40 days–journaling

Faithful Hope - by Fae Dunn

"I once heard it said that conviction brings life because it points us to Jesus, while on the other hand, condemnation brings death because it makes you think you have no hope." - Fae Dunn

Is there currently a revelation in your life? If you allow it to draw you to Jesus, the Master Refiner, and you choose to be refined and make changes in your life that are positive, then you have been given life through a conviction. If you reject the revelation and choose not to make changes empowered by the Holy Spirit, then you have allowed yourself to be condemned... which will kill your spirit, your witness and your usefulness to God and others. Darkness and the spirit of Death have now been given your consent to be your constant companion.

I don't want that kind of companion, do you?

Father, help me to be ever sensitive to your gracious convicting revelations in my life and thank You for the strength, grace and wisdom to choose to make the refining changes in obedience to Your Spirit. Thank You for rebuking the evil one from me. In Jesus' precious name. Amen.

God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3 NLT)

[If you remember, Fae Dunn is our new friend we met over at Joe’s Farm Grill in Gilbert, a few weeks ago. We are thrilled that she only lives a few blocks from our park and she came to Bible study with us last Thursday evening! I can not believe that I didn’t get a picture of her. That just means she has to come back.  

I’m also excited to have her devotional book, Faithful Hope, and will be reading through it and journaling as I go, as the Lord leads.]

Just a little meditation thought.

Faith power:

“Stretch our your hand.”

Matthew 12:13 – Then He said to the man, “Stretch our your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other."

“Step out into the raging water.”

Joshua 3:13-   -

¹³ And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”

¹⁴ So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Resurrection power:

“Lazarus, come forth!”

John 11:43-44 - Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Faith power requires me to make the first move of obedience… stretch; step out.  The purpose of “faith power” is to grow my faith and my relationship with God.

The purpose of “resurrection power,” among many things, is to glorify God and does not require anything from me, but it definitely builds my faith. That’s grace. Because I believe, I reap the rewards of resurrection power.

^{John 11:40} Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

Tuesday with friends..

If you remember the last time Don and I went to Joe’s Farm Grill, I took a picture of the huge tree out back and then wondered what kind it was when I got home and posted about our day.  Today, we took Susan and Richard to Joe’s Farm Grill and I asked an employee, “What kind of tree is that?”

“It’s a Tamarisk tree,” he said.

The water standing is irrigation water.

That sign says, “Warning! Please keep off of trees. Danger of falling and scorpions.”The scorpions like living in the trees out here in the desert. Especially the palm trees.

While waiting for our lunch, I visited the ladies room and found a small collection of Barbie, Ken and G.I. Joe dolls memorialized in cases embedded in the wall behind glass. How interesting. There was also a TV in the restroom with a movie playing.

Also, while waiting and trying to find out about the Tamarisk tree, we met the three lovely ladies at the table next to us. (I know you are shocked that I would talk to strangers.)  This is Kathy, Fae and Terry.  Kathy and Terry are cousins. Fae is an author and inspirational speaker and we are now friends on FaceBook! (Shocked again?)

Our number was called and Richard and Don went to the window to get our lunch and served us. We do have us a couple of gentlemen servant husbands. So blessed. I took this picture to include our three new friends.

Fae graciously offered to take our picture.

How healthy does my lunch look?!?  Grilled wild salmon and asparagus, and a farm fresh spring salad. That huge slice of citrus is a lemon!! My salad dressing was a vinaigrette made with lemon juice… very good!

Don could not resist their new milk shake flavor: butter pecan caramel! I took a tiny sip and it was so sweet that I declared, “You will never drink all of that!”

He showed me! LOL

It was a beautiful day for dining outside for some.

A view of Four Peaks as we make our way to the Queen Creek Olive Mill.

What do you do while waiting for the tour to begin?  Take pictures, of course.  Susan and I having fun.

Part of the Queen Creek Olive Mill campus.

Tour guide, Cassie, starts with a history of the orchard and mill.

Next, we are educated in the ways of Queen Creek Olive Mill processing.

I am convinced that this is the healthiest and best olive oil in the world.

Don cooked fresh green beans from the nearby market and seasoned with chicken stock and bacon olive oil. Yumm yumm.

I miss her. A year ago today…

I was sitting at Mama Trudy’s dining table playing Mexican Train dominos with her…

 

 

 

 

 

 

More about what I was doing on this day a year ago: http://bakersblessings.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-cocoa-gravy-monday-morning.html

… and why I gained weight while I was in Georgia!!!

God is good.

A friend here in the park posted a gorgeous sunrise picture this morning and I was compelled to get up with my camera and go out and take a look for myself.

Sure enough, the sun was beautiful coming up over the mountain. But I had already missed the pretty oranges and pinks that comes before the sun shows up.

It was glorious, nonetheless, and I was rejoicing in the beauty of God’s watercolor creation as I clicked these few pictures from our door step (in my pj’s).

A little further north is Superstition peak in the clouds.

As I completed taking pictures and turned to come back into the Q, I guess Satan was not happy that I was praising God and enjoying the work of His power, so he pushed me and I lost my balance and went stumbling down the steps. But God caught me, steadied me on my feet and I did not fall on the concrete patio. So all the enemy accomplished was more praises to God from me for His love and protection.

Isn’t God good?

All the time!!

New friend, Larry

We had a visitor today. Larry is the resident computer guru in the park. If a computer can be fixed, Larry can fix it.

As we sat and visited, I suddenly saw a resemblance so couldn’t wait to play with Larry’s picture. I asked him not to smile when I took this picture because…..

I had this in mind. Is it just me or do you see how Larry could be cast as the perfect Abe Lincoln? Add bushy eyebrows and more facial hair. Same nose. Same mouth. Same hollow cheeks. Same look in the eyes.

Here’s another picture of Larry with a smile.What an interesting man and a walking miracle.

Bedroom “make-over”

I love our antique store find!

Cutest little cabinet and in “like new” condition, too! That picture beside the cabinet is a 5x7 so that gives you an indication of the size of the cabinet. Just perfect for that space.

And the best part: price sticker said $10 and was given an additional 20% off at check out!

While I’m in the bedroom with the camera, will show you our latest improvement. We traded in our king-size mattress for a queen size, cut the base down and Voila’!… we have six more inches on each side of the bed! More room for changing sheets….

More room to walk on my side of the bed and more room to get into my closet.

And even though the bed is not any shorter, it seems like we have more space at the foot of the bed.

We just love our “new” bedroom in the Q.

Re-connect with Jim & Paula

I suppose I am ready to post a “half-way to my goal” reveal.  This week, we went to Goodwill and I found a few pair of jeans and tops in smaller sizes than I’ve .been wearing because all of my clothes are now very baggy on me and look tacky.  I will admit that I’m just a little giddy over my success in losing 40+ pounds thus far.

We were so excited when Paula Inglis called and said they were driving over to see us this afternoon.  The last time our paths crossed was in south Texas in 2011. We just picked up where we left off.  Jim and Paula and I go way back to the 1970’s.

Paula has to get Jim’s shirt straightened for the picture.

We are so tickled that Paul and Jim are in the Phoenix area this winter.

Love, love, love this beautiful lady.