God's Exceeding Abundant Interest in You!

During a difficult time in my life a Scripture verse kept my head above water, as I put my trust in "Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Ephesians 3:20). Quite frankly, I didn't feel any power in my life nor could I even think of what could possibly be "exceeding" or "abundant" except more pain and powerlessness. But I believed God, so I kept praying it and trusting that God would make this true in my life. And He has! Years later, I can say that what He continues to do in my life is more than I would have ever thought.

This came to mind in a conversation with a friend just the other day about God's goodness, and I decided that I would again begin to pray that for my daily life. Why not believe God DAILY for exceeding abundant manifestations of His goodness? Here's what's been happening since.

The next morning I was awakened with a friend on my heart and some concern for her. As I began to pray for her, the Lord gave me some insight into her life that I felt He wanted me to share with her. While in the shower at 7:20 a.m. I heard the phone ring. I dashed for it, concerned with who would call that early and it was my friend. She wanted to know if we could get together today as she felt she needed to talk with me about something troubling her. I told her what God had shown me about putting some balance in her life and she said, "That's it! You just gave me the answer to what I needed to know." Bingo. God to the rescue once again.

A few hours later I felt a nudge from the Lord: "Take your mother's blood pressure." Mom is 91 and lives with me. I am her care-taker. I thought I'd better obey that nudge and sure enough, her b.p. was 204/79. Not good. I immediately put in a call to the doctor and left a message. Then I heard the Lord say, "Check her meds." So I did and found that I had left out her b.p. meds in her daily pills so she had not had one for 5 days. Evidently those pills work. I put her back on the b.p. meds and all is well now. Is that awesome or what? God, Amightly God cares about my Mom's blood pressure. He not only cares about my little Mom (litterly, she's now 4'8"), but He made sure I heard Him. He's been teaching me to hear His voice for years and I'm so grateful that I can. I'm also grateful for a God who is relational and loving and involved in the details of our lives. Exceedingly abundantly so.

For the past week or two, as I'm involved in a writing project that presses me to a May 15th deadine, I've been thinking of what I'd like to do when that pressure is lifted off of me, not that I'm not enjoying the writing. But what I've felt I would love to do is ....sew! Just me and God, no deadlines. No interviews, No profound thinking and articulate expressions, just colors and patterns juxtaposed in harmonious profusion. A quilt. I've always wanted to make a quilt. I used to sew years ago and it was quite satisfying. Now the desire has resurfaced. It became a day dream when I wanted to rest my brain. Yesterday while in the supermarket, I spent 10 whole minutes browsing through two quilting magazines and actually bought one, not to put it to use, but just to vicariously enjoy other women's quilting. I had this urge to go to a fabric store and look and feel, to take a sensate mini-vacation. But how productive would that be? Surely I should use my time more Kingdom worthy, more productively than that. Never mind.

But yesterday yet another friend called me over to her house. She had a surprise for me, she said. I couldn't imagine what. First she gave me a friendship card which in itself was loving, but then, as we were standing in her own sewing room, she pushed a big box forward with her foot and said, "And this is for you," saying that she felt it was something the Lord wanted her to bless me with..... a brand new computerized sewing machine! I was speechless. Me, I'm rarely speechless. This time I was. I don't know that I've ever received such an extravagant gift, especially one that was also so much from the Lord.

I told her about my recent longing for sewing. This surely couldn't be a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences. I know God too well for that. I know He weaves things in our lives together for His purposes. Evidently, all my longing for sewing was His doing, His wanting to balance out my own life with beauty, and colors and the joy of creating. Isn't that part of being in the image of the creator - creating? This gift is without a doubt exceedingly abundantly beyond all I would have thought I had the right to ask for. But my wonderful Lord Who is the God of all goodness is the ultimate Giver.

May I encourage you to ask God for His exceeding abundant 'beyondness' to be manifest in your life so you can be an instrument for Him to touch others. (But don't be surprised if He wants to do in your life what He may show you to pray for someone else, like balance, for instance.) Be on the lookout daily for how you can give His goodness to others, spread around your trust in God, encourage people in the Lord, and see what happens. Here's His own promise: "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” God is interested in blessing you. Let Him!! Believe Him to do so and watch how He shows you His love for you and through you.

A Week in the Lord

Life in the Lord is never boring. Or at least it shouldn’t be. If nothing is going on, we can always pray into something more exciting than what’s presently happening in our own lives and become a part of what God is doing somewhere else. Some weeks, though, are admittedly more fruitful than others. I’ve had two opportunities to share the Lord and what is undoubtedly one angelic encounter this week. Here’s my week (so far. It’s only Friday morning. More could happen.)

First, the angelic encounter: My Mom and I (see photo)were in the car, breezing along at about 45 miles per hour when suddenly the car in front of me stopped. I’m really not sure what took place as it all happened in a flash. Maybe the light suddenly changed. I’m not sure. Mom yelled out and all I remember is seeing the white car in front of me and thinking how my hood will in a moment be parked in its trunk. No way I can avoid hitting it. I tried to swerve around it, wheels screeching, and waited for the impact. Somehow the steering wheel in my hands felt like it was turning for me. Now I surely can’t prove this, but it almost seemed to me as if my car actually bent away from the white car just enough to slide a feather’s width past it and the next thing I knew I was on the other side of the intersection. We were stunned, breathless, and exceedingly grateful to God for His protection. Now if that’s not an angelic rescue, I’m not sure what is. Needless to say, Mom and I broke out in a chorus of praises and thank you’s to God. Today could have been a much different experience for us than me sitting comfortably at my computer, painlessly writing. Or there could have not been a today for Mom or me. Praise the Lord for His protection.

It so happens, that morning I was reading Psalms of David’s protection by God. I felt to read them out loud and pray through them, with a little declaring the same words for myself in my paraphrased version. I tailored them a little for my own spiritual warfare since, to my knowledge, I don’t have any earthly enemies that I’m aware of. Only the devil. Here’s what I prayed:

“Rescue me, O LORD, from evil; Preserve me from violence (and demons) who devise evil things in their hearts. They continually stir up wars (troubles). They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; poison of a viper is under their lips. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent ones who have purposed to trip up my feet. The proud one has hidden a trap for me, and cords; he has spread a net by the wayside; he has set snares for me.. I said to the LORD, "You are my God; Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle. Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked one” Psalm (140:1-8).

Was that God’s way of setting the stage for His intervention on my behalf, though I had no sense of danger when I prayed it? I’m thinking, Yes! So if you’re inclined to pray through some Scriptures at any time like that on your own, or someone else’s behalf, could be you’re putting a guardian angel on alert.

Two days later a visiting nurse came to the house to attend to Mom who at 91 is periodically in need of a tune-up. Now nurses generally conjure up images that are not what this person turned out to be. True, I had a stereo-type of a nurse in my mind. Bill was not it. He’s a military medic turned visiting nurse. A big muscular guy with a few tattoos who is into martial arts and Taoism and the like. I wasn’t sure I wanted him touching Mom. We had to fill out paper work first and so we got to talking. Not even sure how we got into it, but inevitably we got to talking – about God. Then again, most of my conversations wind up talking about God.

This was not one of those quickie “Has anyone ever told you God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” kinds of witnessing for the Lord. That wasn’t going to work here. He is sure God loves him, though he didn’t see that we sin. “It,” the energy of the earth, is about love for us all, because we all are of one spirit, he tells me, a cosmic consciousness kind of thing, as in we’re all linked in one great togetherness. Seems to me like the devil’s attempt to turn worship from God as the only unique and holy “I am” into the worship of man for what “we are.” I suggest to him that God is not the least like we are. He’s holy. I can see that doesn’t compute. Bill is sure when and if he meets God it will be eye to eye as equals. I don’t think so.

I’ve had an experience of being in heaven, I tell him. I share a little of the vision God gave to me a number of years ago. Of how people are indeed one, but it is because they are free of sin and God has made us one “in Him.” This is the privilege of those who have accepted God’s provision to free us from the sin that separates us from Himself – Yeshua’s death on our behalf. I tell him of the joy that is heaven that is entirely God’s joy and so far beyond anything we can endure in our earthly bodies or imagine. I’ve experienced it, I tell him, but for less than a minute or I would have exploded or died. God is SOOOOO much bigger than what we perceive of Him!

He tells me his own near death experiences, two of them, and being supernaturally protected. He knows it had to be an angel. I ask him if he thanked God. He says he did, many times. This is good. Then he tells me of something he heard Joyce Meyer say on a TV show. He’s watching Christian TV! What do you know. He tells me stories of drawing pain out of people, a healing gift. And of the wisdom of his martial arts master whom he knows personally. What a lead in. I lean across the table where we’re sitting and whisper, “How about having the wisdom of The Master of the Universe whom we can know personally!” He nods up and down ever so slightly. I can see he’s listening.

"We go back and forth for a while and then I realize this is not someone I'm trying to share the Lord with, but someone the Lord Himself is after."

We all are the voice of God to one another, he tells me further into our conversation. To this I share briefly with Him my experience of hearing God’s audible voice and of the unchallengeable authority that is conveyed in His voice which leaves no room for us humans to think we are in any way at all equal with Him, although by His grace we are welcome into loving fellowship with Him, on His terms. We go back and forth for a while and then I realize this is not someone I’m trying to share the Lord with, but someone the Lord Himself is after. That’s why he’s here!

“I see in you a man who wants to know the truth. God sees your heart. Could be that’s why we’re having this chat. This isn’t a coincidence,” I tell him, meaning it. He nods again. Pensive. Although he comes back with answers because he’s given much of his life to know what he knows – I can see that look in his eyes that happens when the Holy Spirit is putting a hook in someone’s heart and tugging ever so slightly, but sovereignly, to bring them to Himself.

In the end he agreed to take my book home and read it. It’s the testimonies of 5 Jewish people and what issues they had to deal with in coming to the Lord, each one different. Each, by the way, in my family, including my own testimony. I figure my brother’s story, the one about following the guru to India, might be one he could relate to. We’ll get to talk again. He has to come back. He is scheduled for six more sessions with Mom.

To read the rest of this article and what happened the rest of the week, go to "Articles" at www.sidroth.org.

Ponderings and Wanderings of Lonnie Lane: God Is In The Visuals

Ponderings and Wanderings of Lonnie Lane: God Is In The Visuals

God Is In The Visuals

A friend and I were having an e-chat about how we each “see” God. I asked her how she imagined or pictured the Lord. I’m a pretty visual person. I have to kind of picture things to process them. God is in the visuals for me, though not exclusively of course. I do see God all around me. His fingerprints are everywhere. He’s in the harmonies of colors and the way shapes fit together. He’s in the ripples and the reflections in a pond or a puddle as they shine back the heavens above them. He’s in the flight of the herons that frequent our pond lifting undulating wings majestically while flying down stream. At times they seem to reveal God's smile at all the beauty He's created.

He’s in the pebbles on the path, each little one -- How did it get there? What made it that shape? Did God design each one specifically to His liking? I see the Hand of the Sculptor in them. I see the twist of several kinds of vines wrapping themselves around each other, reminding me of the way our lives weave in and out of each others’, and the reaching out of the tendrils to grasp hold of something other than itself for support. My eyes go to the grey-green-brown varied textures in each tree bark reminding me of the varied textures of experiences in our lives that serve to enable us to stand upright and strong as we grow in the Lord.

And that’s just what happens three times a day while walking my dog, Lizzie, in whose little face, when she looks into my eyes with her faithful devotion and unconditional love, is as the affection of God to me. What wonder. Part of my gratefulness to God continually is for eyes that see.

But I also picture Yeshua (Jesus). All the time. In my imagination. The stories about Him in the Bible are real life experiences to me. I go with Him in them. I figure God gave us imagination and then tells us stories for the very purpose of having us picture what took place in them and who was involved so we can project ourselves into the stories and respond to them, even internalize them. Not all, but many. Yesterday I read, “Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone” (John 6:15). “Lord,” I said, “Take me with You.” I want to go and be with Him, I want to see Him when He’s alone with His Father, when no one else is around, to know Him that way too.

I can’t tell you I was granted a visual of this, at least not yet, but I did ask Him, “Lord, were you transfigured when you were alone with your Father so that you were in touch with Your glory? Did that only happen once or did it happen often? Or were you confined to Your humanity, humble before Abba, even stretched out and face down?”

As I ask these questions, I can “see” Him, humbling Himself before Abba, prostrate before Him. Even envisioning this again now humbles me. Makes me be still inside as if I’m in the presence of holiness. Then, as much as I am able, I try to picture Him glorified: “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matthew 17:2). But I realize I’m incapable of seeing Him this way, with His Face as bright as the sun which we cannot endure looking at directly. His whole being emanating pure light! I cannot see this as it must have been, but I can surely feel the Holy Spirit within me responding to my even wanting to, as silent worship wells up within me.

(To read the rest of this article, go to: www.sidroth.org and click on Articles: Learn More.

Guarding "Our" Freedom

I've just spent four days with a human rights activist. Life cannot be quite the same after spending considerable time with a human rights activist. This is a man who risks his own life by defending persecuted Christians in Muslim countries. How did he come to this? By being persecuted himself in his own Muslim country. When I say persecuted, I don't mean people said nasty things about him or threw rocks through his window. I'm talking about physical torture, including to the point of being crucified, tied to a cross for 2 1/2 days. In the dark. Alone. His greatest fear was that he would give in and tell them the info they wanted - the names of his fellow believers. By the grace of God he never told them, and by an even greater measure of God's grace he survived and was able to escape to Israel, the one country he had always been told were his enemies. He found them to be his greatest friends and protectors.

As he shared many stories of how Christians are being persecuted, and in some rare cases Messianic Jews whom He also has defended, one begins to see freedom as a great treasure, one we may have taken for granted. We do not fear for our lives when we go to church or synagogue, or meet with others to pray. We are not concerned we are being monitored constantly because of our faith. We in North America in particular are so enormously blessed to be free to worship openly and as we choose. However, that privilege may be slipping away from us. Without going into why, its enough to say that we would do well to pray that our freedom is not lost and that persecution of Christians and Jews is not tolerated in our countries.

I had another experience as a result of being with my human rights activist friend. We were worshiping in church, singing the same songs many of us are familiar with. I came into the church having absorbed some of my friend's deep concern for two Iranian girls who had been arrested and were now in a prison where others have been tortured and died a bloody death. His cell phone rings continually with the persecution issues his organization is dealing with. He had received a call about these two girls as we were riding to the church. He carries these people in his heart with great heaviness. I admit the burden is somewhat contagious and I too was praying for them as we worshiped.

But something was different for me. Maybe I was different. Suddenly, singing about how the Lord had saved me, blessed me, healed me, watches over me... seemed very self-absorbed. True, worship is between each of us and God, but it can also be about "us" and "we" rather than just "me." When Yeshua (Jesus) addressed the congregations in the Book of The Revelation, He addressed them corporately, not individually. Most of Paul's letters are written to entire congregations. When God dealt with Israel, it was always corporately, not individually.

Yes, we all must respond to God ourselves, individually, but the mindset, the paradigm, that God seems to want us to have is that of being a part of others, of being one among sisters and brothers, to be aware that we exist in a "Body" comprised of other persons. Our Western perspective is very individualistic. But the Kingdom of God is that "we" are to be as "one" and with love and concern for others with the same love and concern we have for ourselves. If we say we love God, then as the "Great Commandment" says,we will love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It doesn't say how far that neighborhood extends!

Paul set a priority when he said, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men". He didn't seem to think that "first of all" we should be praying for ourselves, for our own well-being, or even for those closest to us, but for "all." He further said to pray, "for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity" (1 Timothy 2:1-3). It would seem that the tranquility of our nation, which would certainly include our freedom, is directly related to our prayers for our leaders. Do you pray for our President and his cabinet, and that all levels of government would be protectors of our freedom and justice?

My friend, in encouraging people to be praying for the persecuted Believers around the world asks, How many of you take a few minutes to drink a cup of coffee or tea (or whatever) each day? Would you take 2 of the 5 minutes of your coffee time to pray for the persecuted church? Would you who are reading this do that too? Would you also pray for the protection of those like my friend who risk their lives for the lives and freedom of other? And would you add another minute to pray for our presidents or prime ministers (as in Israel) and for their governments for wisdom and justice to maintain? Would you do that? And lets pray for each other that God's great grace will keep us faithful, no matter what comes. "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God."

And may the blessings, protection and grace of God be mightily upon you too.

Dropping Pebbles of Kindness in Troubled Waters

Two friends and I were enjoying a mini-pot-luck dinner together this weekend. One of us was telling of a car mechanic who was rude, and had a bad attitude, not to mention not repairing her car as he should have. How as Believers should we respond to such situations? Yes, he needs to make good his work, but should she have written him off as a loser, just a bad guy to avoid? We began to pray for him, to bless him, for God to heal whatever in his heart happened to him to cause him such bitterness. Who knows, we pondered, if his wife didn’t leave him that morning, or if he has a sick child and is pre-occupied with worry? Or whatever.

We decided he needs some TLC from the Lord. She would go back, and while requiring he fix what wasn’t fixed properly, she would attempt to reach out with some word of kindness. Maybe even present that potentially life-changing question: “Has anyone ever told you that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” It’s amazing what responses you get from folks when you ask them that question -- everything from tears, to smiles, to “No, no one ever has,” to “Yes, praise the Lord” (then you’ve found a sister or a brother in the Lord), to “Not me. I’ve done too much,” which certainly opens up the conversation to tell them about Jesus dying for just that reason, to make unacceptable people acceptable in God’s sight. And yes, sometimes you get rejection. On occasion someone just walks away, but rarely.

We continued to talk about how many people there are ‘out there’ who could be encouraged just by someone putting a little love in their smile or their voice as they address them. Someone who returns nastiness with niceness. There are a lot of lonely people in the world today, especially with so many family break-ups. Rejection permeates the self-image of so many. The saying, “Reach out and touch someone” may not be a bad idea. Just a touch on the arm or shoulder may go a long way to making someone feel worthy of being touched. They may not have been touched for a long time. Maybe that’s why Jesus reached out and touched the leperous man when He healed him. He could have just spoken the word to heal him. But maybe He was healing something in his soul as well as his body, letting him know he’s no longer “untouchable.”

Perhaps when we spread God's love around to someone they will then respond by sharing it with others. You know, like "Passing it forward." Only God really knows how far the ripples in the wake of a pebble of kindness goes out when we drop it into someone else’s life.

To read the rest of this article go to: www.sidroth.org and click on Articles. Scroll down to "Pebbles."

Being A Blessing in Difficult Times

Have you been worried lately about the state of our country? Are you storing rice and beans, or whatever, along with water. Not a bad idea, according to some prophesies that are floating around. "End times," we hear. Surely we're in the end of days and Jesus can't be far from bursting through the clouds. But what if He's not? What if we're not really "outta here" real soon?

This little blog is really about joy, but first I have to say a few things. Jesus said, "Occupy till I come." That means be involved in the things of life. Other generations have expected it was the end days, but we're still here. It sure must have looked like Hitler was the anti-Christ and it was all over, but he's gone and we're still here.

So how shall we deal with all that is happening? For one thing, I get concerned for our young people (and maybe some older people)who are being told perhaps they have no future here on earth to be concerned about because we're in the "end times." So what is there to aspire toward or even care about? What vision and tools will they have to live out productive and happy lives if they aren't equipped now to live such lives? What kind of parents will they be to inspire their own children? If you don't aspire, you can't inspire. Without aspiration you don't learn perseverance, and it's perseverance which results in proven character and that leads to hope. How depressed and "dropped out" might some be without hope for a bright future?

But then there are also those of us who are excited about Jesus coming back, whenever it happens. There are those of us who share His heart for the hearts of people who find themselves lost without Him. Those who are motivated to tell others there's a great life to be lived in God. Now that alone will straighten out a good many things in our lives. If the Holy Spirit can really get hold of us, and we really surrender our lives to His Lordship, then He can change us and mold us into the image of Jesus, which means we can be people who change the world. We will be people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. Lord knows we could use more of that in the world today, can't we?

So how do we work this out in our day-to-day living? I am privileged to have a large meadow on our “village” property. Lizzie (my doggie) and I walk there in the morning, often still wet with dew. Amid the waving grasses and occasional wild flowers feed flocks of herons and Egrets. The pond a few doors down from my house is the habitat of a number of Moskovie and Mallard ducks, including our second brood of new baby duckies this summer, each time eleven of them. I love the smells and the sounds of summer. I can pretend the world is safe and normal and at peace for a few minutes each morning. And I can be grateful to God for eyes to see all this, and ears to hear and legs to walk, and for Lizzie to share it with me. I wholly recommend you get out in nature. It gives you a much wider perspective on what life is comprised of outside of yourself. Get near some animals. Go to the zoo, which is where I took this photo of the flamingos. (You can tell I like the Zoo. See my Zoo article below.)

With so much possibly looming on the horizon in our nation and in the world, besides praying, I’ve set myself to saying, “Today is good. Today is safe. Right now I can give my thanksgiving to God for all I have taken for granted till quite recently, and be as much of a blessing to others as I can, today." I became aware recently that I had been dialing down my expectations of good, trying to prepare myself for living with less. But then I realized the less was resulting in less joy when the less was only about 'stuff.' But my joy is eternal. It comes from the Lord. Nothing changed in the Kingdom of God. I can live from there even if I live in this world. We're to be 'in' the world, but not 'of' it, if we belong to Jesus, right?

So I asked God, "How shall I deal with what's going on today, Lord?" The answer: "Be as much of a blessing as you can wherever you are." Not the answer I expected. So I started "being a blessing." By that I mean I greeted people warmly like I liked them and found I did, even new people. And they responded in kind and we got all joyful and "So very glad to meet you" together. I started really listening to people and looking them in the eyes like I care, which I was starting to more than before. It didn't take much. Just letting Jesus love people through me then made me feel loved. When I found myself in a conversation about how dire things could get, I gently reminded them that God is still as good as ever and His promises haven't changed because our economy has. The Kingdom of God does not suffer lack.

I've started asking the Lord to teach us how to have our needs met by Him the same way Israel did for 40 years on the desert when food (manna) was delivered daily by angels and not even a sandal wore out. Perhaps if our health care system breaks down we might just have to rely on God for healing the way the first century believers in Jesus did. Maybe then we'd find He would give us the same power He gave them, if we put our trust in Him as they did, and not in a whole lot of other options.

Being a believer in Jesus is about believing Him, right? I’m finding that’s bringing me more joy than any kind of worrying could possibly. And as for being a blessing, well, you do reap what you sow. If you're depressed or are feeling unloved, go out and love somebody else. Be a blessing today. Spread around some of God's goodness and love. He is, after all, love! Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but today there are new baby duckies -- a sign that life will go on -- bobbing around in the edges of the pond where it's still shallow. Why not step out in your own shallow waters at first and bring some new life to someone who could just use a hug or a smile from Jesus today. You might find the secret to the Lord's joy: Even with what He was facing in His own "end times" here on earth, He was a blessing to everyone who would receive His blessings.

If we are the Lord's, then we will feel His joy as we let Him love people through us. And despite what we might go through, we are headed for the eternal joy of heaven just as He was. It was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross. That same joy is also promised to us, if we have made Jesus Lord of our lives, both eternal joy and the today kind of joy.

Have a "blessed" day.