Follow Simple Instructions

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT)

Yesterday I was sitting in church service and a special offering was being received. The Spirit of God spoke to me and told me to give the person next to me some cash for the special offering. The Lord said, “Give them $x.xx so that they will have seed to sow.” This person had already paid their tithes and given an offering; however, this person had not prepared for or knew about the special offering that was being given. The Lord gave me an exact amount.

Can I just say…I was so excited! I love Luke 6:38 and was quite literally ready to jump out of my seat! In my over the top excited state, I said, “SHOOTS! Lord I will give this person TRIPLE that amount!!!"

The Lord immediately quickened me and said, “NO…give the person the amount I told you to give. Anything more will tempt beyond what can be withstood.”

I thought, “Yes Genice! Just follow basic simple instructions!"

I rolled up the cash and handed it to the person as the offering container passed by. This person understands godly finances and we are so excited to see what God is going to do with their special offering! 

How great and awesome is our God! He is always faithful to watch over His Word to perform it! And His great love is so perfect, He won’t allow us to get caught off guard or be set up to fail! (Psalm 147:5, Jeremiah 1:12, 1 John 4:18, 1 Corinthians 10:13)

Thank You Lord Jesus for Your greatness, You are truly awesome! Your faithfulness is beyond description! And Your Word cannot fail! Thank You King Jesus for loving us so much, You watch over us and protect us! We give you glory, honor, and praise for You are so worthy!

How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! (Psalm 147:5)

Happy Father’s Day Extra Mile-ers!

But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8, NLT)

Yesterday, my family and I did a 5k together at Ala Moana Beach park, “The Gecko Gallop”. It is a really nice 5k going through the beach park and right alongside the ocean near Waikiki Beach.

Mid-race, our nine year old spiked a fever and was having a hard time finishing. She said, “Daddy, can you please carry me. I am having a hard time going any further.”

Without saying a word, he reached his arms out, picked her up and carried her. 

She felt a little better and wanted to try to finish so he put her down. Quickly she started feeling so bad she said, “Daddy, I just can’t do it. Can you please carry me?"

Again, he never said a word, but picked her up and carried her again.

He carried her so far in the race that at the very end, she was able to run across the finish line holding our hands!

In our family, we use a saying. “Go the extra mile.”, meaning, do more than is required and make more of an effort than is expected. Our leader, the head of our household...Mike Fulton...daily walks this out as an example in our lives. He doesn't just talk the talk. He walks the walk...day after day, year after year. 

Sometimes, “going the extra mile” means sacrificing ourselves when we don’t want to or don’t feel like it but doing what is necessary to help others.

Sometimes, “going the extra mile” means carrying someone else because they just can’t go one step further.

Sometimes, “going the extra mile” means carrying someone again and again until they are strong enough to walk on their own.

Happy Father’s Day to all you men who go the extra mile! 

The ultimate, “extra mile” is when Jesus laid down His life for us. (John 15:13, NLT)

If you are not born again, let this Father’s Day be one of the most special days in your life and pray this prayer with us. Lay down being lord of your life and place Jesus in His rightful place as Lord over your life in all areas of your life!

Most gracious and loving Lord God, I come to you in the name of Jesus and acknowledge You as my Heavenly Father. Thank You for calling me out of darkness and into Your marvelous light! I repent of the way I was and I thank You for giving me a new heart! The old has passed away and I am now new in You! With all my heart, I believe You sent Your Son to die for me. And I believe you raised Him from the dead! Jesus, I was lord…but now You are my Lord and my Savior! Thank You Jesus for dying in my place and for giving me eternal life! And thank You for showing Your great love for me by sending Your Son to die for me when I was still a sinner!

John 14:14, 1 John 4:8, Matthew 5:48, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 5:8

The Clouds

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1, NLT)

Photo courtesy of David Johnson, mucho mahalos David!

Recently, I’ve been blogging about clouds. God continues to show me life changing messages from that short time span of watching a plane fly through a big cloud. Thank You Jesus! Thank You for showing me and thank You for blessing my eyes and ears! (Matthew 13:16)

One important message I want to relay to you right now is, when you are flying through life and unexpectedly find yourself in a “cloud”….God is not the one who placed you there. (John 10:10)

God is always good. (Psalm 136:1)

God loves you. (John 3:16)

No matter who you are, what you’ve done, or failed to do, no matter what you’ve said, or where you’ve been, God loves you. Go look in the mirror and say, “God loves me.” Say it again, “God loves me.” Keep saying in until you know that you know…God loves you. (Romans 8:37-39, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 4:9-11, Zephaniah 3:17, 1 John 4:7-8, Psalm 136: 26)

Most gracious Father God, thank You for Your unfailing love for us. I pray for every reader right now. In the name of Jesus, I pray a new, fresh, deeper revelation of Your perfect love flood their hearts and minds as they read this blogpost today. May each of us be rooted and grounded in Your perfect love. And may we each be able to comprehend the breadth, length, depth, and height of Your great love! 

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." (Matthew 7:7-11, NLT)

"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear." (Matthew 13:16, NLT)

Completely Engulfed

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7, KJV)

In the previous two blogposts, I wrote about observing an airplane flying in and out of a huge cloud. In my bible studies during writing those blogposts, God has shown me through His Holy Spirit, other life lessons that can be applied to the plane and the clouds.

You may recall this excerpt, 

"For a moment, I could see the whole plane. Moments later I couldn’t see the plane at all. And moments later, I could only see parts of the plane. Then the plane would come into full view again and repeat this process." 

Life can be a lot like this plane.

Over the course of our lives, we hit cloudy spots now and again. We are just minding our own business, flying through life then BAM, life gets cloudy.

Photo courtesy of Heather Allem (Henderson Colorado), thanks Heather!

Clouds may attempt to completely engulf us. Or at times, we fly into the clouds and right back out again.

How do we react when we are flying through life and unexpectedly find ourselves in clouds? (James 1:2-8)

We do precisely what the pilots of this plane did. When they found themselves engulfed in the cloud (mid-flight), unable to physically see anything but cloud, they didn’t abandoned their teaching, prior experience, and control panel. Had they panicked, the plane would have most likely crashed. 

Instead, they had complete faith in their plan to get them to their destination. They followed that plan and safely arrived…on time.

Likewise, we don’t abandon God and all He has been and is to us now just because life gets a little cloudy. We stay the course having complete faith in the fact (and His promise) that He will finish what he started. (Philippians 1:6, Psalm 51:10, Ephesians 6:13)


Lord God, as You well know, life gets cloudy sometimes. I pray for every reader who is currently "in the clouds". Your Word tells us, when we lack wisdom, we can ask You. In the name of Jesus, I pray for supernatural wisdom for every reader right now, to trust in You during cloudy times having complete faith without wavering, You will finish what You have started. When we are in a cloud, headed right for a cloud, or completely engulfed in the cloud...Your praise will continually be on our lips, thanking You for teaching us how to live by faith and not by sight!

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:2-8, NKJV)

"Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7, GWT)

"for we are living a life of faith, and not one of sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7, WNT)

"That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won't see us drooping our beds or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming." (2 Corinthians 5;7, MSG)

The Lazy River, Ain't Lazy...at All!

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you. (Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT)

In our prior blogpost, I wrote about standing in line at the water park waiting for my turn to go down the water slide. I heard a loud noise, looked up and saw an airplane. In that moment the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and taught me a life changing lesson.

Some may question that scenario. Really? Jesus? At a water park? Where people are wearing swimsuits…even bikinis? A place where alcohol is sold and cursing can be heard around every corner? Where a lot of unbelievers are? And not in your prayer closet?! (1 John 5:7, Deuteronomy 31:8)

Yep!

• I never leave home without Him!
• Jesus is involved in every area of my life! 
• I don’t box Him in a particular time slot during the day.
• I don’t lock Him up at home when I go out.
• I don’t close Him out of any part of my life.
• I don’t only meet up with Him at church service.
• He knows everything about me. 
• He’s my Master, my Savior, and I fully depend on Him everywhere I go! 

Jesus is my best friend! (John 15:15)

I’m so wrapped up in my relationship with Him, I don’t have time to waste on religion. (Matthew 23:3-5)

And quite honestly, when I ride the “lazy river” with my nine year old (who turns said lazy river into a white water rafting experience…even at a depth of three feet), I need Jesus!

I boldly proclaim, “The Lord is my helper! I will not fear! Since God be for me, what can my nine year old to do me! (Hebrews 13:6, 2 Timothy 1:7, ) 

Bring it on little red headed kid!

Father, in the name of Jesus, continue to give us revelation on relationship with You. Please give us a deep heart’s desire to continue to realize and to continue to make everything not of you fall off like the scales on Paul’s eyes so that we may see. Let not one of us walk in religion in the name of Jesus. Let every one of us walk in love, ease burdens, and bless everyone we come into contact with, bringing all glory to You Lord God. I pray every day, we become more like Jesus than we were yesterday. Thank You Lord for being in every area of our lives as we submit our spirit to Your precious Holy Spirit. Place in us a hunger for You, Your ways, and Your Word, in the name of Jesus. 

The Same

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8, NLT)

This week, we celebrated my middle child’s birthday at a nearby water park. As I was standing in line with my girls, waiting for my turn on the water slide, I heard a plane overhead. I looked up and saw an airplane flying through a large cloud. 

Photo courtesy of Leilina Molale-Toro, Instagram@kingdomportrait. Mucho Mahalos!

For a moment, I could see the whole plane. Moments later I couldn’t see the plane at all. And moments later, I could only see parts of the plane. Then the plane would come into full view again and repeat this process. 

Me and the Holy Spirit had a little life changing chat. Yep, dripping wet, right there at the water park while waiting for my turn on the water slide.

The LORD showed me, that is how communication with His people can be at times.

• The plane continued to fly, even though it couldn’t be seen.
• He continues to speak to us, even though life gets “cloudy”.

• Even though the plane couldn’t be seen at times, the plane was still there.
• Even though we don’t hear Him at times, He has never left us. 

• Seeing the plane fly in and out of the cloud made seeing it sketchy at times.
• Being in and out “sight” of Him and His Word, positions us where what we hear can be sketchy.

Over the years I’ve heard people say, “Jesus really spoke at church Sunday.”, "I’m waiting for Jesus to speak., “Jesus really needs to speak.”, "I sure hope Jesus speaks soon”, etc.

I've also heard, "God really moved.", "I'm waiting for God to move.", "God really needs to move.", "I sure hope God moves soon.", etc. 

But He is the same every day. (Hebrews 13:8) He isn't moody. He isn't talkative one day and quiet the next. He isn't willing to work things together for our good one day and not the next. (Romans 8:28)

I know, in my life, He has always had the perfect answer. I haven’t always been the perfect “listener” or the perfect “asker”. I’m in no way implying we have to be perfect. I am implying, in order to get an answer we have to ask Him. (Matthew 7:11) And we have to purpose to block out every distraction and position ourselves to hear what He is saying. And waiting for all the clouds to clear so we can hear, may take time. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Father, I pray for every reader today and ask for You to show us how to position ourselves to hear clearly and specifically, precisely what You are speaking to each of our lives individually. I know You have a perfect plan for each of us and it is my heart's desire to fully live out Your plan. Thank You for always being the same. Thank You for never leaving or forsaking us. I pray You continue to place in us a deep love for Your Word and to prioritize Your Word in our lives. So that when the clouds do come, we will clearly hear every word You say!

(James 5:16, Luke 17:1)

Tidy Up

But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. (Mark 4:17, NLT)

First, please allow me to say this blogpost looks really long. But it should take less than ten minutes to read it in it's entirety. For example, if you are willing to exchange ten minutes of Facebook time to read this blogpost, I believe it will really bless you. Enjoy!

This week has been a very busy week for us. To give you an idea, Thursday my day started at 4:00 a.m. Nuff said.

Last night I laid down on the couch to catch my breath. I looked around the house, which was in need of a little…let’s just say, tiding up here and there.

When I saw the task that lay before me I wondered, how a house gets this messy when we were out of the house most of the week. 

Then it occurred to me. When we are home a lot, we tidy all day as we go. We take every opportunity to put things in their place and keep the house organized. When we are up and out early, then back late, we don’t take time to put things in their places but just drop everything where we stand. And then, we have a pile to clean up. Or in this case, many piles.

This week, I learned a valuable lesson. My spiritual life is the same way. When I take every opportunity throughout the day to visit with God (prayer), keep spiritual matters in their place (meditate on scripture) and keep my spiritual life “organized” (pursue peace and quick to forgive), my life stays tidy. (Matthew 6:33, Deuteronomy 6:6, Colossians 3:13, Psalm 34:14) 

However, when I “drop everything” (everything God has taught me)…life gets real messy real quick.

By organized I mean, quickly dealing with offenses (large and small) as they occur. Jesus said, “Offense will come.” (Luke 17:1) It is wise for us to have a plan for dealing with offense. Ignoring offense will not keep offense from occurring. Suppressing offense is not dealing with offense. Ignoring offense will only cause it to compound in our hearts and on our minds.

For example, hypothetically speaking:

• When I wake my girls and ask them to take a ten minute shower (in order to maintain our schedule that day) and their shower turns into a thirty minute bath…multiplied by two kids.
• My husband stumbles into the kitchen and while his coffee is cooking (or whatever it is that coffee does) checks his work email and has a list of negative things to deal with before he even walks out the door. And his attitude affects the whole household.
• Dads, you are leaders, even if you don't think you are. Where are you leading your family? 
• I am trying to get out of the house at a certain time and my children lolly-gag  and can’t find their shoes. (Of which, said shoes are supposed to be in the shoe bin at the front door.)
• As we pull out of the driveway and in unison my girls say, “I didn’t eat breakfast.” Everything in me wants to scream, “Oh yeah?! Well, it looks like you’re fasting till noon!"
• When making the forty minute drive into work (that turns into an hour) dealing with Honolulu traffic. I get cut off in traffic (at least three times) and at least two individuals wave at me in that “special” way using their “special” finger. Yep, even people in "paradise" fly the bird.
• About the time I think I have safely and almost without incident (Ok a list of incidents but at least alive!) pull into the parking lot at work, I get a phone call saying one of my co-workers got mad and walked off the job. 

All this before 8:40 a.m. 

Remember, we are working with hypotheticals today. *wink*

At this point, I have a choice to make. I can reiterate every offense of my day to everyone I see. Or, I can cast off every offense as they occur.

If a day like this isn’t immediately dealt with by applying God’s Word, all these offenses are going to add up real quick, negatively affecting me and everyone I come into contact with. 

Have you ever had “insider information” on a subject to the point it gave you an edge when handling a matter? Be prepared! I’m going to give you a hot tip that will change your life! 

And have no root in themselves, 

and so endure but for a time: 

afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, 

immediately they are offended. (Mark 4:17, KJV)

Why does offense come? For the Word's sake. 

No matter what happens in our lives, 

we must concrete our relationship in and with God’s Word.

All other areas of my life follow my spiritual life. When I’m doing well spiritually, I do well in all other areas of my life as well.  

How can this practically be applied? At each offense, run to our Father! Take time to visit with Him all throughout the day. And we can add a few simple organizational skills to help the day run smoothly.

Let's revisit the hypothetical list from above.

1. My girls bath scenario.
1. One thing I keep reminding myself is, my girls are 9 and 10 years old. They get distracted. I made them a list of things to accomplish in order to get out of the door and I gave them a time frame. 
1. For example: 
1. shower = 10 minutes 
2. breakfast = 20 minutes
3. pack backpack = the night before (include the shoes!)
1. Then I allow extra time to check on them every 15 minutes or so to insure they are staying on task.
2. My husband's addiction...oh I mean...coffee scenario.
1. Smile and sweetly say, “Maybe you should have your coffee at that coffee joint. That way you could relax and address your emails while you enjoy the aroma and the ambiance.” Ok, forgo the attitude in that last suggestion. Pray for him…yes pray! And ask God, “Lord, I ask in the name of Jesus, please guide my husband today. Quicken him by Your spirit to listen to Your voice. I thank You for directing his path. I thank You his eyes are blessed for they see and his ears for they hear!"
3. Children lolly-gagging scenario. 
1. Please refer to item # 1.
4. The “I didn’t eat breakfast.” scenario.
1. Ask them to open their bibles and each give you a ten minute sermon of the  King James Version of Matthew 17:21, "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” I’m totally kidding. Ok, not totally. There is a number of ways to handle this scenario. Ask God to direct your path in this area. He will give you witty inventions! The night before, have them pack a snack in their backpacks. Snack becomes breakfast instead of snack and it doesn’t hurt any of us to be a little hungry from time to time. It is great motivation to remember to eat breakfast the next day. I now refer you to the Parenting with Love and Logic website at www.loveandlogic.com (A very special thanks to my BFF, Shila for that insider tip!) 
5. The “special” finger scenario. 
1. Keep the praise music turned on and as loud as necessary. Use this time to visit with our Father and ask Him to line out our day, especially the "Honolulu traffic" portion of our day!
6. The co-worker scenario. 
1. “Lord, I ask in the name of Jesus, please guide me today. Quicken me by Your spirit to listen to Your voice. I thank You for directing my path. I thank You my eyes are blessed for they see and my ears for they hear! And I thank You for sending laborers into my co-worker's path to love on them and direct them straight to You!"

Prayer, 

the Word, and 

running to my Father for everything 

(big and small) 

keeps my life “tidy"! 

Let’s do a little spiritual weight lifting with Mark 4:17 and build some strength in this area of our lives.

• And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. (English Standard Version)

Keep on building those muscles!

• But they have no root in themselves; they are short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately stumble. (Holman Christian Standard)
• But they don’t develop any roots. They last for a short time. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall (from faith). (God’s Word Translation)

Don’t quit, only one more “set”! We are getting stronger and stronger!

• And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away. (Mark 4:17, AMP)

When we have problems, are persecuted, experience tribulation, are pressured, suffer, have trouble, become displeased/indignant/resentful, that is immediately our red flag to recognize, these weapons have been formed against me to steal the Word and my faith! Stand and declare, "No weapon formed against me will prosper, stand, or prevail!" (Isaiah 54:17) 

Father God, thank You for Your precious living Word! Thank You for never leaving or forsaking us! And thank You for wanting to be in every aspect of our lives! Thank You for being our Father, a father we can run to all day long to get what we need to throw off what doesn’t belong in our lives and to continually put on what does belong in our lives. Thank You for the “great exchange”! In the name of Jesus, I pray for every reader and I ask You to quicken them by Your Holy Spirit and let them know, as they submit to You and Your Word, You will direct their paths and make them straight! 

Hebrews 4:12

Hebrews 13:5

Isaiah 61:3

Proverbs 3:6


Additional help:

If you struggle with offense, Dr. Larry Ollison's book, "Breaking the Cycle of Offense" is a great resource and is available at www.faithman.org