We're Better Than That~

TGIF Greetings~

Thank you all so much for your kind words on yesterday's DEVO; I appreciate them! More importantly, I hope the message is deeply ingrained in all of us: GOD ANSWERS PRAYER!

And I know there are still some folks who struggle with praying for themselves, which is why I want you to consider what God took the time to include in the Bible about Jabez.

1 Chronicles 4:9 "Jabez was a better man than his brothers, a man of honor...."

If you read chapter four of 1 Chronicles, it is a list of the descendants of Judah, Etam, Kenaz, Caleb...pretty unremarkable stuff. But right in the middle of this list appears Jabez, his prayer, and God's personal analysis--Jabez was a man of honor.

Everyone else is just named, but Jabez is highlighted. When God highlights somethings--when something stands out--we should pay attention. Why would God say Jabez was a man of honor?

Because a man of honor realizes his need for God's intervention in his life. A foolish man doesn't realize this, and a prideful man won't admit it.

I am going to confidently say that none of is prideful or foolish. That means we are all honorable and better than we would be because we pray.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We offer You today our praise straight out of Pslam 116: "We love You! You answer our prayers. You pay attention to us, adn so we will pray to You as long as we live." In Jesus' name, AMEN~

No Greater Joy~

Today is Hormone’s birthday. I can not believe he is 26 YEARS OLD!!! I clearly remember a kind Jamaican nurse holding him up for me to see while they stitched me up from my C-section. That image is permanently engrained in my brain, and I am thankful for him. He is one of God’s greatest gifts in my life.

If we really like a gift that we’ve been given, we cherish it. And when we cherish that gift, we take really good care of it. Is there anything more valuable than a child? No matter what the age? As such I will share with you what I have shared with Hormone a million + times in the past: The greatest thing I can do to show you my love is to pray for you. And over the years I have had countless Jabez moments where I cried to God to bless him, to help him make wise decisions, to increase the number of good friends and decrease the miscreants, to protect him—especially while playing sports, to let no harm or danger come near him, physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, and to keep him from suffering.

Has Hormone had a perfect life? NOPE—not even close. But as his mom I have such a profound and abiding peace because I accept by faith that every single thing that has come his way has been filtered through the heart of a loving God Who allowed it for the ultimate goal of blessing my son.

Let’s read that again: Every single thing that has come his way has been filtered through the heart of a loving God Who allowed it for the ultimate goal of blessing my son.

This doesn’t mean we will understand why some things happen. This doesn’t mean we have all the answers. What it does mean is that prayer is a powerful, effective tool that brings the glory of heaven down here on earth. It moves the hand of God in our lives and the lives of our families. It brings with it peace, confidence, joy, and hope.

And I want you all to know—especially you, my precious son—that the words of 3 John 1:4 are the reason why I am always so happy: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We pray today for all of our children to walk in truth. When they fully understand Your love for them and Your desire to see them make wise choices, they will make the best choices and live a beautiful life in the process. In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Grantor~

Greetings from rainy Miami~

There's just one little phrase left to our verse, and it is the most important one.

1 Chronicles 4:10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 

Someone once said that the value of prayer is that God answers it, and we see that it was true for Jabez.  

God is the great Answerer!  But allow me to ask a rhetorical question: Can God answer a prayer that has not been prayed?

There is so much emphasis in the Bible on asking, seeking, knocking, persevering, persisting, petitioning, etc...that we can only conclude that God desires a relationship with us that thrives through prayer.  Prayer is a lovely word for communication.  

The foundation for any great relationship is communication.  Think about your relationships.  They are either thriving because the communication is solid or frustrating you because there is mis-communication or a lack of understanding or even an atmosphere where you feel you can not speak freely.

How can we get to know God if we do not speak to Him?  How will we ever "be able to take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God,"

(Ephesians 3:18 THE MESSAGE) if we keep Him at a distance.  Not only does God desire for us to reach out to Him, we are the ones who need Him more than He needs us.  We forfeit peace, joy, and hope when we fail to plug into the One Who so freely gives us all these things and more.

Whatever ails you right now, take a moment to turn it over to Him in prayer.  Take a huge and bold step of faith and let us pray.

PRAYER: Dear God, Thank You that You answer prayers.  We don't know what holds us back sometimes from asking, but we come to You today with renewed hope that You are the Grantor of requests.  It's a powerful mystery why You would even listen to us, and maybe we don't fully understand how this all works.  But we do know Who You are, and You answer prayer.  You let the blessings flow when we put our trust in You.  You scoop us up in Your arms and cradle us when we need help.  You love us and love listening to us and love answering us.  Amen and Glory!

Pain Free~

1 Chronicles 4:10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.


Greetings all you Jabez scholars~


I love the Bible. It has eye-opening verses that were written from God to you and me so we can pray confidently.


When we ask God to bless us, and increase our sphere of influence by giving us wisdom, and invite His hand to guide and keep us from harm, it all works together like one big powerful and heavenly umbrella to shield us from pain. Could this mean that if we don't pray and don't ask for increase, and don't invite God's hand to be with us and keep us from harm that we will suffer needlessly?


All I know is that if given the option, I would rather pray than sit around waiting to find out. And I know there have been many many moments when I have seen the power of God clearly interfering in my life to take care of me and the ones I love.


Last Saturday Rayray asked her dad to iron the pockets on her pants. She was in a hurry, and between them they had the brilliant idea it would be more efficient to iron them while Rayray was wearing them. Everything started our fine, and then Jorge pushed the steam button. The hot and searing water penetrated the fabric and promptly left six perfectly round burn marks on Rayray's skin. She yelped, Jorge considered burning himself to show solidarity, and I applied the burn cream and gauze.


..."so that I will be free from pain."


Life is full of pain; God knows it. He also knows that when we pray to be spared and protected, we are spared and protected from a lot of junk. (What if Rayray had been wearing a blouse and had wanted the collar ironed?) No one will live their entire life pain free, but it is biblical to ask God to spare you unnecessary suffering.


Rayray's burns stung like crazy, but she is all better three days later and will make a full recovery. If only all pain lasted three days. Sigh~


I accept God at His word, and since I certainly do not want any extra pain coming my way, I intend to be as bold as Jabez and ask God to keep me from it.


Will you join me?


PRAYER: Dear Lord, Keep us from pain. Help us and our families make wise decisions. Wherever there is someone who could benefit from our experience, give them an ear to hear our words. Extend Your hand over us all like a mighty shade of protection. And deliver us from evil. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Keep Us From Harm~

Monday greetings:)


One of my favorite quotes goes like this: "Seven days without prayer makes one weak." But I know it does not apply to any of us; feel free to share it with the heathens in your life!


At this point we are all so familiar with Jabez and his awesome prayer that we should all be eager and ready to approach God wiht the same requests. Jabez did not hold back and we shouldn't either.

1 Chronicles 4:10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.


Last week we ended with a closer look at what it means to have God's hand with us. Today we look at Jabez's request to keep him from harm.


H-A-R-M--the possibilities are endless. Other versions of the Bible say "evil," or "trouble."


Frankly, I try not to watch the news too much because there's so much in it about harm, evil, and trouble; it's easy to lose our focus on Whose child we are. We can become downright paranoid, which would be a direct defiance of one of God's most beautiful encouragements. Philippians 4:8 "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."


God encourages us to fix our thoughts on the good stuff because dwelling too much on the bad stuff will drive us nuts. But what are we to do with the fact that harm actually does exist and in abundance? How can we think on the lovely and pure and right when so many things are unlovely and dirty and wrong wrong wrong?


The first step is to take a queue from Jabez and do what he did. Cry out to God to keep you and the ones you love from harm.


I just served six days on a jury for the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting three different women during a massage. The details were graphic and troubling. I had difficulty sleeping just thinking about the allegations and my responsibility to do justice. All kinds of thoughts kept popping into my head about my daughters, sisters, friends, children I know, and just how vulnerable we can all be.


On the third night of tossing and turning, I had enough. I whispered to God Jabez's prayer word for word. I found great comfort in knowing that God understands there is evil in this world, that we humans are susceptible to all kinds of fears, and that He provides protection in response to our pleas.


PRAYER: Dear Lord, Keep us and our families from all harm. Thank You that Your hand is with us, and we are covered, protected, and shielded all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

As If~

Isaiah 59:1 "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short that it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear."

Before we proceed, let's all take a moment to reflect.

Are you alive?

Did you make it?

Did you receive startling news and yet you survived?

Did you have a rough week but arrived at Friday nonetheless?

Then thank HIM!

"Thank you, dear Lord!"


Now, that verse above is one of my all-time favorites. It's an in-your-face assertion that does not hold back. If it weren't for all the sensitive people in the world, God might have even finished the verse with the words, "As if, honey child!"

You all know I like to break it down a La Macarena style. And if we do that what we get with this verse is a simple yet powerful fact: God's hand is more than enough to save you from whatever you need saving from.

The laundry list of requests just from this week alone include prayer for sick kids, broken hearts, spouses who need surgery, those looking for love, job issues, school concerns, relationship struggles...and honestly it would be overwhelming except for two truths: (1) I am not God and therefore I feel no pressure to act like it, and (2) God's hand is not too short--NEVER EVER NEVER!!!

Let that penetrate to your weary soul. Accept it at face value. Don't put any "excepts" after it. Live as though it's 100 accurate.

And the second part of that verse is important as well: God hears us when we pray.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that Your hand is PHENOMENAL. Save me from _________ and save the one or ones I love from _________. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

He's Got a Grip on You~

Thursday Salutations:)


..."Let Your hand be with me."


There are over 100 verses in the Bible that deal with the hand of God. There are two in particular that will help us better understand the implications of Jabez's request. Today we will look at one and tomorrow the other.


Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."


There's a contemporary version of the Bible called, The Message, and that version puts this verse in terms I think we can all better relate to: "Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you."


This is one of those Bam! Bam! Bam! verses that clearly states what God wants us to understand and accept and receive like a balm for our weary hearts.


He knows life is hard and that we have a tendency to panic. Hence, the exhortation not to. Why? Because the Almighty God Creator and Host of the Heavenly Armies Himself is with us, and He's ours--ALL OF HIM. He gives us help, He gives us strength, and when we think we are going to crumble under the pressure or stress of life, He keeps us steady in His firm grip!


I needed to hear that. Excuse me for a moment while I pause from writing this DEVO and do a happy dance!!!


I'm back:)


What has you on the verge of panicking today? What fear is threatening to consume you? Where do you feel weak? Do you feel as though you are slipping and that it's all about to come crashing on you?


Hurry! Let's pray!


PRAYER: Dear Lord, Let Your hand be with us. When Your hand is with us we are calm, and strengthened. Thank You that You have a firm grip on us, and thank You that You will never let go. In Jesus' name, AMEN!