Standing/Sleeping on the Promises of God

Have you ever been so tired you could hardly hold your eyes open, then you get in bed and your mind starts racing, you relive the events of the day and wish you had done things differently, or you feel anxious about the next day or even week and you just can't fall asleep? I hear this so often from women and many nights I have experienced it too. We watch the clock, our body is tired, but we just can't turn off our mind.

In Acts 12, Peter is in prison, in chains, and the church was praying "without ceasing" for him. (v5). His angel entered the prison, unaware to the guards and other prisoners, and had to shake Peter to wake him up. How could Peter sleep so soundly when he was possibly facing execution the next day? Because Jesus had promised him in John 21:18 that he would live to be an old man, and Peter believed Jesus. He was not worried about what might happen the next day because he didn't see his circumstances, he saw the promise.

What has God promised you? The only way you can know is to read and study His word. And each time you read a promise, write it down, meditate on it, memorize it, believe it. Here are 5 to get you started:

1. God never changes. Malachi 3:6.

2. God will forgive your sins. 1 John 1:9.

3. He will save you and give you a home in heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:1.

4. He will never leave you, nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5-6.

5. He loves you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3.

What if you and I believed every promise and lived out our lives knowing that He will keep each one? A life of faith is simply this; living each day knowing I can sleep/rest soundly on the pillow of His promises. As the old hymn reminds us, "I'm Standing/Sleeping on the Promises of God." Sleep well tonight. God will keep His word; He will keep each promise.

Penny

 Jehovah Roi--God Sees Me

In Genesis 16:7-13, Hagar, Sarah's servant is expecting Abraham's first child. Hagar has become defiant, Sarah has to deal with the problem, and Hagar has run away. As she is sitting alone in a desert place, she hears the voice of the Angel of the Lord and he said, "Hagar, go back home to Sarah and submit to her." He then tells her she will have a son, he will become a prosperous man, and his name will be Ishmael. In v13, Hagar says this: "God sees me." 

Jehovah Roi is the Hebrew name for The God Who Sees Me. Today you may feel invisible. You may feel no one sees you, no one hears you, no one understands you, not even your husband or your closest friend. But Jehovah Roi sees you. He understands you and you are important to Him. You are never alone, you are never "unseen."

If you know someone who is suffering from lonliness and feeling "unseen" please share this post with her and let her know that The God Who Sees, sees her.

Penny

Just as a Little Child

 I am an admirer of Billy and Ruth Graham. I admire their love story, I admire their choice to live modestly and in such contrast to many popular preachers and evangelists of our day. I have read many of their books and especially enjoy Ruth's biography, "It's My Turn." In her biography she inspires women of every age to live for Christ, love and serve your husband, devote yourself to your marriage and children, and serve faithfully wherever He places you. 

In her biography she says this; When Jesus put the little child in the midst of His disciples (Matt.18-1-5) He did not tell the little child to become like the disciples: He told the disciples to become like the little child. 

My grandchildren are teaching me many spiritual lessons. As I listen to their sweet words of love, as I witness their trust in their parents and see their devotion and abandonment to those of us in their lives they depend on, it reminds me that God desires my free expressions of love. He desires that I trust Him when I don't understand the circumstances of my life or the situations He sends my way. He longs that I remain devoted to Him with abandonment and depend upon Him and Him alone to provide for me, to sustain me, and direct, and yes, even to correct. For I have discovered in my own life that it is easy to have child-like faith when things are going well, but not so easy when I am chastised and corrected for sin in my life. 

The things that come from a child toward his parents are simple things. They are not complicated at all. Trust, faith, obedience, devotion, expressions of love, loyalty, spending time together, expressing thanks, can easily be seen in children who love their parents. And these are child-like expressions of love and faith I long to give my Savior. 

We're quick to point out to our children those adults they are to admire, imitate, and strive to be like and that is not always a bad thing. But I want to be just as quick to take Jesus at His word and strive to be more like a little child in my faith and my approach to God.

Every single person, from the greatest to the least has come to Christ as a little child. Only when we put away all the "grown-up" ideas, misconceptions, misunderstandings, false teachings and come to Him with the same love, devotion, and trust as a little child can we ever experience the true joy and sweetness of Jesus. 

Come to Him as a little child today. He will not turn you away. 

Penny

Don't Nurse the Hurt

 Have you ever been treated unfairly? Or worse, have you ever had to see your child treated unfairly? Nothing gets a Mama fired up like seeing her child go through the hurt of unfair treatment. 

Often when we've been deeply hurt, we find comfort in "nursing the hurt." We nurse it by dwelling on the pain, reliving the mean words said to us, and sometimes by plotting our revenge.

The truth is, all of us have been treated unfairly. All of us have been hurt by the careless words and actions of others. And each time we are hurt we can either let the hurt consume us and dictate our actions, or we can "attack" the hurt by responding like Jesus.

Matthew 5 is one of my favorite passages in the New Testament. It is filled with such deep, spiritual truth that I believe it is one of those passages that should be read slowly, deliberately, prayerfully, and by all means, take notes. In v44 Jesus tells us four things we can do when we're treated unfairly to make sure we don't live our lives "nursing the hurt."

1. Love the one who hurt you. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? Well it isn't. Through much prayer and humility, we can do it. Jesus would never command us to do something that He could not enable us to do. It will be hard, but we can learn to love them.

2. Be a blessing. Again, it won't be easy. Some days may be especially hard, but look for ways to be a blessing, in spite of the pain.

3. Do something good for them, something that goes above the ordinary. A word of encouragement, a kindness to them or their family, an action that says, "I'm trying."

4. Pray for them. Each time you see them, especially, soon after the hurt, you will think about what was said or done to you. You will play it out in your mind and it is at this crucial time in the process that satan will enlarge it in your mind. He will do all he can to keep you from praying for them because he knows when a believer prays for an enemy the Holy Spirit begins to soften our heart. And oh my ladies, he does not want you or me to have a soft heart.

I greatly admire Dr. Adrian Rogers and he said this about these 4 things; "It will be easier to respond in love if we have done the other three things. I know one thing: you'll be better. You see, we are not in the world to please other people. We are here to please Jesus." 

When I bless my offender, when I do something good for her, when I pray for them, I am re-building our relationship. It may be much different than it was before the hurtful words, but as I purposely put into action these 3 things I will find that I can say, "I love you." 

As long as we are nursing the hurt, we won't heal. We nurse it each time we allow it to consume our thoughts and feelings. Healing will come when we obey God and put into practice these four things. God is faithful. His word is a healing balm for our hurting heart, and He can restore any relationship. Obey Him even when you don't understand what He is asking you to do and trust Him to bring good out of every situation. He will.

I'd love to hear from you.

Penny

He's Closer Than You Think

I love the change of seasons. I would not like to live where I could not look forward to spring and summer, flowers, fresh corn and tomatoes from the garden, and long, sunny, hot days. For me, life would be dull without the anticipation of fall with its changing leaves, pumpkins sitting everywhere, cool crisp mornings, evenings with a fire in the firepit. And then there is all the "getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas." I love it when my family gathers around the table. I enjoy decorating the tree, getting just the right gifts, the Christmas play at church, Luke chapter 2.

I've learned that my faith goes though seasons too. There is the season of fresh, new faith. Those sweet times of discovering God and all His splendor, just after we're saved. Those early years when He is building our faith by answering the smallest of prayers, revealing Himself to us as we read those first words from His Word, as we sing the old hymns with a new awareness of what they mean, and we hang onto every word the preacher says. There is nothing so sweet as fresh, new faith.

Then there are the middle years of our journey with the Savior, I call them the "busy years." We've reached a place of maturity, but we still have a lot of learning to do. Our family is growing and we're busy with raising kids, growing our relationship with our husband, helping with our parents, working in the church and all the countless other things that fill our lives. Our fellowship is sweet and comfortable, but not quite as intense as fresh, new faith.

Then there comes the season of feeling that God is not as close as He once was; He feels so far away. Our prayers are not as intense, they seem to be more "me" focused. My spiritual gifts that I excitedly used in the church during my fresh new faith season have become more of a "chore", not a pleasure. If you are in this season now, you don't have to stay there. We can never go back to "fresh new faith," but mature faith is an exciting faith as we look forward to Christ's return and an eternity in His presence. And the good news is this: God hasn't changed, and He never will. (Malachi 3:6) And when I draw near to God, He will draw near to me. (James 4:8)

So how do I get there? How do I draw near to God when I don't know how?

Here are 5 things that help me when I feel God is far away.

1. Confess that you have moved and tell Him you are sorry. God never changes. He has promised to always be with us, so if I feel He is far away, guess who moved? Me. The first step in getting closer to God is to admit that I have moved away, not Him.

2. Begin right now to thank Him for everything in your life. Giving thanks is an act of obedience. (1 Thess. 5:18) Start right where you are and thank Him for the good and the bad and He will bless your obedience. He will bless you with more of Himself and more faith.

3. Sing His praises. Whether it actually be in song or in your heart praise Him! Praise Him for Who He is: Praise Him for His goodness: Praise Him for His love: Praise Him for forgiveness of sin: Praise Him that You belong to Him. Get the idea? Praise Him for everything! Psalm 148:5 says it best; "Let them praise the name of the Lord for He created them."

4. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Read it with hunger and let Him fill you up with Who He is. He will not disappoint you. The more you read it, the more you will crave it.

5. Pray without ceasing. (1 Thess. 5:17) Talk to God as if He is standing right there in the room because He is. He is your Father and whatever you are concerned about concerns Him too. You are His beloved child, and He will never leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5 and 6.)

James 4:8 is a promise from God; "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." He's closer than you think. He is only one step away and He's waiting for you to take that first step toward Him. 

I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment and share the blog with friends.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Penny

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Sing Like Paul and Silas!

 I love to sing......usually. It's easy to sing when life is good, the family is healthy and well fed, and all the bills are paid. But throw in a teenager making a bad decision, a large unexpected medical bill, a layoff at work, or no job at all and singing is not at the top of my list of fun things to do when my heart is hurting. But in Acts 16, that is exactly what Paul and Silas chose to do: sing as loud as they could sing.

Paul and Silas were preaching throughout Asia Minor, the churches were growing and people's lives were being changed. In v16, a young servant girl "with a spirit of divination" followed them and relentlessly distracted from the message they preached. Paul commanded the demon to leave her, it did, and he and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison. Bleeding and in much pain it would have been so easy to feel despair and rejection from God. After all, isn't that when satan delights to attack our feelings and emotions? He beats us up when we are down, he reminds us of our past when we feel good. He knows our weaknesses and he relentlessly uses them against us.

Does life seem overwhelming today? Are you anxious, fearful, lonely? Get ready: you have a song to sing!

When we sing a song of praise and thanksgiving in the midst of our turmoil we are saying, "Lord, I trust you. There is nothing in my life beyond your power to fix." 

When Paul and Silas began to sing and preach to the other inmates the Bible says the men listened. That says to me that when we go through difficult times and circumstances we are given an opportunity to work with God in our suffering and bring honor and glory to Him, or we can work against Him. When we sing praises to Christ, we work with Him and people listen. 

Ladies, it works! Singing songs of praise and thanks lifts me from the bottom of the pit and sits me at the feet of Jesus. So...folding laundry? Sing. Vacuuming? Sing. Changing a diaper? Sing. Feeling physical or emotional pain? Sing. It may be the LAST thing we want to do when we're hurting, but let's determine to make it the FIRST thing we do. 

Sing like Paul and Silas!

Death Could Not Make Him Stay

Happy Easter! 

The grave clothes are folded, the tomb is empty, there is no smell of death. 

There is no weeping only joy, He lives just as He said.

Friend, Jesus is alive today, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, He died for you. He loves you. He will accept you. If you have not repented of your sins, please do so now. In faith, cry out to Jesus, He loves you, He will save you.

Death Could Not Make Him Stay

They were scared, tired and cold

The day was long, the night longer

They had promised to be bold, 

They'd promised to be stronger

Huddled close together

As they watched the eastern sky

They waited for the morning

Why did He have to die?

Then Mary came and told them

"Come and see the empty tomb.

He is not there He is alive,

Come with me, see it too."

Oh Yes! The tomb was empty,

Just the way that Mary said

John went in, He was alive

John knew He was not dead

No grave could hold the Son of God

Death could not make Him stay

Praise God Christ won the victory!

He is alive today.

Happy Resurrection Morning!

Penny