I WON!

"LORD,

HOW DID IT HAPPEN THAT YOU CHOSE ME

TO BELONG TO YOU?

WHATEVER THE REASON

ONE THING IS CERTAIN:

I WON.

Ruth Harm Calkin
The One Year Book Of Bible Promises  P. April 1
Tyndale House  2000

HE WILL FREELY PARDON

"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."

Isaiah 55:6-7

It is nearing 50 years since I sought Jesus for salvation.

 I continue to seek Him. I need and enjoy Him everyday.

His Then--His Now,
Lonnie

LOOP HOLES

Lord, 
Help us not to be like taxpayers--looking for loop holes in Your Word.

Lonnie

ENVY

"For he (Pilate) was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy."

Mark 15:10 NASB

Dare I think, then, that envy is one of the lesser sins -- hardly worth mentioning?

Guilty and Forgiven,
Lonnie

Prayer: Health Care Bill

---------------------------NOT SO EASY. NOT BLACK AND WHITE---------------------------

I continue to pray for wisdom concerning the reconstruction of the health care bill.

I remind myself that disagreement isn't always bad. Each side likely has good points. Disagreement is how discoveries are made. 

But that leads to other thoughts. A writer can rarely change one sentence of a manuscript. A word, yes. But all sentences and paragraphs are so interconnected. Meanings easily become distorted if supporting phrases aren't tweaked too.

I imagine this heath care bill to present similar challenges. One side agrees with the other, but the interconnectedness prevents an an easy change.

Take a household project. We need new cupboards. That just can't happen without considering the floors. And floors can't be fully planned unless we are sure we won't need appliances for a while. It's not about colour and style. It's about coverage.

Imagine the complexity of this health care bill and the desire to meet everyone's needs--On Budget.

I apologize for rambling but hope you have read this far. Would you pray with these factors in mind and in the way God leads? And be appreciative of the hard work for everyone involved.

Lonnie

HAPPY WITHOUT IT

"All of Keith's artwork SOLD. The gallery owner asked him, 'What are you going to do with all this money?'

"Keith said, ' . . . I didn't have this money yesterday and I was happy. If I don't have it tomorrow, I'll still be happy. All children need to eat. I'll send the money to them.'"



Kay A. Haring
In Honor of Keith Haring  (her brother who died of AIDS related complications)
Keith Haring The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing 
Dial Books For Young Readers  2017


A picture book, Kay's first. Bet you will enjoy it . . . and will probably discover that picture books can be way more than fluff.

Lonnie

Prayer

I continue to pray Proverbs 3:5-7 for our President. I continue to pray for protection of his family and his marriage.

For wisdom; for openness to listen to other ideas. For wisdom concerning health care and education.

For our nation and for the Body of Christ (for me!) I continue to pray Romans 12:12:

Help us to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

A PARENT'S PRAYER

"Thank you, Father, for giving Allen to us. He's Yours, God, not ours. You loved him before we knew him, and he belongs to You. Be with him when we can't."

Jolene Philo
Our Daily Bread  March 18, 2017
Vol. 61 #12

Hiram and Jolene's newborn was being flown 700 miles away for emergency surgery. Our worry may be for lesser or greater situations; but what a great prayer!

Emmanuel: God With Us
With me . . . With My Children,
Lonnie

FOR WHAT REASON?

"You youselves know how I plainly told you that I am not the Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for him--that is all."

John 3:28
THE iWORSHIP DEVOTIONAL BIBLE (NLT)
P. 3368/Nook

Might "we" be here for the same reason? To prepare the way for Jesus' second coming? If so, how are we doing?

Desiring For All To Know Him,
Lonnie

MORE THAN DOCTRINE

"Christ's return is more than a doctrine; it is a promise."

Life Application Bible  NASB
Notes from 2 Thessalonians 3:18  p. 2125
Zondervan  2000

Good News For Sure!
Lonnie

DRIVEN BY FEAR

"The people of Judah sought advice from everyone but God. When we are driven by fear, we tend to search everywhere for comfort, advice, and relief, hoping to find an easy way out of our troubles."

Life Application Bible  NASB
Notes from Isaiah 30:1  p. 1179


"Driven by fear?" I need to fire my chauffeur.
Lonnie

WHY DO WE DO THAT?!

"People are very limited when compared to God. They can be unreliable, selfish, & shortsighted. Yet, we trust our lives and futures more readily to mortal human beings than to the all-knowing God"

Life Application Bible/Note on Isaiah 2:22
P. 1142


Why do we do that?!

Lonnie

Old journals hold such treasures.

BIG OOPS!

"On a crowded London commuter train, an early morning rider shoved and insulted a fellow passenger who got in his way.

"Later that day . . . A business manager sent a quick message to his social media friends, 'Guess who just showed up for a job interview.'"

Mart Dehaan

Our Daily Bread   March 13, 2017

Vol. 61 Number 12

As Mr. Rude, what would you do now?

As business manager, a chance? Or mind settled?

Just Wonderin' 

Lonnie

HITLER'S HELL

"God delivers. And if He does not deliver, He sustains. And if He does not sustain, He receives us into His everlasting arms."

Anita Dittman--Holocaust survivor
Trapped In Hitler's Hell  p.203
WND Books 2014

I struggle with the presence of God in the Holocaust. I ask 1000 whys and hows. But this book shows us one woman who, though not spared pain, experienced God's hand over and over and lived to tell us about it.

To God Be All Glory!

HOPE

"Hope means the most to those who have lived without it."

Mart Dehaan 
Our Daily Bread  March 2017
Volume 61  Number 12

HOPE ENOUGH TO SHARE

"Lord, 
As we remember how hopeless we were before You found us, please help us not to forget those who are still on the street."

Mart Dehann
Our Daily Bread  March 2017
Volume  61 Number 12

I'm reminded of the man in the gospels who had more than he could use in a lifetime. But rather than share, he built bigger barns.

With Enough of Jesus To Share,
Lonnie

FURTHER THAN WE WANT TO GO

"Sin will take us further than we want to go and keep us longer than we want to stay."

Janet Boyles
God And Sexuality  p. 30/Nook


Hebrews 11:25 tells us that the pleasures of sin are fleeting--temporary. But by the time we realize that, the path back is uphill and hard. Yet . . . never impossible with God.

EverGrowing,
Lonnie

TRYING TO FIT "SOMEWHERE"

"The GLBT community feels a constant unnamed pressure from both sides--an invisible Christian ideal that they can't see themselves living up to, and an overt push from the gay-friendly culture to just 'come out' and be OK with it. Neither option seems achievable to many people who have a same-sex attraction, so they are left with no home and no sense of support. A large portion of these people eventually try to force themselves to fit into one of these unnatural categories just so they can belong somewhere."

(Emphasis mine)

Andrew Marin

Love Is An Orientation  p. 48

Intervarsity Press  2009

I have LOTS of questions, and mixed feelings. But I know this: God is growing my compassion and love. 

May God continue to grow me within His will,

Lonnie

SACRED OR SECULAR?

"It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act."

A. W. Tower
Culture  p.17
Moody Publishers  2016

HIS JOB? HIS CHARACTER? HIS CALLING?

"In  the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him."

Daniel 11:1 NASB

This verse grabbed me when I read it yesterday. If it, some how grabs you, own it and ask God what He desires of You.

Listening With Expectancy,
Lonnie

Prayer

These are not polished prayers!

They are a record I can refer to as I watch God work.

 Today I prayed that Sundays would be like an oasis for Trump and his family, that it would be a time when they are accepted for who they are, apart from money or position. A time when they would gather with believers; that they would hear messages that are accurate, and according to their needs: comfort, conviction, encouragement.

So little time myself this morning, but this gives a flavor of my prayer. A day of protection God. Continue to protect family and marriage relationships.

Thank you Father.

ONE DAY AFTER ANOTHER, AFTER ANOTHER . . .

"We are asked to have faith--not forever, but for one day."

Melody Beattie
Codependent Guide To The Twelve Steps  p.43
Simon & Schuster 1990

One day! How much easier life would be if I'd quit worrying about my future and everyone else's.

We don't need enough faith, today, for the rest of this week, month, or year.

But one day after another, after another, leads to and becomes forever.

Trusting God For Today,
Lonnie

WAITING . . .

I drove home last night in my own little place of insanity. 

"God, if You don't give me some word on this situation, I'm going to . . . " skip the details. It was something stupid.

I got my word this morning: Wait.

Don't you love it?!

Then I realized God had already been giving me that word for weeks! 

He had blessed me with several eagle sightings, up close and beautiful. Each time I felt like they were meant to be an encouragement from God. I'd rehearse the Scripture, "Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength."

But I was waiting. 

The part I was missing was the Who I was  to be waiting on.

Who or what are you waiting on?

Waiting on Him,
Lonnie