When God Speaks~

Greetings,

Right at the very beginning of the Bible we read that when God speaks, amazing things happen:

"God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light'" (Genesis 1:3).  

And by the time God was done speaking, all of creation was established, and He declared that "it was good."

God will speak into our lives too.

Whether it's a financial breakthrough, a relationship rescue, or a health need, no matter what it is, let's ask God to "let there be..."

enough resources to cover the bills...

peace and mutual understanding between us...

a miracle of healing and strength...

When God speaks, situations turn around, order is brought out of chaos, and it leads to good things. 

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, "Let there be..." Such simple yet powerful words because of WHO speaks them.  We all have an area where we welcome Your creativity, strength, and goodness.  Speak a miracle into our lives today.  Especially for _______.  Let there be _________.  In Jesus' name. AMEN~

Chaos to Calm

"Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? I call out to you every day, but you do not answer.  I find no relief. Trouble is near and no one else can help me. My enemies surround me...my strength is dried up...You have left me for dead...I can count all my bones...Don't stay far away. Come quickly to my aid. Save me. Spare my precious life."

Gee, tell me what you really think!

Those words were written by King David and are found in Psalm 22.  He makes sure that God knows EXACTLY how he feels, and does not hold back.  His outcries border on the irreverent.  Who is he to accuse God of abandonment and leaving him for dead?

And yet, those verses appear in the Holy Bible as an invitation to tell it like it is. God would rather have our outbursts than our hypocrisy.  He would rather deal with someone who has made an honest assessment of their heart than someone who lives in denial. 

God works with our straightforwardness.  The proof is found toward the end of the Psalm where there is a sudden transition from chaos to calm.

David calls upon us to praise the Lord, show Him reverence, and declares that God has not ignored our suffering nor turned His back on us.  In fact, he assures us that God listens to our cries for help and that our hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.

The only way to have such a change of heart is to have experienced it firsthand.  We can experience chaos to calm too, and it starts with prayer.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Since we are being honest, there are have been times where we wondered where You were.  We felt like You weren't listening and that the answers would never come.  But we thank You because You have never left us nor turned Your back on us. Prayer is so beautiful and important because something miraculous takes place every time we talk to You.  We receive Your peace and goodness in our lives.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~

It Only Takes a Spark...

Greetings in the name of our Lord! He is the One Who sustains us, loves us, protects us, guides us, and when we call upon His name, HE IS IN CONTROL! If you feel your situation is out of control, then stop right now and invite Him to take over! AMEN!

This past weekend I had a chance to visit with a beautiful, elderly lady who has been a spiritual mentor to me for most of my life.  She is an amazing woman of God and a true depiction of what the Bible says in Titus 2:3-5 “Older women are to teach what is right and good,  so that they may encourage young women to tenderly love their husbands and their children,  to be sensible, pure, makers of a home [where God is honored], and good-natured…”

During our conversation she said something powerful: “Yenise, I have never gotten into trouble for keeping my mouth shut. But I have suffered many consequences for those times I didn’t!” 

Wouldn’t you know that the Bible agrees?

James 3: 5-6 “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!  It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”

I certainly wouldn’t want to bring destruction because of something I said, nor would I want to turn harmony into chaos, or much less, go up in smoke because of my speech. So I loudly “amened” my mentor’s wise words over and over and nodded my head heartily in agreement, and then last night I OPENED MY BIG MOUTH!!!

I will spare everyone the details of the vulgarity that I spewed at my husband in front of my kids and their lovely spouses. Even the dogs stopped for a moment, cocked their ears, and looked at me funny. But I can assure you that what I said right from the pit of hell. Ugh!

What is wrong with me? I wished I could have taken it back. But at least I had the good sense to apologize immediately, and Jorge quickly forgave me. 

Moving forward, I am asking the good Lord to remind me that I will never have any regrets if I KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Your Word gives good advice. If we follow Your wisdom we will avoid setting off forest fires with our words. Help us; it’s never worth it! In Jesus’ name, AMEN.  

Jesus, Give the Order!

Tuesday greetings~

Matthew 8:23-26 “Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ 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.”

Let's examine a super duper sequence of events:

(1) A storm arises suddenly.

(2) The disciples freak out.

(3) They call on Jesus, Who is nearby and resting in the middle of the chaos.

(4) Jesus gives an order, and Bam! everything is completely calm once again.

My favorite number is four, so let's focus on that one.

Commanding the storm to calm down takes real power and authority, and Jesus has what it takes. This is reassuring to me as I am personally powerless to stop the storms in my life.  I want us all to think about where in our life we would like Jesus to give an order.  Now refer back to the sequence of events. Three comes before number four, so let's call on Jesus, Who is always nearby.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, We call upon You to restore calm in our lives. To bring in peace, joy, and hope, and remove fear, unhappiness, and discouragement. I ask You now to give an order to this stormy area of my life: ______________. Thank You that when You speak, everything and everyone must obey You.  In Christ's name we pray, AMEN~