See That It Is Finished

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to lay our sins, failures, shortcomings, all we need to let go of, on Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. It is in Him that we find the forgiveness we need, as well as the perfect healing and resurrection we need.

As I read this message once, when I was really struggling through some things, I saw Jesus on the cross. I heard Him say, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) At first, I thought, how strange that you would bring that to mind, Lord…because, NO IT ISN’T! I’m going through hell here! Then, I got it. As soon as your version dies, as soon as your fear dies, and as soon as your feeling of entitlement dies, it will be finished…because then I CAN HELP YOU WITH IT! I said to the Lord, “I’ll just shut up now, if you don’t mind.” (Job 40:3-4) Yeah, I’m pretty sure He laughed as He shook His head.

When we realize and accept that when we take it to the Lord, it’s finished right there, and then act on that accordingly (obediently), we find that healing. (Mark 11:24) Then we can begin to rise from that pit of despair to the path(s) that will lead us to the victory. That’s our resurrection from that pit.

PS – Happy Birthday, Hanna Banana! Love you! I forgot to add this yesterday-sorry.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Lord, Help Me To Be Weak

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. (2Cor. 12:8-10) I posted not too long ago, about asking the Lord to strengthen our faith. “Help my unbelief, Lord,” cried the man whose son was demon possessed. (Mark 9:24) Over the years, I’ve found that He also answers when we ask Him to help us to be weak…in order for His strength to come to, and through us. I know how hard it is at times, in those times, to be the weak me, the real me-even before Him. But, thankfully, He does see our hearts; and rushes right in the instant we cry out to Him. I found this song as I was submerging myself in praise and worship recently. Once again, Thank you, Hillsong, for your faithfulness in helping us to praise and worship the LORD/Lord. I hope you are as blessed by this song as I am!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Work At Resting

Today’s message from God Calling – A. J. Russell, bids us to come unto Him; and to stay with Him. The Lord’s presence, you see, is our Sabbath rest. The Sabbath is holy to the LORD/Lord; and that holiness surrounds us as we rest in Him.

It is in the resting in the presence of the LORD/Lord, that power comes to us. “My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9) “…in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15) My life changed completely, when I learned to just walk in that rest. I learned to stay there at all costs. No, things still don’t always go right; yes, I still get angry, frustrated, upset, etc. But, I can, and do, go right back into that rest immediately, or asap, when I do lose it. It’s a matter of working at it, until we get it so right the devil can’t pull us out anymore. It’s just like that seventy times seven forgiveness thing – in other words, “do it until it comes naturally to you.”

Happy Birthday, my love! My first baby girl is celebrating her 40th birthday today. May your day be blessed with all the love, joy, laughter, and beautiful memories your heart can hold…and then some. And may I tell you, you are my “and them some!” Love you!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Seek It Within Yourself

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to trust in the goodness of God. When we become children of God, we have that goodness put into our hearts. We are created in His image, and after His likeness; so we now can begin to grow into that image and likeness. (Genesis 1:26) “Be perfect therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” said Jesus. (Matt. 5:48)

“I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:14) This is what God longs for us to have every day of our lives; souls that are feasted on the Word of God, and wholly satisfied by and with His goodness. The way we obtain that is to seek the goodness of God within us. As we discover them, we lose things like that sense of condemnation (by self or others). We lose things like fear; especially, of things like rejection, failure, loss of control and freedom, and even loss of time. We also begin to actually lose lack (within and in our lives); and begin to experience more and more fullness of spirit, life, peace, joy, all the awesome things God has for us.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) The first thing to do when things go wrong, is to look for that kingdom within; for that goodness of God in you. Perhaps you need patience, or courage, or comfort, or just an idea. It’s there within you. Getting quiet and just waiting for the Lord, for a minute, brings the peace we need to see those treasures; the goodness, and good things of God. I hope you’ll take time to read the message at twolisteners.org – it’s one that can revolutionize the way you see yourself.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

How To Work In Peace

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that disorder and chaos, within or round about us, does not foster effective and successful work. It also stifles and squashes creativity.

The way to work in peace is to have a peaceful work space and atmosphere. That means organization and clean work area(s). Making sure all needed materials are at hand, and organized, and work tools are at hand and ready to use is the next step. Sometimes you may even have to send calls to voicemail, so you can work uninterrupted. This is what God did for us in the Garden of Eden. He put everything needed there, and helped Adam put it in order (naming the animals is labeling everything).

Creating order and peace within is a little harder to do; especially when there are issues you’re dealing with. One of the challenges I had as a battered woman was keeping my mind on task, and not getting ahead of myself in the project I was working on. You’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop then, so your mind races over a million things all throughout your work time. Praise music, or music that soothes your soul and slows your mind down helps quite a bit. it’s also important to continue to increase your spirit in the Word of God, and in positive activities and things that give you energy and increase your self-confidence. As we grow in these, we’re filling up the empty spaces and replacing the negative thoughts and attitudes we’ve had in the past.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:12 ESV) This scripture comes to mind when I read this message. The “world” refers not only unbelievers. It’s also “your world”, and all the things that are going on in it; especially the negative and/or unsettling things. That’s why we’re told: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Peace, Power, Pleasure In Service

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that the Kingdom of Heaven is one of service. We are bid to serve the LORD/Lord in all we do. That’s in the Bible, in Ephesians 6:7. We’re bid to serve Him even in rest.

As I think about this, especially in terms of generational curses, (1 Samuel 7:3) is the perfect scripture. “Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” We must strive to keep things in the proper perspective, first of all. There is nothing bigger than God! God first, you second, others next, is the proper order. It’s amazing how many foreign gods we serve without thinking about it. (in-laws, bosses, co-workers, hubby/wife, siblings, children, etc.) Secondly, and this is where the service in rest comes in; give God priority in your heart. Think about His goodness and praise Him-just like you do your hubby/wife, and others in your life. I’m still amazed sometimes, at how awesomely powerful that is. It really does carry over into your resting times. You find yourself actually quieting your spirit and stepping right into that beautiful Presence at will. When we do this, all the giants (Philistines) we’re faced with, become ants. Now, we’re seeing them in a different light. They’re not daunting. We can relax and work with God, to deal with them. You’ll be surprised to find out how much you can learn from a Philistine, when God’s with you. LOL Yeah, the weight of that depression, the unmade bed, all that darkness is gone forever! Thank you, Jesus!

This all translates into so much more power in our walk, and in our service to others. There is peace in serving the Lord. There is power in serving Him. There is pleasure in serving Him. – The pleasure that we bring to others, and the pleasure we derive from that.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

The Cure For Envy

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to “never be satisfied with a comparison with those around us.” -quoting directly from the message at twolisteners.org. I hope you’ll read the entire message for yourselves-it’s awesome.

We’re told to review our character at least weekly, and to compare it to Jesus’ character instead. We’re bid to imitate our Lord, then. “Be perfect, therefore, as your Father in Heaven is perfect,” He said. (Matt. 5:48 – NIV)

When you remain mindful of this, you begin to check yourself whenever you feel yourself slipping. Spiritually, this is a very empowering thing. You begin to walk more securely in God’s ways. You become less and less insecure in regard to your “popularity”, and what others think of you. And, you get so busy growing and discovering all the wonderful things God put inside you, that there’s no room for envy. There is now only room for celebration and celebration with others over their triumphs, gifts, and talents, etc.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Abide, Then, In Perfect Love

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to make our Lord, Jesus Christ the one abiding presence we are conscious of all the time. This means we need to abide, then, in perfect love; because that’s what Jesus is. God is love, and Jesus said when we see Him, we’ve seen the Father.

The message tells us that it is God’s eternal life flowing through us that is the miracle working power. Please read the message at twolisteners.org – it’s a powerful one. When we have that life eternal flowing through us, we have wholeness within; real life within. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3 -NIV) This spills over into every aspect of our lives, and touches the lives of others.

Fear is the greatest obstacle to remaining in this consciousness of God’s presence. Why? I believe it is because we do not know God personally. We try to be good Christians; but forget that we are Children of God. He’s our Daddy! As I’ve read, especially in the Psalms and Prophets, I’ve seen more and more clearly God’s heart for us. In Jeremiah 4:19 God says: “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.” (BSB) That battle is the battle against fear and condemnation, against doubt, and detachment. Nothing can separate us from the love of God; but we can, and do stray-especially when we’ve done something wrong and are afraid. But Jesus said, “”I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1John 4:18-NIV) Being made perfect in love includes knowing our Heavenly Father’s deep, deep, steadfast, and awesome love for us! The more intimately you know Him as Father-I call Him Daddy-the less fear you will have in your life! The more, peace, joy, and power you will gain.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Faith Is Also Its Own Reward

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us of God’s promise that our faith will be rewarded.

As I read the message, in the midst of the Corona Virus pandemic and everything that’s been affected by it, I must say some thank yous. Thank you, Lord, for keeping us in the palm of your hands; first of all. Thank you, to all those who keep right on giving, right on caring about the rest of the world, and right on doing your best to help everyone get through this thing. I’ll never be able to express how much I appreciate you, and how deeply grateful I am to you.

I also think about Noah, Abraham, Moses…and our Lord, Jesus. What awesome faith they showed us! I’m always blown away when I think about Jesus; about the strength of His faith; and His love. He could have called the whole thing off at any given point in time. But He didn’t. And when I think about that, I think about the times I’ve trudged onward. I don’t know how I got through any of it, except by God’s grace strengthening my faith as I went along. The Bible does say we reap what we sow, right? Yeah, that little faith seed becomes a beautiful and majestic tree over the years, doesn’t it? Faith is its own reward. Isn’t it cool how God works all that stuff out so perfectly?!

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