Pray, Pray, Pray.........Delay, Delay, Delay

I was recently asked to give a devotion for one of our Ladies' Nights. I don't take these things lightly and really began to seek God on what He would want me to speak about. Trying to help Him along, I figured it would be from an area He had me in. I have a passion for prayer so I thought it may go along that line. I am co-facilitating a Bible study in our Sunday School class, Duty or Delight, so I figured He may pull something from there. I have been in my own pit for the last couple of years and thought He may even use my time here and the truths I have learned to convey to someone else.

Anyway, one night this past week, I headed off to bed with Bible in hand, thinking I would get some reading in before falling asleep. I found myself in Isaiah 63 - my Bible has chapter headings and this one is titled, "The Day of Vengeance". Wow, that is something you want to fall asleep to; however, I read it but didn't get much out of it. I felt the nudge to read it again; I put up a little fight but did so anyway - again, nothing. The next morning though, I still could not get this passage of Scripture out of my mind. I started realizing this may be what my devotion is to be from - but, Lord, devotions are to be encouraging and uplifting. I don't want to give a devotion about "vengeance" to a group of women looking forward to a night on the town. Also, this passage was not "speaking" to me - that's when He said, maybe it's not about you.

So I started diving in, pulling fom different commentaries and reading in various translations, trying to find something to build on. One piece of material I found, headed this chapter with "A prayer for help and the lamentation over its absence". Now that caught my attention; I can relate to praying for God's help and it seeming like He is nowhere to be found. Can't you? Well, our Lord is trully a keeper of His word and just like He says at the end of Hebrews 11:6, He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. I approached these verses not expecting anything to come out of it for me, but God in His goodness, took what I saw titled as vengeance and tied it all together with everything I was first anticipating - it is about prayer, deliverance, and delighting in our amazing God.

I am no theologian, but in this chapter I see 5 points to remember while you are waiting on God to answer your prayer for help.

1. Remember who your God is. Who are you praying to in the first place? In verse 1, God's chosen people are asking, "Who is this?". Our Messiah answers, "It is I, speaking in righteousness, MIGHTY TO SAVE." He is the Mighty One, nothing is impossible for your God. In Numbers 11:23, God asks Moses if the Lord's arm has been shortened - meaning, in my own paraphrase, have you gone off somewhere that I can no longer reach you? Hallelujah, the answer is "NO".

2. Remember what He has done. God begins to tell them where He has been and what He has done to their enemy - even though they can't see it yet. Towards the end of the chapter, God's people begin to remind Him also of what He has done on their behalf. This tells me we need to be in His word, reading of what He has done in situations past for His people and we also need to be remembering what He has done before in our own lives - He was faithful before, He will be faithful again. Remember when David came up against Goliath, he was sure of God's protection because of past experience - God had helped him to kill the lion and the bear while shepherding the sheep (I Samuel 17:34-37). Fast forward a little bit, David was quick to remember God's help with the lion and the bear when he came before the giant Philistine, but how quickly he forgot that victory when running for his life from Saul. God gave him a little reminder in I Samuel 21:9 when the priest gave David the sword of Goliath and reminded David he had killed him in the valley of Elah. If you can't recall any past victories, ask the Lord to refresh your memory.

3. Remember who your friends/support are. In verse 5, when God was trampling the enemy, He looked but there was no one to help, He was appalled that no one gave support. I am not sure what this means - some of what I read found it similar to the opening of the scroll in Revelation 5 when a search went out to find one worthy to open the scroll - which of course is Jesus. I don't think He was looking around for help - or disappointed that there was no one else to help - for one, I don't think He needs it and two, He is the One True God and I think He is very secure in that. I do wonder if this means He was looking around to see who else cared for His people and their situation as much as He did. I think this shows the importance of prayer - prayer warriors are called just that because it is a battle - we are at war. In the story of Job, with all that was allowed to come his way, he was restored after he prayed for his friends (Job 42:10). In Philippians 1:19, Paul says he was sure his situation would work towards his deliverance because of the prayers of the saints and the supply of the Holy Spirit. We need to be praying for others with the same urgency and intensity we want them praying for us and we need to be boldy asking others to pray for us also - don't hesitate to remind your friends, or your church, that you need prayer. God's looking around to see if there is any support.

4. Remember He feels what you are going thru. Verse 9 says that in all their distress, He too, was distressed. When you are waiting on God - remember He knows what you are going thru and He feels it also - He has not forgotten you.

5. Remember who you are. At the end of the chapter, the people are reminding God that He is their Father, He is their Redeemer, they are His inheritance, they are called by His name - they are His. As a child of God, you will never lay a prayer at your Father's feet and Him kick it out of the way. You are a child of the King and very precious in His sight!

As I was wrapping this up, something else kind of struck me - the original title in my Bible now does not make sense to me at all for this passage - except maybe His vengeance on the enemy, but it made me think how I can so start thinking like this - if I am in need and crying out to God, but He is not responding how I want or as quickly as I want , then He must be mad at me - this is Him turning His back on me and setting me up to fail. He is your deliverer - not your destroyer. We are not called to wrath (I Thessalonians 5:9).

If you are in a "delay", praise Him - that just gives you more time to sit at His feet in prayer. He is good and He is faithful and He answers EVERY prayer. 　

The Family

I'm a little behind on family updates...... Sis is a Senior and will be graduating soon (unbelievable); she is all ready for college classes to start this summer. Bub just got his driver's license but was also an escort for Homecoming and one of the Courtwarming attendants this school year; he just finished another season on the high school basketball team. I am very proud of both of them and don't give them enough praise.

Tonight is Prom.......Bub had to be in the picture, too :)

Courtwarming..........

Senior pictures.........

Homecoming........

Relief......

Wow, just say the word “relief”. I say it and my whole body relaxes - my shoulders drop back, I exhale a little longer - just the sound of “relief” feels good. I have been living with so much stress and anxiety, I have honestly forgotten what “relief” could feel like.

Yesterday, I was spending time with Jesus in prayer and in His word - specifically Psalm 94:1-23. Verse 13 caught my attention…..“You grant him relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked.”.

Actually the latter part of that verse is what I really liked - I feel like I am in a pit myself, so imagining the enemy in a deep pit after he has so preyed on my weaknesses is very rewarding to me. Anyway, I didn’t allow myself to linger there long and went on with my day.

Later, I was reading an online devotional from David Jeremiah and LOVED this excerpt: “Have mercy” occurs 46 times in Scripture, 12 times in Psalms alone - the book in which authors are often found imploring God for relief or help. Jesus was called upon to “have mercy” on several occasions by those in need. And He responded by granting healing or deliverance as required. What is mercy? It is when we don’t get what we deserve. Being sinners, we deserve all manner of judgment. So when we feel we’re in the middle of a judgment of circumstances, we call out to God to “have mercy” and take the bad situation away. By grace, God often does - grace being giving us something (relief) we don’t deserve. Grace and mercy are the opposite sides of God’s coin called love.

Have you ever found yourself there? Crying out, asking God to have mercy and take the bad situation away? I have! Reading, “God often does”, really blessed my heart and filled me with hope, so I found myself going back to this devotion and meditating on it all day.

This morning, I was reading another devotion thru

Proverbs 31 Ministries , titled “Tight Places”. The contributor, Marybeth Whalen, uses the focus verse, Psalm 4:1.…. “Answer me when I call to You, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”

She talks about a time in her own life when she was “stressed, anxious, worried and overwhelmed” - huh, that sounds familiar. She goes on to say, “When I read our verse for today, I was struck by the explanation in my Bible for the word “relief”. It literally means, ‘make room for me in tight places.’” (Sounds like a pit.)

She then closes with this reminder, “…there is Someone who can come and offer relief.”. Amen!!

Usually, at the end of every Proverbs 31 devotional, you are given “Power Verses” to go along with the insight the author is trying to convey. One of the “Power Verses” given, was Psalm 94:13.…. “You grant him relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked.” (NIV)

It was the last part of that verse that reminded me I had just read that the day before - so I looked it up again in my Bible, but this time the Lord allowed me to see the common thread throughout my devotional times - RELIEF. (Yes, I can be a little slow.)

This spoke volumes to me - HE spoke volumes to me - He offers RELIEF! Thank You, Jesus!

Cast Down.......



    I am helping facilitate a Beth Moore study on Revelation in Sunday School class. She recently provided insight into Revelation 12:4,10 regarding the timing of when Satan and 1/3 of the stars were hurled to earth. Based on vs. 10, she mentions the possibility of this taking place at the time of Christ's death on the cross. I am not refuting this - I am nowhere near knowledgable enough to do so - but her insight sparked some questions and thoughts, and since ALL Scripture is for teaching, reproof, correction, & training - let's chase some spiritual rabbits.

    It was known before the foundatins of the world that Jesus would be crucified (1 Peter 1:20) - so if Satan was "hurled" to earth at the cross - couldn't he have actually been cast down before the creative activity recorded in Genesis 1?

    Genesis Chapter 1 - "In the beginning" - God is eternal; has no beginning - so was there a "beginning" to time? Was a divine decision made to create "time" as we know it? And why? (More on that in a bit...) In Genesis 1:2, we are told that "the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep..."; keep reading and you see that "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.". So God is there and so is darkness, but God is light (Revelation 21:23, John 8:12). So where did the darkness come from? In the 6 days of creation, each day records that "God saw that it was good",  except for Day 2. Notes I found on Day 2 describe the "firmament" or "expanse" as the levels of our atmosphere - which I think makes sense if you look at Day 4, recorded in Genesis 1:14-19, when God created the sun, moon, and stars to "be lights in the firmament of the heavens.". But why doesn't it say that "God saw that it was good"? Ephesians 2:2, says there is a prince of the power of the air that works in the children of disobedience and those that walk according to the course of this world. So was this prince at work here? Already? In the creative activity of Day 2? Hmmmm.........

    We know Satan was on earth as early as Genesis 3 when he entered the serpent in the garden to tempt Eve with the forbidden fruit. He was also present in Jesus' time on earth when he entered Judas (John 13:27) and the temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4).

    A 1/3 of the stars that were hurled to the earth at the time of Satan are belieed to be fallen angels, demons, or evil spirits (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, 1 Corinthians 6:3, John 5:22, Matthew 7:22, 25:41, Revelation 12:9, 20:10). There are many instances of demonic activity and possessions recorded in the New Testament at the time Jesus was on earth before the cross.

    So what happened before "in the beginning"? If my thought process above were to be right, what caused Satan and 1/3 of the angels in heaven to be hurled to earth? We read in Isaiah 14 about Lucifer (Satan), which means "Day Star" or "Light-Bearer", and how he fell from heaven - we see the pride in his heart with the repeated "I will". Read also Ezekiel 28 that speaks of Satan's beauty and wisdom before the fall; he was an "anointed cherub".....what in heaven happened?

    I don't know........I don't know if anyone can answer that this side of heaven, but I was thinking..........

    I find it strange, again if my theory is correct (I am not at all saying it is - I am just thinking and trying to learn and understand.), that Satan was cast to earth prior to man ever being created, that God would still create us (Pretty quickly in the creative process - Day 6) and place us here with him - Satan, the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). And knowing full well, He is going to crucify His Son on our behalf - to snatch us from the clutches of the evil one, into the palm of His hand, in which we can NEVER be plucked out (John 10:28).

    Could it be, with what we have just read about Satan, that possibly some insight was given by God to His angelic beings that He wanted to create man in His image and dwell among them? Could the "Light-Bearer" then have had his first competitive thought? Did he see us as a threat to his covetous position in the presence of God? Again, I don't at all know, but I think of Job Chapter 1, where we read Satan came before the Lord and pretty much tells the Lord that Job only serves the Living God because of the blessings he has received and the hedge of protection God has placed around him and everything he has. In Job 1:12 and 2:6, we read God allows Satan to pretty much do whatever he wants to Job except kill him. Could it be a similar dialogue took place regarding mankind? Before creation? I believe God had a "perfect" will for us - no death, no disease, no sin, no sorrow, no pain - the Garden of Eden forever, where God walked with us in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). Satan may have approached Him and suggested what we just saw in Job; therefore, the Tree of Good and Evil was planted with a commandment....and a consequence (Genesis 2:12).    

    Satan was hurled to earth - cast down - to rule as prince of this world.......man was created and became the object of his fury (Revelation 12:12).

"If I Had Two Hands....Doing The Same Thing....Lifted High"

A few posts back, I mentioned we have a “new” pastor and that our church family has changed over the past few years. God has convicted me on this and really made me think….he is not my “new” pastor, he is MY pastor and the people I gather with in worship, grow with in Bible study, serve with in our church community, and fellowship with in and outside of our church building - they are MY church family. I do miss the family and fellowship I once had, but believe with all my heart that God places the members in the body as He pleases (1 Cor. 12:18). God has really been putting a love for the family I have now on my heart. There are several within my church that I have a longing to get to know better but it is getting out of my comfort zone and initiating that contact.



God is definitely working and moving within our church - I see it in this blog and the direction He has been leading our prayers, the direction He has given our pastor, and comments I have heard from others within our church - we are of one accord with His Spirit (Acts 1:14) - and it is VERY exciting to anticipate Him and what He is going to do in and thru us.

This last week, God has really spoken to me about how He is worthy.

1. He is worthy to be prayed to because He listens and acts on behalf of His people crying out to Him.
2. He is worthy of our repentance and living a life according to His Word.
3. He is worthy of us living and knowing His redemptive plan - if angels desire to look into this (1 Peter 1:12) - how much more should we.
4. He is worthy of us getting to know Him intimately - in prayer, His Word, by experience.
5. He is worthy of us encouraging others - coming along side those weaker in the faith and lifting them up (Romans 15:1, 1 Thess. 5:14)
6. He is worthy of us living the victorious, abundant life He calls us to (John 10:10) - He does not want us shackled to our past, to our failures, to our sins - He is the Victorious God and He lives in and thru us.
7. He is worthy of our praise, our worship - it is ALL about Him.
8. He is worthy of our joy - live like there is a distinction between those that are His and those that are not. (Malachi 3:18)
9. He is worthy of our expectation - He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) - He searches to and fro looking for a heart He can show Himself mighty (2 Chronicles 16:9). Expect Him - He shows up!

*** This is a recap of the previous post on PERSEVERE ***

For the past several years, I have tried to make a point to circle the word “all” in my Bible when it is talking about groups of people responding to God. The thought that “all” could actually be on the same page when it comes to Christ, who He is, or what He has called us to, blew my mind. Sometimes it seems overwhelming that we could get EVERYONE to do ANYTHING for ANYBODY. But yet, we are One Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17, Eph. 2:18, Eph. 4:4, 1 Cor. 12:13), Christ prayed in John 17 that WE would be ONE - as He and the Father are one. WOW!

Last Sunday, God put a song on my heart that I have not been able to get out of my head. It is by Jars of Clay and is called “Two Hands”. They sing, “I use one hand to pull You closer, the other to push You away….but what if I had two hands, doing the same thing, lifted high”.

Grasp the thought of that for a brief moment. What if ALL of us were doing the same thing for the glory of God. I’m not talking about literally lifting both hands high in worship - I’m talking about our hearts - in it’s current state; whatever that is - agreeing we NEED God, we want to SEE God, being OPEN to God - OPEN to God only; not expecting WHAT He might do - but just expecting HIM.

PERSEVERE



Beth Moore recently said we all want to be OVERCOMERS, but we want nothing we have to overcome. How very true!

I have been thinking about those that give up and walk away from God when the going gets tough - I don’t understand that mentality - is the situation going to be better because you gave up on God? I FEEL like giving up sometimes but then I wonder, on what? My circumstance is still the same, I’m not despairing of life - I FEEL like giving up - but on what? If I say, ‘I am done with God’ - what does that do for me? I’m still in the same mess.

There have been a few instances in my life, where God used a particular area of what I was going thru to mirror what was happening on a larger scale - like within my church or others God was bringing into my path. I’ve been praying about this season I am in and how I so want OUT, but not without taking everything with me God wants me to have. I try to come before the Lord with all honesty and sincerity, seeking Him, and knowing there could be so much more to this than just little ole me. So some of the same feelings and struggles that I have been dealing with in trying to remain faithful and full of hope - trusting God and believing Him; I have been praying for my church.

I asked the Lord to give me an acronym - for one, I thought it would be fun, and two, I thought it would make it easier to remember and pray thru. You know what? He did - pretty much in order with where I have been on this journey…….PERSEVERE!

Persevere in:

Prayer - pray, pray, pray - our youth pastor preached on prayer this past Sunday - very good and encouraging message. He had his own acronym: PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens. Keep praying - don’t give up. Over and over again in the Word, God tells us to pray, to cry out, to cast our cares on Him - it is not so He can hear about it and walk away doing nothing. I HAVE to believe He is doing something whether I see it right now or not.

Evil (acknowledging) - “Lord, search my heart and see if there is any wickedness in me” (Psalm 139)- I wrote a blog entry on this November 9, 2010 - you can search it in the blog archive to the right.

Redemption (understanding) - after the Lord allowed me to see the evil within; I was despairing - I needed mercy and I was pleading for it. I have always viewed God as a judge and out to get me when I mess up, but I knew this was wrong, so I started asking the Lord to show me who He was in my sin. He lovingly said, ‘You want to know who I am in your sin…I paid for it, I died for it, I took it, it’s now mine…and I’m going to make it beautiful.’ He can bring beauty from our ashes - He is our Redeemer!

Seeking God- my views of the Lord have been so messed up for so long; I want to KNOW Him - the REAL Him on the pages of Scripture. We need to KNOW God and you do that by reading His Word - faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Encouraging others - I have a small group of girlfriends I text/email periodically with scripture, devotions, or to let them know I am thinking about them and praying for them. Honestly, this is very therapeutic, it helps keep my focus off me and gets me praying for others - our friends have needs to and they are also longing for God to answer their prayers - encourage them and lift them up.

Victorious living - recently, I started dealing with thoughts that I needed to step out of the church scene. It was kind of a self-preservation motive (so I thought). I’m part of a prayer group, I lead a small group and a Sunday School class, I sit/stand up close in the sanctuary praising my God - I already mentioned my girlfriends that I try to encourage in their own walks with the Lord. Please understand, I’m not saying this to be “Well, look at her” and be all pious - I started thinking about what everyone would think if they knew what I was dealing with - what a hypocrite I am! I started getting sorrowful in thinking these thoughts and pulling away - I love serving - I love encouraging - I love my girls! I need this - I want this! Then I started thinking, since when did sin dictate God’s call on my life? I read He is the Victor - I have victory in Him - greater is He that is in me - in my weakness, He is strong - Remember Redemption!

Exalt Him - when you start feeling Him move you in prayer, Him showing you His plan of redemption - and how even the angels try to look into and understand this - when you realize you are forgiven and He reveals Himself to you in a greater way you never knew before so you begin sharing with others and encouraging them that victory is ours - all you can do is praise Him - exalt Him - lift His name on high - He is our God!

Rejoice - even now while in this storm - rejoice! You are going to come thru with so much more than you asked for - He has begun a good work in you - your faith is more precious than silver or gold - He is sovereign and in control!

Expect Him - how many times in Scripture; especially the Psalms - does the Psalmist begin with crying out but then turns to praise because they know God is going to show up! If we truly expected God to move on behalf of our prayers and because of who we are in Him and His faithfulness and love for us, our prayer meetings would be packed out. We pray and pray - walk away - and never receive our answer. Do we not believe He will answer? I don’t know what it is - but I believe we need to persevere in EXPECTING God!

Sorry this was so long; but I hope it spoke a word to someone! PERSEVERE! He is with you - He sees - He knows - and He is worth it!

Advance....

I have been reflecting on the past couple of years and what God has shown me in this valley - there has been so much and I am learning to be thankful and rejoice in this trial (James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6). I have been reflecting on God’s goodness and faithfulness - how I have been praying for deliverance (Psalm 71 specifically plus NUMEROUS others) but He has been answering in a different way - He has truly done above and beyond what I have been asking or imagining (Ephesians 3:20) - revealing so much about Himself that I had not experienced before.

One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that HE IS, and that He is a REWARDER of them that diligently seek Him.

I have asked the Lord to strengthen my faith and told Him my desire to know Him - really KNOW Him. How can I believe that HE IS if I don’t know WHO He is. I shared more about this in a much previous post. God has been faithful to this prayer but I didn’t expect Him to answer the way He did. In 1 Peter 1:7 we are told that our faith is more precious than gold or silver that perishes and our faith will often times be refined, as these precious metals are, in a fiery furnace - I didn’t want that; just the result of that. I wanted to know God as He is talked ABOUT in the Bible - such as My Deliverer, My Hiding Place, My Refuge, My Ever Present Help, My Redeemer, My Saviour, My Strength, My Rock - but I didn’t want to go through ANYTHING that would MAKE me really search Him out as such or depend with every ounce of my being that this was true - HE IS EVERYTHING HE SAYS HE IS and I HAVE to believe it - I HAVE TO KNOW IT! (See Job 42:5)

This reflection time has been going on the past several weeks and I have been amazed looking back on 2010 - even back into 2009 - and seeing my God right there with me. He is faithful - even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13).

I started thinking about the order of events - or insights - He has given me along the way. I have believed for quite a while that the Lord wants me to declare His marvelous works and what He is done for and thru me during this time (Psalm 71:17) - that is part of the reason for this blog, Facebook updates, encouraging texts/emails to friends, etc. - it’s His story in my life and I want others to know He is there - REALLY THERE - but He is not doing NOTHING - He is doing marvelous works - I just want others to take notice - we are encountering the Living God, the Creator of the Universe, the Lover of our Souls, the Father that sent His Son to die on our behalf so we can be with Him FOREVER.

Satan wants us to feel like we are the only one’s going thru life with struggles, heartache, or pain - that there is no God to save us (Psalm 71:11) - he wants us to think we are hopeless - He comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10); but it’s not necessarily quick - he sets us up and is very patient (1 Peter 5:8), looking for an opportune time to accomplish his destruction in our lives (Luke 4:13). WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS - I’m not just talking about God being with us; strengthening us - but 1 Peter 5:9 says our brethren are experiencing the same afflictions in the world.

Don’t you want to know how they got thru it - or are getting thru it?

Don’t you want to hear them say God showed up - and what He did?

I DO!

I keep hearing people want Christians to BE REAL - AUTHENTIC - quit acting like we have it all together. I do believe there is truth to that, but is it maybe, because they are drowning in life - they see Christians drowning also but we won’t admit it - I think they want to know there is a God - I think WE WANT TO KNOW IT, TOO - but we are too scared and shocked to say it. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” WE DON’T KNOW HIM - DON’T HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM and WE are perishing because of it - HIS PEOPLE - and we are letting a lost world down - we are letting ourselves down - we are letting our Saviour down; who came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10) and told us to seek first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33).

This post was supposed to be about PERSEVERANCE - we need to press on - ADVANCE. That is the theme our church has taken for this coming year. That is exactly what I am praying for - to advance in my walk with God, to advance in my knowledge of Him, to advance in growing my faith, to advance in seeking His Kingdom.

I will have to share more soon!

He Is Doing A NEW Thing....NOW It Shall Spring Forth

Happy New Year, Everyone! This afternoon I was reading the first couple chapters of Genesis and something jumped out at me that so blessed me, I couldn’t wait to share it.

Genesis 1:11-12 is the 3^rd day of creation - God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

When I read this passage, I automatically visualize tall trees, shrubs, flowers in bloom, all kinds of various vegetation fully grown and flourishing on the land - but then I read Genesis 2:4-5.……

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens - and no shrub of the field HAD YET APPEARED on the earth and no plant of the field HAD YET SPRUNG UP, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground.

So God spoke it and IT WAS DONE - it was there - but it was still underground - IT HADN’T APPEARED YET - but the promise was good!

My prayer this coming year is that we do not lose heart in the promise of what God has spoken to us - He spoke it - IT IS DONE! I pray this is the year it SPRINGS FORTH in our lives. The Lord God had not sent rain yet - He is our Living Water and we are to be cleansed by the washing of His Word - faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God; and His Word is alive, active, sharper than any double-edged sword. I pray we stay in His Word - watering the seeds of promise.

We also read that there was no man to work the ground - we have a part in bringing about His promise - persevere, be diligent, DON‘T GIVE UP. I also believe we have a part in helping others reap those promises - we should encourage each other, speak truth to one another, pray for each other, and love each other - we can help till the ground of our friends’ hearts to help cultivate the seed God has placed within them, bringing forth abundant fruit for His glory!

We should be EXPECTANT and EXCITED - it is a NEW year, His mercies are NEW every morning (Lamentations 3:23) - behold, He is doing a NEW thing; NOW it shall SPRING FORTH; shall ye not know it? (Isaiah 43:19) - hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19).

Happy New Year!