Praise Reports~

Greetings~

Praise report time!

(1) One of you has been praying long and hard for guidance for your child and was eager to see that child settle into a job. A open door had been sitting there for a while and things appeared to be stalled, and then BAM! yesterday everything fell into place. And proving once again that God has perfect timing, your child started today sooner than expected and everyone is excited to see what the future will bring. AMEN!

(For all of you waiting on God's direction for your child or even yourself, take a moment today to thank Him for answering prayers. Number one above is the result of a praying mother!)

(2) One of you, who thought love had passed you by, is in love for the first time as a thirty-something adult. All this time you thought God had forgotten you, but you know your momma was praying for a special young man, and BAM! you are newly engaged and thrilled beyond words.

(For all of you waiting for love, take a moment to thank God that He is the ultimate matchmaker and knows exactly who to send your way. In the meantime, ask God to fill you with peace and joy as you wait for Him.)

(3) As I sit here and write this, one of you precious and lovely souls has an appointment this afternoon because you found a little intruder in your breast. But God has already been called upon, cried to, and invited to fill you with peace and health. This qualifies as a praise report because no matter what, you are prepared to give Him praise for being in control! I am humbled by your attitude and know that others need to read this and be inspired.

(For all you facing health challenges, never forget that calling upon God is the first course of action. When we wait for Him He promises to make us strong.)

Wait for Him...What do those words mean? (Tune in tomorrow)

Isaiah 40:31 They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, Sometimes our strength needs renewing. We feel weak and don't know how much more we can take. Soaring like an eagle and running without growing tired sounds appealing too. The first step is prayer. Fill us with energy and vitality and joy today. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Jesus Loves Baseball~

Monday Greetings~

As we start off yet another week with the drizzles, let all that rain remind you of God's bountiful blessings. Well, this reminds me of a hymn.

The chorus goes like this:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

I am confident that if we took out a sheet of paper and starting writing all our blessings down, our pages would fill up quickly and we would be blessed by our blessings.

Something I would have to include is what I saw Saturday night. Hormone went to play baseball with some buddies and before the game started, they made a circle with the opposing team, held hands, bowed their heads and prayed.

Glory glory hallelujah!

This proves that strong, athletic, handsome, fiercely competitive young men are not--I repeat--not embarrassed or afraid to ask the Almighty for protection and help.

It was a beautiful moment, and I quickly asked Hormone's dad to snap a picture so I could send it out today.

Does Jesus even care about a baseball game? He does if we make Him part of it.

1 Corinthians 10:31...everything should be done to bring glory to God.

God has great power to keep us safe, bless us, protect us, provide for us, and fill us with peace and enjoyment no matter what we are doing, so we should verbally acknowledge Him for these things. When we honor Him by inviting Him to be part of our lives, we glorify Him.

It is important to note that the folks on Hormone's team took it a step further by also glorifying God in deed as well. There was no cussing, spitting, or rude gestures from anyone. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, for a change, and was glad to see that it is possible to have fun and keep it clean.

My daughter-in-law and I even cheered. Remember Fire Cracker, Fire Cracker, Boom Boom Boom!? I was kicking especially high that night.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We glorify You right now by inviting You to come into our life today and everyday. We thank You in advance for Your provision and protection and for all the beautiful things You will show us this week. We want You to be a part of every single thing we do. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

 

I Want to be Barfed Up~

TGIF Greetings~

Today we end our Jonah tour with his own words. See if you can identify with his prayer, and feel free to use it yourself!

Jonah 2:1-10

"From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and You listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.

"To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But You, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, Lord, and my prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’  And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land."
Points to ponder:
Jonah prayed while he was in the middle of the problem--literally.
He called on God and God answered!
He felt like God had totally forgotten him, but he didn't let that stop him from praying.
He thought it was all over, but new life was just around the corner.
Sometimes it's a sacrifice to be grateful and shout out praise when you are engulfed in a problem.
But when we do...God commands the fish to vomit!
I LOVE IT!
PRAYER: Dear Lord, Command the "fish" in our life--that thing that has us upset, and fearful, and worried, to let us go. We want to be vomited onto dry land! In Jesus' name, AMEN~
(I bet you never thought you would pray to be barfed up! HAHAHA)

Prayer is a Precursor to Deliverance~

Happy Thursday to all my precious brothers and sisters in Christ~

Jonah's hell, like we saw, only lasted three days. I can think of several things I have gone through that I would have gladly had end after three days.

But why three and not four? I was sharing with a friend this morning that a while back I was praying with someone about our childrens' questionable relationship choices and BAM! her answer came within a week. Mine took a couple of years. Nevertheless, the timing is not up to me or you but rather God.

I remember one Christmas Jorge and I saved up and bought three-year-old Hormone a Power Wheels electric jeep. It went about 5 MPH at maximum speed. I will be eternally grateful for the moment he saw the car because his expression of pure joy is permanently in my brain.

However, what about if I would have given Hormone the keys to a brand new full-sized jeep instead? He would have gladly taken them, but it would have been too much too soon and too dangerous.

Is it possible that our heavenly Father giving us what we want when we want it no matter what could also be dangerous or at the very least not in our best interest? I have often said that as difficult as it was seeing my child in that certain union, it taught me so much about prayer and having the right attitude. That entire season of heartache and anguish pushed to to my knees, and it has been a blessed road!

So what should be our attitude when faced with a problem? When in the belly of the beast of an emotional, physical, relational or financial problem?

And, if He controls the timing should we even pray? He is going to do what He wants to do and when He wants to do it regardless, right?

(I hereby interrupt this DEVO to remind everyone that I do not have all the answers. I, along with each of you, am living a faith journey and learning as I go).

The one thing I can say for certain is that in both Jonah and the disciples' case, as well as in every problem I have ever faced, prayer was a precursor to deliverance.

Jonah brought his problems on himself through disobedience--something none of us has ever done (ahem ahem). But the disciples' storm started because they were following Christ. Either way--because of our poor choices or because we were blind sighted while actually doing something good--the first step we must always take to get ourselves thrown up onto that beach is to pray.

Pray when you mess up, pray when someone else messes up, pray when life just happens. P-R-A-Y!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Your Word is clear: We must pray before anything else. Before we talk it over with someone, or head out to the doctor, or start a business, or read a book on the power of positive thinking, we must pray. We must talk it over with You. We must invite You in to do Your thing. There is a divine and amazing blessing that always takes place when we declare our trust in You. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

The Lord Provided a Hugh Fish~

Rainy Tuesday greetings~

Yesterday's DEVO caused many things to come into focus for some of us.

Whereas previously one of you did not know how to pray for a husband who is making poor choices, now you are boldly asking God to send the wind until there is a course correction. AMEN!

Another one of us finally let go of fear and asked God to shake things up for your teenager whose choices have had you worried lately. You have been so concerned about the consequences your child might face that you lacked trust and courage to ask God to send the wind.

So I dedicate this DEVO to you.

Jonah 1:17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

By verse 17 in Jonah chapter one, Jonah has tried to run away from God by taking a ship in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go, has realized that God sent the storm to get his attention, and has been thrown off that very same ship because it was the only thing that would bring the calm. And while the others on the ship are now safe, Jonah has been swallowed by a huge fish.

Pretty frightening circumstances. We all grew up hearing this story about Jonah and the whale. But the Bible does not say whale--it says huge fish. It could have been a whale, but I once heard a preacher say it could have been a great white shark because they are big enough to swallow humans whole. The horror!

Either way, I can not imagine the fear. However, look at the verse again: The Lord provided the huge fish.

Being in that desperate condition was part of God's plan. What Jonah thought would kill him and digest him, was supernatural provision to bring about a change of heart.

Jonah 2:1-2 "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: 'In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and You listened to my cry.'"

Two points today. (1) Trust the Lord with your family. He knows what type of "fish" to send. He knows what circumstance it will take for your loved one to turn to Him. And (2) It may appear that, like Jonah, someone you love is in the realm of the dead, but when they finally call on God, Jonah 2:10 "The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land," God will turn that situation around and bring a fresh start.


PRAYER: Dear Lord, We want You in control of the "huge fish" that will bring a change of heart in the life of someone we love. We pray and ask You to take charge. As difficult as it might be, we know that when You provide the circumstance it ends up well. And we know that by praying, we are inviting Your will and Your purpose to prevail. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Send the Wind~

Jonah 1:4 "But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart."

Sometimes He calms the wind; sometimes, when it suits His purposes, He sends the wind. In this case, it was to get the attention of one of His children, Jonah, who was running away from what God had asked him to do.

Ultimately, Jonah jumps ship and goes where God wanted him to go in the first place. But not before he got swallowed up by a great fish and pitched a tent in its slimy belly for three days and three nights.

 Eventually, Jonah gets barfed up on the beach. And as difficult and mind boggling as his experience was, all those circumstances nudged him along until he made the right decision.

We will look at Jonah this week as his life will greatly encourage us and teach us a thing or two. But for today we ask ourselves: How do we know whether to pray for calm seas or stormy waters?

Last week when we read about the disciples fearing for their lives in the midst of the storm, Jesus ordered everything to be calm. This week we see that rather than calm, God purposely sent the storm to get Jonah's attention.

The difference between these two scenarios is that the Bibles tells us in Matthew 8:23 that the disciples were following Jesus. Jonah 1:3 tells us that Jonah ran away from the Lord.When you are following Jesus, when you are living His way, when You trust Him through prayer and the storms arise, pray for peace!

When someone you love has turned their back on what is right, has chosen to ignore our Lord, is causing heartache and pain, then CHOP CHOP!!! Pray for God to unsettle their life until they come to their senses.

I am liking this topic already!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You and You alone control the wind. You know when to send the calm and when to stir things up. We desire for you to keep us in peace, but we also know there are times when we need a strong wind to get us or someone we love back on course. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Give the Order!

Thursday greetings~

Here's a shout out to a couple of special DEVO readers who became grandmothers yesterday. May we all be so blessed one day. Grandbaby and mother of baby are doing well, and I am told that there are still a few brave souls out there who choose to go natural all the way! I am not one of them, as I am anesthetized just to go to the dentist. But I admire it, nonetheless:)

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.

Let's examine a super duper sequence of events.

(1) Storm arises suddenly.

(2) 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 Voila!, everything is completely calm once again.

My favorite number has always been #4, so let's focus on that one.

Matthew 8:27 "The men were amazed and asked, 'What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!'"

As parents we teach our kids to be obey us. But let's face it--no child is 100% obedient 100% of the time. But even if you're all proud of yourself for having perfect offspring, can you imagine ordering the rain to stop? Or commanding the wind to die down?

Doing that takes real power and authority, and none of us can do that. But God can, and He has, and He will keep on doing it.

Take a few moments to think about where in your life you would like Jesus to give an order.

Now refer back to the sequence of events. Three comes before number four, so let's ask.

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. We ask You now to give an order to ______________, and thank You that when You speak, everything and everyone must obey You. In Christ's name we pray, AMEN~