God’s Salvation Grows In Us

Today’s message comes to us from Psalms and Proverbs 21. “O LORD, the king rejoices in Your strength. How greatly he exults in Your salvation! You have granted his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah For You welcomed him with rich blessings; You placed on his head a crown of pure gold. He asked You for life, and You granted it—length of days, forever and ever. Great is his glory in Your salvation; You bestow on him splendor and majesty. For You grant him blessings forever; You cheer him with joy in Your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD; through the loving devotion of the Most High, he will not be shaken.” Psalms 21:1-7(BSB) WOW!!!!! Can you wrap your heart and mind around that one?! We can exult in our salvation because God, from the moment we give our hearts over to him, welcomes us as His children. Just like the father welcomed his prodigal son in (Luke 15:11-32), God welcomes us with joy and celebration when we repent and accept Jesus’ gift of salvation. (Luke 15:7)

I like what I read in verse 8 of the Psalm. Because of God’s loving devotion to us, we will not be shaken! That’s a two-fold revelation about how we need to deal with our children; and how we need to treat ourselves. Love yourself better than that! (self bashing, defeatist attitudes, words like “can’t”, etc.) Setting your expectations too high is also not loving to your child, or to yourself. We have a tendency quite often, to want to complete the whole journey in one step. Then we get overwhelmed, confused, and defeated within. This makes me think of the song they sang, in Santa Claus is Coming to Town, about putting one foot in front of the other. Then, just watch what God can do with you!

Proverbs 21:1-8 are all about keeping our heart right before the LORD/Lord. Verse 4 warns us that haughty eyes and a proud heart are sin. they are the lamp of the wicked. Jesus warned us of the same thing in (Matthew 6:22-23) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” In this passage, I believe Jesus is talking about our understanding, and conviction; referring to them as our eyes. Verse 22 is an admonition to tear down the strongholds that keep us from living effective lives. This goes with (2 Cor. 10:5) “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Strongholds are false beliefs, attitudes, excuses, and denial. We have to root these out, and cast them out first and foremost. We have to do it every time they rear their heads. We can stay on top of this by giving thought to our ways, and by staying disciplined to stay on track, and get back on track, every day, every time. As we do this, God’s salvation grows in us.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Learning To Wait

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that the waiting is the hardest part. I just had that little talk with Jesus this morning. I was praying and surveying some situations, and I said, “Lord, I need an acre of land. Jesus, please!” I could almost hear His laughter. That’s when He reminded me that He’s the boss; and that he knows better and has better timing than I do. Now, He’s hearing my laughter as I’m loving Him for confirming that little reminder of this lesson this morning.

Getting into the habit of just reminding myself of God’s sovereignty, wisdom, will, and power, helped me so much in this waiting area. It’s something I used to have to do quite often. After awhile, it gets you to the point where you can just say, “Never the less, Lord, not my will, but thine be done.” (Luke 22:42)

This message ties in with yesterday’s message about true success, and with my post from Oct. 28th, about looking for, or at, the glad surprises (the candy bar) in God’s pocket. Together, all three give us a clearer picture of God’s love for us, and empower us to learn the value of waiting on Him.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

It Counts As Victory To Him

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that each and every little victory is still counted as victory. Each one is just as important, and celebrated as all the others. Our Lord does not compare us to anyone; so, we shouldn’t either.

Jesus sees the loving and striving; not the imperfections. Every effort you make toward progress is a victory in itself. Did you know that? Yes! You might be trying to win a battle, and only get half of the stuff right, or only go a few steps before you’re stumped, or tired. You still made progress, didn’t you? Yes, you did! Never, ever discount any step forward-never!

There was a time, when I was fighting depression, that I celebrated the victory of having the bed made and the breakfast mess cleaned up in the morning. Boy, you should have heard the whoops and seen the war dance when we had three or four mornings in a row under our belt. Do you know what? The more celebrating I did, the easier it got to keep going. I also was somehow infused with a new energy, for some reason. LOL Was that you, Jesus? Yes, it was!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Truly, All I Need

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to draw as near as we can, very near, to our Lord, Jesus. Isaiah 53:2 is referenced by the message: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Every time I read the verses in that chapter, I feel just as if He’s drawn me into His embrace. It’s like a group hug; me and Jesus, and our Heavenly Father. Thank you, Lord for loving me! I love you so!

I hope this one, done by Hillsong will help you step into that group hug today!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Dropping Them Frees Your Hands

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to drop our burdens at Jesus’ feet. This causes me to think of the woman who wept at His feet. Think she had some burdens? Yeah, and let me tell you, I’ve been there. I don’t know about her, but I wept and wept; and couldn’t stop weeping that day. She walked away free from the weight of those burdens. My life has never been the same since that day. And, it gets sweeter as the years go by. Thank you, Lord, for loving me. And, thank you, Lord, for the beautiful gift you gave me on this day 33 years ago…Happy Birthday, Son! I love you.

It is when we drop those burdens at Jesus’ feet, that our hands are freed to pray and praise Him. It is then that our hands are freed to reach for Him. I don’t know about you, but I have thrown myself into Jesus’ arms so many times I lost count! He’s never failed me yet. It is when I drop those burdens at the Lord’s feet, that I realize perhaps I’ve wandered off track a bit…and gotten just a little lost in the wilderness.

This song is one of my very favorites. It expresses exactly what the message speaks to us today. If you’ve got a burden pressing down on you today, sing along. Just drop it all at the Master’s feet, and reach up…He’ll lift you in His arms. Thank you Gaither Family.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

For You, There Really Is No Night

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that He is the light in our darkness. We can rejoice, just like Paul and Silas, even in the darkest darkness. Isaiah 60:20 tells us that there really is not night for us. “Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will cease.…”

Elton John does this wonderful song; and it says it all! for me I have spent some time in darkness, and let me tell you…There is no more beautiful sight than the Lord, in your darkness. Thank you. Lord, for loving me so.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

It’s Not a Mistake; It’s an Opportunity

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God is a good God, loving, kind, and so very patient with us.

The message speaks to us of mistakes. We sure make a lot of them, don’t we? Sometimes they’re pretty embarrassing. Sometimes they’re costly to us, especially in the way of spirit. I’ve made a few I didn’t know how I was going to recover from; they took me a pretty piece downward. I’ve even had some roadrash on my face.

Here’s the good part about those mistakes. They are opportunities to learn and grow; and to grow in our relationship with the LORD/Lord, and in faith-in Him, and ourselves. God’s love shields us from the power of the pain, the embarrassment, the shame, guilt, and the fear that comes when we’re overwhelmed, and it all comes crashing down. The problem is that we don’t step into that little space that is enclosed roundabout by that love of God. We all too often choose to suffer; to allow the mistake to torture and immobilize us.

The thing to do is to seek God in the mistake. Seek the things He’s put there for you to learn and grow by. Seek that little mirror shard, that will show you just how loved and believed in you still are-by God. These are the treasures in your mistakes that turn the disaster into a springboard for you. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, have a good cry, or better yet, a good laugh…and carry on, my friend. Carry on. God’s still right there with you, and ready to keep walking it out with you, until you get where your’e going. When we allow ourselves to be held by the mistakes and their fall-out, we become blinded to the possibilities, and the power to be found through them.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu