Power Of His Magnificent Grace

Key Scripture:  " For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name."  Isaiah 54:5
Power Point:
     Twenty years.  It seems like a long time doesn't it?  And yet, it also seems like a short time. This last week, on the 29th of January, I remembered the twentieth anniversary of my husband's death.  Surprisingly, it was a day full of remembering him with joy and love, and then it turned into a celebration of God's very great goodness and faithfulness to me in all that time. We would have been married fifty years in April.  I have never remarried or even thought about it. I guess you could say that the Lord became my husband. He's done a very good job!
     When I needed a hug, He made sure I got one.  Either from someone He sent to me, or by hugging my heart with His comfort and promises.  I had always hated the word "widow".  To me, it meant someone lonely and poor and cast aside. In all actuality, it can mean exactly that.  We definitely live in a couple's world.  Advertisements are geared to that.  Movies are usually about the great love affair between two people. I had to learn to grow past that and past broken dreams and pain to discover who I really am underneath it all.
I was a wife and a mother and suddenly my biggest job was no longer there.
Our "together" dreams for the future seemed buried, and the "team" that I was on, had dwindled to one.  I knew that I had to hear God differently, and see Him differently.  He had some big shoes to fill.
     Shortly after my husband died, I had decided to go to church. It was a cold, rainy, February morning.  It was my first time back and my daughter and I had recently begun attending a new church, so I knew no one there.  The church was always crowded and the parking lot was a mess.  The attendants usually directed you to the "upper" lot where you had to stand until a shuttle came to pick you up.  I observed the parking lot attendant pointing everyone to the shuttle lot.  Discouraged and sad, I said, "Lord, You promised to be my husband.  My husband would have dropped me off at the front door."  As my eyes lifted, I realized that the parking attendant was right in front of me, with a smile on his face, and kindness in his eyes, and he directed me to the lot where the church entrance was. I was stunned.  I was even more stunned when I

realized that there was one parking place left-right next to the door. Needless to say, I cried throughout the whole service at the tender heart of God, and His commitment to be my Husband, and realizing that He knew what that meant.
     I can promise you that God is a wonderful provider, a wonderful counselor, a patient and loving husband.  As I learned to rely on that truth, my life definitely changed for the better.  One morning as I was praying, he took me farther into Isaiah 54.  It said, "For the mountains depart and the hills may be removed, But My Kindness will not depart from You, Nor shall my covenant of peace be broken.  I will have mercy on you." 
     It's easy to sing God's praises when the mountains stand strong and steady. It's a sacrifice at times when they're moving; when you can't find sturdy ground to stand on.  Learning to know Him as He really wants to be for you, to understand that where you are is where He has a miracle waiting for you. That is the gift that you receive when you choose to trust Him anyway, even though...
     Twenty years.  Twenty years of kindness without exception.  Twenty years of growing in knowing how magnificent my heavenly Husband really is. 
     Some of us pray and think like widows. We pray from a point of lack, of need, or problem after problem. We seem to forget that we have a heavenly Husband. Isn't it time to stop that?  Isn't it time to pray like the Bride of Christ, whose husband is the God of the whole earth, the Lord of Hosts?
Well, isn't it?
Power Thought:

Marriage is a wonderful covenant.  God thought it up so He knows exactly how to be a husband to the widow, or a father to the fatherless.  Trust Him. He's magnificent.

Were you aware that "It's Time To Power UP!", the book is available on Amazon.com? 

     

Power Of Abundant Sufficiency

Key Scriptures:  “ His Grace is sufficient for me.”  2 Corinthians 12:9

Power Point:

     I love the fact that God promises to be sufficient for me.  And I like the way He thinks!  While the world’s idea of “sufficiency” is an “adequate supply”, God has other ideas.  When His grace is manifested to us, it comes with great power.  It exceeds anything we can imagine. In the Greek, “Sufficient” means to be possessed of unfailing strength, to be strong, to be enough. And this may surprise you- His grace is sufficient enough to make you satisfied and contented.

     In fact, He promises that He will not only supernaturally manifest His grace to make us strong, He promises that His supernatural supply is plentiful enough for every detail of your life. It's always over the top!  The other morning as I was thinking about all this, it began to sparkle in my thoughts. 

I realized that:

We always, under any and all circumstances have sufficient protection.

We always have sufficient health.

We always have sufficient finances, so sufficient that I always have an abundance to give to others.

We always have sufficient wisdom.

We are always sufficiently loved.

We always have a sufficiently “God-sized” measure of His presence.

     He is powerful enough to provide an abundance of whatever it is we might need to abound.  He causes heaven to overflow lavishly to us so that we can always have an abundance of GRACE so that we can offer the same abundant help to others.

     I believe that’s the perfect definition of the “Abundant life”, don’t you? In fact, God’s definition of Abundance means that you are always able to meet your own needs without help from someone else. You are not supposed to be "self-sufficient" but sufficient in the sufficiency of God. The word "sufficient" in the Greek means “a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed. AND it also means a mind that is contented and satisfied.”

     If we really understood that God is fully sufficient and that He wants to be that good to us, at all times, in every detail of our lives, life would be totally different for us wouldn’t it? 

    Not there yet? Beloved, God is stretching each of us so that we might understand that we may come freely to the Throne of Grace and be met with mercy and grace to help with every need-in abundance.  And definitely- cheerfully.

Power Thought:

God loves a cheerful giver because He is always abundantly cheerful about giving His best to us!

   

Power Of His Wonderfulness

Key Scripture:  (For my determined purpose is) THAT I may KNOW Him-that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with HIM,  perceiving and understanding (the wonders of His person), more strongly and clearly. )  Philippians 4:10

Power Point:

     There are people who just make you a better person when you are with them.  They're the ones you CHOOSE to be with because they just bring out the best in you.  They ignite the good qualities and the bad qualities seem to fall by the wayside.

In Philippians 4:10, Paul says, "Í want to KNOW more about You Father.  I want to UNDERSTAND more about how You can be so good.  I want to know the wonders of Your person, more strongly and clearly."

     That is the most amazing statement isn't it?  In fact, Paul is totally focused on, in tune with, and awed by how wonderful God really is. With all he has been through; in spite of all the bickering, complaining and general outrageousness he has had to deal with on a regular basis, the thing that is uppermost in His mind is how wonderful his God is.

     He has his heart set on knowing Him with greater passion and clarity. I am actually reminded of Moses after God had used him to lead the children of Israel to freedom.  Along the way, the were a lot of miracles.  (The Red Sea comes to mind.)  Moses is just sitting and chatting with God and the thing that is uppermost in his mind is, "Who are you really?  What makes You the way You are? Why do You do the things You do?  He, like Paul, is awed by this

incredible God.  The God who is limitless in power, but also limitless, even abounding in love. Think about that!  God abounds in love toward us every

single minute of every single day of our lives, now and forever.  Actually. you could say, then and forever.There was never a time when God did not love you.  And there never will be.

    His love if your salvation.  His love initiated your salvation.  His love encircles you.  It has no end, and no beginning.  The love of God might best be described as an unstoppable force. We can love Him, because He first loved us.  I can remember how miserable my life was before He encircled me in His love.  I had known about Him (at a very minimal level) my whole life.  In deep desperation one night I called out for help.  Within two weeks, He had answered.  The force of His love changed not only my life but my whole family. In His kindness, He opened my eyes to how much He loved me.  The truth is, I could only absorb a tiny bit of that at that time but in the last forty years, I've begun to know more about His wonderfulness.

     I can understand why Paul says,"I've got to know more!"  It's easy to see why he pressed on to understand how God could be so wonderful, what made Him tick! I have the same passion, don't you? Aren't you ready to move aside the things that keep you from spending more time chatting with Him?  Aren't you ready to move closer in to His heart to see what makes Him tick?

Don't you wonder how wonderful He really wants to be for you?

Power Thought:

If He's really wonderful, don't you want to know why, and understand how He could change your life?













Are you aware that "It's Time To Power UP!" the book is available on Amazon.com?

Power Of What Really Matters

KEY SCRIPTURE:  "Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don’t get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you’re going. And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”  Joshua 1:8, The Message

POWER POINT:

     Have you ever had to make a choice between two very good options?  As you think about the direction your life is taking right now could you say that you are concentrating on what really matters?  Is your life taking you in the direction of what really matters to God?

     Did you know that your success matters to God?  In fact, I guess you could say, that God loves to prosper His people. In fact, in Psalm 35:27, He says that "He delights in the prosperity of His children."  Our prosperity makes God happy!

     And yet we also need to look at exactly what He means by that don't we?  Success can be a hollow victory if we are more motivated by the outer trappings of success rather than the inward contentment contained in the pathway to success.  By that I mean, God is as concerned with HOW we deal with obstacles and tests as He is in the final outcome.  Yes, He intends to bring us to a flourishing finish, but He is even more intent on the inner successes of love, joy and peace, patience and kindness, honor and humility that He plans to teach us on our journey to success. Humility really matters to Him.

     Many years ago my husband and I were praying about starting our own company.  One morning, as we were praying, we were led to examine

Deuteronomy 8 with the help of Holy Spirit. It was the heavenly "go-ahead" for our journey.  The instruction was to hold fast to God's promises and His teachings so that as we made progress on the outside, the inside result would be humility and a vital growing faith in God's goodness.  Each test along the way was to show us what mattered to God. In that passage, what mattered to God was:

"to prove us to know what was in our mind and in our heart, whether we would really keep His words front and center."

     In fact, God said, "I want you to come to the point of understanding that man does not live (survive) by the exterior things like bread, but he survives by the power of the Word of God."(Deuteronomy 8:3, Suzanne Version).

     Why? the next verses promised that God was bringing us into a good land, but along the way we would be disciplined and instructed by God Himself.  We would learn the truth about what really mattered to God.

     Was the company successful.  Yes.  Far beyond our highest dreams. And that was important, but I think that the things that God worked in our hearts during that time; things like how to treat people respectfully, how to work together to reach a Godly goal, how to deal with honor in business relationships; those things were the real gold.  He led us through that wilderness, letting us see what was tucked away in our hearts, and bringing our less than godly attitudes to the top so that we could be free of them.

     We are successful in God's eyes, when our hearts are centered on His counsel and instruction.

      We are successful in God's eyes when we allow ourselves to be transformed by His thoughts and intentions toward us.

     We are successful in God's eyes when the Holy Spirit is allowed to lead and the fruit of His presence and the power of His gifts build the foundation for real success.

      We are successful in God's eyes when what we do honors and glorifies Him.

Jesus is very clear about what true success is. He told us that if we are seeking God's kingdom, God's wisdom, God's thoughts, everything else will be added to us. He is the perfect example of living a successful life, wouldn't you say?  His life was carefully focused on what mattered to His Father.

So how are you doing on your journey to success?

Power Thought:

Your Father is delighted to prosper you!