Category: June2022

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Who Is God?

I’ve enjoyed having the last couple of mornings to sleep in and days to do nothing but relax and soak in the beauty around me. But I’ve missed sharing with each of you.

We all have times when we need to pull aside and let our heavenly Father speak in His reassuring words, reminding us who He is and what He desires to do for us and in us.

I found you a peaceful place to sit and listen to His voice. Join me at the creek side and hear the Lord speak.

To Abraham: Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:1

“I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1

To Moses: “And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:14

To Israel in the wilderness: “for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Exodus 15:26

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Exodus 20:2

To David: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” Psalm 46:10

To those who followed Him, Jesus said: “I am that bread of life.” John 6:48

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, ” John 10:9

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” John 11:25

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5

To the church: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

God the Father isn’t the I was; He is the great I AM!

We can spend time looking at the problems in our world, our society, our lives but I encourage you to look at the answer and not the problem. Look to the Father, He is the answer; He knows the way to go!

“Great blessings belong to those who don’t listen to evil advice, who don’t live like sinners, and who don’t join those who make fun of God. 2 Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings and think about them day and night. 3 So they grow strong, like a tree planted by a stream—
a tree that produces fruit when it should and has leaves that never fall. Everything they do is successful.” Psalm 1:1-3 ERV

Who is God? He’s our loving Father and He is all we need!

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Open The Door

I opened the door this morning and experienced the birth of a new day. Sitting inside I could only see part of the beauty that filled the sky.

I’m so glad I walked out!

Have you ever been in a place where you knew the Lord was opening a new door for you? But instead of walking through it you hesitated, not sure what would be waiting for you, you paused, needing to be reassured that this was a good thing.

I have held back at times, wondering if this “new thing” was really God’s doing or just my wishful thinking. Even now, I am wondering about some new opportunities that lay before me.

Opening the door and walking out means leaving the familiar – experiencing new challenges, new victories. When thoughts like this come, I find one of my favorite Psalms gives me encouragement and direction. You may find it a bit long but it is filled with hope and promise.

“I will tell of your greatness, my God and King.
    I will praise your name forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day.
    I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great and deserves all our praise!
    No one can fully understand his greatness!
4 Each generation will praise you
    and tell the next generation about the great things you do.
5 Your majesty and glory are wonderful.
    I will tell about your miracles.
6 People will tell about the amazing things you do,
    and I will tell everyone how great you are.
7 They will talk about your goodness
    and sing about your justice.

8 The Lord is kind and merciful,
    patient and full of love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone.
    He shows his mercy to everything he made.
10 Lord, all you have made will give thanks to you.
    Your loyal followers will praise you.
11 They will tell how great your kingdom is.
    They will tell how great you are.
12 So others will learn about the mighty things you do,
    about the glory of your kingdom—how marvelous it is!
13 Your kingdom will never end,
    and you will rule forever.

The Lord can be trusted in all that he says.
    He is loyal in all that he does.[a]
14 The Lord lifts up people who have fallen.
    He helps those who are in trouble.
15 All living things look to you for their food,
    and you give them their food at the right time.
16 You open your hands
    and give every living thing all that it needs.
17 Everything the Lord does is good.
    Everything he does shows how loyal he is.
18 The Lord is near to everyone
    who sincerely calls to him for help.
19 He listens to his followers and does what they want.
    He answers their prayers and saves them.
20 The Lord protects everyone who loves him,
    but he destroys all who do evil.
21 I will praise the Lord!
    Let everyone praise his holy name forever and ever! Psalm 145 CEV

The Lord hears us when we call, he protects us, he is loyal and will always be there to help – the door is open!

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Perseverance

Never give up!

Around Christmas time a friend gave me a book by Samuel Rodriguez, “Persevere with Power”. It sat on my shelf until a couple weeks ago. It is such an encouraging read.

Pastor Rodriguez uses examples from the life of Elijah and Elisha on staying the course, regardless of the circumstances and opposition. Most of his examples are lessons I have taught on about the faithfulness and provision of God. Yet, his personal perspective has given those examples fresh insight.

I would like to share some of what I was reading last night:

“You may have grown tired of waiting on God, but He will never give up on you. You may have let go of God, but He has never let go of you. You may even have stopped believing in God, but God has never stopped believing in you! He has equipped you for times such as these. Right now, you are about to receive a new outpouring of His Spirit that will sustain you for the next race to be run.

Yes, others will try and stop you. As we have seen, the devil will try to derail you and deride you and destroy you. But what heaven has launched, hell can never halt. Even if it appears foolhardy to enter the race, to tuck and run, to expect anything other than second place, it is time to trust God and run. I love the way Peter coaches us to keep going no matter how many obstacles we may face:

 ‘Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.’ I Peter 5:8-11 MSG

When you run the good race to the full extent of the divine power bequeathed to you, then you can leave the results to God…”

Tempted to quit?

I have been many times. I’ve even sidelined myself and felt I was no longer fit to be used even though I knew the Father had a message for me to bring – a message of hope and encouragement.

Persevere! Trust the Holy Spirit to give you the strength you need to run the race God has called you too.

Don’t quit!

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Stay Out of the Weeds

Dave and I had been looking for a small inflatable boat that we could use on these mountain lakes. It would need to be something light weight enough that he and I could load and unload it from the back of our flatbed truck without much trouble.

We knew what we wanted. We had been watching YouTube videos for over a year to find the right one. One day there it was on CraigsList. We drove across Phoenix and sure enough, it was perfect for us. But with all the settling in and adjusting to fulltime RV life we hadn’t gotten it out on water until yesterday.

We loaded it up and headed off to a nearby reservoir. It was the perfect place for our first outing. No one else was there so we had plenty of time to get it off the truck and into the water without feeling rushed. We have a small trolling motor that pushed us through the water with ease.

We were even able to fish a little. It is balanced so well. He sat on one pontoon, and I sat on the other. It didn’t rock or list when either one of us cast our line. Perfect.

However, there was one thing we had to be mindful of – the weeds. Dave told me, “Keep a sharp eye out, let me know if it looks like we’re getting into the weeds”. Since the motor is as small as it is, weeds could be a problem. They could wrap around the prop and that wouldn’t be good.

“Stay out of the weeds”!

If memory serves me correctly Jesus said the same thing.

“And what about the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That is like the people who hear the teaching but let worries about this life and love for money stop it from growing. So it does not produce a crop in their lives.

23 “But what about the seed that fell on the good ground? That is like the people who hear the teaching and understand it. They grow and produce a good crop, sometimes 100 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 30 times more.” Matthew 13:21-23 ERV

How many times have the weeds of worry over finances stopped God’s word from growing in my life? Too many times for sure.

When we were first married, we had to close our business and sell our inventory for 10c on the dollar. Then there was the time our oldest were little – ages 2 and 4. We moved back to Arizona from New Mexico and could find no where to live because of a housing shortage. We lived in my parents Class C motorhome (our first RVing experience). Those weren’t the only two times that the weeds of financial worry wrapped around us and slowed our forward movement.

But God…He is faithful! He changed circumstances, gave us creative ideas and used the loving kindness of friends to bless us and see us through. We are still learning to stay out of the weeds; the weeds of high fuel prices, increased food prices, etc.

“ My God will use his glorious riches to give you everything you need. He will do this through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 ERV

Maybe you’ve found yourself in a bramble patch or stuck in seaweed. Trust God to bring you through it, don’t let the circumstances choke His word. He is faithful. He came to bring us life, an abundant life, we just need to stay out of the weeds.

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A Haze on the Meadow

This was the scene out my window this morning – there was a haze on the meadow.

You know I love taking pictures but I’m far from being a real photographer. I look at great photography as real art. The ability to capture the beauty that is seen with the natural eye through a lens is a true gift!

I take a lot of pictures and the thing I realized was how quickly I had been in taking some of them. Blurry – delete. Off center – crop. No one was ready – trash it.

The true photographer is patient; waiting for the right angle, the perfect light and then they bring it all into focus! A masterpiece.

A lot of people take life the same way – hurry up and click. Snap, snap, snap. Delete, trash it, do over. Or better yet they spent their lives taking selfies and never learn to include the beauty or the people around them.

With a Christ-centered focus, we can zoom in on what’s important. Bring even the tiniest of details up close and appreciate the intricate design – the design of health, friendship, innocence, honesty, joy, patience, love.

Reminds me of the story Jesus told of the Good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite were too busy taking selfies to be concerned with the hurting of the man who had been robbed but the Samaritan zoomed in, focused on the situation and saw the beauty of caring for someone other than himself.

“The next day, the Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to the man who worked at the inn. He said, ‘Take care of this hurt man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’

36 Then Jesus said, ‘Which one of these three men do you think was really a neighbor to the man who was hurt by the robbers?’

37 The teacher of the law answered, ‘The one who helped him.’

Jesus said, ‘Then you go and do the same.’” Luke 10:35-37 ERV

Lord, improve my focus today. Let me love my neighbor as you have loved me.

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Wrapped in Warmth

When I was praying this morning, I wrote these words: “Let me wear Your compassion like a cape and willingly wrap all who need the warmth of Your love”.

It’s a chilly morning, lots of moisture in the air from yesterday’s rain and although I’m wrapped in my fleece blanket, I was thinking about my warm cape that I usually wear in winter. There’s more than enough yardage to wrap around myself and my grandchildren. It’s perfect for snuggling.

That cape serves to keep me warm and it is an example of how the Father wraps us in the warmth of His compassion.

“The Lord is kind and merciful, patient and full of love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone.
 He shows his mercy to everything he made. 10 Lord, all you have made will give thanks to you. Your loyal followers will praise you. 11 They will tell how great your kingdom is. They will tell how great you are…The Lord can be trusted in all that he says.  He is loyal in all that he does. 14 The Lord lifts up people who have fallen.  He helps those who are in trouble. 15 All living things look to you for their food, and you give them their food at the right time. 16 You open your hands and give every living thing all that it needs. 17 Everything the Lord does is good. Everything he does shows how loyal he is. 18 The Lord is near to everyone who sincerely calls to him for help. 19 He listens to his followers and does what they want. He answers their prayers and saves them. 20 The Lord protects everyone who loves him, but he destroys all who do evil. 21 I will praise the Lord! Let everyone praise his holy name forever and ever!” Psalm 145:8-21 ERV

These verses are some of my “every day” read. “The Lord is kind and merciful, patient and full of love.”

Daily He reaches out to us. Daily He wraps us in His love. Daily He listens to our prayers. Daily He protects us. Daily I will praise Him!

Maybe you are feeling a bit of a chill this morning, maybe you are feeling cold and indifferent. The Lord can be trusted, He lifts us the fallen and everything He does is good.

Take a few minutes to tell Him your heart and let Him wrap you in the warmth of His love.

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Water for the Thirsty

Summertime in Arizona has it challenges.

I saw a quip on FB the other morning that went something like this, “For happy summer life in Phoenix stay indoors from 10 a.m. until November 2”. That made me laugh.

As kids growing up in Yuma, AZ, one of the hottest places in the nation, we knew none of that. We were raised by a working mom and spent our summer vacation at home, alone. No, it wasn’t neglect – it was the way life was. Other kids in the neighborhood also were responsible for staying home and taking care of chores, just like we were. Morning was set aside to completing Mom’s daily list and afternoons were for fun.

The city swimming pool had swimming lessons in the morning but after 1 pm it was open swim. My sister and I would walk to the pool and be there in time for it to open.

Walking in the heat of the day – really? It didn’t bother us, we were on our way to have fun – fun in the water. Of course, once we got to the pool one of our first stops was at the drinking fountain.

Thirsty? We certainly were.

Life, in the natural and spiritual, can be a dry and thirsty place. I love what the Scriptures have to say to us:

“I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born. Israel, don’t be terrified!
You are my chosen servant, my very favorite. 3 I will bless the thirsty land by sending streams of water; I will bless your descendants by giving them my Spirit. 4 They will spring up like grass or like willow trees near flowing streams. 5 They will worship me and become my people. They will write my name on the back of their hands. 6 I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the first and the last, the one and only God…8 Don’t tremble with fear! Didn’t I tell you long ago? Didn’t you hear me? I alone am God—no one else is a mighty rock.” Isaiah 44:1-8 CEV

Just as the Lord sends water to the thirsty lands, He also gives His Spirit to those who are spiritually thirsty. The Holy Spirit brings us refreshing, He restores us when we are weary and brings us peace when we are undone.

Is there anything better than a cool drink of water on a hot day? Anything more comforting?

Oh yes, something much greater. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit who is the Comforter for a weary soul!

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Wonderfully Made

“Lord, you have tested me,
    so you know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
    You know my thoughts from far away.
3 You know where I go and where I lie down.
    You know everything I do.
4 Lord, you know what I want to say,
    even before the words leave my mouth.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and behind me.
    I feel your hand on my shoulder.
6 I am amazed at what you know;
    it is too much for me to understand.
7 Your Spirit is everywhere I go.
    I cannot escape your presence.
8 If I go up to heaven, you will be there.
    If I go down to the place of death, you will be there.
9 If I go east where the sun rises
    or go to live in the west beyond the sea,
10 even there you will take my hand and lead me.
    Your strong right hand will protect me.

11 Suppose I wanted to hide from you and said,
    “Surely the darkness will hide me.
    The day will change to night and cover me.”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to you.
    The night is as bright as the day.
    Darkness and light are the same.
13 You formed the way I think and feel.
    You put me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way.
    I know how amazing that was!

15 You could see my bones grow as my body took shape,
    hidden in my mother’s womb.
16 You could see my body grow each passing day.
    You listed all my parts, and not one of them was missing.
17 Your thoughts are beyond my understanding.
    They cannot be measured!
18 If I could count them, they would be more than all the grains of sand.
    But when I finished, I would have just begun.” Psalm 139:1-18 ERV

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Enjoying Life

The dawn is breaking and this is the start of a wonderful day!

“The Lord made this happen, and we think it is wonderful! 24 This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be happy today!” Psalm 118:23-24 ERV

Yesterday we were told that this morning at 6 am the fire restrictions in the forest will be lifted and campers can enjoy real campfires. In my imagination I can hear the giggles of children knowing they will be able to enjoy s’mores but more than that I sense the relief of all who enjoy this place knowing that we have had sufficient rain to stop the threat of forest fires.

One year ago today we were evacuated because the fire danger was high and any uncontained sparks could have caused the loss of our forest. This morning, life on the mountain has been refreshed.

What was life like for you a year ago or just six months ago? Were you in a scary place? Things seemed uncertain at best?

“But the Lord is faithful. He will give you strength and protect you from the Evil One.” II Thessalonians 3:3 ERV

But here you are today – the Lord has brought you through that. He has sustained you, protected you and given you strength.

Or maybe today isn’t your best day. You don’t see much in life to enjoy. If that’s where you are, look up.

“I look up to the hills, but where will my help really come from? 2 My help will come from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let you fall. Your Protector will not fall asleep.” Psalm 121:1-3 ERV

Our help comes from the Lord, the creator of the hills!

God wants His goodness to be displayed in our lives and He’s given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do that very thing.

“Give this command to those who are rich with the things of this world. Tell them not to be proud. Tell them to hope in God, not their money. Money cannot be trusted, but God takes care of us richly. He gives us everything to enjoy.” I Timothy 6:17 ERV

Take time to enjoy life. Surely His goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

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Rest & Renewal

This morning I overslept – that’s a strange statement for someone to make who is retired and has no appointments for the day but it’s true all the same.

I enjoy getting up in the quiet of the morning, having time to read, pray and then write. That generally means I wake up around 3 or 330 and start my day. This morning it was almost 430 before I got out of bed. Whoa.

As I was praying, I felt I really should be sharing on resting. There are so many things that pull on us every day that we fail to really rest. Then I opened my computer and went to BibleGateway to look up a few verses that came to mind. This was the verse on their home page:

“But those who trust in the Lord will become strong again. They will be like eagles that grow new feathers. They will run and not get weak. They will walk and not get tired.” Isaiah 40:31 ERV

The two verses preceding this one read like this:

“He helps tired people be strong. He gives power to those without it. 30 Young men get tired and need to rest.  Even young boys stumble and fall.” Isaiah 40:29-30 ERV

He helps tired people be strong. What an encouragement!

In another version, verse 31 says: “They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength”. Waiting on God will renew our strength. It will give us rest. Waiting on or trusting the Lord brings release from worry which brings rest. When we wait, we pause – we pause to get the Father’s plan and His direction.

Jesus was a prime example of this. He would minister all day and night and then he would send the disciples away or He would go to a place to pray – He would wait on the Father. After leaving these places of waiting, Jesus would go about ministering, rested and renewed.

“Jesus healed many of those who had different kinds of sicknesses. He also forced many demons out of people. But he would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was. 35 The next morning Jesus woke up very early. He left the house while it was still dark and went to a place where he could be alone and pray. 36 Later, Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. 37 They found him and said, “Everyone is looking for you!” 38 Jesus answered, “We should go to another place. We can go to other towns around here, and I can tell God’s message to those people too. That is why I came.” Mark 1:34-38 ERV

Are you feeling tired today – worn out, exhausted? Take time to WAIT on the Lord. He will renew your strength!!

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