Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to strive to create joy; each one of us, in our little part of the world.

There’s a statement made: “See the good in everybody. Love the good in them. See your unworthiness compared with their worth.” -quoting directly from God Calling @ twolisteners.org – I said, in my post yesterday, “God, really, is the only big thing.  I’m not any bigger than that sparrow…but in God’s eyes, we’re both a big deal.”  There is no unworthiness in God’s eyes, when it comes to His children.  We are all loved equally, passionately, entirely.  So, the unworthiness referred to here, might just be unworthiness to judge, and, certainly, to condemn.  (Luke 6:42) -“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?”

When we practice open-heartedness, and unconditional love, we become much more effective in allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us.  This is not easy.  However, (1 Cor. 13:5) tells me that love is not easily provoked, or offended.  That tells me that if I ignore my ego, (blessed are the poor in spirit…) I can love the way God loves much more quickly, and easily.  That frees me up to see the other person’s heart, and/or need(s).  I can then seek to meet the need, to heal, to do good, or bring joy to that person.  (1 Cor. 10:24)  That, in turn lifts both of us.  Heaven knows there are plenty of pitfalls on this road.  We all need all the help we can give one another, don’t we?  Yeah.  (Matthew 9:35-36)

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 9, 2020, 12:12 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that nothing is small to God.

When I think of that, King David’s words come to me: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalms 8:4)  I also think of Jesus’ words in (Matthew 10:29) – “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.”

Don’t discount the power of a little rosebud.  It might bring the greatest joy to someone.  Those little sparrows and mockingbirds, and even pigeons, bring me some of the greatest laughs I’ve ever had.  I began to discover things like that when I put my “big, big life” into proper perspective.  God, really, is the only big thing.  I’m not any bigger than that sparrow…but in God’s eyes, we’re both a big deal.  That’s how He can say, “love one another like I’ve loved you.” (John 13:34)  Don’t let your life get so big that you miss it!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 5, 2020, 2:28 p.m.

God seeks those who worship Him to worship in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)  Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, assures us that we truly can live a Heaven on Earth life-right here, right now.

When I read this, I thought about Jesus’ sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:3) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”  This verse causes one to look up everything you can find about God and Heaven.  I found that “God said.” (Genesis 1)  That led me to (Matthew 17:20) – …”Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  That, right there, lets me know there is always a way.  Coupled with a will/desire and a little effort, it can be achieved. The assurance of that comes to us in (Matthew 13:31-32) – “He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

Your most important field is your heart. (Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 12:35)  First and foremost here, you must know, and own, who you are-and who you are in Christ Jesus. Do you know you can tell the devil, “be still and know that I am God!?” Jesus is in you, you are in Him, and He is in God.  God is in all and is all.  The scriptural references for that are: (Psalms 46:10, Matthew 4:10, Luke 10:20, John 10:30, Ephesians 4:6)

Here’s the key: Do you realize that God talks to Himself?  When He said, “let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” wasn’t He talking to Himself?  Yes!  You have to speak things into your heart and spirit.  (Luke 6:45)  I have to tell you the truth.  Chances that it’ll just “poof,” manifest out of thin air, are pretty small.  You may have to go read some instructions, take a class, use your imagination, get a little creative, etc.  But a little effort goes a long way. (Matthew 13:31-32 again)

As for the beauty of the Lord’s Presence in everything, and especially, nature, your heart is involved in that too. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)  I think purity, here, refers to the state of being open, non-judgmental, expectant, and accepting.  And, we work this one by walking it out in our daily life…step by step.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 5, 2020, 2:20 p.m.

Today in history, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.  March 7th is also National Be Heard Day.  The board game Monopoly was invented today, in 1933.  Call somebody and tell them that.  Maybe they’ll invite you to play with them.

In the meantime…Mark Lowry is one of my favorite Christian comedians.  He’s funnier than I am, too.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 5, 2020, 12:31 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that Jesus loves to plan beautiful little joys to surprise us with.  We have a tendency to rush right past a lot of those surprises, unfortunately.  That’s one of the reasons regular time spent just sitting quietly, or walking quietly and expectantly, is important.

When we do that, we catch the Lord’s joy in the songs of the birds.  We see the funny side of our humanity in God’s creatures-like those bears from last weekend.  We also can be awed to breathlessness!  I was once, and I will never forget that sight, or the awe and joy within.  We left early one morning to spend the day at one of our favorite spots away from the city.  As we came up to the top of a hill, I looked down over the little valley below us.  There was a mist over the valley, and the sun’s rays were playing through the mist.  The sight was absolutely breath-taking.  The whole little valley was like a living prism; so beautiful!  I knew instinctively, God’s showing me something.  “He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth– the LORD God Almighty is his name.” (Amos 4:13)

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 5, 2020, 12:48 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that love and laughter can help break up the fallow ground.  Quoting directly from the message: “Prepare the ground, and prepare it as I say.”

That statement catches my eye every time, because Jesus will use laughter to bring you back to Earth.  Like, when you’re homeless…and you wake up thinking you wet yourself…but you really just laid yourself down right by one of the underground sprinkler nozzles.  Yes, Lord, I’m still thankful…even now.  And now, I know why homeless people try to set up camp before dark.  And the water made me think of when the faucet handle came off in my hand once.  There I was, water shooting me in the face, I was spluttering and trying to fix the darn thing…and the kids were in the bedroom, holding onto one another and laughing their little hineys off.  What do you mean, it’s not my time yet, Lord?!  Wake up call?!

Sometimes we do take ourselves a little too seriously, though, don’t we?  That’s when we can get hard.  That’s a good time to look up, too, because Jesus has a sense of humor.  I’m living proof.  LOL  One of my favorite things about doing this blog is the Saturday Silly post.  It not only gives me a chance to give you a little laughter.  It also helps bring everything back into proper perspective for me.  That would be this:  God’s in control.  He sees and hears.  He knows, and He knows best.  And, it’s all going to be okay in the end, so just be still and know that.  And don’t be afraid to laugh;  your face won’t crack.  But that hard shell just might, whether it be yours, or somebody else’s.  Make time regularly to get some laugh time in.  Jesus laughs at us all the time, I’m sure…well, at me anyway.

PS – There are some really awesome Christian Comedians out there.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 5, 2020, 12:11 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to fight fear.  Fear is a destroyer.  2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and a sound mind.

I looked up the definitions of power, and “sound mind.”  We already all know what love is. (1 Cor. 13) One of the definitions of power is, the ability to direct or influence behavior, and the course of events.  A sound mind is defined as having the ability to think, reason, and understand.  When we put these three things into play in our encounters with others, it’s easy to see why we need to be free of fear.  Perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18)  That means our approach needs to be one of perfect love.  Perfect love would be “God loves me, God loves you, I love me, I love you.”

Using the sound mind God has given us, helps us to think about the situation, the person we’re dealing with, and what fear(s) they may be experiencing.  When we can identify them, we can better understand the person’s action(s)/reaction(s), and we can then better reason.  We can decide whether to proceed, or retreat, and how.  It’s important to put these into practice, within, and with circumstances, events, and people we encounter…especially when we’re ministering to them.  Again, writing things down as you begin to practice this principle, will be helpful.  Once you get comfortable in it, you’ll be able to do that mentally, with little difficulty.  It will become instinctive.

Identifying fear(s) isn’t easy, but it’s also not as difficult as it sounds.  Common sense is a great tool.  That perfect love triangle – notice there are only three people involved here- (God, me, and you) We’re the angles, He’s the base line; the line between you and me.  So, I also need to allay my own fear(s) by holding fast to God’s promises; to His Word.  When I cast fear out from within myself, I can operate in God’s perfect love toward me, allowing it to flow through to you.  I have no idea exactly how this works as awesomely as it does; I just know it does.  I’ve seen it happen time and time again.  The door “magically” opens, the other person’s fear becomes evident, and I can allay it, and all is well.  “Not by might, but by my spirit,” says the LORD. (Zech. 4:6)

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 4, 2020, 5:15 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that the key to holiness and happiness is denial of self.  We’re also reminded that truth is many sided.  Some truths can change from one day to the next, as well.  What’s true today, may not be tomorrow.

The message goes hand in hand with yesterday’s message about growing like Jesus.  Jesus is the truth.  He always knows the truth, and He always brings you to the truth-whether you want to go there or not.  I hope you’ll read the message @ twolisteners.org – it’s a powerful one.  This one points out the difference between seeing the good in others, without denying the bad, or the sin.

As the message states,  God always sees the good in people.  But, Jesus wept over the city because of the sin, the greed, the oppression by the religious leaders, etc.  “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross daily, and follow me,” said our Lord.  How does that fit in here?  Jesus crucified all those things He felt and/or thought about it all, and died to bring life to us anyway.  It is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should have eternal life, through Christ Jesus, His Son.

This is what all that has to do with us:  You may be a schmuck, but I still need to feed you when you’re hungry, clothe you when you’re naked, bring you into my own home, if I can, when you have none. (You are not safe with some people in your home)  You can still help to find shelter for them, though.  The flipside is this:  Just because you’re being helped, and I am showing you God’s love, does not mean I am condoning what you’re doing, what your character is, etc.  God hates sin, but He loves the sinner.  However,  His love is not blind, deaf, nor dumb.  In some cases, denial can make you an enabler.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 3, 2020, 3:50 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to look toward the Lord, to think of Him often.  In doing so, we’re told, we unconsciously grow more like Him.

Thinking of Jesus involves more than just a turning toward Him, or looking toward Him…in an affectionate way.  “I’m thinking of you, Jesus.”  “Good, my child; and what are you learning?”  When you study the gospels, and walk with Jesus through them, you learn so much more than His part as the Lamb of God, sent to atone for our sins.  You see His conviction, His passion for our freedom, peace, love, and joy.  You begin to learn whose you are; and who you are in Him.  You get a picture of what the Garden of Eden must have been like.  Can you imagine God walking and talking with man?  Yes!  And, He still does today.

Here’s another red letter lesson:  “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) As we follow Jesus in the Gospels, we learn how He deals with people.  Have you ever heard fishermen talking?  “Oh, that one’s sneaky; he’ll spit the hook on you.”  “Hmm, you’ll need a different lure for catfish.”  “Maybe your line’s down too far.”  There are different things, different techniques for different fish.  “Follow me, learn from me.  I will give you insight into the human condition.  I will give you discernment.  I will grow you in compassion, patience, kindness, etc.”  You learn how to deal with a devil.  You learn to choose your words to best suit the situation.  (Matt. 9:5) (John 8:43-44) (John 5:6)  You learn when not to speak a single word at all.  In following Him, as we learn and put things into practice, we do grow more and more like Him.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 2, 2020, 3:42 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God’s Words are Spirit, and they bring life to our Spirit.  Yes, they also do bring life to our flesh. (Genesis 2:7)  The breath of life is God, Himself.  (John 11:25)  *Jesus, in John 10:30, said, “I and the Father are one.”

Some years ago, I caught myself, trying to bandage my flesh with the Word of God.  What I’m talking about is my wounded pride, desire to avenge myself, and it was all his/her/their fault…there’s more, but that would take too long. LOL  God said, “Oh, really?”  Then He proceeded to show me my part in the whole thing.  Imagine that!  Can’t catch a break with Him.  And, as I was turning blue from the shock and lack of oxygen, God said, “BREATHE.”

The realization hit me that I was trying to fix the water pipe with the hedge clippers.  My problem was a spiritual overload, tapped out, and operating now in the flesh.  I could actually see myself, hurriedly gobbling down those Sunday tidbits from church, and running through the week at break-neck pace.  I happened to read a “Daily Bread,” short-take one day.  As I sat for a few minutes, just contemplating that little message, I realized that my Spirit was feeding on that.  I could almost feel something changing within.  I liken that to when my lungs were crashing and they put me on oxygen.  It took three days, but I was finally able to breathe on my own.  Had I not had that oxygen, I would have died.

Now, when I read a scripture, I just sit and breathe it in.  I search within to where that Word might be headed.  God sends His Word and heals us. (Psalm 107:20)  No more Spiritual eat and run for me!  Sometimes, the revelation doesn’t come for a day or two; I think because sometimes I’m a little slow.  And, my mom always said I was hard-headed.  LOL  That’s why writing it down helps.  You can go back in the quiet times-I hope you’re carving out a few minutes daily, in the morning, and in the evening.  God never ceases to amaze me with His creativity, either.  He finds the darndest ways to bring me to the revelation(s).  When we let Him, He still breathes His life into us today.  Thank you, Hillsong for a great job on this song.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 3, 2020, 1:24 p.m.