I'm F.I.N.E.

 

I'm fine. 

I guess you could say that's my mantra. I'm fine. It's what I tell myself when the road gets bumpy. 

 

Is that sometimes a denial that things are harder than I want to admit?

 

Does it mean things could be better, but "I'm fine"?

 

When I'm sick or just feeling lousy, I'll remind myself, "I'm fine."

 

Sometimes it's a phrase I quietly assert repeatedly in my mind. Sometimes I tell it to myself out loud. 

 

Is it merely a positive confession or an affirmation?

 

I took time to think about it. What do I mean when I say I'm fine?

I chose my meaning. 

 

I deliberately came up with what I actually mean when I humbly acknowledge I'm fine. 

 

I'm (Finally and) Forever In Need of Emmanuel. 

 

I'm

Forever

In

Need of

Emmanuel

 

Emmanuel - God with us. God with ME!

 

I need God to draw my next breath and take my next heartbeat. 

Of course, I need Him for anything and everything. 

 

Whether I'm doing great and don't remind myself I'm fine or I'm dragging and feeling defeated - I'm fine. Because I truly am forever in need of Emmanuel. I always need God with me. 

 

That's my reminder. 

 

What do you mean when you say you're fine?

 

"Let all those that seek and require You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified!

[As for me] I am poor and needy, yet the Lord takes thought and plans for me. You are my Help and my Deliverer. O my God, do not tarry!"

Psalm 40:16-17 AMPC

 

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen."

Philippians 4:19-20 ESV

 

The Desert Call

(blog.hdwallsource.com)

Jesus didn’t just wander into the wilderness, He was led there by the Spirit of God. It wasn’t a wrong turn.

Why do we run from our wilderness experiences as if landing there was a mistake?

Why are we owned by our circumstances when we’ve given ourselves to God?

What if you’re right where you’re supposed to be?

What if all the decisions you’ve made up to now were all taken into account before you made them? Any turns in the winding path through your life have already been orchestrated, making up for the escapades the enemy meant for your destruction. You’re still putting one foot in front of the other; you’re still drawing breath.

God is calling you. He’s leading you.

There’s an old anonymous quote that says, “Bidden or not, God is here.” Whether you’re excited about walking with God, or scared half to death that you can’t make such a commitment, God is here – with you every step of the way.

Ponder this, Jesus’ ministry days began after He came out of the wilderness. It was there in the dessert, alone with His heavenly Father, that He was equipped for the tasks ahead of Him. It was there He recognized the power of faith, both the faith He has in His Father, and the faith His Father had in Him. In that faith lay the secrets to His power.

In those dry spots, those hard places, those circumstances you don’t think you’ll make it through – reach up to heaven and tear through the fabric of time and space with the cries of your heart. God hears you.

“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” – Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV)

“The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” – Psalm 14:2 (NIV)

(sobadsogood.com)

You are never closer to God than when you need Him. Don’t panic and run from God, use that same energy balled up in your gut, and instead, run TO Him. He’s right there – you can feel His breath on your face. Believe it! Call out to Him! He hasn’t placed His hands over His ears so He can’t hear you. He wants you to reach out to Him! Wait a moment longer, reach a little further, stretch yourself; put your whole heart into it.

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” – Isaiah 55:6 (NIV)

“This is what the LORD says to Israel: “See me and live…” – Amos 5:4 (NIV)

Let’s encourage one another. Let’s invite one another into the presence of God! We’re not alone. The people around us are hurting, too. They’re going through trials of their own. Reach out and bring them with you.

Take my hand. Say to your friend as was written in Zechariah 8:21 – “(…and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say,) ‘Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and see the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.’…”

To quote an old hymn, “He’s as close as the mention of His Name – Jesus.”

Rejoice! You’re meeting with the King! This is where you’ll gain the strength you’ve been looking for. Here is where you’ll embrace the power He has for you.

Hallelujah!

 

(defenders.org)

What Shakes Up Our Faith?

(picture from wwcconline.org)

How does an evil teach us to pray? Sunday morning Pastor Mark mentioned that while on his recent trip to Africa, a prominent African Christian leader told him that Idi Amin taught their people how to pray. Um, what? Well, no, he didn’t gather them together in an auditorium and share with them the wealth of power in prayer, or how to petition the Father of Life, or about the freedom found in praising God. No, he didn’t instruct them on the finer points of prayer at all.

But, he did force them into a corner, challenging their belief in God and the power and effectiveness of their prayers. And they responded, together and overwhelmingly. The tides are turning in their nation. We hear great reports from Africa regularly.

I looked for photos of the devastation under his regime. I couldn’t bring myself to share them here….

Is this what it will take for America to hit our knees? The rich outpouring of blessings from God has given us an entitlement mentality and has turned a great many of us from an attitude of gratitude to a gospel that simply promises financial prosperity and all the material wealth we seek after. The heart of the matter is fading in America. We don’t routinely hear of the miracles happening here on our soil that seem to be reported in abundance in the parts of the world where they don’t have “the privileges Americans enjoy….”

My depiction of an American bunny..... (picture from sustainableman.org)

Not that any of us wants to choose between a huge bank account and submitting our will to the Living God of the universe; surely we can have both. Can’t we? Well, can we?

I saw an article on the internet mocking American Christians in the south, living in some of the poorest counties in our nation. Yes, with toothless smiles, they praised God. Those who don’t share our faith in God laughed at them, saying, “You thank God – for what??”

Do I want to live in a shack or scrounge for my daily bread in a trash can? No. I admit it, I live quite comfortably and I like it. I’m not at all saying there’s anything wrong with abundance. Jesus said, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” – John 10:10 (NKJV)

(picture from joyfulbusiness.org)

 But, does the man at the top of the mountain of Wall Street have peace with God?

I’m not saying he doesn’t, but which is more important to you? Wealth or peace? I’ve heard Rockefeller died in misery, despite his millions; what did they gain him? Material possessions he couldn’t take with him; possessions that perhaps brought him temporary pleasure?

I have a friend who shares her definition of a Christian as one who would answer the door when Jesus knocks and drop what she’s doing to go with Him; leaving behind everything and everyone. Ouch! Not my babies! Not my lover! Not my things!

Jesus doesn’t generally ask us to leave everyone and/or everything behind, but if He did put that challenge to you, could you run into His arms and trust Him to take care of everything and everyone else?

Gathering possessions is clearly what not what life is all about. Most of us consider Mother Theresa to have been a very holy and righteous woman. Of course, she never claimed to be righteous in and of herself, but through Christ. Yet, her material possessions were few.

(picture from loscuatroojos.com)

Am I judging the rich televangelists out there? No. I’ll leave the judging to God. My own heart is the one I need to contend with. I’m not responsible for what you or anyone else does with their heart.

But think about this: if devastation (such as what Idi Amin brought to his people) visited your life and all you were left with is your faith in God, would you be able to embrace it with your whole heart? Or would you then turn your back on God? Some say that faith isn’t faith until it’s all you’ve got to hang on to. Personally, I don’t ever want to be in that position. But, like Job, if I lost everything I can see with my eyes, I’d want to hang on to all that I have in my heart.

What we can see with our eyes is sooooo temporary.

(picture from sallyandsam.blogspot.com)

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” – Psalm 103:13-16 (NIV)

Yet, so many of us feel the need to accumulate “things” and consider them signs of success.

To quote an old Kansas song, “All we are is dust in the wind……” (Well, I guess dust does collect….)

(picture from sunsetevansville.com Lissy Elle)

Psalm 8:4 asks, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (NKJV)

God’s love for you is eternal; forever and ever and ever – and unconditional. Nothing you could ever think or do can cause Him to stop loving you. What kind of a love is that??

When He comes to your door – run to Him! Don’t wait for persecution to learn to pray. It may come. And sooner than we think.

How amazing - He calls ME friend!

I AM A FRIEND OF GOD - ISRAEL HOUGHTON

Void

Void. Each of us walks around with a void in our lives. We’re in constant search for something to fill that vacuum. Some of us look to people, some to substance – and wind up abusing either out of the frustration that results from the void burning a hole through our hearts like a magnified ray of sun burning it’s way through a thin piece of paper.

 

It may sound cliché to say that this hole in our being is a god-shaped void. What we fill it with becomes our god; what we put before everything else, until it fails to satisfy us. Then we go off in search of another god.

 

More specifically, this emptiness is a God-shaped void that only He can fill completely and perfect and forever. Everything and everyone else will fail us.

 

Children love unconditionally! If only I had a child, that would fill my void!

 

A spouse, a mate, a life partner – surely that will erase my loneliness!

 

Success, which will absolutely keep me so busy I won’t have time to notice this emptiness!

 

Money! If I have money to spend on whatever I want, that will satisfy me!

 

The hunger within us grows.

 

The children, the partner, the success and the money leave me lacking still.

 

Alcohol! The preferred method of many to numb the sting of heartache, sorrow, lack of direction or the overwhelming pressure we’ve created to fill that void on our own. Or drugs, recreational or prescribed, it doesn’t matter, they will lull us to a place where nothing matters, not even our emptiness.

 

No, even the chemicals that dim our inhibitions can’t drown out the deafening sounds of the silence in our soul. No addiction found by man can drive away the darkness that strives to swallow us up, daily.

 

Why, oh why must we turn every direction we see, searching out fulfillment, running after it – until we’re exhausted? We need only to look up, our redemption draws near…

 

Why, oh why do we search in vain, hurting ourselves and others in the process? God is there, as close as the mention of His Name.

 

When we turn to God and admit our brokenness, bowing before Him in need of mercy and grace, does that fix everything that’s wrong in our lives?

 

No. We’re still left with struggles, circumstances that we’d rather not face. We still search the path to heavenly eternity.

 

But now, we have the light to see the path before us. The light of God, shining from within us, which can only be extinguished if we choose to turn against it.

 

Now, we have peace in our soul, our only hunger is for more of Him. Now we are assured of eternal rest and joy for the journey.

 

Now, and only now, the God-shaped void is filled and we have peace.

 

 

Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”  (KJV)

 

Psalm 105:4 “Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.” (KJV)

 

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near”

 

Acts 17:27 “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us”