At All Times~

I am really good at not taking care of my plants.  I have shared before how I have a brown thumb – the antithesis of having a green one.  That’s one of the reasons I have succulents now; they barely require maintenance.  Yesterday, as I was putt-puttering around doing chores, I decided to water some older plants on my terrace, and it was sad to see how dry some of them were.  It took forever for the water to penetrate that tough upper crust of dried up soil, and that’s when my mind came back to Tuesday’s DEVO – especially the part about how some seeds land on hard ground and before they have a chance to blossom are devoured. 

All day I thought about certain seasons in my life where I stayed close to Jesus during struggles and heartache, and then I thought about one particular season where I know God desired to come in and soothe my weary soul, but I wouldn’t let Him.  It’s not so much that I flat out told Him to stay away, but more like me attending church because I was used to it, listening to the great sermons, clapping enthusiastically during the music, and then heading out the door as if nothing happened.  Hardy and nourishing seeds were thrown my way, but I was so discouraged, so sick and tired of being sick and tired, so weary in my faith, so sure that God wouldn’t answer my prayers because certain things had gone on for so long, that I just closed up.  The entrance to my heart was dry and crusty.

I regret all the spiritual nourishment I wasted, and so does my soul.  But I have learned to stop looking back and to continue looking forward to all the joy that awaits. 

Today’s DEVO is a simple reminder to keep your heart open to the Lord.  He desires to help us by providing us with comfort and guidance from scripture.  But it is up to us if we will allow it to take root.  Psalm 62:8 tells us how to do it: “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge." The key is to trust AT ALL TIMES - even during those times that do not make sense. If we do that, if we pour out our hearts to Him, then our hearts remain open to receive from Him. GLORY!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for being our refuge.  Help us to pour out our hearts to You always so that there is always a fresh flow of blessings in and out.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~   

New Dreams~

TGIF Greetings~

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd; I have all that I need.

I originally wrote the DEVO below on January 26, 2012. 

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Sometimes it is not until we have the benefit of time that we can look back and realize that all along God was taking care of us.  No matter what struggles, difficulties, pain, brokenness, financial problems, health issues and so on and so on, we are all here today, alive and well.  Notice the verse says all that I need.  It doesn't say all that I want.  There is a lot of stuff I have wanted.  Maybe in your mind you can think of several things you want for yourself or your family.  But God knows best and gives us what we need.  Sometimes we need faith and hope more than that new car.  Or we need love and patience more than that dream job.  Do we trust God to know what to give and what to withhold?

As many of you know my lovely son played sports growing up, and when the University of Miami came calling for him to play football, we were all so sure he would have a chance to play.  It was an anticlimactic ending.  He did not play - not once!  It broke my heart.  "God, I cried, please let him play.  You have given him a gift, and I want to see him use it."

The Lord was so very silent on this request, and for many years  I did not understand.  Fast forward to 2012, and I have made peace with this.  Why?  Because if I really believe that God is my son's Shepherd, then Jorgie had everything he needs and always will.  Playing college sports was not part of the overall plan, but I choose to trust God’s decisions as they concern my son. 

What do you do when your dreams do not come true?  You ask God to give you new dreams and opportunities.  I am happy to say that Hormone has been given a wonderful and lovely person to love who loves him too, and that is something everybody needs.  And, although the football dream has long been forgotten, a new dream has surfaced.  It's actually an oldie but a goodie.  Jorgie is training to play baseball again and leaves in April for Denver, CO.    

I do not know what the future holds, but I do know Who holds it.  That is why I can say that I am confident Jorgie will have what he needs.  The Shepherd will make sure of it!

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UPDATE TIME: What struck me most about this DEVO is the very beginning – “Sometimes it is not until we have the benefit of time that we can look back and realize that all along God was taking care of us.”  It’s been two and half years since this was written.  Jorgie has been married for almost two years, and it has been the greatest blessing of his life (and mine)!  Playing sports at the pro level has still not panned out, but he has had a great time playing locally.  His wife supports him, we go to all the games, and God has been and always will be in control.  Maybe every single one of our dreams will not come true, but when we ask Him, God will give us new dreams.    

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Sometimes it is hard to admit that You know best--especially when we do not get what we ask for.  But we trust You today!  You know best, and You will never give us something or withhold something that is not ultimately for our good.  Help us to trust You with all our hearts.  Wherever there is disappointment over a lost dream or opportunities, give us new and better ones to takes their place.  And thank You because You have brought us this far, and we are all well!  AMEN!

It is Never Too Late~

Greetings and blessings to all J

Mark 5:35 While He was still talking to her, messengers arrived from Jairus’ home with the news that it was too late – his daughter was dead and there was no point in Jesus’ coming now.

As the woman with the bleeding problem was making her way toward Jesus, He was actually on His way toward Jairus’ house to deal with his very sick little girl. And the next thing we know about this precious child is the verse above.

Wow oh wow oh wow oh wow!

Jairus was sure he had done the right thing in seeking out Christ in the first place, in putting his faith and trust in Him, but then suddenly Jesus stops to talk to someone else. To help someone else. To do a miracle for someone else. And in the process, Jairus’ little girl dies.

To the run-of-the-mill person, the messengers were right on target: “No point in Jesus coming now.”

But you and I are not run-of-the-mill kind of people. We are faith-filled! We are the kind of folks who understand verse 36: But Jesus ignored their comments and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just trust me.”

I get chills every time I read those words: “Don’t be afraid. Just trust me.”

No matter what situation we face, we must ignore our detractors and invite Jesus to come anyway. IT IS NEVER TOO LATE!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Help us to ignore anyone who doesn’t see the point in inviting You into our lives. You have everything we need, and we trust You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Suddenly~

TGIF Greetings:)

For the past few days we've looked at this verse and discovered that God has good plans, and we need to get on board with His plans by telling Him we trust Him. We also need to live life as though we truly believe that He makes everything beautiful at the right time.

I will be the first to admit that it is easy to live this way when His plans and ours align. When love is in the air and money is in the bank. When the kids are first in their class and working the afternoon shift to learn responsibility. When everyone is healthy, and everyone is getting along. When the flowers are in bloom and there's not a rain cloud on the horizon.

What about when something unexpected happens?

Matthew 8:24 "Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat..."

My sudden and furious storm happened on July 8, 1990. I got a phone call from my mom that she didn't feel well, and one week later we learned she had pancreatic cancer. She passed away May 24, 1991, and for a long long time I struggled with how it could possibly be part of God's plan to prosper my mom by letting her die of cancer. I could not understand how His promise of no harm fit in with her chemo treatments. How her future was cut short--too short by dying so young.

For a long long time I thought I would drown in the grief. On a daily basis I bombarded God with "why?" questions.

I did not get all the answers, but I did get a few.

Prosperity, as defined by our friends at dictionary.com means "a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition."

The best place where we will all one day thrive and flourish is with Christ Himself in glory.

And, can any harm ever come to us again when we are in heaven? No! No chemo, no needles, no cancer, no pain.

Finally: If God's intention is to give us a hope and a future, is there anything better we could hope for then to spend our future in perfect peace, health, and happiness with Him?

God's timing was not mine--not by a long shot. But here is what He whispered in my heart after I questioned Him--even His very love for me. (I am ashamed to admit it.)

"Yenisita, every good Father calls His children home. Besides, You know what heaven is like. Would you really want me to send your mom back to earth?"

I can honestly answer no; I wouldn't want her to come back.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Let us feel Your presence now and when the sudden storms arise. Thank You that You can handle all our questions and that You have all the answers we will ever need. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Trust God~

TGIF Greetings~

 

I read a news article earlier this week that says that beer drinkers, pregnant women, and o blood types are the top mosquito targets. Now I know why Jorge, who is type A, can be outside in the middle of a mosquito swarm and never get bitten. Where as I, being currently pregnant--NOT--I am am type o blood, can be indoors, fully swaddled, and one little preemie mosquito will find the tiniest slit in my clothing and attack and become so engorged on my blood that it swells to three times its normal size.

 

Nevertheless, sometimes it's good to get the answers.

 

But in reality there are many things we will never understand or know. And sometimes these unanswered questions, many of which are born out of painful life experiences, tend to get us riled up at God.

 

Okay--I will not judge you; I will only speak for myself.

 

"Why did my dad abandon us?"

 

"Why did my mom die so young leaving me with so much responsibility?"

 

And when I asked God these questions He was very silent. Perhaps there is no answer that would have satisfied me anyway.

 

And yet in the pursuit of finding answers that would bring me peace I discovered a foundational truth, and it has to do with the verse from earlier this week.

 

Hebrews 11:1 (Message Version) "The fundamental fact of existence is that trust in God, faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see."

 

It all boils down to a choice: Either trust God or don't. When we trust God, life is worth living. Somehow, someway, taking the time to get to know God has a way of making everything else--the pain of life included--pale in comparison. I can't explain it; I just know it to be true.

 

Besides, if we get so angry or hurt that we shut God out, who else can we turn to? He is the end all be all source of everything we will ever need. There is nothing or no one who can take His place. Think about this carefully. If we get so upset at God by all the junk in life and tune Him out, where can we go? No where, and then life would not be worth living.

 

I do not know where any of you are right now in your faith journey, but I encourage to muster up the faith to have faith.

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, So much in life makes no sense. Yet over and over again in Your Word You encourage us to cry out to You--to get to know You. You desire for the focus to be off our problems and on You. So we purposely focus on You right now and ask You to bless us. Spread Your wings of love over us and those we love. In Jesus' name. AMEN~

Choose Faith~

I am sitting here all cozy, keeping an eye out for the neighborhood fox, which comes by regularly to visit.  Rayray wants to trap it, inject it for rabies, train it, and keep it as an exotic pet.  She shall name it Nispero--an ode to the loquat tree that grows in the back yard.  I personally feel it's not worth the trouble.

"What is worth the trouble?" you ask.

Cultivating and practicing the one thing the Bible says that makes life worth living.

Hebrews 11:1 (Message Version) "The fundamental fact of existence is that trust in God, faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see."

Maybe if some of us are feeling a little discouraged or blue we need to redirect our efforts and strengthen our foundation.  If our faith foundation is weak, everything else will wobble.     

Consider these two scenarios:

So and so's husband loses his job and suddenly money is tight.  Day after day after day brings new worries, new fears, and less and less enjoyment of life. 

So and so's husband loses his job and suddenly money is tight.  Day after day after day brings new opportunities to trust God through prayer that He will provide everything that is necessary.  And in the middle of this economic uncertainty, there is actually joy and plenty of laughter.

I have seen both those scenarios play out, and taking the time to fortify the foundation through daily prayer is the way to go.  It's not just about making life bearable, but making life worth living.

Not everyone feels like life is worth living; take a look at the recent headlines.  

We have a decision to make.  Crumble right along with our problems, or make life worth living by choosing faith.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We choose faith.  We choose to trust You even when we can't see the outcome.  We trust that everything is in Your capable hands.  And by faith we believe that even today's prayer has helped make our foundation stronger.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Shake it Up~

Haggai 2:21 "...I am about to shake the heavens and the earth."

 

This was God's promise to His people that He was about to cause a commotion--stir things up--deal with some of their enemies, and those changes would eventually result in the comfort and happiness of His children.

 

Most of us could use a good and holy shaking somewhere in our lives.

 

Where would you like to see God cause a commotion? Where could you use a break today? Where have you had enough?

 

Is there something that has been on your prayer list for a long time that you desire to see answered?

 

There is a beautiful young lady whom I speak with regularly, and back in February of this year she and I began a prayer adventure. Our request? "Shake up my seemingly stalled love life. I desire to be in a relationship with a nice and godly young man."

 

And then the shaking began. First, she lost her job.

 

What? Remember, things are going to get stirred up but eventually it will be a blessing.

 

So she lost her job, but this forced her to rethink her future. She enrolled in college, and begins classes in August. She has also applied for three different positions.

 

Here's the best part. In the middle of all the shaking, she has learned to trust God. She is thankful that her future is in His capable hands. She knows that all this will work out to be a great blessing in her life, and even though Mr. Right has yet to appear, seeing the Lord take care of her on a daily basis has reignited her faith.

 

Consider this recent prayer:

 

Dear Lord, I have been asking You to help me meet a nice young man, but I lost my job in the process. It makes no sense to me, but I trust You. My life is in Your hands, and I know that somehow someway this will all work out. Thank You that I was able to enroll in college. I am excited about the new opportunities in my life. Most of all I am excited that one day soon You are going to shake my future husband loose right into the middle of my life!

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I have been asking for ________________. It makes no sense that I have not received my answer, but I trust You. My life is in Your hands, and I know that somehow someway this will all work out. Thank You that my future is always bright and beautiful because of You. Most of all I am excited that one day soon You are going to shake my answer loose--at the moment I need it most! In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Self-Control~

Salutations~

 

 

Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message version)

 

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

 

 

Based on the verse above here's a neat and concise list of the gifts God gives when we live His way: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.

 

 

All these are the fruits that will grow and thrive in our orchards.  And all these are necessary for enjoying life.  We should also be asking God regularly to help us and our children produce these fruits.  But today I want to hone in one particular fruit that seems to often elude us and whose lack of in our life produces misery.  I am talking, of course, about self-control.

 

 

What happens when you try to control your spouse? Your kids? The weather? Someone else's reaction? God?

 

 

Simply stated--You can't!

 

 

And when we can not control something we feel helpless and afraid.

 

 

If only we could choose for our spouse when they fall into temptation.  If only we could say "no to drugs" on behalf of little Johnny.  If only we could make sure everyone driving around on the friendly streets of Miami were properly licensed and insured.  If only we could make sure that everyone else around us is always nice, always loving, always kind...In short, always producing fragrant fruit in a fertile orchard.  

 

 

All of us with half a brain know that this is not the way life works.  We really have very little control over anything much less anyone--except ourselves.

 

 

It's called self-control for a reason, and that is because you are really the only one you can control.

 

 

This does not mean we don't try in vain to control situations or other people, but more often than not, when we assume this huge impossibility and fail, we feel like failures and this leads to unhappiness.

 

 

Ask yourself what you have been really down about lately or just in general, and more than likely it will have to do with a situation beyond your control.  

 

 

For example: (all the names of my brave friends have been changed to protect their innocence.)

 

 

Pierre la Franc has been really low lately--precisely since 2007.  This is when the economy started tanking, and he took a huge personal hit.  He blamed everyone and everything and felt his happy light slowly starting to fade.  The power of positive thinking was not powerful enough, and no matter how hard he ordered his personal finances to turn around, they would not budge.  It was out of his control.  

 

 

Sally G. Away invested a lot of time and a lot of effort in raising her two little girls.  One of whom chose the straight and narrow and one of whom did not.  The one who did not went down a path of self-destruction that destroyed Sally as well.  Over and over and over again she blamed herself for her daughter's choices, and in the process fell into a severe depression.

 

 

At the root of the problem was that both these fine folks were trying to control something beyond their ability.  Add to that a heaping helping of self-condemnation and it's easy to see how these life-scenarios led to such unhappiness.        

 

 

And then there's my buddy Lois who was so convinced that her daughter deserved a certain role at school that she expended a lot of time and energy rallying the higher-ups to choose her child and was highly insulted when it did not work out.  She almost withdrew her child's enrollment because of it and would have forfeited many years of fun and friendships.  We laugh about it now, but back then it was a perfect example of "forcing one's way in life," and "not channeling one's energies wisely."

 

 

I think we can all relate.  Let us focus on the one thing we can control and trust God with the rest.

 

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are right.  Self-control is the only control we have.  Thank You that You have the rest under Your watchful eye.  In Jesus' name, AMEN

My Soul Trusts in You~

Psalm 57:1


Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me: for my soul trusts in You: yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over.

We have all heartily amened over the fact that calamities end and that we find comfort, protection, and rest in the wing. Why is that? Because our soul trusts in Him.

(The following are all real life events that either happened to me or one of my kids.)


Remember when you were itty bitty and some punk pre-schooler bit you on the back? Or when curiosity overwhelmed you and you stuck your finger in the car lighter and charred its tip? Or maybe you snuck off
to the playground and fell off the slide and busted your mouth? Perhaps you were minding your business and a fat dog casually waddled over and bit you on your toe. What is the first thing we all did?

Run to our momma!

We trusted that she would somehow make it all better, and she always did. Why, then, do we make our refuge in the shadow of God's protective and comforting wing? Again, because our soul trusts in Him. Isn't that perfectly wonderful?

Our soul trusts in Him...

Is He trustworthy? Yes! The moment that, "He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us (Romans 8:32)," He got the attention of my soul.

When you trust someone, you go to them and find comfort. You tell them everything and anything on your heart knowing they won't judge you but will help you. They will speak encouraging words to you and re-introduce joy into your weary heart. They will bind your wounds with the oil of gladness. They will fix whatever boo boo they have the ability to fix. God does all that but perfectly and more powerfully than anyone you will ever meet--including momma.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, Our souls trust in You. Sometimes we find it challenging to trust because we have had so many disappointments, but remind us that You have never let us down. You will always always always be
there when we make the effort to take refuge in You. In Jesus' name,

AMEN~