Just barely graduating high school, plus 7 years later, I took on the astronomical challenge of taking one, single college course just to see if I could pass. I PASSED!! Doubled my effort. Doubled again. Finally got Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. using the below encouraging words. ONE step at a time …. Lots of prayer … YOU CAN DO IT TOO !!

I wish I could remember when
I first discovered my toes.
What an amazing find!
They’re so wiggly and feel-y
And they seem to be
All mine.

When you’re walking down the street
and you see something not quite right;
Not an accurate manifestation
of the allness of God and his Love;
Perhaps an obese gentleman
or a crippled lady
or a sad and sickly child,
See them as Jesus sees them
every whit whole, healed and happy!
Then take those persons
who never cease coming to your mind,
Deserving or not – see them
Pure as the driven snow,
Sweet as a bouncing babe,
See them, see them, see them
As you would like to see
your own self be.

Y’all know I had my place painted, right?
And you know it was no easy matter?
That it would take some time to put everything back where it belonged?
Well, I finally got to the point of
Getting everything accounted for . .
And found, much to my distress
That my favorite electric guitar
Was nowhere to be seen.
So, so sad.
Was it the painter himself?
He had been so nice –
I practiced my Spanish with him.
So sad.
Or, did someone else in the building
Sneak in, when he wasn’t looking?
Omigoodness, I’d hate to accuse
The wrong guy.
I checked all the closets again
For the umpteenth time.
No Fender!
Trying to think Christianly:
This will be a blessing somehow.
Sure didn’t -f-e-e-l- like it!
Tried to see as Jesus sees.
Tried again a little harder.
Quit trying.
Then I knew …
God is here INSTEAD of this loss,
Humiliation and blame.
The Holy Spirit told me that all would be well.
“Look again (must be 11 times by now).”
Obediently, but not confidently,
I went to the same closet….
Felt around way, way in the back….
And guess what I found?

IMAGINE. ARIGHT !!
Hebrews 11:1 KJV
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
IT’S. GOD’S. WILL. FOR. HIS. CHILDREN. [US] TO. BE. WELL !!

CAN. YOU. SEE. YOURSELF. HEALED? RICH? HAPPY? FULFILLED?
Romans 8:23-24 KJV
And not only they , but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit , the redemption of our body. [24] For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

DON’T. LET. YOUR. THINKING. GET. IN. THE. WAY. OF. YOUR. HEARING. GOD !!
Romans 1:21 KJV
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

ARE. YOU. KEEPING. YOUR. IMAGINATION. STAYED. ON. THE. LORD ?
Ephesians 4:17 KJV
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

When we look away from the body, totally absorbed in Spirit, God, we’re apt to forget about sickness and/or pain. Some time later we’ll remember and be overcome with thankfulness, not knowing exactly when we began to mend.

WHEN THINGS DON’T GO THE WAY YOU THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE, REMEMBER JESUS’ ADMONITION RE. THE FIG TREE:

H – A – V – E …..
F – A – I – T – H …..
I – N ….. G – O – D !!

● You’re waaaay too focused on what YOU believe the outcome should have been and not on the overall scheme of things.

● Remember that Jesus isn’t bound to our time continuum. He knows the end from the beginning.

● I’m not saying that God is so sovereign that He can be blamed for everything that goes wrong in our lives. But I am saying that sometimes what we construe as wrong may not be wrong at all on a larger scale.

● After the dust settles, those of us who really know what living in Christ means can get on with our lives. We will witness the advancing of the kingdom and eventually see that nothing was lost after all.

● The dust settles, by the way, in our own consciousness, and then we are free to hear His wonderful voice clearly and be filled to the brim with joy and confidence and love and peace, knowing that the kingdom is advancing and reaching out to everyone.

● What four words did Jesus say to the gobsmacked disciples when they saw the accursed fig tree – dead?
Mark 11:21-22 KJV
And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. [22] And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

I believe so COMPLETELY in the FINISHED WORK of Jesus that I find pleading with Him to be a negative approach at best. He has done ALL that He ever needed to do to give us the perfection that we crave. We just don’t trust Him enough. He even set up a whole new covenant for us which began after the cross. We need to glean more and more knowledge of the vast immensity of this amazing God of ours, who is pure Love. We need to dis-cover how it is that every promise He has ever made is in fact true. We need to want Him more than our daily food. God IS the answer to every ‘need’ that arises. Have we really, really put Him first? Instead of pleading with God to do what He’s already done, we need to enlighten the sufferer as to the true nature of God. People don’t need a temporary expedient: they need Jesus. They can have Him living on the inside of them INSTEAD of believing that they need to look to a third person to effect healing in their lives.

Ever get distracted?
Feel like there are two of you?
One who keeps drifting off
And the other keeps coming back
To God?

Do you finally remember
It was never your conscious decision
To go back to that place again,
Knowing full well God holds everything
You could ever want or need?

Take the bull by the horns this time.
When you feel that familiar tug,
There is no overwhelmingly
Powerful hold on you;
Nor a guy in a red suit.
Just a suggestion wafting from
That place you go to
No longer.