In the Crack

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor. (James 4:10, NLT)

Last week, we flew from the Big Island to Oahu. After getting our rental car and while driving away from the airport, I looked up at an overpass and saw a beautiful, colorful, bush, growing in the crack of the overpass. The picture below doesn't really show how pretty and colorful the bush was but it does give you an idea of its surroundings.

The bush was not only living in the crack but was thriving in the hard place, surrounded (on all sides except one and the top) by concrete. I couldn't see any soil and I couldn't figure out it's root system. I could see, it was positioned to receive a lot of sun. I pondered that for quite a while and I was reminded of Joseph, the man with the coat of many colors.

His brothers:
Hated him. (Genesis 37:4)
Hated him some more. (Genesis 37:5)
Hated him all the more. (Genesis 37:8)
Threw him in a pit. (Genesis 37:22)
Sold him into slavery. (Genesis 37:28)

Joseph:
Was falsely accused of rape by (of all people) his master's wife. (Genesis 39:14)
Thrown in prison. (Genesis 39:20)
Forgotten about. (Genesis 40:23)
Wept loudly. (Genesis 45:2)

Like the bush, Joseph experienced life in the crack (hard place).

Hard decisions are never easy to make.

When Joseph's life was in the hands of his brothers, they intended evil. But when the life of his brothers was in the hands of Joseph, he made the decision to not only forgive them, but went further and kept them from starving. That's some powerful character right there.

Have you ever been in the crack (hard place)? Like Joseph, you are not alone. The Lord is with you. (Genesis 39:2).

If you are currently in a hard place, position yourself to receive a lot of the Son! He will make you succeed in all you do! (Genesis 39:2)

Screaming Point

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. (Mark 11:25, NLT)

Last week, one of my children was having a very difficult day. She continually refused to cooperate in school, she threw a tantrum when I told her to help her sister clean the kitchen and at one point, she screamed, “Why do moms have to be so mean?!”

It was at the screaming point that I notified her father via telephone of her struggles.

! DUN-DUN-DUN !

Our day progressed much in the same manner as it had started. That is, until right before Dad was due home. Then said child moved into suck up mode which seemed like less of true repentance and more of manipulationtance (I needed a "tance" suffix for rhyming purposes). About five minutes before Dad was due home, she said, “Mommy, I apologize for making so much strife today.” I accepted her apology and referred her to her father. 

Once their meeting was adjourned, she sincerely apologized and promised to change.

This made me search my heart, and ask God to reveal to me incidents that I need to make amends for by sincerely approaching those I’ve hurt (known and unknown). I also asked Him to show me where my attitude needed adjusting to align with His Word. He is faithful to flood my heart with light! (Ephesians 1:18)

How about you?

Are there amends you need to make by asking for forgiveness?

What about one step further? Is there anyone you can forgive today? Even if that certain someone doesn’t or can’t approach you and ask for forgiveness, you can still choose to release the offense from your heart, forgive and walk in freedom.

My prayer for you today is, Father God, in the precious name of your Son Jesus, I pray You move on the hearts and minds of those who read this blog post today. Open the eyes of their understanding, flood their hearts with light so that they can understand the confident hope You have given to those You have called! I thank You Lord, in advance for the many praise reports that will come flooding in and the lives that will be changed because of your gift of amazing grace and forgiveness. I count it all for Your glory, amen!

My Stepmother

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. (James 5:13, NKJV)

I was raised, in part, by my Dad and stepmother, Louise. When I was with them and when I became disappointed over a situation, “LouLou” would put her arms around me, flash me a million dollar smile, bat her huge brown eyes and sing,

“Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Cooooooooount your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings see what God has done!”

Did I mention, she had a very thick Okie accent? She always knew how to make me smile!

I am so thankful she taught me that song and I’m so thankful for those memories because now, when I’m faced with an obstacle, I start singing this song and list all my blessings from God as I recall the look on her face. As I make a mental list of my many blessings, the temptation to be bogged down by the cares of this world fade away quickly and give place to singing psalms.

We would love to hear from you! What does your long list of blessings look like?

The Fruit Bowl

One of my daughters recently accepted an invitation to write a guest post for Key Tov Blog. Below is one of her assignments from school. It is a lesson in refusing to be envious.

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (1 Peter 2:1, NKJV)

The Sad Apple

One day a banana was in a fruit bowl. An apple was in the bowl too. While the banana was sitting in the fruit bowl, the apple that was in the bowl with the banana was crying. And the banana said why are you crying? And the apple said I don't like who I am. You don't like who you are?! Said the banana. No. Said the apple. But I like your green color! Said the banana. But the fruit at the store made fun of me! Said the apple. Don't listen to them! Said the banana. Yea I guess they were wrong. Said the apple. You should be happy for what you are. Said the banana. You could have been a smoothie! The End!

She gets her outlook on life from her Daddy, *grin*

Say What?!!

Generally, when someone comes to me for prayer, it is a result of an issue they are struggling with over something someone has said. Or over something someone hasn't said.

"Mom told me I have a big head."
"When I was 9, Dad told me I am lazy."
"My third grade teacher said I would never amount to anything." 

If that's you, I have GOOD news for you! What God said about you overrides everything  everyone else has ever or will ever say! 

• If you are in Christ, you are new! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• You can do all things! (Philippians 4:13)
• You are an overcomer! (1 John 5:4)

But wait, there's more!

• He is for you! (Romans 8:31)
• He will never leave you! (Hebrews 13:5)
• He is your strong tower, your shelter! (Psalm 61:3)

If you are asking, "But wait a minute, if all these things are true, then why have bad things happened to me?"

• There is a robber, killer, and destroyer. (John 10:10)
• You have an enemy. (1 Peter 5:8)
• The "someones" in your life, are not the core issue. (Ephesians 6:12)

But, God has set you up for success! He has empowered you!

• Don't worry! (Matthew 6:34) 
• God has a good plan! (Jeremiah 29:11)
• Jesus has given you authority! (Luke 10:19) 

If you are asking, "But how do I apply His Word and change my life from what it is to what God said it is?"

Here's how:

• Receive by faith believing without wavering!  (James 1:6)
• Take every thought captive! (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• Meditate on His Word! (Psalm 19:14)
• Guard your heart with all vigilance!  (Proverbs 4:23)
• Only speak life! (Proverbs 18:21)

Take what God said about you (His Word) and override what everyone else has said or failed to say.

Now, what are you going to say?

Time to Shut Off

Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and slow to get angry. (James 1:19, AMP)

Yesterday, Gracie and I cleaned our refrigerator. That child is a cleaning, organizing machine!

During our process, the refrigerator light abruptly shut off. Gracie said, "Oh no, the light just burned out. We will have to get a new one." I said, "Let's just shut the refrigerator door. Maybe the light got too hot and hopefully shut itself off like a protective mechanism. If so, once it cools, it will turn on again."  

Sure enough, not long thereafter, the light was performing up to par and shining bright once again. 

I thought, "What a GREAT idea!"

I used my refrigerator light as teaching moment. I told her when we are faced with the temptation to get too hot by anger, offense, discord, division, or whatever else may come our way, we are going to:

Shut off (Psalm 4:4)

Cool off (Psalm 119:11)

Recalculate  (Proverbs 3:1) 

Shine bright (Matthew 5:16)

Tell us, what reminds you to shut off until you cool off and recalculate so that you can shine bright again?




Side note: For a fun tip on recalculating, use this link!

http://keytovblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/recalculating.html

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? 

Wisdom

On a much lighter note than yesterday...

How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person's face, softening its harshness. (Ecclesiastes 8:1, NLT)

Mike and I have been together for a really long time. during that time, thankfully, we've grown much wiser. 

Berries is one of my favorite foods. I eat strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, and acai every day. 

Mike likes meat.

Last night he texted me asking what was for dinner. I responded with acai bowls! Which in my opinion, is a wonderful mix of the above berries along with pumpkin seed granola, shredded coconut, bananas, and almond milk. I was so excited. He; however, was quite a bit less excited than I.

He texted and said he had to go to the Kona location. He had been in Honolulu all day and had just arrived at the airport. The airport is in between our house and our Kona location. This could only mean one thing! After taking care of business in Kona, he was gonna drive right by Queen K Tesoro to stop and get some of what he lovingly calls, “truck stop food” and I disgustingly refer to as "funk".

Wisdom point #1

He analyzed and decided instead of making comment about my choice in dinner, he opted to save himself by eating what he wanted at the convenience store!

Wisdom point #2

I interpreted his text and understood  I would gleefully be enjoying my acai bowl alone without asking him what he would be consuming for dinner!

Hence, wisdom lit up both our faces! It’s a win/win!