Thursday, March 28, 2013

My Aunt Billie passed away last Sunday, Palm Sunday. 

What is the raindrop in that?  God was there.  I got to spend the bulk of her last two days with her.  She was in respiratory distress, and she would call me to her bedside to pray.  She and I would pray together, and God would touch her and help her, as she asked Him to do.  Her vitals would improve almost immediately, and she would be calmer.  He honored His Word that says, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."  (Matthew 18:19).  He was DEFINITELY "in the midst."  (Matthew 18:20) 

Then Sunday, on Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem while the people shouted, "Hosanna," meaning, "Save us," He honored her final request:  to take her to Himself, to save her to the uttermost. 

God proved that He is indeed a "very present help in trouble."  (Psalm 46:1)  I am so grateful that He was there. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Fretting

Lately, I have been fretting, for lack of a better word, about the soul of my lost loved one, but when I do, I hear a voice inside that asks why I am fretting, because God has promised (s)he will not always be lost!   Why, indeed, do I fret?  I either believe God, or I don't, and I DO!!!  So I am striving to live fret-free, because there really is no reason to fret.

The Bible puts it this way in Philippians 4:6:  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God". (NKJV)  The next verse is the promise:  "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  That means my sanity, my peace, my contentment, my faith will all be guarded if I do one thing:  pray.  It is the answer to fretting, because fretting is the opposite of faith, and it does not come from God.

This applies to any promise in the Word:  the righteous will not be forsaken nor his children begging for bread; He will not leave or forsake us; if we confess our sins, He will forgive; when we pray, He hears and answers, ALWAYS.  The Word is full of promises that He WILL keep!

"Be anxious for nothing!"  Pray, and trust!!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Prayer is one big "ONLY!"

Carter Conlon, pastor of Times Square Church, wrote a message entitled, "Why is God's Strength Make Perfect in our Weakness?"  In it, he said, "'. . .And his train filled the temple...' (Isaiah 6:1). What an incredible picture, especially in light of the story in Matthew 9:20-21: 'And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.' This woman had to press through the crowd to get to Jesus, but when she finally touched the hem of His garment, immediately she was healed.

"At that time His garment was only on one physical body, the man Jesus Christ. To touch it, you would have to travel miles and press through crowds. However, Isaiah said that the hem of His garment filled the temple. In other words, there was nowhere in the temple where you couldn't touch Him and be healed!

"Consider now how you and I are the temple of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church. The presence of Christ is within us, and what Isaiah saw is now a reality in the actual body of a New Testament believer--the hem of His garment fills the temple! That means there is no area of your mind, your body, your past, present of future that God can't touch. In other words, the healing of Jesus is in every part of you!"

Yesterday, Pastor McGlamery preached that this woman with the issue of blood ONLY had the hem of Jesus' garment, and that we ONLY have prayer!!  What an "only!"  If I "only" pray for my lost loved one, in the hands of Jesus it is more than enough!!  His train fills the temple!!! 

I am praying today that Christians around my lost loved one will bless him/her and show the love of Christ in some way that would be obvious to him/her.  You can borrow this prayer for your lost loved one, too!!