2 Chronicles 7:14

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

God is a God of grace and mercy. He is long suffering and slow to anger. However, for His Word to be true, there has to come a point when His mercy turns to judgment.

We are a nation that has turned away from God. Millions of our babies each year are being sacrificed to the same pagan gods that have been with us since Old Testament times. Only now its being called "Freedom of Choice". We are a profane, unholy nation that has embraced the perversion of homosexuality and called it "Freedom of Self-Expression". We now live in a nation where 75% of the sexually active population has a sexually transmitted disease, the Pledge of Allegiance is being challenged for the words "under God" and you get in less trouble at school for smoking a joint than you do for praying. We are fighting wars on several different fronts and see more storm clouds brewing.

Timothy put it very succinctly:

2 Timothy 3:1-4
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

That sure sound like the national (possibly even the world) mindset today. So what then can we do if we find ourselves to be a nation under judgment? We look at the Book for the answers. The one thing that God demanded of Israel when their sin had led them to be judged was repentance. It may be too late for us, but we have to at least try. This nation needs to humble itself in the eyes of God, confess our national sins and pray for a healing. My challenge to everyone who is reading this as yet another natural catastrophe looms on the horizon is to increase your prayer time. If you normally don't pray every day, start with 15 minutes. If you pray a half hour, increase it to an hour. We need to earnestly seek God for this country. If we don't stand in the gap, who will?

In His Service, For His Glory
Deborah

Mark 12:41

Mark 12:41 Sitting across from the temple treasury, He watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43 Summoning His disciples, He said to them, "I assure you: This poor widow has put in more than all those giving to the temple treasury. 44 For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she possessed--all she had to live on."

Our church, like so many others, loaded up trucks and trailers with goods and took them to people who were in need after Katrina. I will never know the extent of the sacrifices made to fill those vehicles, but two of them touched me in a special way.

The first one was my brother. I am the only one of my family in church, and while I dearly love my brother and his wife they don't tend to be the most reliable of people. He had told me he would bring some water to us before we left for church, but he didn't show up. I stopped by his house and no one answered the door. "About typical", I thought. When I got to the church (clear across town) he was just finishing unloading his truck. He had brought us 25 cases of water! I said "I thought you were going to buy a case or two?" He said "You know sis, I was. But when I had put 4 cases in my cart it just wasn't enough. This represents a little over $100, and for us that just isn't a big deal."

The second one was a woman on my street. I live in a very Hispanic neighborhood. Since my Spanish is limited, I made a poster (hoping the translation program online was accurate) and went up and down my street. I knocked on the door, said "Hola! Muy pocito Espanol" (Hi, I only speak a little Spanish) and held up my sign for them to read. One woman asked me "Do you need ....which I understood and then a whole list of words I did not recognize. "Si", I replied "Todos, todos" (all) Hoping she would understand I needed anything and everything. She brought me three bags of food and clothing and then reached into her pocket and pulled out 3 crumpled dollar bills. "Muy pocito" she said. (It's very little) No, muchas gracias!! Thank you very much I said! It brought tears to my eyes. Here was a woman, living in poverty herself, that was apologizing for not being able to give more. Truly, that woman was blessed and my heart was blessed by her giving.

While I know scenes like this were played out all over the United States, I was truly touched and humbled by the outpouring of love exhibited by everyone who contributed to our efforts to make a difference.

In His Service, For His Glory
Deborah

Psalm 118:24

Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalms 27:1-6
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

With the world in the birth pains of the end time, with all the violence, chaos and uncertainty out there, it's easy to get caught up in the struggle rather than focus on the finish. However, that is not the life that God intends us to live. God intends us to live a victorious, overcoming life by relying on His strength, His virtue and His power.

Too often we try to do it on our own and wonder why we fail miserably. We let our minds and thoughts take on the drumbeat of this world. We feed it misery and sickness and death by sitting in front of the sewer pipe into our homes called television and then wonder why we are depressed.

One of the most awesome things about reading the Bible is that you get the heartbeat of God. A good bible study program (I use Crosswalk.com) can give you insight into what God intends for your life with just the push of a button. For instance, I did a quick search on some specific words: (using the Christian Standard Version)

There are 167 verses with the word rejoice and 14 with the words sad (2) or sadness (12).
There are 192 verses with the word joy and 5 with the word depression.
There are 237 verses with the word peace and 14 with the words anxious (6) or anxiety (8) There are 196 verses with the word strength and 11 verses with the word weakness.
There are 35 verses with the word victory and 6 verses with the word defeat.

Why then, if we are to be living a victorious, peaceful life in the strength and the joy of the LORD do we so often find ourselves caught up in depression, anxiety and defeat? If that is where you are living today, I challenge you to get back to the basics. Pray every day. Read your Bible every day. Attend a good church where you can be fed and spiritually developed. I guarantee you; the closer you get to the God of the universe, the less control the god of this world with have on you.

In His Service, for His glory,
Deborah

Luke 21

Luke 21
25 "Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations, bewildered by the roaring sea and waves.

28 But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near!"

Unless you have been under a rock the last three weeks, you have struggled and cried with the rest of us over the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. However, the greatest damage was not caused by the winds of the hurricane, but rather by the roaring sea and waves. It was the 30 foot storm surge that wiped miles of structures off the face of the earth in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. It was the water that wiped out bottom stories and left two story houses standing on pillars.

There have been allegations that global warming is what has caused the increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes the last couple of years. However, that has been countered by scientific evidence that we are merely passing into a cycle of increased activity, that unfortunately is expected to last several more years.

Mark 13
28 "Learn this parable from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that He is near--at the door!

For those of us who have been watching the signs, this is simply one more leaf popping out on that end-time tree. Those who expect to see "normal" again will be sadly mistaken. This world is struggling with the birth pains of the end times. We are confused and devastated by what is going on around us. However, Jesus says to lift our heads! Our redemption is near! Jesus is coming for us soon! Are you as excited as I am?

Sincerely,
Deborah