No More Room

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7, NKJV)

I’ve been thinking a lot about  “No room for them”. I started thinking about the phrase, “no room” and exactly what it means. At Thanksgiving, I’ve had no more room to eat anything else. I’ve had closets that couldn’t hold one more thing.

Ok, ok...I have closets that can't hold one more thing.

Anyway, back on topic. I’ve had hard days when I had no room to handle one more thing going wrong.

Once I had that visual of no more room, I started thinking about what Jesus said in Luke 8:50.

• Don’t be afraid, just have faith. (NLT)
• Fear not, believe only. (KJV)
• Don’t be afraid, just believe. (GWT)
• Do not be seized with alarm or struck with fear, simply believe. (AMP)

When we “just have faith”, “believe only”, "just believe”, and simply believe, in Jesus and His ability, we have no room for anything else! (Luke 8:50, AMP)

• No fear!
• No doubt!
• No unbelief!
• No what if!

• Only faith!
• Only certainty!
• Only belief!
• Only God will!

Father God, thank You for living messages in Your Word that speak to us in our current every day lives! I pray for every reader right now and declare we have no more room! No room for anything except what You have called us to! So full of faith, thanksgiving, and praise leaving no more room for anything not of You Lord, in the name of Your precious Son, Jesus!

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)

SUP?

Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. (1 Peter 5:8-9, AMP)

This morning I took an amazing opportunity to go Stand Up Paddling; hence, the SUP.

Conditions were perfect: cool tropical breezes, water was smooth like glass, sun was rising up over the Koolau Mountain Range. Ohhh yeaaa, perfect conditions!

As I paddled, I realized, Stand Up Paddling is a lot like every day life.

We've got to stay balanced. If we get scared and look down (look at current circumstance), we lose our balance and fall. We have to look fix our eyes forward (to Jesus and what lies ahead), press onward to our prize! (Hebrews 12:1-2)

This is the deal my friends, the world has a million ways to eat our lunch every single day but as we stay balanced (prayer, staying in His Word, communion with Him) we smoothly paddle on!

What'SUP with you today?

Some Days...

Some days, I don't want to write encouraging blog posts. Some days, I just want to forget everything I'm supposed to do and do whatever I feel like doing. Some days, I want to jump on the whining band wagon and "let'er fly"!

Today, I feel like griping and complaining. Yesterday was an extremely rough day. It started out great but quickly went south when I had to deal with some very serious work issues and then some extended family issues. And even though I spent most of the day in prayer (literally), things continued to go south until late last night. Wave upon wave. Smack upon smack. Knock upon knock. Well, I'm sure you've had those days so you get what I mean.

But then I'm reminded, I am in this world but not of it. I WILL NOT CONFORM! (Romans 12:2)

And I'm reminded, I live by what I know not by what I see or what I'm told! What do I know? Faith, Faith, and more faith! (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I'm also reminded not to complain about anything but with thanksgiving, prayer and supplication, make my requests known to Him! (Philippians 4:6)

For today's purposes, that's my version of Philippians 4:6. Other versions read, "anxious, worry, be careful for, be nothing solicitous (I found that one to be interesting and fun!). Complaining is often the result of being anxious, being filled with care, worrying, and being solicitous. (I am having so much fun with today's blog post!)

Last November, the LORD spoke to me and said, "Today is a new day. I make all things new."

Some days, He makes new things newer; for example, the days when everything is great (quite unlike my yesterday) and we wake up the next morning and can see...He is still making all things new!

Some days, He makes old things new; for example, the days when everything was like my yesterday but we wake up the next morning and can see...He is still making all things new!

Who God is and what He does is not affected by our circumstances.

He is always:
Good! (Psalm 100:5)
Present! (Hebrews 13:5)
The Same! (Hebrews 13:8)

Even though yesterday ended like it did, I continue to trust Him because I know that I know that I know, no matter how things look, He promised me, "Today is a new day. He makes all things new!"

My prayer for every reader today is to refuse to conform to the ways of the world and be continually transformed by the renewing of our mind! Refuse to walk by what we see and hear but continually and persistently walk by faith! Refuse to murmur and complain but in everything, everything, everything, make our requests known to God our Father with thanksgiving and praise! We thank You Father for always being so good to us! We thank You for always being with us! And we thank You for being our Rock, always being the same in an ever changing world! You are worthy of all our praise!

Retail Therapy!

But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:20, AMP)

Last week, I went shopping in Honolulu. I was in my favorite city, shopping at my favorite mall, sharing the whole day with some of my favorite peeps!

I am fully aware of how hard my husband works to provide for us so I paid special attention to purchases, being a good steward of what I was given. I also made sure each purchase was correct; for example, a salesperson accidentally put brown mascara in my bag, I use black. So I asked her to exchange it. I kept an eye on my bags when I walked about, tried on clothes, ate lunch, etc. Since I was in a large city, I paid special attention to my surroundings and made sure my purse and bags were secure.

All that set me to thinking….do I guard my full redemption package (that which will not pass away) as closely as I’ve kept an eye on these bags all day (the things that will pass away)? Would I purchase a full bag of items but leave the store with only one third of the items I paid for?

Then I made an inventory of my full redemption package:

Most Christians would agree, Jesus came to save us, (1 Timothy 1:15) but what else does our "package" include?

Health!

“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24)

Prosperity!

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers. (3 John 1:2, AMP)

Life!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

In other words, everything good and perfect! (James 1:17)

How do we protect our full redemption package?

• Receive it by faith (Hebrews 11:6)
• Believe without wavering (James 1:6)
• Have confidence in Him (1 John 5:14, 15)
• Hold fast (Hebrews 10:23)
• Give thanks (Ephesians 5:20)

Here!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. (Hebrews 12:1, NLT)

We have a dog named, Bo. He is a wonderful family dog. He also is a Certified Visitation Therapy Dog. His primary work is to visit patients in a long term care facility. You can learn more about Bo’s work at the link:

http://www.facebook.com/KeyTovDOGography

For the past several months, we have also been training him to hunt birds. One key element in hunting birds is the “here” command. Once we give him that command, he is to run to our feet as quickly as possible.

I apologize to all cat lovers in advance before making the next statement. Bo has a very strong dislike for small furry creatures, including cats. It may be because he thinks they are mongoose, which he also strongly dislikes. He knows how to shakes hands, he sits, holds, and comes here, but for some reason, he has not enveloped the “don’t chase the neighbor’s cats” command. 

To help him overcome the temptation to chase a cat when he sees it, I say, “here”. I keep saying “here” until he pays attention to me instead of the cat. Once he looks me in the eye, I talk to him until his focus is fully on me and not the cat. Once he is refocused and the temptation has passed, we are free to continue our stroll.

What are your temptations? Once a temptation rears its ugly head, immediately run to the feet of Jesus! Keep your eyes on Him! And you will be free to continue your stroll!

Please Believe Me

Jesus said  "Only believe." (Luke 8:50)

I am very blessed with many friends and family members in the medical profession. Medical science is fascinating. What God designed the human body to do is beyond astounding. 

When a person decides to go into the medical field, they must first receive instruction. They sit under the training of a professor according to the book, they do their internship according to the book and then they perform their duties according to the book. 

My question is this. What if they consistently refused to believe what is in the book? What if, when their professor taught a subject, they argued against the teaching and refused to believe what's in the book? What if they went to lunch with their friends after class to argue what aspects of the book they just couldn't believe? What if they consistently refused to perform their internship duties according to the book offering up such statements such as, "I just don't know if I can believe all that stuff in the book." What if they attempted to perform their duties on the job refusing to operate according to the book with their reasoning being they just cannot believe everything that's in the book. In spite of research, statistics, success stories, history, etc. 

My friends and family would say, "They wouldn't be in the medical profession very long if at all."

Even if they were, in an emergency situation (or any situation) would we want this person administering medical attention on our behalf or on the behalf of our children? I'm very confident the answer to that is no. 

Jesus said, "Only believe." Believe what? Believe everything in His Word.

Believe He is and He is a rewarder. (Hebrews 11:6)

Believe all scripture is God breathed. (2Timothy 3:16)

Believe God cannot lie. (Hebrews 6:18)

Believe God's Word is everything He says it is! Alive! Powerful! (Hebrews 4:12)

Since we believe God's Word regarding salvation, literally eternally saving us from Hell, it is just as easy to believe everything else in His Word including but not limited to, healing, prosperity, tithing, a victorious life. In other words, perfect peace. How can we believe His Word for salvation but not for every other promise? 

Also, I'd really like to establish a concrete foundational issue. We are not begging God to move on our behalf. God is a loving Father who delights in the prosperity of His servant. (Psalm 35:27)  He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing. (Ephesians 1:3) God is always good. (John 10:10) Nothing and no one ever dilutes the wonderful goodness of God. He never changes.  (Malachi 3:6)  Bitter and sweet cannot flow from the same fountain. (James 3:11)

As born again believers, we are students of His Word. He has set before us professors. (Ephesians 4:11-16) 

Jesus said, "Only believe." I believe He said only as to be so full of belief in every aspect of The Word there is no room for any doubt, not even an ounce. 

This morning I read another version of this scripture. Instead of "Only believe" it says "Just have faith." How much faith (or confidence) do we desire our family, friends and especially our children to have in us? How much faith do we put in complete strangers when a medical emergency arises? How much more faith can we have in our perfect Father and His Word?

I've heard Joyce Meyer say, "We all believe in something, may as well be something good."

What do you believe? 

Provision

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

My husband, Mike, does the majority of the shopping for our household. Our girls always want to go shopping with Daddy. They know if they go shopping with Dad, they leave the store with their own pack of gum.

Our girls have often asked, "If I am good, will you buy me gum?" His response, "No I will buy you gum because I love you, I know you like gum, and I want to bless you." Buying them gum isn't about what they do but is about who he is.

Our girls know who their father is and they know good things come from him. They have never questioned his existence or his ability to provide. They know, based on experience, that he consistently gives them good gifts. They also know how to position themselves to receive from him by having complete faith in him to provide. 

Mike operates in these principles with our girls because he has learned these principles from his Heavenly Father. He knows who his Father is. He believes God is and believes He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. God blesses us, not because of what we do but because of who He is!

Do you know the Father?
Do you believe He is?
Do you believe He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?

Many know The Father. Many believe He is. Many believe He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But some struggle with His provision for them personally. Take a step of faith today. His provision is not based on what you do but who He is. Dig into His promises in His wonderful Word and just believe!