Freedom Is Responsibility

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 82. God’s reminding us that freedom is responsibility. Status, no matter how small or how great, comes with expectations, with standards, and with boundaries. Every king and queen must know this.

“God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” (ESV)

When you look at this from God’s vantage point, you can see that He sees us much differently than we see ourselves. How many times I was in “invincible” mode. How many times I thought I could handle it all. Oh, yeah, and that period in my life when I thought I knew it all. LOL I can laugh now, but boy was I a mess when I realized I wasn’t the one who knew it all. And, that the One who does know it all, knew me even better than I knew myself. And He still does! I’m not shocked anymore, but I sure have to laugh with Him sometimes when He reveals me.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Walk In That Promise

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God is the only source of supply. Everything else is a resource. We are bid to hold fast to that truth, and to trust and walk in God’s promises. Isaiah 45:22 is referenced; but I found some verses that outline that promise to provide for us.

(Isaiah 45:1-3) Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.” *(Yes, we are anointed, and He has grasped our right hand.)

By this, we can clearly see that no nation, nor any king can stand against our God. He goes before us to open doors and prevent access from being cut off to us. That means you’re going to get where you need to be to be helped. He levels the exalted places; which are not only places that may try to keep us out (the exclusives), but also included are the thoughts and attitudes of others, and ourselves, that would prevent us from getting our needs met. Doors of bronze and bars of iron keep us in and out. Doors of bronze represent judgment against us. Bars of Iron represent imprisonment; in a certain class, or place (keeping you in your place), and in certain mindsets. (lack of self esteem, lack of education, etc.) God will illuminate truth for us, and reveal whatever information we may need to get where we need to be, are called to be, want to be. Yes, even our wants are of concern to Him. (Psalm 37:4) “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” When we see God as the source of all we need, and seek Him for all we need, God reveals Himself and all we need to know, in order to receive what we need.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

The Bridge From Death To Life

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to learn from our Lord, Jesus. It is in learning of, and from Him, that we begin to dwell, or abide in Him. Therein lies our power, our passion, our purpose, and our peace. The message tells us that teachers are to point the way to the Lord. Then we must accept Him, and learn of, and from Him.

“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24) As I think of this scripture in terms of salvation, I am reminded of my own salvation. As a young child, I attended church with my grandmother. Growing up, I spent a couple of summers at Bible Camp. As a teenager, I attended church alone; neither of my parents went to church. At the age of 14, I said the sinner’s prayer, and accepted the Lord as my Savior. But it wasn’t until I found myself alone with the Lord, at that well…(John 4:5)…that I really got saved. It was there that I realized I’d been drinking from the wrong well. (John 4:12) “Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?” I’d read that verse probably 100 times before. This time, it hit me like a ton of bricks. This is exactly what happens in generational curses.

That’s when things began to change in my life; because that’s when I began to change. I began to seek out the Lord and study His teachings. I began to really look closely at my life, at my habits, my hurts, my thoughts and attitudes, etc. Then, I began to learn from the Lord (The Word-made flesh). We truly do cross over from death to life, as we begin to change our attitudes, our thinking, our words, and our ways. It isn’t a simple process, it’s a lifelong process…but, really, it is a simple solution. When we die to all those old dead and deadly ways, we can rise to the right ways; to ways that honor, create, and sustain life.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Money, Honey

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we are not to value money the way the world does. We are to seek first, last, and always, the Kingdom of Heaven. “…and all these things will be added unto you,” the scripture says.

The message bids us us to get away from money values altogether. I think a better way to put it would be to say: Get away from valuing money altogether. When I read that statement, I think of guys and their power tools, their cars, and stuff like that. They almost worship them, don’t they? Yeah, women do too. I still drool every time I see a Lamborghini Countach. We have to be careful not to let money rule over our senses and good judgment. Money isn’t to be our master or god.

Unfortunately, money does answer everything, doesn’t it? Yes, it pays the rent and bills, living expenses, etc. But money, unless it is used according to God’s will and purposes, and for the sake of God’s glory, is actually just stuff under our feet that trips us up. By that, I mean that it’s like rocks, pot-holes, brambles, etc. Rocks get in your shoes and make your feet sore. I hit a pot hole once, and thought I’d ripped the oil pan right off the car. Brambles and burrs stick to your clothes and scratch your legs up. See the hassles?

But when we use money according to God’s purposes-which are pavement, provisions, preparations, and presents…oh, the places we can go, the things we can do, the peace, power, and pleasantness of life we can provide. Handling our money responsibly is part of God’s plan. It’s part of good stewardship. Good stewardship includes tithing and benevolence, planning for the future -we are to leave an inheritance for even our children’s children, and advancing the Kingdom of Heaven-making sure the Gospel is preached in all the corners of the Earth.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Saturday Silly – August 3, 2019

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A friend and I were discussing the technology boom recently. The speed at which everything changes is just mind boggling. I mean, you have to upgrade almost everything you own, every other month, it seems. Am I the only one who feels this way? Yeah, and everything you own, now comes with a remote control.

I’m getting to that time in my life where I really should be looking into one of those life alert or medical alert devices. It’s just good judgment, I think. Better safe than sorry. I was checking into some recently and pricing them. Do you know, they have some that look just like those little garage door opener remotes. Seriously; you almost cannot tell the difference. I thought, “boy that’d be me…fall on my butt somewhere in the house, push the help button, and the garage door would be going up and down all day long…or at least until I could get up and figure out why nobody came to help me.”

Ooh, that could be really bad too. Can you imagine visiting the neighbor’s across the street? You take the medical alert thingy off for just a minute…and accidentally pick up their garage door opener remote? He’s out there on a ladder the next morning, trying to fix the sensor, right about the time you trip over the dog’s toy at home…and push the help button…OMG! What if I accidentally picked up the remote to his RV awning? And it’s parked in the garage…Hmmm, maybe I’ll just move in with the kids…LOL…watch ’em all move overseas!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

For, Which is Easier to Say – and Do

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that what we do and say are seeds sown. Not only are they seeds sown into the hearts and lives of others, but also into our own hearts. I hope you will all visit twolisteners.org and read the whole message; it’s powerful. I want to concentrate on this one statement from the message that really impacted me. “Always seek to understand others and you cannot fail to love them.”

As I read this message today, I thought of 1 Peter 4:8: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” When I think about making God’s Word personal, in regards to this scripture, it means that sin is covered to my eyes as well. The twofold message is that God’s love covers our sins, –daily. However, He doesn’t impute wickedness to us; meaning He looks for the best in us. He looks at, and weighs the heart. That’s what seeking to understand is about. So, when we apply that scripture to any situation, we are empowered by love to look past the sin and see the heart of the person. Love also seeks truth, because love tells the truth-always. Therefore, we look at the truth of the circumstances, the situation.

I’m using women in shorts as an example because that seems to be a big problem, and a serious error in perception to some men. In fact, I heard a comment last evening about me “showing out.” All I was doing was sitting in the shade, reading my book. My shorts were entirely appropriate-not “booty shorts,” or the like. First of all, the truth is that it’s very hot, sometimes dangerously so, outside. Secondly, not every woman wearing shorts is looking to sell herself sexually; not all of us are advertising services. Thirdly, why is your mind in the devil’s playground? If you were really walking in the Spirit, your mind wouldn’t even be in the devil’s playground and thinking about sexual services or the like. Sex belongs between a man and his wife. I’m not your wife; why are you thinking about me sexually? Take some responsibility for yourself, and stop trying to pass the buck, Sir. Get your mind where it belongs. You don’t have to stand in the judgment for anybody but yourself. You can’t stand there for me because you’re a sinner too. And, for the record, Jesus already did stand; for both of us.

Here’s how the second part of that love cover works for us: Love also covers your own eyes in the face of sin, so that you can see -and admit- the truth, apply this truth, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” and not sin, yourself. When we practice this principle, we are empowering love, and love conquers all sin. I’ve had to check myself more than once, I’m ashamed to say, in regard to this principle. But, thank God, He is a loving and merciful Father, and His mercies are new every morning.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu