Wonderful Jesus!

Category: trust in God

• A Straight Path!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 23, 2020

  Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” NKJV

  

  a-straight-path_.mp3

  This verse is a great reminder of how we, as Christians, are to live our lives. We can’t afford to be as confused about life as the children of the world are. One minute we are thinking we should go in this direction, and the next minute, we are second guessing ourselves. It’s not of God. He is not the author of confusion!

  After we give our lives to the Lord, we are to start trusting Him, relying upon Him, and leaning on Him for the direction of our lives. Today’s blog will focus on “and He shall direct your paths.” The Amplified Bible states it like this:

  In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, and He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

  Proverbs 3:6 AMP

  The word “yashar” in the Hebrew covers a wide range of the direction that the Lord has for those who trust in Him. It means to be straight or even; to be (to make) right, pleasant, prosperous:—direct, fit, (make, take the) straight (way), be upright(-ly).

  In other words, the Lord will cause your path to be straight. His direction will even cause you to be right, to be pleasant, to be prosperous. He will direct you, make you fit, or make your way right. All of this point to one thing: when He’s leading you all will be straight in your path, or things will work out for you!

  David understood this principle to be true. He and his mighty men had gone out to battle with the Philistines. However, most of the Philistines did not trust David to truly be on their side, and did not want David and his men to go into battle with them against the Israelites. When David returned to Ziklag with his men, the camp had been raided and burned to the ground, and all the people had been captured and taken away. David’s men were furious with him and wanted to stone them.

  This was a hard time for David, just as it was for his men. However, he couldn’t afford to make a wrong decision about his next steps, so he inquired of the Lord.

  And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?’ “Pursue them,” He answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

  1 Samuel 30:8 NKJV

  If you are familiar with this passage, then you know that David truly did overtake the raiders and did rescue them all. Not a life was lost, not a possession destroyed. He trusted God to lead him and his way was made prosperous, and his path was made straight.

  Ezra is another man who comes to mind. He asked the king’s permission to go to Jerusalem to help with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. The king gave him permission and restored the treasures of the temple to him. When he left for Jerusalem he had many treasures and a host of individuals and their children; but no human protection. He said that he was ashamed to ask the king for help after declaring that God’s hand was on them because they were looking to Him. So on the way, he declared a fast to seek God, and God answered him. They made their way safely to Jerusalem without incident.

  I have found God to be just as faithful in my life. I go to Him about the big things and the little things, and the things in the middle. I will share only two:

  In my young adult years, it appeared that all of my friends were getting married. I really wanted to join them in the state of matrimony, and as I was praying about my life, God told me to join the Navy. I didn’t want to join the Navy. But I obeyed God. After I signed the papers, God spoke to me and told me that I would meet my husband and that he would be an officer. That gave me a sense of encouragement. As I obeyed God, He led me to my husband in an airport in Sicily. He was an officer, a gentleman, and a believer! And for extra measure, he was handsome! That’s how God operates! We have been married for over 30 years!

  My husband wanted our daughter to go to high school in the seventh grade. She would have to travel by bus or train to go on the other side of the city. I wasn’t happy about this. Not wanting to smother her, or be in disagreement with my husband, I asked Him what should I do. He gave me a dream, and in the dream she was taking the admission exam. I noticed a man kept going over to her and redirecting her as she answered the questions. I woke up troubled and said to the Lord, I don’t believe in cheating and neither do you, so what are you saying. He responded that He would be with her in that test, assisting her and she would excel. I knew that meant that she was supposed to go to that school, so she would get in. I had peace about the situation and it turned out to be a great school for her.

  Life was a little dysfunctional for me growing up. Maybe you can identify with that statement. One of the things I really needed from the Lord was some stability and a lot of guidance. Asking Him to lead me is no small matter in my life, in our lives. Praying about a situation is not the last thing we do, but the primary thing that we do. Over the years we have seen Him work out situations that seemed impossible. We have seen Him cause our way to prosper. We have had obstacles moved out of our path, and we have seen Him straighten things out that only He could straighten out.

  This blog didn’t necessarily go in the direction that I had intended when I started it, but the Lord knows. Maybe I will be able to share more on the subject later. My hope is to encourage you to begin to trust Him with everything in your life so that you can watch Him make your path straight! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in direction, Proverbs 3:5-6, trust in God | 0 Comments | Tagged direction, encouragement, Marriage, Prayer, proverbs, trusting in God, Victorious Living

• Which Way Lord?

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 20, 2020

  Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. NKJV

  

  Life is full of decisions that we have to make. My least favorite decision to make is , “What are we going to eat?” I mean think about! As a wife and mother I have had to decide on three meals a day for over thirty years. That’s over thirty thousand decisions about food I have had to make over the years. Quite frankly, it’s not a decision I look forward to. I really like it when someone else makes the decision about the meal and take care of the details. Better yet, let’s go out for a meal, or two, or three! Seriously! One thing I miss during this pandemic is going out to eat! If only all of life’s decisions could be something to laugh at!

  In our text today, we want to look at the phrase, “in all your ways acknowledge Him”. Did Solomon really suggest that we should acknowledge God in all of our ways? He did! However, I know we don’t! It is not my practice to say, “Lord, what should I cook this time?” Although, in desperation over trying to figure out the next meal, I have prayed it!

  When Solomon told us to acknowledge God in all of our ways, he used the Hebrew word, “yada” which means “know” and carries the idea of “being aware of”. This thought goes beyond asking, “Lord, what do you think,” in way of acknowledgement. It, in essence, suggests that when we acknowledge God, we are aware of who He is and how He operates and our ways are filtered through that knowing.

  Adam and Eve knew God, and yet they did not “know” Him as they partook of the forbidden fruit. Had they taken the time to know what He would want in regards to them talking with the serpent and taking of the fruit, they would have left that fruit alone.

  Joseph, on the hand, knew God as he conducted business in Potiphar’s home. When Potiphar’s wife tried to get him to spend some ‘time’ with her, (I have a few young followers), he knew God, was aware of God, and ran for all he was worth.

  David, one of my favorite people, knew God and yet, he didn’t acknowledge God in all of his ways. When he saw Bathsheba bathing, all sense of knowing God and His ways went out of his head, leading him to make some horrible decisions that were life and kingdom altering. It can happen to the best of us!

  Acknowledging God isn’t a once in awhile thing to do. It’s not even a last minute thing to do, or what we do when we’ve gotten ourselves in such a mess, we are out of options. Acknowledging God, knowing Him, and being aware of Him as we go through life’s path is the only smart choice.

  I think of the picture of the maze that I found, which I could never imagine walking through, and having to find my way around. The walls look tall enough that I probably couldn’t see anything but what is directly in front of me; and when I get to an opening, I am clueless in which direction I should go. Do I take the stairs, go through the door, or keep looking for an exit? It can be overwhelming! Just like life! That’s why we are to acknowledge Him in all our ways.

  As we travel through this maze, called life, with walls higher than we are, and more twists and surprises than we can count, we need a guide. Imagine going through this same maze with the architect of the maze, or the owner who has spent countless hours navigating through it? It would certainly take the fear out of going through it, and the worry of making the wrong decisions. God is the architect of our lives. He knows the plans He has for us and the expected end for our lives. When we acknowledge Him, and are aware Him, as we have decisions to make, He takes the fear out of them!

  There are so many areas of our lives that we could benefit from by being aware of God: getting married, raising kids, career choices, relationships other than marriage, purchasing expensive items, getting involved in business deals with others, and a host of other things. This reminds me of Joshua and the leaders of Israel.

  They had a mighty victory at Jericho. God brought the walls down as they shouted, then they went in and took the city. The night before, Joshua was in prayer before the Lord and had an angelic visitation. God gave him instructions and he followed them. But after that great showing of force in Jericho, they thought they were quite the warriors and went against Ai without God’s counsel. That didn’t work out so well for them.

  And if that wasn’t enough, they had some visitors from Gibeon. These visitors told Joshua and the leaders of Israel that they had come from a far country. They even showed them molded bread, old wineskins, old garments, and old sandals explains to them that everything was fresh and new when they left home. The Israelites made a treaty of peace with the Gibeonites without acknowledging, or being aware of God, during the process, and were deceived. Yes! Even our hero, Joshua, didn’t acknowledge God in all of his ways.

  The good news is that even when we blow it, we can get back on track. That’s what Joshua did both times. After the failure of the battle at Ai, he went to God and God told him there was sin in the camp. Deal with it and all will be well. He dealt with the sin and went back and destroyed Ai. With the Gibeonites, there was no getting out of the treaty. They were stuck. They had to honor the treaty and ended up having to save the Gibeonites from destruction. But had they just acknowledged God in the beginning they would have avoided this.

  Great point to make! Some fixes God will get you out of, but some of those consequences you are going to have to live with. And if you are aware of Him during the process of living with those consequences, He will turn things around in your favor. He’s just good like that!

  Which way Lord? What should I do now, Father? What are you saying here, God? These types of questions only take a few seconds to whisper but can save you from a life of unnecessary heartache! Make a decision today to acknowledge, be aware of, and know what He is saying and where He is leading, and see how He takes the “fear” out of traveling through the maze called life. Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in God, Proverbs 3:5-6, trust in God | 6 Comments | Tagged acknowledging God, Adam and Eve, consequences, David, God, Joshua, making decisions, relationships, trust in God, Victorious Living

• Relying on Self!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 18, 2020

  Proverbs 3:5-6 -Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. NKJV

  

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  Have you ever just stopped to think of how amazing we are? Mankind has done some impressive things in this world. I’m old enough to remember the old black rotary telephone, which was pretty wonderful in its day, but now I use a cell phone that I can carry everywhere I go. And what about the television? Yes, I remember when it was black and white, with three channels, and it went off the air at midnight with the Star Spangled Banner playing! Now, we watch television on our phones, computers, iPads, and other electronic devices. We’ve come a long way baby!

  Just yesterday I saw SpaceX being launched to the International Space Station. We’ve surpassed a man walking on the moon to people being launched for a six month stay in space! That’s incredible! And of course, the World Wide Web is something pretty special. This blog is able to be read by people in more countries than I can imagine being able to travel to. Times are changing rapidly around us and man is inventing some great toys for our pleasure and tools to help us. Yet, with all of this head knowledge, the Bible clearly states that we are not to lean on our own understanding.

  The word “lean” in the Hebrew is taken from the word “shâʻan”, a primitive root that means to support one’s self:—lean, rely (on, self). Solomon cautions us in our verse for today that we are not to support ourselves with our own understanding, or we are not to rely on our own understanding.

  Solomon understood better than most what leaning on our own understanding will get us. After having a wonderful encounter with the God of the universe, who gifted him with wisdom, you would think that he would have followed his own advice to not lean on his understanding. But that wasn’t the case.

  Solomon had many wives and concubines. These wives led Solomon’s heart astray from God. He married them for political ties and for building allies; but they ended up being a snare for him, as he built temples for their gods. A man of great wisdom, who didn’t follow his own advice, but leaned on his own understanding in the end.

  There’s nothing wrong with understanding. As a matter of fact the Bible tells us

  …in all your getting, get understanding. Proverbs 4:7 NKJV

  It’s just that when we lean on our understanding, instead of God’s understanding, things can quickly go south! As human beings, we can only see so far. We think we know an individual, or what’s going on in a situation, or even how to do a thing, but that is not always the case. Our knowledge is limited and our understanding can be flawed.

  Have you ever walked in a room and it got quiet, or people started whispering? In your mind, you may think that every one is talking about you, they know your secret, they don’t like you. You know what you see, but you don’t understand what is going on. If you lean on your own understanding, you could potentially embarrass yourself and leave with a wrong impression of the situation.

  Have you ever met someone who you thought was perfect for you? As time went on you found out they were using you for one thing or another. The person was already married with five kids. You had your mind on marriage, they had their mind on their next conquest. They wooed you until you let them move in and they stole all of your possessions. These are the kinds of situations our own understanding will land us in.

  We may be pretty smart, as people go, but we don’t have the inside track that God has. Relying on our own understanding in life is what causes so many of us to end up with issues and extra baggage. Living this life as if we are smart enough to figure things out on our own can result in harsh situations. If we are not careful, some of these things will seem impossible to recover from.

  This is why Solomon encouraged us to trust in the Lord and to lean not on our own understanding. There is no way, when we are trusting in the Lord, relying on Him, that we can also be relying on ourselves. They are polar opposites of one another. When you are trusting Him, you can walk in a room full of people, hear all conversation stop, see whispering, and know that if it’s something you have a need to know, God will let you in on it. You can meet people, be interested in a relationship, but when you are trusting God, He can show you a knuckle head before the first date. You don’t have to try and figure everything out all by yourself! You don’t have to operate on limited knowledge and your own understanding. You can access the unlimited understanding of the Father. And when things happen that you don’t understand, while trusting Him, you understand that He is thinking of your good and will get you through it.

  Don’t sit around trying to figure it all out! Don’t have a continuous conversation in your head about how to work it out, or solve the problem. Don’t call up everyone you know to gain understanding they don’t have. And don’t even think that you have all the answers and know what to do in every situation, because you don’t! Mankind may be pretty smart and capable of inventing some fascinating things, but there is only One who can create, inspire your creations, and give you the understanding that you need in every area of you life! His name is Jesus! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Proverbs 3:5-6, trust in God | 4 Comments | Tagged Dating, encouragement, leaning on self, relationships, rely on self, trust in God, understanding

• I Will Trust in the Lord!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 16, 2020

  Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. NKJV

  

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  Trust comes easy for most children. As they are fed, clothed, and held by their parents and family members they learn to trust them. When I was thinking about the concept of trust, I immediately thought of a parent telling their child to jump into their arms, or a father raising a kid in the air and laughter ringing in the room. Simple, child-like trust is a beautiful thing to watch in action. As children become teenagers, young adults, and later adults, not all of them still trust their parents in the same way they did as kids. Some don’t trust at all!

  When we first come to the Lord, we may start off with childlike trust in the Savior. He has saved us, forgiven us, and given us a new lease on life, but one day we wake up and we don’t feel quite the same way. What happened? We allowed the circumstances of our lives to eat away at that trust!

  In both the natural and the spiritual realm, things happen to challenge our trust. One day kids wake up, and their parents aren’t as perfect as they first believed. I well remember a situation with our oldest daughter when she was about five. She was taking piano and voice lessons with our minister of music, who is a close personal friend. She was learning a song, and my friend told her to ask me to play it for her so that she would be more comfortable with it at her next lesson. When my daughter told me this, I got out my tape player to let her hear the song. She said, “No mommy! She wants you to play it on the piano!” I said to her, “No! She wants me to play it on the tape player!” She was insistent that I was to play it on the piano. When she discovered I couldn’t “play” the piano, she was so disappointed. She said, “You can’t do anything!” If you think she was devastated, I want you to know I wasn’t too thrilled either! Of course, she has forgiven me for not knowing how to play the piano, and will not have to worry about her daughter saying the same thing to her!

  Although my example is mild, and meant to be humorous, we know that many children, teens and young adults experience a variety of times when parents don’t live up to their expectations. Some children have overinflated expectations of their parents, which causes disappointments, as my daughter had; and some just expect their parents to be good, honest, loving parents. Unfortunately, that’s a tall order for some parents!

  When we come to God, we expect to see the mighty miracles, hear the thunder roll, see our every trouble removed because we are now Christians. We don’t want heartache, failure, or disappointment now that we are saved, and yet, we sometimes see more of that, then we see of the other. Trust is waning because expectations are not being met!

  In Proverbs, Solomon didn’t write, “When things are going according to your expectations, trust in the Lord!” No! He simply wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart!” The Hebrew word for trust is bâṭach, pronounced “baw-takh'” and it is a primitive root word which means: to hie for refuge. I was going to overlook this definition and go straight to the part that means, “to trust, be confident or sure:—be bold”. But let’s not! In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition for hie is, “to go quickly; hasten”. When we put this all together, Solomon is saying that when we trust in the Lord, we go quickly, we hasten to Him for refuge! Isn’t that interesting? I think so!

  Isn’t this the picture of a child who dearly loves his or her parent? When something comes up in a child’s life, they quickly run to their parent knowing that it’s going to be better when mom or dad gets involved! This is how we are to be with the Father! Instead of falling apart and becoming discouraged, we are to hasten to Him for refuge knowing that it’s going to be better because of Him!

  Now let’s look at the rest of the meaning of trust! Trust implies a confident assurance in God that allows us to be bold before trials, tribulations, and persecutions; knowing that God has us in the midst of it all! It’s easy to see why Solomon instructed us to trust “with all of our heart,” because in this way, we leave no place for doubt, confusion, or fear to set in! Have I always trusted like this? That would be a negative! But I will to trust in Him more and more! Meaning I set my will to trust God as I grow in my ability to receive His love for me!

  Isaiah wrote in chapter 12 of his book that it was his will to trust God!

  Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation. (Verse 2)

  Isaiah purposed that he would trust in God, and he would not be afraid because God was his strength and his song! That’s what our trust in the Lord needs to look like! We should train ourselves to say, I will trust, I will not be afraid!

  Anyone who has heard of Job understand that he went through a difficult time in life. Some say it lasted less than a year, but it was still a painful time. Here’s what Job said during his trial,

  Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him…Job 13:15

  Again, it was Job’s will to trust God! He wasn’t happy with his situation. He didn’t feel like he was getting a fair shake for one who had lived righteous before the Lord. But putting all of that aside, he said that it didn’t matter if he died, he would die trusting the Lord!

  David had this to say about trust:

  Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us! Psalm 62:8

  There is that reference to “refuge” in relationship to trust! When we trust Him, in spite of what is going on around us, He is a refuge for us against those things that try to destroy our trust in Him!

  Scripture tells us in Psalm 125:1,

  They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abide forever.

  When we trust the Lord, we will not only be bold, as the definition tells us, but we will not be moved by what we see! We will only be moved by what we believe, or what we are trusting God to do!

  Anyone can trust during the good times. It’s how most children learn to trust their parents, because things are good! It’s during the difficult times, the hard times, the challenging times that we must say, “I will trust in the Lord”!! Solomon knew the life his dad lived trusting God! He also knew the blessings, the well-being that came with trusting the Lord. But most assuredly he knew what it was like to “not” trust in the Lord with his whole heart!

  We are living in some challenging times in this world. We have political unrest all over the world, a world-wide pandemic, world-wide economic woes, and world-wide attacks on the church! If there has ever been a time when we need to “will” to trust the Lord, this is that time. Stop fretting over what you have no control over today, and hasten to the Lord for refuge! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Jesus, Proverbs 3:5-6, Refuge, trust in God | 4 Comments | Tagged body of Christ, children, David, economic crisis, encouragemnt, hard times, I will trust, Job, pandemic, Solomon, trust in God

• God Our Strength!

  Posted at 5:01 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 21, 2020

  Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” KJV

  

  god-our-strength_.mp3

  In my previous post, I wrote about God as our refuge. In this blog, I want to talk about God, our strength!

  The stories I can tell about God being my strength! I have discovered that not only does God provide us with His strength, but He is our strength. In the book of 1 Samuel, He is called the Strength of Israel. When the nations around Israel looked at the Israelites and saw strength, it was God’s strength that they really saw. When people see us, the children of God, during these difficult days, they should see God’s strength radiating through us, because He is our strength!

  David knew his strength was God, not just in God, but God. God delivered David from the hand of Saul and his enemies, causing David to say, “God is my strength and power: and He makes my way perfect.” We all know that David didn’t have a perfect life, nor did he have an easy life, but he knew that God had been his strength during his life, enabling him to rise above incredible obstacles.

  David was ignored by his family and given the job of shepherding the family’s sheep, but God was His strength during that time. David killed the lion and the bear, and was confident enough to take out Goliath, because God was his strength. David’s men wanted to stone him after their families were taken at Ziklag, but David went off by himself and communed with God, his strength! The Bible tells us that he encouraged himself in the Lord! There he got the answers and the strength he needed, to go and recover all!

  David was hunted by Saul, simply because of Saul’s jealousy towards him; but when given the opportunity to hurt Saul, his Strength would not allow him to do it. David’s mighty men didn’t go to him as warriors, but as men in distress, with debt and discontent as their description, and because God was David’s strength, he helped them to embrace God as their strength.

  As I was meditating on the truth that God is our strength, God brought the church to my mind. I thought about the pastors who are preaching to empty chairs in an empty sanctuary. It was hard at the beginning of the virus, but it’s even harder now. One well known pastor struggled so in the beginning, that his thoughts were jumbled and his movements were disjointed. What started out as a possible few weeks of interruption has become months of uncertainties. Not only is the church faced with empty sanctuaries, but they also have to deal with loss of income that support the ministry and pay the bills.

  While it is understandable that there is a great concern about the finances, pastors also have a great concern about the people God has given them to watch over. One woman in ministry was sharing with me her concerns for the flock. She said she couldn’t understand how you can have a membership of 100 people and only 12 of them join you online for services. Her concern was real, as she wanted to know if the people really had a relationship with God, where were they at?

  I like the words that Isaiah wrote:

  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2

  Isaiah found God to be his strength, just as David had; but, it came out of a deep, abiding trust in God. Isaiah said, “I will trust, and I will not be afraid!” That’s the answer to every hurting pastor and leader in the Body of Christ. As ministers, the worldwide, have encouraged their people to trust in God in the darkest hour, God is saying to them, “I am your strength, trust Me!”

  Habakkuk also wrote about God as his strength:

  The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. Habakkuk 3:19

  Habakkuk let it be known that God was his strength and his feet were sure, as he walked before God and stood on His promises! Pastors and ministers are quitting because things have gotten tough. Maybe this was their testing ground to see if they were sent or if they just went! Jesus said the shepherd doesn’t run from the trouble, but he runs to the trouble, as David did. David’s confidence when he faced the lion, the bear, Goliath, and the Philistines wasn’t in him; but in the God who had become his strength and his song!

  I’ve been blogging since February of 2018. God told me to blog. In this first year I had 457 views. I thought I was doing something, impacting people around the world with my blog. Today my numbers are much greater, but my attitude is the same. I am doing something, and I am impacting people around the world through this blog, with the gospel of Jesus Christ! Some days my stats show that I have had 2 views, and other days it might show more than 75. I know that if my focus is on the stats, I will not be able to do the assignment that God gave me. Three days a week, I sit and write my blog. Most times I can do it in a couple hours, but sometimes it takes days. Whether one person view a blog, or 500, I have to stay the course!

  However, God has placed a different ministry in my heart and soul. He called me to preach and to teach the gospel. I have seen myself, in dreams, preaching to crowds of people, laying hands on the sick and seeing creative miracles, impacting lives for the glory of God. I have seen visions of the power of God flowing from heaven into my earthly body, and flowing out of my body into His people with miracles following. I never saw me blogging! And if the truth be told, I am further away from my dream today than I have ever been. But I am strong in the Lord, for He is my strength. I can’t see anything happening to bring me to my dream when churches are so empty and the future of how we do church is weighing in the balance, but I will trust God my strength with it all!

  That’s not all I can do! That’s not all any of us can do! That’s what we should be doing at this time, placing our unwavering trust in God as our strength! He will get you up out of the bed when you don’t feel like you have anymore reasons left to get up! He will give you the greatest message to preach when you have no more inspiration left on the inside of you! He will be your strength as you raise your children, work at that job you don’t like, or sit at home when you would rather be outside! He will be your strength and give you strength, when your trust is in Him!

  Being a child of God isn’t for the faint of heart! There are not a lot of tulips to tip toe through! But trusting God as your refuge and strength during times of trouble, will bring you out on the other side with great victory and strength! The devil hasn’t forged a weapon, greater than our God! Decide today, that as He is referred to as the Strength of Israel, He can also be referred to as the Strength of… (whatever your name is)! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in God, hard times, Strength, trust in God | 2 Comments | Tagged God, hard times, leaders, our strength, pastors, struggling, trusting in God

• God Our Refuge!

  Posted at 4:28 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 20, 2020

  Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” KJV

  

  god-our-refuge_.mp3

  The image you are looking at is the Castillo de San Marcos, in St. Augustine, Florida. It is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. Spain built it in the late 1600s, to protect and defend the possessions, people, and city of St. Augustine. This fort was impenetrable because of the materials used to build the walls and it’s architectural layout. The soft limestone, called coquina, was composed of broken shells. It is said that this material absorbed or deflected the enemy attacks every time. The United States eventually purchased the fort from Spain, using it until the 1900s. If you visit St. Augustine, Florida, you can take some time to tour it and learn more of its history.

  The Bible tells us that God is our refuge! He is the protection of our lives, our possessions, our health, and everything that concerns us. His protection is impenetrable by the enemy when we understand that truth and allow it to give us peace in the midst of a storm. The Hebrew word for refuge is, “machăçeh”, and it means a shelter (literally or figuratively), a place of refuge, a place of hope. Throughout my life I have experienced this truth on many occasions. He is truly my refuge! Today, we the people of God, need to understand, like never before, that God is our refuge.

  The coronavirus hasn’t diminished it’s attacks on the world. The effects of the virus are worldwide and has left many grieving over the loss of loved ones, jobs, shelter, peace, and hope. Not only that, we have to still be concerned about tornadoes, earthquakes, violence, and a host of other things thrown at us in the course of living. If we are not careful, we, the Body of Christ, will find ourselves disillusioned, disappointed, and fainting, as if we don’t truly believe that God is our refuge.

  What the psalmist is really saying about God is that He is our only real security in this life, not our job, not our bank account, not our family tree, not our connections! Only God!

  I’m an educator. I haven’t been thrilled in my position for a lot of reasons, but one of the things that colored my view of education was the lack of job security. Every single year for the first four or five years, I had to find another job because my position was cut. This was very frustrating. Then I begin teaching at a school where I was able to put down some roots and feel a part of the school community. After six years, I lost my position again. This could have been another time of frustration for me had not God forewarned me of the fact, and then reassured me that He had me. He was my refuge at that time, as He has been at so many other times in my life!

  The psalmist went on to say that because God is our refuge, we will not fear! The psalm continues in this light:

  • Though the world is falling apart all around us, we will not be afraid!
  • Though the mountains crumble and fall into the sea, we will not be afraid!
  • Though the waters roar and rage and tsunamis are coming at us, we will not be afraid!
  • Though the mountains shake, and there are earthquakes all over, we will not be afraid!

  It’s an attitude of trust that knows the God, who is a refuge, is there for us and is with us, no matter what comes our way!

  There are many places in the Bible where God, as our refuge, is mentioned:

  • Psalm 9:9- God will be a refuge for the oppressed. Is there any amongst us who are oppressed today? God is our refuge!
  • Psalm 14:6-God is a refuge for the poor! Is there any amongst us who are poor? God is our refuge!
  • Psalm 59:16-God is a refuge in the day of trouble! Is there any amongst us who are having trouble? God is our refuge!
  • Isaiah 25:4-God is a refuge from the storm! Again, I say, is there any amongst us who are in the midst of a storm? God is our refuge!
  • Jeremiah 16:19-God is a refuge in the day of affliction? Is there any amongst us who are afflicted? God is our refuge!

  Here are some things that will give you confidence in God as your refuge:

  • Psalm 46:7- He is the God of the angel armies and He is with us!
  • Psalm 91:9- When we make Him our dwelling place, our shelter, He will be our refuge!
  • Psalm 14:26- As we fear Him, (reverence Him), we have a strong confidence in Him as our refuge!

  David wrote in Psalm 91,

  “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” KJV

  David continues this psalm by giving us an entire list of situations he found shelter from in God. It’s a great psalm to commit to memory and to meditate on in this time of so much uncertainty. What is certain, is that God is our refuge and He is with us! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in God, hard times, Refuge, trust in God | 2 Comments | Tagged attacks, Attitude, Castillo de San Marcos, coquina, coronavirus, fort, God, Healing, protection, provision, Refuge, shelter, the enemy, trust in God

• Are You Offended With Jesus!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 11, 2020

  Matthew 11:2-3 -Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

  are-you-offended-with-jesus_-1.mp3

  This morning I was reminded of a passage in the Bible and I decided to blog about it. Generally speaking, I don’t blog until I feel I have something to say. And this morning I do!

  In the Scriptural text, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, “Are you the One, or look we for another?” There are some interesting dynamics going on here, but the major thing is that John is offended with Jesus!

  The word offense means “to have an annoyance or resentment brought about by a perceived insult to or disregard for oneself or one’s standards or principles.” I believe that John was clearly offended with Jesus. The Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us the why of everything but there are some things we can infer.

  Why would John be asking Jesus is He the One? Was it not John who declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:36)?” And was it not John who declared, “ I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost?” (Mark 1:8) Yes, it is he!

  John said of himself that he was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord” and that Jesus came after him but was preferred before him. And the greatest statement John made about Jesus was, “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God!” (John 1:34)

  So I return to my original statement that John was offended with Jesus because he went from “Behold the Lamb of God”….to “are you the One?” Only offense will cause us to question our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!

  Let’s return to Matthew 11, where Jesus responds to John’s disciples. He tells them to report back to John what they heard and saw, but then He makes this statement in verse 6, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Why would Jesus add this to what He wanted the disciples to tell John? Obviously, John was offended!

  Why was John offended? I don’t know for sure, but scripture let’s know that John is in prison and he is about to die, so offense has come in. He had a perceived notion that he would be protected from the devil because of his service to God. He has spent his entire life preparing the way for Jesus, getting people ready to hear the Messiah and the thanks he is getting is a beheading. What’s wrong with this picture?

  You see, John had the same adversary that we have. While we are living this life in Christ, things are going to happen and the adversary will forever be there to accuse God to us! After all, he is an accuser. He accuses us to God and God to us! And so I am sure that while John was in prison, the devil was in his ear: You spent all that time working for God and now you are going to die! You thought Jesus was the Lamb of God, but if He is, then why are you in prison? Why hasn’t He delivered you! Your life has been a sham, a lie, a joke! He is not the Son of God! Admit it! Your life and ministry has been in vain!

  And so John, in desperation, frustration, aggravation, and offense, sends a message to Jesus. And Jesus, in the way only He can do, sends a message back to John that will settle things for him and bring him peace… “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them…and oh yes, blessed is he, who shall not be offended in me!”

  This is one of the biggest problems in the church! Offense with Jesus! Yes, we have a problem being offended with others, but the biggest problem is offense with Jesus! We get offended when He doesn’t answer our prayers the way we want Him to, or in a timely manner. We get offended when our loved ones die. We get offended when we are not healed miraculously. We get offended when our spouses desert us or our children go the way of the world. We get offended when our ministries don’t take off and we get offended when we can’t find a husband. And the list goes on and on and on. And once we get offended, we have a problem with Jesus, and if He is truly who He said He is, and can we trust Him to do what He said He would do!

  Well, I am writing today to declare to you, that He is who He says He is, and He does what He said He will do!! He has given us exceeding precious promises and will fulfill all that we can believe Him for! But in the case of John, John knew that Jesus must increase and he must decrease. We use that saying to show our humbleness, but John said it because he had already been told that he and Jesus would not share the same stage. He really had to leave this earth. It was part of his assignment!

  Jesus loved John! John was his cousin by birth, but John was truly His forerunner. Jesus eulogized John by saying that he was a prophet and more than a prophet. And Jesus validates John’s mission in life to prepare the way. Jesus was not uncaring about John, but Jesus understood that something greater was in the making! There was a bigger picture!

  Recently a church member passed. We were believing God for her miraculous healing. But she didn’t get it on this side of heaven. Generally when people I have prayed for and with pass on, I have to fight against the lies and accusations of the devil. But I just made up my mind that I wouldn’t have to this time, because I wouldn’t participate with the lies of the devil. God is a good God! Nope, He is better than good, He is great! And when we get the right heart and mind regarding Him, the devil will not be able to lead us into offense against our Saviour!

  I hadn’t realized that I had written so much, so I will end it here. If God tugged at your heart strings while you were reading this because you have become offended with Him, fix it now! Don’t let another moment go by with you being offended at the Lord! Repent and get your peace back! John did! And he died knowing that he had fulfilled all the plans and purposes of the Lord! And you can, too! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Jesus, offense, trust in God | 0 Comments | Tagged Attitude, Believer, encouragement, Jesus, John the Baptist, miracles of Jesus, offense, trust in God

• A Question to Us All

  Posted at 9:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on May 21, 2020

  Jeremiah 12:5 – “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” NIV

  

  In my previous blog, I shared about some of the trials that people went through in the Bible and how God stepped in to deliver them. In this blog, I want to address another viewpoint on tribulations, your part to stand!

  Jeremiah was a prophet of Israel during some of their dark days. Their kings at that time were considered evil kings who did not do right in the eyes of the Lord. They worshipped the Baal and led the people to do the same. During these seasons, God sent them prophets to encourage them to do the right thing. However, they refused to do the right thing and continuously attacked Jeremiah as he tried to get them to obey God.

  One day Jeremiah was ranting to God about how the evil men were prospering and it was okay for Him to go ahead and destroy them. God spoke to Jeremiah and said, “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? This is an interesting analogy, for most people cannot outrun a horse. As a matter of fact, it’s impossible! Isn’t it?

  Most people know that horses are fast! But did you know that a horse at full gallop only has endurance for about 2 1/2 miles of running, and at a trot he can travel about 15 miles? When God made this analogy He knew that! And yet He told Jeremiah that if he couldn’t handle a foot race, he’d never be able to run against a horse.

  This was God’s way of saying that if Jeremiah couldn’t handle the normal trials and tribulations of life, how would he be able to handle the greater issues? There are some things that happen as a result of just living. Few us of get to pass these trials by: raising kids, being talked about, relationship issues, and disappointments to name a few. Painful, but not catastrophic. These types of challenges are what we call running in the foot race of life. But there are other events that can sweep you off your feet because they are so great, so hard to bear, to deal with, that could be considered “running with the horses”, catastrophic; and every one don’t survive them!

  God knew what Jeremiah was going through. He knew there were things that made his life uncomfortable and not much fun. But God also knew what was ahead, and what He was trying to get Jeremiah to see, that there was more to come! I feel for Jeremiah! Who wants to be called to a ministry that is filled with rejection, heartache, and threats on your life? No one! But that was what God had called Jeremiah to, and he knew it. Why else would God tell him to fix. his face like flint? Paul was another one. The call on his life was of such a nature that he had to face the reality that he would some day be martyred for the kingdom. And it didn’t seem to faze him one bit! He said for him to die was gain! But that’s not the life that we signed up for! No! We want a life of tip toeing through the tulips! But it was never promised to us!

  David said, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” Adversity may be designed by the devil to cause you to fall apart, but David said if you let it, you have small strength! There’s an interesting point about racing with a horse I’d like to share. If you both start out at the same gate, at the same time, the horse will leave you in the dust! The race will look like it is over before it has begun. But if you keep running, you will find him at his 2 mile marker resting, where you can overtake him and win the race. Just like the classic, “The Tortoise and the Hare”. Paul said it like this, the race isn’t given to the swift, nor to the strong, but to the one who endures! The tragedy or trial may seem to wipe you off your feet, but after you catch your breath, and realize that God is with you, you can get back up, and turn a tragedy into a triumph!

  Children of God!!!! Stuff is going to happen! There’s no getting around it! Some will be worst than others! But everything that the devil is throwing at you, you don’t have to catch! Remember that song, “If you catch hell don’t hold it! And if you’re going through hell, don’t stop”? (Ron Kenoly) Just keep on moving in Jesus! Keep standing! Keep fighting! Keep trusting! Don’t stay there! Don’t get bogged down by it! Get up and find your strength in God! Because in the end, you win! He always causes us to triumph! Running with men ain’t easy, but if you quit now, when things get really tough, you won’t stand a chance against the horses! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in hard times, trust in God, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged adversity, encouragement, endurance, hard times, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 12:5, overcoming, Parenting, race, trust in God, Victorious Living, victory

• A Place of Refuge!

  Posted at 3:05 am by wonderfuljesus8, on May 2, 2020

  1 Samuel 22:1-2 -David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. NKJV

  

  I’ve been reading through the Old Testament and am currently ending Chronicles. I find that I am always amazed at David and his warriors. Those of us familiar with the scriptures know all about David and Goliath! I get excited when David tells King Saul that he had already killed the lion and the bear, so facing this giant would be just like facing them. When David confronts Goliath and tells him that he’s going to cut off his head and give the bodies of the Philistines to the birds of the air, whew! He is the Alpha male type that romance novels, suspense thrillers, war movies are written about. And yet, one day David realized that King Saul was after his life and he ran to the cave of Adullam.

  David ended up in the cave of Adullam. If you look at the picture that I found on Pinterest you can see it wasn’t a comfortable place to find oneself. As people heard about his whereabouts, they went to David. His brothers who had taunted him at the battle against Goliath and ignored him when he was watching the sheep, along with all of his father’s household went to David. Men who were in distress, in debt, and discontented went to him. And he became captain over them.

  How would you like to start a team, a ministry, or anything with a group of people who are distressed, in debt, and discontented? Can you imagine all of the attitudes you would have to deal with? Can you just see that David had his own issues, and now everyone with an issue is coming to him? It’s a recipe for disaster, yet David turned it into a recipe for success!

  Hurting people don’t all look the same. Some are hurting and because they are so miserable in their lives, they want everyone else to hurt, so they hurt others. Then there are those hurting people who have been abused and when they find someone to see their value, they can forgive, release the hurt, and grow to their fullest potential. Then there are the hurting people who wallow in their hurts, lock themselves away, and they just give up on living altogether, they are in a perpetual pity party. These men who came to David distressed (worried, dealing with great sorrow or great pain); in debt (owing everyone, having nothing to call their own); and discontented (unhappy, not satisfied with life or the way things were going) all showed up in the cave of Adullam, looking for refuge. A weaker person would have rent his garments, put ashes on his forehead and fell on his face, but not David.

  I’ve been watching the documentary of the Bulls, “The Last Dance”. We all know that Jordan was a special player and at first they tried to make the Bulls a one man show with Michael. Then Phil Jackson comes along and teaches Michael and the others about being on a team. Once Michael got the concept down, got over having a need to be the “star” all the time, he began working with his teammates, along with Phil Jackson, to help them to be the best players they could be. The Chicago Bulls went on to win six NBA championships! There’s is something about leaders who know how to develop their people. (A later blog!)

  In the place of refuge people are seeking safety from being pursued, from danger, or from trouble. That certainly qualified for David! David was on the run for his life because of the anointing and call from God. He was smart enough to know his safety wasn’t in a locale, but in the Presence of the Lord. He wrote Psalm 142 in the cave and he penned that he cried out to the Lord who was his refuge. In another psalm David wrote that the Lord was his saving refuge. In yet another psalm he wrote that the Lord was his rock of refuge. David had already been anointed king, he had already killed the giant, he had already killed his “ten thousands” and now he’s in a cave running from Saul. And yet David did what he had done when he was watching those sheep, he went to God and found refuge in Him.

  Then the people began to come to David. Those who were worried about their future with a king who was more bent on killing David then killing the Philistines found a captain who was secure in what God had promised and was able to help them to trust that things were going to work out. Those who were in debt were promised lands and great fortune as they conquered their enemies and took back what the devil had stolen from them. And those who were discontented found something “big” to be a part, something that they could do to help David, their country, and themselves. They saw their king in the place of refuge and pledged their allegiance to him.

  If you are in a stay at home situation, you are in a place of refuge. It is not a comfortable place to be. I don’t know about you, but there are some things I really miss; going to church, going out to eat, spending time with my other family members, and I’ll possibly miss my scheduled vacation! I get it! Things like this may cause you to feel distressed, not working could be putting you in more debt, and all of it can cause you to feel discontented with your current situation, but it doesn’t have to get the best of you. Not only are there others just like you, as it was with David, but God is with you, with us through it all! You don’t have to stay the way that you are. NO! You have a captain! His name is Jesus! And He is your refuge, your help in the times of trouble. Don’t spend your time in the cave wallowing in self pity, wasting time, and giving up. Get with your captain and let Him bring healing to your hurts, hope for the future, prosperity for tomorrow. He is more than able. He’s a great leader and have led so many others to victory. I can tell you that I am personally embarrassed over the joy I am experiencing! My heart is so filled with peace, while at the same time it hurts for the loss of so many lives and even livelihoods. But I am dwelling in the truth of Psalm 91!

  When we leave the cave of Adullam, we will once again be that warrior, that conqueror, that more than a conqueror that we were before the cave. Some of us are still waging war, as David did from the cave, on our enemy! He hates those of us who are using this time to pray more, to spend more time in the word, to be strengthened by our pastors and others in the body! We will be even better, after this! Continue to allow Him to train you to stand, to fight, to win, to keep your enemy forever running from you while you are in the cave. No matter how long we are at home, it won’t be long. It shall pass! And when the church, the Bride of Christ comes out of the cave, we are going to be a mighty army for the Lord! If we trust Him to be our refuge!Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in hard times, protection, trust in God, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Attitude, coronavirus, David, debt, discontent, distress, encouragement, Forgiveness, God, hard times, Healing, Health, Prayer, protection, provision, trust in God, Victorious Living, victory

• The Choice is Yours!

  Posted at 9:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on April 30, 2020

  Joshua 24:15 – “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .” ESV

  

  There are some verses in the Bible that are just classic! This is such a verse. If you are looking for a plaque to put on your wall to express your Christian views, this would be an easy one to find. Some people have it “posted” on the door posts of their home. Hobby Lobby has it in many formats designed to meet every personal taste. And because of its high visibility, it can often lose the potency of its truth!

  Joshua has come to the end of his life. He has fought many natural battles for the Lord and has conquered many enemies. He’s led the children of Israel into the promised land, defeated Jericho, divided the land, and at 110 years old, it’s time to say good-bye.

  You would think that this would’ve been said at the beginning of Joshua’s life, but it’s at his end. Joshua knows the flightiness of the Israelites. He knows that they are bent towards serving other gods and he takes this time to warn them. He says that if it seems evil..How can serving God seem evil? He tells them that they need to make a choice between the false gods in the land they now live and the God who gave them the land. Seems an easy choice. But then he declares that he and his household would serve the Lord!

  During this pandemic we’ve heard and seen a lot of things. We’ve had encouraging words from pastors and leaders who remind us that in the midst of this pandemic, we can choose joy over sorrow, peace over worry, health over sickness and disease. The choice is ours. But we have also had the words that remind us constantly of sickness and death, lack of goods, lack of safety equipment, and an end that seems farther out than we can truly imagine. Did you know that the choice is yours as to whose voice you will hear and whose voice you will listen to?

  After six weeks of being in the house, under the orders of our leadership we’ve become antsy, frustrated, fearful, lonely, poorer, belligerent, and our emotions have run the gamut. But what we are still not seeing, and what we still need to see is a return to the Father.

  When 9-11 happened, we stopped as a nation and we prayed. It was almost as if prayer had been reinstated in the nation’s capital. That was a momentous time for us as we pulled together to help the people of New York, to fight the war of terrorism, to flex our military muscle before our enemies. Churches were seeing more people come and many stayed. All felt as if it must be the last of the last days! And yet, here we are with over 50,000 people who have died to the virus and there has been no climate of spiritual thirst ignited in the land. We have not felt a need to repent and even if we wanted to, we are not able to fill the churches.

  I heard a pastor say that this is not right that the people of God can’t come together to worship! And I’ve seen many break the order and many more honor it. But rather we go to church, listen or watch online, or haven’t decided that doing so makes much difference, the day of reckoning comes for us all when we must decide whom we will serve and why.

  Everyone wants a life of peace. Me included. But it’s through hard times, difficult times that we reevaluate our lives and the reasons for living. During a pandemic is a great time to decide, whom you shall serve? If it seems an evil thing for you to serve the Lord, then don’t serve Him. But truly, from all us who have decided and stand with our decision to serve the Lord, we highly recommend it!

  He is the only One who can give us the peace and hope that we need to ride out the storm or to speak to the storm. He’s the only One who can give us a reason to get up in the morning, even though we can only go to another part of our home, and be thankful we are awake! He’s the only One who can bring someone to our mind to encourage, or bring us to someone’s mind that they might encourage us. He’s the Only One who can take us through this pandemic and cause it to work out for our good. It’s a good time to decide to serve the Lord.

  As a matter of fact, it’s always a good time to decide to serve Him. When my husband and I were courting, we made that decision to serve the Lord. We agreed to worship together, to model our lives after the word, to raise our family according to the word of God. We took them to church, read the Bible with them, discussed it, had them memorize the word, taught them to pray. They have now chosen to serve the Lord for themselves. It’s a beautiful thing! You and your household have the power to choose. No one can choose for you! You must make a choice! It’s one you will never regret! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Choices, hard times, Serving God, trust in God | 0 Comments | Tagged Believer, coronavirus, encouragement, hard times, Joshua, Salvation, trust in God

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