God speaks...

The following is what God revealed to Don this morning:

DECEMBER 17 - (devotional by Adrian Rogers)

God Is In Control

"For I the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." - Isaiah 41:13 

Once I had the rare opportunity of visiting with Corrie Ten Boom. I drank in her words. I listened and kept my mouth shut. One of her statements went straight to my heart:

"There is no panic in heaven, only plans."

That is how God operates — no panic.

Did you know the Holy Trinity never meets in an emergency session? God has never stepped down from His throne. Jesus has not left His right hand, and the Holy Spirit has not stopped interceding for you, His child.

Refuse to listen to Satan's lies of fear, discouragement, and despair. You are a victor. And God is in control!

Repeat the following throughout the day today, "God is in control of my life. He will not leave me. His right hand will sustain me all the length of my days."

And to me, through The Path Beyond the Gate by Ann Smith, God said:

"As I reflected on my journey of seventy years, I became convinced that life is both pain and joy, and both are an important part of the journey.  If I shut down my emotions in order to avoid pain, I pay a high price because I also shut out the capacity to experience joy.  The fact that I have the capacity to feel pain means I also have the capacity to feel joy.

"Jesus never promised a life of ease -- a life free from pain and suffering.  He promised a presence.  He also takes everything that comes into our lives and uses it to help us grow -- an that includes even the bad things.  He journeys with us, and that is cause for celebration."

He promised a presence!  His presence is always with me.  Always.  God, who created a universe for me to live and grow in Him in; God, who created me to live in the universe for Him; God, who provided Jesus for me so that I may live forever with Him, justified by His righteousness alone and fully sanctified by Him at the end of my life in this universe.  My God, who does all these things, is fully able to be present with me every second of my life and the God who promises is not able to break His promises to me. 

"For I the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." - Isaiah 41:13 

Oh, to be able to shout from the roof tops:  God is mine and I am His!!!  

You pray, God answers...

So, this morning, Don and I go for a walk.  He has the strength to put one foot in front of the other, whereas, yesterday and the days before, he did not have that strength.  Thank You, Jesus!

We were told that they had prayer for Don last night at the Gospel Jam Session at the club house.  How this blessed us and we know God has heard and is answering all the prayers for Don.

We always see folks to chat with when we walk.  Bill and Rusty were walking, also, this morning.  Bill and Jeannette rescued Rusty, a two year old long haired dachshund who is finally beginning to trust others.  His fear of being abused still causes him to growl a little at strangers.  He has even bitten Bill twice, but Bill is so patient with Rusty and is teaching him that he will not be mistreated anymore.

Emmi was outside re-potting flowers.  We love this sweet, sweet little German lady with her heavy German accent.  Sorry that I didn't snap a picture of her.  She made macaroons for Don and a pretty red Christmas scarf for me and brought them over yesterday.  Have I mentioned how blessed we are?  Do you understand how God uses YOU in the lives of others to assure them of HIS PRESENCE?

When we got back to the Q after walking, these two lovely, fresh grapefruit were waiting for us.

The symphony of the Church is the most beautiful song in the world.

2 Thessalonians 1:3
3 Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.