Saturday Silly – May 1, 2021

Most of you know I crochet. I love to take my little odds and ends of leftover yarn, and make doll clothes or other fun little things for children. I recently gifted a friend with a couple of little purses, and some Barbie clothes and accessories I’d made. I was told that the two year old loved the purse; and Grandpa put a dollar in it for her. She ran to Mommy and asked if they could go to the store, and stated that she was going to buy something for Mommy, because Mommy always buys her things. Mommy was so touched by this, that she gave the little lady another dollar, and told her to save it and the one Grandpa gave her. Mommy insisted that she was going to buy the little princess something as a reward for her thoughtfulness and generosity. I, having had four two year olds myself, when I heard this, couldn’t help wondering, “Do they know that they’ve just been robbed by a two year old?” LOL! Great job with those girls, Mommy! Hugs and kisses to you all.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Right In Deed, Indeed

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 58, and it’s a powerful one in terms of dealing with generational curses, and parenting.

“Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? *(Mighty Lords) Do you judge the children of man uprightly? No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.” (V-1&2)(ESV)

(Proverbs 31:9) tells us we are to judge rightly and defend the cause of the poor and needy. Our children see us as all powerful. Jesus looks at the heart, and condemns no one. He said, “I’m not come to condemn the world, but to save it.” So our first order is always to save. We save dignity, self-respect, courage, and conviction. Yes, conviction. You’ve heard that expression, “living right down to their expectation, of him/her.” That’s what happens to our conviction about right and wrong when we’re constantly accused, belittled, and punished. The opposite of these is saved/helped, encouraged and instructed, and rewarded with the self-respect, courage and dignity we all deserve.

When we suffer under parents who live out generational curses, our hearts store up all that stuff. The next thing you know, that stuff comes out when we’re parents. We need to fix our hearts on God’s love for us, nurturing our own spirits on it. What goes in comes out; so when we do that, we can be better parents to our children. The reward for us (righteous) is strong children who know who and whose they are, what love is, and what it isn’t, and that they are covered in and through everything. Finally, that the authority over things in their world is theirs, not the enemy’s. That’s where that thing about “the choice is yours,” comes from. The choice is ours; and when we make good choices, we are loving ourselves the way God wants us to.

PS – When I read the part about the recompense of the wicked, I think, not of celebrating. I think about praying for them. Verse 19 speaks of the righteous bathing their feet in the blood of the wicked. I think about all the things that used to trip me up, hinder me, slam me with fear, self-doubt, etc., and even cripple me with depression. Those are all things that come on us when we live generational curses. I thank God every day that those things are beneath my feet now. But believe me when I tell you, it’s a lifelong battle. There are still days when I have to fight my way through. But, if God is for us, who can stand against us?

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Your Freewill Offering

Psalm 54 brings us today’s message. As I read the psalm, I thought about my mother and father. They often said, “I don’t care what everybody else is doing; that’s the rule here.” They also asked, “If they all jumped in the lake and drowned, would you jump in too?”

This psalm actually begins with King David entreating the LORD for help. Verse 6 of the psalm is a key one, though. “With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.” It brought me to this scripture in Colossians: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col. 3:23-24 -NIV) Your obedience, your “keeping on keeping on,” and your thanks and praise (honoring God and His standard(s), is exactly what puts those enemies to shame. The Bible tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. It’s impossible to activate God’s power without faith. You wouldn’t flip the light switch if you didn’t believe it can turn the light on or off. When we obey and keep on keeping on, with gratitude and honor for the LORD, we activate the power of God within and round about us. This ties in with yesterday’s message, and psalm 53. This is God encamping round about us. You may not see it working the way you expect it to, but it is working. You will see the results manifest. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times in my life I’ve seen it do exactly that. And, I lost count some time ago, of how many times I messed it all up by not keeping on keeping on in obedience to the LORD; and by complaining instead.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Your Story’s Just Beginning!

Happy Resurrection Sunday! And Happy Easter, one and all! I spent all day Friday thinking about the disciples and the women with Jesus, waiting, holding their breath, unsure and afraid. Peter, especially, was on my mind. This song by Casting Crowns come to mind as I did. Peter was probably sure he was a complete failure to the Lord. I can almost hear the enemy taunting him. But Jesus has a surprise for the enemy, didn’t He? Yes! Peter’s story was really just beginning. Thanks to what our Lord, Jesus did for us on Calvary, and then in Hell when he stripped Satan of his power, and the keys to death and hell…in front of all the principalities and powers…everybody’s story was just beginning. Your story really is just beginning when you come to the Lord. He takes everything behind you, and paves the road ahead of you with it. That’s the road to glory; His, and yours! “Today, when you hear His Voice, don’t harden your hearts.” (Isaiah 40:10) “Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.“

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Joy Is The Reward

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that there is joy at the end of the journey. Though the journey be long, and grueling at times, and sometimes we may wonder if we’re forsaken, we surely are not! Due to library closures, the rest of my posts for this year will be short, and hopefully, I can find a song for each day. I hope you will continue to read the messages at twolisteners.org, as I will.

This one is by Jeremy Camp; perfect for a mid-week pick up.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

The Turning Will Be Joyful

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that the Lord’s reward for our service, suffering, living for Him, is that joy divine that nobody can take from us. “My peace I leave with you…”, said Jesus. (John 14:27) It is this very thing, peace, that vanquishes fear and empowers us to run to Him joyfully.

I can think of so many times in my life after I got saved, when things were going wrong, and I actually laughed as I went to the Lord with it. The peace I had in those situations is almost indescribable. There’s this total confidence, without even the slightest twinge of doubt or fear. That’s peace. That’s a joyful thing.

It did take me some time to get to that point. Sometimes, even now, I have to catch myself and just stop and get that peace back. Sometimes the Lord has to kind of scoop me up in His arms and waylay me until I quit storming. He has to save me from myself. Mostly, though, I truly can just enjoy the journey; and joyfully take the twists and turns along the way.

I hope you’ll read the message for yourselves at twolisteners.org It will encourage you to deepen your relationship with the Lord, and it will empower you in your walk with Him.

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

His Abundant Goodness Toward Us

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us of Psalm 31:19 -“How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.” (NIV) The KJV says it this way: “Oh, how great is your goodness which you have laid up for those that fear you; which you have wrought for those who trust in you before the sons of men.”

I want to illustrate the difference between an abundance of good things, and the great goodness of God. Goodness is the quality of being morally or virtuous, righteous, ethical, upright, upstanding. Having integrity, principle, dignity, rectitude; and the list goes on. These are qualities that God bestows on us, working them in us, and through us. The good things are the blessings and rewards that manifest as a result of that goodness. They’re the bonuses we get for trusting God and obeying Him. The last part of that verse (Psalm 31:19) can be read two different ways. I believe both are true. First of all, God bestows all of it, the goodness, and the good things, in the sight of the sons of men, or the sight of all. Secondly, though, I think about Jesus’ words: “whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father in Heaven.”

Sometimes, the hardest thing in the world you’ll ever have to do, is to trust God in the sight of men. They’ll laugh at you, just like they laughed at Noah. They’ll jeer and mock you, like the did Jesus. But, we know who’s behind all that, don’t we? And we have this promise from the Psalms also: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Psalm 23:5) That tells me I am anointed to overcome, and I am more than able! My cup overflows with God’s goodness and power, and God’s blessing on me, on mine, on my life. Praise God!

My song choice for today is Let it Rain. I’m still praying for an end to all cancers, but most especially, childhood cancers. Please pray with me. Thank you, Michael W. Smith for your faithfulness to the Lord, and for sharing that beautiful voice.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

The Reward of Faith

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that faith is, indeed, rewarded. Abraham, by faith, believed God, and did become a father. Moses’ faith is also cited. Their faith was the reward, or at least, part of it, because it is what kept them going. It is what strengthened them and their resolve. And, in turn, those (strength and resolve, determination) strengthened their faith. I want to go with Abraham’s faith.

Abraham’s faith was counted unto him, by God, as righteousness. Quoting from Dictionary, here are some of the definitions I found: goodness, virtue, uprightness, decency, integrity, worthiness, high-mindedness, nobility, noble mindedness. Yes, there are also those like: sinless, innocence, piety, and morality.

The ones I want to focus on are the ones in Italics. They are the ones that strengthen and empower faith. They make faith it’s own reward. They have to do with so much more than piety, being sinless, with innocence and morality. Piety, innocence, and morality are seeds sown to Heaven and to our own spirits.

The list in italics are seeds that empower faith, not only in our own lives, but the lives of those with whom we have contact. They can influence and change lives. They are sown to Heaven through our doing and giving involving other lives. They are also sown to our own spirits, as well; empowering our own faith and spiritual growth and maturity. It’s a little like the feeding of the thousands by Jesus. You put it in His hands, believing Him, and thousands are fed…with plenty left over. Faith multiplied and magnified is the reward of faith. We have then, not only more seed to sow, but much stronger crop, and better fruit…greater harvests.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu