Write Them Down

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 103.. King David wrote it, and it is so awesome! The first five verses, alone, just get your spirit stirred up. Beginning with verse 2-5: “Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Forget not His benefits. Make a list, just like the one in this psalm. There’s more all throughout the psalm. Those verses just kind of sum it all up for us.

The rest of the psalm lists more of those benefits, and tells us how much God loves us, and how compassionate and tender He is toward us. (V8-14) “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

I had an incredible experience in the spirit, over this very psalm. My father-in-law was in a nursing home, and dying. He was afraid to die, because He didn’t believe that God could really forgive Him for the things he’d done. My sister also happened to be his daughter-in-law, and she visited him regularly. I never went to the nursing home, myself. I referred her to the 103rd psalm, when she expressed concern about his being afraid to die. She visited him twice more, but each time, he was asleep, and didn’t wake up. I copied the psalm down on a piece of paper, and put it under a prayer candle. I would light the candle and pray that psalm for him. One night, approximately 1: 30 a.m., my baby girl woke up for her bottle, and since I was awake, I decided to pray for him again. Laying beside her, I began to pray. I almost always say the Lord’s prayer before I pray other prayers; so I began to pray the Lord’s prayer. Suddenly, I was standing in my father-in-law’s room at the nursing home. I called out His name, and He said, “Who’s there?” I called out His name again, and then I said, “In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, your sins are forgiven; accept your peace.” Right then I woke up, and it was about 7 a.m. My father-in-law passed away at approximately 1:30 a.m. the next morning. Verse 19 of the psalm says, “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.” That includes time and space.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

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

Making Straight The Path

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 50. It is God calling us out; God calling us to account. There’s a good checklist within, from verses 14-20.

We’re told to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform our vows to the Most High. This brings Jesus’ words home so powerfully to me. “Go first, and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” I learned something about blessing my enemies, and especially those who bait, curse, and persecute us. That thanksgiving sacrifice helps me refocus on my Savior, and what’s important to Him. I believe when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, all the Words in the Bible become “law” to us; or they should, anyway. 2Timothy 3:16 tells us this. I’m thinking of my dad whenever he would say, “What your mom says is law.” So, when we set out to do the will of God in all things, we’re essentially, taking, or making, a vow. We’ve made a vow to obey His Word.

As I read the psalm, I am convicted. There’s hope, though. Praise God! Verse 23 tells us: “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” As we thank God, we’re glorifying Him, which brings us closer to Him, creating a stronger desire to please Him. This really pleases Him, and sets that salvation in motion. We’re shown the error, the thorn, whatever it may be. We’re guided by the Spirit to correct ourselves and remedy the problem. The path is once again made straight.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Bold As A Lion

Today’s message comes to us from Proverbs 28. Proverbs 28:1 tells me that I am bold as a lion. As a child of God, I should be. Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. I’m being conformed to His image. My God says I have nothing to fear because He is my refuge and my strong tower, my help in times of trouble. Jesus also promised He will never leave me or forsake me; but He’s with me always. There’s also that first verse in Psalm 27, where King David asks, “Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid?” God is our light and our salvation.

Keeping that in mind, Proverb 28:2 gives us a clear picture of whom should be our leader; or what kind of leadership we should have: “When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.” Turn a couple of things around here: “When a land has many rulers, it transgresses.” This speaks, not only of idolatry. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” (Psalm 33:12). When you think about opposing views (Mom says no, Dad says yes), too many things on the agenda (Distraction), and everyone trying to run the show (everybody’s job gets done except his/her own-and you have constant friction as a result of personal agendas), what you have is a big mess waiting to happen. All that stuff inspires confusion, anger, bitterness, envy, and malice. (2 Cor. 13:11) – “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” As parents, you cannot create a stable and peaceful environment if you’re not of one accord, and constantly oppose each other. Stability, knowledge, and wisdom go hand in hand; each one empowers the others.

Proverbs 28:4, 5, and 10 remind us that our duty, and especially as parents, is to fight wickedness; to strive against it. The knowledge of the LORD brings us the understanding of justice, we’re told in verse 5. Verse ten is a revelation about sowing and reaping. “Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance.” Parents will suffer the consequences of misleading their children into sin. (teen pregnancies, drugs and alcohol, sloth, disrespect, idolatry, etc.) Proverbs 28:13 is a powerful revelation about what might be hindering your progress; especially in terms of overcoming. Proverbs 28:18-19 remind us that integrity (truth,honesty), which requires boldness, by the way, delivers us from sin. This is also a two-fold thing. Integrity should also help you recognize your sin, and help you overcome it. Proverbs 28:23 tells us that correction is better than flattery. We prosper as our soul prospers. You are your land. Be bold as a lion in maintaining its standards and boundaries!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Ooh, The Picture’s Clearer

Today’s message comes from Psalms and Proverbs 14. Both give us a clearer picture, yet, of evil, and evil doers. We’re also shown how easily we can backslide and get lost. We are reminded that the LORD is our refuge. He has restored our fortunes through Christ Jesus. Jesus redeemed us, and everything that belongs to us, when He died on Calvary for us.

Interestingly, Proverbs 14:9 tells us that fools have no conscience, or shame. Proverbs 14:19 is a three-fold revelation. “The evil bow down before the good; the wicked at the gates of the righteous.” First, this confirms our dominion over them/victory over them in Jesus’ Name. Secondly, they do this in mockery-so be on your guard. Thirdly, they cannot stand in the Presence of God, nor can they prevail against us. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) This makes me think of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man sure changed his tune when faced with the truth, didn’t he?

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Saturday Silly – January 16, 2021

My goodness, what a week it’s been! I had my cardiology appointment; hit the floor running to make it on time. I don’t know why, but it seems as if the buses are crawling along at fifteen miles an hour whenever you need them to hurry. Then, some of them go at breakneck speed, only to jump on the brakes with both feet and all their body weight behind them. Passengers and baggage come up out of the seats. LOL I think they need to serve cocktails on some of those buses, just like they do on airplanes. Speaking of airplanes, I was on a bus the other day, and there was a car wash just short of the stoplight. This guy was out front waving a white rag like crazy. I couldn’t figure out if he was trying to flag us down, or land a plane…we are right by the Air Base.

There are some characters on the buses, too. We passed a construction site, and someone asked what they were building there. A lady on the bus said, “Its an Amazon Warehouse.” “Oh,” replied the guy, “what’s if for?” “It’s where they’re going to lock up all the strong and angry women,” replied the lady. LOL

I got my ID renewed recently. I couldn’t believe it when I got the new card. My goodness; I need to get some good facial serum and face cream. My grandbabies will be calling me Grandma Sharpei. Sure enough, I sent a friend a selfie – of myself, and he texted me back: “Can she sit up and beg?” Hmm, maybe I could get one of the kids to take me to the dog shows; I could use the money. Ah, never mind…I can’t wag my tail like that anymore. Besides that, I’m not going to sit up and beg for anybody!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

You Are Hotly Pursued

Today’s message comes to us from Psalms and Proverbs 7. The first part of Psalm 7, 7:1-9 is a prayerful song sung by King David regarding his enemies. Verses 1&2 give a very clear picture of how hotly you are pursued by the hosts of spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. “Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.” (1Peter 5:8) tells us: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” When you watch lions hunting, you’ll see they go into hot pursuit of their prey; they don’t stroll after it. Never take your souls safety for granted. Satan wants to destroy it.

What’s really awesome in this psalm is verse 8: “The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and integrity.” You know that saying, “and idle mind is the devil’s playground?” Yeah, ever find yourself battling with the same thoughts over and over? My battle with that when I quit smoking comes to mind. Even long after I’d given cigarettes up, Satan was lurking and waiting to lure me back there. I had an argument with my husband one day, and the first thing that came to my mind was: “I should just start smoking again; that will show them!” The next thing that came to mind was, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” I knew that my smoking would hurt me; not anyone else. (See how the Truth rushed in there?) The Holy Spirit nipped that one in the bud! When I think of this vindication, I think about catching my children doing right. Praise is doubly as important as reproof. Here’s why: Verse 9-“Put an end to the evil of the wicked, but establish the righteous, O righteous God who searches hearts and mind.” The more we celebrate our doing right, the stronger the desire to do right becomes, and the less power the lure of evil, the wicked, and sin has over us. *This works on adults who are being renewed in the knowledge of God, as well.

Proverbs 7 Speaks of the adulteress, but when in spiritual context, it is the lure of sin and sinners. This includes false religion, idolatry, peer pressure, etc.) When we make our children strong against these in the LORD/Lord and His Word, they’re better able to resist and walk away. (2Cor. 10:5) tells us: “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.” The more truth you have within you, the stronger you are to stand against the wiles of the devil; and against deception.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

He Speaks In The Stillness

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we need to, sometimes, just wait quietly before the Lord. We need quiet time with Him as much as a child needs quiet time with Mom or Dad. Do you remember holding your child to calm him/her down?

My oldest son would get over-stimulated and upset during big gatherings. I would have to take him to another room where it was quiet; just the two of us, and let him calm down and regain his composure. We all feel that need to walk away to a quiet place and just regroup at times. When I began to expect God to show up for morning coffee with me, He surprised me by doing just that. It’s my way of just getting in a little quiet time with my Heavenly Father, so that I can focus and get myself centered and ready to take the day on.

It’s amazing how much of a difference that few minutes makes. Spiritually, I feel more alert and stronger. That peace within, I know, is stronger because of that time. And, as I “see” my Father’s face, the love, compassion, joy, etc., those things rise up within as well. That time empowers our daily life with, and for, Him.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Wise Enough To Seek Him Still

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we need to make time to seek the Lord. The message tells us that all men seek Jesus; but not all know that it’s Him they seek.

He is the answer to all their hurting, sorrowing, confusion, and troubles. It’s our mission, and great privilege, to show them God’s love for them by our living, and our testimonies. But, if we want to live powerful lives for the Lord, we, ourselves, must not forget to seek Him. This is why we have the privilege of prayer; and remember that God walked with Adam and Eve daily in the garden of Eden. We also have the privilege and power of praise to bring us into God’s Presence. Jesus sought time alone with the Father often. We should follow His example until we are conscious of His Presence with us, and around us every minute. I found this wonderful old song, done by the Soweto Gospel Choir. The song often comes to mind when I think of where Jesus found me, and brought me from. I hope you are as blessed by it as I am.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Oh, How He Loves Us, Indeed!

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, admonishes us to trust God wholly; to know that there is nothing He cannot do. Upon reading the message, I thought I’d share a few scriptures with you. They all show us God’s heart for us. They are all God speaking to us.

“How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.” (Hosea 11:8 ESV)

“So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest. Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering. Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.” (Isaiah 16:9-11 BSB)

The Bible is filled with scriptures that show us God’s heart for us. He is such a loving and wonderful Father! I hope you’ll read through the Psalms and the Prophets and find as many as you can! Meantime, David Crowder said it so well with this wonderful song. This song always just grabs me!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu