Increasing Your Days

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 61. it’s a psalm of King David’s, and a short one, so I’ll post the whole thing for you.

(Psalm 61 -ESV) “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.

The NIV reads: Increase the days of the king’s life. I like that word better than “prolong.” Here’s the reason: Increase also means to make greater in size, intensity, or degree. This tells me that I don’t have to live an ordinary, or humdrum life. When we allow God to lead us to that rock that is higher than we are, we can increase in every way. -Dear Jesus, I do not need to increase an;y more in size, by the way. Jesus said, “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31)

King David prayed that he might be enthroned before God forever. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24) In this way, we are truly enthroned before the LORD, because He sees our striving and serving.

When we allow steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over us, and to guide us, we learn to go the extra mile; we learn to give that extra whatever it is that makes for excellence. An example would be not only doing the dishes, but drying them and putting them away, cleaning the sink, sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor, etc. for Mom or Dad, or for your mate. That’s an increase in your thoughtfulness, in the quality of your work, and in your sense of self-worth-because you’re striving to do an excellent job. This is growth on your part. Can you see the increase? When we make a habit of following the path of love and faithfulness, we increase our days with so much love, peace, and joy. And in a family, we actually increase everyone’s days.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Saturday Silly – November 7, 2020

Boy howdy! What a week it’s been! Sadie and I were reminiscing about our childhoods and some of our favorite relatives recently. We both agreed that our grandmothers were our favorite. We got to talking about some of their special holiday dishes. I told her one of my favorite dishes my granny made was Pickled Beets. I said, “I don’t like beets any other way, but I sure did love those!” Sadie said, “My grandma used to make a dish on the holidays called Drunken Sweet Potatoes.” “Matter of fact,” she said, “that’s how I ended up marrying Burt.” I said, “Really, Sadie? Your granny’s dish got you two together?” “Sure did,” she replied. I said, “They must have been some special sweet potatoes, Sadie.” “Yeah, “she said, “Granny made me wait until I was eighteen years old to eat them, because of their power.” “Power, what power,” I asked. Sadie said, “Well, Granny said the sweet potatoes helped her with her estrogen level-because she was menopausal, you know. “‘And the Jack Daniels”‘, Granny said, “‘helps your Grandpa look awesome!” -NO, family, I’m sticking with my Macaroni Salad…and there will be no Jack Daniels added to it!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

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

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