If You Move I Will Do It

 

When I was growing up, Daddy would sometimes bake my grandmother’s teacakes. They were delicious and they were a treat for all. This was relaxing to Daddy, and he did it well. There were other things Daddy would try to do around the house. While he was still working, he really didn’t have a lot of relaxation time, so Daddy would kind of rush through things Momma needed to be fixed, or whatever she needed some help with, so he would get it out of the way as soon as he could so he could get a nap in or some T.V. time. Since he was rushing, he was a bit like a bull in a china closet. I say this with a smile on my face, because it was actually funny!

 

I can see him now “funching”, a Texas term for just pushing or pulling something brusquely and without much care. My mother, brother, and I would watch. You could just see what was coming next. You could see whatever he was messing with was about to suffer irreparable damage! You just prayed for Momma to say what you knew she always said before it was too late! Sure enough we heard the words, “If you will just move I will do it!” come from Momma’s mouth. My brother and I would breathe a sigh of relief and I am pretty sure my dad did, too! Momma would fix whatever it was, and would always do it perfectly!

 



I thought of this today as I thought of a situation in my own life I am facing. If you had asked me a year ago if God allowed certain things I would have told you no. I had heard if anything happened that wasn’t good, we had somehow caused it or had opened the door to it somehow. I do believe this is correct in some instances. When you are warned by God not to do certain things and you repeatedly do them anyway, you frustrate the grace of God and eventually you ARE going to pay a consequence! At that point, you have permitted it because you were warned. You opened the door because you knew the chance you were taking and disobeyed God’s voice anyway.

 

Some things happen simply because we live in a fallen world and the devil is evil and seeks to destroy us, whether you are a Christian or not. Satan is NEVER your friend! He would rather hurt you, destroy you, and see you dead just as soon as he would look at you! When evil things happen outside of our control it is satan who does it! God can ONLY do good. We will have tests and tribulations! I think He allows us to know when it is a test or just an attack of the enemy we can take authority over and thwart. When it is a test we actually decide how it will end by the choices we make! Let me give you an example. I had to make a decision recently. I knew God had been speaking to me about it. He had not blared it to me, He did not send someone to say anything to me about it, He just spoke to me about it in His still, small voice! I was being warned something was not right with a situation, but at the same time, I really didn’t WANT to move in the direction He was showing me.

 

God knows

 ALL things, dear reader. He knows our hearts better than we do. God does not allow tests and trials to come our way for HIM to see what we will do and what we are made of….He already knows. He allows them to show US what we will do and what we are made of! As this decision approached it carried great advantages in the flesh for me! I wanted this particular thing badly!! At the same time, deep down, I knew if I chose it I had chosen my way and not God’s!

 

We are our own worst enemy! There is no use in looking around as Adam did and blaming someone else for unfulfilled desires and even less than desirable situations we may be in as Adam did with Eve. We knew when we made the choice it was wrong, but we wanted it! What regret we face when we do this!! If we had just stayed out of God’s way, He would have fixed it and fulfilled us and the plan and it would have worked out so much better than anything we had in mind!

 

All is not lost, dear reader, but it is postponed and we postponed it through disobedience and wanting our way! Thank God we can repent (change direction) and go the other way! God will redeem the time if we do! What decision did I make? God’s, thank God!! I have to say, I vacillated for a while, but when it came down to it before it was too late, I yielded to God’s wisdom and reason! God knows the big picture, whereas we do not! He gives all good things liberally to them who walk uprightly! What does that mean? It means He will withhold no good thing from us as long as we simply obey what He says and don’t do it our own way! That is walking uprightly! It isn’t performing perfectly, it is simply listening and doing what He tells us!

 

Are you facing something today? You know in your heart what God would have you to do. It may not make sense to your mind, but trust God’s leading enough to know it does not have to! He will never mislead you! Stay with peace, precious reader, and in so doing you have stayed with God!

Blessings to you!! I will see you soon! Juliana

1 Peter 4... Maintian Intense Love For One Another!

1 Peter 4

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Following Christ

4 Therefore, since Christ suffered^[a] in the flesh,^[b] equip^[c] yourselves also with the same resolve^[d]—because the one who suffered in the flesh has finished with sin^[e]— ² in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires,^[f] but for God’s will. ³ For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the pagans choose to do:^[g] carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. ⁴ So they are surprised that you don’t plunge with them into the same flood^[h] of wild living—and they slander you. ⁵ They will give an account to the One who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged by men in the fleshly realm,^[i] they might live by God in the spiritual realm.^[j]

End-Time Ethics

⁷ Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer. ⁸ Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins.^{[k] 9} Be hospitable to one another without complaining. ¹⁰ Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Christian Suffering

¹² Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal^[l] comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. ¹³ Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. ¹⁴ If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.^{[m] 15} None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.^{[n] 16} But if anyone suffers as a “Christian,” he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name. ¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

¹⁸ And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?^[o]

¹⁹ So those who suffer according to God’s will should, while doing what is good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator

What My Keurig Taught Me About the Anointing

 

 

1 John 2:27 NIV

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not
need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and
as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in
him.

 

I guess if God can use a donkey, He can certainly use a coffee maker to teach me a lesson! Some have had questions about why I use so many “coffee” pictures. I love coffee and when I read my Bible, do my Bible study, pray, meditate on my devotional for the day, I ALWAYS have my favorite coffee in my favorite coffee cup! This is my way of inviting you to grab a cup and enjoy what the Lord has shared with me while I had coffee that day! Now that you understand my coffee obsession, let’s dive into the devotion for today!

I love coffee! I love the rich aroma, the taste, my favorite cups I drink it from. I love my Keurig that brews my coffee in less than under a minute and to complete perfection! One night as I was working on ‘Spirit Filled Life’ I felt a yawn come on. It was followed by another yawn and a slight feeling of fatigue. I knew my body was beginning to wind down so I headed for my “coffee corner” where I have the coffee pot and all of my “fixins”, as we say in Texas! I put my favorite cup under the spout, as I always do, popped my favorite flavor pod in, and pressed the coffee amount I wanted.

Something began to happen that was odd. It made a funny noise. Then instead of flowing out of the Keurig in three streams as it normally does and is supposed to do, it sputtered and I got barely a fourth of a cup! I did this two more times, praying it would work…it didn’t! “Oh, I have to clean this thing! What a time for it to need cleaning!! I will be without coffee now!” I thought to myself, in a not so happy mood.

I couldn’t find the directions on how to “de-scale” it so I googled it and I began the process and finished up the site as the Keurig finished getting cleaned by the vinegar. I read that when you don’t clean it regularly, it will have a mineral build up that blocks the filter and it cannot work or flow to maximum capacity. You have to put vinegar in, and it goes to work dissolving the minerals so it can work again and you can enjoy a wonderful cup of coffee…a full cup of coffee!

I began to try to figure out why it needed to be cleaned so soon since it had not been that long since the last cleaning. I began to blame our water supplier, who brings spring water that has been purified, to us because that is what I use in it. I began to think what if the water isn’t as pure as I thought? What if I just thought the last cleaning was not as long ago as what I thought would probably be the better bet, but it did make me think!

As I thought about this God spoke to me and said that is just how it is with the anointing we carry. The anointing is EVER present in a Christian, BUT it isn’t ever FLOWING! Why? There are many reasons. It could be we are clogged with unforgiveness, anger, selfishness, pride, etc.. The long story short is we get clogged in our hearts with SIN! Sin prevents us from flowing as we should and as God so desires. That is when we have to go to Him and the Holy Spirit has to dissolve away all that is keeping the anointing from flowing so that we can be used to help other people, thereby bringing joy to many!

Those minerals did not build up overnight. It took time for the build up to take place. That is how it is with us. Little by little it happens. Our feelings get hurt, we become angry and defensive, or we begin to think too much about the wrong things and, before you know it or even realize it, we have literally stopped the anointing ourselves!

There is a story in the Old Testament that talks about an enemy of a city going to the city well and dropping stones into it every night after the citizens had gone to bed. Little by little they would stone it up until the city no longer had a water supply that was sufficient and they died of dehydration. At that point the enemy came and took the city over and all the wealth of it. That is how satan does. He knows just what buttons to push, how to get our focus off of our hearts and the condition of them, and then one day we realize we don’t feel as close to God as we once did. We aren’t being used as we once were. We have slipped into a place of “Where I used to be in God” to “Where am I and how did I get here?” Now we see why the Bible tells us to “guard your heart with all diligence….” It makes perfect sense!

Let us guard our hearts and examine it, dear reader. Literally, our life and effectiveness for God flows from it! If there is something that is trying to block the flow of the anointing, confess it, plead the blood of Jesus over it, and go free! I appreciate you stopping in to read!! Enjoy your day and may it be filled with God’s favor and blessings freely flowing!! Juliana