Saturday, March 14, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Bright and shining glorious...
Muttering: "Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! Let us celebrate,let us rejoice, let us give Him glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; his Wife has made herself ready. She was given a bridal gown of bright and shining linen. The linen is the righteousness of the saints. The Angel said to me, "Write this:'Blessed are those invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.' He added, "These are the true words of God." Rev 19:6-9 The Message
Do you ever have thoughts that linger with you all day long? You wake with them because you probably dreamed about them. Then you think about them on and off all day long. Sometimes, you may even go to sleep with them and probably dream some more. My thought life was penetrated today. I was totally blasted through and through. I have had lingering thoughts and imaginations about the Marriage of the Lamb to His Bride. God's people are viewed as God's betrothed bride in the Old and New Testament. (Hosea 2:19-20 and Ephesians 5:23, 32).The Lord will be glorified because the time for the marriage of the Lamb has come! This special Bride will be like no other. She will be beautifully glorious amd the one the Lamb has sacrificed Himself for. She will be dressed in bright and shining linen because she is righteous. Her virgin presence will have His full attention. In other words, she will be decked out like no other! She is very excited because she is entering into a state of perfect love.
The traditional Hebrew wedding is a reflection of scripture. I have learned a few things about the customs and preparation involved in a traditional Hebrew wedding. The bridegroom and his father are responsible for making all of the arrangements. The bridegroom is very eager to receive his virgin bride. The bride is intent on remaining righteously pure. She is a picture of expectant readiness. She is diligent in her preparation to make herself acceptable to the groom. The groom, two witnesses and the Rabbi sign the wedding contract.He wants to make her his alone. The bride does not sign anything. She remains posed and ready to be wed.
She prepares her body with a special ritual bath. The bath ritual is specific. It has to be taken with clean fresh water. The water has to be a living water. One source of living water is rain because it comes from heaven. The bride does not ignore anything on her body. She wants to be perfect for her bridegroom. She anoints herself with fragrant oils and the scents are lovely. She wears fine jewelry on her wedding day that is a gift from the groom and his father. (Jer 2:32)
The ceremony is conducted under a wedding canopy or Chuppah. The bride traditionally circles the groom under the Chuppah. She will circle him because she willingly serves him. We will serve the Lamb of God before His throne day and night. It will be a joy and blessing to do this!
The union of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden influenced the tradition of flowers at the wedding. The bride wears a veil over her face. Rebekah covered her face with a veil in Gen 24 when Isaac approached her. That is a beautiful story. Her family wanted her to remain with them a bit longer before she left to go meet her bridegroom and marry him. She was eager to meet her husband and to be his wife. She made ready to go right away. She served Isaac and he loved her.
Seven blessings are pronounced out loud to the bride and the groom during the wedding ceremony. The seventh blessing is always the same. It says, "Bless you Lord the builder of Jerusalem who will rebuild the Temple one day." The couple stomps on a glass and breaks it. This seventh blessing initiates a somber time of thinking during this time of great celebrating and joy. The celebrants are reflecting that their joy is incomplete because the Temple is not yet rebuilt and because of those who have been separated from them by death.
Many times in the New Testament, Jesus said the words, "Make my joy complete." New Testament believers ARE complete in Christ. We are satisfied because our loved ones in Christ who have died, will be with us at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Revelation 21:1-3 says there will be a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and first earth will have passed away. There will no longer be a sea. The first thing that comes to my mind is that there will no longer be land barriers between people. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, will come down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. John wrote that he heard a loud voice from the Throne saying that God will live with man. Rev 21:22-23 said John did not see a temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not even need the sun or moon to shine on it. The glory of the Lord gives it light and the Lamb is the lamp. There is never be night again!
The marriage supper of John's day would begin on the evening of the wedding. It might carry on for days. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be even a more glorious and joyous time of feasting. It will be enjoyed by the Church because the over comers will reign with Christ Jesus!Praise God!
blessings,
Elinda RN
Do you ever have thoughts that linger with you all day long? You wake with them because you probably dreamed about them. Then you think about them on and off all day long. Sometimes, you may even go to sleep with them and probably dream some more. My thought life was penetrated today. I was totally blasted through and through. I have had lingering thoughts and imaginations about the Marriage of the Lamb to His Bride. God's people are viewed as God's betrothed bride in the Old and New Testament. (Hosea 2:19-20 and Ephesians 5:23, 32).The Lord will be glorified because the time for the marriage of the Lamb has come! This special Bride will be like no other. She will be beautifully glorious amd the one the Lamb has sacrificed Himself for. She will be dressed in bright and shining linen because she is righteous. Her virgin presence will have His full attention. In other words, she will be decked out like no other! She is very excited because she is entering into a state of perfect love.
The traditional Hebrew wedding is a reflection of scripture. I have learned a few things about the customs and preparation involved in a traditional Hebrew wedding. The bridegroom and his father are responsible for making all of the arrangements. The bridegroom is very eager to receive his virgin bride. The bride is intent on remaining righteously pure. She is a picture of expectant readiness. She is diligent in her preparation to make herself acceptable to the groom. The groom, two witnesses and the Rabbi sign the wedding contract.He wants to make her his alone. The bride does not sign anything. She remains posed and ready to be wed.
She prepares her body with a special ritual bath. The bath ritual is specific. It has to be taken with clean fresh water. The water has to be a living water. One source of living water is rain because it comes from heaven. The bride does not ignore anything on her body. She wants to be perfect for her bridegroom. She anoints herself with fragrant oils and the scents are lovely. She wears fine jewelry on her wedding day that is a gift from the groom and his father. (Jer 2:32)
The ceremony is conducted under a wedding canopy or Chuppah. The bride traditionally circles the groom under the Chuppah. She will circle him because she willingly serves him. We will serve the Lamb of God before His throne day and night. It will be a joy and blessing to do this!
The union of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden influenced the tradition of flowers at the wedding. The bride wears a veil over her face. Rebekah covered her face with a veil in Gen 24 when Isaac approached her. That is a beautiful story. Her family wanted her to remain with them a bit longer before she left to go meet her bridegroom and marry him. She was eager to meet her husband and to be his wife. She made ready to go right away. She served Isaac and he loved her.
Seven blessings are pronounced out loud to the bride and the groom during the wedding ceremony. The seventh blessing is always the same. It says, "Bless you Lord the builder of Jerusalem who will rebuild the Temple one day." The couple stomps on a glass and breaks it. This seventh blessing initiates a somber time of thinking during this time of great celebrating and joy. The celebrants are reflecting that their joy is incomplete because the Temple is not yet rebuilt and because of those who have been separated from them by death.
Many times in the New Testament, Jesus said the words, "Make my joy complete." New Testament believers ARE complete in Christ. We are satisfied because our loved ones in Christ who have died, will be with us at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Revelation 21:1-3 says there will be a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and first earth will have passed away. There will no longer be a sea. The first thing that comes to my mind is that there will no longer be land barriers between people. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, will come down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. John wrote that he heard a loud voice from the Throne saying that God will live with man. Rev 21:22-23 said John did not see a temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not even need the sun or moon to shine on it. The glory of the Lord gives it light and the Lamb is the lamp. There is never be night again!
The marriage supper of John's day would begin on the evening of the wedding. It might carry on for days. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be even a more glorious and joyous time of feasting. It will be enjoyed by the Church because the over comers will reign with Christ Jesus!Praise God!
blessings,
Elinda RN
Good News For Saints of God
Muttering: Some good news is that bad news is not what Jesus Christ has for me.
In times of blessing, you lend. In times of curse, you borrow. The USA is borrowing and borrowing and borrowing. We are operating as a cursed nation. A visiting pastor of incredible anointing and blessing spoke to our fellowship yesterday. He tried to help conceptualize the worth of one trillion dollars. One trillion dollars equals 37,800 years of seconds. Another comparison is if from the time of the birth of Jesus until now equaled one billion a year, we would still owe 737 more years to equal one trillion. Mind boggling!
This pastor encouraged us to be in the ABM mode. Owe "all but mortgage." His church will have all seven campuses paid off in the next year. Two of them were given to them free. He believes we do not need to owe the bank. If we owe, owe to a financial king that God has positioned to lend. If churches owe banks, the notes could be called due overnight by nationalized banks. He also said we should have 30 days worth of food and water in our house. He does not feel we will run out of food, but there well may be food panics in the near future. We should be in a place to help others instead of needing help. I have been buying extra food for some time now. My kids have joked about it. I could not explain why my cupboards are extra full. Now I know. My plan is to write expiration dates on the tops of the canned foods so the food can easily be rotated. I have water delivered here because we have well water that is not water that I drink. There are Christian groups on Yahoo lists that are helping each other know how to prepare for emergency situations. Christians need to be prepared.
The visiting pastor said that the Jews became slaves to Egypt because they traded with the Egyptians until they used all of their gold. The Egyptians gave them wooden money pieces when they made business exchanges. When the Jews ran out of gold, the Egyptians would not trade with them.They had them over the barrel. The Jews became slaves to the Egyptians. Will American citizens become slaves, too? We need to take hold of God's outstretched hand and pull ourselves up.
Christians should rise above the curse mentality and get in a position to lend. We need to work diligently to be as debt free as possible. My debt is shaved down to a car payment and a mortgage. The only other debt I have is my monthly utility bills. God can move and they could be paid off in one day, one hour or one minute. The just live by faith and act on faith.
Is if it is wise to save money in the bank or in the mattress, or to transfer savings to gold? The old timers are operating in "mattress time." That is they are holding money and not investing it. They may be onto something. I am praying about that. Wisdom is needed right now when even the financial experts do not know. God knows and He will tell me.
God is seeking those who are willing to be financial kings for the Kingdom of God. We need to be financial kings so we can be in a position to bless the people and Kingdom of God. Everything belongs to God and He can do what he wills. He knows I have never asked to be rich, but I would be willing to be in that purposed position IF He can trust me to do things for His Kingdom.
The other question I am asking God is His will on proper burial versus cremation. Most of my hospice patients are opting for cremation. Cremation is dramatically less expensive than burial, but it seems so heathen. I can not find any record of a saint whose body was burned unless they were martyred.
Jesus is not tired of my petitions for proper preparedness. He wants us to be in His will in all things. It is the little foxes that spoil the vine. It is easy to ignore the little things. Sometimes I ignore the big things. God help us be wise stewards of our gifts and finances for Your Kingdom so we can lend and not borrow.
Blessings,
Elinda RN
In times of blessing, you lend. In times of curse, you borrow. The USA is borrowing and borrowing and borrowing. We are operating as a cursed nation. A visiting pastor of incredible anointing and blessing spoke to our fellowship yesterday. He tried to help conceptualize the worth of one trillion dollars. One trillion dollars equals 37,800 years of seconds. Another comparison is if from the time of the birth of Jesus until now equaled one billion a year, we would still owe 737 more years to equal one trillion. Mind boggling!
This pastor encouraged us to be in the ABM mode. Owe "all but mortgage." His church will have all seven campuses paid off in the next year. Two of them were given to them free. He believes we do not need to owe the bank. If we owe, owe to a financial king that God has positioned to lend. If churches owe banks, the notes could be called due overnight by nationalized banks. He also said we should have 30 days worth of food and water in our house. He does not feel we will run out of food, but there well may be food panics in the near future. We should be in a place to help others instead of needing help. I have been buying extra food for some time now. My kids have joked about it. I could not explain why my cupboards are extra full. Now I know. My plan is to write expiration dates on the tops of the canned foods so the food can easily be rotated. I have water delivered here because we have well water that is not water that I drink. There are Christian groups on Yahoo lists that are helping each other know how to prepare for emergency situations. Christians need to be prepared.
The visiting pastor said that the Jews became slaves to Egypt because they traded with the Egyptians until they used all of their gold. The Egyptians gave them wooden money pieces when they made business exchanges. When the Jews ran out of gold, the Egyptians would not trade with them.They had them over the barrel. The Jews became slaves to the Egyptians. Will American citizens become slaves, too? We need to take hold of God's outstretched hand and pull ourselves up.
Christians should rise above the curse mentality and get in a position to lend. We need to work diligently to be as debt free as possible. My debt is shaved down to a car payment and a mortgage. The only other debt I have is my monthly utility bills. God can move and they could be paid off in one day, one hour or one minute. The just live by faith and act on faith.
Is if it is wise to save money in the bank or in the mattress, or to transfer savings to gold? The old timers are operating in "mattress time." That is they are holding money and not investing it. They may be onto something. I am praying about that. Wisdom is needed right now when even the financial experts do not know. God knows and He will tell me.
God is seeking those who are willing to be financial kings for the Kingdom of God. We need to be financial kings so we can be in a position to bless the people and Kingdom of God. Everything belongs to God and He can do what he wills. He knows I have never asked to be rich, but I would be willing to be in that purposed position IF He can trust me to do things for His Kingdom.
The other question I am asking God is His will on proper burial versus cremation. Most of my hospice patients are opting for cremation. Cremation is dramatically less expensive than burial, but it seems so heathen. I can not find any record of a saint whose body was burned unless they were martyred.
Jesus is not tired of my petitions for proper preparedness. He wants us to be in His will in all things. It is the little foxes that spoil the vine. It is easy to ignore the little things. Sometimes I ignore the big things. God help us be wise stewards of our gifts and finances for Your Kingdom so we can lend and not borrow.
Blessings,
Elinda RN
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Don't Put It Off
Muttering:The Old Testament God shed light on Jesus Christ; In The New Testament, Jesus Christ shed light on the love of the Father. Both shed light on the Fullness of the Godhead and His love for us.
All we need to get started is basic faith. We were born with a measure of it. I don't know how much that measure is, but it is what we start with.
Basic faith is complimented with good character. We develop good character by putting on God's character. We grow in character if we dedicate our hearts and minds into learning truth in scripture. It does not just fall into our lap. We grow into it by learning truth.
Self-control is giving God control over us so He can teach us how to master our emotions. Mastering our emotions lowers the dial on being controlled by them. I can tell if my emotions rule. My emotions rule if my focus glorifies me or other people. If emotions reign loose in me,I am guilty. I am guilty of the worship of you or of little old me myself. Wrong.
There is a big push for humanistic knowledge today. Humanistic knowledge gives rise to the opinion that it is just fine and dandy to unleash your emotions. Pagan religions have always had that kind of delivery. That is probably why people feel so free to openly argue in public and on TV. Arrogant, disrespectful, "want/need/have to have the last word" people are admired. It is also politically correct to habitually say degrading disrespectful comments to or about others. It is "funny" if you ridicule with jokes. God does not think it is not funny.
God gave me His evaluation on my attitudes when my kids were teens. It was a sorrowful keen awareness. I was personally messing up on a multitude of things.Their attitude directly reflected my basic outlook. I knew that I was introducing opinions to them on what is right and what in wrong. The problem was that my opinions and attitudes were not right. I eventually learned to check my attitudes against what God says. I try to remember to ask God to evaluate what my real focus is. Is the focus REALLY on Him or is it on building the ego of man. Am I self-absorbed and self-centered in whatever I am doing/saying? Where are You God in the focus? Am I thinking of You, at all?
Perseverance or passionate patience is an exercise of self-control.You will not be easily discouraged or tempted to quit with passionate patience. I think procrastination is an enemy of God's will in our lives. It is like sleep walking. Your eyes may be open but you are not open for business.
Reverent wisdom or godliness is a trait that will keep me aware and in need of God's presence in my life. Oh Jesus I need You and I hunger for You!
LOVE. He is Love. He is the true love of insatiable consuming fire. That fire is meant to fill and consume every part of us. It is not lukewarm love that deserves to be spit out. It is expensive love. It cost more than we could pay to have it. The One who is Love, paid that price we could not pay. He died a sacrificial death for us. My focus can not be on me as the one who receives the love. The focus must be on the One who gave it to me. We learn from God that we are to love Him and the ones He created. The more He loves through us, the more we grow to be more like Him.
I woke today with a new push for life in me. I want to seize the opportunity to display God's love right now, right here, while I can. I am a walking, talking, moving, touching billboard for Jesus Christ. I can leave a testimony of truth everywhere by just being the me that He lives in. As long as I am His and He lives in me, it will work. I can be willing to only barely-make an impact OR be seeking and willing to be a richly abundant spokesperson for life in Christ Jesus. It is my choice. It is your choice. Let's not put it off...
One more thing. Everything in existence anywhere that is really seen in truth has one common factor. It is seen in relation to the One on the Throne in Revelations 4. The Almighty God created us because it pleased Him to create us. My attitudes and actions don't always give my Lord God pleasure. BUT He loves me because I am His creation. Oh my goodness! Isn't that just lovely! He loves me and redeems me and this gives Him great joy to do it. It does not make sense to me why He loves me when I am so guilty of being self-centered and unloving. I put myself into the places that He is suppose to rule. I do all sorts of things that I should not do. How dare I act like I am the center of the universe? When that attitude takes hold of me, I am displacing my Lord Jesus from His place in my heart. It takes continual monitoring and soul searching to keep Him first in my life. If I do anything other than put Him first in everything, I am putting my faith in the enemy of God. That evil agent wants us to pretend to be omnipotent so that our God is displaced. No way. God is the center of everything! God I want more of You! I want eyes to see and ears to hear and a mind to act on Your Will.
In Revelation there are Seraphim's who cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy", in the presence of God. The praise and worship 24/7! Serah means to burn in the presence of God. The closer that we draw to God, the more we will burn with passion. Go for it!
blessings,
Elinda
All we need to get started is basic faith. We were born with a measure of it. I don't know how much that measure is, but it is what we start with.
Basic faith is complimented with good character. We develop good character by putting on God's character. We grow in character if we dedicate our hearts and minds into learning truth in scripture. It does not just fall into our lap. We grow into it by learning truth.
Self-control is giving God control over us so He can teach us how to master our emotions. Mastering our emotions lowers the dial on being controlled by them. I can tell if my emotions rule. My emotions rule if my focus glorifies me or other people. If emotions reign loose in me,I am guilty. I am guilty of the worship of you or of little old me myself. Wrong.
There is a big push for humanistic knowledge today. Humanistic knowledge gives rise to the opinion that it is just fine and dandy to unleash your emotions. Pagan religions have always had that kind of delivery. That is probably why people feel so free to openly argue in public and on TV. Arrogant, disrespectful, "want/need/have to have the last word" people are admired. It is also politically correct to habitually say degrading disrespectful comments to or about others. It is "funny" if you ridicule with jokes. God does not think it is not funny.
God gave me His evaluation on my attitudes when my kids were teens. It was a sorrowful keen awareness. I was personally messing up on a multitude of things.Their attitude directly reflected my basic outlook. I knew that I was introducing opinions to them on what is right and what in wrong. The problem was that my opinions and attitudes were not right. I eventually learned to check my attitudes against what God says. I try to remember to ask God to evaluate what my real focus is. Is the focus REALLY on Him or is it on building the ego of man. Am I self-absorbed and self-centered in whatever I am doing/saying? Where are You God in the focus? Am I thinking of You, at all?
Perseverance or passionate patience is an exercise of self-control.You will not be easily discouraged or tempted to quit with passionate patience. I think procrastination is an enemy of God's will in our lives. It is like sleep walking. Your eyes may be open but you are not open for business.
Reverent wisdom or godliness is a trait that will keep me aware and in need of God's presence in my life. Oh Jesus I need You and I hunger for You!
LOVE. He is Love. He is the true love of insatiable consuming fire. That fire is meant to fill and consume every part of us. It is not lukewarm love that deserves to be spit out. It is expensive love. It cost more than we could pay to have it. The One who is Love, paid that price we could not pay. He died a sacrificial death for us. My focus can not be on me as the one who receives the love. The focus must be on the One who gave it to me. We learn from God that we are to love Him and the ones He created. The more He loves through us, the more we grow to be more like Him.
I woke today with a new push for life in me. I want to seize the opportunity to display God's love right now, right here, while I can. I am a walking, talking, moving, touching billboard for Jesus Christ. I can leave a testimony of truth everywhere by just being the me that He lives in. As long as I am His and He lives in me, it will work. I can be willing to only barely-make an impact OR be seeking and willing to be a richly abundant spokesperson for life in Christ Jesus. It is my choice. It is your choice. Let's not put it off...
One more thing. Everything in existence anywhere that is really seen in truth has one common factor. It is seen in relation to the One on the Throne in Revelations 4. The Almighty God created us because it pleased Him to create us. My attitudes and actions don't always give my Lord God pleasure. BUT He loves me because I am His creation. Oh my goodness! Isn't that just lovely! He loves me and redeems me and this gives Him great joy to do it. It does not make sense to me why He loves me when I am so guilty of being self-centered and unloving. I put myself into the places that He is suppose to rule. I do all sorts of things that I should not do. How dare I act like I am the center of the universe? When that attitude takes hold of me, I am displacing my Lord Jesus from His place in my heart. It takes continual monitoring and soul searching to keep Him first in my life. If I do anything other than put Him first in everything, I am putting my faith in the enemy of God. That evil agent wants us to pretend to be omnipotent so that our God is displaced. No way. God is the center of everything! God I want more of You! I want eyes to see and ears to hear and a mind to act on Your Will.
In Revelation there are Seraphim's who cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy", in the presence of God. The praise and worship 24/7! Serah means to burn in the presence of God. The closer that we draw to God, the more we will burn with passion. Go for it!
blessings,
Elinda
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Majesty Express
Muttering: "You are the God who does miracles; you have shown people your power." Psalms 77:14
This evening, Randy and I drove our old farm truck the 33 miles to Andrea and Josh's house. That old truck just keeps on going. It has a hole in the floor board and looks really ratty, but it is a good ole truck. We chose to drive it tonight because we took the crib for the baby to the kids and it would not fit in my van.Besides it is kind of fun to ride in such a rustic contraption. When I drive it, I can hardly see over the steering wheel. The last time I drove it, I sat on a phone book so I could see. I laughed and laughed and bumped down the road.
We got to the kids house, put our dinner on the grill, played with the dogs, finally ate and had a wonderful Bible study. It was worth the time and the drive. It is never a waste to explore the Word of God. The Word was very real to me tonight. Today I had asked God to make the things that are important to His Kingdom be real to me. Also, for Him to make them really stand out so I would pay attention to them. Time is too short to miss the important things. It is not time to be dull. It is also my prayer that He gives me more of Him. I want more of Him than I have ever had before. Why? So I can glorify Him and be used in His Kingdom.
Randy and I talked on the way home. The fatigue began settling on us in a heavy way so I kept the conversation going. I am a chatter box so it is not hard for me to find something to talk about. Somehow( I know how now:-) the conversation shifted to Elk. I love the Elk and I know why. A few years I was given a majestic show by them. Not up in the mountains or on a vacation. It was right here at my house. An astounding bull Elk resided at our place for a while with his herd. He buggled and really showed off.I could hear another bull elk buggling back to him some nights. Our boy here was not a happy camper about the competition. You could see the steam rise off of him as he paced back and forth. One day I am sure he chased a competitor off. I heard the loud crashing noises at the pond. The other guy left in a huff. Our bull had a tremendous rack of at least 8 points. I was able to take pictures of him, but they will never portray what he was in person. I heard later that a hunter had tried to shoot him. He was mortally injured, but was not dead when the wildlife agents found him. He had to be put down. That really bugged me and made me sad. It was such a waste of that majestic animal. I am pretty sure a poacher shot him. I hope the bull was not in pain.
The Elk have been around this year. I saw one herd about four or five miles from here. It is a fairly big herd of about 80 animals. They were grazing with domestic cows on the back roads in the daytime. They were incredible. They just take my breath away. This year I have only managed to see one cow Elk that was close to our house. She was in the woody area on the side of our house. I can hear them, but had not see them yet. Well,God is never to be outdone by any amount of imagining that we might do. He always goes above and beyond our expectations with His goodness and blessings! Tonight He had a majesty express present for me!!!
You could have blown me away with a feather when we drove into the driveway! Elk were all over the place! In our front yard, side yard and running toward the back pasture where the pond is. We have ten acres here which is not much for a herd of elk. There are connecting lands that gives them many miles of traveling berth. BUT they were here, right here at my house! It was dark, but I could still see them jumping over the blackberries and heading to our pond in the back of the pasture. I could hear them walking through the pond and crashing around. I even heard their gutteral noises and what seemed to be the sound of a baby calling its mother. They stayed pretty close, even when I walked my three dogs. I am pretty sure that they are out there right now. Go figure? A majestic express present from my Lord Jesus Christ! Needless to say, I feel so blessed by it all. He is great and greatly to be praised!
In His service,
Elinda
This evening, Randy and I drove our old farm truck the 33 miles to Andrea and Josh's house. That old truck just keeps on going. It has a hole in the floor board and looks really ratty, but it is a good ole truck. We chose to drive it tonight because we took the crib for the baby to the kids and it would not fit in my van.Besides it is kind of fun to ride in such a rustic contraption. When I drive it, I can hardly see over the steering wheel. The last time I drove it, I sat on a phone book so I could see. I laughed and laughed and bumped down the road.
We got to the kids house, put our dinner on the grill, played with the dogs, finally ate and had a wonderful Bible study. It was worth the time and the drive. It is never a waste to explore the Word of God. The Word was very real to me tonight. Today I had asked God to make the things that are important to His Kingdom be real to me. Also, for Him to make them really stand out so I would pay attention to them. Time is too short to miss the important things. It is not time to be dull. It is also my prayer that He gives me more of Him. I want more of Him than I have ever had before. Why? So I can glorify Him and be used in His Kingdom.
Randy and I talked on the way home. The fatigue began settling on us in a heavy way so I kept the conversation going. I am a chatter box so it is not hard for me to find something to talk about. Somehow( I know how now:-) the conversation shifted to Elk. I love the Elk and I know why. A few years I was given a majestic show by them. Not up in the mountains or on a vacation. It was right here at my house. An astounding bull Elk resided at our place for a while with his herd. He buggled and really showed off.I could hear another bull elk buggling back to him some nights. Our boy here was not a happy camper about the competition. You could see the steam rise off of him as he paced back and forth. One day I am sure he chased a competitor off. I heard the loud crashing noises at the pond. The other guy left in a huff. Our bull had a tremendous rack of at least 8 points. I was able to take pictures of him, but they will never portray what he was in person. I heard later that a hunter had tried to shoot him. He was mortally injured, but was not dead when the wildlife agents found him. He had to be put down. That really bugged me and made me sad. It was such a waste of that majestic animal. I am pretty sure a poacher shot him. I hope the bull was not in pain.
The Elk have been around this year. I saw one herd about four or five miles from here. It is a fairly big herd of about 80 animals. They were grazing with domestic cows on the back roads in the daytime. They were incredible. They just take my breath away. This year I have only managed to see one cow Elk that was close to our house. She was in the woody area on the side of our house. I can hear them, but had not see them yet. Well,God is never to be outdone by any amount of imagining that we might do. He always goes above and beyond our expectations with His goodness and blessings! Tonight He had a majesty express present for me!!!
You could have blown me away with a feather when we drove into the driveway! Elk were all over the place! In our front yard, side yard and running toward the back pasture where the pond is. We have ten acres here which is not much for a herd of elk. There are connecting lands that gives them many miles of traveling berth. BUT they were here, right here at my house! It was dark, but I could still see them jumping over the blackberries and heading to our pond in the back of the pasture. I could hear them walking through the pond and crashing around. I even heard their gutteral noises and what seemed to be the sound of a baby calling its mother. They stayed pretty close, even when I walked my three dogs. I am pretty sure that they are out there right now. Go figure? A majestic express present from my Lord Jesus Christ! Needless to say, I feel so blessed by it all. He is great and greatly to be praised!
In His service,
Elinda
...you thought I was altogether like you.Not!
In Psalm 50:21 ...God said, "You thought I was altogether like you. " Not so! God goes to great lengths to help us understand.One reason that Jesus takes us to places that we have never been before is because we have misconceptions about who He really is. He takes us to a state of helplessness. We must lose control. This is the only way that He can show us that He is NOT like us. It would not work if He allowed us to stay in our controlled zone. We would depend only on ourselves or someone else.
We tend to get rattled when something usual is threatened or removed. God also knows that our flesh is very resourceful in the effort to remain comfortable. When one thing is removed, we transfer that control to another area. I don't know about you, but I tend to put a death grip on usual things that keep me at peace. I read research data that studied the length of time it takes for women to adjust to the idea of change. This study said that it takes two weeks! Women are made to have all chicks safely under her wings. It is difficult to raise your wings and let God at them.
God is stronger than my gripping little fist. When our hands are empty, He fills them with Himself. It is blessed to be dependent on Him. Remember, we are here to learn to be like Him. Not the other way around.
A good illustration is found in 11 Chronicles 16:7-9 A human chose human help. God was there willing and ready to help, but He was not asked. God is always alert and constantly looking for worshippers. We are foolish to prefer human help over God. He was looking for us in the first place. He is our help in times of trouble. He wants to make us strong.
He is not like anyone on this planet or universe! God wants to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we will know who He is. If we only have an understanding of Him in relation to His human image, we will be mislead. We will subconsciously downsize Him. We must never view Him as anything less than The Great I AM.
There is no mistake when He gives us difficult seasons. He is very aware of what is going on. Those difficult seasons are spiritual growth fertilizer. He is the reason for the season and the season is to know Him in a new deeper way. The reason always involves instruction in how to be more complete in Him.
Most of the things I have learned in these seasons are not used right away. Is that true for you, too? He usually allows me to have time for the lessons to sink in. When I have needed them, I have had them ready and waiting. He is such a grand wonderful God!
His love is not sentimental love. It is a consuming love. His consuming kind of love is one that we can not possibly have for Him or for another. He knows what our limited capabilities are. He loves us regardless, with all of Himself. His desire is for us to love Him by choice, not by force. That is all He wants. He wants us to love Him to the best of our capability. When we love Him, we glorify Him in that love.
Sometimes I try to carry the cause instead of the cross. Have you ever done that? I am ashamed when I take the focus off of myself and realize the scam. Maybe it is a would-be cross bearers way of avoiding the death involved. You can not be resurrected and changed if you don't suffer and die. The scam does not work or do any work in me. God wants me to tell Him that I am done with myself. I give up all of me to Jesus. I am willing to let Him deal with my stuff.
Before this earth was founded, God decided that He wanted to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. We are free people because Jesus willingly poured out His blood on the altar cross. Our sins and punishments were deleted right out of the system. They were not even held in a delete basket. They were totally eradicated! So we are not skimming by. We are abundantly and totally free in Jesus Christ, IF we belong to Him. Hear the truth and believe it. Say out loud that you need Him. Tell Him that you are sorry for doing wrong things. Tell Him that you need Him and no other. Ask Him to live and have His breath in you right now. Do it and He will and live in you and you will live victoriously. Live as a walking billboard for Jesus!
blessings,
Elinda
We tend to get rattled when something usual is threatened or removed. God also knows that our flesh is very resourceful in the effort to remain comfortable. When one thing is removed, we transfer that control to another area. I don't know about you, but I tend to put a death grip on usual things that keep me at peace. I read research data that studied the length of time it takes for women to adjust to the idea of change. This study said that it takes two weeks! Women are made to have all chicks safely under her wings. It is difficult to raise your wings and let God at them.
God is stronger than my gripping little fist. When our hands are empty, He fills them with Himself. It is blessed to be dependent on Him. Remember, we are here to learn to be like Him. Not the other way around.
A good illustration is found in 11 Chronicles 16:7-9 A human chose human help. God was there willing and ready to help, but He was not asked. God is always alert and constantly looking for worshippers. We are foolish to prefer human help over God. He was looking for us in the first place. He is our help in times of trouble. He wants to make us strong.
He is not like anyone on this planet or universe! God wants to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we will know who He is. If we only have an understanding of Him in relation to His human image, we will be mislead. We will subconsciously downsize Him. We must never view Him as anything less than The Great I AM.
There is no mistake when He gives us difficult seasons. He is very aware of what is going on. Those difficult seasons are spiritual growth fertilizer. He is the reason for the season and the season is to know Him in a new deeper way. The reason always involves instruction in how to be more complete in Him.
Most of the things I have learned in these seasons are not used right away. Is that true for you, too? He usually allows me to have time for the lessons to sink in. When I have needed them, I have had them ready and waiting. He is such a grand wonderful God!
His love is not sentimental love. It is a consuming love. His consuming kind of love is one that we can not possibly have for Him or for another. He knows what our limited capabilities are. He loves us regardless, with all of Himself. His desire is for us to love Him by choice, not by force. That is all He wants. He wants us to love Him to the best of our capability. When we love Him, we glorify Him in that love.
Sometimes I try to carry the cause instead of the cross. Have you ever done that? I am ashamed when I take the focus off of myself and realize the scam. Maybe it is a would-be cross bearers way of avoiding the death involved. You can not be resurrected and changed if you don't suffer and die. The scam does not work or do any work in me. God wants me to tell Him that I am done with myself. I give up all of me to Jesus. I am willing to let Him deal with my stuff.
Before this earth was founded, God decided that He wanted to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. We are free people because Jesus willingly poured out His blood on the altar cross. Our sins and punishments were deleted right out of the system. They were not even held in a delete basket. They were totally eradicated! So we are not skimming by. We are abundantly and totally free in Jesus Christ, IF we belong to Him. Hear the truth and believe it. Say out loud that you need Him. Tell Him that you are sorry for doing wrong things. Tell Him that you need Him and no other. Ask Him to live and have His breath in you right now. Do it and He will and live in you and you will live victoriously. Live as a walking billboard for Jesus!
blessings,
Elinda
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