BLOWN AWAY

He has risen! He has risen indeed!

"So the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd." Before leaving earth Moses was asking the Lord to appoint a leader for the people.

I remember when I was in my late twenties. I was lost. I was searching for meaning for my life. I wanted someone to help me. When I picked up my bible and read these words "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." I was blown away! I was discovering that I needed Jesus to be the center of my life. I was lost and now I was found. In my weak and lonely state I knew I was loved and not alone. 

As I grew in my faith I understood as Moses understood that everyone on earth was created with a need for a shepherd. A good shepherd desires is to lead, protect and care for every one of his sheep. Moses was such a great leader that he did not think about himself. His concerns was for the people that he was called to lead. 

Easter is a time to reflect on God's final loving sacrifice when he brought his son to earth and let him die on the cross for you and I. 

I cannot say it enough, God's grace "blows me away."

God in his infinite love held out his hand and beckons us to Him with the deepest desire to lead us. You no longer need to be a stray sheep.

Look at the cross this Easter and know how much Jesus loves you. As you pray for others to know Jesus personally you will be blown away of how God answers your prayer.  Never give up praying for each person to know Him.

Prayer:  Jesus thank You for being my good shepherd. I pray for ____________(name the people) to discover that You can lead them too. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

I find it hard to not get submerged in Easter from the stand point of cooking, cleaning and picking out trinkets for my grandson. While I prepare I think of family time, each of us sharing and enjoying all that God provided for us.  I picture us singing in church “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” where we will be submerged in the story and glory of God.

Have a blessed day!

Love from above,

Elaine James

POOF

I was driving down a rural road in Nebraska the scenery was peaceful as I looked around anticipating seeing a deer, cows or pheasants and sandhill cranes on the side of the road. Then it happened. The roads for the most part were empty till I got stuck behind another vehicle. I forgot about the beauty at my sides and just kept persistently trying to get around the vehicle. This time however "poof" it popped in my mind "Stop letting things in life knock you out."

That's what I have done in life. I get wrapped up in other things and I lose my joy. Distracted. Tied up. Frustrated. I'm stuck! It happens so fast in life. We lose sight and our joy is gone. I was feeling pretty good and poof, it's gone.


I don't have all the answers but I know that time I ran to God and learned to roll with the punches I didn't get knocked out. I was proud of myself. It freed me up and helped me to enjoy my time away from home.

Joshua 1:9 “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (NLT)

HEAD TALK

Ever wake up thinking of a conversation you had with someone yesterday and your mind starts to rehash it? You wish you should have said this... You could have said this....

The day continues and the conversation keeps playing in your mind. If I ask you "How many hours did you waste on that "head talk" what would your answer be? Come on be honest. One hour. Two hours. Maybe 6 hours. You have no energy at the end of the day and it was not caused from any physical work. It was all mental.

I have done this. I say this to myself over and over. Jesus has the power to help me when I cannot help myself. Asking others to pray for me helps. A gentile whisper came this week with this verse.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41 NIV).
God reminded the apostles how powerless they were. Yet he knew there was a willing heart. Jesus was getting ready to go to cross. He reminded them no matter how much he prepared them. There was still going to be some weakness.
After that scripture came to me then this one:
"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3 NIV).
Thanking God for the cross lifted my spirits and restored my strength to carry on.

Shame began to set in but God rescued me from that with this verse:
"for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29 NASB). Irrevocable. Ahh,  IT'S FINAL, no changing His mind! Love that.

God loves us so much. He really has a plan. Let him fight the fight for you.

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay, and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:30-31 NIV).
If we could all Skype each other at the end of the day and just share quickly; how we saw God's power through a song, life experience or scripture I know it would be powerful. 
"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts" (Colossians 3:16 NIV). 
Ask God to reveal a psalm, hymn or song. Songs come to me lately (it appears from nowhere) but I know the Spirit put it there.When they come I just keep singing in my heart until the "Head Talk" stops.


Prayer: Dear Father I was tempted to jump into the pit of despair. You caught me before I leaped. Your word never goes out void. Please give me a psalm or song. You are faithful. In Jesus' name. Amen.

IT'S GOOD

God said "That He works all things together for the GOOD of those that love Him."

So I am praying as I go to the Doctor "God I'm in pain. I need this Dr. to tell me clear things of how to help me. Don't let wasted words come out of her mouth. Let it be things I need to hear so I can get better."

I get there and sit down and the Dr. states very matter of fact "This is GOOD that you have this situation now at your age because as you get older if it was to occur it is so much harder to fix and sometimes we can't." You see my bad habits of posture etc. contributes to this daily down swing in my back. So I am strong enough now to correct and make changes.

Hello! People did you see she said GOOD! I am looking for the good. Are you?

My other Dr. that I see regarding this said the same thing! ?"This good that you are slowing down and resting and taking care of this problem. I find out this Dr. is a Christian and she says on top of all this good news "I have been praying for you. I have homework for you. Go. Go out and hit some tennis balls. (I have played tennis all my life.) God has a message for you." My reaction is tears of joy. Not only has God directed to me this Christ follower. She was in my insurance plan. She was the only Dr. offered to me. I had no choice. But God had a choice. He had a plan. He directed my path. He faithfully is walking with me. He is my refuge and my rock. He guides me. He is my shepherd.
When a lamb is wounded He takes care of Him. He nurtures Him. He restores Him.

My God wants to restore me. He is caring for me. Humbly I cry and and so elated to sense Him all around me.

I go play tennis and that story is even more amazing.

SPRING. BREAK.

Dear Friend:

Spring. A time to go outside. Take a break.

Whenever I am outside I look and listen to the birds. I listen and rejoice with them as they sing glory to God on high. We worship together.

Now I don’t start singing. You can stop imagining that. But I close my eyes and just listen. Focus on their sound. I love it.

New thought.

My daughter was telling me how she was teaching a high school group about the “Lion King.” The character Simba he was so sweet, cute and curious the son of the king.  He was warned by the king not to wander off into another land but his curious mind could not be quieted and he went. He encounters trouble and miraculously escapes. If you don’t know the story you should know that Simba goes back and is reconciled with the king. A story similar to the prodigal son in scripture.

Have you wandered away from God? Do you remember a time that you were away? I wander just with my thoughts. I let my imagination of what if…or I could…I should…get me lost. When my sentences start with those words I’m like “You are wandering, wandering away from the king.”  Then I am gently reminded that he is truth. Truth sets me free. I begin to pray “Father help me to understand what is your perspective.” The thing that is hard is sometimes at that moment He can’t show me the perspective or answer because time has not passed for the circumstance to unfold  yet. Of course months later I am like “Oh I get it now.”

I am sure your saying “dah it does take time. It will be revealed.” But think about when you are at the beginning of things and things are unknown. It is hard! Isn’t it?

There is so many scriptures that guide us to what are better thoughts to think. I could quote Philipplians 4:8 and be like “Just do what it says!” Right?

Instead I prefer to forgive myself for wandering and I ask you to forgive yourself.

I chose this verse from the story of the prodigal son “ for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. (Luke 15:24 NLT).”

God designed us to pursue holiness. He transforms. He forgives.

Let us enjoy the Spring and spring forward in time and forgiveness. Truly we need a spring break.

Blessed be the days of the Lord!

Elaine