The Poverty Of The Poor

Today’s message comes from Psalms and Proverbs 10. Psalm 10 is another list of the devices of wickedness and evil. We are warned about how evil lurks and slinks into our paths.

Proverbs 10 is a list of the blessings of wisdom; with some wise admonitions thrown in. Verse 15 of this proverb catches my eye. “The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.” What?! Didn’t Jesus say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Yes, He did. But, (3John 1:2) tells us: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” You cannot give what you do not have. That’s why everything begins with receiving, and within. ” (Matthew 3:4-23) – Verse 19 “When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the poverty of the poor. Being poor in spirit actually describes humility meekness; or willingness to learn and take guidance. Some things included in the list of poverty of spirit, or lack of and in spirit, include: courage, truth, instruction, discipline, knowledge, wisdom, diligence, perseverance, patience. Yes, lack of the desire to learn, to grow also fits in here. The wealth of that rich man, by the way, is a fortified city that evil cannot prevail against. He gets the knowledge, instruction, and guidance he needs regarding whatever he has his heart set on, so he achieves his goals, etc. He knows his God, and seeks God early; in other words, before the boat’s sinking.

Thank you, Hillsong, for this beautiful song!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Stir Yourself Up Before The Enemy

Today’s message comes from Psalms and Proverbs 9. Psalm 9 is an awesome way to stir yourself up right in the midst of adversity; right in the height of the storm. Our enemies are fear, doubt, shame, guilt, dejection, etc. It is with these things that the enemy strikes us, and through them, that he binds us. I believe that the crown of thorns they pushed into Jesus’ head, represents a hedged in mind. Then, your hands are helpless, and your feet lame. You can’t do anything, and can’t go anywhere except where the enemy wants to take you; which is Hell-here on Earth, and then in eternity. I love verse 6 of this psalm: “The enemy has come to eternal ruin…” Jesus did that through His death and resurrection. “…the very memory of them has vanished.” The longer you walk whatever it is, out with the LORD/Lord, and according to His Word and Ways, the weaker the power of that sin, that dysfunctional mindset, that fear, etc., becomes. Pretty soon, it’s all gone! Hallelujah! I have no more thoughts of smoking, and no more thoughts of running to drown my sorrows, frustrations, etc., in alcohol. The “triggers” have been rendered powerless by, and through, God’s love. Verse 9 assures us that we are never forsaken by God; He is a stronghold in times of trouble, and especially in oppression-be it physical, mental, or spiritual. Verses 10-14 tell us that God lifts us up from the gates of death. Every bitter end is a death. But, thanks to Jesus, through His resurrection, we have a hope of a new beginning. When one door closes, another opens. Some bitter ends include divorce, loss of another kind, perceived failures-dreams, goals, etc. God lifts us to the next level – even from those. Verse 16 tells us the wicked are ensnared by the work of their own hands. This is why we’re told not to lean on our own understanding. We live what we learn, and we learn what we live. Let’s live with, and for, God.

Proverbs 9 speaks of the seven pillars of wisdom. I came up with these: 1. Honor the LORD 2. Receive instruction/take it to heart 3. Increase in learning 4. Obtain guidance/seek the LORD/Lord 5. Treasure God’s commandments 6. Walk in integrity 7. Hold fast to steadfast love and faithfulness – He is faithful and has promised never to forsake us or leave us. And He loves always, and anyway. We should too! He is love…so should we BE. Jesus said, “be perfect, therefore, as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” When we surround ourselves with these pillars, and stay within their boundaries, we can overcome the world.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Union In Everything

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that Jesus is present when there are two or three gathered in His Name. This presence is different from when we gather together to praise and to hear from Him. This is a sweet, sweet spirit filled to overflowing with His love, peace, joy, and with our Lord, Himself-His very nature. That’s one reason we need to get to know Him as intimately as we can. We do that by reading the Gospels, the Psalms, the Prophets, and Revelations. All these books speak of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In them, you catch sight of His heart, His compassion, His joy, simplicity, courage, and ferocity when it comes to us, his followers. He truly is the Lion of the tribe of Judah; in every sense of the word!

I discovered some time ago, that union has to come at all levels, in order to truly bring unity, and power. The best example I can think of to illustrate this, is your home. It is especially important that you feel unity and cohesiveness in your sanctuary; which is what your home is. When there’s a mess in the front hall, it’s not very welcoming, is it? You want to turn around and go right back out, don’t you? Yeah. The same is true of cluttered spaces within the home. God is a God of order; not chaos and confusion. Chaos and confusion bring division; they break up the unified space that makes up your sanctuary. They distract your mind and heart, and deplete positive energy. When that happens, we end up with negative emotions and energy. The same is true of family dynamics and relationships.

This is where standards and boundaries come in. When we set them, enforce them, and follow them, stick with them, we can bring about union in thought, attitude, and deed. We can truly bring about unity among family members, co-workers, team members, etc., and thereby, increase power and effectiveness; not to mention joy. It’s all about being of one accord; which is what unity and union are. And, Jesus truly does delight in these; you can feel it when it’s happening.

PS – I didn’t forget you, Will, I just forgot that I was posting a day ahead. Happy Birthday! I hope your day was awesome, and filled with all things wonderful!

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

Right There, God Had Us!

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we do not need to plead with God to come to our aid. He says, “Your need is my call.” – quoting directly from the message at twolisteners.org

During my studies regarding generational curses, I discovered a couple of things in the story of Adam and Eve and the devil, in Genesis 3:1-20. I used the NIV Bible. First, we’re all living under that curse. Secondly, that curse is also a blessing that saves us. Here’s how: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” What happens to those who embrace evil and wickedness? That enmity just might save your life. God ordained in us a loathing of evil and wickedness, to keep us from falling into it. God went one step further: “To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” This is exactly how our need for salvation, right then and there in that garden, was taken care of by God. Right then and there, God had us!

You see, if you look at that in the spirit, and remember that the church is the Bride of Christ, you see the woman that surrounds man. And who rules over the body of Christ? Is our desire for our husband? YES! YES! YES! Lord, Jesus, YES! Isn’t that awesome?!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Go, And Sin No More

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, gives us a powerful revelation about Jesus’ words in John 8:11 – “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” The message bids us to “feel that between us and all scorn and indignity is a strong shield.”

We are also reminded that we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Being human, we are bound to do things imperfectly at times. We are limited in patience, and even in perseverance at times. Of course, it’s always easier to give up, isn’t it? That’s because we have a tendency to be self-condemning. Sometimes, we’re even harder on ourselves than others are.

Jesus spoke those words to a woman caught in the act of adultery. The whole scene changed from one of self-righteousness and condemnation to one of self examination, repentance, and opportunity. The men who were ready to stone the woman to death had to admit their own sinfulness, and repent of their condemnation of her. The woman was saved from them, and forgiven by Jesus, and given the opportunity to correct herself. Jesus didn’t require anything from her, but to get up and go forward; onward.

We can do that very same thing when we miss it. We can do it each and every time, if we just determine to step up and forward into the opportunity, learning from the mistake, without judging or condemning ourselves. Psalm 119:1 says it like this: “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.” (NIV) Now, if you give it little thought, you’ll realize that can also be applied to being non-judgmental, non-condemning…to learning what caused the failure, and correcting it, rather than focusing on who caused it. Remember, God does not impute wickedness to us. We ought not to either, then. I, for one, do not attempt something with the intent of failing at it; do you? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. *Something I learned from my son when he dropped the bag of cookies at the store is that that’s the way the cookie crumbles. LOL PS – they’re just as good crumbly as they are whole.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

He Is The Source From Which It Flows

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God is our only source of salvation. We are to see Him as our only supply. Everything else is a resource and/or a channel through which that supply flows.

Salvation comes daily, and it comes in many ways and from many things. Poverty of spirit, lack of desire or energy, lack of love or peace within, etc. These spiritual needs are as important to God as our physical well being is. If God can send ravens to feed a prophet in the wilderness, He surely can send provision to us through whatever channels are available to Him. All channels are available to Him, because the earth is His, and the fullness thereof. (Psalm 24:1) “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;”

Deuteronomy 28:8 is referenced by the message: “The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand.” All the blessings listed in Deuteronomy 28 are the result, or fruit, of our obedience to God’s Word. They go hand in hand. This means that whatever I work at, or whatever effort I put forth in accordance to God’s Will and Word, will bring results. This is also true of spiritual needs. Whatever spiritual need I have, God will meet it. Jesus promised us that if we ask, we will receive. Just the other day, I had to ask the Lord to help me pray, because I really didn’t feel like praying for anyone or anything that morning. I wanted to scream until the world just exploded. I asked; I received. God’s a good God! Amen!

When I read Deuteronomy 28, I get a picture of how things operate in the Kingdom of Heaven. Seed time, and harvest is the modus operandi. That means that I have to sow something (time, effort, prayer, etc.,) in order to harvest something. The really cool thing is this: God not only gives us the harvest, but He also gives us the seed to sow. We just sometimes miss it, because we’re looking for a harvest when or where we have not sown…or because we have sown in fallow ground. (Jer. 4:3) Basket and kneading bowl suggest gathering and working with what’s gathered, or working with what you’ve got. Trust is the key to prosperity; prosperity of spirit, which is most important, and physical, or material prosperity as well.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Serving All Isn’t As Hard As May Seem

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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

Saturday Silly – June 20, 2019

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Was I not just talking about Jesus laughing at me?

I was on the bus a few days ago, and this guy sat down next to me. He asked my wasn’t I that Christian blogger, Eden Stillwater. I said, “Yes, that’s me.” He got a little snide then. He said, “I’m a Wiccan; what do you think of that?” I said, “I don’t.” He said, “You know Wiccans are witches, right?” I said, “really?” Then the man says to me, “I think I’ll go sit somewhere else, I don’t think I can be friends with you.” He got up to find another seat.

I was careful to say this under my breath, but I said, “Yay, because I don’t want to be sitting next to you when that lightning bolt strikes, anyway.” Just then my phone signalled and vibrated. Needless to say, it startled me a wee bit; I jumped just a little. Now, imagine my face when I looked at that phone, and the caller ID read: GOD. I swear to you, I think I went forward in time to the judgment and backward in time to my birth all in the same minute, in my mind. GOD. I checked the message, and it was from some lady named Geraldine Oswald Davies. “Hello…oh, sorry, wrong number,” it read. Jesus will get you, yes He will. I think both He and I laughed and laughed…I bet He’s still laughing, too. I bet He told “GOD,” “well done good and faithful servant.”

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

You Must Prepare to Feel the Abundance

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that life can feel like painful preparation. It really isn’t as painful as we like to make it out to be, though, most of the time. This message ties in with Saturday’s message which speaks to us about cultivating and maintaining a feeling of plentiful supply; abundance of life, as well.

Cultivating this feeling is a matter of preparation. Prepare to find the best deals. Prepare to feast, rather than just eat. I wrote about this in a previous post. Little things can make big differences. This feeling is brought to life and kept flowing through our lives when we seek the best in everything; whether it be in material things, or in others around us. As we cultivate this feeling of blessing, rather than one of enduring the “curses” of living, we begin to find more and more blessing, feel more and more blessed, and become more and more blessing to others.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu