Good morning all-
I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to write yesterday. I was cleaning closets, under beds, and everywhere. I guess this is my spring cleaning in the fall and it felt good. I leave for Dallas this week so I'm not sure how many posts I will be able to do. The meetings will be packed full of learning and selling so we shall see but I'm going to try, even if I have to get up earlier.
In the last days, we have talked about fighting evil, finding faith through obedience and what it means to pant for Jesus. I still love that Scripture. I have thought about it over and over and it makes me smile. I, personally, want to get to a place where my first thought is Jesus and my last thought as I go to sleep is for Him too. Pretty much my first thought is Him but by the time I get up, work all day, come home and prepare dinner, clean up, I'm physically and mentally exhausted. I think my head hits the pillow and the only thing I'm thinking about is sleep. Something this week changed that. First the verse and then a phone call. Sometimes I just hate when the phone rings. My husband has two sisters that have a different mother. She was much younger than their dad when they married and therefore, his sisters are 20 years younger. There mother, one day before his youngest sister's birthday, overdosed on a bunch of pills. They are waiting to find out if she will survive. Friday night, I thought about Jesus as I laid my head down, then at 2 and right when I got up in the morning.
Two girls facing a tragedy and all I could do was say, "I love you, I'm here for you, and I'm praying for you and your mom." It really didn't feel like much to be honest. The words were full but I didn't know if the girls really heard what I said. The youngest one is fighting many demons of her own and doesn't know Christ. The oldest does but is very quiet and logical. I can only imagine how this is impacting her. I hate when satan robs a good person of hope. It really makes me mad. They will never know the wonderful things their mother did when they were young. I watched her read to them, paint their toenails, laugh and play with them and love them. But over the years, she has fought anorexia, self-esteem issues, alcoholism, nervousness and depression. They haven't seen that wonderful person for a long time and it breaks my heart. To try to kill yourself means you have no hope of a future. God's not in that anywhere! Only satan steals from the weak and makes them weaker. He deceives and lies and tells them they aren't worthy and he takes a beautiful person and makes her a complete and utter wreck. And that ladies makes me very mad!
I was mad about a lot of things Friday night. Maybe that's why I didn't sit down and write yesterday. I couldn't believe that this had happened. I couldn't believe two girls in their twenties were going to be facing a life without their mother because whether she lives or dies, their mother will be a shell of what she was. So, I prayed that God would have His will on her life. I prayed for her daughters to have strength and for my youngest sister-in-law to be protected on her birthday. She already is struggling with some of the same things her mother does and I wanted Christ to protect her. In my anger, I wondered how this could happen and then I went back to why we need spiritual warfare. Time is short, the clock is ticking and if we're not talking about Christ and praying for those that are hurting, who is?
And then, I came to the conclusion after my rant that only Christ could fix this terrible tragedy. My role was to pray and to encourage and to remember that I'm not the one that can fix anything on earth only Christ can. However, I do have the power to pray and petition for those that are lost, hurt, and hopeless. I pray that you will join me, wherever you live, and pray for those women. If you're one of them, please reach out to a church, a Christian friend or me. Our God is a loving God that guides us with hope in mind. He has a future for us, just as His Father had a future for Him. I'm not saying it will always be an easy road but it's His road and its full of faith, hope, and love. If you're feeling anything else like, condemnation, shame, fear, or failure, that's not from God. He promised the Israelites that He would deliver them into Israel and He did. He promised David that He would be King and he was. He promised Mary a baby born to a virgin and He came. He promises us all a future and a hope and someday, He will come again and every nation will bow to Him! It will happen and we need to play our part on this earth. We were born to serve Him and serve Him we must. Be aware that evil roams and do your best to align your thinking with Christ's. I don't want to see any of us in the hospital because we didn't align our thoughts to God's. Negative thoughts are not from God. He wants us to identify sin, repent and move forward.
Whether you're single, married, married with children, or in the empty nest phase of your life, God wants to use you. He knows your circumstances, where you are and how to give you a future. In every period of our life we can be used. He even uses small children to remind us how we should be. So please don't let satan tell you otherwise. We're useful until we die. If you think of nothing else this week, ask yourself what kind of legacy do you want to leave? It's an important question. Will your legacy contain selfishness or will it be full of love, giving and serving. Think about it. I have and it seems to me a life outside of myself is the only way to live!
Jude 1: 20-21 NKJV:
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Our hope, even in trial, is through Jesus Christ, not ourselves. We must die to ourselves and look for God's grace and mercy. Capture every thought and stand it up to Scripture. Don't be deceived, be empowered to live in Christ's merciful arms. Believe that you were born for a purpose, it may not be revealed yet but you have one. Christ is calling us to pant and thirst for Him. Just like in Psalm 42:1, we must seek our Lord with all our thirst and let Him drench us with His Holy Spirit. If you're not there yet, read His word. His love knows no bounds and holds security and mercy. Our work is not yet finished and therefore my sisters, arm your minds with His words. Christ does not lie and therefore, His word stands true. You're only lost if you don't look up! May our Lord bless you and keep you as you pant for Him.
My prayer today:
O, Lord, I come before You a servant. I am praying for Your people, those that follow You and those to come. I'm praying for the lost, the broken and the helpless. I'm lifting up the weak and confused and asking You to heal them and to bring solid Christian people to their side. I'm praying for those that feel so lost that the only thing on their mind is ending their lives. We have purpose and although sometimes we can't see it, it's there. You, from the beginning of time, wanted Your people to know that You had a hope and a future for them. Whether it was delivering them out of Egypt, providing a Godly King for them to serve or sending troops into concentration camps, You were there. Life is full of good and evil and many times evil prevails. But Scripture says it doesn't have too. So I'm holding onto the promise that we all have a hope and a future. I'm holding onto the fact that You are Lord of Lords and King of Kings. I'm holding onto the fact that You can stomp on satan's head and keep him from Your people. I'm coming before You today asking You to protect the weak and save them from themselves. Only you know what lurks in the heart and minds of man. Most of the time we couldn't detect the destruction that You see, so I'm praying for all of those people today. I don't know names but I know You do. Help them to have a hope and a future full of You. Help the rest of us stand on faith that You move mountains and that all things are possible through You. As long as we live in a fallen world, people will fall but I'm praying that more people fall Your way. Let Your people be transformed into vigilant warriors. Bring people our way that are destitute and in need of a Savior. The only way to fight evil is to bow down to the Son of God. I stand firm that someday You will return and take Your bride with You but until that day make us Yours. In Jesus name, AMEN
Until tomorrow...
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