Clean It Up

From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:16, NLT)

We are a homeschooling family. We include Life Skills as a part of our daily schedule. One of Gracie's Life Skill tasks is to fill our water fountain. We are currently living in a roof top apartment in Honolulu and we don't have a water hose that will reach the downstairs faucet so she fills a container with water and carries the water from the kitchen to the fountain. This process takes about four trips.

Today she was carrying the container (which was too heavy, she had overfilled because she was in a hurry), bumped the kitchen door frame on the way out the door, and yep...water...went...everywhere.

To Gracie, this wasn't just water all over the floor...and walls...and door...and her. To Gracie, this was a huge mess that she had to correct when she was already in a hurry. To her, this was going to take time that she was already running short on. 

I. Can. Totally. Relate.

She burst into tears...very large, alligator tears. 


I. Can. Totally. Relate.


I stopped what I was doing, ran to her, and I held her tight. She said (Ok, she wailed), "I am just so upset right now." I told her, "It's just water, everything will be ok." She said, "Yea but now I have to clean all this up." I said, "I will help you."

About that time, Mikea came to see what was going on. She hugged Gracie. She held Gracie so tight and said, "I'm so sorry, are you ok?"

It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

We all worked together to clean up the mess and it only took a few minutes since we were working together.

Once she had help, it gave her hope, and she said things like, "Well at least most of the water fell outside the door." and "Hey look! Now the floor is clean and now I can cross off mopping from my Life Skills list!"

This incident reminded me of how when we are in hurry and make a big mess, God holds us when we need Him, He draws near to us (James 4:8), and He shows us perspective. (Colossians 3:1-4) Our friends and/or family rushes in when they hear something has gone wrong and they do everything they can to make everything ok. (Ecclesiastes 4:9) And in doing so, God is blessed as He watches His children love and help one another. (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Galatians 6:2, 1 John 4:7, 1 Peter 2:21, Romans 12:10, Ephesians 4:32)

How are you today? Are you cleaning up messes or helping clean up someone else's messes? Whichever the case may be, clean that mess with your whole heart unto Him! (Colossians 3:23) Bear the burdens of someone else's mess and give them hope. (Proverbs 22:9, Matthew 10:42) It will bless the LORD! (Psalm 103:1)

Promises-Promises

You can ask anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. (John 14:13, NLT)

A couple weeks ago, we celebrated Mikea's tenth birthday. She is the cute little red head, giving the dolphin commands! 

As I was listening to my husband, Mike, pray a special birthday prayer over her, I remembered a time when specialists told us, "You cannot conceive without medical intervention. With medical intervention, your chances of conceiving are extremely low. You have a better chance of flying to Vegas and hitting the jackpot than you do of conceiving and bringing home a healthy baby."

My response was, "You do what you are trained to do and I will do what I'm trained to do."

Thank God for medical science. I'm thankful for doctors, nurses, hospitals, and their procedures; however, that is only part of the story. My story, and your story (if you are a born again believer), does not stop with what statistics record and/or what specialist say. 

Mike and I agreed to go through one round of in vitro fertilization. For me, IVF was not only a medical procedure involving months of treatment as well as 103 shots (yes, I counted), but a closer walk with God and understanding His great love. 

To make a long story short God showed me great and mighty things I didn't know. (Jeremiah 33:3) IVF was a daily walk…at times, it was a moment by moment walk. 

To name just a few:

On one occasion while discussing IVF with a friend, I said, "We are going through infertility." God quickened my spirit, spoke to my heart and said, "Are you pursuing infertility or fertility?" I immediately corrected my vocabulary and from that point forward said, "We are going through fertility treatments." 

I believe, it is critical to insure our mouth lines up with God's promises. (Matthew 12:37)

On another occasion, the specialist told us we were "Indeed pregnant but there is a problem. It appears you have a tubal pregnancy and we will have to go in and remove it." Every other day, for weeks, I had to get blood drawn. Every other day, for weeks I was told, "Your blood counts are abnormal, you need to prepare yourself for removing the pregnancy." 

Every day I leaned on God's promises. I trusted what He said when He said, "I can ask anything in His name, and He will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father." I asked God to correct my blood counts. I knew that I knew that I knew, He had brought me that far and I knew He would complete what He started. (Jeremiah 1:12)

At thirteen weeks in my pregnancy, my blood tests corrected. At thirty eight weeks in my pregnancy, I delivered our beautiful little promise from God, Mikea Faith Fulton! 

The following year, God hastened His Word and performed it as we learned we would have double for our trouble (without medical intervention)…yes, Gracie was on her way! (Isaiah 61:7)

As I look at my girls, I thank God for them (Philemon 1:4). They are constant reminders of the wonderful goodness of God!

We love to hear from you! Do you want prayer agreement? Let us know and we will agree in prayer with you. (Matthew 18:19)

Stephen

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8)

Yesterday, I read the above verse and it literally screamed out to my spirit! I literally jumped in my seat!

I want to be full of grace and power! Doing great wonders and signs among the people! Glorifying my God! (1 Corinthians 10:31, Matthew 5:16)

Since Stephen was, I can be! (Acts 10:4) And you can be too!

But how? By and through love!

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:1, NKJV)

Love is the greatest! (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Love never fails! (1 Corinthians 13:8)

Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for myself and every reader right now to deepen our love walk! My heart's desire truly is to glorify You in everything I think, say, and do. I submit my spirit to Your precious Holy Spirit right now and I ask You to increase Yourself in me and every reader! Please forgive me for every failure to walk in love, strengthen me to imitate Christ as He has loved me! Thank You for making Acts 6:8 come alive to and in me as well as every reader! Thank You for Your grace, it is sufficient for us. Thank You for abundantly blessing us and making all grace abound toward us, we will abound in every good work, in the name of Jesus!

(2 Corinthians 9:8)

Only

But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” (Luke 8:50, NLT)

On Thursday, I wrote a blog post about my ways being higher than Bo's ways entitled, "I Just Don't Understand".

Since then, I've gotten a lot of feedback from readers about how that post has helped them move from not understanding to trusting.

The Lord has been moving on my heart to discuss, "only".

Only defined is:

• Adverb: and no one or nothing more besides; solely or exclusively: 
• Adjective: Alone of its or their kind; single or solitary: 

Mahalo google!

This is a gentle reminder and an addition to Thursday's blog post, "I Just Don't Understand". We are not called to understand, we are called to "only believe". (Luke 8:50) And when we are only believing, there is no room for doubt. 

I will explain. 

If we are (only) married, there is no room for us to be single. 

If we are (only) a woman, there is no room for us to be a man.

If we are (only) facing north, there is no room for us to be facing south.

Since Bo is only a dog, there is no room for him to be a cat. Well, you get the idea!

In the same manner, we are to only believe, leaving no room for doubt. (James 1:6)

Trust Him, He is so trustworthy!

Psalm 9:10

Psalm 13:5

Psalm 20:7

Proverbs 28:25

Isaiah 12:2

Isaiah 26:4

Father, thank You for being trustworthy at all times! Thank You for your love that never fails! Thank You for teaching us that we can fully trust in You! In the name of Jesus, I pray for each reader right now as they have moved from battling with understanding to completely resting in trusting You. Thank You for finishing what You started in them. Thank You for Your peace which surpasses all understanding! 

1 Corinthians 13:8

John 16:23

2 Corinthians 3:18

Philippians 1:6

Philippians 4:7

I Just Don't Understand.

As most of you know, we have a dog named Bo. Because of Bo, I now understand the saying, "A dog is a man's best friend." I also understand the saying, "I wish I could be the person my dog thinks I am." 

Bo loves to be with me. When I'm working at my desk, Bo is at my feet. Most of the time, he lays on my feet. When I am reading on my lounge chair, he lays beside me. When I leave the house, Bo loves to go with me. 

Bo always wants to go with me but unfortunately, it isn't always safe for him to go with me. For example, today I was going to downtown Honolulu for several appointments and had to be gone until after noon. Bo believes he should always be able to go with me. I can't explain to him why he can't sit in the hot car for four hours while I am at appointments. All he knows is, he wants to go with me. He doesn't understand that I am keeping him safe at times, by refusing to allow him to go with me. He will never understand because my thoughts are higher than his thoughts. 

His face was so sad today when I was leaving and made him go back inside the house. He drooped his eyes, lowered his head, put his tail between his legs, and slowly walked away. His bone in his mouth (looking like a binkie) completed his pitiful look. 

He could not understand that my refusal to allow him to go was actually a decision to keep him safe.

This reminded me of a conversation I recently had with a very close friend. It is the same conversation I've had with numerous other people throughout the years. My friend was going through a very hard time and she asked me, "Is what I'm going through an attack from the enemy…or am I out of the will of God?" I'm sure we've all asked that question.

So many times, we want to go somewhere or do something but it never comes to fruition. And so many times, we just don't understand. 

It's times like this that we determine to trust the Creator of the universe and accept that His ways are far beyond anything we can imagine. The next time we want to do something that just doesn't pan out, we cannot droop our eyes, lower our head, and put our tail between our legs. No. We must trust God and His ways, knowing He is working all things together for our good! (Romans 8:28) 

Father, I pray for every reader right now. In the name of Jesus, I pray You illuminate their hearts to Isaiah 55:8-9 so that the next time they are faced with a situation they just don't understand, that they will determine to trust You and rest in knowing You always work all things together for their good. Thank You Father! I also ask that You bless them and keep them, make Your face to shine upon them and be gracious to them! Lord, please lift up Your countenance upon them and give them peace! (Numbers 6:22-27) I thank You for giving me the confidence to know, when I ask anything according to Your will, You hear me. And when You hear me, You answer me! (1 John 5:14-15)

Listen!

But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy. Listen to Him." (Matthew 17:5, NLT)

I was going through my journals and found this entry from January, 2008. My girls were three and four years old at the time. They were such cute toddlers but thankfully, there are no more fights about soap!

Enjoy this flash from the past!

I was giving my girls a shower today. When I wash their hair, I give each of them a little cup of suds from their shampoo to play with. I washed Grace's hair first but forgot to give her suds. As I was washing Mikea's hair, Grace remembered her suds but all the soap had already been rinsed from her hair so I said, "I'll give you soap from Mikea's hair after I wash it." 

Mikea told Grace (under her breath) "This is MY soap." Grace cried out to me "I want some soap!" I said, "I'll give you some soap after I'm done washing Mikea's hair" Mikea was standing in between me and Grace, again Mikea said, (under her breath and in a mean, low tone of voice) "This IS MY soap" Again, Grace cried out and looked up to me, getting a little desperate. She started to cry because she knew I had promised her soap but she was upset that she hadn't received her soap. Gracie said, "I want some soap!!" At this point things accelerated and at the same time Mikea was yelling, "THIS IS MY SOAP!" Grace was looking up to me and screaming, "I WANT SOME SOAP!!"

In a calm voice, I kept repeating to Grace, "Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me." I was not concerned w/ discipling Mikea at the time. No, I was concerned that my child listened to what I had promised.

God spoke to my heart and said, "This is the same battle I watch some of my kids fight. Satan lies to them over and over and gets louder and louder. But all my children have to do is listen to me."

Listen to that voice of truth! Listen to His promises! All God's promises are right in His Word. He's already done everything He has to do in order for us to obtain all His promises, listen to Him and receive.  He is the maker of the universe and you!  Trust Him.

"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."   (John 8:44, NIV)

God's Word plainly tells us the devil is a liar and there is no truth in him.  And he speaks from his own resources.  Consider God's resources!  (Philippians 4:19, Psalm 35:27, Psalm 50:10-12) Everything is His, and He is your Father!  The next time the devil tries to lie to you and tell you that you cannot have something God has already promised you, make the decision to listen to God, our Father!

Father, I pray for every reader today. In the name of Jesus, I declare they immediately recognize and ignore lies and hold fast to Your truth. As they submit their spirit to Your Holy Spirit, I pray they take every thought captive and mediate only on that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, whatever is admirable, and everything that is praiseworthy. I pray they meditate on all the good in their lives and none of the negatives they struggle with. I pray they praise and thank You for all the goodness in their lives. I thank You in advance that as they mediate on You and Your Word, the fruit in their lives shine their light so all man sees and glorifies You! Thank You for never lying to us! Thank You for loving us so deeply and for giving us Your promises through Your life changing Word! We love You Lord. We worship and adore You! Thank You for You and thank You for Your Son, King Jesus! 

John 3:16

Hebrews 6:18

John 14:14

2 Corinthians 1:20

2 Corinthians 10:5

Matthew 5:16

Philippians 4:8

Foot Ride!

The LORD is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. (Psalm 28:7, NLT)

Yesterday, a friend and I were discussing the wonderful greatness and awesomeness of God. We talked about how no matter what we had dealt with in the past, or how instrumental people in our lives had hurt us, God always takes our circumstances and works everything out for our good…way beyond anything we could ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20)

As we were discussing tests that are now testimonies we use to help others, I started to laugh. I laughed and laughed…a silly little girl laugh that just wouldn't stop, which reminded me of when my girls were toddlers. 

Every day when Mike came home from work, my girls ran to him. They never hesitated. They screamed, "Foot ride! Foot ride!" Mikea picked one foot, Gracie picked the other foot and they would sit on his feet and hang on for the ride! He walked around the house, dragging them on his feet as they screamed and squealed!

On that memory, I had a vision of our Father. He screamed, "Foot ride! Foot ride!" He is beckoning us to sit with Him and scream and squeal and be strengthened by His joy! (Nehemiah 8:10)

I just had my first "Foot ride" and I can fully exclaim with a newly illuminated heart, "The LORD is my Strength and my Shield! I trust Him with all my heart! He helps me and my heart is filled with joy! I burst out in songs of thanksgiving!" (Psalm 28:7)

He is screaming to us, "I am your Father, don't hesitate! Come my child! Scream and squeal and be strengthened! My joy is your strength! See what great love I want to lavish on you!" (1 John 3:1) 

Take time right now and go on a foot ride with your Father!

I Love You Dad

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([a]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. (John 3:16, Amplified Bible)

Recently, I overheard two people discussing their dads. They were talking about how their dads had never said, "I love you". They further explained their father doesn't even tell them he loves them after they say, "I love you Dad." 

I started thinking and wondered, "Did my Daddy ever tell me he loved me?" I'm sure he told me but I couldn't remember one instance when he had said, "I love you" To be honest, until today, I've never given it much thought because he always showed me how much he loved me. I knew that I knew that I knew, by his actions that my Daddy loved me deeply and always acted in my best interest.

Today is Father's Day and while today brings happy times for many, it doesn't for a lot of people.

No matter what your "father status" may currently be, no matter if your earthly father told/tells you or failed/fails to say, "I love you.",  we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and gave up His only Son so that we can have everlasting life! He is always good and He always acts in our best interest.

I once heard a pastor say,"Everlasting life doesn't begin when you go to Heaven. No, everlasting life begins when you accept Jesus into your life!" If you want to make Jesus the Lord of your life, please pray the following prayer. 

Father, in the name of Jesus, I believe You are everything You say You are! I believe Jesus is Your Son and I believe out of Your great love, mercy, and grace, You sent Him to save me! I believe He died on the cross for me, and I believe You raised Him from the dead and He now sits at Your right hand! Thank You for saving me! I repent of all sin and I thank You for the Blood of Jesus! Thank You for making me new! Please teach me to number my days and bring glory to You in everything I think, say, and do, amen! 

Welcome to the family, our Father loves you! I pray this will be your best Father's Day ever with even better to come! Enjoy today with your Heavenly Father! 

Psalm 136:1

Ephesians 1:20

1 Corinthians 10:31

Psalm 90:12

Ezekiel 36:26

Romans 8:15

Hebrews 13:5

Numbers 23:19

2 Timothy 3:16

John 10:10

Okay

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. (Romans 8:16, NLT)

Earlier this year we renovated an apartment. We purchased a new…yes, brand new...bathroom vanity and had it installed and before it was even fully installed, the paint started peeling. I've been needing to sand and repaint it. It's on my list.

This morning, as I looked at the paint (that keeps peeling) I thought back to when we were in the midst of renovations. Thankfully, now we just have a few items here and there to work on. But back in the midst of the renovations, Mikea (my nine year old) walked up to Mike and I and said, "Isn't this such a nice place? We are so blessed and everything is so pretty and new." She didn't mention the bathroom vanity. Her statement threw us into a conversation: when parents are okay, kids are okay. For the most part, Mike and I remained extremely positive only dwelling on the positive aspects of the renovations. Our girls never made a negative comment. Since their parents were okay, they were okay.

I have a good report for you today, Your Heavenly Father is okay…more than okay!

You may be going through something right now that doesn't seem okay, but the truth is…Your Heavenly Father is okay which makes you okay...more than okay! (Romans 8:16)

I once heard Dr. Terry Mize make the following comment, "Truth always trumps true. God's Word is Absolute Truth"

Something may be true right now:

• Difficult marriage
• Negative doctor's report
• Financial problems
• Rebellious child/ren
• Broken heart

But we can take Truth and trump true. 

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8, NKJV)

Lord, in the name of Jesus, we know You are able to and that You make all grace about toward us, that we, always have all sufficiency in all things, and in abundance for every good work! Thank You for never lying to us! Thank You for watching over Your Word to perform it! Thank You for blessing us and keeping us! You are good, always good and we love and adore You! We are grateful You take pleasure in the prosperity of Your servants! Thank You for showing Yourself and Your heart to every reader right now in the name of Jesus! 

We love to hear from you, how has God shown you, you are okay?

2 Corinthians 9:8

Numbers 23:19

Jeremiah 1:12

Numbers 6:24

Psalm 35:27

Isaiah 5:20

That UnAwesome Moment When…

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19, NLT)

Earlier this year, we renovated an apartment that was built in the sixties. When I was a teenager, I always dreamed of moving to a large city, buying an old flat, and renovating it. Since renovating this apartment, I'm good on that dream as I have discovered, old buildings are accompanied by old problems, i.e. plumbing, electrical, etc. And I learned, old problems cannot be covered up by new fixtures…no matter how cute and retro they may be.

During this morning's shower, we inadvertently obtained a water feature…again...in our bathroom when the shower handle broke…again…for the fourth time. About that time, the above scripture was brought to my remembrance, certainly by God and not my flesh as my flesh had other ideas…a lot of other ideas. 

Thank God for teaching us to be led by the Spirt and not the flesh! (Galatians 5:16 & 17) As I meditated on that scripture, "Behold, I make all things new!" (Revelations 21:5) and "I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you" (Ezekiel 36:26) flooded my heart! 

Oh…yes…pun fully intended!

Once again, God's Word came alive as it occurred to me, God knew He would have to do something new, make all things new, and give us a new heart because our "old" would've been accompanied by old problems. God doesn't want us to continuously deal with old leaks!

Once I ran those scriptures through my mind and mouth several times, I heard SpiritFM play, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." (James 1:2)

I had to laugh…laugh out loud, really loud! Thank you www.SpiritFm.org for answering His call and speaking into our lives over the years, always right on time!

Tell us, how do you handle leaks?

Thank You-Thank You-Thank You, most gracious and loving Father, for doing something new in our lives, thank You for making all things new, and thank You for giving us a new heart! Thank You for protecting us from ourselves! Thank You for teaching us to be led by Your precious Holy Spirit instead of falling into the traps of the flesh. Thank You for knowing the end from the beginning and making our path straight! And thank You for making Your Word come alive to us…even during leaks…especially, during leaks. I pray for every reader right now, in the name of Jesus, they will know the breadth, length, height, and depth, of Your amazing unfailing love! And Your Word will come alive to them…especially during leaks. 

Isaiah 46:10

Proverbs 3:6

Ephesians 3:18