It is Well with my soul

Last night during our Wed. night Bible Study, we studied the book of Numbers and more specifically chapters 6 and 7.  In Chapter 6 and verse 22 the Bible gives us a "Priestly Blessing" that Aaron and his sons were to give the Israelites.  It reads:

 ²⁴ “‘“The LORD bless you
and keep you;
²⁵ the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’  (Biblegateway.com)

And in this blessing, Bro. Dan asked us what does it mean when it says "give you peace".  He said that peace (in this instance) doesn't mean without turmoil, it means that no matter what life gives you, you should be okay and at peace with it.  The more he explained it, the more it made sense.  While he was talking one of our hymns came into my brain.  "It is well with my soul".  One of the lines in that song says:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul."

God spoke to me in that moment and told me that whatever comes my way, it should always be well with my soul, because he knows what is coming on the other end of everything.  He has control of my life. 

Thank you Lord for all you do for me.  Thank you for this gift of technology that allows me to share with others what you have given to me, peace. 

It Shouldn't Take a Disaster to Thank Him!

How many times in our lives do we take for granted ordinary, mundane or seemingly trivial things?  Like for instance, your phone, the Internet, even the library.  Three different ways to get almost instant access to any kind of information that we want.  When was the last time that you thanked God for each of these things?  Better yet, lets get down to something that he directly made...you.  When was the last time you thanked God for your toes, eyes, nose, ears, internal organs?  I've begun to thank Him more for things that I can't see, like my heart, my lungs, and my kidneys.  Those are unsung heroes, until one of them fail to do their job.  Oh THEN we notice them. 

I would like to challenge anyone who reads this post to take some time today.  Think of things that you use without thinking.  Then think of what life would be like if they weren't there.  Don't forget to include body parts.  It will really open up your eyes to what we really should be thankful for.  I know it did mine. :)  God Bless you all.

Busy Doing Nothing

In my churches Prayer Life studies, a verse came up last week that really resonated with me.  The verse was Matthew 11: 29-30.  It says “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.  How many times in our lives have we felt like we are overburdened with life’s worries?  Like if one more thing is put on us we will break?  Why is it that we forget to unload all that to God?  We pray for His miraculous help in times of great crisis, but we forget that He is ALWAYS there.  If we truly believe that He can help us in our greatest hour of need, how then is He incapable of helping us to find a job, or to manage our budget, or find a good baby sitter?  God is in control.  We sing it, we say it, but we don’t act it.  We go through life only calling on His name when we feel like there is no other option.  God is the first answer, not the last choice.

I gave the title to this post “busy doing nothing” because I have found myself with lots of extra time since my Facebook fast started on Monday.  I had been letting my blog writing go by the wayside.  I have had more time to be detail oriented when cleaning the house.  More time to read God’s word.  So I'm not hating on the Facebook fast.  That was just something to keep me busy while doing nothing.

Thank you Lord, for you love, your presence and your conviction.  I give you thanks today for my breath, my intricately made body and my health.  You prove yourself as my constant Watcher, my Companion, my Rock and my Shield.  Thank you for the many facets of You Lord.  Thank you.

The "P’s” of Prayer

Don’t you just love it when you are sitting in church, expecting to hear from God personally, and then it feels like the pastor is talking directly from God to you? 

Tonight's service at Watts Chapel Baptist church  (Crab Orchard, KY)was all about the powerful prayer that Elijah prayed in 1 Kings chapter 17.  The widow whom Elijah had been staying with had discovered her son was dead.  She cried to Elijah “What do you have against me, man of God?  Did you come to remind me of my sins and kill my son?”  Elijah takes her dead son from him (notice that doing this would have made Elijah ceremonially unclean in that day and he would be much of an outcast for a period of uncleanliness) and took the boy to his own bed, laid him out and stretched himself atop the boy praying for God to restore his soul.  Imagine that.  Nowhere in the bible before this has it stated that any individual had ever prayed such a bold prayer. Elijah KNEW that God could answer and he persisted until God did.  Three times Elijah stretched himself out and prayed to God. 

The “P’s” of Prayer given to us tonight were:

The Place of Prayer (meaning where you pray at)

Your Pace of Prayer (Praying on a regular basis, not just during crisis)

Your Posture of Prayer (Not physical posture as Elijah, but spiritually humble)

Boldness of Prayer:  (Praying a prayer even if there is no prescience for it.)

Purpose of Prayer: Remembering that it is not just to say what we want and get it off our chests, it is communicating with God in expectation that He is able to do greater than we can even think to ask.

Lastly, and this was not given to my pastor, but I think God meant me to tell it to him was Participation of prayer.

This is the first time sine I have been baptized that something has compelled me so much that I could NOT not go forward during the alter call.  Many times I have felt God nudging me down the aisle, but this time he pushed me.  God spoke to me during the sermon and told me that when I pray for someone to know Jesus as their Savior, He may ask me to be the one to tell them the Way, and that I should participate in my own prayer.  I came forward tonight, told Bro. Dan what God had laid on my heart and asked him and the entire church to pray that I could have boldness as to not be scared or nervous as I all too often get in any potentially confrontational situation.  Please pray for me to have boldness and a calm heart when God chooses me for an assignment.

On a side note, I know that I am on a fast from Facebook in preparation of our upcoming Revival at Watts Chapel (starting Sun. March 13th at 11-12 am, that night at 7 pm and then each night until Wed. at 7 and nursery is provided), but I am not technically on Facebook, I am just posting this from Windows Live Writer.  I pray this word I received can help some of you as much as it has helped me.