What Nerve!

Thursday greetings~

Today I am revising a DEVO originally published a few years ago.  May the Lord bless your soul as you read.

***

We all have something very beautiful and amazing in common: MOMS!  As we prepare to celebrate Mother's Day this weekend, let's take a look at one fabulous, inspiring mom from the Bible whose name is Hannah.

Hannah desperately longed for a baby, but she could not get pregnant. It was heartbreaking, and to make matters worse, another woman, who had the blessing of children, "taunted her cruelly" because of it ( I guess mean girls have always been a problem).  And, surprise surprise, her own husband didn't understand her. He was so thoughtful that in 1 Samuel 1:8 he actually asks her, "Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” 

Hannah did the wisest, most powerful thing she could do.

I Samuel 1:11-12, "Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried - inconsolably. 'Oh, God...take a good, hard look at my pain, go into action for me by giving me a son, I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you. I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.'"

Hannah prayed...And from what the verse above says, it was a desperate, no holds barred, anguished plea; it was also a mighty invitation.

GO INTO ACTION FOR ME!

That's kind of bold.  Little ole us telling Almighty God to take a good, hard look at our suffering and then demanding He do something about it? What nerve!

But that's precisely the kind of "nerve" God responds to.

By the time we get to verse 20 in this same chapter we read, "Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, 'I asked God for him.'”

This phrase, "before the year was out," really touches my heart and fills me with hope.  I have several prayer requests that I would love to see answered before the end of the year.

Do you? 

Then let's pray! 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for moms. Some of our moms are in Your tender care, and we are grateful we will see them again. For those moms here on earth, bless them with long healthy lives. We also praise You for the bold language of the Bible; GO INTO ACTION FOR US.  I especially need to see Your power displayed in this area of my life _________________________, and may You grant my request before the year is out. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

My Husband is Pregnant!!!

Blast from the past...Originally published May, 2015~

Tuesday greetings, all you blessed and beautiful children of our Almighty God!

God blessed me with two lovely children who nonetheless, were responsible for months of agonizing morning sickness.  I also suffered from pytalism (excessive saliva production) during both pregnancies for all nine months, and I could not wait till it was over.  I apologize to the weak-stomached, but the pytalism was so bad that I had to sleep with my mouth open and just allow the saliva to trickle out on its own into a bucket because I just could not swallow.  Weird, but true! This literally went on the entire time those kiddos were in my belly. (Please note that literally, the minute I delivered Hormone and Rayray, it stopped and I felt great!)  And even though Jorge was so patient during both pregnancies, it highly annoyed me that he did not feel sick – ever – and that he could speak to other people without having to excuse himself to spit in a cup.  One time in church, the youth pastor, God bless him, actually asked me for my “special cup” during the bible lesson, and imagine my horror at having to deny him in front of everyone.  He playfully insisted a few times, and I playfully countered that I couldn’t do it. He was not able to make his point that day, and I was mortified at having to explain it to him later.  Wouldn’t it be great if Jorge could feel what I felt even for one moment?

Actually, MY HUSBAND IS PREGNANT!  That’s right! Jorge is pregnant!  But wait, it’s not what you think.  

Romans 8:22-25 “All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy (The Message Version).”

Simply stated: Me, Jorge, you – the entire creation – are all pregnant with the very real hope that someday soon all the evils, troubles, injustices, problems, sin, sickness etc…will give way to a glorious existence with Christ!  It does not matter that the world is utterly crazy and chaotic right now.  (Right before I sat down to send this DEVO I learned of the bombing in Brussels this morning.)We have a hope that does not diminish, but grows grows grows.

Another version of the Bible say, “The whole of creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth…” What I like about these verses is that it reminds us that we are all in this together.  We understand each other.  We all get it.  We are all united in our understanding of how difficult life can be.  Jorge gets me, I get him, we get you, and you get us!

Some of us may be feeling the “pangs” a little more intensely lately; we are desperate to give birth already.  But as we labor, we must remind ourselves that what we are going to give birth to is worth the wait.  As bad as I felt being pregnant with Hormone, that did not stop me from getting pregnant with Rayray because the end result was a precious life. Yet spiritually speaking, what we will give birth to is something so much infinitely better that God reminds us in His Word that there are no human words capable of describing the magnificence and perfection of it all!

As we swell with anticipation, it is important to connect with our Father.  He will guide us along as we wait.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, It’s not easy being pregnant sometimes.  It hurts, yet we know that this is part of the process to finally having and seeing and experiencing all that we have ever hoped for and then some.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

My Husband is Pregnant!

Tuesday greetings, all you blessed and beautiful children of our Almighty God!

God blessed me with two lovely children who nonetheless, were responsible for months of agonizing morning sickness.  I also suffered from pytalism (excessive saliva production) during both pregnancies for all nine months, and I could not wait till it was over.  I apologize to the weak-stomached, but the pytalism was so bad that I had to sleep with my mouth open and just allow the saliva to trickle out on its own into a bucket because I just could not swallow.  Weird, but true! This literally went on the entire time those kiddos were in my belly. (Please note that literally, the minute I delivered Hormone and Rayray, it stopped and I felt great!)  And even though Jorge was so patient during both pregnancies, it highly annoyed me that he did not feel sick – ever – and that he could speak to other people without having to excuse himself to spit in a cup.  One time in church, the youth pastor, God bless him, actually asked me for my “special cup” during the bible lesson, and imagine my horror at having to deny him in front of everyone.  He playfully insisted a few times, and I playfully countered that I couldn’t do it. He was not able to make his point that day, and I was mortified at having to explain it to him later.  Wouldn’t it be great if Jorge could feel what I felt even for one moment?

Actually, MY HUSBAND IS PREGNANT!  That’s right! Jorge is pregnant!  But wait, it’s not what you think.  

Romans 8:22-25 “All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy (The Message Version).”

Simply stated: Me, Jorge, you – the entire creation – are all pregnant with the very real hope that someday soon all the evils, troubles, injustices, problems, sin, sickness etc…will give way to a glorious existence with Christ!  It does not matter that the world is utterly crazy and chaotic right now.  We have a hope that does not diminish, but grows grows grows.

Another version of the Bible say, “The whole of creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth…” What I like about these verses is that it reminds us that we are all in this together.  We understand each other.  We all get it.  We are all united in our understanding of how difficult life can be.  Jorge gets me, I get him, we get you, and you get us!

Some of us may be feeling the “pangs” a little more intensely lately; we are desperate to give birth already.  But as we labor, we must remind ourselves that what we are going to give birth to is worth the wait.  As bad as I felt being pregnant with Hormone, that did not stop me from getting pregnant with Rayray because the end result was a precious life. Yet spiritually speaking, what we will give birth to is something so much infinitely better that God reminds us in His Word that there are no human words capable of describing the magnificence and perfection of it all!

As we swell with anticipation, it is important to connect with our Father.  He will guide us along as we wait.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, It’s not easy being pregnant sometimes.  It hurts, yet we know that this is part of the process to finally having and seeing and experiencing all that we have ever hoped for and then some.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!