Monthly Archives: July 2017
God Is With Us
The other day I was dealing with some difficult memories and was really struggling to “see” or ”feel” God’s presence. Now I KNOW full well that God is ALWAYS with me. Psalm 16:8 says:
I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.
AND Hebrews 13:5 says,
“God will never leave us or forsake us.”
However, I had been struggling with feelings of hopelessness and being overwhelmed by some situations. God’s peace was nowhere to be found in my current state of mind.
I walked through the local park and took many pictures of God’s creation. I sat on a swing and read from His word for a few hours and prayed. I sang, did some sketching and took more pictures. I began to feel at rest in trusting God to handle the situation. However, I still was not filled with JOY and wondered if God really heard my desperate heart. Well as I was pouring out my frustrations, worries and fears to God, He saw fit to remind me that He was there, listening to everything I had been saying.
I was about ten feet from my car when a beautiful Black Swallowtail flew around my face and landed on the flowers in front of me. He stayed there sipping from each little flower of the one plant closest to me. As I moved closer, he just moved to another blossom, but he didn’t fly away – until I took the time to thank God for the reminder that He is always with us. He ALWAYS hears us.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t think the butterfly was God or a form of God. It was just “odd” how it showed up when I hadn’t seen any butterflies for the past half hour and then only a Monarch and a Yellow Swallowtail. As I was telling God how I really felt, this beautiful butterfly shows up and stays right where I am for quite a while. And when I thank God for His loving care, guidance and protection, the butterfly flew away.
I must say, I was abundantly blessed by His reminder of His presence through creation.
Praying you will see and know God’s presence in your life today ~ Faye
The Holy City
Have you ever really thought about what heaven will be like?
We recently enjoyed time at the Smithsonian’s Natural History exhibit of precious gems and minerals. We were amazed at all the glorious variety of shapes, sizes, colors from bold and vibrant to shiny, clear, opaque, every where you looked was something totally different. (See lower photo.)
I couldn’t help but think about what heaven will be like when I saw this enormous amethyst. Revelation 21 went through my mind with the streets of gold and the walls of precious stones. I have to admit, the rock below is beautiful. However, when I reread Revelation 21 I am reminded that the holy city of Jerusalem “shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone”. Nothing – absolutely NOTHING – on this earth can compare with the glory we will see heaven. The wonderful creation of precious gems and minerals that we enjoy today will blow our minds away when we see heaven. Oh that will be glory for me!
So He took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal. The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. – Revelation 21:10-11, 18-20
Praying you are able to imagine what heaven may be like and continue to enjoy God’s amazing creation here below ~ Faye
1,000 Hills
My husband and I recently enjoyed a trip out East. We saw many beautiful things while we were driving through Ohio and Pennsylvania on our way to Washington DC. We saw many rolling hills, drove past beautiful farm lands and even went through the Alleghenies. It seemed like every time we saw a field with cows, I would remember a song I learned decades ago in Christian grade school …
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine.
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills, the sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches more than tongue can tell, He is my Father, so their mine as well.
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, I know that He will care for me.
© John W. Peterson
How wonderful to know that all that we have comes from God, our Father, who cares for and shares exceedingly, abundantly with His children.
Praying you may enjoy the incredible inheritance of God’s unfailing love ~ Faye
Weep, Grieve, then Trust God
There are days where the pain of life, loss and trials is overwhelming and as John Piper has said – 
I’ve been blessed by John Piper’s messages from Desiring God. Take the time to watch his two-minute video clip on Embrace the Life God Has Given You where this quote is from.
Recently I shared in church why Psalm 62 is such an encouragement to me. Here are some of those thoughts:
God has blessed me with the words from Psalm 62 on many occasions. It started before I was officially diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. When I couldn’t sleep at night, when walking caused extreme pain, when I couldn’t pull up the sheet to cover me, or turn the key in the ignition without pain, God led me to the words – WAIT and HOPE. If I hadn’t surrendered to God and waited, I would have been totally overcome with fear of the future. (And the future is so much different than it was in 2006 – I now hardly know I have RA. God has been healing over the past ten-plus years in amazing ways.)
I learned the difficulty of waiting and surrendering to God as the 2008 flood waters were predicted on Monday, and the cresting predictions rose, sometimes hourly. The crest finally arrived in Palo on Thursday night. Details of housing needs during our evacuation and the rebuilding were provided for in amazing ways by God.
I’ve said this verse over several times during my husband’s heart procedures, job and financial changes, and through times of betrayal and strained relationships.
One of those relationships is our son. We have gone long periods of not hearing from him. The longest was over four years, broken only by the funerals of his grandmas. We have no explanations as to why the withdrawal from us or his daughter, but it brings with it a deep loss. We’ve cried out to God for answers, for a change of behavior, but so far, those prayers have not been answered in the way we have hoped. So I have learned to “weep deeply over the life I hoped to have”.
Since 2013, Psalm 62:5 “Let all that I am wait quietly before God for my hope is in Him,” has been written on my bathroom mirror where I see it every morning and several times throughout the day. I have taken it apart word by word, emphasizing different words and phrases. God has blessed me incredibly through these words. It is a constant reminder for me that whatever my concerns, “Leave them quietly to God”.
When I see that verse each day, I am reminded that my hope is not in the broken relationship, but in the Healer of the broken. I have chosen to HOPE as I WAIT before GOD. God is working in our lives. I will WAIT and TRUST with HOPE that the work God is performing in each of us will be in accordance with God’s will and for His purposes. Waiting is an action. When you wait in God, you wait trusting, resting, letting your soul be quiet before God. WAITING is a form of surrender and in that surrender you learn to TRUST GOD deeply.
The first time I wrote the verse on my mirror I forgot “quietly”. (It may have been a Freudian slip.) At times I found myself changing “wait quietly” to “wait intentionally,” “wait patiently,” “wait joyfully,” “wait hopefully,” “wait expectantly,” “wait humbly” … the list goes on. It has been a good reminder for me to be completely focused on God being at work daily in my life.
Even though it says “leave quietly to God,” verse 8, “O my people, trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge”, was all the encouragement I needed from God to tell Him everything – every hurt, fear, worry, concern, my anger and bitterness, and my questions. God says POUR OUT your heart before Him. God is a safe place for us to do that. He is my shelter, strength, fortress, and He already knows my heart so WHY wouldn’t I want to openly POUR OUT my heart to God.
Praying you will feel free to POUR OUT YOUR HEART TO GOD, WEEP DEEPLY, WAIT PATIENTLY, AND HOPE & TRUST IN GOD. ~ Faye
P.S. – I shared this yesterday in church, and God in His infinite timing and sense of humor had my son text me with a quick note where he will be stationed for the next year.
God's Abundant Blessings! 