God Used A Sunset

Having a daily quiet time is essential for me. I chat with God through out, sing a hymn, read a couple of thought-provoking devotionals, a chapter in Proverbs and a chapter or two in whatever book of the Bible I am studying, and then I spend time earnestly praying. Being in the presence of Jesus in the morning makes my day start out peaceful and purposeful. So much of the time, God seems silent but I know He is there just the same. It is like two old friends sitting on the sofa not having to say a thing. They have a knowing between them while enjoying each other’s company.

This particular Saturday morning, June 20, I was reading Jesus Calling Morning & Evening by Sarah Young. There were several sentences on the morning and evening parts that caught my eye so I underlined this year in pencil. It amazes mehow different years will inspire different underlinings. When I finished, I wrote out the suggested prayer command I wanted to remember at the end of the devotional page.

What caught my eye were these sentences:

• Ask My Spirit to sharpen your spiritual eyesight and hearing.
• Practice looking and listening for Me during quiet intervals. Gradually you will find Me in more and more of your moments.
• You will see Me and find Me, when you seek Me above all else. (Jeremiah 29:13)

Above these, I notice a line about glorious sunsets but didn’t underline it even though I thought in the moment how wonderful it would be to see one.

Later in the day, after meeting up with two other ladies we drove about 45 minutes away for our monthly share group at a member’s home we had not been to before. While riding, I reassured one of the two that I would escort her back at the church so she could make it home before dark as she had requested before agreeing to come. It was an awesome time of food, fellowship and intercessory prayer but as promised, we left in time to fulfill my promise.

After hugs and good-byes, I left the church to drive the short distance home. As I turned the corner onto Main Street, I was suddenly put directly in front of a gorgeous sunset that filled the whole sky in front of me. It captured my heart with awe and I whispered “Oh Lord, how beautiful!” I quickly pulled over and snapped a picture with my cell phone before the moment was gone. Later, I posted it on Facebook to bless others. Then, I was through or so I thought.

The next morning, Sunday, at my church’s intercessory prayer meeting, God inspired me to post the picture to my blog. Little did I know there was a reason for revisiting the photo again. That was not all He wanted me to see. 

When I got home from church, God reminded me of yesterday’s devotional so I went to look it up again. First, I saw the sentence about the glorious sunsets and my heart smiled...but then I noticed the sunset portion had been faintly underlined. Only God could have set this up to underline those exact words! There were three pages involved and the underling had to line up perfectly. The sunset sentence was on page one (left side), not underline originally. Page two (right side), I had underlined a sentence. When I underlined a sentence from page three (back side of page two), it transferred the pencil from page two to underline the sunset sentence on page one. God wanted the sunset sentence highlighted. I began to realize yesterday was a total setup by God to communicate His great sovereignty. If I would be willing to develop the eyes to see, He wanted to show me Himself through His beautiful creation. 

The devotion itself, the time of the party and my friend having to be home before dark was all apart of His timing to have me back to see that gorgeous sunset. I felt so special to Him in that moment! He IS always working on our behalf behind the scenes to show us His kingdom. My heart began to thank and praise Him for His wonderful works! 

God communicates with us all the time. But... 

have we developed the eyes and ears to notice? 

Sometimes God Answers Quickly

An unexpected call lead me on a trip high up into the mountains of NC to visit a friend at her family’s cabin. The cabin has been a vacation home since 1968 and she only travels up from Charleston, SC three times a year for a stay. I have known this friend since childhood and have visited her family cabin several times over the years. Her family had lived across the street from my grandparents years ago and I loved to go visit them when my family came for Christmas or a visit in the summer. Now, we are both on the other side of life and I had not seen her in over 12 years. This was truly a treat.

Of course, we did the normal catching up on what our relatives in both families had been up to. I didn’t realize that her brother had died last year. I told her of my brother’s death too. I talked about how I loved her parents home as a child, baking poundcake with her mom and how in my mind’s eye I still occasionally ventured from room to room to reminisce. My grandparents home is like that for me too. The vivid memories are much more precious now that I am older. I have dreamed about the places I have lived and the people I have known and that has brought me so much comfort and joy. 

Then my friend said, “Someone has torn down your grandparents house and the lot is vacant.” She didn’t know why, didn’t know who owned it now and didn’t know of any plans for rebuilding. My heart sank low. So much of what I knew as a child has already been demolished because of progress. So many of the relatives I grew up with have gone too. Nothing stays the same and I get that. However, when those things which one uses to remember and reminisce with are lost, it can be disheartening. I couldn’t shake it off my mind.

When I left the mountains, I prayed that God would protect my friend and her family. She is battling cancer so I prayed for her health and healing and time for another visit together. Again, it is true. The realities of aging are not always pleasant.

The following morning, when I had my quiet time with the Lord, I explained how I felt about my grandparents home and that I didn’t want to continue to mourn the pasting of an era. I admitted life must go on and change is apart of that life. However, I would require some help from Him to get me back into the life I now enjoy. 

As I finished up my prayer and readings, it happened! First, a friend texted and asked me to have an early lunch with her at her home. She had fixed pigs in a blanket, baked beans, and cantaloupe. Her husband had unexpectedly been invited to go shooting and now she didn’t want to eat all that food alone. Although I didn’t really want to get up and out of my comfortable pajamas at first, I felt a nudge to accept so I did. When God begins to send the answer, I need to be willing to get up and receive it. Then another friend texted. She asked if I would fix supper that night because she had time for a visit. I had asked her to do that whenever she found space in her busy schedule. Perfect! My day was set. Then, it really dawned on me. God WAS answering my request! My heart leaped for joy as I left my room of prayer.

As my day progressed to the end, I realized those feelings of sadness had departed because I had concentrated on being with those I cherish now. God knew exactly what it would take to lift me up. And in the place of sadness came praise, thanksgiving and joy! So many times it seems we have to wait in faith and patience for an answer to our prayers. But today...today was not one of them.

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Pruning Is Hard To Do

I like to plant things in my flowerbeds that require very little maintenance. My plan was to plant a couple of varieties of African daisies to finish out the look in my front beds. Their care consist of watering and pinching off the dead blooms. Not bad. However, as I praised my finished work, God raised my eyes to view the over grown nandina bushes just behind. They looked unruly and overgrown. Nandina bushes are basically maintenance free too except they require major pruning every couple of years. It was like God was reminding me this was the year. 

Reluctantly, I found the pruning shears and started to work. Of course, I wanted to give up after the second bush because my back was hurting from bending over. With each cut, I kept thinking I’ll finish this tomorrow. Yet, God was not ready for me to quit and told me to sit down, relax, and continue on. Just so you know, it was amusing scooting around on my hind parts from bush to bush and the times I had to get up...well that was pretty amusing too.

I should have known when I heard ‘sit down, relax, and continue on’ that there was more on God’s mind then just my immediate trimming need. The more I pruned the more He talked to me about the process of pruning. Now, I was pruning in the natural but He was explaining pruning in the spiritual. I finally had to get my journal and start writing. Below are the highlights of what I heard.

• If we are God’s child (accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord), then we will be pruned from time to time. Those whom He loves He corrects.

• Even though God prunes out of love and always has our best interest at heart, there will always be those who will question and blame God, refusing to change and thus never receiving the blessing of revelation and restoration that pruning provides.
  
  
• Trust God and His progress. Come humble before Him. He will turn everything to our good when we allow Him to finish His work. He is preparing us for the desires of our hearts which usually originate from Him.
  
  
• God desires more fruitfulness. Each trimmed limb often produces a double or more portion.
  
  
• Sometimes just a small snip gets our attention and realigns us but other times it’s a major undertaking. Major pruning is a step by step process. Each lesson has to be completed before advancement is allowed because each lesson is valuable. Stubbornness, willfulness, and the like will prolong the prune.
  
  
• Some of the reasons God prunes us are among the following: pride, ungodly mind-sets, undesirable attitudes and actions, unproductive dead parts, or lack of balance. The focus is to put us back on the right track again.

• Pruning does not mean we have lost your position in Him or His love. On the contrary, it is out of His love that He takes the time to refine. Then afterwards, who knows...it could bring an unexpected promotion.
  
  
• Our pruning is tailored to what is necessary at that time. And...We are not all pruned at the same time. God continually searches our hearts individually and not our deceptive outward appearance for inconsistencies.
  
  
• Hopefully because of our experiences, when we see the pruning of another, we will be compassionate, encouraging and not a gossip.
  
  
• We do not want to be 'in need of pruning' because of pride and possible embarrassment but God is not concerns about our reputation or our feelings when it comes to needed course corrections. He will comfort us doing the process but our feelings are not a deterrent. If it gets messy, He can restore anything lost when needed.
  
  
• God remains near us at all times to instruct and encourage. God always helps us clean up the repentant mess around us by taking away any sin, shame, guilt or regret. God is after the hope of glory He desires in us through expanding our faith and character.
  
  
• When God prunes us, He doesn’t look down on us in condemnation at all. He desires to reveal wisdom and solutions on a level we can understand. However, it is our responsibility to actively seek Him for the needed changes when things go south.
  
  
• Joy can be achieved throughout this process when we become grateful for/in the journey.
  
  
• When a plant is trimmed on the surface, its initial response is to go underground to develop stronger roots. In spiritual pruning, a stronger root is a teachable heart, a listening ear, time in His presence, prayer, bible study, fellowship, counsel and support from godly people to name a few.
  
  
• God’s grace is sufficient to help us find and eliminate any and all sinful roots especially the root of bitterness. Unless we intensionally root out the causes of these ungodly attitudes and actions, they will keep cropping up.
  
  
• God’s purpose in pruning is not to harm us but to guide us and give us a future and a hope by reestablishing His promises and commands then reaffirming His faithfulness to fulfill those promises and realign us in His cammands. In the end, we feel lighter and freer and we treasure the wisdom revealed because we have become more Christlikeness.

Afterwards, when I came into the bathroom to get cleaned up, I walked in front of the mirror and my T-shirt caught my eye. Rooted In Christ! That put a smile on my face. What a great ending to a great time with the Lord.

I don’t know where you are in your life today. You may be living the life of God’s joy, peace and abundance. However, if you find yourself in a season of God’s purposeful pruning, I hope this post will encourage you in your difficult season. It may not seem like it now but this too shall pass in God’s way and timing. Learn all you can and allow Him to love you through it.

John 15:2-6

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

What Will You Do With This Jesus?

This is a beautiful Christmas poem the Lord gave me this year. I hope it blesses you as it did me while I wrote it down. Afterward, I felt a real sense of urgency that our time is short.

What Will You Do With This Jesus?

Mary Jane Downs

December 15, 2018

Sitting here in my den filled with bright light

Thinking about that one blessed long ago night.

When the entire world was about to be forever changed,

But few even noticed…distracted by more “important” things.

The story of Jesus had started months before then

When an angel had visited Mary in her little den.

The prophets had for told that the Savior would come.

Now Mary was being told the Savior would be her son.

Mary and Joseph, her betrothed, went through horrible shame

Because people wouldn’t believe what God had proclaimed.

The gift that He had promised for so many centuries

Was now coming in a way that seemed to them too mysterious.

Still…on that blessed night, all went according to God’s holy design.

Jesus was born without any thought or plan from mankind.

He lay in that out-of-the-way straw-filled manager for all to see.

But only a few shepherds and three wise men felt the need.

Incredulously you may say, well…if the birth happened today,

We, the enlightened, would be much more aware than they!

How could they let such a glorious event pass them by?

“I” would have surely done more when Jesus arrived!

It’s sad to say that today not much has changed.

Man desiring more temporal earthly treasures to gain.

Jesus has lived among us through the Holy Spirit for over 2000 years

And most of the world still ignores Him or jeers.

So now I look to you and say with love

“What will you do with this Jesus, God’s son?

Is He more significant then your “important” earthly plans?

Will you bow at the manger and hold His divine hand?

Everyone has to make the choice for themselves,

Accept God’s gift or place Him up on your dusty shelf.

You have only this lifetime for that conscience decision.

Choose wisely, my friend, it will be eternally written.

Micah 6:8 

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourselves and walk humbly with your God?

Deuteronomy 10:12

And now, Israel, what does the Lord you Go require of you but reverently to fear the Lord your God, this is to walk in all His ways and to love Him. And to serve the Lord your God with all your mind and heart and with your entire being. 

Poems the Lord gives me usually form a picture when I complete and center them. 

Can you see the picture in this one?

I had just bought one in preparation for the snowstorm we just had here in Western NC.

It's a Coleman lantern on a table (or life's foundation).

Run...Mary Jane...Run!

In December of 2015, I ended a relationship that was basically built upon lies, not mine but his. When God showed me how all the pieces would fit together, I was shocked at how ugly the picture was going to turn out. And so I walked away…and when I did, I felt like the life of faith and creativity that I had once known was being sucked out of me and in its place, a stronghold of fear. What I wanted so badly had turned into a nightmare, a mental battle for my character, my authority and my peace of mind.

For almost nine months, the enemy of my soul flooded my mind with so much negative criticism that it was hard to combat the depression. I had a hard time reading the Bible and listening to Christian music because I felt condemn not only for what had just happened but then the enemy headed for my past insecurities as well. Now, I know condemnation is not from God (Romans 8:1) but I felt powerless with the heavy on slot of accusations. Just because you know what to do doesn’t make it easy to do it in a time of pressing trouble. I tried speaking and reading the Word out loud. Claiming the promises. However, whatever I did, my ‘believe’ was not there and so my faith was cut short. It looked like life had forever changed and with little hope, I was going downhill fast. However, I felt compelled to keep going forward to fight the good fight of faith with the little hope that I had until I regained my lost mental territory.

During all this time, the Lord was relentlessly faithful to me through the love and faithfulness of family, friends and church. Also, I saw 10 10 everywhere which to me could only mean one thing.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I came that they may have life, and ^[a]have it abundantly

John 10:10

                                               

Then there was the word He gave to me personally as the healing had barely begun.

January 7, 2016

You are my darling wife to be. I had to come rescue you. I love you, appreciate you, and adore you. I did not want you to be swallowed up by your circumstances. Come follow Me back to health, both physically and spiritually. See what I can do in a short period of time. You are not alone neither have I forsaken you. You have wanted to quit but I won’t let you. You are my precious child who I want to help. Yes, you lost your way, but I grabbed you by the hand and rescued you and have put you on solid ground. Seek me Mary Jane. Trust that I will bring you through. I know you are afraid right now and I have my loving arms around you. You are not alone. Follow Me, Mary Jane, follow Me.

With all the affirmations and confirmations, the enemy sought even more desperately to destroy me and my relationship with the Lord.

When my prayers changed from “Oh God, help me!!!” to intensionally praying for others and praying the opposite to whatever the enemy was telling me, my mind slowly began to respond. I knew then that I had broken down a line of the enemy’s defense. God was doing His part. Now I needed to do mine.

Afterwards, I heard the Lord say, “You have got to get out and walk.” As much as I wanted to stay sheltered, I knew I had to listen to His directions. In late October 2016 after walking for about six weeks, I started seeing major release from the enemy’s mind control. I was gaining confidence and courage to resist all the lies. It still was not easy but I was determined.

Since my mind was beginning to clear from the negative thoughts, I started to see my positive creative imagination began to peep out. Oh, how I had longed for my writing to spring forth again.  The Lord was right. Being out in nature was helping me to heal.

Lastly, I felt the Lord say, Running your race will give you endurance,” so that’s what I did. I started running some and then some more. Each week or so I would increase my running a little bit more.  And each and every week I was gaining back my mental strength. In November of 2016, I entered my first 5K at South Mountain Christian Camp. As I crossed the finish line to win 2^nd place in my age group, I knew I was well on my way to being myself again.

 As of today, I have racked up many 5Ks, a couple of 10Ks, with my latest goal of a half marathon coming up in three weeks. My main goal there is to finish within the allotted time. Pretty good for an out of shape 61-year old beginner, don’t you think? Do I love to run now? No, I can’t say that I do but I love where it is taking me and that keeps me joyfully putting one foot in front of the other as fast as a can.

PRASIE BE TO GOD FOR HIS WONDERFUL FAITHFULNESS!

Are you going through a mentally tough time right now? I know it is not easy and sometimes your fears seem like they are going to over take you. But do not lose heart. Jesus is right there with you, holding your hand too. Read the words the Lord gave me again but insert you name instead. He wants to help you overcome whatever it is you are facing. Go to Him the best way you know how. No matter what the situation is, Jesus is waiting for you to let go and let Him help you.

********************************

As I prepared for a recent 5miler race in downtown Columbia, I told the Lord I could not do this without Him. What He answered me with was a vision of me running down the street with a large angel, flying overhead. At the race, as I came around the corner to run the last quarter mile, my earlier vision came to life. The two scenes were exactly the same. I knew without a shadow of doubt that a large angel was flying overhead cheering me on.

Keep Yourselves From Idols

Dear Children,

Keep yourselves from idols.

I John 5:21

Recently, a friend of mine asked me to look at houses with him. We began our search through the Internet to pick out the ones he wanted to see. Afterwards, he called a realtor in the area.

There was one property in particular that got our attention. As we viewed the house, we noticed there were pictures of different gods hanging in several of the rooms. Then when we toured the ground, we discovered two large wooden platforms with concrete idols on them.  As I inquired of the Lord, he told me this was like the idols of old in Isaiah’s time. I knew this form of worship still existed but it was strange to see it in an area so close to me. Needless to say, if my friend chose this property, he would have to make sure all the idols were gone and the land was cleansed.

Most of us in the Christian world cannot really identify with statues and that kind of idol. So let’s go a little closer.

What is an idol? Idols are anything that distracts us from the one true God who is our identity and true source of supply. We are drawn to idols because they can foster our need to be loved and accepted . Then of course, we have them to help us in our time of need. (But do they?)

As I thought about this more, I asked the Lord for a deeper meaning. This is what he gave me.

I     Deny     Our     Lord

access to my life.

What does it mean to deny?

·      to refuse to agree with

·      to withhold possession

·      to refuse to recognize or acknowledge

·      to withhold accessibility

In other words, when we deny the Lord, we are not allowing his influence to reign over a particular area of our life.

Now… most of us can name some of the biggie idols that we could have… our career, pride and ego, materialism, sports figures, TV personalities, children or even grandchildren. However, let’s dig a little different direction. How about…

·      Negative attitudes and criticisms of others, the need to be right

·      Offenses, bitterness, and unforgiveness

·      Worry and guilt

·      What others will think of me

Suddenly, idols may be closer to home then what we would like to admit. Idols are sneaky, if you are not vigilant. You give them an inch and they can take a mile. They start out innocently but slowly dig deep roots into our heart. Idols take away our sense of spiritual reasoning and choice. The thing about idols is, when you get in a pinch and really need the power to overcome, idols have no power to save you from whatever you are going through.

So what is the answer?  The real answer is not an idol at all. It is a personal relationship with Christ Jesus. He is not man made idol but  the true Son of God who has the power and grace to help us through whatever situation we face. If you haven't met Him personally, I encourage you to seek him out. Discovering Jesus's love for you will change your life forever.

The devil comes to kill, steal and destory but I have come to give you life and that more abundantly. 

John 10:10