Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

With the passing of the month of October (It's FINALLY over!), it is time now to look ahead to the blessed month of November and the priceless possession it holds. THANKSGIVING!

Often when I am feeling a bit down, I will ask the Lord to speak to me in ways I can hear Him clearly. Occasionally, I will ask Him to bless me through my mailbox. Inevitably, I will receive a note from someone or some other such reminder that I have worth and value to someone. Truly a blessing.

I have been eagerly awaiting my mailbox blessing, but I didn't recognize it immediately this time. I found in the box a package sent to (of all people) my mother who has been deceased for more than 6 years.  Aggravated that this company did not have the good sense to purchase updated mailing lists, I opened it to get the information to call and politely inform them of their error and "please take her off your list." 

Upon opening said package, I realized it was a spiritual magazine, and knowing my mother had some rather eclectic spiritual experiences during her walk on earth, I was expecting something "New Agey" and considered simply tossing it. Prompted by the Spirit, I opened it nonetheless. 

The subject of each article was being thankful for blessings. Once again, my mind asked the question, "Why do so many non-believers celebrate Thanks-Giving?" Acknowledging that our blessings come from outside of ourselves to the degree we feel we must GIVE THANKS to someone else should provoke one to question, "To WHOM am I giving thanks?" Should it not?

"Praise GOD from Whom all blessings flow..." 

I did read the entire magazine, and it was delightful.

So often we are caught up in daily pursuits; rushing to get this or that thing done. Then, at least for wives and mothers, doing the same thing all over again. Laundry by the mounds, dishes by the sinkful. It is so easy to get lost in the tedium. How refreshing to remember to step back and be thankful...

• The dirty dishes mean we at today (many times). Thank You Lord for our daily bread.
• The laundry means we all had clothes to wear. Thank You Lord for providing raiment.
• That it is bountiful means we have a wonderful little family (or is 4 babies and 2 adults "little"). Thank You Lord for each life you have breathed into our family.
• The clothes for two adults means that our marriage is still holding on. Thank You Lord for my husband who loves his family so.
• The work clothes in the laundry means my husband still has a job. Thank You Lord for employment in this harsh economy.
• The dirt on the kids clothes means they have been outside playing hard. Thank You Lord for our beautiful property and gorgeous weather. Thank You that our children are healthy and happy and love to play together.
• The piles of election propaganda ready for the burn pile tells me I need to vote. Thank You Lord that I live in country where I am free to vote. Thank You Lord that You alone are sovereign and in control of the outcome. Thank You that I can rest in the knowledge that, anxious as I may feel, I need not worry, because Your Word assures me of the final outcome.
• Thank You Lord for Your Word. Thank You I live in a country where I am free to have and to read Your Word.
• Thank You Lord for great Bible Studies.
• Thank You Lord for wonderful women of God with whom to do Bible Studies.
• And... (the list goes on)
• Thank You Lord for blessing my mailbox (again).
• Thank You Lord for magazines sent to recipients long since deceased.

Encouragement

How easy it is to get discouraged.

As a stay-at-home, home-schooling mother of 4 under 10, most everyday is struggle against discouragement and feelings of being over-whelmed. There are so many people and tasks which all seem to demand my attention every moment.  I feel exhausted before I have even begun the day.

Even as I write this, I wonder how to pull myself up out of the rut. How do I conquer this?

And then... in order to hide from the things that overwhelm, I take a break and check my facebook account. (Don't judge me :)

There, amidst the lovely pictures of all my friends, I see it. There are so many scripture postings and praise postings.  Encouragement.

There in my email box...daily devotionals I have signed up for and rarely get an opportunity to read until my inbox is overwhelmed with unread devotionals.  I read a few. Encouragement.

A few minutes spent in hearing the thoughts of others as they praise God and share beautiful scripture verses that encourage them, there I find encouragement also. 

Could this be what the Bible means when it tells us to encourage one another with psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs? Could this be what it meant that we are to encourage one another while it is yet today?

I believe it is. When we share praise with others, we rarely know how deep in impact we are having on those who are hearing.  And what is truly remarkable is that when we share something to encourage others, we in fact find encouragement ourselves. What a divine paradox!

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you and praise You that You have equipped us with the ability to be Your hug to someone who needs You. Thank You Lord that You have given us the ability to form friendships and relationships. Help us Lord to find ways to encourage each other. Help us to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Praise You, the author and perfector of our faith, the lifter of my head, and the encouragement of my heart! Amen

May the Lord Himself give you sweet and blessed encouragement today!

Hallel u Jah, Praise to Yahweh! "I shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the Lord."

Before Passover, it is common for Jews to recite Psalms 113 and 114. Following the Seder, they recite Psalms 115-118. Together these Pslams are known as the Hallel, or “the Praise.” (Hallel u Jah - Praise to Yahweh)  In verse 17 of Psalm 118, we read, “I…shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the Lord.”

This Thursday is the 8^th birthday of my eldest child and her story is nothing short of miraculous. I will extol the Lord, and recount his illustrious acts to the Praise and Glory of His Name for all the world to hear!

Very shortly after my marriage to my husband, I became pregnant.  However, In December of 2002, I lost the baby. I remember crying out to a friend and telling her that I could accept it if the Lord told me “No, not this child,” but that I didn’t think I could handle it if He told me, “No children at all.” Although I was a relatively new Christian, I was painfully cognizant that there are among us those who feel that to not have children is a curse from God. I wanted children, but felt judged by Christian women for not yet having children at 33.

In early February of 2003, our local church held its annual Missions Conference. As I was still grieving my loss, I hesitated to go, but decided at the last minute I would attend the ladies’ Missions brunch. It was a lovely affair with bright and colorful decorations and a delicious “Pot Blessing” meal.

After brunch, our host introduced the speaker. Her name was Noelle Dembele and she was from Africa. She began her talk in her African dialect and paused for her interpreter to tell us what she had said.

“In my country the worst thing that can happen to a woman is that she has no children,” she began. The tears welled up and swallowing became impossible. “They consider it a curse. But God’s Word tells us differently. In Luke 1 verse 6 it says, ‘Elizabeth and Zeccariah were righteous before God, AND YET Elizabeth was barren.’” There was no holding back the floodgate of tears. I will never forget her words as long as I live.

When she had finished speaking, her interpreter invited us to come and meet her. My friend said, “You HAVE to go talk to her. Come on, I’ll take you.” And so she led me up and waited in line with me. I explained to her interpreter that I had recently lost a baby and so appreciated what she had said. The interpreter leaned into Noelle for a moment and Noelle’s eye met mine. With that, she reached out and grabbed my stomach and began praying. She got louder and louder and more intense. I was feeling quite conspicuous, but politely held my ground.

Upon finishing, her interpreter told me, “She prayed that by the end of the next Missions Conference, you would have a child so that you would know that the Lord answers prayer.” I thanked her and left.

In my mind I did the math, and realized that in order to have a baby by the following  Febraury, I would need to conceive no later than June. When June came and went, I was devastated and assumed the Lord was telling me “No children at all.” I spent the weeks to follow grieving the loss of hope. I cried to the Lord long and hard, and finally prayed for peace and the ability to accept His decision.

I was reminded of a book I had read with my family when I was young. It was called Hinds’ Feet on High Places. In it the main character, “Much Afraid” wanted desparately to climb to the mountain tops with the Shepherd, however her legs were crippled. The book is an allegory of her journey and the lessons she learned along the way. During her journey, Much Afraid must, on numerous occasions, build an altar and place on it her deepest desires.

Upon remembrance of this, in my mind, I built an altar and placed there my desire for children. For the first time in months, I felt peace. Praise God for answered prayer.

A couple of weeks after this turning, I was speaking with a couple of ladies after church and one of them said something about my children and caught herself, “Oh my!” she said, “You don’t have any children. I’m so sorry!” I replied, “That’s alright, it’s up to the Lord,” or words to that affect. As I said it, I realized that I really was alright with it. There was complete peace.

Little did I know that when I uttered those words, I was already likely expecting. That was in July.

The pregnancy itself could not have gone worse. I began having complications immediately, and spent 7 of the 9 months on complete bedrest. I was able to get out once a week to go to the doctors and once in a while to get to church.

At 21 weeks, I went for a routine ultrasound. I was very excited that my husband was going to be able to see her, as he had taken the afternoon to go with me. Unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic and were late to the appointment. The nurse told us we would have to reschedule. My heart broke. As she could read the anguish in my face, she invited us to wait and, “If the couple scheduled after you doesn’t show up, we can go ahead and do it.” And so we waited, and I prayed.

As God would have it, they did not show up.

We went into the little room and got ready. The nurse began the test, but turned to me and said (or yelled), “Put your feet up and DON’T MOVE!” And out she ran. She came back only a few seconds later with the doctor in tow. He went pale when he looked at the screen. She was already in the process of being born. (Please note, if the other couple had made their appointment, we would NOT have known!)

He sent me to the hospital a block away and they prepared me for surgery. As they were preparing me, I could hear the doctor and nurse arguing because he wanted to go into surgery right away , as it was late in the day. She was telling him that it was protocol to monitor the baby’s heartbeat and they needed to wait for the equipment to hear it. He was adamant and said, “If anything happens to the baby, we aren’t going to try to save her anyway!” And with that I fell asleep.

Before I even opened my eyes, I screamed, ”Where’s my baby?!” The nurse who was wheeling the gurney by my head put her hand on my shoulder and said, “She’s still there.” I praised Jesus aloud all the way down the halls!

Seventeen weeks later on April 12, I bore a very healthy baby girl and named her Rose.

The doctor said in his 35 years of practice, he never gave her a chance. He did not believe until he was holding her that she would survive.

Oh, and in case you thought the Lord was late, I found out DURING my pregnancy that our local congregation has Missions Conference in February. The denomination wide Missions Conference, the one with which Noelle would have been familiar, ended April 19 that year.

Rose was indeed born before the end of the next Missions Conference and I DO know that the Lord answers prayer!  AMEN AND HALLEL-U-JAH!

The Lord Does Provide for Our Every Need

Wow! You are amazing, Lord!


I have been asked to teach a portion of the Bible Study, "Knowing God by Name." I am LOVING it. But wouldn't you know the normal "can't shut me up" me is not finding anything to share on the title Marey Malek or "King of kings."


So I was sitting on the couch doing some research and meditating, waiting for God to speak, when I noticed my four year old walk past me. I didn't think much about it until he came up and handed me my Beth Moore study, "Esther." He said, "I fought you might need dis." And, he walked away.


I had started the study, gosh what...a couple of years ago, maybe. I had left the study in the middle of it.


After he walked away, I sat there with it in my hand thinking, "Oh how cute, he thought he was helping."  Then I heard the Lord tell me, "Open it to where you left off."


Oh my goodness!!! It is truly perfect! Such majesty!

Right there, just exactly where I had left off was precisely what I needed for today! Two years ago He KNEW what I would need TODAY and prepared in advance. He knew on which page I needed to stop then in order to be on the right page now. Can you imagine that? Can you fathom the greatness of a God who is that intimate and that involved in the details of our lives?


I cannot tell you what I read because I don't want to give it away for those who will be in te class on Wednesday night. All I can say is He did it again! He blew my mind with His incredible awesomeness!


Lord God, Father in heaven You amaze me! You delight me! You tickle me! PRAISE You in all Your glory and splendor! I bow the knee and my heart!

El Shaddai

Oh now this is absolutely fascinating!

El Shaddai – translates to God Almighty. Even so, the implicit definitions of this name are debated. For instance, Wikipedia describes it as having a feminine component which speaks of life-giving through nourishment. However, Strong’s exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Old Time Gospel Hour Edition) states, “burly, powerful, destroy, utterly lay waste.”

We see the blessing and nourishing side of El Shaddai when Yahweh reveals Himself to Abraham (Genesis 17:1, 2; Genesis 28:3, Genesis 35:11). We see it also when Jacob speaks of Him to Joseph (Genesis 48:3, 4; Genesis 49:24, 25). And, in Isaiah we see praise to Him as He blesses Jerusalem:

… I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of Gentiles and shalt such the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 60:15, 16)

And in Isaiah 66:13 we see:

For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: them shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

And yet, we see the powerful El Shaddai in Ruth when she describes that He has dealt bitterly with her and laid her life to waste. (Ruth 1:20,21)

We see His power also in El Shaddai in Revelation 16:7,14):

And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

And in Revelation 19:15:

And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Revelation 21:22, 23:

And I saw no temple therin: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light therof.

(Above scriptural reference provided by http://www.parentcompany.com/awareness_of_god.)

There is one more reference in which God is named El Shaddai. It takes place in Numbers 22-24. And it rocked my world!

Please recall the pages titled “The Numbers in Numbers” (January) and “From the East” (February). PLEASE, PLEASE if you have not already read these, take a few minutes to do that now. It is critical to understanding what is coming next. (Really, go ahead. I’ll wait here. No rush... Oh thank you! OK, now keep that in mind as we go to Numbers 22)

In numbers 22 we find the Israelites camped in Moab on the plain east of the Jordan at Jericho:

(I LOVE technologyJ)

While camped in Moab, King Balak, is overwhelmed with fear the Israelites will attack and destroy them or use up all their resources and lay waste the land. Balak sends his messenger to offer a bribe to Balaam if he will curse the children of Israel so they will leave Moab.

In order to abbreviate a long account, Balaam tells the men he will only do or say as the Lord commands. The Lord tells him not to curse them and so Balaam sends them away. Balak sends the messengers back and asks Balaam to come to Moab and so he goes.

Upon arriving in Moab, Balaam informs Balak directly he will only do as the Lord commands. So Balak takes him to a place where he can offer sacrifices and then curse the people. Instead, Balaam blesses them. (The blessing is beautiful. May I suggest reading it, although at another time as it is not primary to this discussion.)

The distraught Balak takes him to another place, hoping if he sees as small part of them he will understand the plight of Moab, and curse them from there. Again Balaam informs Balak he will only do as the Lord tells him. So again they offer sacrifice and again Balaam blesses Israel rather than cursing them. (Again, beautiful and worth reading)

Balak, now frantic, takes him to yet another place, saying “…perhaps it will please God...” He brought him to the top of Mount Peor. You HAVE to see this!

Do you see?! He was standing on top of the mountain (at the red dot) that looks out over the valley plain where the Israelites were camped. He was standing east and facing west. Consequently, he was looking out over the Israelites standing leterally at the FOOT OF THE CROSS!

Looking out from His vantage, Balaam would also have seen the pillar of smoke, or the manifest presence of God.

²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel abiding in their tents according to their tribes. And the Spirit of God came upon him     ³And he took up his [figurative] discourse and said: Balaam son of Beor, the man whose eye is opened [at last, to see clearly the purposes and will of God], ⁴He [Balaam] who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty (EL SHADDAI), falling down, but having his eyes open and uncovered, he says:    ⁵How attractive and considerable are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel!    ⁶As valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the riverside, as [rare spice] of lignaloes which the Lord has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.    ⁷[Israel] shall pour water out of his own buckets [have his own sources of rich blessing and plenty], and his offspring shall dwell by many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.     ⁸God brought [Israel] forth out of Egypt; [Israel] has strength like the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his enemies, crushing their bones and piercing them through with his arrows.     ⁹He couched, he lay down as a lion; and as a lioness, who shall rouse him? Blessed [of God] is he who blesses you [who prays for and contributes to your welfare] and cursed [of God] is he who curses you [who in word, thought, or deed would bring harm upon you].

Balaam, standing at the foot of the cross, is filled with the Holy Spirit. He falls down and has a vision in which his “eye is opened and he sees the purposes and will of God!” In verse 4 he hears the words of God and sees the vision of El Shaddai. He immediately praises God and proclaims blessing over Israel, which sounds strikingly like the nourishing El Shaddai of Isaiah in verse 7 and in 8 is the burly, powerful El Shaddai of Revelation!

Is He not simply AMAZING?!

Praise you Lord God, Yahweh El Shaddai! How unfathomable are the depths of Your Word! How rich, how lovely! Thank You that when we ask to see You, when we ask for fresh revelation of Your beauty, You are faithful to delight! Thank You that You deign to reveal Yourself and Your glory to the likes of us! In Your Word we find our delight! Hallelujah!...selah.

Let Everything That Has Breath Give You Praise!

This just blew me away with praise and glory for God!

In our Bible study on the Names of God, I got to the day where we learn about Yaweh Borey (LORD Creator). The assignment for today is to choose an item in nature to do a little research about and see how amazing He is just in that one little thing. She used the example of what she had learned about snowflakes (really amazing stuff if you ever have a chance, google it). Anyway, I began to ask the Lord what He would like to draw my attention to. He kept bringing me to the trees and to the leaves. 

I had done a project on photosynthesis in high school, so I asked the Lord to show me something new (since prideful, obnoxious me thought I already knew it all about that – confessing and now repenting ;) ).  He said, “The oxygen!” And so I began to think through the process by which the leaves convert Carbon Dioxide to oxygen.

Since I knew it all (eye roll), I half-heartedly googled it.  And I found this:

Through photosynthesis, plants use the energy from sunlight to produce sugar, which cellular respiration converts into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which all living things use for energy. Oxygen is a biproduct of this chemical process.

This is written:

6H2O + 6CO2 -------> C6H12O6+ 6O2

(6 molecules of water plus 6 molecules of carbon dioxide produce 1 molecule of sugar plus 6 molecules of oxygen)

Oh Yaweh Borey, You are magnificent! I LOVE THIS!!!!

“Cellualar respiration?” That’s breathing! Trees breathe. Plants breathe. Grass breathes. Flowers breathe.

I began thinking about how the Lord uses our breathing byproduct (Carbon Dioxide) to feed the trees who in turn create the very byproduct we need for breathing (oxygen)! We breathe together!

Also, I kept thinking of the scripture where it says that Jesus had the disciples pick up all the “scraps” of fish from the 5,000 He fed, “so that nothing would be wasted!” There is nothing in His creation that is not used for His glory. His system is perfect. That cannot be an accident or evolution. It is INTELLIGENT design. Intelligence beyond what we could think or imagine. We cannot fathom His depth!

Just as I was praising Him for this amazing awesome process, the Christian music station I was listening to played “Let Everything That Has Breath Give You Praise!” by Phillips, Craig, and Dean. 

Isn’t He sweet? He knows how my heart sings with music of praise for Him, so He had them play a special song just for me in that moment!

How could we hold back praise to Him?! As Jesus said, if we who have breath do not give Him praise, “Even the rocks and stones themselves would start to sing!” Praise You Father!

The Cross in Our Bodies

Many of you may have heard the message by Louie Giglio, "How Great is Our God," but this link is a doctor's response to what he saw. The grafic amazed me.

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/jan2011/janm110-3.htm

Did you notice the photograph was Luminous?  I have been taking a Bible Study on the names of God and was interested to learn that holy ("Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord") not only means perfect, sanctified, and set apart, it also means illustrious, radiate, and shine brightly! "Be ye holy, even as I am holy." His light literally shines in and through us!!!

God You are so amazing! I know that when we meet You at the throne we will fall down in awe of Your splendour, but even now in these days I fall to my knees at your magnificence!! Praise You, Lord God Almighty! Yeshua, El Hakkadosh!

Delight in His Presence

A.W. Tozer is undoubtedly one  of the finest writers of recent time.  One of my favorite of his works is "The Pursuit of God." If you have not read any of his writing, may I encourage you.  It is phenomenal.

I have begun reading it again, so the next days will likely be spent sharing quotes from my reading. I hope it whets your appetite to search out some of his work.

"Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God.  Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term.  But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment what ever.  For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying  knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts."

Ahhhh...to delight in His Presence, selah (means pause, and think about that)! ...to tast and know His sweetness in the core of my heart!  And to think such bliss is available to us at any time as His beloved children.  "Lord I'm amazed by you, how You love me! How wide, how deep, how great is your love for me!"

Lord, I praise You! I thank you that You are such a great and mighty God, yet You have deigned to allow me, a mere speck in the grand scheme of the universe, to call you "Daddy." Thank you that because of who You are, You gave a way for us to have the right to become sons and daughters of You, the Most High. Thank You that I am able in my spirit to climb up on your lap and rest there in Your presence. Praise You, God! Blessed be Your name!