Recognize His Glory

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 102. The psalm is a prayer of one in the throes of affliction. “All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink,…” (V9) We can see how the enemy wears us down in our weakness. This makes me think of those times when you’re doing that self talk, convincing yourself that God could never forgive you, never love you, or love you after all that, etc. Words like, “stupid, worthless, hopeless, etc.,” come to mind. That’s the enemy taunting you. He loves to put those doubts about God and His love for us into our hearts. He loves to beat us up with lying words. He’ll tell you everything you aren’t. God sees you in Christ Jesus. You are precious and honored in His sight. Precious, because He came to die for you; to pay the price to redeem you from Hell. Honored, because you are created in His image, after His likeness, and He believes in you. If God didn’t believe in you, He wouldn’t have entrusted you to care for His creation; to manage it, and to harness it’s power. And, He hardly would have died to save you from going to Hell, if He didn’t think you could overcome the world and worldliness, and the devil, who rules it.

Verse ten is the one that gets me. Every time I read it, I just want to shout, “No, no, no! God doesn’t pick you up just to throw you down!” We, unfortunately, have this tendency to sabotage ourselves. We squirm and fuss and fight Him, until we slip from His arms and fall. I finally figured out that I need to check myself for self-sabotage when I feeling not in sync with God. This is usually the case whenever I’m stepping into new territory, or moving on to the next level in something. See, that’s the devil pushing your doubt and confusion buttons again.

Verses 16-17 are powerful. “For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory; he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.” God always builds you up. He’s never the one who casts you down; we do that to ourselves, or allow others to do that to us. He appears in His glory. This is an important statement. At first glance, you’d think, “Oh, I need to expect bells and whistles, and radiant blinding lights, etc.” God is love, so His glory is love also. Do you know who that little old lady was, that walked with you from her house to the corner of your block when you got lost? Yeah, that was God; His glory resting on that little old lady. That little birdie on the wire, that flirted with me that day a few years back was God. Same thing, His glory on that little bird. That scripture in Philippians 4:8 comes to mind. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” These things are some of the things that make up God’s glory. They’re all in His character. We need to learn to look more closely at those little, seemingly insignificant things and events. God is in everything; and is everything. His glory fills the earth.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Saturday Silly – January 16, 2021

My goodness, what a week it’s been! I had my cardiology appointment; hit the floor running to make it on time. I don’t know why, but it seems as if the buses are crawling along at fifteen miles an hour whenever you need them to hurry. Then, some of them go at breakneck speed, only to jump on the brakes with both feet and all their body weight behind them. Passengers and baggage come up out of the seats. LOL I think they need to serve cocktails on some of those buses, just like they do on airplanes. Speaking of airplanes, I was on a bus the other day, and there was a car wash just short of the stoplight. This guy was out front waving a white rag like crazy. I couldn’t figure out if he was trying to flag us down, or land a plane…we are right by the Air Base.

There are some characters on the buses, too. We passed a construction site, and someone asked what they were building there. A lady on the bus said, “Its an Amazon Warehouse.” “Oh,” replied the guy, “what’s if for?” “It’s where they’re going to lock up all the strong and angry women,” replied the lady. LOL

I got my ID renewed recently. I couldn’t believe it when I got the new card. My goodness; I need to get some good facial serum and face cream. My grandbabies will be calling me Grandma Sharpei. Sure enough, I sent a friend a selfie – of myself, and he texted me back: “Can she sit up and beg?” Hmm, maybe I could get one of the kids to take me to the dog shows; I could use the money. Ah, never mind…I can’t wag my tail like that anymore. Besides that, I’m not going to sit up and beg for anybody!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

It Must Come Out First

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that this walk with Jesus is a lifelong journey. From my own experience, it’s the journey of a lifetime.

The message tells us that we can only proceed upward step by step and stage by stage. “And we all having been unveiled in face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18) No journey is taken in one step; but step by step.

When I read this message, I think about Psalm 23:5 -“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Being transformed into God’s image and likeness involves constant intake of His Divine Nature, His Word, His Love for us. However, as we fill up with it, we must make room for more. (Proverbs 25:16) That’s why we must be doers, and not only hearers of the Word. In the hearing, we are being empowered with truth and wisdom. It’s in the doing, however, that our faith and character grow. Our spirits are strengthened, our hope is renewed, and joy rises up within us over our growth in Christ Jesus, and the things of the Kingdom of Heaven. (Romans 2:13)

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Beautiful, Baby, Just Beautiful!

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that true beauty is that beauty of character and spirit. I hope you’ll read the message at twolisteners.org for yourselves – it’s a great checkpoint; especially as we’ go into the holidays, when everyone wants to look beautiful.

My prayer for the world on this Thanksgiving Day, is that we all remember every day is a day to give thanks to the LORD/Lord. And, that daily thanksgiving brings that glow of being cared for and oh, so very, very loved by the King of kings, Himself; and by our Heavenly Father. He’s beautiful, and in Him so are we…and so is life. I hope this blesses you as much as it does me every time I hear it. Jason Upton, thank you so much for this awesome, awesome album!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Glory In Everything & Every Way

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that the glory of the Lord is the beauty of His Character. It is this, reflected to our surroundings, that gives everything a dazzling beauty. It brings glory to everything, in every way.

Some time ago, the Lord put into my heart to share my experiences and thoughts from this little devotional (God Calling) in a blog. With that, He led me to a scripture. (Matthew 10:8) “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” That’s why I have this blog; that’s why I post to it daily-and will, until He says it’s a wrap. I can’t even begin to tell you how much this blog has helped my growth as a Child of God! I can’t believe the difference between where I used to be in my faith, and where I am now. I still have some struggles, but all in all, I’m more and more into the Lord, and striving to be more and more like the Lord, than I am like the world.

There was another time, as I found myself in that spiritual desert, that He led me to this scripture: “I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.” The closer I got to Him, the more flowed in, and through me. I began to write poetry, songs, stories…I got my creative spirit back, and began to design and to create recipes…I gloried more and more in everything I found to do, and in every way imaginable. My little conversations with some of the birds around town bring me such joy! They are just one way in which the beauty, love, and joy of the Lord are revealed to me. It’s a joy to wake up each day-even now, on the sidewalk. I hope this song will lift you and keep you soaring all day long. Thank you, Steven Curtis Chapman.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Loving Him More Builds Faith

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God is in every experience we have in life. His love is always there for us. Each experience, be it a good one, or one that makes you feel like the world’s coming apart at the seams, brings forth another particular aspect of God’s character. It also illuminates that character in us. Sadly, I must admit that it sometimes does not shine nearly as bright in me. Thankfully, God is loving, merciful, and patient. He always picks me up and dusts me off…and sets me on my feet again. “Keep going,” I can hear Him whisper.

As we love Him more, we seek Him more, and our faith in Him grows. As our faith in Him grows, we can’t help but love and seek Him more and more. What a wonderful Savior! I said this year’s blog would be more about walking it out. If there is one thing that draws me nearer to God every time and any time, it is praise and worship. Even one little line of a praise song can bring Him on the scene. LOL I’ve found this one from Elevation Worship. I hope it will bless you.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

The Cure For Envy

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to “never be satisfied with a comparison with those around us.” -quoting directly from the message at twolisteners.org. I hope you’ll read the entire message for yourselves-it’s awesome.

We’re told to review our character at least weekly, and to compare it to Jesus’ character instead. We’re bid to imitate our Lord, then. “Be perfect, therefore, as your Father in Heaven is perfect,” He said. (Matt. 5:48 – NIV)

When you remain mindful of this, you begin to check yourself whenever you feel yourself slipping. Spiritually, this is a very empowering thing. You begin to walk more securely in God’s ways. You become less and less insecure in regard to your “popularity”, and what others think of you. And, you get so busy growing and discovering all the wonderful things God put inside you, that there’s no room for envy. There is now only room for celebration and celebration with others over their triumphs, gifts, and talents, etc.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

No Punishment For Past Sins

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that there is no punishment for our past sins. When we accept Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord, all of that is removed-as far as the East is from the West-from us. They’re gone!

However, their impact and effects on us, our character, attitudes, choices, lives, have not been removed. They will be gradually wiped clean, and/or smoothed and polished into a beautiful soul. One that manifests it’s true being -created in the image and likeness of God, Himself-more and more.

Remembering that we go from strength to strength and glory to glory, we can begin to understand the admonition of the Lord. God brings us up in the admonition of the Lord, just as we are to bring our children up the same way. When a child errs, we help him/her to correct that error. We teach our children how to clean up messes, and how to do things correctly. This isn’t punishment; it’s training. God does the same with us. We can only act/react according to what we believe to be true. When we come to the Lord, we’re operating out of old truths-usually untruths, about ourselves and the world around us. God patiently works with us, allowing us to come face to face with the consequences of our actions, and face the truth that we need help to change things, or to do them correctly. When we turn to Him for that help, He’s always ready, willing, and more than able to teach and train us in the correct ways. King David wrote often about being taught the Lord’s ways, and His paths. And, remember, King David erred-and even sinned knowingly. But, King David also repented, went boldly the throne of God, asking forgiveness. God called King David a man after His own heart. We can learn and be inspired and encouraged by that.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu