Colossians 4:2–18

May 13, 2013

Continue praying. Keep alert. Be thankful to God ALWAYS!

Still in deep waters? Continue praying, keep alert, and be thankful to God ALWAYS. Heading out into deep waters? Continue praying, keep alert, and be thankful to God ALWAYS. Back on shore with no storm in sight? Continue praying, keep alert, and be thankful to God ALWAYS. No matter what the situation or circumstance in your life, the advice is the same. Continue praying. Keep alert. Be thankful to God ALWAYS!  

Paul closes his letter by asking them to pray for him.

"...pray for us that God will give us an opportunity to tell people his message. Pray that we can preach the secret that God has made known about Christ. This is why I am in prison. Pray that I can speak in a way that will make it clear, as I should." Colossians 4:3–4

That is my plea as well. Pray for us—not that we will be released from this lawsuit. No, pray for us—so that God will give us an opportunity to tell His message and that He will "enlarge our territory" and our sphere of influence. Pray for us—that we can clearly share with others what God has taught us. We are convinced this is why we are in the prison we are in. We are not being punished, we are being taught. Pray for us—I am not a speaker or writer, so please pray that I am available for God to get His message out; that I remain totally surrendered and committed to telling the amazing story of Jane (HIS story); and all HE has taught us as we have followed HIM on HIS footpath.

Colossians 4:5 - "Be wise in every way... making the most of every opportunity... When you talk, you should always be kind and pleasant so you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should."

LORD, I pray you will give us the opportunity and the words to tell YOUR story. Enlarge our territory, keep us from evil, and may we harm no one. May YOUR name be glorified. May YOU receive all the honor and glory. LORD, let us know when you are ready for us to tell your story. Give us YOUR words. We will do whatever it is YOU ask us to do.

Addendum: 9/28/16 ~ How interesting to be reading this today. Our daughter just asked me yesterday if we would be willing to share our story with the people in their Connect Group this coming Sunday evening. The answer is—Yes! We never turn down an opportunity to tell HIS story. It is HIS story—it is not ours.

LORD, thank you for this opportunity. LORD, I pray we could clearly communicate what you have taught us throughout this journey. LORD, I pray you take the words you give us to say and speak truth to those who will hear them. We are available.We will do whatever you ask.

When this journal entry was originally written (May 13, 2013) we were praying for the opportunity to tell HIS story. We could have never imagined God's plans. Never.

See:
LORD – What Am I to Do?;
The LORD Answers!;
I Didn't Know—BUT GOD DID!!


Next Entry: I Thessalonians 1:1–10

Colossians 3:1 – 4:1

May 09, 2013

"Think about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. Your own sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. Christ is our life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory." Colossians 3:2–4

 So, put out all evil things your old self wanted.

Old Sinful Self:

• Sexual sinning
• Doing evil
• Letting evil thoughts control you
• Wanting things that are evil
• Greed
• Anger
• Bad temper
• Doing or saying things to hurt others
• Using evil words to harm
• Lying

Put out the old and live your new life in Christ.

New Life in Christ:

• Show mercy to others
• Be kind
• Be humble
• Be gentle
• Be patient
• Get along with each other
• Forgive each other
• Love each other
• Have unity
• Let God's peace control your thinking
  
• Always be thankful
• Use wisdom to teach and instruct others

Colossians 3:17 - "Everything you do or say should be done to obey Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus." Jesus must be Lord of your life and not just someone you attempt to use as a "get out of hell" free card. "Lord" means someone you are subject to. He is LORD of all lords. Our lives should reflect our servant-hood to Master Jesus.

Colossians 3:23 - "In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people." You are serving Christ and he will give you your reward. If you are serving self, any "rewards" are at the best temporary and the end result is punishment. 

It has to be either/or. It cannot be both. You are either serving the Lord—or you are not. You cannot serve yourself and God. Cannot. You cannot serve two masters. Either God is Lord of your life—or He isn't. If He is Lord you receive an eternal reward. If He is not Lord, you receive punishment. Psalm 1 lays it out very clearly. There are two ways to live with two very different end results. The choice of how we live our lives is ours. The consequences for our choices are set by God.

Psalm 1:6 - "The Lord takes care of his people, but the wicked will be destroyed." You can't color it any other way. It is what it is.

Colossians 3:24–25 - "Remember... you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people... but remember... anyone who does wrong will be punished for that wrong." The Lord is an equal opportunity God. Obey—receive my reward. Disobey—receive my punishment.

Colossians 3:25b - "The Lord treats everyone the same." We are ALL held to the same standard. Whether we excel or fall short is up to us and is a result of the choices we've made. God has given us everything we need to succeed.

Exploration Verses from Life Lesson:

Acts 3:19 - So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God, and He will forgive your sins. Then the Lord will send the time of rest.

Romans 5:1–5 - Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory. We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us.

I Corinthians 6:9–11 - Surely you know that the people who do wrong will not inherit God's kingdom. Do not be fooled. Those who sin sexually, worship idols, take part in adultery, those who are male prostitutes, or men who have sexual relations with other men, those who steal, are greedy, get drunk, lie about others, or rob—these people will not inherit God's kingdom. In the past, some of you were like that, but you were washed clean. You were made holy, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

II Corinthians 1:21–22 - Remember, God is the One who makes you and us strong in Christ. God made us his chosen people. He put his mark on us to show that we are his, and he put his Spirit in our hearts to be a guarantee for all he has promised.

I Peter 3:8 - Finally, all you should be in agreement, understanding each other, loving each other as family, being kind and humble.


Next Entry: Colossians 4:2–18 

Colossians 2:6–23

May 09, 2013

Keep on keeping on! Finish what you started.

"As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him. Keep your roots deep in him and have your lives built on him. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught, and always be thankful." Colossians 2:6–7 

Paul says to watch out for false teachings. The way to guard against false teaching is to:

1. Keep your roots deep yourself. Don't just listen to what others say or read about what someone else has learned. Find out for yourself what God's Word says.
2. Be strong in the faith. Take Jesus at His Word. Believe Him!! His promises are just that—PROMISES!
3. Be thankful ALWAYS and in ALL things.  

If you follow Paul's guidelines and do those three things, then the danger of being led astray by false teaching is almost non-existent.

When Christ sets you free you are free indeed, and Christ has made us free. Colossians 2:14 - "He canceled the debt..." We are no longer bound by the power of sin over us. We have been made free and we are alive in Christ who forgives all our sins. He canceled the debt. Colossians 2:15 - "God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross, he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless."

Keep your roots deep; stand strong; always be thankful. Colossians 2:19 - "It is from him that all the parts are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow."

Addendum: 10/3/16 ~ Excerpt from Flying Closer to the Flame by Charles Swindoll:

"When you are not sure something is from the Spirit, tread softly. Back off. Use Scriptures as your guide. If they are of the Lord, those unidentified inner promptings won't contradict anything biblically. Peace will remain your companion. The Lord doesn't lead against his own revealed Word. So don't get on a hobbyhorse over something that is questionable or clearly unbiblical.

...When you are confident that it's of God, stand firm, even against other people's doubts. Be strong and resolute. That's a part of walking by faith. There are times when other people will say, "There is no way in the world God could be in this"; yet you know absolutely in your heart that He is. At times like that, simply stand firm. You won't be able to convince them, but that's all right. God is still doing unusual things.BUT don't get weird. You can be confident in God without becoming spooky or seeing lots of things no one else can see."

Well said. The Lord NEVER leads anyone to go against his written Word. NEVER.


Next Entry: Colossians 3:1 – 4:1

Colossians 1:1 – 2:5

May 09, 2013

"Jesus paid it ALL, All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."

The old hymn has it right. It is ALL about Jesus. I like how Max Lucado says it in his forward to Colossians. "If we are saved it is because God rescued us and not because we learned to swim. God is the verb and we are the noun. God does the saving and we do the receiving." In Jane's NIV she has written: "Christ is Supreme through entire book."

It (everything) is ALL about Jesus. Nothing needs added and nothing should be taken away. We are saved because someone shared the Gospel with us. We need to pass it on and tell others so they too may receive Christ as Savior. We need to produce fruit and help strengthen those who are growing in the Lord.

I like how Paul always told the people (he was writing to) what his prayer for them was. I have started to do that more and more. Instead of just telling someone I will pray for them, I actually write out my prayer and give it to them. People have responded and said how much it meant to be able to read the prayer being prayed for them.

Here is what Paul prayed for the people of Colossae. He prayed they would:

• Have great wisdom (knowledge) and understanding (living it out) in spiritual things
• Live in such a way to bring honor and glory to Christ
• Produce fruit in every good work
• Grow in the knowledge of God
• Understand that it is God who strengthens them
• Not give up when trouble comes
• Be patient
• Joyfully give thanks to God

After his prayer, Paul reminds them of the importance of who CHRIST is.

• Jesus IS God.  
• Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God
• He ranks higher than everything that has been made
• Through His power ALL things were made. ALL things—in heaven and on earth; seen and unseen; all powers, authorities, lords, rulers—ALL
• ALL things were made through Christ
• ALL things were made for Christ
• He "was" before anything began
• He holds ALL things together
• He is the head of his body (the church)
• Everything comes from HIM
• He was the first to be raised from the dead
• In everything He is first.  
• He is Supreme.

Jesus is in all, above all, and through all. He is God and He is the only way to Salvation. Through His death we gained access to God. He took upon Himself our sins so we could be presented to God as holy people who are without wrong and who have nothing in our lives for which God can judge us guilty. That's what Jesus/God did for us. It is an available and unfathomable gift. BUT! In order to receive the gift of Salvation, we must accept it for ourselves and that means surrendering to the Lordship of God in ALL areas of our lives. Understanding HE is God—I am not. We go TO Jesus for forgiveness; salvation comes FROM God; and we SUBMIT to Him as Lord of our lives.

"Continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope brought to you by the Good News that you heard." Colossians 1:23

How to remain strong? The secret is in Christ himself. HE is in us; HE gives hope; HE gives wisdom and understanding; and in HIM we are safely kept.

Addendum: 10/2/16 ~ As I was reading these chapters this morning several things stood out to me.

Colossians 1:19–20 - "God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ. And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ's death on the cross."
Colossians 1:27 - "God decided to let his people know this rich and glorious secret which he has for all people. This secret is Christ himself, who is in you. He is our only hope for glory."
Colossians 2:2–3 - "I want them to be strengthened and joined together with love so that they may be rich in their understanding. This leads to their knowing fully God's secret, that is, Christ himself."

What a gift of love. God has given himself to us! The thing is, it is a secret that can only be known and understood when you accept Christ as your Savior. No wonder the world doesn't "get it." You have to FIRST by faith believe THEN God's secret is revealed and made known.

Thank you, Lord, for YOUR gift of yourself to us through YOUR son Jesus. 


Next Entry: Colossians 2:6–23

Philippians 4:1–23

May 08, 2013

So, what are we as Christians to do? Stand strong!  No matter what is going on around you—STAND STRONG! Not in your own strength and power. Stand strong in the LORD.

Paul lists how we should live:

• Stand strong
• Be joyful in the Lord ALWAYS!
• Be gentle
• Be kind
• Do not worry about anything
• Pray often
• Ask God for what you need
• Be God-reliant not self-sufficient
• Give thanks ALWAYS

And the result of living the way Christ wants us to live? Peace! God's peace. Peace that only He can give. Philippians 4:7 - "And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Think about these things:

• What is good
• What is worthy of praise (GOD)
• What is true
• What is honorable
• What is right
• What is beautiful
• What is respected

Think—and then DO! God will give HIS peace to you.

Paul concludes his letter to the people in Philippi. He thanks them for their help. He tells them what all he has learned during his walk as a follower of Christ. What Paul learned (and what each of us can learn as well) can only be learned by totally surrendering to God. Paul learned it during the hard and difficult times in his life.

The "hard times" is often when we are the most open to learning what God wants to teach us as well. It is during those times:

• We can learn to be satisfied with what we have 
• We can learn to be satisfied with whatever happens
• We can know how to live when we have plenty
• We can know how to live when we are poor
• We can learn the secret of how to be happy—no matter what
• We can learn our circumstances don't determine our happiness—whether there is enough to eat or there isn't, if we have more than we need or if we don't have enough

 We can learn all those things when we learn this:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13)

It is not our strength—it is HIS. 

I vividly remember a time when I was on the brink of a breaking point. I was absolutely buried under the paperwork of the lawsuit. Buried. It was overwhelming and I felt like I was drowning in "the storm." (Part of the plan of my sister, brother-in-law and their lawyer was to overwhelm us with their demands during the discovery process.) I was driving home from making copies of (and numbering) literally thousands of pages of documentation. As I was driving, I KNEW I could not in my own strength handle the demands placed upon us. This verse came to my mind and I said it over and over and over again. I would emphasize the next word in the verse each time I said it.

I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. I CAN do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. I can DO all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. I can do ALL things through Christ who strengtheneth me. I can do all THINGS through Christ who strengtheneth me. I can do all things THROUGH Christ who strengtheneth me. I can do all things through CHRIST who strengtheneth me. I can do all things through Christ WHO strengtheneth me. I can do all things through Christ who STRENGTHENETH me. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth ME.  

I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENETH ME. Over and over all the way home. The peace of God came over me and I KNEW I could do it. Not because of my strength because my strength was gone. I couldn't do it—BUT GOD COULD! And He did.

Tears come to my eyes. Partly because I am remembering some of the painful details from that time in our lives, but the tears are not only because of the pain. The tears are also in recognition of what all God did to carry us through that extremely difficult time, and the joy, peace, and contentment He has given to us both then and now. He has taught us so many things, and it has been worth it all.

Paul explained an important truth to the people of Philippi and that is the importance of "giving." Life is not about "getting," it is about "giving." What pleasure there is in giving to others from an open hand as opposed to having a closed fist. God knows what we need. Philippians 4:19–20 - "My God will use his wonderful riches in Christ Jesus to give you everything you need. Glory to our God and Father forever and ever! Amen."

It truly is ALL about HIM!

*****

Philippians is over. I can't believe how fast the books are flying by. There isn't much left.  It is almost scary. I can't imagine being done with journaling through the Bible since it has been part of my everyday life for almost three and one half years now. I will probably be done by the end of summer.  I wonder what will be next?

Addendum: 9/21/16 ~ Now it has been almost seven years since I started reading through the Bible and writing my thoughts. It turns out I wasn't "done" when I finished writing in my journals. Instead, it was The Beginning. And here I am today, once again finishing up with Philippians, and once again feeling like time is flying by with only one and one half journals left to enter into Blogger.

I know at least a portion of what is "next."

See:
LORD – What Am I to Do?;
The LORD Answers!;
I Didn't Know—BUT GOD DID!!

I don't know the when. I don't know the how. I only know that God has it all under control. We will follow Him even if our next steps are not clear. He will make the way, and we will follow. 


Next Entry: Colossians 1:1 – 2:5

Philippians 3:1–21

May 07, 2013

Watch out! Live right!

Watch out for others—those who do evil. Watch out for yourself. Don't start thinking it is all about you and that you have everything figured out. It is not about who we are and what we do. It is about who Christ is and what Christ did. It is not about us. It is ALL about HIM.

Philippians 3:8 - "We do not put trust in ourselves or anything we can do... all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him, I have lost all those things, and now I know they are worthless trash." Instead of spending time pursuing "self" which has no value, pursue the only One with true eternal value and surpassing greatness—Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:10 - "I want to know Christ and the power that raised him from the dead. I want to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death." Psalm 150 talks about the "surpassing greatness" of Christ. 

Totally surrendered. That is what I want to be. And if I ever begin to get off track, I want to be corrected like the Holy Spirit did last week by pointing out to me that I have a choice: 1) listen to Truth; or 2) believe the lie. I choose Truth. None of us have reached our goal, and we won't until we are in heaven. I haven't reached it and Paul hadn't reached it. But like Paul said:

"Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above... our homeland is in heaven, and we are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. By his power to rule all things, he will change our simple bodies and make them like his own glorious body." Philippians 3:13-14

Praise the Lord!


Next Entry: Philippians 4:1–23

Philippians 1:1 – 2:30 (Continued)

May 06, 2013

Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter to the people of Philippi. Even though Paul was in prison he was still doing the right thing. Even in his time of trouble, Paul continued to tell others about Christ and encourage them in their own walk of faith.

Paul said, "What has happened to me has helped to spread the Good News." (Philippians 1:12) Paul's crime? He was a believer in Christ. That's it. He had done nothing wrong, but the trouble he was in gave him a platform to reach many people with the news of Christ. The purpose of putting him in prison was to stop him from speaking truth, but the exact opposite happened. It didn't discourage the other believers. It instead strengthened their faith, and others who were not believers were exposed to Truth for the first time.

Paul said because prayers were being said on his behalf, and because the Holy Spirit was helping him, "I know this trouble will bring my freedom." (Philippians 1:19) True freedom, not just freedom from jail. Living Paul's life took courage. He knew that. But standing strong did not come from his own strength and power. It came from the Holy Spirit  Because of that he could say, "I expect and hope that I will not fail Christ in anything but that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life on earth, whether I live or die. To me the only important thing about living is Christ, and dying would be profit for me." (Philippians 1:20–21)

Psalm 73 talks about people "looking for profits" on this earth. Paul was looking to please Christ and bring honor and glory to HIM and heaven would be his profit, the ONLY profit that matters. What is the point of gaining the "profits" of this world if you lose your soul? Take this whole world, just give me Jesus. That is the profit I want. It is the only important thing.

"Be sure that you live in a way that brings honor to the Good News of Christ... standing strong with one purpose, that you work together as one for the faith of the Good News, and that you are not afraid of those who are against you. All of this is proof that your enemies will be destroyed but that you will be saved by God. God gave you the honor not only of believing in Christ but also of suffering for him, both of which bring glory to Christ... when you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves... think and act like Christ... do everything without complaining or arguing. Then you will be innocent and without any wrong. You will be God's children without fault. But you are living with crooked and mean people all around you, among whom you shine like stars in the dark world. You offer the teaching that gives life. So when Christ come again, I can be happy because my work was not wasted. I ran the race and won." From Philippians 1:27 – 2:16

There will come a day when "every knee will bow to the name of Jesus—everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and bring glory to God the Father." (Philippians 2:10–11)

Every-knee-will-bow. I choose to bow now, serving Him with all my heart now. With no regrets, I choose to surrender all—NOW!

*****

Jane died five years ago today and tomorrow it will be two years since my Dad died. My Mom (who is 84 years old) decided she wanted to prepare a meal and bring everyone back home for a family dinner one last time. So, yesterday that is what we did.

Fifteen of us gathered at Mom and Dad's farm. We reminisced and talked about Dad and his many "isms" and sayings. There was a lot of laughter. The great grand-kids fished, went for walks around the farm, and played in the creek. We took lots of pictures. Mom gave my husband and me the old iron farm hay rake my Dad had and our son loaded it up to take to our place. Dad certainly was missed, but his memory lives on in all of our hearts.

I am so grateful for Dad's life and for the time I got to spend with him during his last days. What a blessing. I am happy for Mom that everyone could come since this was so important to her. (How sad to realize "everyone" does not include my sister. By her own actions, my sister has estranged herself from our entire family. It is equally sad to think about how much fun, unity, and laughter there was because my sister was not there. How sad!)   

It was a lot of work for Mom to get the house and all the food ready. There was an over abundance of food (as usual). Mom made everyone's favorites, even making our son's favorite chocolate ice cream cake roll! Mom had a great time, everyone was relaxed and we all enjoyed our time together. What wonderful memories she and her kids, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have of that special day. Thanks, Mom!

*****

The following comes from Jane's hand written notes in her KJV.

Philippians 1:21 - Death to a Christian is gain because it means:

• Heaven
• Holiness
• Heart's desire
• Him

Hallelujah! Psalm 16:15 - "I shall be satisfied when I awake."

Culture—that which comes into being whenever man begins to interact with his environment. Christian culture becomes a reality when Christian people give themselves back to Christ (Romans 12:1–2) mentally, intellectually, spiritually—"bodies" the particular package by which that total being comes into the world. Our Savior must become center of all our pursuits.


Next Entry: Philippians 3:1–21   

The New Beginning: Wait For His Justice

May 03, 2013

I am just totally amazed and stand in awe of God.

Last night an "in your face" moment happened. Nothing hugely upsetting, just something "in your face" that made us feel like life just wasn't quite fair. Sometime during the night I awakened and was thinking about how some things in life just don't seem fair, and immediately a response in the form of a question and a directive came to my mind and was pressed upon my spirit.

"Are you going to listen to truth or believe the lie? Read the chapter in Psalms. And read Habakkuk too."

My immediate response was—Okay, LORD—and I peacefully went back to sleep. I couldn't have told you the number of the chapter in Psalms, but I KNEW what chapter it was. I knew the chapter was on the left hand side of the page in my Bible. I knew where the chapter started on the page. I knew I had written a note beside it. 

When I got up this morning, I picked up my Bible, sat down, turned on the light, and started by reading Habakkuk. I then turned to the Psalms and started leafing through the pages. There it was on the page, exactly as I pictured it. Psalm 73.

In Habakkuk, the prophet is complaining about how life was unfair. God replies—I know what is going on, I will rise up, justice will be done. Habakkuk complains again. He complains that he even feels used by God. God replies—I am God, I can do what I want. Habakkuk says—Okay, God, I get it. You are in control, I am not. I trust you and I will wait for your justice. Even if everything goes wrong and there are no figs on the tree, no olives in the field, no grapes on the vine, and no sheep or cattle in the barns even then,even then I will praise the Lord, for He is the one who is my Savior and who gives me strength.

In Psalm 73, David is complaining about the same thing. He knew what the truth was but he had become discouraged and almost believed the lie. Accountability for the wicked just didn't seem to happen. Not until he went to God did David understand. God is God; HE is in control; I am not; and David became okay with that. Justice will happen when the Lord decides to rise up. And David says—Okay, God—I get it. I surrender to YOU, I want nothing but YOU. I may become weak but YOU are my strength, YOU are my protection—and that is enough.

I choose to believe the truth and not listen to the lies. Thank you, God for the reminder. I "get it." I will wait for your justice and freedom from "the storm."

In Habakkuk God tells him to write down what God was showing him. Habakkuk 2:2 - "Write it clearly on clay tablets so whoever reads it can run to tell others." In Psalm 73:28 David says, "I will tell all that you have done."

• God has promised
• He will deal with the wicked
• He is in control
• Write it down

 I get it, LORD. Thank you, for the reminder.

Addendum: 9/19/16 ~ I'm sitting here with a smile on my face. After a four month break, this morning I started transcribing my journal entries again. I've been curious.  Hmm... I wonder what is in my last one and one half journals that covers Philippians–Revelations.

So, on my very first day, the second post I come to is another untitled journal entry. We now understand my untitled journal entries were actually progressive steps in the New Beginning. The interesting thing is last night another "in your face" moment happened. But this time, my spirit responded in a totally different way than it did in 2013. This time there was no angst and no feelings that life was unfair. Instead, there was an immediate response of—"God's got this. He is in control." Immediate.

Oh, how we have grown in our faith and understanding over the years. We trust Him—period. I'm just amazed that an "in your face" moment happened late last night and this morning I am transcribing what I wrote about that very subject over three years ago. I'm so thankful we have grown in our faith and understanding. 

The other things that stood out to me today were the statements:

"Write it clearly on clay tablets so whoever reads it can run to tell others"; and "I will tell all that you have done."

In 2013, I had no idea my personal journals were anything more than that—personal. But then this happened:

LORD – What Am I to Do?;
The LORD Answers!;
I Didn't Know—BUT GOD DID!!

In my simple mind, I thought telling His story meant a pamphlet of some sort or a couple paragraph story in something like Guideposts. NEVER did I imagine (or could have imagined even in my wildest dreams) that God planned to use my personal journals to tell HIS story. NEVER. I don't know how "clearly" it has been written, but our story is HIS story.

LORD, take my simple words to bring honor and glory to YOUR name. May others be encouraged by YOUR faithfulness. LORD, if someone reading this does not yet know you as their own personal Savior, I pray your Holy Spirit would draw them to you and they would be willing to confess their sins and acknowledge you as Savior. LORD, I pray they would understand the importance of surrendering ALL and they would be willing to do so. Thank you, LORD, for this opportunity. Thank you, LORD, for allowing us to be YOUR recipients of this Blessed Event. We are forever grateful for YOUR amazing love. 


Next Entry: Philippians 1:1 – 2:30 (Continued)

Philippians 1:1 – 2:30

May 02, 2013

Philippians 1:9–11 - contains the prayer I prayed for our daughter during her time away from God's will for her life. It also became my prayer for each one of the 6th and 7th grade Sunday School girls I taught over the years.

"This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; that you will see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good; that you will be pure and without wrong for the coming of Christ; that you will do many good things with the help of Christ to bring glory and praise to God."

It's just the perfect prayer. It covers everything. I'm so grateful our daughter's life is back on track.  Philippians 1:6 - "God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again."

God is always faithful to us. We are the ones who don't always live our lives in a pleasing and faithful way to HIM. I think that's one of the reasons I love this prayer so much. It is all about personal responsibility—our part of the equation. To grow in love, knowledge and understanding; to have discernment between right and wrong; to choose to do what is right; to be pure and without wrong until our last breath or until Christ comes again; and to do much for God's honor and glory and the furthering of His Kingdom—ALL in praise to Him.

May my life be such that it reflects this prayer. Then no matter what, my life will be an honor to Him.

Addendum: 9/23/16 ~ It took ten years before we saw the answer to our prayers for our daughter. Ten long years. No matter what, we kept praying. We didn't know if we would live to see the answer, but we were not going to quit praying.

When you are faced with this type of situation, there is nothing you can do but pray, and wait. If we would have known it was going to take ten years we would have known the end was in sight and counted down the days. But it doesn't work that way. It is by faith alone that you continue on... and continue on... and continue on. 

If you are praying for a wayward loved one, don't give up!! Keep praying for them. Keep asking God what He wants to teach you while you are waiting. No matter what, don't quit praying. 


Next Entry: New Beginning: Wait for His Justice

It's All Coming Together

September 16, 2016

It's all coming together.

My "short" break turned into a four month project. It was obvious after the first day that I had totally underestimated the time it was going to take to go through 829 entries. What was I thinking?!? It took a lot longer than I thought, but it was actually a very enjoyable time. I learned many new things along the way and I was blessed by God's faithfulness all over again. Now the review is done and I am ready to begin transcribing my journal entries again.

It's all coming together.

Two weeks ago, as I was editing The New Beginning: We Are Crossing the Jordan, I discovered something interesting. Here is what I wrote as an Addendum on 8/31/16:

"Blogger started a new thing a while back called a "Featured Post" that appears on the right hand side of each page. My "Featured Post" is my very first post. Yesterday the title of that post caught my attention—The Beginning. I'm working on a post about The New Beginning and I see the title of my very first post. Hmm. The Beginning → The New Beginning. I was thinking about that during the night last night. It was a brand new thought. I never connected before that my very first post was titled—The Beginning, and that God pointing us in a new direction and the shift in our thinking was called—The NEW BEGINNING. Hmm." 

The path is literally unfolding before our eyes. I'm excited to discover more of the path as I begin transcribing again.

It's all coming together.

I only have one and one half journals left to transcribe. Wow! How can that be? It took me almost four years to read through the Bible while writing my thoughts. It has taken another three years to get eleven and one half journals (of 13) transcribed. It's hard to imagine, but I'm almost done. It almost feels a little scary to be so close to being done. Are there more unknowns lurking out there? But there is one thing I know—"the end" doesn't mean I'm "done." The end means the start of a NEW BEGINNING. But when? How?

It's all coming together.

It will be interesting to see what is in the last one and one half journals. There has to be a reason why Philippians through Revelations was set aside when the pause button was hit and I went back over all my earlier entries again. I'm looking forward to reading what was written and learning what God wants to show me next.

It's all coming together.

Two weeks ago, as I was editing The New Beginning: We Are Crossing the Jordan, God's faithfulness to us and our responsibility to remain faithful to Him brought me to my knees. Here is the prayer I wrote in an Addendum on 8/31/16:

LORD,

With tears in my eyes I bow before you. You are an amazing and unfathomable God. "What is man that you are mindful of him?"

LORD, I am at a loss for words. Who are we that you would allow us to participate in furthering YOUR kingdom. We are so ordinary LORD, so ordinary. We are thankful and grateful for the Blessed Event you gave to us and for this opportunity to share it with others. LORD, may YOUR will be done. I can't imagine how you are going to use this journal, but it is YOURS to do with whatever YOU please. It is ALL yours. Use it; use our lives; use our story which is YOUR story; use anything we have LORD to bring people to you. I surrender all to YOU.

LORD, I pray for those who will someday, somehow, find this journal. May YOUR Holy Spirit speak to them. May they not get lost in my garbled up words and poor grammar skills. May they see YOU. May they desire YOU. May they surrender ALL to YOU. Oh LORD, may it be so. May it be so.

LORD, I used to say that if I could save just one of my Sunday School girls from making the wrong choices it would be worth it all. But then LORD, I realized one wasn't enough  I want to save them all!! I was going to say that if even just one person found this journal and saved their eternal soul by seeking your forgiveness that all the "junk" of the lawsuit would be worth it. And that would be true Father. But I want more LORD—I want more. There are so many hurting and lost people in this world.

LORD, I ask that you somehow bless these words and use them to draw people to YOU. LORD, may YOU take YOUR story and use it to give hope and salvation to many, many people. All for YOUR honor LORD. All for YOUR glory.

In the precious name of Jesus, may it be so. May it be so.

Amen.

It's all coming together.

Our Praise Shelter is within days of finishing. My husband is putting new topsoil around the construction area and will soon seed the new grass. I need to finish staining the Praise Shelter sign, and tomorrow we are going to start cutting the bricks to fill in the spaces. Other than that—DONE! The Jewish celebration of the Feast of Shelters was during the 7th month of the Jewish calendar. I looked it up to see what month the 7th month in the Jewish calendar is in our calendar. September and October!!! Done just in time!! Someday I will post a picture of the finished Praise Shelter with the path of stones engraved with God's promises.

It's all coming together.

For the past week or so, a phrase and melody has been running through my mind every night and every early morning. Over and over. The words come from A Hallelujah (Christmas Version); A Hallelujah (Easter Version). "With every breath I'm singing Hallelujah"  I only know the melody and don't know the rest of the words, but as I go to sleep and as I awake "Hallelujah" is on my lips. Hallelujah—Praise the LORD!

My heart is just full of praise. I am so grateful. I don't know what lies ahead, but I KNOW God has a plan, and I KNOW His will WILL be done.

It's all coming together.

ALL honor and ALL glory is due HIM.

It's all coming together.

Addendum: 2018 ~ Here is a picture of the finished Praise Shelter and a video of the cobblestone path. To God be the glory!!

Next Entry: Philippians 1:1 – 2:30