BETTER THINGS ARE YET TO COME

In Psalm 78, the psalmist reminds the children of Israel of their rich heritage in the Lord and of His fierce anger at their faithlessness.

They were complaining about the lack of food when God was preparing to pour out manna from heaven on them.

They were complaining about living in tents when God was preparing to give them houses filled with good things that they did not build or buy.

They were complaining about the wilderness when He was preparing to give them the promised land - a land flowing with milk and honey.

They were complaining about what they could see instead of focusing on what God had promised them.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by my prayer chain requests this morning. I am reluctant to even place on 'paper' the huge needs that are out there. Children dying with cancer, a 6 yo recovering from his 6th open heart surgery, mothers miscarrying babies, cancer, cancer, cancer, a childhood friend who lost his son in a car accident, job loss - it is truly mind-boggling the amount of pain that is out there. And if we choose to focus on what we see instead of what God has promised, we too will begin to complain - will begin to lose faith - will run the risk of God's fierce anger.

If I had the ability to go back in time, I would go to the children of Israel and say, "Hold on! Unimaginable riches are coming. Better things are yet to come. He who promises is faithful to bring them to pass." You and I know it's true because it has already happened and is recorded for us to read. But more than read it - we are to learn and to grow in our own faith because of their living it out.

So that is what I want to say to you today - "Greater things are yet to come." Not because I have seen them but because He said it. It is recorded for us to read, to grow, to understand and to believe. The end of your life story is not yet written. I want mine to be one of great faith. Believing God for His best. He has a plan. It's HIS plan. It is for good.

I believe. Do you?

"In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!" Jesus

USE IT OR LOSE

I would like to take credit for coming up with that saying but alas! I did not. I'm speaking of my muscles. I have noticed over the last few months I have been achy and keep getting pulls and strains in my muscles/joints. I mentioned it at my recent physical and instead of the comment about aging - which I expected, she asked if I had been exercising. Ahem. That's a little personal. Wasn't it enough that she weighed me? Anyway - she reminded me that if I don't use my muscles I will lose them. Have I mentioned that I hate/loathe/despise sweating? Nor do I like doing things that are boring and I equate exercise with boredom plus the added detraction of sweat. So I bought myself a bowflex treadclimber on Craigslist. Pretty proud of myself. Got a great buy. Thought if I put the thing in Billy's study, under the ceiling fan, IN the air conditioning and in front of the TV I MIGHT do something to 'use it' and avoiding 'losing it.' Anyway....

I came upon this passage of scripture in my daily reading:

"God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect." Ps. 18: 32

It reminded me that God gives us strength in order that our ways become perfect. Looking at the great loss of my life I need to know that God is using that loss and the grief that ensued to make my way perfect. Just as physical exercise makes our bodies perfect so do trials and tribulations exercise our spiritual bodies to be conformed into the image of Christ.

The wonder of it all is while my treadclimber can sit in that study without so much as a thought in that direction, the God who loves us, created us, has a plan for us and is working in us to perfect that plan will bring things into our lives that will force us to flex our spiritual muscle.

I love knowing that He has my life in His hands. I rejoice to know that as big a mess as it may seem from my side of the veil, His side is working it all out for perfection. Not just good. Pefect. I like that.

Let's flex some muscle this week.

TOO BIG TO MISS

In my daily reading I was studying the story of David and Goliath and the commentators made an insight I had heard before but pondered anew. He said that the Israelites saw an opponent who was too big to defeat and David saw an enemy who was too big to miss! Isn't that true of life? It really is all about perspective.

As the proprietor of a weekly prayer chain I am profoundly aware of the size of the enemy that wages war against us. It sometimes seems as though followers of Christ have a big bulls-eye on our foreheads. David was the anointed king-to-be of Israel. He was already called a man after God's own heart and yet God let him stand alone against a nine foot giant. Sometimes we make a mistake by knowing a story too well and David's is a prime example. We skip right to the end - where a young boy single-handedly kills a giant with a slingshot and one stone. WHOA - back up.

He stood up against a giant while the entire army of Israel stood down and watched. He spoke against his enemy - not by taunting, whining, complaining or manipulating. He spoke about the God who placed David in the position to fight. And while Goliath lumbered around in his hundreds of pounds of (probably frightening looking) armor, David quickly ran forward, slung a stone and sunk a giant! THEN the army of Israel was emboldened to run forward and fight!

The body of Christ is waging war against a giant enemy today (by the way - that is nothing new). God allowed it. And He is the same God who stood with David. He is unchanging. Whatever your enemy - be it financial, physical, emotional, relational - it needs to be faced in the perspective of the God you serve. You see - your enemy is too big to miss! I love the spunk of David. He said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares to defy the army of the Living God?" In other words - "Enemy! Who do you think you are? Have you see my God?"

Friends, scrub off the bifocals. Take a fresh look at the God you serve. If He put a young boy before a giant, who is to say He didn't allow the enemy facing you today? Perhaps the watching world needs to see your bravery. Perhaps the church needs to hear a rousing reminder of the God we serve. Whatever your opposition today - it is no match for the God we are in covenant with. He has your back, your front, your sides. He goes before you and nothing is too big for Him.

Ready, Aim, Shoot!

This and That

Thought you might enjoy looking at my mom's iris! I am absolutely BEYOND tickled that her irises have been moved from Temple to Paris to Rockwall and have bloomed like CRAZY! this year. Makes me so happy. My Nanny (my dad's mother) had such a green thumb and always had lots of flowers in her yard. Then Mother and Shelby had the most beautiful yards. As our little birdies left the nest we had more time to devote to gardening and it is paying off. We so enjoy seeing them bloom and providing beauty. It is also a way of keeping their memory alive of course. They would be so pleased to see something of their beloved home in ours. Sometimes it's just the little things that make life so sweet.



Easter weekend we had our annual family get-together! So much fun. This is my sweet sister and her little granddaughter, Parker Grace. We love her to pieces. She is all girl and so much fun. The first baby we had the in family for 19 years and she's as sweet as she is cute. My sister is in the thick of nursing school. We have so much fun swapping stories - mine antiquated and hers oh-so-contemporary. I tell her mine are a hundred times worse because we wore those ugly caps!!!

Here is my brother Barry and his wife Tina. You did a lot of praying for him and he is doing great. He's been back at work for about a month and starts regular duty this week. Tina was super at taking care of him - never left his side during all those hospitalizations and many, many, many drives back and forth to Dallas from Sulphur Springs. So we are super grateful for his health and your prayers for them today!!

I would love to post pics of my little family but I am grounded from publishing pictures of them - well, just Brandon and Kylie. Matt and Amy were in Austin this weekend for a horse clinic and missed all the hoop-la! They would probably have cooperated. :(

Anyway, we had a wonderful Easter - shed a few tears for our sweet Justin but know that we know - HE'S A-OK.....we just miss him. That part is so hard this side of the good news of Jesus.

And I can't close a post without saying a big THANK YOU to Him for His wonderful gift of eternal life and the wonder of living without the condemnation of sin hanging over our heads. So grateful.....for this life, for the life to come and for the privilege of having you guys as friends on both sides. Happy Easter!