The Way God Met My Need

One of my morning Psalms today contained words that spoke to me and reminded me of my grandmother.

"One generation shall praise Thy works to another, 

and shall declare Thy mighty acts. 

Psalm 144:3 nasb

Parents and grandparents are to tell their children and grandchildren about all the sweet things God does for them every day. As we do, we will train them to see God at work around them. That presumes, of course, that we can see God at work around us.

The Psalm continued with these words:

And men shall speak of the power of Thy awesome acts;

And I will tell of Thy greatness. 

Psalm 144:6 nasb

With those words in mind, I'm going to share one of those sweet things God did for me yesterday.

There has been so much going on in my life lately that I have hardly known which way to turn. I won't list it all, but I have a crazy number of projects underway. I've been swamped. And very nearly overwhelmed.

My church is having a four-day Thirst Revival this week. I hate to admit it, but I didn't really want to go to the revival. I was worn out and I needed a break, not another meeting. Or so I thought.

I left church yesterday morning as tired as I went, and wondered if I would get revived or not.

You may not do this, but, last afternoon, I struggled with whether or not to go back to church. The fear that I might miss a mighty move of God was the reason I finally decided I should go. 

I prayed that God would begin His revival with me. "I don't want to pass time in a pew. Do something, Lord."

He did.

Last night, the preacher talked about idols in our lives. He asked us to write down the idol we needed to give up, take it to the altar, and leave it there. 

What was so unusual was that he talked about idols, but I thought he talked about the burdens that were weighing me down. I had some questions for the Lord about a few issues in my life, and the preacher answered every one of them. When he got to the "write down the idol" section, I heard him say to write down my burdens, take them to the altar, and leave them there. 

So I did.

It was only after I got home that I realized I had heard a different sermon than he had preached. It was the very sermon I needed to hear.

Here's what was so surprising. At the very moment (at the exact time) that I was at the altar, giving my concern to the Lord, an email landed in my inbox. When I got home, I found the email and read words that encouraged me to press on. They validated my efforts. "In case you've wondered..." it said. 

Those words were exactly what I needed to hear in regard to the issues I'd taken to the altar, as were the preacher's words. Any one of those things might have happened separately, but only God put all those things together at once.

It reminded me of a verse from Luke. I love the way The Message puts it.

"There was a lot more of this - words that gave strength to the people, words that put heart in them." (Luke 3:18 MSG)

The words I heard last evening gave me strength and put heart in me, and I'm grateful for them. I saw the orchestration of God, in both words and timing, and it, too, strengthened me.

That orchestration of those words yesterday was one of those works of God we are supposed to tell others about. God saw my need and He met it. Exactly as I needed it met. It was like cool refreshment on a hot summer day.

When I share that little incident, I am praising God's works and declaring His mighty acts, telling of His greatness, speaking of the power of His awesome deeds.

We don't serve a God of paper on print, merely a story in a book. We serve a God who is intimately involved in all our days. Let's rejoice in His goodness and share the news with all who will listen.

What about you? What have you seen God do in the last few days? 

Don't just soak His goodness up like a sponge. Be a sieve. Allow the goodness of God to pass through you to those around you as you share the news of all He's done.

Praise His holy name.
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Sweetness of Snuggling  (http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-sweetness-of-snuggling.html) 

#PraiseHim #MondayMeditation #faithlife

The beginning of fruit

My grape vine is only a few months old, but it has already begun to produce fruit. Of course, those tiny beginning-grapes are far from the plump, juicy fruit it will bear later, but it's a start. 

What surprised me most about the fruit is that the vine is so young. I expected to wait a year or more before I saw any grapes. My young vine is not wasting any time. 

When I saw the vine yesterday, I was reminded of our relationship with Christ. He is the vine. We are the branches. His Father is the vinedresser. Our job is to bear fruit. John 15:1, 5)

As branches, we are connected to the vine, through which all our nutrients flow. Jesus said, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing." He was right. A branch, apart from the vine, is nothing but a stick.

We have a few options in this branch-ness of ours. We can separate from the vine, wither, and dry up. We can accept the nutrients from the branch and grow long and strong, with lots of luxurious leaves. We can be beautiful, but, if we don't grow fruit, we've wasted all the growth.

The purpose of the branch is not to grow leaves. The purpose of the branch is fruit.

Scripture speaks of more than one kind of fruit. There is, of course, the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. As disciples of Christ, these fruit should steadily increase in our lives, but they are not the only fruit we should bear.

Paul, in Romans 1:13 spoke of his desire to go to Rome so that he might have "fruit" there. He was referring to the conversion of souls to Christ. To sharing the gospel with those who do not know Christ and strengthening those who do.

Colossians 1:10 speaks of "bearing fruit in every good work." 

It is not enough to simply develop good character traits. We must allow the Spirit to manifest those traits through us by our actions. Faithfulness should lead us to faithfully share a witness wherever we are. Kindness should prompt us to do kind deeds for others.

Jesus' announced His mission statement, from Isaiah 61. He came to "bring good news to the afflicted... bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners... to comfort those who mourn." Isaiah 61:1-2 nasb 

Jesus involved Himself in the lives (and the needs) of hurting people. If we are to be like Him, we will, too.

Jesus did not die so that we might bear beautiful leaves. He died so that we could be set free from the power of sin in our lives and be restored to right relationship with God. That restoration should lead to fruit, both in our hearts and through our lives. We need to both BE and DO.

Let's do a little fruit inspection today. Are the fruits of the Spirit present in our lives? Are they increasing? Are those fruit-traits manifesting in action? Are we involved in the lives of hurting people? Are we doing good works? 

If not, why not?

In the early church, believers were remarkable for their love - both for each other and for those in need. We should be the same. 

Today, ask yourself, "Who does Christ want to love through me today?" Don't be content with asking the question, though. Keep being, but also start loving. Start doing.

Be the hands and feet of Jesus in a world that is perishing.

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If you're participating in the Hosea study, the second lesson is posted on the website. and the link is below. It's a lot of work, but it'll be worth it in the end. God bless your efforts.

Here's the link to Chapter 2 of the Hosea Bible study  (http://lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com/2016/05/hosea-chapter-2-entire-chapter.html)

Here's the link to yesterday's post: Sharing Secrets With God (http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2016/05/sharing-secrets-with-god.html)

#MondayMeditation #bearmuchfruit #vineandbranches

The Fancy Paint Job and the Crummy Roof

I had a wonderful time over my birthday weekend. My son had planned activities for the entire time. I am still in awe of the gracious love he poured over me like a balm. We made sweet, sweet memories.

Ryan had planned for us to attend a parade and festival in one of the neighborhoods in Atlanta. There were gorgeous old homes, many of which had been restored to showplaces. One house in particular was very impressive. It had been painted a rich forest green with brown and tan trim. It was lovely. 

We rested on the curb for a few minutes and watched as one person after another stopped to photograph the house. As I considered it and the attention it gathered, my eye was drawn to the roof. It was in terrible shape. There were numerous missing shingles.

The owners had taken great care to make the outside look good, but, for whatever reason, hadn't secured the inside by repairing the roof. I wondered if that job was next on their list. If it was a new problem. If they couldn't agree on roofing materials. If they hadn't noticed because their eyes were fixed on things below.

There wasn't a hole in the roof that I could see, but, without attention, the roof would soon be a problem.

I sat on the curb, fanned myself with a hand-fan, and pondered how often my own eyes are fixed on things below. 

How often do I focus on the appearances in my life rather than my Shelter in the storms of life? 

How often do I worry about the cosmetic changes but not the most important structural changes needed in my life? 

My priorities? 

My relationship with our Lord? 

Today, let's take a close look at the entire "house" of our lives. Are we taking care of the one thing that secures our "insides", our souls? Are we focusing our attention on our relationship with God or our relationship with the world? 

An attractive outside may be pleasant to behold, but is of little value if the inside isn't secure. 

"God is our refuge and strength, 

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change

And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

Though its waters roar and foam,

Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride."

Psalm 46:1-3 nasb

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ps - the photo is of my house, not the fancy one, and it has a good roof.

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In case you missed it, here's my post from yesterday: My latest adventure
(http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2016/05/my-latest-adventure.html)
The Hosea Bible study has started but it's not too late to join.
#shelter #Mondaymeditation #linesfromleanna

When Our Enemies Flee

The king of the Ammonites had died. David sent a delegation of men to the funeral because the king had previously done a kindness for him. The advisors of the deceased king's son accused the men of being spies. 

The son believe the lies and treated David's men badly. He cut their clothes off short and cut their beards. It was disgraceful conduct. David was, needless to say, upset.

The Ammonites took it one step further. Since David was so upset, they decided to attack him before he could attack them. They hired extra soldiers and gathered outside the gate of Jerusalem. 

If I were going to do what they did, I'd never have gathered to attack in the first place, but there's no accounting for some people's choices.

With multiple armies outside the gates, David sent his army out, too. The hired Arameans saw the army and fled. The Ammonites saw the Arameans running, so they fled, too. 

That fleeing seemed remarkable to me, so I checked the Hebrew. Newc is the word translated as "fled" and it does, indeed, mean they turned and ran.

As I've read through the exploits of the armies of Israel recently, I've been surprised by how often the army showed up to do battle only to have their opponent flee.

In 2 Samuel 5, the Philistines heard the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees and fled. I read that and wondered what kind of army they thought marched in trees instead of on the ground.

In 2 Kings 7, the same thing happened. The Aramean army showed up, but left in the middle of the night because they heard the marching of a mighty army.

I wonder how different this nation would be if we understood that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12) 

How often would the enemy of our soul flee before us if we simply showed up for battle, dressed in our full suit of armor, instead of cowering before him? 

I can't even remember what the project was now, but there was so much resistance that a friend said, "God must be planning to do something or the enemy wouldn't be trying so hard to stop it. What are you going to do?" 

"I'm gonna do exactly what God told me to do. Why waste all this warfare?"

Resistance from the enemy is not the time to stop. It's the time to press in, work harder at righteousness. It's the time to rejoice, because he knows his kingdom is in danger.

Just as a review, let's look at the spiritual armor we have available:

Girdle of Truth

Breastplate of Righteousness

Boots of preparation of the gospel of Peace

Shield of Faith

Helmet of Salvation

Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God

The only offensive weapon we have is the Word of God, but we can't wield the weapon if we don't know the Word. That's why in-depth, dig-it-out-for-yourself Bible study is so critically important. It plants truth deep in our hearts so we'll have it when we need it.

It's important to realize that neither indignation nor outrage are part of our spiritual armament. Those emotions may be popular today, but, if I read Scripture correctly, they are useless against the evil one.

Today, let's stop cowering before the enemy and his minions. Let's put on our battle gear and stand, with all the love of Christ in our hearts, before our enemies.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength; And your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27 nasb

"Our battle is not against flesh and blood..." Ephesians 6:12 nasb

#spiritualwarfare #MondayMeditation #armyofGod

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In case you missed it, here's the link for yesterday's post: A Heart Like King David's