Generations Behind You

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 112. It gives us a picture of just how much our faithfulness and obedience to God means to our children and grandchildren…and even theirs. Generations behind us can be blessed by our faithfulness and obedience. The psalm is a short one, so I posted the whole thing.

“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!”

Boy, am I humbled reading this! And, boy, am I grateful when I read this; for those in the generations ahead of me, who were faithful and obedient. Thank you, LORD/Lord, for my grandmother! Thank you, Oma, for teaching me about God’s love, and for showing me His love in you!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Here He Comes!

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to Hail Him, first, among the lowliest and humblest of Earth. When we can see and honor the divine nature in the lowliest and humblest of beings, and in the lowliest and humblest of circumstances, we’ve got it right! Here’s one of my favorite Christmas songs. Thank you, Clay Aiken. I love you, Lord. Thank you for loving me!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Sometimes You Have To Lay Down

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that when things aren’t going right, we need to look up to the Creator and His creation. (Psalm 121:1-2) is referenced by the message. I also like (Psalm 89:11) – “The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.”

There’s one more scriptural reference that goes with the message. (James 4:10) – “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” The message bids us to train ourselves to look further than the end of our nose; ever further. This helps us to build greater vision; vision that can make things happen. When I think about that, I think about a pebble thrown into a pond. The ripples go outward from the point of impact (you); not inward. Each ripple outward is a little larger. This can happen when we share what the LORD/Lord blesses us with-be it knowledge, inspiration, revelation, admonition, whatever. It’s important to keep in mind that we are not just trudging through life here. Jesus said, “I’ve come to destroy the works of the devil;” and again, “I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.” We are to be like Him; doing whatever we can to dispel evil and bring life abundantly, wherever we can.

When I thought about building greater vision, by looking further and further outward, I had to lay down. Remember when you were a child and laid out on the lawn? You were looking up at the sky, and you could see such a great expanse of it, right? Stand up and look straight up, and see how much of it your eyes can take in. Not very much, I found out. But when I lay down flat on my back, I can see from straight up over my head, to the horizon, to the tips of my toes. And I can see everything in that panorama….and so much more. God always has more for us than we expect. We often miss it, because our vision is limited. Sometimes, especially when things aren’t going right, you just have to lay down to get up.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Service-The Privilege Of Kings

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to serve all; to never think any job beneath our dignity. We are reminded that we are showing our love for our Lord, Jesus, in our service to others.

As I read the message, the words of Mother Theresa came to mind: “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.” That’s such a powerful revelation! That tells me that in serving, and thereby serving the Lord, I am freed, first from the fear of man’s disapproval, and then from the need for his approval.

Service is the privilege of kings and queens. We are crowned with responsibility, hopefully, humility, and leadership. As children of God, and brothers and sisters in the Lord, we all take that leadership role at various different times, and in various different ways. But, the kings and queens who humbled themselves to serve with love are always the ones whose kingdoms endure. When you think of this in terms of your personal kingdom of family and close friends, you can see how this affects the legacy we leave behind. My Dad was one of the greatest examples of humility and service I’ve ever known.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

The Ultimate Healer

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God never causes us more pain than is necessary. As I read the message, I am reminded of Jesus’ sermon on the mount… Matthew 5:3, to be exact. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Poor in spirit, here, is humble, I believe. Like a child, we must be trusting.

Matt. 5:4 also comes to mind. It deals with being comforted. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Have you ever seen a child who is not happy? Let me tell you, that child will be comforted, or else! Am I right? Yeah, and I’ll tell the truth-I RUN to Jesus when I’m not happy! I RUN when it’s not working right! I RUN when I don’t want to run! Your pain will cause you to seek the cure!

We are reminded that it is directly, or immediately when we pray or call out to Him, Jesus is on it. Actually, it was already worked out in the beginning. That’s a powerful boost to one’s faith, when you can grasp it. However, in this world, in the physical, it is worked out in flesh and blood, isn’t it? That’s the hard part. Getting your mind, heart, and will to line up with God’s promise, and His power. This is where Matt. 5:6 comes in – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Yes, Jesus will tell you the truth every time-whether you like it or not-because you need to know the truth, so you know the way that promotes life, protects life, and empowers life. And when we humble ourselves before the Lord, and let Him teach us, (Matt. 5:5) it’s always alright…and all right -within and round about us-as much as is in our little world, anyway. That empowers us to effect the rest of the world positively. See, Jesus is the ultimate healer!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Serving All Isn’t As Hard As May Seem

eden08122015

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we are here to serve…just as Jesus came to serve us, and not to be served.

The message bids us to be a servant of all. The first time I read that, I scratched my head a couple of dozen times, and was still confused after I thought about it. Oh, my God, how can I possibly serve everyone? I don’t even know what some people need or want? What?! One day, I was reading about the woman at the well. I read the part where Jesus told her that God seeks those who worship Him to worship in spirit and in truth. That’s when it hit me. I am to have an attitude of humility, friendship, helpfulness, and kindness toward others in my world. I am to reject any notions that anybody owes me anything, that I am entitled to any honors, or preferential treatment, etc. The best King is the one who will fight right alongside his soldiers. Jesus never asks us to do anything He, Himself wouldn’t do. When He does ask us to do something, He equips us for the task.

That last statement gets me every time I want to put my hands in my ears and act like I don’t hear God. It makes me laugh at myself when I want to just fall to the ground and say, “I can’t,” or “I don’t want to.” “Do it anyway,” God says. When I change that attitude, and get the right one going, life is good. Things get done, friends are found, or new ones made, and I’m not disappointed. If you don’t expect anything, you won’t be disappointed.

Some might say that’s a negative viewpoint. It isn’t. It’s pure truth. We are not entitled to anything more than anyone else is, nobody owes us anything in the way of lauds and praises, or preferential treatment. We are all one in Christ Jesus. That’s why we’re told to honor one another above ourselves. When we do this, both you and the other person are honored. God has said that whomever humbles himself will be exalted, but whomever exalts himself will be humbled.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

It Isn’t Painful; Just Let Yourself Go

eden08122015

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we are to walk humbly with our God.

When I first read this message, I didn’t really get it. I thought my humility was just for Jesus, and for the Heavenly Father. I didn’t think about humility before all those other people you’re walking around down here with. Then I fell in love. Ladies and gentlemen, I would have eaten dirt for that man! That’s pretty humble, don’t you think? Yeah? Not really, because you know why I would have eaten dirt for him? I wanted him to be in love with me in return. Ulterior motive, in spirit. Hmm…ouch, ouch, ouch, that truth hurt when I finally could admit it. Yeah! I was far too vain to like having to cop to being flawed in any way, shape, or form. LOL

Let me tell you what happened to that vanity when I fell in love with Jesus. Our Lord just kind of sand-blasted that thing off of me, right then and there. And, He has polished that roughness, little by little as the years have gone by. I’ve gotten those polishings whenever I did let Jesus take it over. Let me tell you, those are the most humbling instances-in the circumstances and events that you know it had to be Jesus, it just had to be-because you are not capable of that kind of grace, patience, quick thinking, whatever it may be. Believe me, when Jesus works it, there’s no mistaking Him for someone else. You cannot fool yourself into thinking it was you. To see what God’s grace, compassion, love, peace, just speaking His Name can do, will bring you to your knees. We can be humbled by seeing that at work in others. We can also be humbled when God shows us how much of those things we lack in our own spirit.

Oh, God, that polishing used to hurt in the early years. Now, whenever I am humbled in some circumstance-and not by another person, but by the Lord, Himself, it is a sweet, sweet moment between me and Jesus. That’s because now, it doesn’t feel like He’s rubbing off the rough stuff. Now, it feels like He’s bringing out the glow; the shine.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu