Update on Leo~

Good morning~

UPDATE TIME

On January 28, 2014 I sent a DEVO about facing seemingly insurmountable situations.   The Bible passage was about King Asa who was facing a bigger and better-equipped army coming against him and the nation of Israel.   He knew he was outmatched and didn't hesitate to cry out to God for help.  That DEVO drew a parallel between Asa and "Leo," my coworker who was facing the possibility of kidney cancer and had to have surgery.  

DRUM ROLL PLEASE........

Last Tuesday Leo had surgery.  Six hours later he emerged with his kidney intact--minus the tumor--and yesterday the final official pathology report came in: NO CANCER!!!!

Praise our Lord and His healing hands!  Yes, Leo has had pain, nausea, and even a trip back to the ER for breathing difficulties.

But, even though Asa prayed for help and he won that battle, he still had to fight.  We all still have to fight sometimes, but what a difference when God is on our side.  And dare I say that Leo, whose picture appears below with his I-just-came-out-of-anesthesia-grogginess and "yes, I will use the little energy I have to give you a thumbs up for your picture" [even after someone's surgery I am pushy], has emerged with a stronger faith.  

He has grown and hopefully we have all grown in our conviction that God answers the prayers of His children.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We thank You for Leo's healing.  We are grateful for Your healing touch in his life and ours.  We are all a little stronger in our faith today.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~

One-Two Punch~

A late afternoon greeting to all!

I had an exciting morning today.  A Miami-Dade detective visited my home and brought me six pictures of possible suspects from my “dent and run” experience on January 30.  I successfully pointed out the perp, circled the image with a pen as required by law, initialed and dated the document, and voila! two hours later I had his name, address, driver’s license details, and insurance info sent to me via email.  And in case you’re wondering, yes, there is a verse for this:

Proverbs 21:15  “When justice is done, a righteous person is delighted, but troublemakers are terrified.”  Amen!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Here’s a review of yesterday’s verse from another version of the Bible.

1 Peter 2:1-3 So get rid of every kind of evil, every kind of deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander.  Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation.  Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good!

It’s all about making a clean sweep, and it’s a powerful one-two punch.  It’s not enough to read the Bible and it’s not enough to get rid of bad behavior.  We have to do both together.  And the reason it’s important is because it will bring growth. 

Is growth important?  Think about this time last year.  Is your faith stronger now?  Does your hope run deeper?  Do you have more peace? Do you love better? Do you find it easier to trust the Lord? 

The answer to all those questions above is hopefully a hearty yes.  Growth brings blessings.  Growth helps us avoid stupid decisions and helps us make wise ones.  Growth helps us stay calm in the storm because we know that if He brought us out before, He will bring us out again.  Who among us wants to work at the same job without ever getting a raise or promotion? And not one of us who has kids wants them to stay stuck at the age they are now.  We want them to grow.  It pains me to admit that I drank out of a baby bottle until I was practically in high school.  By the time I quit I had all my permanent teeth.  (My Cuban grandmother is partly to blame for this outrageous behavior!)  But there’s nothing cute about it, really, and there’s nothing cute about being stunted in one’s growth—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. 

Growing in our salvation should be priority one because as we grow through purging the bad, prayer, and Bible reading we will have strength for this life.  Glory!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that as we pray right this moment we are growing.   Every moment spent in prayer builds our muscles and strengthens us for life.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

The Great Fernandez Purging of 2014

Greetings~

After three weeks and five days, the restoration company has finally started the cleanup in my burned garage. However, lest you think I haven’t been doing anything, please know that I have been fastidiously removing EVERY SINGLE THING inside my entire house and (A) donating it, (B) discarding it, or (C) cleaning it and putting it away.

This has been a massive undertaking, but I have commented to my kids that I am doing them a huge favor. The day I go home to Jesus, my family will walk into an orderly home. The only thing they will have to do is each take a copy of a USB Drive that will contain all the pictures and movies I have ever taken. Everything else can be easily removed and dispersed how they see fit. 

To date, I have made a dozen drop offs at the Salvation Army. I can not believe how much stuff I was holding onto. Saturday morning I filled a bunch of bags with Disney VHS tapes, books I had read in high school, mismatched utensils, rattan place mats, old lunchboxes, three English/Spanish dictionaries, shoes, key chains, several stuffed animals, at least 30 greeting cards, pillow cases, two blankets, a bunch of Rayray’s duffel bags from college, 54 one-cent stamps, and seven assorted cell phone cases and chargers.

It feels good to liquidate. It feels good to open a drawer and see orderliness. It feels good to look at the closets and see everything organized by color. It feels good to go into the once-cramped office and take a deep lemony breath. It feels even better to know that not one space will be exempt from what I am now calling, “The Great Fernandez Purging of 2014.”

And the reason this all started is because of the fire. Even though it was contained in the garage, we were told that if even one tiny speckle of soot escaped into the house, it would eventually cause an odor and cause damage.

The scary part is that everything looked so normal after the fire; I almost didn’t allow the industrial-sized air cleaners into my house because of the loud noise they make. But look at this filter. Isn’t it shocking? And everything looked so normal on the outside...

And while I purge, the cleaning company is going to not only re-do the entire garage, they are going to clean all the furniture inside, re-paint all the walls, scrub the kitchen cabinets, and sanitize the air ducts. I would have thought all of that unnecessary if it hadn’t been for the filter.

Isn’t in interesting that God talks about cleaning the house in the Bible?

1 Peter 2:1-3 “So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.”

Let’s talk some more tomorrow~

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for Your wisdom. Help us make a clean sweep. We do not want to hold onto anything that cramps our style or weighs us down. We want to breathe easy, live easy, and enjoy life. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

The Right Response~

Howdylujah~

Truths we have learned this week:

1. There will be times when we are surrounded by bad stuff; it's called life.
2. Panic and fear are normal responses, but they shouldn't be our only response.
3. Praying should be our go-to action.
4. God answers prayers that are prayed at desperate times; He knows that seeing is believing.
5. It is a good thing to have a dependable person in your life who remains calm when everything is going crazy. We should strive to be this person for those around us.
6. No matter what we face, we can find peace in knowing that more of God and His power and goodness are working on our behalf than the negative and evil that comes against us.

Let's take a look at number five.

When the servant cried out to Elisha, "Oh no, my lord. What are we going to do?" Elisha, "man of God' that he was," remained calm and reassured the servant about awesome truth #6 listed above. And according to Micah 6:8 when we are God we "do what is right, we love mercy, and we walk humbly with Him." Elisha's immediate reaction to the danger was to first and foremost encourage the servant and then pray. A beautiful example of the right response.

He could have said, "I don't know what to do; let's run for it!" Or, "What's wrong with you? God doesn't like it when you freak out!" Even, "You puny-brained fearful scaredy crow. I am a man of God. I know He will take care me. Sayonara!"

But no. We know he was a man of God because his first reaction when approached with the crisis was to be encouraging and prayerful.

When Hormone was in 12th grade, he had high hopes of playing football in college. Daily we were getting letters from colleges all over the country. One day at the beginning of the season, the coach was angry at the way every one was practicing, so he switched everyone's positions. He put Hormone to hold the football while another kid kicked the football. And if you didn't see it coming, yes, the kicker kicked Hormone's hand instead, and that was all she wrote.

He was out of football at the worse possible time. Eventually the letters stopped coming, and our family felt a cloud of disappointment settle over us. And boy was I fuming! But I want each of you to know that the very day the accident happened, we knelt as a family and prayed and thanked God He was in control. We did not move off that floor until all anger toward the coach was gone and until our faith was strengthened to trust God for Hormone's future. We are still trusting, and trust me, we will have a lifetime to get our reactions right.

We can make such a difference in this world if we take a breath and carefully measure our words when problems arise. It does not matter what the problem is; we can confidently state that God's power reigns supreme, and we can pray for eyes to be opened to that universal truth.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We desire to do what is right--not make things worse by being unmerciful, uncompassionate, or turning our backs on You. We need You more than ever! In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Seeing is Believing~

Yesterday we learned that Elisha’s servant was in a panic over being surrounded by the king of Aram’s army. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” he cried.

2 Kings 6:17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

I always manage to get the goosies when I read verse 17 above. It is a peek into what goes on behind the scenes of our lives. And I love that Elisha’s immediate response to his servant is to pray about the issue. No time for small talk when there’s a real and looming crisis. (Some of us need to go back and re-read the preceding sentence again).

I also appreciate what Elisha asks our Lord. “Open his eyes…” Sometimes seeing is believing, people, and God doesn’t get upset when we ask for reassurances that He is helping us out. On the contrary, God answered the prayer. Clearly the servant could already see the literal danger, but Elisha was talking about the servant’s ability to see with spiritual eyes, with eyes of faith. And what a sight to behold—“hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around”! Just like the servant, when we see the power of heaven, the less we will fear the problems we face on earth.

Can I get an Amen?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Open our eyes right now that we may see Your goodness and handiwork in our lives. Each of has worries and concerns and need to witness those horses and chariots of fire all around! In Jesus’name, AMEN~

Outnumbered~

Outnumbered

The king of a nation called Aram was at war with Israel. He had a plan to set up camp at a strategic place where he could ambush the Israelites, but Elisha, who the Bible says was “a man of God,” warned the Israeli king. In fact, in verse 10 it says Elisha warned the Israeli king more than once about different plans of attack.

Eventually the king of Aram finds out what Elisha is up to, and he is furious. Verse 13: “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

The next morning Elisha’s servant wakes up and sees that “an army with horses and chariots has surrounded the city. And he utters a phrase that God is used to hearing a bazillion times a day, “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?”

The servant is asking Elisha, but aren’t we all very familiar with the panic in his voice? Haven’t we all been in a position where we feel there is no way out? No exit? No relief? Overwhelmed? Outnumbered? Powerless? No solution? Nothing, nada, goose egg, zippo, zilch?

Elisha answers with one of my favorite Bible verses of all time. A verse that I have held onto for dear life on more than once occasion: 2 Kings 6:16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Amen, Glory, Bless His name, Hallelujah, Mercy, Joy, and happy dance time!

Life happens and stuff comes at us, BUT those who are with you and me OUTNUMBER those who are against us.

Part two tomorrow~

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We have such peace knowing You and Your angels outnumber our enemies. No matter what surrounds us, we know we have You on our side. We will not be afraid. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Jesus is a Savior of Action~

Happy Valentine’s Day DEVO, all you beautiful and loved children of God~

Today is all about the love.  I myself woke up to a lovely card and calorie-laden chocolate treat!  My husband woke up to well-wishes and a peck on the cheek. 

And everywhere we look we see the evidence of this special day.  Here in Miami it seems as though every street corner has a vendor selling roses, stuffed animals, or heart-shaped balloons.  Most of the folks at my office are wearing pink or red today, and I am certain there will be plenty of folks eating out tonight.  All this to celebrate love, and it’s lovely!

Love, after all, is God’s idea, and it’s a good one. 

How do we know we are loved? 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God loved and then God gave.  Love is a verb; it always does something.

For the past few DEVO’s we have followed the encounter that a grieving widow whose son died had with Jesus.  He saw her, He told her not to cry, and then BAM! He touched her son, and he bolted right up!

What’s the point in saying, “Don’t cry,” unless there is going to be some kind of follow through to help those tears stop flowing?

It makes perfect sense to me.

May we all get it through our thick heads today that Jesus is a Savior of action.  He gets involved with words that encourage us and follows through with actions that strengthen our faith and heal our hearts.  

Glory glory hallelujah!

I could tell Jorge “I love you,” all day long, but once in a while I better cook his favorite dinner, I better control my temper, I better cheer him on when he’s had a rough day at work and keep my critical comments to myself etc…etc…etc…In other words, I better prove it.  How else would Jorge know that he is the love of my life?  How else would we have known that God loves us if He had not sent Christ?  How would the widow have felt if Jesus would have told her to stop crying and then turned around and gone on His merry way with the crowd?

Love gives, love listens, love encourages, love never looks the other way, and I love it.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for loving us.  Thank You that Jesus is a Savior of action.  In His name, AMEN~

Our Tear Ducts Will be Useless~

Luke 7:13 When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.”

Last time we learned that even though we may be surrounded by a lot of people, sometimes the only One Who can make a difference is the Lord. And there have been moments in my life where even though my family and friends have been literally right next to me, I have felt that no one understands me, no one cares, and/or every one is sick and tired about hearing about “it.”

What is your “it” today? What is that “thing” that has you practically apoplectic? Is there a specific need in your life you would like Jesus to notice?

My dear and beautiful friends, He already has noticed. He has already seen you, His heart has already gone out to you, and you can be certain that these verses were written just for you. He is also saying, “Don’t cry.”

No where in the Bible does God say that we will never cry. But look at what He does say:

“He is the healer of the brokenhearted. He is the one who bandages their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalms 30:5

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalm 34:18

“And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Rev. 21:4 increases power. Isaiah 40:29

There are plenty of good reasons to cry, but we can all be certain that when those moments come, we have a Savior Who sees us, Who connects with our suffering, and Who heals and bandages our wounds. Most importantly, one day our tear ducts will be useless! AMEN!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that You are near to us. Thank You for Your promise to rescue us when our spirits are crushed. Thank You that You Yourself will personally wipe away all our tears. How beautiful and how blessed we are that You are our Lord. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Christ Focuses on Us~

 

Greetings~

Luke 7:11-12 "A large crowd went along with Him…And a large crowd from the town was with her…"

A few weeks ago my three nephews, ages one, three, and nine and my niece, age 11, spent the night. Factor in that Rayray was still living at home, her then-fiancé was hovering nearby, Hormone and my lovely daughter-in-law dropped by for a visit as well, my brother was also temporarily living with me, and Jorge was there too, and well, it was a little chaotic.

My phone may or may not have rung; I’m not sure. I can’t recall what, if anything was on the TV. Somehow diapers were changed, and I am pretty sure I fed the kids at least once. Poor things! At one point we were playing with a large rubber spider, and I meant to hurl it at Jorge, but my aim stinks, and I hit the baby square in the head. He didn’t even cry. (Do not tell his parents).

I was surrounded by 10 people, hardly a large crowd, and I could barely keep up. But notice how a large crowd was with Christ, and yet He “saw her.”

None of us should ever feel that Jesus has more important things to do than to address our needs. You are the most important thing to Him, and even though it is a mystery, He focuses on each and every one of us as though we were the only ones in the crowd.

I like to be seen every now and again. I like to know that I matter. That someone has noticed me. That someone is thinking about me. That I am significant. That I am special. Most importantly, it is a relief that Someone connects with my suffering.

Of course, our spouses, family, and friends provide a lot of the affirmation we need, but sometimes it’s not enough. A large crowd was with the widow as well. No doubt they were grieving with her and trying to comfort her. But she needed something extra; she needed Jesus.

PRAYER: Thank You for our family and friends. You enrich our lives through the relationships You have blessed us with. But we also need Christ to see us, help us, and perform miracles for us. Thank You that He is paying attention. In His name we pray, AMEN~

He Sees Me~

TGIF greetings~

Luke 7:11 “Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.  As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.  When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’”

Soon after what?  Previous to this verse Christ had ministered in the city of Capernum, He taught large crowds who were from Judea, Jerusalem, and coastal regions, and He chose the 12 disciples.  The Bible also says that these large crowds all tried to touch Him because of the power that was flowing through Him.  (There’s a DEVO topic we’ll have to explore soon).  Suffice to say, He was busy, and everywhere He went He was followed by people who were eager to learn from Him and/or receive a miracle.  And yet, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, Christ’s heart goes out to a grieving widow whose only son had died—He puts all His attention on one broken heart. Sigh~

Did any of you ever see the movie Bruce Almighty?  Jim Carrey plays a character, Bruce, who complains to God that He’s not doing a good job so God offers him the job for one week.  Pretty soon Bruce realizes that one of his jobs as God is dealing with all the prayers that are barraging him, and he uses something of an email program to receive and answer the prayers.  The one scene that I have played over and over and over again in my head since watching this movie over 10 years ago is when those initial email prayers start coming in.  God’s job is not so easy, and before you know it, there are so many requests that it overwhelms the system.  Bruce answers eventually answers yes” for every request to save time.  

But there is a really good point to be made with all this: Even though millions upon millions of prayers are pouring in at any given moment, God still sees each and every one of us at a personal and intimate level.  (He is God after all, and rather than thinking that He needs help to answer prayer, I choose to believe in His majesty and grandeur and all-sufficiency.  I don’t know that I could have much real faith in a God Who needs help to help me.  But this is another DEVO topic for later).

God, Who is awesome, sees You and every tear you have ever shed. 

How might knowing this change our perspective or attitude?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are never too busy to see us.  You are intimately aware of our hurts, needs, wants, and fears.  Thank You that You, the Almighty and Glorious Lord, are right there when we need You the most.  In Christ’s name, AMEN~  

The Fine Book of Luke~

Greetings beautiful and blessed creatures of God,

Let us treasure these words in the fine book of Luke; they were written for each of us.

Luke 7:11-14

11Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

14Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Points to consider:

1.     Even though Jesus is in high demand, He sees us.

2.     His heart goes out to us.

3.     There comes a time when Jesus wants us to stop crying, and He will perform a miracle, if necessary, to turn that frown upside down.

4.     When Jesus speaks amazing things happen.

5.     Jesus is all about restoring areas in our life that were previously devoid of life.

So many thoughts are whirling about in what Jorge says is my larger-than-average sized head!  And they are all good.

Next time we will start breaking it all down.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, that Your Word assures us that You never overlook us, are never in too much of a hurry to stop and comfort us, or unable to provide what we need.  We bless Your name, AMEN~

What if?

What if?

Greetings J

It’s been almost a week since the fire, and I praise God for His goodness.

As I have thought about this for the past several days, I have reached the unmistakable conclusion that God has my back.

What if the fire would have started when I was not home? 

What if the fire would have started during all the prep for Rayray’s wedding—when the garage was the temporary storage facility for so many of the things we used?

What if the fire would have started the day before Rayray’s wedding?

What if the fire would have started when I was asleep?

What if the fire would have started when I was home alone?

And yet, it did not. Amen, glory, and praise His High and Holy name!

So many “what if?” scenarios.  But isn’t that life?

What if I get sick?  What if I lose my job? What if I never get married? What if what if what if…

And this is the point where I invite you, along with myself, to shift our focus from the “what if” to the Who.

Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

It’s a rhetorical question.  It’s the same as asking, “Is there any adverse power that is stronger than God?”

Stronger than the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth?

Stronger than the Host of the Angel Armies?

Stronger than the Mighty Fortress?

In case you don’t know the answer, it’s NO—not even a fire.  

There’s a bunch of adversity right now going on, but keep your focus on the ONE WHO is stronger.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, that You are for us, so NOTHING can be against us; You have us covered. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~