I WANT IT NOW!

 Have you ever come home from vacation and felt overwhelmed? You walk around the house and see everything wrong that you want changed, the house seems disheveled and dirty. Your thoughts begin to this...I can't keep up, I won't be able to do this much longer, how will things get back to normal, why can't things around here be better. You feel like giving up. Like you don't matter. Like what does it matter if I go on?

You try fighting the thoughts but they just feel so strong. Getting out of bed seems impossible.

You know Jesus is there. You know the Holy Spirit is active, yet it isn't getting better as 24 hours pass.

Please just pray, "Help". The help begins to present itself. You think a verse or force your attention to a devotion. A verse begins to stick. This is real time for me. I turned on the Christian radio and the topic matches your thoughts. The host is teaching on overcoming thoughts, and the verse arises, "Ask anything in my name and I will do it." Your faith begins to rise within. I text a special circle of friends, "Please pray for me my thoughts are not centered and I need to have the power to fight them and I know only  God can do that. I'm going to the throne and asking for help like scripture says that I have the power, love and sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7"

One responded, "Lord Jesus, I claim your word in 2 Tim. 1:7 right now. Fill her with your confidence and peace. Remind her of your promise in Matthew 21:22, to pray believing, and she will receive."

I was asking God the same thing pray and receive. It began to believe to be revealed how focused I am on myself, my house, meaningless stuff. I saw I need to have things in place and then I will be in peace and thriving. My perspective was all off! I need the better things in my house and it to be a certain order than I can think straight. That is perfectionism! A liar is lying to me! Perspective from God's word begins to block the lies that flood my mind. I respent, "God I am sorry for believing I need to get my house in order and then I will thrive and life within me." Wanting things in order is not wrong, thinking that I could get back into my routines in my own strength is wrong. I was relying on myself and was thinking I can't do it therefore "I give up all right to existing". Is this crazy! Yes, it is!

Truth takes back over my mind. The word says, "He will guard my mind and heart." This was happening in real time. My wanting things perfect in order to exist is ridiculous and why does that really matter to me? I begin to remember that God will give me things in the time when really needed and it doesn't have to be all at once. NOW! Now screamed and because of prayer it was now being silenced/blocked!

I am laughing now because what comes to mind is the Willy Wonka character Veruca Salt demands, "I want it now!" Remember her bratty attitude.

Contentment, peace only come in the name of Jesus, everything else is made up imagination. You think you need all the strength now and then you will run through the house and get it all done and then you can be content and have meaning for life and purpose....blah, blah, blah!

I pray you let God into every moment so the Holy Spirit can bring clarity, perspective and peace of mind. Thinking you have to do it all NOW is distorted thinking! 

That familiar old spirit of PERFECTIONISM creeps up and deceives me!

I prayed, repented and received the truth and things were definitely better. Strength from the Lord covered me and blocked all giving up thoughts.

I pray you understand and feel helped.

PROMISES

 When we see God work, it fills our heart and helps us carry on.

Starting the day with "The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. Jer. 33:14

God wants us to look upward, where does our help come from, it comes from Him.

After reading this I had a time with Dad. We held out our hands and declared together your promises are here (hope, love, forgiveness), we trust you today Lord.

PRAYING MANTIS

 Dear Friend:

Pray what to do today.

I meet with a dear friend. It is a beautiful, sunny warm day and the trees are a full peak for changing color so the walk is so inviting soul filled. I mean out of no where a praying mantis appears on the sidewalk and we pause and fascinate over seeing it. You know I can not even think of the last time I saw a praying mantis. They have that prayer-like stance. Within in us both praying people we sense God calling us to pray. Pray for the things we talk about.

What now presents itself to be a Holy Spirit adventure we continue to watch, see and admire creation.

We approach a Bald Cypress tree and from afar in the fall it has such a gold brown fall color scheme that just is amazing! We discovered when you get so close to the tree it looses all of that amazing color that you see from a distance. It really is one of my favorite fall must sees, but now I discover best viewed from a distance. What does that mean? Isn't it just like life, close up you view all the flaws and the muddled chaos? Then you back up and gain perspective and you can see the beauty. 

Sometimes we need to back up and take a look and breath let God work on the close up. He wants the honest real close up point of view. Don't worry he's got this! He promises. Do you trust Him.

I love how our souls are awakened to receive the messages of the Lord. He is alive and real, don't doubt it.

Sometimes we can't see it because we are at the close point and we don't back up and take a look.

I'm an artist and this also works with art. When you are on top of the drawing and don't take the time to back up and breath, check it out. On top you are discouraged back up, pray, breath.

We agreed, God was good to show us these things. It was a blessed walk.

Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this. 

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.

YOU NEVER KNOW

Racing to the computer with excitement to tell the God story of the recent!

Let me explain:

My son had a big home improvement going on and he had concern of the finances for it. He had the money but would be draining his bank. Anxiously he kept saying, I don't know what to do, we have to finish this project. How will we replace the money? His wife and I kept saying, "You have to have faith, where is your faith?" We have a dog name Faith, we are not talking about the dog! lol!

We prayed! The very next day, I kid you not, I was sitting in Costco and a elderly lady was being chatty and she says, I grew my family in Osh Kosh, WI, You know the big air show that goes on in July, she explains that it is a long standing tradition over 35+ years. She would take her family and vacate the house for the week so the pilots could stay at her house. She continues, "At the end of the week there on the kitchen table would be a $6000.00 check! You know what it would pay for? My taxes! Can you believe?" Believe!? I asked her if she was a Christian, to which she answered, "Yes!" God provides!

Where does finances come from? The Lord provides! You never know! I could not wait to get out of there to call my son. When he calls me finally back a day later I am in a Uber and I tell him this is a faith story for him. I encourage him to remember "You never know, where the money will come from but we need to just remain FAITH FILLED!" I got off the phone and the Uber driver heard the whole story and commented with FAITH, "Yes God provides!" He too is a believer! He drives me to my destination the whole way we are talking about the faithfulness of God. 

God truly does work in mysterious ways! I can't wait the write a story of how he will help my son!

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. Galatians 5;5

It is with all nine fruits of the Spirit we can "wait", love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control. Galatians 5:22.

Let us pray:

Lord I hear you sing, wait upon me. I will wait upon you Lord for each moment that I am awake. Amen.