Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we are marching to a different tune.  We are to shed peace wherever we go, and not discord.  However, we are reminded that the Lord’s Peace is never a peace with evil. (Matt. 10:34)  In that very passage, Jesus talks about division, even in families, because of God’s Word.  How many times has the truth caused division in your relationship with someone?  It does happen, doesn’t it?  Yeah.

We’re bid not to allow our life’s music to be adapted to the world’s song.  To me, that means what the scripture Proverbs 4:25 says: Make level paths for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.  It also means that I need to make faith my walking staff, even in the valley of the shadow of death, and keep going forward toward, and into God’s destiny for me.  He has predestined us, each one.  (Ephesians 1:4-6)

When I think of Mary, Jesus’ mother, on her way to Bethlehem, probably in labor as they approached the town, etc., etc., and then…well, you can read it in the books of Matthew and Luke.  In Luke, there are a couple of references made to Mary keeping things in her heart and pondering them; things concerning Jesus.  Back in 2007, just after Thanksgiving, I read that account in Luke.  That’s when God gave me the words and melody to this song, “Mary’s Prayer, A Mother’s Agony.”

Right from the start, Herod wanted to kill her baby boy.  Mary’s heart must have been aching as she fled to Egypt with her son.  I can’t begin to imagine all the things Mary must have had to deal with in her heart as Jesus grew into a man and began His ministry.  I’m sure that, like most of us moms, she found more strength, peace, joy, and courage in her child than almost anywhere else.

This song is one that makes me think of my children, when I hear it.  When my youngest daughter was just a baby, we were going through a pretty rough time.  I was not really walking closely with the Lord at that time.  But, God never let go of me.

This has always been my baby girl’s song from me.  But, really, all my children gave me such strength, courage, peace, and joy.  As I listened to the song today, it made me think of Mary and Jesus.  So, I’m posting it as a bonus.  I hope it helps you to see how awesomely God finds ways to keep us on the road to our destiny.  Makes me think of Jesus too, as He was walking toward our destiny, that day on Golgotha…maybe even as He was crossing eternity to come save us.  Thank you, Jesus!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 18, 2019, 3:25 p.m.

 

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that evil has no power to harm those who are under God’s protection.  Jesus stripped the powers of evil before all the host of Heaven.  That happened after the crucifixion, and before the resurrection of His body.  (Colossians 2:15) “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”  (NKJV)

Fearing no evil is not a matter of feeling secure.  It is a matter of fact that evil has no power to harm you.  Even if it appears that you’ve been harmed, it isn’t so.  Keep in mind that we live in eternity; our lives are hid in Christ Jesus.  Christ Jesus died on the cross; and He wasn’t a pretty sight in the flesh when they got done with Him-before the crucifixion.  He is alive and sitting at the right hand of God today!  Today is thousands of years after that day at Golgotha.

The one sure fire way to deal with fear of any kind is to practice your authority over it in the Name of Jesus! -especially the fear of evil.  “Satan, the blood of Jesus stands against you, and you will not prevail!”  “I rebuke you, Satan, in the Name of Jesus!”  Those are two powerful statements; and he has to bow in the face of both of them.  The other one is this:  “It is written!”  That’s the one you remind yourself of when fear tries to creep in.  It is written that I am the head and not the tail.  It is written that nothing can separate me from the love of God.  It is written that at the Name of Jesus everything that has a name must bow, for Jesus Christ is Lord!  You have, not only, the right, but the responsibility to exercise your authority in Christ Jesus.  It isn’t so you can lord anything over anyone-not even the forces of evil.  Rather, it is so that no thing and no one, including the forces of evil, can lord anything over you!  You have one Lord; Jesus Christ!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 17, 2019, 11:26 a.m.

Brrr! It’s cold this morning!  BONUS POST!  Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that there’s a difference between a minute and a moment.  A minute is 60 seconds long.  A moment is eternal.  We are to live in eternal standard time, really.

The message calls Jesus the Lord of the moments.  He is creator of small and large, alike.  We’re bid to smile indulgently and let Him have His way when things don’t look like they’re going our way…and to trust that He is making the way for us as easy as possible.  In other words, when we take a minute, we can make it a moment.

When I read this message, I thought of a minute in my life that was changed into a moment by just a hug and a kiss.  The volcano eruption was stopped dead in its tracks, and love won out.  Another time, my husband accidentally knocked a plate off the wall.  The plate was one I’d bought my mother as a gift when she was alive.  It was all I had left of her, besides memories.  He gasped, held his breath, and looked at me as if he was looking for the shotgun in my hands.  “I’m so sorry,” he said.  In that very instant, I knew I was standing on the brink of another loss-one in our relationship.  I said, “That’s just a plate, honey; it can be replaced.  You can’t.”  I know the moment had a profound impact on both of us; individually, and as a couple.  I believe we both grew a little bit right then.

The holidays can be especially trying to relationships.  Homes are filled with people gathering to celebrate, and, supposedly enjoy one another.  It’s easy, oh, so easy, to snap, snarl, grumble, and growl…and all the activity and people, and differing personalities, etc., etc., etc., afford us plenty of opportunity to go right over the edge…but, wait.  Just take a minute…look up, for your redemption draws nigh (Luke 21:28)…and Jesus will help you make it a moment.  Jesus said, “seek and you will find.” (Matt. 7:7)  When we take that minute to look for Him in that situation, we will find Him.  We have the power, really, to make every minute a moment.  “I’ve come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly,”  said our Lord. (John 10:10)  That scripture starts with, “the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.”  Stress, and short fuses are a couple of his favorite weapons.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 17, 2019, 10:59 a.m.

So, I was making out my Christmas wish list the other day.  Somebody said, “Enrique Iglesias.”  I thought to myself, “No, I’m saving him for my next life.  We can make beautiful babies together.”  The thrill of that lasted about three seconds.  Then came this thought:  “With my luck, St. Peter will whisper something in Jesus’ ear…and watch Jesus make Enrique the pope in his next life!”  Can’t win for trying, can I?!  I love you, Enrique and family!  You’re all so beautiful!  Have a wonderful Christmas!

I have this Catholic friend.  She has a grandson who is in Kindergarden this year.  She said she and her daughter were making caramel apple cookies the other day, and he was helping.  He got a little excited and rambunctious with the caramel frosting, and poor mom ended up with some of it in her hair.  “Oh, my goodness,” his mom exclaimed.  “Now I’m a caramelized mom!”  Little Eric (the son) replied, “You can be just like Sister Ramona, Mom.  She’s caramelized too.  She’s a caramelized nun.”

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 17, 2019, 11:09 a.m.

Today’s message from God Calling- A.J. Russell, reminds us that we are to fight fear, and fight it fiercely.  I touched a little bit on this in yesterday’s post.

We’re told that fear is the hacking of the chords of love that bind us to the Lord/LORD.  Specifically, this message addresses depression.  Depression is a big foe this time of year.  The suicide rate goes up during the holidays, some of the alcohol and drug related deaths that occur this time of year, are due to depression.  Families fall apart especially around the holidays, and often, depression is at the root of the problems.

Again, depression is based in fear of failure, abandonment, loss.  Yes, change is a loss; loss of the familiar and comfortable.  I thought I’d share some of the ways I used to overcome depression…and I still fight it off using the same weapons.  It doesn’t get me anymore, but that’s because I start fighting at the first sign it’s there.

Of course, fear has to bow to the Name of Jesus!  First and foremost, rebuke that spirit in Jesus’ Name!  As I said yesterday, I used to immerse myself in praise music to silence the thoughts of failure, loss, and disappointment.  Disappointment is a loss; you lost the coin toss. (aka) You didn’t get your way; things didn’t go your way; and/or there was no way whatever you wanted was going to happen.   The next thing that I found to be very powerful is order, routine, perseverance/persistence.  That thing about making the bed every morning, cleaning up after every meal, etc. Routine and persistence are especially important when it comes to personal hygiene and personal needs (sleep, medications, peace within).   Fear thrives on chaos; so does guilt.  Order, routine, and persistence are three of your most powerful weapons.

Alcohol will not drown anything or anyone-except maybe you if you drink and get into the pool.  Drugs will not make the problems vanish.  What will make the problem manageable is dealing with the problem.  That means confront the fear.  Be honest with yourself, and your chosen support person or group.  That makes it easier to deal with and overcome it.

Don’t forego holiday events; that’s fear trying to get you alone and to itself, so it can torture you!  Go to those events, see the sights, etc.  Even if they don’t do anything for you in the way of cheering you, they will keep you out of fear’s grip.  Something I did was purposefully remember those great moments-roasted nuts, chocolate candies, my favorite songs, etc.  In making that list, I found reason to thank God for the memories.  If you can’t think of any good memories, determine to make at least one this season.  You could treat yourself to a treat of hot cocoa and a brownie or a slice of cake somewhere.  Oh, yes, dear; do deserve it and you are worth it!  There, now you have a wonderful holiday memory!  You just treated yourself like someone special.  You are, you know, very special!  There’s nobody like you in the whole wide world.  That’s one of the things God loves most about you!  Now, can you love yourself a little more?  It starts inside you…and it gets easier and easier…take it from one who knows.  God loves you so much that He came across eternity just for you, so you can spend eternity with Him! I love you too.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 16, 2019, 3:39 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that perfect love casts out fear.  We are commanded by Jesus to fear not.  We are bid, in the message, never to allow ourselves to fear anything or anyone.

We’re also told that fearlessness is the result of perfect love of Jesus and of our Heavenly Father.  I have found that to be very true.  The closer I am to the Lord, the longer I walk with Him, the less I fear.  There really is no thing here on Earth to fear.  For a child of God, even in death, there is no fear, because we are just stepping out of this arena and going home to be with the Lord.

When I read this message, I thought about fear in my own life.  Depression is based in fear; fear of failure, abandonment, loss.  Fear is one of evil’s favorite and most powerful weapons.  That’s why we’re told to fight it immediately and fiercely.  I remember immersing myself in praise music all day long to silence the “what ifs”, the “should’ves”, and the “could haves.”  See, the devil will pick up all those little things and bring them back to you.  He is the accuser of the brethren, and he doesn’t forget anything-except that He lost on Calvary.  Anyway, I know you all have heard this before, but:  The more time you spend getting to know the Lord/LORD, the closer you will feel to Him, and the stronger your faith will be.  *You will still have times when you’re afraid.  Do it anyway!  See if that fear doesn’t melt right before your eyes.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 16, 2019, 3:00 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to “think our thought-way into the very heart of” God’s Kingdom.” -quoting directly from the message.  We are bid to seek the wonders there; to ask for them.  We’re bid to see them, and to come away from His Presence with wonders.

There are a couple of keywords in the message regarding wonders.  One is “beauty.”  The other is “divine mind.”  Divinity, in our case, is humanity elevated.  The Highest love, peace, perfection, thought, intent, etc.   When God created a world for us to live in, He made beauty and order out of chaos.  He set schedules for day, night, seasons, life cycles.  Isn’t that phenomenal?! -That God would care enough about us to do that; to go to all that trouble?  Ah, yes.  And we are expected to manifest the wonders in the world around us.

Wonderful is what life is supposed to be.  The message makes reference to The garden of Eden, and to the Bethany home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.  As I read the story of Jesus’ visit there, I noticed something about those three.  Martha, busy with serving.  Mary, enrapt with Jesus.  Lazarus, raised from the dead.   Do you know you can’t have a party if somebody isn’t willing to do the work?  Service is humility, and it is also a sign of nobility.  Remember Jesus’ words? “And he said to them, “If anyone would
be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)  It is when we become enrapt with Jesus, that we are transported into a higher awareness of His Words, His Heart, and His Cause.  Jesus wasn’t telling Martha that Mary was better; He was telling her that when you get the chance to sit down at the feet of Jesus and learn something…well, who cares about pizza?!  Right?  Lazarus is the prime example that God is God no matter where you are, or how long you’ve been there!  Amen!

There was also a visit Jesus made to Simon the leper’s house, in Bethany.  It was there the woman with the alabaster jar of Spike Nard anointed Jesus’ head.  There’s a significance in that action also.  Remember the crown of thorns they put on Jesus’ head.  The Spike Nard is said to have anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.  Essentially, it would have been great for a headache.  Jesus said that she was preparing His body for his burial.  That crown of thorns represents a hedged in, or tormented mind; the thorns piercing like things like depression, anxiety, and all kinds of mental and emotional wounds pierce us, and destroy our lives.  Yes, Jesus covered even that.  He bore our sicknesses and diseases away too.  Yes, we do still suffer them, but we have hope to recover, and/or live good lives in spite of them.  We, as children of God, not only have a hope in every situation.  But, we, as children of God, can bring hope into every situation.

When we order our spaces, each one can become sacred.  Each one can become a place where God’s best work is done.  That’s when those wonders begin to manifest.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 16, 2019, 2:45 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God bestows on all of us, the “believer” and the “unbeliever” alike, the temporal blessings.  We have to have rain, sunshine, food, clothing, etc.  Jesus said the Father in Heaven knows we have need of these things.  But, of the spiritual blessings, of the Kingdom of Heaven, only citizens of the Kingdom can expect to have these bestowed on them.

John 15:16 is referenced by the message: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”  (NIV) The King James version uses the word “ordained.”  I think that word gives a little clearer picture of how serious God is about us being blessed to be blessing to the world around us.  The message tells us that, as member of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are privileged; we have many privileges.  As I thought about this, some of the privileges came to mind.

First, there are the blessings in Deuteronomy 28:1-13.  Next, we find some in Psalms 23 and 103.  John 5:24 tells us that we’ll not be judged, but that, as believers in Christ Jesus, we have crossed over from death to life.  There’s a powerful revelation about love and forgiveness in that scripture.  It’s also a revelation of the power we have to bring life to a situation; even if it looks dead and done with.  The condition of being endowed with those spiritual blessings of the Kingdom is that we do all in the Spirit of true love and forgiveness.  Some of the other privileges I thought of are: the privilege to praise Him, to pray, to be forgiven, the blessing of the Holy Spirit, and the privilege to love.  God could have made us unfeeling creatures, but think of what we would have missed, had He done that!  I hope you’ll read the message at twolisteners.org  It’s a very powerful one.  I believe it will infuse you with a new sense of purpose, and power.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 16, 2019, 1:56 p.m.

Enjoying some Christmas music as I write.  I thought I’d share this one with you all.  This group, Pentatonix, is awesome!  Here’s something to think about as we get going full into the Christmas season.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 16, 2019, 2:13 p.m.

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, will have you taking inventory of your joys.  Counting our blessings should be a daily practice, until there’s never any doubt that we have an abundance of things to be joyful for.

Especially around this time of year, there’s a tendency to wish, wish, wish…want, want, want.  We seem to forget the great blessings we have, that give us reason for joy, joy, joy.  When I thought about my joys, I thought about what a joy it is to know that my children and grandchildren are healthy and happy; friends and family too.  I think about things like being able to breathe, getting through a day without heart palpitations or chest pain, feeling my strength coming back to me, and knowing that God’s got me.  No matter what else is going on in the world, no matter how dark it may be, no matter how chaotic the day may be, God’s got me; God loves me.  That’s what it is to have the joy of the Lord, I believe.  This year, as you’re making out your list to Santa, make out one to Jesus with thanks for all the joy He puts into your life.  You might be surprised to find the holidays are just a little cheerier and brighter with that attitude.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, December 12, 2019, 3:20 p.m.