Sunday, July 5. Dear God thank you for this day. I Thank you for the wonderful deal you provided for me of the two orchids… $5 a piece! It made my heart so happy to find such a wonderful deal. I can’t wait for them to bloom once again. My spirits were a little low and it was just what I needed to lift my spirits. I thank you for that.
Monday, July 6. I had to go and get my bike tire fixed today. I went to two stores near the beach to get it fixed. I came home and put the tire back on the bike and rode it on the road to test it out. I was happy with what I had done. Later that evening, my neighbor, his wife, and I met in passing while riding our bikes in the neighborhood. My neighbor saw my chain on my bike was not indeed tight enough and offered to fix it for me at his house. I followed him and his wife to their home which is a block away from my house for him to make the adjustment to the chain and my seat! The seat got me where I wanted to go on the bike so I did not worry myself with that but WOW! what a difference! Thank you God for my neighbor. My bike rides more smoothly. Thank you Jesus!
Tuesday, July 7. I just discovered the most delicious fruit drink that I am going to go and get more. All of the fruits are pureed to make this wonderful substance. Normally I do not like to waste my calories on a drink, but this was so refreshingly GOOD that the 220 calories can easily be substituted for a desert and I will not feel like I have been cheated. It is nutritiously GOOD–YUM! Work was very productive today, too. we started the process of researching and discussing how we would redo our standards of operations with COVID-19. Thank you God.
Wednesday, July 8. My God moment today was being able to navigate a website to get a project done. I do not consider myself tech savvy so any accomplishment I have on ANY computer, phone, desktop, soft ware, etc., I thank God for His help!
Thursday, July 9. I had a lot on my plate today at work. I asked God to help me with one particular project that was very challenging…I completed the third part of that project and was able to work on the two additional ongoing projects. That relieved some of my stress and I thanked God for that!
Friday, July 10. Today was yard day! I love working in the yard because I it brings me such a sense of accomplishment to complete. Of course I recognize without God’s help I would not be able to do any of it. I thank God for the ability to take care of this beautiful home He has given me.
Saturday, July 11. It was a full day today. I had many errands to run in the hot heat… I SURVIVED THANK GOD! I left the house in one piece and returned in on piece. That is a blessing and Lord I thank you. Having uneventful days is a blessing. Recognizing God’s PEACE in your life is a blessing because it is a free gift he gives us that we should cherish each and every time it is present in our lives.
Welcome back to Where Is God Now blog. This is not the blog post I had initially prepared for this week. Usually I am posting on Saturday night, but today I am posting on Sunday morning. For those of you who know me well, I often say God speaks to us every day. It is up to us if we are paying attention to him. Our world has been turned upside down. It is in turmoil for so many. All schedules have been halted. Everyone has been impacted. Many are wondering what is going on in our world. It is my understanding that COVID-19 has reached all continents except Antarctica. I cannot say God caused this virus to invade our world. However, because God is all-knowing, this virus did not catch God off guard or by surprise. He is not even wondering what happened. I do believe God allowed it to be. It is a humbling time for all as we see we are not as in control of our lives as some seem to think. God gives us each and every breath we take in this life and MORE. We serve a loving and gracious God. Today, I believe he is still speaking to each of us. The question is if some of us will continue to tune him out or will more tune him in.
We are feverishly trying to figure out a cure for this virus. We know God has the answer and He will reveal it in time. Last evening at 5:30 p.m. as I was eating my dinner and watching a 1991 Billy Graham Crusade program, God spoke to my spirit and shared COVID meant in the spiritual realm, Christ Over Virus Is Defeated. There lies our HOPE! If there is any fear, CHRIST removes all fear! We win! We win in Christ! Our answer is in Christ, which should not surprise those of us who are of the Faith. Christ always intercedes for us! Jesus always gets his prayers answered through God, our father. God is in control of COVID-19 and the answer is in Christ. Last Sunday was Easter and we know Christ was raised from the dead for our sins. It is up to us if we accept Christ in our lives. It is more than just lip service, though. It is heart service… God wants our hearts! Jesus helps us to give our hearts to God.
There is so much confusion that is starting to unfold in our world. We know that God is not the author of confusion. This is not a time for us to be rebellious. Sometimes our memory becomes short, but in the Bible the children of Israel became rebellious after God set them free out of years of bondage. They never saw the promise land. I believe God put those events in the Bible for us to learn from. We do not have to learn from the school of hard knocks. Things should be done in decent order. I do not know what all of the fall out and implications will be as we head to our new normal. What I am confident about is as long as I keep my eyes on God, He will get me through this with his supernatural PEACE. This PEACE is available to all who will keep their eyes on God. This is what I have been living on since COVID has struck our society and it is a beautiful place to be.
God has been speaking to me each and every day since COVID struck as I was already homebound recovering from surgery. I immediately asked God what I could do for Him as I was sitting home recovering and wanting to do something. God starting pouring into my spirit thought provoking and positive affirmations to share. I have been sharing it each morning on Facebook. I pray those affirmations have been of help to all who may have read them. God shared with me even if it makes a difference for one soul that is one soul that has been helped.
I am confident that God holds the time of when COVID-19 will be no more. In the meantime, as he has us in this appointed time, I pray that each of you will hear the message that he has for YOU! The message does not have to be anything profound or drastic. The message may be sweet and subtle. Only you and God will know that. He has given us the time in our schedules to call on Him and spend time with Him. He wants an intimate relationship with us and this is a time to cultivate that intimate relationship with him. He is our CREATOR. He is our GOD. Give him your ear. Give him your time. Most importantly, give him your HEART. Thank you for visiting the blog. Next week I will post what I had prepared for this week and finish unpacking the book, Where Is God!? Blessed Are The Pure In Heart For They Shall See God, unless God say otherwise. Amen… Love and Blessings!
Praise God! Christ Is Risen! Happy Easter Everyone! Jesus should be our HERO! He suffered mercilessly and died cruelly for US! Still, as in the introduction of the book, Where Is God!? Blessed Are The Pure In Heart For They Shall See God, on page 8 we discuss, although we see it as a privilege to be God’s hands, mouth, and feet, it is also a daring risk when we live our lives for Christ. We risk being shunned, misunderstood, mistreated, taken advantaged, mocked, scorned, laughed at, devalued, uninvited, humiliated, embarrassed, ridiculed, persecuted, and killed. But Jesus endured the same. St. John 19:1 reads, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. (KIV) The Gospels of Matthew and Mark speak on how Jesus was scourged as well. I was curious to know what was scourging all about, so I did a little research. Please note the inserted picture:
This is very similar in what was used to beat our Lord; it is what He endured for us. A scourge is a whip or lash. The multi-thong type, was used to inflict severe corporal punishment. It is usually made of leather with multiple throngs of hard material designed to tear the flesh. This was the custom of the day under Roman law to prelude crucifixion. However, in Jesus’ case, there seemed to be added visceral. This was a deep hate and contempt for Jesus as proven in how they beat him. It was vile, wicked, and morally unjust. Some have described the beating so horrendous that Jesus endured that it left him looking less than human. Oh, the cruelty!
However, Jesus knew what his mission was on the earth. He knew he was to be the sacrificial lamb for our sins. On page 8 in the book, it reads it takes courage, guts, and grit to be a Christian. I wonder if there is ANYONE who would agree with me on that. We know what Jesus endured took courage, guts, and grit. He is our example. There are things that happen to us in life that we come to a cross road and have to decide if we are going to cave and not represent Christ because as we say sometimes, “It’s hard.” Yes, it is not always an easy road to travel. Yet, Christ demonstrated in God’s strength that He had to complete the mission that was given him. It is one of the reasons why I love him so! The Bible tells us He did not want to do it. He asked God if the bitter cup could be removed. But then He resolved it was not His will, but the Father’s will that should be done. This is our example! When those cross roads come in our lives, we have to ask ourselves how many times will I say, I don’t feel like being a Christian right now. I am going to do what I feel like doing. However, being a Christian is not about a feeling. It is about our commitment to God through Christ. Knowing EVERYTHING that Christ endured on the cross, not even mentioning all of the great and wonderful things that He did BEFORE his crucifixion, should be enough to compel us to do the right thing even when we do not feel like it. Again, it is not about feelings. It is about commitment, gratitude, and thankfulness to Jesus. If Jesus did ALL of that for me the least I can do is stand up and represent him proudly. This is what BEARING OUR CROSS is all about. As the book says, “It is not always pretty and wrapped in a bow (page 8).
How deep is your love? How deep is your love for Christ? When we operate in our natural strength we cannot do what is asked of us, but through Christ we get this supernatural strength. It gives us the will and know how to do what we need to do God’s will for our lives. Jesus will give us the strength to display the courage, guts, and grit. The beauty in that is you know that it is Him that is working within you and it is an awesome humbling experience. You will know it is his strength that you move in. The preciousness of Jesus is that he came to the earth to live out the Christian life for us. Again, he is our wonderful example! I keep saying this because I believe some people gloss over the example that Jesus is to us! It a beautiful thing and I do not want people to miss it. It is not always easy, but we can do it through His strength. And let me add, it will probably hurt our flesh, too. But we have been talking about putting flesh on the shelf where it belongs, right?
Now once the disciples realized who Jesus was after he bled, suffered, and died, their lives were never the same. And our lives should never be the same either, especially once you have encountered His presence in your life! They lived their lives boldly and courageously with guts and grit because they knew the son of God had walked and lived among them. It transformed their lives! Our lives, too, should be transformed once we have entered into an intimate relationship with God. Jesus’ life was transformed through His relationship with our Father God. Jesus spent time with God to cultivate their relationship. Through this intimate relationship God was able to teach Jesus what He needed to know. It is no different for us! Our lives, too, should be transformed as we cultivate our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. It is not enough to know God. Satan knows God. It is all about a true relationship with God and accepting Jesus as our Savior. We cannot live the Christian life on our own. It is impossible! Once we drop our pride, die to self, and yield our lives over to Christ, we start living a transformed life and those Fruit of the Spirit we talked about previously start to show up and out in our lives. Then we start to realize, oh, this is not me! This is the Christ that lives in me that is allowing me to manifest the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is a beautiful thing! Knowing that is enough to draw you in even more because you have experienced God’s supernatural power in your life! Hallelujah and Amen! Stay safe from COVID-19 and I’ll see you next week. Love & Blessings!
