If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
When I was a kid, I hated that word. It meant that I was not going to get what I wanted regardless of what it was. My parents were usually pretty busy folks so they really did not have time to stop and do things I selfishly wanted but I did not get that at the time. In fact, my father had a horrendous phrase he used when something I wanted to do did not fit into the time frame. He usually said “Let’s don’t and say we did”. Then he would tell me to be patient. I had no idea what the phrase meant but I hated it and the word “patience” since they always went together. Of course, now I realize that he was trying to do so many things in the short, short time he had at home that my requests probably seemed small to him. They were. I paid no attention to what they were doing. My patience was thin, to say the least. My father’s was better than mine.
Thinking again about my childhood, Christmas was way too far away most of the time. I had such a hard time waiting on it. No one would give me any hints on what I was getting. Being an only child (at the time), I had no competition for “the stuff” coming on that banner day! Having no concept of reality in those days, I started my Christmas lists in the summer time when the latest Sears and Penny’s catalogs came out. This gave my parents plenty of time to work out the amazing numbers of “stuff” I should get. Spoiled? Me? Nah.
A lack of patience for any reason takes us down a road we do not want to travel. We live in the “right now” time and generation. With the internet at our fingertips, there is very little that we can’t get right now. Actually, we are a fast food people with fast food thinking. And fast food thinking has been passed on to the next generation of young people who have little to no patience. They have little use for it. As a young adult, I really never heard of road rage but now, road rage is way too common. That happens when patience wears thin or is not there at all. The “I want it now!” generation does not even know what patience is.
(Jas 1:2-4) My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into different kinds of temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.
Are you kidding? God actually wants us to HAVE patience. Go figure. And He says we should count it a joy when we fall into temptations. I am usually trying so hard to get away from the temptations that I don’t have time to find the joy in it. But we must learn to have the patience to wait on the Father. Remember that He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what is going to happen. His will for our lives should be what we strive for. And with patience, we can have very happy lives.
However, if we do not learn this lesson on patience, God will continue to give that lesson until it’s learned. Unfortunately, that one is probably one of the hardest lessons to learn. A couple of centuries ago, people didn’t communicate except by one person taking a letter or a note from one place to the other. It took weeks, sometimes months to get to the destination. Even people living only a couple of miles apart might not receive word for days. Patience was pretty easy since there was nothing a person could do but wait. The lesson was very easily learned. Today, that is not the case. Our fast food thinking is causing lots of problems.
There is good news here! Patience has a reward. If you get into a temptation and exhibit the patience the Lord is trying to teach, faith grows. When faith grows, God works it out. You then lack nothing. Lack nothing. Sweet words to my ears. Is that the secret? It’s not really a secret but…yes. Out of patience, you receive joy, growing faith, resistance to temptations, lack for nothing. I would say that is a pretty good reward. I think I am going to work on my patience again. That word again. When we do work on it, we certainly will be happier.
Ξ September 27th, 2008 | → Comments Off | ∇ Praise, Prayer |
Once again, here are the prayer requests for this week so far. Please pray for these people who are hurting from different things but are all needing blessings.
1) Jess–URGENT prayer–in the hospital having trouble breathing. Close to death. Needs healing and the Peace from God. He is in ministry.
2) Audrey and Mike–suffering after effects of Hurricane Ike.
3) Nancy–suffering from COPD and financial.
4) a family with health problems and financial problems. Needing a solution to a rather urgent situation.
5) Steve–who needs God to show him a better way than the path he is on.
6) Praise to God that I have been removed from a painful shot therapy!!!
Father, we offer You praise and thanksgiving for Your grace and mercy. We love You, Lord! We thank You for Your healing of all things….spiritual healing for those who are in desperate need, emotional healing from many problems and stresses, Your peace that passes all understanding which heals, physical healing for the many who are in dire need, financial healing. We thank You that You hear our prayers, that You have shown us that You still heal by having healed those who ask or are asked about. We thank You so much for all answers! In the name of Jesus, we pray! Amen and amen.
I grew up hearing the phrase “picture of health”. Adults were usually talking about someone who was in the hospital with an unexpected condition or had died. They were shocked since he/she had been the “picture of health”. What they actually meant was, what happened to them since it appeared that they were not ill? They were not truly a picture of health. It only seemed that way. Thinking about that particular phrase brought up the old movie “The Picture Of Dorian Gray” in my mind. I do not recall most of the movie. However, the part that I do remember is that the picture grew old while the guy didn’t. The guy was not what he seemed to be. The words “picture of health” might actually have come from just such a movie or book. I do not know. What I do know is that sometimes things are not what they seem. What does “picture of health” actually mean then?
God teaches us that Jesus is the picture of health. The problem that we tend to run into is that we forget that God always talks about the spiritual matters first. Always. Why? Because He is first spiritual, then the soul or mental and finally, physical. In order to see things from God’s point of view, which we must if we are to ever understand what He is trying to teach us, we absolutely must perceive spiritual matters first. If we do not, the lesson is not going to be understood. Jesus is the picture of health spiritually first. Schooling ourselves to look at God’s Word and what He teaches us from that point of view can be very hard to do if we are so used to thinking in the natural realm.
Let’s use the phrase “picture of health” again. Looking at it from God’s point of view, He heals from the inside out. Here comes our problem with that. We live in an instant world. Everything is either instant or at least fast. Instant messaging, fast food, instant transfers and so on. Since we live like that, it is not surprising to realize that even on an unconscious level we expect answers to happen right now! Fast. Instantly. Sometimes it looks like nothing is happening in our lives when we have sought God asking for His help. It might seem like He did not answer or it is felt that He ignored the request. I have felt that way myself. However, the answer might just be right there inside. You are unaware of it since God is working from the inside out. Sometimes, people stop these things themselves though.
Are you aware that if your spirit is unable to accept what God can do that it looks like He has said “no” when in reality you were the one who said “no”? If your spirit is unable to accept what God has to offer, He cannot force you to take it. He then must teach you in your spirit concerning this lesson. Therefore, He starts to work from the inside out teaching your spirit about Him and His word. There are times when people simply do not want to be taught. They will not be. God is a Gentleman and does not force anything on you if you do not want it.
We have God’s assurance that we are healed according to what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary. In I Peter 2:24, the Bible states that Jesus Himself bore our sins in HIS body. He went from being the picture of health to having all the diseases and sins on His body so that we would not have to take this on ourselves. See, we deserve it all…the cross, the sinful nature, the sickness. Jesus took it Himself so that we do not need to suffer for the results of disobedience and sin. We have only to ask Him into our hearts for this to be so. However, since we are not all the “picture of health”, it is necessary for us to learn the lessons God teaches us concerning healing. Sometimes those lessons can be pretty hard to learn. We all struggle with physical health, financial health, mental health and spiritual health. Yet, according to the scriptures, we should not have to struggle but we do. The lesson is clear. We need to learn it, making ourselves the “picture of health”.
(1Pe 2:24) He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
The good news is that we can do this. That, too, was part of what Jesus did at Calvary. Makes me wonder what we’re waiting for. Ah but that’s the rub. This world is sin natured and it’s pretty hard to hear God sometimes. We do have our Bibles but there are questions. This is the time to get in touch with God by prayer and conversation. Yes, I said conversation. I have conversations with Him. Of course, a conversation includes both parties talking. Maybe it’s time to get in touch with God and have your own conversation. And the result just could be that you become the picture of health.
That statement rang through my head as I remembered something I had said years ago when I was first born again. How arrogant that statement sounds now. The words “do not be deceived” keep running through my mind. James, the disciple, wrote that same statement or one similar three times in just the first chapter of James alone. What is God talking about here? How easy is it to be deceived by someone? For anyone who has been in a relationship that went south, that should be a pretty easy question to answer. Yet, I used to think that it would be really hard for me to be deceived, which in itself is a deception. Can you see that?
When I was born again, things came very easy; my understanding was fresh and quite clear, at least to me. And I used to think it would be so incredibly simple to recognize the anti-christ–the man–but it is not as simple as it once seemed. Things are never completely as they seem in this world. Our God is unchangeable. All other things and people are subject to a change of one kind or another. All. Unless a person is thoroughly grounded in God’s Word, they can be deceived, sometimes quite easily. It is imperative that a person be taught God’s Word whether through sermons at church, through a visiting evangelist, on television (there are a number of good, Bible preaching ministries on air) or simply reading and studying your own Bible sitting at home.
Do you think it would be hard to deceive you? All right. The American media, and I am certain most other news media around the world, are quite obviously deceiving the public with their incredibly biased reporting. At times, they are so blatant with it that it is hard to understand why some people will continue to believe such drivel but they do believe it. Often, the public will believe simply because they see it on the television much like others will buy into some report just because it’s written and in front of their faces. Some people cannot be convinced that the media would lie to the American people. Come on!!! That is blatant deception.
We sometimes believe that we understand things that God says, which is true, but when we bend it to do what we want, it becomes a deception to ourselves. And we DO bend what God has in His Word to fit our own circumstances. Happens all the time. And in doing that, we deceive ourselves so easily. Only when we seek God’s face, get to know Him much better, know His Word very well and at least some part of what it means, do we stop deceiving ourselves. Growing stronger in the Word daily helps.
We need to take to heart what James says in Chapter 1, verses 17-26. To recap:
1) Don’t be deceived–the good gifts come only from God.
2) Don’t just sit and listen to the preachers and preaching without applying what you learn to yourself or you will be deceived.
3) You deceive yourself if you believe yourself to be religious but do not stop your tongue from saying evil things. (gossip, nasty comments toward people or about them, making people feel guilty)
You can cure all this by simply going to the Lord, getting to know Him, spending time with Him on a regular basis, reading and studying also on a regular basis. Now don’t just study when you “have time”. Make time to be in God’s Word so that you know what He has to say. The more you know, the less likely it is that you will be deceived by anyone. This is an evil world and the devil runs about to and fro trying to deceive even the elect. We do not have to be one of those.
Ξ September 14th, 2008 | → Comments Off | ∇ Prayer Requests |
This is an urgent prayer request for today and continuing prayer.
Vicki, who was on the prayer request list from Sept. 7th, had surgery on the 9th. She came through the surgery just fine and was recovering. Her surgery consisted of both breasts removed as well as lymph nodes. On Thursday, a nurse came in to give her some pain medication. A few minutes later, another nurse came in to ask her if she was in pain. Because Vicki was groggy, she said yes but did not inform the person that she had already had her pain med. The person came back in with the same strong pain medication that she had only recently received and gave it to her again.
Her husband was having a meal when this occurred. He came back to find her unresponsive and called for help. She was code blue and died but was revived. At this time, they are flushing her system of all drugs. They are unsure if she has brain damage or not. That cannot be determined until all drugs are gone. A friend called her on Friday. Vicki was able to talk with her but was slurring her words. She was less responsive than usual. The friend knows that this is not like her at all.
Vicki is currently falling into depression and wishes to go home to be with the Lord. Her family is praying for her recovery. They do not believe that God would bring her through all that in order for her to quit and go home to be with the Lord. She is a warm, loving person who gives her testimony and ministers often at her church. Please pray for her full recovery. Also, please pray for her family, especially her husband who is with her at her side.
Ξ September 8th, 2008 | → Comments Off | ∇ End Times, Video |
Again, I do not know for certain but what is certain is that there are things going on right now that have never happened before or have not been as intense and important at this time. I find it interesting that despite what people say about these times, there are still doubters. Of course, it’s possible that we as Christians see things much differently than others do since we have the ability to get information from our Father. Make no mistake, He is in control regardless of what it may look like at any given moment.
A few days ago, I wrote a post about this very subject and included some things that pointed to the likelyhood of it being in or close to the last days of the age. And again, this would not be the last days on earth since there is to be a one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ when He comes back as He soon will.
However, there are some who do not see this as we do. Well, I found a video that simply points out a few things, some like I was saying in the other post. But there are scriptures that show what is coming. Here for you now is “End Times: Wake Up, America” from Godtube.
If you have any comments or questions concerning any of what is depicted in the video, please put them in the comments section. It is moderated but I will answer the questions that I can. If I have no idea, I will state that too. Some things are not known by us at this time. God was clear in that not even Jesus knew the day and the hour but the season only. That is all we can know but we can know that.
Seek the Lord while He may be found (Isa. 55:6) Not always will the Lord be available and found. After that time, those that have not sought Him will not be part of the Lord’s family. Simple.
I have not done this in a while but it is very necessary tonight. These are the prayer requests for this week. Very important that you pray for these tonight, tomorrow and Tuesday. Thank you for that and God bless each of you richly!!!!
1) Kat-going into the hospital for neck surgery being performed at 8am tomorrow morning. Various health problems, all very serious.
2) Vickie-going into the hospital for breast surgery on Tuesday at 7am. She is a cancer victim. She has a 50/50 shot of surviving the surgery.
3) Donna-terminal. She has cancer of the throat and lungs. Stage 4.
4) Others unnamed-various health and financial problems as well as family problems. A couple of them had deaths in the family quite recently.
5) Nancy-has COPD and needs oxygen to be able to breathe well.
For other prayer requests that have not been noted here, please click on this link and go to Grumpy Ape blog.
All of these people need your prayers. Please pray for the needs of each of them. We do know that prayer does work despite what the world tells us. We know that when we pray together, believing, that we can have what we pray. God is so full of grace and mercy.
Father, we ask You right now to help those in need. We pray that each of our prayers be answered in Your will for each of our lives. Please put Your healing hands upon those who are headed in to have surgery, have cancer, COPD and all of those unnamed situations. Please help those who are going into surgery, Lord, that they will recover and be healthy. Please help each of them to have the Peace that passes all understanding within them so that they are not worried about what they face. We thank You that You are watching over us. We are blessed and assured that You have things under control regardless of what it may look like at any given moment. Thank You, Lord!! In the name of Jesus we pray! Amen.
Interesting question, isn’t it. The fact is, I do not know for certain. What I can tell you is that we are quite close if not truly in the end of the age. Some people want to call it the end times. I have even done that myself but that is not truly accurate. See, if it were the end times, that would mean that after Jesus comes back, the world would end. That is not happening. In fact, there will be a full thousand years on earth after Jesus comes back at the end of the seven years of tribulation. And then what? God made it quite clear that at the end of that thousand years, there is to be a judgment. Beyond that, the new world. New Jerusalem shall come down from heaven and will be placed where the current Jerusalem is now.
But first, there are some terrible things that have to happen. Our enemy knows he has but a short time left. Because of that, he is intensifying his attacks on the world, in general, and people who are Christians and who are Jewish or those who are likely to become Christians. Now, I am aware that not all who see this blog and other blogs like it are currently Christian but you are having serious problems too. This world is becoming more and more evil. There are many discussions now about this very topic. People are intensely interested in what is going on today. It is not that it just seems to be worse now, it really is worse now than say 20 years ago.
Jesus told us that our world would be suffering such as a woman would suffer childbirth. At first, the pains are small and almost not there. They are not regular. Things such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, strange weather patterns, plagues, sicknesses and diseases, all were there but each happening mostly at different times. There was always a breather between one crisis and another. But now, the birth pains are intensifying, coming closer and closer. We do not have that breather we used to have. If you do not believe that, just check out the Salvation Army and the other help places when there are tornadoes and hurricanes. They simply are having trouble making it because of the huge needs. Remember that tsunami and the quakes? How many quakes are you hearing about lately? Are they worse than they used to be? Yes. When childbirth is almost occurring, the woman has pains, the water breaks, the child is about to appear. As with that, our world is in the last stages of birth pains. Labor is getting stronger and stronger. Soon, the culmination of all that will happen and the last seven years of tribulation will occur.
I know the argument. Some will say that we know now because of the communications devices. That is true to a certain extent but these things are still happening more rapidly, more intensely, on a bigger scale than ever before. Just take the latest hurricanes, for instance. We did not just have Gustav which, when it hit the U.S. had gotten less intense. However, before that, it took the lives of a number of people. Katrina was worse in that regard. Before that, Ruth the same year within a week or two of each other. Now, after Gustav we have Hanna, followed by Ike and then Josephine. Hurricanes and tropical storms are coming in waves. There is no doubt that they are more intense and there are more of them. Just look up the stats on it. Quakes, too, are more…..intense and more of them. We have been awaiting the “big one” in California for years. And yes, I do believe it will happen. But there are other sites too. California is only one place that comprises what is called the “ring of fire” which includes Japan, Alaska and other places in a circle. This is a major earthquake zone.
And what else is coming that will be a sign that we are in the end of the age? Israel and someone who will look like a savior to them will bring about a seven year peace treaty that will actually make peace happen in the middle east in Israel. The Temple of Solomon will be rebuilt and sacrifices will resume. While much of the world will be having major troubles, Israel will be living in a peace it has never had before…..for three and one half years. In the middle of those seven years of peace, after the Temple has been rebuilt, that savior will go into the temple and sit down. Since he is not allowed to do that according to the Jewish religion, he will be desecrating the temple with his presence. This person is called the anti-christ in the scriptures. Jesus is also clear that when this happens, flee…leave Jerusalem, go into the hills and hide there. Do not turn back for it will be incredibly dangerous to do so.
There will be wars and those rumors of wars. But this time, it will be more and more intense. I keep using that word, don’t I? Intense. It means that it will be incredibly extreme. That’s what it will be like in part of the last seven years. Tribulation like has never been seen on this planet. We have had some truly horrible things done to humans in the name of keeping things pure. However, that will be a cakewalk compared to what is coming. Eventually, there will be a time when the government of the world will require everyone to take a mark in order to buy and sell anything. There has been much speculation on what it might be. The prisoners of war in Germany were given a tattoo. But these days, the technology is such that there are small capsules, as small as a grain of rice, that they an implant under your skin that will tell medical info and much more. It can be scanned by a computer. It can be tracked by GPS. And it will not be voluntary at all. If you do not take the mark, you die.
And do we really want to go into the financial aspect of all this? Eventually, there will be a downfall of the world’s financial places. Sooner or later, because of all the problems and turmoil in the world, there will be a need for a one world government, the head of it being the person who brought peace to the middle east in Israel. This guy is going to be extremely likable and interesting. Most people will want him to be the leader right off the bat. He will be incredibly charismatic and charming. But he will be filled with lies and deceit.
All this is pretty grim, isn’t it. Too true but it is coming. But you know what? Our Lord has taken care of the cares and worries about this situation in the world. Jesus Christ, called of God to be the sacrifice, died on a cross at Calvary 2000 years ago. He took on the sin, sickness and diseases of this world….all of it from the beginning of time to the end of all things prior to the new heaven and new earth. He had you in His heart when He hung on that cross. If you are not now a Christian but would like to be, please take this opportunity to ask Jesus into your heart tonight. Tell Him that you are sorry for the sins you have committed. He has already taken care of those sins for you. You have only to ask Him to come into your heart and He will do so. He tells us that He is at the door knocking. Won’t you let Him into your heart tonight?
I cannot tell you that when you do this, you will have everything be all right. Christians have problems just like everyone else. But we have the assurance that our lives are watched over by our Lord. We can ask things in His name and receive them such as healing and peace. God is so good. He has given us the plan in His Bible. We have only to read and accept it. Take the time today. You will not regret it. Then, get out that dusty Bible and start to read. Try John in the new testament. It’s a good place to start.
Oh yes. Welcome to the family of God.
