Overshadow

“"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and He will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

Greetings,

That glorious verse above was delivered by an angel to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and I want us to speak it over our lives today – specifically the word overshadow.

When we invite God’s power to overshadow us, which means to hover, cover, tower over, surround, and totally consume us, miracles happen. 

What area of your life would you to see overshadowed and overtaken by God’s power?

Is it your relationship status?

Is it your womb?

Is it your bank account?

Is it your emotions?

Is it your parenting?

Is it your career path?

Is it your boss or co-worker?

Is it your marriage?

Is it your health struggles?

Is it your lack of confidence or direction?

Is it your child’s choices?

 

It does not matter what "it" is.  God's power will rest upon it and produce a blessing!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we invite You to come into our lives right this moment and overwhelm us with Your power.  Take over this situation _____________ and produce a miracle.  Thank You that right after an angel spoke the word above, he reminded Mary that “nothing is impossible with God.” In Jesus’ name, Amen amen amen!

Grizzly

“...the Lord will fight for you" (Exodus 14:14).

Greetings,

There’s a scene in the movie The Bear where a little bear cub stands up on his back legs and tries to scare off a menacing cougar with his baby roar.  It’s a valient effort, but ineffective.  Suddenly, however, a much bigger and powerful roar frightens off the cougar.  The little cub turns around and sees his friend - a massive, full-grown, fearless grizzly – towering over him in a protective stance.  Since I am one of those people who whoops and hollers and claps in the movies, I cheered loudly and unapologetically during this compelling moment.  So did a lot of other people.   That’ll teach that cougar to watch out who he messes with!

  

We all have a “Grizzly” who fights for us too, a big and powerful Force Who has our backs.  He hears our puny roars and rushes to tower over us causing any enemy to retreat.    

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You that You fight for us.  We aren’t nearly strong enough to live life on our own.  And we are not powerful enough to confront every problem and threat we face.  You are, and we are grateful You are willing to stand up for us.  Whether it’s financial, relationship, emotional, vocational, or physical struggles, they are no match for You.  We invite You to send a mighty roar and bring us victory.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Fishfinder

Greetings,

John 21:6 “Jesus said, “‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”

I’ve never been much of a fisherman.  The whole putting the bait on a hook and reeling in a suffocating animal does not appeal to me.  Plus, my mind tends to over-dramatize things, so I start to imagine the fish’s mom will lose her mind trying to find her baby and die of depression…

And yet, I once succumbed to the pressure, put on me by my husband, Jorge, who LOVES fishing, and I went out for the day.

I did not bait my own hook; it was too gross.  But I did cast the line into the crystal-clear waters off Biscayne Bay.  It did not take long to feel a tug on the line, and I admit, it was kind of thrilling.  I reeled in what I thought would be for sure a four-foot giant, but it was a grunt.  It was still big enough to be filleted, floured, and fried later that night. 

Jorge says it was all possible because of the “special spot” he took us to, and he found it with the help of a fishfinder, which shows just where the fish are lurking.  Apparently, there are plenty of places under the deep blue sea where fish gather and do not gather – places where they are in abundance and places where they avoid going altogether. Some fish like to go deeper to avoid warm temperatures, and other fish enjoy coral reefs because they can hide from larger predatory fish.  But the fishfinder always, well, finds the fish.   

I like that word – fishfinder – and it is a perfect description of our Lord because HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE “FISH” ARE.

He knows where we should cast the net and where doing so would be a huge waste of time, maybe even dangerous.  He knows where we should go and how to get us there.  He speaks to us through the Bible, and He answers prayer.  He knows what we need and when we need it.  

Jorge is in the real estate rehabbing business.  I always ask the Lord to guide him to the good deals and to help him avoid the bad ones - to let Jorge discover any hidden problems during the inspection period.  Jesus knows where the best business is.  

Every area of our lives can benefit from the Fishfinder.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, show us where to go fishing.  We want to discover the things that lead to joy, peace, blessing, hope, faith, unity, and love.  We want to avoid everything and anything that is counterproductive to our well-being and our families’ well-being.  You are the One Who knows all the dangers out there.  Guide us and give us wisdom.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~    

 

Jumping Over Walls

Greetings from rainy Miami,

Have you ever heard the expression, “We hit a wall?”  It means that some difficulty or other presented itself and progress stopped. 

We run out of money, health, ideas…In other words, we are out of options, and we are stuck.

Like when my daughter found out at the last minute she needed one more class to apply for her graduate program.  However, the course she needed was at full capacity, and the professor was inflexible and unwilling to issue an override so Rayray could enroll.  

“This would cause a one-year delay in my daughter’s education because you can only apply to this program in the fall,” I tried explaining.  “Not my problem” the teacher unsympathetically retorted.  To which I gruffly replied, “I hope that if your future is ever in someone’s hands, they will show you the consideration and understanding you have failed to show my daughter.”

I said a good thing in a rough way, but I meant it.


Thank God we can overcome walls, obstacles, limitations, hindrances, and roadblocks in our lives.


“With God’s help I can jump over a wall” (Psalm 18:29).

And that’s exactly what happened.  I went right over that professor’s head to the throne of God and asked for help.  A few days later, several students dropped the class and Rayray was able to enroll and receive the credits needed to advance.

Let’s ask for help!

Dear Lord, thank You that nothing is impossible with You.  We may face limitations and difficulties that are insurmountable to us but never to You.  Whether it’s a setback in our finances, career, or a relationship - whatever it is - we can jump right over it and move on with Your help.  Help us now, in Jesus’ name! Amen!

The Greatest Gift~

*Originally published 9/20/2018

Greetings,

This past Father's Day I gave Jorge what I consider to be the greatest gift I have ever given him.  It was thoughtful, well-made, and it's definitely an heirloom that can be passed down from generation to generation.  In the past, I have been known to hype up something to the point that once folks actually see it or hear about it, they're underwhelmed. (LIKE EVERY MOVIE I HAVE EVER RECOMMENDED!) I suppose we are all susceptible to over-promoting. But this gift? No way I could oversell it.  And I tried, too. 

As soon as family and friends started arriving for our Father's Day lunch, I started bragging about the gift I was about to give Jorge.  Mind you, I had already been hiding this surprise for over three months and was super eager to reveal it.  But timing is everything, and I thoroughly enjoyed teasing everyone and making them guess.

"Are you pregnant?" (Uh, no. A geriatric pregnancy is not my idea of something you reveal to your husband and everyone else at the same time).

"Did you win the lotto?"  (No, and this gift is something the lotto could not buy or replace if anything ever happened to it).

Finally, after two long hours, I presented Jorge with...

A handmade quilt made out of every little league baseball t-shirt that our son ever wore.

The reaction was everything I knew it would be.  Everyone thought the quilt was spectacular, and some people even got teary-eyed. And while I can name every single teacher my children have ever had, Jorge can name all the coaches and the stats starting when Jorgie was five years old.  Amazing!  Jorge spent the rest of the afternoon sharing stories of up-at bats, strikeout pitches, and go-ahead runs.

Wait a second. I need to re-write the first line of this DEVO.  The quilt is one of the best gifts I have ever given Jorge, but the greatest gift I have given him is ongoing and infinitely more powerful than any material thing.  It is, praise God, PRAYER. 

James 5:16 says prayer is, "powerful and effective," "produces wonderful results," "has great power," "accomplishes much," and "exerts a mighty influence on God." 

Who do you love who could use this gift today?

What wonderful results would you like to see in the life of someone special to you?

Really think about it and then let's pray!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we love you and approach You with confidence.  How amazing that this time with You is powerful and effective.  How can it be that we, mere humans, exert a mighty influence on You? We realize it isn't about us but rather Your power and love. We lift up those we love and pray for them today because we desire to see wonderful results in their lives.  I specifically pray for __________________________ who needs _________________________. In Jesus' beautiful name, Hallelujah and Amen!

Worth Getting to Know

Matthew 7:7 “"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Greetings,

The first time I invited my now son-in-law, Emilio, to dinner, I made a steak dinner, and I proudly served him a rare-on-the-inside but charred-on-the outside New York strip.

As we sat down to eat, all our mouths were watering, and we were in culinary heaven.  At least most of us were. Emilio, hockey puck eater that he was, preferred it if there were no blood on the plate. 

Of course, God bless his heart, he did not say anything and dug in.  In an ironic twist, I gave him the rarest morsel of all, and I recall how Rachel, Jorge, and I were all commenting on how “perfectly cooked” his steak looked.  I was so proud of myself for having given him what was clearly the best one, and then the awkward circular motion began.

I noticed that Emilio was cutting into his meat in such a way that he was shaping it like a circle.  I asked him if everything was okay, and he assured me everything was.  Maybe that was how he was taught to eat.  What do I know?  It finally occurred to me, when the steak was the size of a quarter and nothing but a bright red disc, that he was forcing himself to eat it.  I honestly felt bad, especially when we all finished before he did and were just staring at him laboriously chewing those last few bites.  To his eternal credit he ate the whole thing—all 12 oz of it.

Fast forward a few years and medium rare is the only way Emilio will enjoy a steak. Why? He discovered it tastes good.  His introduction to eating this way was uncomfortable but something about it impressed him enough to try and try again.  Think of all he would have missed out on if he hadn’t. 

Sometimes this is the way it goes in our relationship with God.  We start off slow, not sure of what it will be like.  Is He listening? Will He answer me? Will He help me? Is it worth it to keep on going?  Does He care?

But if we hang in there, if we persist, if we take a step of faith, next thing we know we will realize what an awesome, amazing, beautiful, loving, prayer-answering, mighty God we serve! The door to life will be opened to us, and we will never go back to the way things were. 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are worth getting to know.  You are worth our persistence.  You are the best thing that could ever happen to us, and we thank You that when we ask, seek, and knock, we receive, we find, and the doors open wide to bless us.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Let's Sing!

Greetings,

The book of Exodus details God's miraculous rescue of His children, the Israelites, from slavery in Egypt.  (The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston does a great job telling the story.) The heart-pounding climax comes when Pharaoh and his army of 600 chariots chase the Israelites all the way to the edge of the Red Sea, seemingly trapping them; there seemed to be no way out.

Then...

"Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back and turned it into dry land...the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground...the Egyptians pursued them into the sea...Moses stretched out his hand again, and the sea went back to its place...the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed were covered in water...not one of them survived" (Exodus 14:21-28).

The Israelites sang for joy at this powerful moment of deliverance.  Let’s sing their song too – it’s found in Exodus 15.   It will build our faith as we trust the Lord for His perfect timing in rescuing us too.

We sing our hearts out to You God - You give us victory!  You pitch horse and rider into the sea.  You drown all our enemies. You are our strength, You are our song, and You are our salvation.  You, our God, are a fighter, Your strong right hand shimmers with power.  Your strong right hand shatters the enemy. There is always a way out when You come to our rescue.  You are our wonder-working God!  You redeem our lives and lead us in merciful love!

Amen.

God is Crazy About You

I recently read a story about a young lady whose dad was a famous 80s child actor.  In her quest to find importance apart from his fame – all her friends became her friends, she thought, just to meet her dad - she sought validation, from among other things, her Instagram followers.   The problem was that if anyone unfollowed her it would send her into a deep depression where she couldn’t even get out of bed for a week at a time.   I felt bad for her.  Who would think that a wealthy, drop-dead gorgeous, young woman would have any reason to feel so bad?

The need to be loved and recognized is vital and real, which is why knowing how God feels about us is so important.

He says…

We are redeemed

We belong to Him

He is always with us

He is our Savior

We are precious in His sight

He loves us

He leads us in triumph

We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing

We are chosen

We have access to Him through Christ

His peace guards our hearts and minds

He supplies all our needs

And Deuteronomy 28 delivers this mind-blowing passage: “God blesses me inside the city, and in the country; He blesses my children, the crops of my land, the young of my livestock, the calves of my herds, the lambs of my flocks.  He blesses my basket and bread bowl, and He defeats my enemies.” 

Next time we are tempted to worry or even care about what a mere human thinks about us, let’s remember that God is CRAZY about us!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for being madly in love with us.  We receive so many mixed messages every day about what makes us likeable, special, or loved.  One day we’re on top of the world and the next day it’s as though no one cares.  But You love us with an abiding, everlasting love no matter what.  We’re always number one in Your eyes, and that’s all that matters.  Help us to have a healthy and emotionally stable view of our selfworth because of the value YOU place on us. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!