Hi to all my long lost friends. Ever have a month that seems every direction you turn is a dead end. Speaking mostly of my job of course. I say that and yet I have a bunch of really nice tools sitting in storage waiting for me to do something. I have a good friend who is helping me set them up in a nice shop. I'm thinking about building artistic furniture , kids stuff and other strange little things to sell. I know I won't make much but will have time to go where ever the Lord calls me. Which is the most important to me. If anyone has any great ideas of things that might sell good let me know. I'm making a list so ideas are welcome. I can't promise that you be paid royalties for the idea though.
The other job I was thinking about doing is on hold because the mans pancreas stopped working and he has been in the hospital for almost a month. And at this point I feel it isn't where God wants me , even though they keep calling. Not real sure why God made it so clear to me to let my car go other than saving me from a possible law suit, They say it has been traded for a Jeep Grand Cherokee but who knows I have never seen it or any money so I'm at a loss of what to do about that. Maybe when the guy gets out of the hospital something will happen.
So that is my life. I'm here at home with my mother , whom I love very much . I have a rather cushy life which I don't deserve but am glad for. I'm trying to raise all my own plants for the garden from seed and it seems that I not much of a green thumb. Why would plants grow up about an inch tall and then for no reason just fall over and die. Or other ones have got an inch or two high and it looks like someone to a pair of scissors and just snipped them off. Who would do that and why. I'm thinking its little gnomes or some little creature comes in at night and set their little ladders up and then the brave ones climb up with a pair of scissors and snip them off , then they run off laughing like they have one the battle. But don't worry I setting traps for them. I baked little tiny cookies to bait them with. Sadly I haven't caught any yet.
Sorry I haven't had enough coffee yet. Oh yes I have chickens now. I purchased six little bundles of fluff about a month and a half ago. They were to be six hens . So I named them all accordingly, Agnes who grew much faster than the rest and seemed extra bossy actually turned out to be Bob. He is a handsome little guy and has developed the large comb on his head. So he feels quite cocky we would say. Then there is Edna , she is slightly smaller than Bob and has a sweet personality . She has a ravenous appetite and is usually the first one to the food. Then Erma , is bossy,she pecks everyone and makes sure she is seen and heard. I'm just naming them in the order of their size. Then Gladys she is a little strange, very shy, and scared of everything, scared to eat worms or anything other than regular chicken food, and doesn't come when she is called. Thelma is next , she is very small and goes everywhere at a 100mph. She flies from high places and does a combination flutter and run that looks like a horse galloping on three legs. She loves worms and slugs and everytime I pick up a shovel she there looking for worms. For as much as she eats I would think she would be enormous. Last there is Louise, she was injured when she was small and took two weeks to heel. Therefore she feels she need extra care and help with everything. Wants to be carried often and hangs around my feet and often almost gets stepped on. They sleep in the garage at night and early morning they fly out of their cage and make messes all over the floor. So I'm desperately trying to finish the outdoor roost.
Well thats all the news from around here. Next time I'll tell you my spiritual experiences in the last month. Some pretty crazy things are happening and I have a lot of questions as to what people think about my experiences. Have a wonderful week in living in Gods love
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Greatest Love
Happy Easter everyone. After eating turkey and ham and all the fixin's it kinda makes you loose track of what the holiday is commemorating .
Well the meal is over and everyone is gone home. I've slept off the DHT or whatever it is in turkey that makes you sleepy and now I'm thinking clearly. Well clearly for me that is.
I been sitting here imagining what it might have been like to be on earth when Jesus was here, Do you suppose he had lots of friends when he was growing up? I was thinking if I was a neighbor and grew up with him. What was he like? Do you think he was serious all the time or was he like a normal child ? I'm guessing he was an extremely intelligent child, in order for him to go into the temple and teach the teachers of the day. At an early age he knew he had to be doing his Fathers business . Do you suppose he understood that he would only live a short time and then be rejected and beaten and crucified? I'm guessing he knew and was constantly burdened about the people around him and how they needed salvation. A once and for all sacrifice that would completely satisfy God's requirements to atone for sin.
Until this time there where nothing more than rituals and commands to follow that did not rid us of sin completely. The sacrifices were made from animals and never fulfilled Gods requirements.
Can you imagine the weight that Jesus carried around on his shoulders. His love had to be the most intense love ever known . I think of my self today could I grow up thinking and /or knowing that some day in the near future I would need to die for some one to pay the sacrifice for all the terrible things they had ever done . Even though I had never done anything wrong. And then on top of that the person I had died for didn't want to accept my gift, of love and life.
I think about that and think about myself getting upset about someone not liking what I had done or laughing at a mistake I had made. yet Jesus grew up knowing that a lot of the people he was friends with would reject him and his gift of love. Did that stop him from loving ? Not a chance, he loved all the more. Its very difficult for me to think of him first of all lowering himself to become a human and then to suffer all the degradation, hate ,and abuse that he endured. Yet he never turned away from us.
I was reading somewhere a while back about Jesus in his prayer in the garden when he sweat drops of blood. There is actually a medical term for that when a person becomes so intense, from things like fear, sorrow, and other emotions that the capillaries in the skin can burst and cause them to bleed through their sweat. How many of us have been that burdened? How many of us have loved that strongly? None. Of course just because we don't sweat drops of blood doesn't mean we aren't burdened or loving.
I did a little test today just to see how people felt and what was the main thing on their minds. I sat and listened as much as possible , to see what would be said in thanks to Jesus and our Father for their gift of love and life that we were to remember on Easter. Well the answer was nothing. I don't know maybe 15 or 20 people and the mentions of Jesus' gift, " zero."
I'm just as bad as anyone else, I know , how can I learn to make this all more real in my life? Every thing is about the weather , about how work is going , and who did what and who said what. I know I sound like a goody two shoe but I don't care. Jesus is coming back and this time I'm going to be there to meet him also. So if I'm spending all my time thinking about things other than him can I expect him to be watching for me when he returns?
Today was a good day and I'm not complaining about it , I just wish we could spend more time with the most important person in our life. JESUS
Without him we have nothing and I feel we are losing sight of that in our to busy world.
Thank you Jesus for your gift of love to us. The pain you suffered the tears and the blood you shed for us. I give you my life in return, not just parts of it , but all of it. I thank you for the battles you have fought and the total victories you have won in our behalf. Thank you Father for your only Son and for allowing Him to save us eternally. Help me never to forget that or let it become taken for granted in my life and help me to show others your love through my life as a reflection of you. Eternally grateful
Well the meal is over and everyone is gone home. I've slept off the DHT or whatever it is in turkey that makes you sleepy and now I'm thinking clearly. Well clearly for me that is.
I been sitting here imagining what it might have been like to be on earth when Jesus was here, Do you suppose he had lots of friends when he was growing up? I was thinking if I was a neighbor and grew up with him. What was he like? Do you think he was serious all the time or was he like a normal child ? I'm guessing he was an extremely intelligent child, in order for him to go into the temple and teach the teachers of the day. At an early age he knew he had to be doing his Fathers business . Do you suppose he understood that he would only live a short time and then be rejected and beaten and crucified? I'm guessing he knew and was constantly burdened about the people around him and how they needed salvation. A once and for all sacrifice that would completely satisfy God's requirements to atone for sin.
Until this time there where nothing more than rituals and commands to follow that did not rid us of sin completely. The sacrifices were made from animals and never fulfilled Gods requirements.
Can you imagine the weight that Jesus carried around on his shoulders. His love had to be the most intense love ever known . I think of my self today could I grow up thinking and /or knowing that some day in the near future I would need to die for some one to pay the sacrifice for all the terrible things they had ever done . Even though I had never done anything wrong. And then on top of that the person I had died for didn't want to accept my gift, of love and life.
I think about that and think about myself getting upset about someone not liking what I had done or laughing at a mistake I had made. yet Jesus grew up knowing that a lot of the people he was friends with would reject him and his gift of love. Did that stop him from loving ? Not a chance, he loved all the more. Its very difficult for me to think of him first of all lowering himself to become a human and then to suffer all the degradation, hate ,and abuse that he endured. Yet he never turned away from us.
I was reading somewhere a while back about Jesus in his prayer in the garden when he sweat drops of blood. There is actually a medical term for that when a person becomes so intense, from things like fear, sorrow, and other emotions that the capillaries in the skin can burst and cause them to bleed through their sweat. How many of us have been that burdened? How many of us have loved that strongly? None. Of course just because we don't sweat drops of blood doesn't mean we aren't burdened or loving.
I did a little test today just to see how people felt and what was the main thing on their minds. I sat and listened as much as possible , to see what would be said in thanks to Jesus and our Father for their gift of love and life that we were to remember on Easter. Well the answer was nothing. I don't know maybe 15 or 20 people and the mentions of Jesus' gift, " zero."
I'm just as bad as anyone else, I know , how can I learn to make this all more real in my life? Every thing is about the weather , about how work is going , and who did what and who said what. I know I sound like a goody two shoe but I don't care. Jesus is coming back and this time I'm going to be there to meet him also. So if I'm spending all my time thinking about things other than him can I expect him to be watching for me when he returns?
Today was a good day and I'm not complaining about it , I just wish we could spend more time with the most important person in our life. JESUS
Without him we have nothing and I feel we are losing sight of that in our to busy world.
Thank you Jesus for your gift of love to us. The pain you suffered the tears and the blood you shed for us. I give you my life in return, not just parts of it , but all of it. I thank you for the battles you have fought and the total victories you have won in our behalf. Thank you Father for your only Son and for allowing Him to save us eternally. Help me never to forget that or let it become taken for granted in my life and help me to show others your love through my life as a reflection of you. Eternally grateful
Monday, April 11, 2011
Who's Will Is It ?
Ever thought about Gods leading in your life and how sometimes its a sure leading of the Lord. Then other times we might be sure at first and then later have doubts. Or maybe think you were led at the beginning and then backtrack and think that it wasn't God at all. I have experienced them all and would like to tell you about them and hear your thoughts about what I might have done right or wrong.
I'm going to back up a couple of years now. After my heart attack I came to OR for a couple months to recoup and then decided to go back to CA and to finish the job I had started. I was hoping the job would take maybe three or four months. As it turned out it went much longer. My sister had joined me when I returned from OR for which I was so thankful because my nerves were horrible and she was a great help in keeping me under control : ) Everything seemed to be working well , then in May she fell and broke her leg . Not just a small break, a compound fracture. , that would require a couple of surgeries to fix it. Up to that time we had thought that it was Gods will for her to be there with me,now we started to question our selves. Now I was taking care of her and running my job. But in the end by me taking care of her it helped my nerves to be more balanced. As she got better and wanted to go back to OR she thought I should just leave and let someone else finish the job. One day we are setting there trying to understand Gods will and what we were to do. I watched a balloon that my sis had gotten in the hospital float around and around the room. It had been doing it for at least two weeks. All the windows in my house were open and without screens . The thought about putting a so called fleece before the Lord crossed my mind and I half jokingly said to my sis that if God wanted my to stay He would have to pull the balloon down from the ceiling and let it fly out the window. Again it had been there for two weeks and never once had the wind blown it down or toward the window. My sister laughed because she had somewhat the same thoughts, we both sat with our jaws dropped open when we watched the balloon float over to the window then drop clear down to the floor and then out the window and out through the trees.
Both of these instances it seemed quite clear to me what God had wanted in my life . As it turned out I finished the job moved to OR in time to spend a couple of weeks with my dad before he became sick with pancreas cancer and it seemed Gods timing was perfect.
Now after getting back to OR I thought the Lord was definitely leading me to go to work for my nephew at the bakery . Which I did and throughly enjoyed it for a short time but as things worked out I really wasn't need there at all. Now my question here is , if I felt Gods leading to do that and followed it, but now have no idea what the reason for it was. Was I trying to learn Gods will but in essence maybe I was just telling God what I thought was His will should be. I'm thinking in this case that could be the problem. But not for sure.
Next over the time we started realizing that Dad was sick I made a run to the Willamette Valley to see a friend of mine. On my way home I was thinking about Dad and what was happening at the doc that day, and praying for him. The thought came to me as I was driving that Dad had pancreas cancer . I was still processing this thought when my sis called to tell me they had figured out what Dad's sickness was, and I replied pancreas cancer and she said Oh have you already talked to mom. No but God had already revealed it to me. As I drove along God laid on my heart that when I got to the hospital I was supposed to lay my hands on dad and pray for his physical healing. Hardly knowing anything about what I was to do and scared they wouldn't accept me trying to do something like that. I was really worried, but was still being pushed by the Lord to go through with the prayer. I did. I cried , I prayed, I did what I thought God asked. As we all know God didn't physically heal him. I kept asking why why God I did what you asked I tried to have faith , so why all the leading and no results.
From this point I have asked different people and received many different answers. One person said well he wasn't healed on earth but ultimately he was in heaven.( I suppose that could be true. ) But when I prayed I asked for physical healing here on earth. Another said I needed to have the elders lay their hands on him to have him to heal him. Another thought faith was lacking. Myself I don't know but after praying to the Lord for some sort of answer this is where I ended up.
First of all I really believe God led me to pray for dads healing. But several things have came to my mind since then. In searching my life I realized I had a lot of bitterness and anger that I had carried around for years. As I came to grips with the fact that I had all this sin in my life God also made me aware that I was trying to serve Him out of fear not love like He wanted. Add that to a serious dose of doubt and you end up with me, busy trying to tell God what to do and how to heal dad. I now think this was meant to be a learning experience for me. Do I believe God would have healed dad if my heart would have been ready? Absolutely !
Here I started out feeling that it was God's will for dad to be healed but do to my lack of understanding , lack of searching my life and lack of faith , He didn't answer my prayer. Making me doubt Him and His promises for a time and then later realize that God is always true and does what He says He will do.. I'm not sure if I'm making the point clear that I wanted to and that is ,when we read Gods word and he makes promises to us and time after time those promises aren't fulfilled it is not Gods fault. We want to know His will and He says he will show us his will. But then we spend maybe a few minutes a day in prayer and studying His will and think God is going to just show us His will? I really don't think so. I know I keep harping about this but it is really bothering me.
God is after me also. A couple of days ago I had been on the computer for a couple of hours reading facebook playing games and generally wasting time. The next morning I got up and tried to use it and it was literally froze up. I couldn't log in or out. I could do basically nothing. Since I do almost all of my Bible study on it I was feeling rather desperate to get it working. Nothing worked. My sis came over tried everything she new and found it basically dead. I have no money right now and getting it fixed was out of the question . So I prayed . I just said Lord you know I use this computer all the time for studying your Word and now its going to be much more difficult study. I had an immediate answer pop into my head and that was stop wasting so much time on it and study my Word and you may have it back. So I said alright Lord I'll do that and only allow myself a certain amount of time for things other than study. I'm sitting there feeling very reprimanded and then satan put in my head your so dumb you just made that up yourself. I grabbed the laptop handed it to my sister and said , see if it works now. She smiled at me turned it on and logged in with out one problem. We both sat dumbfounded, looking at the laptop. I said aloud thank you Lord I'm going to do much better from now on. I thought to myself how badly I hated it when satan gets me to thinking wrongly. I'm sure everyone has different experiences of how God leads them along and I would love to hear them. He is our Father He loves us so much. We can spend so much time trying to do everything just perfect when what He really wants is our love and trust and willingness to be obedient to Him.
Well thats enough for today. My job is still hanging somewhere out there. My tools from CA are supposed to be coming up possibly Friday and I at this point have no idea what I'm supposed to do. Lets all pray for each other that we can spend enough time with our Lord that He can show us what His plan for our life is. I can not keep going on and make excuses why I can not get thru to God. I know God answers in His own time and sometimes the answer is no . I understand that but I have a feeling His answer isn't no everytime. So pray for me that I can learn to discern His will for my life. Love in Christ
I'm going to back up a couple of years now. After my heart attack I came to OR for a couple months to recoup and then decided to go back to CA and to finish the job I had started. I was hoping the job would take maybe three or four months. As it turned out it went much longer. My sister had joined me when I returned from OR for which I was so thankful because my nerves were horrible and she was a great help in keeping me under control : ) Everything seemed to be working well , then in May she fell and broke her leg . Not just a small break, a compound fracture. , that would require a couple of surgeries to fix it. Up to that time we had thought that it was Gods will for her to be there with me,now we started to question our selves. Now I was taking care of her and running my job. But in the end by me taking care of her it helped my nerves to be more balanced. As she got better and wanted to go back to OR she thought I should just leave and let someone else finish the job. One day we are setting there trying to understand Gods will and what we were to do. I watched a balloon that my sis had gotten in the hospital float around and around the room. It had been doing it for at least two weeks. All the windows in my house were open and without screens . The thought about putting a so called fleece before the Lord crossed my mind and I half jokingly said to my sis that if God wanted my to stay He would have to pull the balloon down from the ceiling and let it fly out the window. Again it had been there for two weeks and never once had the wind blown it down or toward the window. My sister laughed because she had somewhat the same thoughts, we both sat with our jaws dropped open when we watched the balloon float over to the window then drop clear down to the floor and then out the window and out through the trees.
Both of these instances it seemed quite clear to me what God had wanted in my life . As it turned out I finished the job moved to OR in time to spend a couple of weeks with my dad before he became sick with pancreas cancer and it seemed Gods timing was perfect.
Now after getting back to OR I thought the Lord was definitely leading me to go to work for my nephew at the bakery . Which I did and throughly enjoyed it for a short time but as things worked out I really wasn't need there at all. Now my question here is , if I felt Gods leading to do that and followed it, but now have no idea what the reason for it was. Was I trying to learn Gods will but in essence maybe I was just telling God what I thought was His will should be. I'm thinking in this case that could be the problem. But not for sure.
Next over the time we started realizing that Dad was sick I made a run to the Willamette Valley to see a friend of mine. On my way home I was thinking about Dad and what was happening at the doc that day, and praying for him. The thought came to me as I was driving that Dad had pancreas cancer . I was still processing this thought when my sis called to tell me they had figured out what Dad's sickness was, and I replied pancreas cancer and she said Oh have you already talked to mom. No but God had already revealed it to me. As I drove along God laid on my heart that when I got to the hospital I was supposed to lay my hands on dad and pray for his physical healing. Hardly knowing anything about what I was to do and scared they wouldn't accept me trying to do something like that. I was really worried, but was still being pushed by the Lord to go through with the prayer. I did. I cried , I prayed, I did what I thought God asked. As we all know God didn't physically heal him. I kept asking why why God I did what you asked I tried to have faith , so why all the leading and no results.
From this point I have asked different people and received many different answers. One person said well he wasn't healed on earth but ultimately he was in heaven.( I suppose that could be true. ) But when I prayed I asked for physical healing here on earth. Another said I needed to have the elders lay their hands on him to have him to heal him. Another thought faith was lacking. Myself I don't know but after praying to the Lord for some sort of answer this is where I ended up.
First of all I really believe God led me to pray for dads healing. But several things have came to my mind since then. In searching my life I realized I had a lot of bitterness and anger that I had carried around for years. As I came to grips with the fact that I had all this sin in my life God also made me aware that I was trying to serve Him out of fear not love like He wanted. Add that to a serious dose of doubt and you end up with me, busy trying to tell God what to do and how to heal dad. I now think this was meant to be a learning experience for me. Do I believe God would have healed dad if my heart would have been ready? Absolutely !
Here I started out feeling that it was God's will for dad to be healed but do to my lack of understanding , lack of searching my life and lack of faith , He didn't answer my prayer. Making me doubt Him and His promises for a time and then later realize that God is always true and does what He says He will do.. I'm not sure if I'm making the point clear that I wanted to and that is ,when we read Gods word and he makes promises to us and time after time those promises aren't fulfilled it is not Gods fault. We want to know His will and He says he will show us his will. But then we spend maybe a few minutes a day in prayer and studying His will and think God is going to just show us His will? I really don't think so. I know I keep harping about this but it is really bothering me.
God is after me also. A couple of days ago I had been on the computer for a couple of hours reading facebook playing games and generally wasting time. The next morning I got up and tried to use it and it was literally froze up. I couldn't log in or out. I could do basically nothing. Since I do almost all of my Bible study on it I was feeling rather desperate to get it working. Nothing worked. My sis came over tried everything she new and found it basically dead. I have no money right now and getting it fixed was out of the question . So I prayed . I just said Lord you know I use this computer all the time for studying your Word and now its going to be much more difficult study. I had an immediate answer pop into my head and that was stop wasting so much time on it and study my Word and you may have it back. So I said alright Lord I'll do that and only allow myself a certain amount of time for things other than study. I'm sitting there feeling very reprimanded and then satan put in my head your so dumb you just made that up yourself. I grabbed the laptop handed it to my sister and said , see if it works now. She smiled at me turned it on and logged in with out one problem. We both sat dumbfounded, looking at the laptop. I said aloud thank you Lord I'm going to do much better from now on. I thought to myself how badly I hated it when satan gets me to thinking wrongly. I'm sure everyone has different experiences of how God leads them along and I would love to hear them. He is our Father He loves us so much. We can spend so much time trying to do everything just perfect when what He really wants is our love and trust and willingness to be obedient to Him.
Well thats enough for today. My job is still hanging somewhere out there. My tools from CA are supposed to be coming up possibly Friday and I at this point have no idea what I'm supposed to do. Lets all pray for each other that we can spend enough time with our Lord that He can show us what His plan for our life is. I can not keep going on and make excuses why I can not get thru to God. I know God answers in His own time and sometimes the answer is no . I understand that but I have a feeling His answer isn't no everytime. So pray for me that I can learn to discern His will for my life. Love in Christ
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Lack Of Faith ?
Hello to all my fine friends, I have set around here for the last two weeks and gone ,well ,crazy. My mom and sister think I might of slipped off the edge of sanity. I'm still here not sure if its sanity or insanity but I'm here. I have heard more excuses why I haven't started my job ,than a tax auditor on audit day . Oh well patience is a virtue and I don't have it. So I sit and think about things way to much probably, and end up with a lot of questions. I've been chatting with a friend about sickness and healing and what is God's will. In the process of studying I think I may have made more questions than answers.
I think I'll give different ways that healing could happen and go from there. Number 1. say a good christian person a little older in life gets very sick with some sort of disease. The elders of the church come and anoint him with oil and pray for him along with many other people. He is not healed physically and dies. Different ways to look at it. 1 God heard the prayers and chose to answer no. 2. The man had undisclosed sin in his life and God chose not to heal him. 3 . The people praying for him had sin in their lives therefore God didn't hear their prayers. 4. Or maybe all had a lack of faith and God didn't answer.
I agree sometimes God does chose to say no and when that happens we need to except it and go on. Now what if the man had sin in his life say some very deep rooted bitterness that he wouldn't really think about without some real soul searching to uncover it. Job talked about it Job 31:33 'If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom." He searched his heart to see if he had hidden something or forgotten to make something right with the Lord. David knew he needed to search his heart. Psalms 139: 23-24 23"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts . 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." If we don't dig deep into our hearts we can keep things buried there in our emotions that satan can use against us . It is a proven fact by medical doctors that stressors in a persons life such as anger, bitterness, hatred, unforgiveness can over time cause many kinds of diseases. I think we need to be very careful here about judging someone and saying they weren't healed because of sin in their life. That is judging , and we all know what happens to the people that judge others. But still there is the possibility. God and that person are the only ones that can truly know that answer.
Now point number 3 . Is it possible for God to answer prayers from people that have some sort of sin in their lives? If that is the case why do we need to worry about sin in our live if God still hears us. If He doesn't answer those prayers how many of us are truly getting thru to God. And that could also answer a lot of questions as to why more people aren't being healed today.
James 5:13-16 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I read this verse a bunch of times and it says the prayer of faith heals the sick not the anointing. What is the prayer of faith? How can you pray in faith if your not sure it is God's will? Now number 4 , is it possible to have a lack of faith and not have prayer answered? I think so.
Christ could do few mighty works in Nazareth due to the people's lack of faith (Matthew 13:57-58) Talking about Jesus in Mat. 9:29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."
Matthew 18:19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on Earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." What does this verse mean? If you have a bunch of people praying for the same thing Mat. says it will be done for them. Does that mean we have such a lack of faith that even with a lot of people praying God won't answer or is there some way to explain this verse away to make it fit how we work today. I know go ahead start shooting at me. I'm a pretty literal guy . I try to take things at face value and if I do that with some of the verses I end up asking why. If God says he will do that and he doesn't there must be a reason. Or does a person have to go through many hours of explaining it away because we are not having it work for us anymore due to unbelief or other reasons.
Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover I shortened it up but you get the jest of it. Again the same thing here. How can we explain this away. I truly don't know and thats why I'm asking. My understanding is God will always do what He says . I'm sure that is the case so that means I have a lot of things to learn about healing and God's will and prayer. I'm going to stop here for now cause I have a long ways to go . A little help would be very nice. Until next time
I think I'll give different ways that healing could happen and go from there. Number 1. say a good christian person a little older in life gets very sick with some sort of disease. The elders of the church come and anoint him with oil and pray for him along with many other people. He is not healed physically and dies. Different ways to look at it. 1 God heard the prayers and chose to answer no. 2. The man had undisclosed sin in his life and God chose not to heal him. 3 . The people praying for him had sin in their lives therefore God didn't hear their prayers. 4. Or maybe all had a lack of faith and God didn't answer.
I agree sometimes God does chose to say no and when that happens we need to except it and go on. Now what if the man had sin in his life say some very deep rooted bitterness that he wouldn't really think about without some real soul searching to uncover it. Job talked about it Job 31:33 'If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom." He searched his heart to see if he had hidden something or forgotten to make something right with the Lord. David knew he needed to search his heart. Psalms 139: 23-24 23"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts . 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." If we don't dig deep into our hearts we can keep things buried there in our emotions that satan can use against us . It is a proven fact by medical doctors that stressors in a persons life such as anger, bitterness, hatred, unforgiveness can over time cause many kinds of diseases. I think we need to be very careful here about judging someone and saying they weren't healed because of sin in their life. That is judging , and we all know what happens to the people that judge others. But still there is the possibility. God and that person are the only ones that can truly know that answer.
Now point number 3 . Is it possible for God to answer prayers from people that have some sort of sin in their lives? If that is the case why do we need to worry about sin in our live if God still hears us. If He doesn't answer those prayers how many of us are truly getting thru to God. And that could also answer a lot of questions as to why more people aren't being healed today.
James 5:13-16 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I read this verse a bunch of times and it says the prayer of faith heals the sick not the anointing. What is the prayer of faith? How can you pray in faith if your not sure it is God's will? Now number 4 , is it possible to have a lack of faith and not have prayer answered? I think so.
Christ could do few mighty works in Nazareth due to the people's lack of faith (Matthew 13:57-58) Talking about Jesus in Mat. 9:29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."
Matthew 18:19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on Earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." What does this verse mean? If you have a bunch of people praying for the same thing Mat. says it will be done for them. Does that mean we have such a lack of faith that even with a lot of people praying God won't answer or is there some way to explain this verse away to make it fit how we work today. I know go ahead start shooting at me. I'm a pretty literal guy . I try to take things at face value and if I do that with some of the verses I end up asking why. If God says he will do that and he doesn't there must be a reason. Or does a person have to go through many hours of explaining it away because we are not having it work for us anymore due to unbelief or other reasons.
Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover I shortened it up but you get the jest of it. Again the same thing here. How can we explain this away. I truly don't know and thats why I'm asking. My understanding is God will always do what He says . I'm sure that is the case so that means I have a lot of things to learn about healing and God's will and prayer. I'm going to stop here for now cause I have a long ways to go . A little help would be very nice. Until next time
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Healed
This is a blog I got from my cousin Rhonda Schrock about an experience her dear dad had just not so long ago. He had called and told me about it . It was such and encouragement to me. This happened to him about the same time I had experienced healing in my legs. It helped me to understand more clearly that if we ask God for something and we have completely aligned ourselves with His will He will answer our prayer. We must have faith, then we must be totally submissive to Him, and thank Him always. I believe the church at the beginning witnessed many miracles in healing and many other areas of life , and that we can still have that today. I must have faith because without it my beliefs are useless. I want everyone to start praying for a revival to start across our christian communities. One where people will drop everything and ask God where He wants them and what His will is. Not like I have done, making up my mind and then trying to fit Gods will into it. I honestly believe if we don't all rethink our lives and learn to be truly crucified to Christ we will be like the lukewarm church in Revelations that God said he will spit them out. Is our short time here on earth worth more than eternity? Just because we don't stop and a seek God's will and live a crucified life for Him? Eternity is a long time to think about how you might have done things differently, instead of enjoying the full rewards that come from God. Sorry I got up on my little soap box again. This is the blog from Rhonda. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Faith and prayer lead to healing and Haiti
Note: This column was published in the 03/28/11 edition of The Goshen News. This writer is happy to share with you a glimpse of her parents - her father's adventurous spirit and her mother's behind-the-scenes supportive work. Enjoy!
If my father would just settle down and give us all a boring, uneventful year, we’d appreciate it. I’m serious.
If Action Jackson isn’t traipsing through the woods shooting bucks or hunting bears in Minnesota with his bow, he’s plotting a practical joke that will scare the bejeebers out of his victim. That, or he’s having a heart attack or a five-vessel bypass or a train wreck (from which, thank God, he walked away) or kidney stones or prostate cancer. Or diverticulitis.
It was back in February that he was hospitalized yet again with severe pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever. For months, he’d been making plans to go to Haiti with their church group. They’d gone down only last year, and Dad had left a piece of his heart with the Haitian people. Now, a mere two weeks before they were to leave, a grim-faced doctor was delivering news that sent his spirits plummeting.
It was diverticulitis, he said, and some diverticula had ruptured. They were looking at major surgery with the possibility of a colostomy.
“When the doctor was telling me what it was and how bad it was,” Dad said, “I asked him if he can fix it. He shook his head and said, ‘I hope.’”
“’I hope!’” he told us later. “Now if that don’t scare you back into last week. I thought church was out.”
Lying there in the hospital bed, hooked up to IVs, the realization began to set in. He would not be going to Haiti .
It was no surprise to us who know him that it was the Haitian children who stole Dad’s heart. In his pictures from last year’s trip, their chocolate brown eyes shine in coffee-colored faces. They’d loved the pale white foreigners who’d come bearing gifts, and they’d sprung from the woodwork at the slightest hint of activity in the compound.
In preparation for the team’s return, Dad had gotten copies of the Jesus movie in Haitian Creole in both the adults’ and children’s versions. “I felt real good about the Jesus films,” he said. “Ernest cannot change anyone’s life, but I felt the Jesus film would touch a lot of lives, and I wanted to be there.”
He continued. “It’s not that the others couldn’t have done very well without me.” But, he said, “It was real disappointing. I felt like the disciples on the way to Emmaus – where is Jesus? Where is He when things don’t make sense?” However, he added, “I did not want to go if the Lord did not want me to go or if I would have been a hindrance to God’s work.”
In the following days, he had plenty of time to think. Even in the struggle to accept the unwelcome truth, he began to sense the Lord speaking to him. “Finally,” he said, “I got the urge to tell Jesus, ‘Thank You for letting this happen. I know it was for a reason.’” And so he obeyed.
“I kept thinking in the back of my mind that the only way I could go is if the doc told me I was completely healed.”
To his great surprise, the doctor returned on Wednesday, a mere two days before the team was to leave, with astonishing news. The infection was gone, the pockets had healed, and while he would still require surgery down the road, he was cleared to go to Haiti .
“When he told me I was healed and that I could go,” Dad said, “It took awhile to sink in. And then it got scary. As sick as I was, what if it had happened there?
“The Lord kept asking me, ‘Would it not be a lack of faith if you don’t go since I healed you?’ It took a lot of faith.” Then he added dryly, “I’ve got a Ph.D. in faith.”
So it was that in spite of all the odds, my father went to Haiti where they built a house, put a roof on a porch, and introduced 70 to 80 Haitian children to the delights of roasted hot dogs (150) and toasted marshmallows (5 lbs.), courtesy of Dad.
He did get to be there when they showed the Jesus film to both children and adults, and he did get to see souls come to Christ. Worst never came to worst as he’d speculated, and the team didn’t have to throw him in the Côtes de Fer river after all.
Afterwards, he had this to say. “I still don’t think I would’ve been healed if I had not told Him thank you, though I may be wrong.
“I don’t care what happens. God is in control. God is great! It was a great lesson for me.”
Rhonda Schrock gives her mother, who stayed behind, a heartfelt shout out. She thinks that soldiering through an ice storm and a power outage all alone in Dad’s absence also required a certain amount of faith. To quote a grandson, “Joo job, Mama!” Good job.
Faith and prayer lead to healing and Haiti
Note: This column was published in the 03/28/11 edition of The Goshen News. This writer is happy to share with you a glimpse of her parents - her father's adventurous spirit and her mother's behind-the-scenes supportive work. Enjoy!
If my father would just settle down and give us all a boring, uneventful year, we’d appreciate it. I’m serious.
If Action Jackson isn’t traipsing through the woods shooting bucks or hunting bears in Minnesota with his bow, he’s plotting a practical joke that will scare the bejeebers out of his victim. That, or he’s having a heart attack or a five-vessel bypass or a train wreck (from which, thank God, he walked away) or kidney stones or prostate cancer. Or diverticulitis.
It was back in February that he was hospitalized yet again with severe pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever. For months, he’d been making plans to go to Haiti with their church group. They’d gone down only last year, and Dad had left a piece of his heart with the Haitian people. Now, a mere two weeks before they were to leave, a grim-faced doctor was delivering news that sent his spirits plummeting.
It was diverticulitis, he said, and some diverticula had ruptured. They were looking at major surgery with the possibility of a colostomy.
“When the doctor was telling me what it was and how bad it was,” Dad said, “I asked him if he can fix it. He shook his head and said, ‘I hope.’”
“’I hope!’” he told us later. “Now if that don’t scare you back into last week. I thought church was out.”
Lying there in the hospital bed, hooked up to IVs, the realization began to set in. He would not be going to Haiti .
It was no surprise to us who know him that it was the Haitian children who stole Dad’s heart. In his pictures from last year’s trip, their chocolate brown eyes shine in coffee-colored faces. They’d loved the pale white foreigners who’d come bearing gifts, and they’d sprung from the woodwork at the slightest hint of activity in the compound.
In preparation for the team’s return, Dad had gotten copies of the Jesus movie in Haitian Creole in both the adults’ and children’s versions. “I felt real good about the Jesus films,” he said. “Ernest cannot change anyone’s life, but I felt the Jesus film would touch a lot of lives, and I wanted to be there.”
He continued. “It’s not that the others couldn’t have done very well without me.” But, he said, “It was real disappointing. I felt like the disciples on the way to Emmaus – where is Jesus? Where is He when things don’t make sense?” However, he added, “I did not want to go if the Lord did not want me to go or if I would have been a hindrance to God’s work.”
In the following days, he had plenty of time to think. Even in the struggle to accept the unwelcome truth, he began to sense the Lord speaking to him. “Finally,” he said, “I got the urge to tell Jesus, ‘Thank You for letting this happen. I know it was for a reason.’” And so he obeyed.
“I kept thinking in the back of my mind that the only way I could go is if the doc told me I was completely healed.”
To his great surprise, the doctor returned on Wednesday, a mere two days before the team was to leave, with astonishing news. The infection was gone, the pockets had healed, and while he would still require surgery down the road, he was cleared to go to Haiti .
“When he told me I was healed and that I could go,” Dad said, “It took awhile to sink in. And then it got scary. As sick as I was, what if it had happened there?
“The Lord kept asking me, ‘Would it not be a lack of faith if you don’t go since I healed you?’ It took a lot of faith.” Then he added dryly, “I’ve got a Ph.D. in faith.”
So it was that in spite of all the odds, my father went to Haiti where they built a house, put a roof on a porch, and introduced 70 to 80 Haitian children to the delights of roasted hot dogs (150) and toasted marshmallows (5 lbs.), courtesy of Dad.
He did get to be there when they showed the Jesus film to both children and adults, and he did get to see souls come to Christ. Worst never came to worst as he’d speculated, and the team didn’t have to throw him in the Côtes de Fer river after all.
Afterwards, he had this to say. “I still don’t think I would’ve been healed if I had not told Him thank you, though I may be wrong.
“I don’t care what happens. God is in control. God is great! It was a great lesson for me.”
Rhonda Schrock gives her mother, who stayed behind, a heartfelt shout out. She thinks that soldiering through an ice storm and a power outage all alone in Dad’s absence also required a certain amount of faith. To quote a grandson, “Joo job, Mama!” Good job.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Mental Block
Its Saturday evening and I was just browsing through my emails. Thinking I should answer some of them and that I should write something. But it seems in the last week or two I have developed some sort of block in my brain that doesn't allow me to write anything.
The last I wrote I was all excited about this new job that was supposed to have started a couple of weeks ago. Well it still hasn't started. Why?I don't know. I don't really care other than I thought I had some direct leading from God. Well , now I have about a thousand questions running though my mind. Was it really God moving this direction ? Seemed like it . As you read in my last couple blogs everything just fell into to place, I thought , except for the main thing the job. Still hasn't happened. Why? I don't know, these guys call me almost everyday and say they're ready to meet then an hour later they call and have some excuse why they can't . I don't even call them . I haven't called them once. But they keep on. I don't know what to think. Then of course there is my old boss telling me to come and get the tools from CA. I would love to run down and get them but again you have to have money.
Where does that leave me , no clue. I talked to some friends that thought it was a test from God. I do believe that for sure. I'm not sure what the test is , even. I going with trusting God to show me.
I know my whole life was spent making sure I always was making money . If I ran low I wasn't working hard enough. Does God want me to learn to trust Him for it? Could be . Where do you draw the line between trusting God and being lazy ? Sure I can stay here with mom and take care of my gardening projects and spend lots of time in studying God's word. But why all the stuff about the job that I wasn't looking for anyway? I'm so confused. If anyone has the answer please send it right away. : ) Yes I have very little patience , maybe that is it. ?
I guess for now my plan is this. Wait, study God's Word more , pray more, and see if there is more in my life that God wants me to align with His will. I'm sure there is plenty of work to be done there. One place I was reading just a while ago said that in order for me to better understand God's will for my life I first must understand His purpose for my life. So my next little side study will be what is God's purpose for my life. Again suggestions would be of great help here.
So my new job is somewhat or indefinitely on hold. Maybe know more next week. Who knows. Do I really want to spent 30 or 40 hours a week working ? Instead of doing God work? No, but could I possibly do both? I'm waiting to see. Please pray that I will do the right thing. Like I've said before I truly believe I won't be happy unless I'm in the center of God's will. If I only knew where that was right now.
Hoping and Praying God's Will is accomplished.
The last I wrote I was all excited about this new job that was supposed to have started a couple of weeks ago. Well it still hasn't started. Why?I don't know. I don't really care other than I thought I had some direct leading from God. Well , now I have about a thousand questions running though my mind. Was it really God moving this direction ? Seemed like it . As you read in my last couple blogs everything just fell into to place, I thought , except for the main thing the job. Still hasn't happened. Why? I don't know, these guys call me almost everyday and say they're ready to meet then an hour later they call and have some excuse why they can't . I don't even call them . I haven't called them once. But they keep on. I don't know what to think. Then of course there is my old boss telling me to come and get the tools from CA. I would love to run down and get them but again you have to have money.
Where does that leave me , no clue. I talked to some friends that thought it was a test from God. I do believe that for sure. I'm not sure what the test is , even. I going with trusting God to show me.
I know my whole life was spent making sure I always was making money . If I ran low I wasn't working hard enough. Does God want me to learn to trust Him for it? Could be . Where do you draw the line between trusting God and being lazy ? Sure I can stay here with mom and take care of my gardening projects and spend lots of time in studying God's word. But why all the stuff about the job that I wasn't looking for anyway? I'm so confused. If anyone has the answer please send it right away. : ) Yes I have very little patience , maybe that is it. ?
I guess for now my plan is this. Wait, study God's Word more , pray more, and see if there is more in my life that God wants me to align with His will. I'm sure there is plenty of work to be done there. One place I was reading just a while ago said that in order for me to better understand God's will for my life I first must understand His purpose for my life. So my next little side study will be what is God's purpose for my life. Again suggestions would be of great help here.
So my new job is somewhat or indefinitely on hold. Maybe know more next week. Who knows. Do I really want to spent 30 or 40 hours a week working ? Instead of doing God work? No, but could I possibly do both? I'm waiting to see. Please pray that I will do the right thing. Like I've said before I truly believe I won't be happy unless I'm in the center of God's will. If I only knew where that was right now.
Hoping and Praying God's Will is accomplished.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Only God's Way Works
Its been a week since I last wrote and I keep putting it off. Last blog you'll remember me babbling on and on about this great job offer and how its so incredible how God works. Well me and my big mouth . God isn't wonderful He is unbelievably wonderful and awesome. Maybe not in my timing but in His. As you know I was supposed to meet last week about the job. Due to circumstances that couldn't be helped and others that could , the meeting has been cancelled a total of four times. Yes I was tweaking by the latest cancellation. I of course would never bellyache or complain about the cancelled meetings. Ha I gave having a fit a new meaning..... not really but I did get upset. So the two bosses called me yes you heard correctly, the bosses called me. Not sure why but it definitely helped my wounded spirit. They explained about sales and demands that they have to meet and scheduling being a complete nightmare for them . Basically told me to be patient. ... They told me that my job is already secured and a check is waiting for me when we meet. Also they had just purchased a new car for me . So now I have to scrape myself back up off the floor, since I had melted down in embarrassment. : ) My mouth is still hanging open , but I'm happy. Now I'm not only going to work on showrooms and warehouses I will also be building some sort of house /mansion. I guess its going to be very large and extravagant. Those are the most fun to build and oversee.
Now here I am sheepishly thanking the Lord that he is making such an unbelievable job available to me. I had been waiting , struggling, praying , not praying , feeling depressed , and feeling happiness when God revealed His love to me . Where to go ? I just wait at this point , so I'm sitting back thinking about the future
I thought about what God has been doing in my life . Everytime I would struggle with the Lord about giving up some part of my life, and how difficult it is for me to let go. Now some of the things I was having problems with ,seem so ridiculous. Like my car I'm not real sure if I'm getting anything out of it. I could be really upset about it. I was to begin with. Then I prayed and said Lord its your car you take it and I will not worry. What did I get out of it. Well lets see. Got an unbelievable job to start that has the much needed health insurance, I got a new car , one that I really like. And a boss that will fill my tank for me as needed. Wow seems like a lot . Right?
The story keeps going, today I got a call from my old boss . I didn't answer but he left me a message . Basically he told me that for the money he owed me and the situation he was in, he wanted me to come down to San Fran and pickup all the tools from the shop where I worked. You have to understand these are industrial tools and have prices that match. He said that would even us up for a bunch of money I thought I would never see again. I never even thought for a minute there would be any way he could repay me .Yet God in His wonderful way takes care of absolutely everything. But first He wanted my love and my fully surrendered life. I am completely amazed at what God is doing . A little scared wondering whats around the next corner but feel safe in His care. I feel I need to get down on my knees and ask God to forgive me for being such a whiner. And being so impatient. God's timing is perfect, as life unfolds God reveals His will one day at a time. Only what I need each day. If I can learn that and stop trying to do God's job for Him life will be so much simpler for me.
Crazy day, crazy week , but an awesome and wonderful, loving God. Until next time
Now here I am sheepishly thanking the Lord that he is making such an unbelievable job available to me. I had been waiting , struggling, praying , not praying , feeling depressed , and feeling happiness when God revealed His love to me . Where to go ? I just wait at this point , so I'm sitting back thinking about the future
I thought about what God has been doing in my life . Everytime I would struggle with the Lord about giving up some part of my life, and how difficult it is for me to let go. Now some of the things I was having problems with ,seem so ridiculous. Like my car I'm not real sure if I'm getting anything out of it. I could be really upset about it. I was to begin with. Then I prayed and said Lord its your car you take it and I will not worry. What did I get out of it. Well lets see. Got an unbelievable job to start that has the much needed health insurance, I got a new car , one that I really like. And a boss that will fill my tank for me as needed. Wow seems like a lot . Right?
The story keeps going, today I got a call from my old boss . I didn't answer but he left me a message . Basically he told me that for the money he owed me and the situation he was in, he wanted me to come down to San Fran and pickup all the tools from the shop where I worked. You have to understand these are industrial tools and have prices that match. He said that would even us up for a bunch of money I thought I would never see again. I never even thought for a minute there would be any way he could repay me .Yet God in His wonderful way takes care of absolutely everything. But first He wanted my love and my fully surrendered life. I am completely amazed at what God is doing . A little scared wondering whats around the next corner but feel safe in His care. I feel I need to get down on my knees and ask God to forgive me for being such a whiner. And being so impatient. God's timing is perfect, as life unfolds God reveals His will one day at a time. Only what I need each day. If I can learn that and stop trying to do God's job for Him life will be so much simpler for me.
Crazy day, crazy week , but an awesome and wonderful, loving God. Until next time
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