The Ripe Tomato

My friend Debbie Hayden saw a great raised bed on Pinterest, and talked her husband Durick into building it for her. Little did she know, but I had been pondering raised beds and an easier way to garden. For two decades, I had huge gardens, spending innumerable hours canning and processing the vegetables I grew. The last few years, however, I've skipped the vegetable garden because of the work involved. I missed having my own vegetables, though. I didn't have time for lots of hoeing and tilling, but something easier might work, and I pondered it so long that I finally realized I was "too late" to plant a garden. 

I was too late, that is, until Debbie and Durick made their raised bed. When Debbie posted pictures on Facebook, I began to think I might have a garden after all. When she posted pictures of the seedlings growing, I was sold on the project. 

The old white farm truck was loaded down with concrete blocks and garden soil that early Saturday morning. Bill the Magnificent took one look at the load and said, "What in the world are you up to now?" Before long, he could see for himself. The raised bed was a reality. I planted my seeds and an heirloom tomato plant and started watering and watching. In no time at all, I had seedlings of my own. 

In Blue Springs, gardeners plant with the idea of having a ripe tomato by July 4th. Of course that date came and went with the only ripe tomatoes coming from someone else's garden. This week, however, there's been just enough from the garden: one squash a day, plenty of herbs, and lovely cut flowers, but no tomatoes. Yesterday, one of the tomatoes was finally red. After one more day to ripen on the vine, it was part of supper tonight. Yum! Home grown tomatoes!  It turns out that I wasn't too late after all!

You may not do this, but I have so much going on that the most pressing things get done first, leaving some of the less pressing but most desired things undone. That ripe tomato reminded me that second chances are worth seizing. 

Are you putting off something you'd really like to do (or really should do) because of more pressing matters? Why not take advantage of a second chance and get it done. After all, there's truth in the old adage, "Better late than never".  My ripe tomato is proof of that! 

(PS - I know that's a picture of squash, but I'd already eaten the tomato!)

Excitement in the boat, part 12: where is your faith?

And He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?" (Luke 8:25 NASB)

Jesus asked the disciples an interesting question. "Where is your faith?" When the hurricane/storm threatened to swamp their boat, they were badly frightened and finally turned to Jesus for help. He moved closer to them, spoke to the storm, and calmed the seas. 

The disciples were as frightened of the power of Jesus as they were of the storm. "Who is this man?" They were asking. They had been with Jesus nonstop, heard Him teach countless times, heard Him claim to be the Messiah. They had proclaimed their faith in Him. When the hard time arrived, however, that faith in Jesus was in short supply. 

They had enough faith for listening, but not for living. When they needed their faith in Christ to see them through a crisis, they didn't seem to have enough. Why not?  Where was their faith? Their faith was in their own ability to deal with the trouble they faced, not in Jesus and His power to see them through. 

It's a good question for us, as well. Where is our faith? In ourselves or in Jesus?  

Pray today that we and our loved ones will place our faith securely in the One who has power over any storm we face, rather than in ourselves. 

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Link to last night's blog post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/friday-night-with-friends-whose-want-do.html

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The terrorist prayer focus this week is Hamas. Pray that they will begin to value life, that their efforts at terror will not prosper, and that their social welfare programs will be more important to them than their costly efforts at destruction. Pray for the kind of Damascus road experience that turned a Saul into a Paul. 

Friday Night with Friends: Whose Want do I Want? By Sam Pennell

Our Friday Night with Friends guest blogger is Sam Pennell. He is a fireman and will be heading to Antarctica soon to work for six months. He is also my very dear nephew, and a wonderful writer. He shares from his heart on a very pertinent topic. Be sure to share some love with him. 

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Today I am going to touch on a subject that is, well, touchy, and it is one that has affected me recently. I am going to talk about prayer. This is a touchy subject with many of us because we simply don’t do it enough, or we don’t do it like we should.

My problem was that I wanted something, but I didn’t know if it was God leading me to want it or not. Even though we don’t like to admit it, the Devil can do great and powerful things to lead us astray. That is why we must maintain our prayer and focus on God. 

One thing I learned from my upbringing was that though the Scripture says, “Ask and ye shall receive,” asking God to make your plans come true is not what is meant. I am not saying that doing so won’t get you the results you seek, but you may find it’s not really what you wanted. I was taught to ask God to guide me along His chosen path for me and to seek His will on the problems I had. This is the key to the “Ask and ye shall receive” verse.  If you seek His will in your life and you want what He wants for you, you will find it. Our focus should be on God and His plan, not on our worldly wants, and then we can trust that He will provide for us the things we need.

Perhaps you are in a situation like I was in and feel drawn to something, but you aren’t sure that it is God leading you there or not.  In that case, what do you do? I did what I was taught. I sought God in prayer, opened up my heart, and told Him everything I felt about the situation and where I felt I was being drawn, then I asked Him to guide me according to His will in this situation. If it was what He wanted me to do, then remove all doubt and make it known to me, and if this was not the path I should take, block my path there.  Turn me away from it. 

Now, I am going to put this out there because I was stupid and thought I knew it all, but when you ask this of God, be ready for any possible outcome. I was not ready for what He did in my life, and I allowed myself to get hurt. I eventually realized what was going on, and accepted it as His will and stopped bucking it. 

When you ask, be sure you are ready to receive. He gives us nothing but blessings, whether we recognize them as blessings or not when we get them. I can name so many instances in my life and all of my friends lives that we thought at first were horrible things, yet they all turned out to be wonderful blessings. 

Now is just the time for me to wait and see what great blessing He has given me that I can’t see yet. It may just be time till the time is right or it may be a whole different set of possibilities I can’t even fathom at this moment. Just remember, pray often and honestly, and when you are truly lost, it is best to fully humble yourself before God and literally get down on your knees and talk to the Lord. I hope this shines a bright light into someone’s soul today. 

Excitement in the Boat, part 11:

They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:24 NASB)

There is a lovely bit of truth left to glean from this verse, and we come to it at last!

  You will likely remember that Jesus was taking a nap in the back of the boat while his disciples (including several professional fishermen) were in the front of the boat. Suddenly, they encountered a terrible storm (essentially a hurricane) and the boat was about to sink from all the water it had taken on. Just in the nick of time, the disciples awakened Jesus, who commanded the storm to stop. As all nature is compelled to do, the storm instantly obeyed. It is what we should do in response to Christ's commands but, all too often, we do not. 

As soon as the storm stopped, a wonderful thing happened. 

Calm. 

Everything became calm. The sea. The boat. The disciples. 

Total calm was birthed by instant obedience. 

 Perhaps if we understood this truth a little better, we would be quicker to obey. 

Certainly, storms and calm are not generally considered a part of the same continuum, but it is clear from this that, as soon as the command of Christ was obeyed, peace came. Perhaps part of the reason is that instant obedience to God's command puts the responsibility for the outcome squarely in God's hands.   There is great comfort in having One who is filled with wisdom directing our steps. 

The word translated as "calm" is galēnē and it comes from a root word meaning "to smile".  How about that? When we obey instantly, it not only fills us with peace (and calm), but the calm of Christ is evident on our faces. When people look at us, they should be able to see the evidence of our obedience on our faces, and be drawn to it. 

What do people see when they look at our faces?  Worry or calm, confident peace?  Pray today that our faces would reflect the calm that comes from obedience in such a way that both our loved ones and all we encounter would be drawn to Jesus. 

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Here's the link to last night's post. It's a guest blog I wrote for bottleofwineandabible.us and worth the read (even if I did write it): http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/starting-uprising.html

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The terrorist prayer focus this week is Hamas. Pray that they will begin to value life, that their efforts at terror will not prosper, and that their social welfare programs will be more important to them than their costly efforts at destruction. Pray for the kind of Damascus road experience that turned a Saul into a Paul. 

Starting an Uprising.

I'm so excited about being a guest blogger for bottleofwineandabible tonight!  You can read my blog on Starting an Uprising there, and you should! I really am super excited, so please click here to read the post:  http://bottleofwineandabible.us/easyblog/entry/staging-an-uprising-by-leanna-hollis.html

Be sure and look around on their site while you are there!

Thanks for clicking! 

Excitement in the boat, part 10: Prompt Pbedience

They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:24 NASB)

The amazing thing about this passage is not that Jesus took a nap, that there was a bad storm, or that the disciples were frightened by the severity of the wind and waves. It is not even that they turned to Jesus and He rebuked the storm. The demonstration of His power is in this one little word: pauō. This is the word translated as "they stopped".  The near-fatal storm stopped abruptly when Jesus commanded it to stop. How amazing is that kind of instant obedience? Very!

The thing we often overlook is our responsibility to obey in like manner. Jesus said that, if we love Him, we will obey Him. 

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15 NASB)

Just as the cessation of the storm in obedience to His command demonstrated His great power, our quick obedience also demonstrates the power of God in our lives. Our lack of obedience says something about His power in our lives, as well. 

The commands of Christ were not meant to be merely red letters in a leather-bound book. They are life words, and were given for us to obey. In no way are they considered optional, at least by Jesus. Things like loving our enemy, fasting, turning the other cheek, and sacrificial, suffering service are not popular today. They may not be popular, but neither are they optional for those who love Jesus. 

If prompt obedience to the direction of Jesus demonstrates not only His power in our lives but also our love for Him, what does our own obedience demonstrate? Can the world see the power and love of God in us by the way we obey? 

Pray today that we and our loved ones would be so compelled by our love for God that it is evident to all by the quality and promptness of our obedience. 

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Link to last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/window-seat.html

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The terrorist prayer focus this week is Hamas. Pray that they will begin to value life, that their efforts at terror will not prosper, and that their social welfare programs will be more important to them than their costly efforts at destruction. Pray for the kind of Damascus road experience that turned a Saul into a Paul. 

Window Seat

This article first appeared in Physician, a FOTF magazine in the March/April 2004 issue

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As the plane lifted off, I looked out the window at the freeway below. I could see a huge traffic jam. Certainly, the drivers were under the impression that they'd be late getting to their destinations. From my vantage point, however, I could see that the road abruptly cleared just ahead of the jam. I could see the commuters' present situation; it wasn't nearly as bad as it must have seemed to them. 

That's how God sees. He looks down at us in the midst of our struggles and sees clearly all that lies ahead. 

He sees the beginning and the end. 

He is the Beginning and the End. 

The next time you find yourself in a tough spot, remember that the Alpha and Omega has both the present and future firmly in hand. Neither takes Him by surprise. 

Excitement in the Boat, part 9:

They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:24 NASB)

The word translated as "rebuked" is an interesting choice of words. It is epitimaō, and is defined as "to charge". It is used to mean "to show honor" or "to adjudge". Digging a little deeper, we find that it comes from two roots words. The first is translated as "chamberlain" and it indicates the one in the service of the King who is in charge of an area. The second root is used to indicate "to honor" or "to fix the value of". None of that sounds much like what we think of as rebuking, does it?

When Jesus stepped up to speak to the storm, he was announcing His authority as the One who was in charge. He was not only commissioned by the King, He was the King. In reminding the wind and the waves of Who He was, He also reminded them of the value of the cargo in the boat. In a personification of the storm, He was saying, "I'm in charge here. You do not want to mess with this boat. The price is way too high.  Stop this now."  

Let's be sure we get this, because it is breathtakingly beautiful. Jesus was the one in charge of the boat and anything that affected it. The disciples were the "cargo" for which He cared. When He addressed the storm, He was commanding it to be still on the basis of His authority and because of the high value He placed on the lives of His disciples. Of inestimable value and dearly loved, those disciples were far too precious to have the storm destroy them. 

As a disciple of Jesus today, we can put our own names in that sentence. 

Of inestimable value and dearly loved, you are far too precious to Jesus for Him to allow the storms of life to destroy you. 

He is with us, He in in charge, he loves us, and He is protecting us. 

Dear ones, trust the One who loves you most, and pray that He will still the storms that assail you and your loved ones. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-back-tree.html

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The terrorist prayer focus this week is Hamas. Pray that they will begin to value life, that their efforts at terror will not prosper, and that their social welfare programs will be more important to them than their costly efforts at destruction. Pray for the kind of Damascus road experience that turned a Saul into a Paul. 

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The "Come Back " Tree

I had not been at the farm long when I found a very frustrating problem with my fig tree. No fruit. Several years went by, and still essentially no fruit. Finally, I was so distressed by the tree that I cut it down and gave it the opportunity to "come back". The next year, it had figs, and it has borne fruit faithfully every year since then.

The single-digit temperatures this past winter were a bad blow to the tree, and for a while I thought it might have died, but leaves finally grew. Yesterday, I passed the tree on the way to the barn, and realized it is once again loaded with figs. 

The more I look at those baby figs, the more I remember the sad day when I cut the tree down to the ground. It seemed most likely that the tree would never have fruit again. What did I know? Apparently, not much!

Since that day, I've eaten an outrageous number of figs, canned countless jars of fig preserves, and baked quite a few none-too-popular fig desserts. Despite all that, there have been enough figs to share with the birds and squirrels. It turned out that the pruning was the best thing that ever happened to the old fig tree. 

Pruning is one of those very necessary things in the Christian life. When we are connected to the vine, our branches that bear no fruit (or poor fruit) must be removed. Don't be surprised when our Lord does some pruning in your life. The objective is not to take away, it is to add more. The result of careful, well planned pruning is always more fruit, less disease. That is exactly the kind of pruning our Lord does. 

Those instances of pruning in my own life have sometimes seemed like the saddest thing imaginable. What a surprise it always is to find that God has done something new and something better to make me more productive for the Kingdom. 

Are you experiencing a little pruning? Don't grieve for those lost branches. Instead, thank God for the new growth to come. Thank Him, too, for all the fruit He plans for you to bear. Before you know it, you will be glad for the pruning He did. 

Excitement in the boat, part 8: He got up

They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:24 NASB)

"And He got up." What beautiful words!  The disciples found themselves in a desperate situation and in grave danger. They had done all they could do and failed to turn the situation around. At last, they called on the only One with the power and authority to intervene. Jesus. 

As soon as they called to Jesus, an amazing thing happened. He got up. There was no delay and no rebuke. He simply responded by getting up from His resting place. Did Jesus need a change of position to still the waves? No, He did not. His change of position moved Him into the midst of the disciples, who were terrified and desperate. When called upon, Jesus moved to be close to them. 

Selah. Consider this a moment. 

The disciples were in the front of the boat and Jesus was in the back sleeping. When they called to Him, He got up and moved closer to them. What a relief that must have been! His presence was both reassurance and comfort. He cares. He is here. 

We, too, can experience that same comforting presence because of the Holy Spirit. Are you facing a situation that threatens to overwhelm you? Call out to Jesus.  He will respond, and the first action He will take is to move a bit closer. Pause and sense His nearness. Isn't that reassuring? He is in the midst of your situation and will move. 

Pray today that we and our loved ones will call out to Jesus in our distress and sense His comforting presence in response. 

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The terrorist prayer focus this week is Hamas. Pray that they will begin to value life, that their efforts at terror will not prosper, and that their social welfare programs will be more important to them than their costly efforts at destruction. 

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The link to last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/radical-obedience-hamas-and-khaled.html

Radical Obedience: Hamas and Khaled Meshaal

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. (Psalms 122:6 NASB)

Khaled Meshaal, a Suni Muslim, heads the Hamas organization, which was originally an off shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and has the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation as its goal. This is a Muslim organization with three main branches, or wings: Social Welfare, Political, and Military.  According to Wikipedia, "Israeli scholar Reuven Paz estimates that 90% of Hamas activities revolve around "social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities". Social services include running relief programs and funding schools, orphanages, mosques, healthcare clinics, soup kitchens, and sports leagues.^[57]" Needless to say, the social welfare activities have made Hamas very popular with the Palestinians. 

It is not the social welfare programs that are the problem. The military branch excels at covert operations and have targeted groups that they consider moral deviants, pro-Israelis, and random unarmed civilians.  They view suicide bombings and summary executions as acceptable options, and celebrate the idea of martyrdom.  Criticism of Hamas has not been tolerated, and has resulted in execution for those dissidents who are brave enough to speak out against them.  

Although the claim of only 10% of their activities as military sounds nice, those activities are acts of terrorism, which is by definition "using violence and threats to intimidate or coerce". Being 90% humanitarian does not excuse the 10% of this organization that is purely terrorist, nor Khaled Meshaal, who heads this organization.  

The current conflict between Hamas and Israel is a perfect example of the tactics of these terrorists.  They have shot rockets into Israel and dug tunnels from Gaza to Israel "with our fingernails", with the plan being to send terrorists in disguise through the tunnels to infiltrate into Israel.  The Jerusalem Post is reporting a statement by Mushir-al-Masri, a spokesman for Hamas, who says that Israel has not discovered even a fraction of the tunnels, that they will build many more, and that, despite their losses, they are recuperating and will liberate Palestine from Israel.  

Terrorism is inexcusable.  

No matter what your objective, terrorism is inexcusable.  

No matter how many soup kitchens and schools you support, terrorism is inexcusable.  

With that understanding, please pray this week for Kahled Meshaal, who heads Hamas, and those who lead with him.  Admittedly, praying for these terrorists is not easy.  The prayer that never fails, however, is the one that we would do well to pray here.  Thy will be done. Whatever God wants in their lives is what we should want. Because His Word says that He is not willing for any to perish, we should want that, too.  For that reason, repentance and transformation should be a part of our prayers for these men.  

There is one more thing we can pray in this situation.  There is clear instruction in the Scripture to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem."  In these days when there is such threat of violence and destruction toward Jerusalem, we can pray with confidence for the peace of Jerusalem, knowing that it is the will of God.  

Excitement in the Boat, part 7: The Master Moment

They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:24 NASB)

Get the picture clear in your mind's eye. The disciples were with Jesus in a large wooden boat (or ship), sailing across the Sea of Galilee. Lulled by the rocking of the boat, Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat. The disciples knew He was tired and had decided to let Him rest, since they were professionals and could handle the transit. 

Suddenly, an enormous storm began. The next thing they know, they were caught in a whirlwind (hurricane) and the ship was about to be swamped. The disciples were desperate and had done all they knew to do, to no avail. 

Finally, someone remembered Jesus in the back of the boat, sleeping. "Master!" they cried, to awaken Him. "Master" was the term used, not teacher, as they sometimes said. Instead, it was "Master", indicating acknowledgement of His authority. Perhaps that disciple had an idea about this One who was so clearly in charge in every situation. 

In a way, the use of the honorific Master was a turning over of the authority for the ship and all in it to Jesus. When they cried  "Master", it was their point of surrender. It was the moment they gave up trying to solve the problem and gave it all to Jesus.

We desperately need those moments of surrender, when we cry out "Master" and not only acknowledge our Lord's authority but give all the trouble, all the chaos, all the danger to Jesus.  Have you experienced a "Master moment"? Have you given your storm to Jesus?

Today, pray that we and our loved ones would surrender the storms (and the calms) of our lives to the only One who can still the storms. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/back-to-beginning-bahamian-blogging-14.html

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Our terrorist prayer focus this week is Abubakar Shekau. He is the leader of Boku Haram, a radical terrorist organization operating in northeastern Nigeria. He is particularly fond of kidnapping and murder, having kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls (many who are still in captivity). Earlier this week, his forces captured a civilian-controlled town, murdered at least 100 people, and made the town his new headquarters. More than 22,000 have been killed in battle between his forces and the Nigerian military in the last few years. Earlier this week, two bombs in Abuja killed dozen more. Boku Haram is suspected. Please pray for an end to his reign of terror and for salvation for him and his men.  

Back to the Beginning (Bahamian Blogging # 14)

Our arrival in the Bahamas was a little unusual.  I was expecting beaches and palm trees.  Alas, they would have to wait.  My cousin and her friends picked us up at the airport in Freeport, and we immediately went to a health food store, where we shared vegan fudgesicles. Since I am very fond of my own health food store, as well as fudgesicles, this was like being at home, and was a perfect welcome for me.  We had missed lunch, so this was a wonderful treat, as well.

From there, we went to Pinder's Point.  One of the songs on the C-Force CD (the Classical Caribbean music trio of which my cousin is a part) was titled "Pinder's Point" and everyone wanted to see this spot about which they had played.

Pinder's Point was the place Chris Justilien was reared and where he began his musical career, playing the organ in the church his father pastored.  We had the opportunity to explore the small community at Pinder's Point, visit the home in which Chris grew up (above), and meet his sister Arlene. Chris had a happy reunion with some of the people who still lived there.  

This is Chris with his sister Arlene. She is as sweet as she is beautiful. We loved her instantly. 

Since we were taking in the sights, we also visited the Pinder's Point Cemetery, which was adjacent to the beach. It was a rock-strewn beach with a lovely view. 

Chris told us stories about fishing for sardines on the beach and taking them home for breakfast, as well as tales of long-ago adventures in the little community. He was full of smiles as he remembered those happy childhood days, and it was evident they had shaped the man he has become. Chris is not only a professional musician, playing multiple instruments, but is a composer, band leader, active community servant, and assistant professor of music at the College of the Bahamas. 

What is most important about Chris, however, is not how well he plays instruments, composes, or speaks.  What is important about Chris is that everything he does is infused with the aroma of his faith in Christ.  The lessons he learned at his father's knee have born fruit in a life that is full of caring, service, and love.  This gentle man may have left the simple community of Pinder's Point, but he carries the truths he learned there deep in his heart, and they exert a gentle influence on him every day.  

When I met Chris, he instantly felt like family.  When I saw him at Pinder's Point, where his musical journey began, I realized he is family.  The journey back to the beginning was important for us to know Chris a little better.  The journey back was just a happy reunion for Chris.  He carries Pinder's Point, his "starting place", with him everywhere he goes.  That's what we should do, too.  

Excitement in the Boat, part 6:

But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:23-24 NASB)

There can be a vast difference between the reality of a situation and our perception of that situation.  Scripture tells us that the disciples were kindyneuō, "in danger".  This was an absolutely real danger, but what kind of danger?  Their boat was caught in a whirlwind or hurricane, and was tossed about. The waves were chaotic and water was pouring into the boat, which was beginning to be swamped. The immediate danger was that the boat would sink and they would be thrown into the water. Once they landed in the water, there would be a different set of dangers, but they were not in those dangers yet. 

The disciples' perception about their situation was apollymi. This word is translated as "perishing" but, according to Vine's Expository Dictionary, it is used to mean "ruin" or "loss of well being."  Their perception was that they were about to be utterly destroyed, not just losing their life but everything that mattered, and they were terrified. 

There is a vast difference between the risk of falling out of the boat and the risk of losing everything, including your life.  In the midst of a horrific storm, they both look very much alike. Once the falling out of the boat was accomplished, the risk would be loss of life and all that was dear. The disciples were so busy anticipating the worst that it seemed to be already upon them. A boat in danger of sinking is not yet a sunken boat, but it "felt like it".  

Why does this difference in perception matter?  The action required for a boat about to be swamped in a storm is different than that required when a boat is gone and you are tossed into the sea. Overwhelming fear and misperception can cause you to start throwing things overboard and clinging to life rafts when what is actually needed is a big bucket with which to bail the water. 

The good news is that they, in their despair, took their fears and their desperate situation to Jesus, who readily intervened. It was the right decision, and might have been made earlier.  It should have been made earlier. Regardless, once the help of God was sought, it was received, and the storm was stilled. 

When Jesus spoke to the storm, He stilled the waves and the wind. He did not miraculously empty the boat of the water with which those raging waves had filled it. The disciples still needed a big bucket with which to bail out the water, and there was more water to bail because of their delaying in calling out to Jesus. 

What does all this mean for us?  It is important that we correctly assess the danger in the midst of the storms of life so that we can take the appropriate action in response. It is even more important that we take those storms of life to Jesus, who can still the storm with a word. Stilling the storm does not mean there are no sequelae with which to deal, but the timing of our surrender of the situation can result in more (or less) "water to bail". 

Dear ones, if you find yourself in a life-storm, don't wait until you are terrified and paralyzed with fear. Take it to Jesus now, invite Him to intervene, and allow Him to quiet your storm. You may still need to bail, but the sooner you invite Him into your storm, the less water you will need to bail. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-city-cousin-and-country-cousin.html

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Our terrorist prayer focus this week is Abubakar Shekau. He is the leader of Boku Haram, a radical terrorist organization operating in northeastern Nigeria. He is particularly fond of kidnapping and murder, having kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls (many who are still in captivity). Earlier this week, his forces captured a civilian-controlled town, murdered at least 100 people, and made the town his new headquarters. More than 22,000 have been killed in battle between his forces and the Nigerian military in the last few years. Earlier this week, two bombs in Abuja killed dozen more. Boku Haram is suspected. Please pray for an end to his reign of terror and for salvation for him and his men.