A squire prepared himself by learning how to handle a sword and lance while wearing forty pounds of armor and riding a horse. When a young man had proven himself worthy, the Lord would agree to knight him in a dubbing ceremony.

The night before the ceremony, the young squire would dress in a white tunic with red robes. He would fast and pray all night for the purification of his soul. The chaplain would bless the future knight’s sword and then lay it on the altar. Before dawn, the knight took a bath to show that he was pure and he dressed in his best clothes. When dawn came, the priest would hear the young man’s confession. The squire would then eat breakfast and prepare for the ceremony.

During the dubbing ceremony, the squire would kneel before the Lord, who tapped the squire lightly on each shoulder with his sword and proclaimed him a knight. The young man would kneel as a squire who had been in training for years, but stand up as a knight, a warrior ready for battle in the Kings army.

As a Christian, we learn that we are forgiven of our sins, have eternal life and will go to heaven . Yet we continue to live in our bodies here on earth and face the temptations to sin again.  Everyday we must confess our sins, renew our minds and battle the fiery darts of the enemy against us and our family, against our health and our finances. No wonder Christians become battle worn and fatigued. It’s exhausting to even think about it. 

So how can we live a Christian life victoriously and not feel defeated. Paul taught us in Ephesians 6, that a Christian must become like a knight wearing our own armor. Like the squire, we must first become dressed in white with the red robes of Jesus’s blood washing us clean from sin. This happens at the moment of salvation. After salvation, we must walk as Christ walked following Him, just as the squire followed and served his knight.

Just as the squire, learned to handle his sword, we must train with ours.  Our sword is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. Studying and knowing God’s word, having it planted in our hearts and minds, ready to bring it forth when needed. We must read the bible; follow His commandments, pray and fast regularly, seeking the will of the Father in our lives. 

Just as the squire knelt before his lord, we must kneel and humble ourselves before our Lord daily. Finally, we must be strong in the Lord and in His might, dressing ourselves in our armor, girded with truth and grace, wearing the breastplate of righteousness, walking in the gospel of peace, shielding ourselves with faith and covered with the helmet of salvation. Then we must rise, taking up the blessed sword, ready for battle in our King’s army. 

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Are you battle ready?

Tornados, Hurricanes and other winds of change

It was 1989 and I had recently gone through a divorce. I was renting a trailer in a small trailer park just outside of town. My oldest son, was five at the time and I was self-employed with a bookkeeping business at home. It was Saturday and I had spent the day cleaning. I needed to take the trash to the dumpster and go to the store, but I kept putting it off because I was crocheting a vest that I was anxious to finish. Three times, I felt something telling me to go and each time, I ignored it and kept working. After the third time, I felt a strong compulsion to put down my project and go. My son and I got into the car and drove to the dumpster. As I got out to put the trash bags in, I noticed the sky darkening and thought that it might rain. I left and drove the few miles to the nearest store. I was gone maybe 20 minutes and started back. As I drove closer to home, I remember saying to my son, "it looks like we may have gotten some bad weather while we were gone." When I drove down into the park, my heart sank. I saw uprooted trees, debris and what was once the trailer we had called our home. There were men walking among the rubble with live utility wires popping nearby searching for our bodies, not realizing that we had left. Weeks later I wrote this poem,

" The Wind Began to Blow"

I felt the calm before the storm as clouds became dark and low,

the air was dry and still and the wind began to blow.

The trees went down as it came through making a path straight for my door,

it took only a few minutes and I didn't have a home anymore.

The destruction it left behind tore at my heart and made me cry...

Why me Lord? What did I do? The words echoed back, you didn't die!

With the strength of the angels above and the help of ones I did and didn't know, I picked up what was left and went on from where the wind began to blow.

It's been 22 years, but sometimes it still feels like yesterday. When a tornado or hurricane leaves wreckage and devastion behind it also brings change. Unavoidable change to a person's life. For me, the change was positive and it brought me to the realization that Jesus is always with me. His promise is that He will never leave or forsake me. I lost my home and my source of income within just minutes, but I have received so much more over the years.

Whether it's a tornado, a hurricane, an economic downturn, or the loss of a loved one, whatever your situation may be ... one day at time, one step at a time, we all must go on, from where the wind began to blow.

May God Bless you, and keep you and His favor always be with you! Seek and you shall find!

Isaiah - Chapter 1

The nation of Israel was brought up out of Egypt and nourished by God's hand.  Once a great a nation had now been divided into two. Israel was the Northern kingdom and Judah was the Southern kingdom. God's message of warning through His servant, Isaiah, was to the people of both kingdoms - a nation of children who had become sinful and laden with iniquity. He specifically addressed the once faithful city of Jerusalem and it's leaders, the magistrates, priests and prohets who had become corrupt and had forsaken the poor and sought only after their own gain.  (Does this sound familiar?)

Chapter one is an invitation to repent. Isaiah appeals to the rebellious rulers and to the people of Jerusalem to hear the Lord's instruction. He reveals that God no longer delights in and even rejects their worship through their sacrifices and feasts which have become formal and routine with no sincereity or repentance. The people not only disobey God, but mistreat others as well. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger.

God is always willing to forgive. Through Isaiah's message of warning, He sends the invitation to repent and return to justice. The invitation was conditional. "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword"

The invitation of God is still conditional today. He does not deny our sinfulness, but is willing to wash us clean. If we are willing to turn to and obey Him, He will forgive us and give us the "good of the land" with eternal life through Jesus Christ. If we refuse and rebel, then we too will be "devoured by the sword", the sword of eternal death.

Getting to know Isaiah

I have always loved certain verses of scripture from the book of Isaiah, but it has been many years since I actually read through the book. My favorite verse is 40:31. "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

The Lord recently gave me a very strong desire to do an indepth study of the book of Isaiah. There is probably a very well written book or study available for this at the local Christian book store, but it has always been my preference to do this type of study on my own.

I have learned that Isaiah is sometimes called the mini bible inside the bible. Did you know that Isaiah has 66 chapters just as the bible has 66 books. Isaiah has two major themes, the first is warning and judgement and the second is hope and salvation. The Bible has two major parts, the old testament of law and judgement and the new testament of hope and salvation. Isaiah's name means "the Lord saves" and his prophecies of  the Messiah announce and describe the Lord who will save, comfort and bless His people.

Isaiah was given a glimpse of God's throne and was called to be a messenger. The Lord called him to confront, to exhort and to warn the people of Judah with the truth. They had broken the Lord's covenant and rebelled against their God and would have to face the consequences of their sins. Just as he exposed their sins, he also interceded on their behalf. He was not just a messenger, but he was also a watchman. He encouraged those who were penitent and sorrowful to place their hope in God. He spoke of peace and a time of healing. Isaiah was deeply concerned that the people understand that there is only one God and this one true God is the Almighty for all men and women. All are created by Him and all are subject to Him.

The words of Isaiah so many years ago to his people are still just as relevant to all people today.