Sit, Rest, Let Him Refresh You

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell reminds us that the best cure for exhaustion, physical and spiritual, is rest. We’re told that sometimes that exhaustion is actually the guiding of the Spirit.

My Bible study this morning included Psalm 147. The whole psalm is awesome; but verse 13 comes to mind when I read the message. “For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses the children within you.” Here’s why; quoting directly from the message at twolisteners.org: “Many wonderful things would not have happened but for the physical weariness, the mind-weariness of My servants, which made the resting apart, the giving up of work, a necessity…” You see, often, it is during those times that the Holy Spirit steps in to refresh our spirit, that creativity is replenished. We are creative beings, and those ideas and plans are like children. When the mind is purged of all that clutter, creative and logic processes are restored to tip top working condition. The logic is where the step by step stuff comes in…you know…”connect the piece marked A to the bottom of the piece marked C“…and so on. Some of my most delicious dishes, and most beautiful crafts were created after a half hour of praise music or a “Lord, I’m just too tired…”-and a short nap.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Set If Before Your Face

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that it is the truth in God’s Word, received into our hearts and firmly stood on, that brings us out and up to victory. Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed comes to mind. (Matt. 13:3-9)

This principle needs to be applied to every situation we’re dealing with. Dig into the Word of God, both new and old testaments, and write down those that apply to what you’re feeling. Put them on the bathroom mirror, tuck them into your bag, keep them in your desk drawer at work. God told the Israelites this in regard to the Law in Deuteronomy 6:8-9. Read them aloud until you feel your feet back on solid ground in your faith, instead of feeling like you’re being buffeted by the wind and waves under you. I assure you, this is the way to overcome that difficulty. It not only stirs you up and strengthens your spirit; it also puts the forces of evil on notice and reminds them who the real authority is!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Keeping The Summit In Mind

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us not to fret each step along the way up the mountain. Rather, we are bid to keep the summit in mind.

Something that really helped me with this was creating. I love crafting and creating, cooking, all that stuff. Sometimes the process can be frustrating, or a little daunting. We envision a beautiful creation, a wonderful meal, a magical blend of flavors, etc. Then, as we’re putting things together, we can get lost, and lose sight of the end product. While you do have to go step by step through the process, envisioning your finished product and keeping that in mind, helps keep you from getting lost in the process. This builds spiritual endurance too. Sometimes those mountains are pretty tall, aren’t they?

Habakkuk 3:19 is referenced by the message: “GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” Your high places include your gifts, talents, knack for things, etc. See, He truly is God everywhere!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Saturday Silly – August 22, 2020

Today is National Tooth Fairy Day! I wonder if I knocked out the rest of my teeth, would the tooth fairy keep the dime and bring me some dentures instead. Something to pray for….since today’s message from God Calling bids us to offer up our troubles daily, for some soul in need of help, or for some special prayer.

Today in history, 1911 to be exact, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre museum. That’s really encouraging to me. I bet the tooth fairy took her to get her some dentures. That’s probably why she never smiled; she didn’t have good teeth anymore, either.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

It’s A Choice

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to rise into the realm of joy and appreciation; rather than stay “earthbound” in spirit by worry, burdensome toil, and poverty of spirit.

Poverty of spirit, or soul, is the greatest deciding factor regarding whether or not we appreciate our lives and have joy. Appreciation and joy are both choices. Each one elevates and enriches life. When we begin to appreciate the small things in our lives (morning coffee, peace within, those little moments of laughter and celebration, etc.), our lives begin to grow warmer and richer. I believe that it is when we realize and appreciate how truly blessed we are, God is able to bless us with more and more…and in more ways.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Block Them And Keep Going

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we are far too hard on ourselves. The message addresses guilt, shame, and self-reproach. “But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.” (Jeremiah 20:11)

This is such a key revelation to us; especially when we’re dealing with generational curses. We bring a lot of baggage with us when we come out from under them. We may have been used to negative talk, thoughts, attitudes. Those persecutors (guilt, shame, reproach) are all right there and ready to whisper those same negative things into our hearts. Let me tell you what God’s Word will do: God’s Word will refute every tongue that rises to accuse you (negative criticism) (Isaiah 54:17)

When we fail, right there is Jesus’ love surrounding us. In the spirit, we have to hear that “it’s alright, let’s get up, and keep going.” When we do this, we begin to realize that it’s never really as bad as it seems. There’s always hope; and always a way, if you’re willing. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of my very first cake. I misread the directions, and poured the entire bowl of batter into a bowl of cold water. My chocolate cake was about 1/2 inch tall, and my poor dad was the taste tester. He kept assuring me it tasted delicious, and said, “now that you understand, you’ll bake a great one next time.” But I remember how disheartened I was when I took that cake out of the oven. Had it not been for the love and kindness of my dad, I may have given up cooking and baking altogether. That would have been a shame; because I love to cook and bake!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Fill Yourself With His Divinity

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we have a divine nature. The Holy Spirit within us helps us to remember this. Quoting directly from the message at twolisteners.org – “As you kneel in humble adoration I will tell you that when I took upon Me your humanity it was with the desire of raising that humanity to My Divinity.” I hope you’ll read the entire message; it is a powerful one.

In my Bible study on generational curses, I read a scripture that may help you to realize your divine nature; and step into it. It’s in Jeremiah 17:14 – “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” So, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” it was a done deal. You are God’s child, and have His divine nature (again) NOW! First, let that bring you the peace you need to walk through this world without fear. Then, the rest will follow. Let that elevate your thinking to creating peace, joy, beauty, true restfulness within, and round about. We truly can have Heaven here on Earth when we realize and step into that divine nature. Keeping that at the forefront involves keeping the LORD/Lord at the forefront of our living.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Make Them Empowering Ones

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that it is negativity, fear inspiring things and words, and harshness that create distance between us and God, and us and others.

Spirit knows no distance in terms of miles, because Spirit can transcend any number of miles instantly. An example of this is those greeting cards we send and receive. Don’t you almost feel the hugs and kisses from those loved ones when you receive them? And isn’t your heart aglow with love and joy when you send them? See? You’re transcending the miles.

The way we change negative thoughts, words, attitudes, is to replace them with love inspired ones. God always seeks to empower us to overcome adversity, fear, impossibility. We need to do the same. We’re told to lift one another up and encourage each other. When we do this, we truly can overcome the world, just as Jesus did. The trick is to stop and think first. I’m so weak in this area sometimes! But, thank the Lord, He’s patient, and empowering. He always leads me to the right scriptures and gets me back on track. When it isn’t an “in the heat of the moment thing,” I’ve been making lists. I write down what I’m feeling, thinking, what my attitude is. Then I write down the opposites, or the empowering attitude, feeling, or thoughts. How do I bring love and life into this? I ask myself that question, and go from there. God always shows me the way. I’m reminded of the little boy with the few fishes and loaves. He put them in Jesus’ hands, and thousands were fed. That’s a powerful revelation about how much of an impact we can make, too.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Naturally, A Little Laughter…

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that nature is filled with healing power for us.

I don’t think I’ve posted this story before; although I’ve told it at least a hundred times. When I lived “out in the country,” I had a beautiful little Border Collie. Emma was her name. She actually was the kids’ dog, but she and I were kind of like Thelma and Louise. She was beyond spoiled.

One day, I had two five gallon jugs of water in my car when I came home. I opened the back door of the car, took the two jugs out, and headed for the house. I’d left the back door of the car open; I guess I just wasn’t thinking. Anyway, I set the two jugs down on the porch so I could unlock and open the front door.

I no sooner opened the door, and Emma rushed past me. She ran right to the car, and jumped into the back seat. I took the jugs into the house and headed back out to the car. Try as I may, I got nowhere with her. Emma refused to get out of the car. She was bound and determined to go for a ride. Finally, I shut the car door, and got in the driver’s seat. I started the car, backed out of the driveway, and pulled right back in. (I didn’t have the gas to drive around; I needed it to get to work) I shut off the motor, got out, and opened the back door for Emma…who promptly got out of the car, tail as high as she could hold it and wagging triumphantly, and -I swear-this hilarious self satisfied smile on her face. I almost doubled over laughing!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

We’re Resting…He Isn’t

Sunday’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to rest when we’re weary and frazzled. We’re bid to allow the Lord to come in and do His work of restoring and refreshing our soul.

This post is coming to you on Monday for that very reason. I didn’t accomplish the things I wanted to on Saturday, and was exhausted, physically and in spirit yesterday-so didn’t make it to the library to do the posting I needed to. But, good news! God always comes through! Really, He’s never failed me yet.

When we just stop and lay our head on His shoulder, and just rest there…He knows exactly what we need-and provides it. Inspiration comes out of that rest, strength is renewed, joy is refreshed, and faith is always rewarded. I caught the most beautiful sunrise this morning (Monday), and actually wrote a little verse about it. This is the Gaither Family to help us kick off the week.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu