Are You Easily Swayed?

Are you easily swayed?

I heard a story tonight of a woman, who sold everything and bought a Winnebago. She travelled by herself, led only by the Holy Spirit.  

She was parked for a couple weeks on a lovely southern island with people that she was enjoying getting to know.

But just like that story of old, one morning early she felt The nudge of the Holy Spirit to pack up and move....today.   As she was mulling over these directions a couple friends stopped by with a wonderful invitation for a park clam bake.....TONIGHT.

you know what it is to feel torn right?

"Let me see,  wow I'm feeling that I need to pack up and leave today....but maybe early morning would be ok.  I mean what a great way to leave all of you, after a great night of fellowship!"

Long story short....she heeded to His Voice and left

A terrible storm came in that night and washed out the bridge and took out power as well.....

but she was safe on her way...

We both know it likely would not have been the end of the world if she had disobeyed (and that our Father will work all things together for good) BUT.....what do we miss by not obeying immediately?  Is it really a big deal?

Lord ...help me not to think this is not a Big Deal...Hone in Me the desire to Obey You FIRST.....above all others.  Streamline my walk by prompting me to take Your path FIRST.  Light my path with Your Word so that whether I escape a storm or You choose to take me through one....I will be able to say I listened and obeyed!

 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light until my path

Unwavering

Hagar was set out into the wilderness

Genesis 21:14

    And she wandered on aimlessly and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba   

Gen 16

"Hagar......HAGAR.....y

ou must take Ishmael and leave"

She wakes trembling 

at the sound of his voice. 

What has happened now? 

As she sits upright 

she sees her master Abraham 

in the early morning light.  

He motions for her to hurry 

and she gathers her things.  

Meeting him outside the tent 

he explains that Sarah has erupted once again 

but this time 

she has demanded that she and her son leave.

"Leave?" she asks. 

"Where am I going?" 

Still groggy from sleep 

she begins to realize what he is saying. 

She is being cast out! 

He quickly prompts her to gather her son 

and their few things 

as he almost pushes her 

to the edge of the camp. 

Once away from the others 

he seems to move in slow motion.

Silently he shoves a loaf of bread 

wrapped in cloth 

and he slings a skin of water 

around her neck.

His face is grey and drawn.  

He looks so sad.

Master, what has happened?"

"Isaac is the Promised Seed." 

"Yahweh has promised to multiply through him".

"It is only going to get more difficult 

if you stay here....

Sarah will make sure of it"

As if in a thick fog 

Hagar stumbles and pulls Ishmael with her.  

A million thoughts run through her head.

"Lord why?" 

"You told me to return 

when I left as a pregnant woman". Gen 16:9

"You promised to make a nation out of Ishmael".

"Are you a man that you can lie?!"

"She wandered on aimlessly and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba" Gen 21:14

 "Beersheba" the dreaded wilderness, 

known for its wind and dry land, 

 she recalls it being called 

"the land of the dead end"

Hours turn into days as she tries to find a way.  

The bread is gone 

and the water skin dried up days ago. 

Ishmael is having trouble walking 

and weariness has settled heavily upon the two.

The end is near.

She practically carries Ishmael 

to a near by bush and tells him to sleep.  

She knows they are both near the end. 

Her tirade has reduced to a dry sob 

and she herself walks away 

and leans her bent body against a rock. 

"Lord I cannot bear to see my child die.  

Take him quickly".

She realizes there are sobs 

mixed with the rise of the winds.  

They puncture her heart 

and her own cries join the boys  

in a final discord.

And the end becomes 

THE BEGINNING

Let it Drop

LET IT DROP

Mark 11:25-26

"and whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it~let it go),  IN ORDER THAT, your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings"

"But if you don't forgive, neither will Your Father in heaven  forgive your failings and shortcomings"

Is forgiveness forgiveness 

if we continue 

to "pull it back up" 

finger it, 

reminisce and dwell on it?

No I think not 

yet I DO realize it IS a process .

PROCESS 

1.a series of actions or steps 

taken in order to achieve a particular end.

The process must be ACTIVE ..

it is not stagnant.   

We cannot afford it to be.

Friend, 

He promises to give you 

the strength and Grace 

to do 

what otherwise could never be accomplished 

in your life

Drop it...

let it go...

and then that burden 

dropped along the path 

will get smaller and smaller 

in the distance 

until it becomes a vague memory 

if any at all.

I fully realize 

that our wounds may go VERY deep 

and they are OURS...

HE asks us to give them to HIM...

so that HE can deal with them

When we drop them HE picks them up....

HE will continue 

to do the work that we cannot do.

Live in peace my friend

Love you all

The couch

" befriend your problems,.... you can even give persistent problems nicknames, helping you to approach them with familiarity rather than dread" Jesus Calling

This made me smile as the memory of a coach surfaced.

When removing a ratty old couch from the house I asked my boys to put it by the side of the road, in case someone wanted it.....you never know!

I began trying to make a plan to get it to the landfill. Call after call, person after person......

 dead end......FOR WEEKS!!

My couch continue  to set by the road, rain, sleet, and sunshine.

I massaged my ego, not to take it personally.

I would drive in or out of the driveway and say,

"Nice couch Lord!! Maybe I should put a tea cup on it with a sign to Come in and rest!"

"Hey Lord I see you still have that couch! And I would always end with..."I'm trusting You Husband of mine..to take care of this.

The couch was now water logged and it would need effort to move it

One late fall day while putting the gardens to bed, Kendall and Euni were stacking wood when Kendall ran to me and said "mom, you want that couch gone right? (I guess she'd forgotten and it had become just a part of our scenery!) 

She ran back to where she had come from and then a few minutes later came to tell me she had "entertained angels!"

Mom, two gorgeous preppy young men in a brand new van drove by and waved, but up the street they stopped and backed up

He rolled down his window and asked "are you getting rid of this couch?"

After the affirmative reply the two

Got out of the van

Flipped it like a feather into their van 

Waved and drove away

"Mom I think they were angels!"

Who would ever want that couch?

I smiled

My husband is so wonderful...sometimes it seems to take Him a while but His ways are so much better than mine

Thank You Lord for sending Your Men❤️❤️❤️

MISS~UNDERSTOOD

Last night I had a disturbing dream. 

 I found myself 

in situation after situation 

where "Things" were being "held against me" 

and I Felt I Had done nothing wrong.

In one scene

 I was at a retreat with women

 and everywhere I went I was "overlooked"

 even my mom could not see my distress. 

I had sat in a group of people 

where I confronted some relatives about words 

they had spoken about me 

while I was caring for mom. 

 In every situation... 

 I could not be HEARD 

 I was distraught and SO frustrated! 

 When I awoke 

I tried to pray about it 

as I muddled through the feelings left behind 

 "But I did nothing wrong! 

 "Why is this all happening to me?

 Jesus what are You trying to say? 

 Immediately I saw Him before Pilate 

The PERFECT ONE 

RIGHTEOUS...NO SIN..

PURE 

all evil was being hurled at Him 

from every side 

Yet He remained silent. 

He had nothing to prove or gain 

by trying to protect His reputation. 

Father You sent Your Son 

to bear a punishment 

for something He didn't do . 

He took our place without screaming or whining 

about His rights. 

In Hebrews it's said that He laid them down 

taking on a form of a servant

I too am not my own

Ive been bought with a Price

Father who do I have to impress?

Who do I answer to in the end?

Help me Lord....

I once again give this issue of "my rights" 

to YOU

You alone are mighty to save!

The Splinter

The Splinter

A few weeks ago while filling the wood stove, 

I got a Splinter in the palm of my hand 

right under my right index finger.  

OUCH DID THAT HURT!!

I couldn't see anything but a small speck 

 after I detached my hand from the log.  

Soon my finger swelled,

 the area became red and was very sore. 

I started to get concerned. I could not use my hand at all!

 I'm not one to rush to the Drs 

and after praying numerous times, 

showing a friend, calling another,

 I decided to soak my hand in warm Epsom salts and see what would happen.

My hand remained swollen for almost a week

I continued to soak. And prode. And "favor" it.

One day as I was pushing around the area

 a Large Piece of wood "popped"out of the wound. 

WOW! It looked huge!**

Yet

The wound continued to fester

I continued my regime of favor, probe, and disinfectant 

And even though the area seemed decidedly better, 

My hand was still very sensitive and I had to be gentle even when applying lotion to my dry hands

I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING!

Why did it still hurt??

2 full weeks into this

 I was driving to an errand when I pushed gently on the spot

 (it was very hard to leave it alone)

Immediately I saw out of the corner of my eye (I was driving) something literally "fly" out of the spot!

I knew IMMEDIATELY it was another Splinter and I also knew it was the last

Seeminginly immediatlely

My hand felt different

The infection stopped building

The sore grew smaller and smaller

It did not hurt to the touch!!

I have had many "splinters" in my life

In the natural the norm is that they will cause infection to build that will eventually "erupt" pushing the Splinter out.....

So interesting.

I've seen it in the natural and I've seen it in the Spiritual

Many people are carrying splinters

They are infected, touchy and often out of sorts as they try to protect the area

Pray for them

Give them time

Ask the Lord to allow the infection to erupt

That the wound could be healed.

Be available and sensitive...carry the Balm of His Healing

And be there....

It's time to stop being so self absorbed that we are blind to the world around us

We are His Hands

We are His feet

https://youtu.be/y0WtTvXamKQ

ps. another observation I made was when the first splinter erupted it was Huge!  After being out of my flesh ,in a very short while, it shrunk down to size.  The infection amplified its size and blew it out of proportion.  chew on that thought for a while.

Vacations

Vacations..

Did you know 

that Christians should not take vacations

 or naps for that matter?

There is no place in the Christian life

 for Carnal Cruises or cat naps!!

Have you ever thought 

"I just need a break...

not for very long...

a few weeks off won't hurt...

No ones Perfect!"

What would it be like if God thought that!!

We would all be in serious trouble!

I will repeat it again

we can not afford to take a carnal cruise or a cat nap!

Too much is happening 

in and around us 

to let our guard down

1 Peter 5:8

"STAY ALERT! 

WATCH OUT

 for your great enemy, the devil. 

 He prowls around like a roaring lion 

looking for whom he can devour"