God-given Fleas~

Greetings!

“What man is there among you, who if his son shall ask him for bread will offer him a stone?  Or if the son shall ask him for a fish will offer him a snake?  If you then, imperfect as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:9-11)”

I remember one year how excited Jorge and I were to give our kids a Backyard Discovery Cedar Wooden Swing Set. It was by far the biggest gift we had ever given them, and Jorge even put artificial turf in the clubhouse so they wouldn’t scratch their little knees while playing up there.  We made such a big drama at the unveiling too.  We blindfolded them, and carefully led them out to the yard. They had no clue.  I videotaped their happy reaction, and I was thrilled that they were so thrilled. However, there is a great distinction between us and God.  While we – far far far from perfect – can still give and do good things, like spend loads of money to buy a swing set and then spend loads of time building it, our heavenly Father will always surpass us in His giving; it’s not even close!

Sometimes, however, it appears as though God has given us stones and snakes instead of fish and bread. It looks like we have received something bad instead of good.  It feels like a letdown and not a blessing.

Like fleas for instance…

Corrie Ten Boom is one of my faith heroes.  She was an amazing woman who helped many Jews during World War II.  Eventually, she was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp.  You can read her amazing and life-changing story in her book The Hiding Place.  As you might imagine, she endured many difficult situations.  And just when she thought it could not get any worse, she and the others in her barracks came down with fleas.

Fleas in a concentration camp where there were no ointments, baths, remedies or relief.  God, really?  But Corrie was a woman of faith and did not allow the fleas to deter her faith.  She even thanked God for them.  What? Yes.  She thanked God for the fleas. 

The fleas were not stones and snakes in disguise.  They were the choicest of bread and fish – the best possible gift from God.  The fleas kept the abusive guards away and allowed Corrie to share the gospel and have prayer meetings in those barracks.  Many many women came to know Jesus because of those fleas.

God-given fleas turned out to be a blessing that spared Corrie and those women unspeakable horrors.  God-given fleas allowed salvation to come to others.  God-given fleas are responsible for a legacy that will last for all eternity.

The swing set?  Eventually the kids outgrew it, it started to fall apart, and into the trash it went.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Sometimes we think that we have received the wrong “gift” when all along it was exactly what we needed to ultimately be blessed and bless others.  Help us to trust Your goodness over what our eyes see or what our minds think.  You are the best gift-giver, and we are grateful.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

His Plan is Best~

Greetings~

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible: Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,'" declares the LORD, "'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

This verse is such a comforting and beautiful promise for all God's children.  No matter what is going on in your life right now, you can boldly say that God is on your side.  He is all about setting you up to bless you, not harm you.  To give you hope, not despair. To give you something to look forward to, not leave you perpetually crashing into one dead end after another.

Ooohhh--I can hear some of you lamenting, "God's plan is not happening for me.  I am not prospering.  I am under a lot of stress. I am hopeless..." 

Hit the brakes, people!  Let's break it down, okay? 

The very first thing we learn from this verse is that the plans belong to God.  

It doesn't say, "I know the plans I have for myself," declares Yenise, "plans to prosper myself..."

This does not mean I don't have plans.  I do – lots of them.  But right now I am quaking in my ankle socks just thinking about what would have happened if I could have somehow exerted control over Rayray's life and sent her to school in 2012.  She had graduated with her bachelor's in April and was ready to start grad school right away.  She did not want any time off, and was looking forward to starting her master's program. However, a clerical error was to blame for her having to defer enrollment for one extra year, which was not part of my plan nor hers either. And at the time, I called, cajoled, and cried to the admissions committee, even had a minor temper tantrum, but they would not budge.

The worse part was that I remember hanging up the phone feeling so smug – thinking to myself, "You won't budge?  Fine.  But you'll see; I know Someone Who will make you."

I turned to God and pleaded with Him to move the red-tape mountain.  I asked Him to unholster His heavenly guns and cause a ruckus.  I begged Him move the hearts of the inept ding dongs who messed up.  

Crikey! NOTHING HAPPENED.  

Except that all along God was busy behind the scenes setting us up to bless us. When we couldn't see how it would work out, He could.  When neither Rayray nor I could think of one good reason for this inopportune delay, He could. Rayray wound up working as a high school volleyball coach when she didn’t get into grad school.  That’s how she met her future husband. God always knew His plan was best.   And He also knew that we would eventually come to our senses and thank Him for being in control.  (The older and wiser we get, the more quickly this happens).  He knew that we would re-embrace this life of faith and accept that our way of thinking must take a bow to His will for our life.  

Sometimes that can be difficult because we are just so sure that everything would be better if ________ (fill in the blank).

What did you fill in the blank with?  I am not saying to let it go completely. After all, Rayray did eventually start grad school.  In fact, she is graduating in a few months. What I am saying, however, is that God knows best, including the timing of things.  If you're still waiting for something or someone, or if your dreams are on hold or even non-existent, let's take a step of faith together and embrace God's plans.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 "It is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time."     

PRAYER: Dear Lord, If we're being honest, sometimes it's hard to believe that Your plans are best.  There are things You have allowed that we would not have chosen for ourselves. But today, as one big DEVO family, we take a step of faith straight toward You and thank You that You are in control.  Nothing and no one else has a say in our lives.  We open our arms wide to receive all the good You desire to do in us and in those we love, and we find comfort in knowing You have perfect timing.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~     

Don't Cry~

Tuesday 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.’”

Before Christ traveled to Nain, He was in the city of Capernum where He had been hard at work teaching large crowds from Judea, Jerusalem, and coastal regions.  These same crowds could not get enough of Him and were constantly trying to touch Him because of the power that was flowing through Him (That's a DEVO topic for another day!).  Christ, and rightly so, was the center of attention everywhere He went. Nevertheless, in the midst of the daily hustle and bustle of His extraordinarily busy life, Christ’s heart goes out to a grieving widow whose only son had died; He puts all of His considerable attention on one broken heart. Sigh~

I do my fair share of asking, pleading, crying, petitioning, and sometimes even begging. I wonder how many others are also out there at any given time praying. Are there millions or even billions of requests being offered up right this second as I write this DEVO?  My guess would be yes, but this verse reminds us that God sees each and every one of His children on a personal and intimate level.  It does not matter who else is trying to reach out to Him, He sees us.  He is aware of our needs, our pain, our struggles, and today He says to you and me, “Don’t cry.”

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~  

Make it Count for Something~

Blast from the past; originally published April 7, 2014

Psalm 107:2 “Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out!”

This morning I heard a local radio DJ say, “The only thing I haven’t failed at is failure.”

What a totally true statement! On January 4, 2001 I failed as a mom; I sent Hormone to school with appendicitis. He was complaining of a stomachache, and I told him it was probably just hunger and that he would feel better after he ate. A few hours later the school nurse called to say Hormone was in a lot of pain and would I please pick him up. As soon I pulled into the school I saw him walking toward me – doubled over – and then he vomited into the bushes. Instantly, I knew it was appendicitis and drove my screaming-at-the-top-of-his-lungs son straight to the hospital. They operated on him immediately, and upon completion, the surgeon loudly announced that Hormone’s appendix was twice the size of a boy’s his age. I did not know whether to be proud or mortified.

Suffice to say that from that moment until now I have said a thousand times, “I will never ever tell anyone not to go to the emergency room if they have a stomachache because it could be appendicitis.” The last time I said it was this past Friday, April 4, when my son called to say his lovely wife had a pain in her side that would not subside. And even though she was not screaming, she was uncomfortable. And even though she did not have every single symptom, I made them promise they would go to the hospital if the pain persisted. And for the one thousandth and one time, I reminded every one of that special day I sent a boy to school with an appendix on the verge of rupturing...

Turns out Lis did have appendicitis, and Saturday morning they wheeled her in for surgery. It was quick, and for the glory of God Almighty, she did not have any adverse reactions, even though the nurse said that young women her age sometimes do not respond well to the anesthesia side effects.  Blah blah blah…

And yesterday when she was released, she promptly announced that her weekend hospital stay was like a mini vacation and that she and Hormone had a lot of fun. Go figure!

I said of all that to say one word: REDEMPTION.

One definition out of the 10 plus that exist for this excellent word is "to make it count for something."

The experience I went through with Jorgie was unpleasant, to say the least, but since it happened and valuable lessons were learned, the way it counts for something is by using what was learned to help others. In other words, one good thing that came from all this is that my lovely daughter-in-love was attended to in a timely manner. AMEN!

Is there something difficult or heartbreaking about your past that you still think about?  Let’s ask our redeeming Lord to make it count for something.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that You can bring something good even out of the most negative experiences in my life.  Redeem this particular experience in my life ______________, and I trust You to make it count for something worthy and beautiful and in amazing ways that I could have never imagined!  In Christ’s name I pray, AMEN~

Back to Business~

Tuesday greetings ~

Isaiah 41:13 “I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 'Do not fear; I will help you.’”

What can we expect when God takes us by the hand?  The book of Mark in the Bible provides one glorious answer with three different miracles.

Mark 1:31 “He went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.”

Mark 5:41 “He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (Which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.”

Mark 9:27 “Jesus gently took his hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.”

When God takes hold of our hand, we get up! We get back to business!  We don’t stay down; we rise by His power and live! 

In all three of these verses there was no hope left.  But when Jesus took each of these folks by the hand, a mighty reversal took place.  What is that “thing” that has you down?  Is it your child? Two of these miracles were performed at the request of a parent.  Is it a relative? The other miracle was for Peter’s mother-in-law.  Is it you? God takes a hold of YOUR right hand today.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Take our hand, please, and lift us up.  You are speaking into our hearts today and promising to help us.  Do Your thing! In Jesus’ name, we receive it! Amen~

Thank You for Your Help~

Thursday greetings,

Please enjoy this DEVO previously published on July 1, 2014.

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This past Friday one of my favorite people in the world got into some serious trouble.

My four-year-old nephew, Danny, decided he would hide from his grandmother, my mother-in-law, who was babysitting him at the time.  When she called and he didn’t answer, she automatically went to the pool.  Part of her knew he couldn’t open the kid-proof latch on top of the door, but then part of her wanted to make sure anyway.

When she realized he wasn’t there, she started looking inside the house, all while shouting out his name.  (I can so picture him with a mischievous grin knowing he is causing a panic.)  She looked everywhere and nothing.  By this time a knock came at the door; it was two young friendly Mormons.  No time for proselytizing, however.  My mother-in-law quickly enlisted their help, and they took off down the street to check out the lake.  A couple of neighbors also showed up to help, and Danny’s mom was called.  She lives super close by, so she got there in less than a minute, stood in the middle of the family room, and yelled, “Danny, come out now!”

He appeared from behind a speaker next to the TV, a speaker that was big enough to completely hide him.  No need to call 911!  

The whole thing lasted less than five minutes, and Danny had a closed-door meeting with his mom, the details of which are still unknown.

My mother-in-law, relieved but exhausted, managed to tell the Mormons, “I will stick with my beliefs, but thank you for your help.”

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP…

Sometimes we need help, and that’s a good thing.

Matthew 18:19-20 “When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, My Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of Me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”

This doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t there when we pray alone.  It means that something significant enough happens when we pray together that it’s worth dedicating a Bible passage to it.

What do you need to make a prayer of?  Find a friend, a spouse, a relative, a neighbor, a co-worker, a child, find someone, anyone, who will get together with you, and approach God knowing He will go into action for you.  This could be the key to the breakthrough you have been waiting for.

There will be some matters which we need to pray about together – which we will need to call in for back-up and reinforcements.  Imagine if my mother-in-law had not enlisted any help?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Your promise is clear: When we go to you with a partner, You will go into action for us!  AMEN! Help us find a partner, and remind us that we need to be available to pray with others.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

 

Within Easy Reach~

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ and peace be unto you and yours,

The following DEVO was published last year in August.  I am resending today as I take a few days off. Blessings J

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Matthew 16:19 “You have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.”

One of my favorite TV shows is the 1960's sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.  It’s such a funny show, and it seems like almost every episode someone winds up in jail, Andy is the town sheriff after all.  One time a character named Otis was locked up for the night and was waiting to be released.  Unknown to him, however, was that all along the keys were right outside his cell hanging on a peg.  That’s one of the running jokes of the show.  The keys are always hanging on that peg within easy reach of anyone who is locked up.

So many of us are like Otis: The keys are right there, but either we don’t realize it or just plain don’t use them.  We stayed locked up in fear, loneliness, stress, hopelessness, sickness, and need because we don’t use the keys.

Which keys?  The keys to the kingdom.  And what are those keys? Prayer.  We always come back to prayer.

Prayer is the means by which heavens doors open up and bless us here on earth.  Prayers eliminate barriers. Prayers give us complete and free access to everything God has to offer.  Please refer to Psalm 103 for a tiny glimpse of everything that is ours. 

Prayer is never about a free pass to ask for whatever we want and to do whatever we want to do; God will never do anything contrary to His Word. But prayer is the means by which God decided to make a bridge between heaven and earth.  Christ gave us His life to build that bridge and like Otis, all we have to do is reach through the bars and grab those keys.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for so freely giving us the keys to the kingdom.  Some days, we forget to use the keys, or we forget they are right there.  But thank You that they are the easiest things to access; all it takes is a little talk with Jesus.  We say “YES!” to Jesus and the health, protection, peace, love, and hope that He offers right here where we are on earth.  And we say “No!” to anxiety, disease, worry, fear, loneliness, and hatred.  Heaven agrees with us, and we receive it! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

A Little Goes a Long Way~

Matthew 8:26 He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then He got up and gave an order to the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

We first looked at this verse a couple of days ago.  But there is another great message to think about. 

Verse 26 is Christ’s response to the disciples who were freaking out because a powerful storm came out of nowhere, and the little boat they were in was being swamped by waves.

His priority, nonetheless, was not to give the order to calm the storm; it was to chastise the disciples for having little faith.

I get it.  There are days when I could use more faith.  There are moments when I question whether God has heard me or even cares or not.  Sometimes I wonder if He is as near as He says He is. 

However, and let's really allow our weary souls to absorb this: The disciples’ “little faith” was enough because Jesus got up and gave the order.

Jesus never said, "You of no faith."  Instead, He took the little faith they had and worked with it, people.

Jesus works with us – always.  He may encourage us to strengthen our faith and bolster it up by praying and reading the Bible, but He never ever rejects the faith we do have.  Do not fret or worry that you are somehow missing the mark.

Faith-building point of the day: A little goes a long way with God.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that when we call on Christ He accepts all the faith we can muster and uses it to do mighty things.  Strengthen us and protect us.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~