In Udder Words ~~~~~~~~~Never Alone

Live your life expecting the best, not fearing the worst. Remember that you are not alone; God is right there with you (1 Peter 3:12)

 

In 1 Peter 3:12 we are told that the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers…” Wow what a promise! What a great comfort to know in our hearts that we are never alone, God is right there with us. His eyes are on us and His ears attentive to our prayers.

 

When life hits us up alongside the head long enough it becomes easy to live our life expecting the worst instead of the best. In spite of what life gives us to deal with we still need to live in such a way we expect the finest instead of fearing the worse.

 

Some people think if they imagine the worse and it doesn’t happen then they will be happy that it didn’t. In their own way it is their way of preparing themselves for the worse. Although it may prepare us in a way for the, not so good things in life, it still is the worst thing we can do for ourselves. Forever looking for the bad to happen can really drag our spirits down. After a while we almost begin to not only prepare for it but believe it’s actually going to happen.

 

There are better ways to be prepared. One of the best ways is to know in our hearts that we are not alone. Unfortunately for some reason when life happens a common reaction is to immediately think we are all alone in our adventure. We get it in our minds that we must be the only one who has ever gone thru this. We think life has let us down and the people around us have deserted us including God.

 

Wrong! We may not get a good solid promise from those around us to never leave us nor desert us but we have a promise from God that says He won’t. It’s a promise we can hold on to, a promise worth treasuring in our hearts. The strength needed to go, the power needed to fight.

 

God’s eyes are upon us His ears attentive to our prayers. We need to make sure our eyes are Him and that He is receiving those prayers He has promised to hear. When we have God in our lives we are never alone.

 

 

 

In Udder Words~~~~~~~~Dealing with Life thru Prayer

“God cares about everything that concerns you, so feel free to talk to Him about anything.”

Life happens. For some reason when I read the above statement that’s all I can think of is life happens. It happens daily and with it will come things we will need to deal with. Unfortunately in our society today they are trying to get away from teaching people how to deal with life. The solution is to go on struggling with things until it comes to a boiling point and people are hurt or it’s suppressed by drugs.

 

The most important thing we should learn and learn quickly is the fact that God cares about everything that concerns us. Just because I have cancer doesn’t mean He doesn’t care about my cancer or me. Having cancer is not a sign that He doesn’t have His watchful attention on me. The fact that I’m able to endure my cancer is the insignia that shows me He cares.

 

If it wasn’t for God I never would have survived my epilepsy and definitely would not have made it two years into my cancer. I love the fact that we can talk to God about anything and everything. We need to speak with Him as we do our friend next door or our co-worker at our job, or the family member with a listening ear.

 

If you think about it we can talk to God more than we can other people. There are some things we don’t want talk about to anyone but God isn’t just anyone. He is somebody who is there in our lives, every moment of it readily available to hear, listen, and even answer back. There is no phone required, computer, internet service, cellphone, text message. It’s not even required that we have to get down on our knees in a church sanctuary to talk with Him. All we have to do is start speaking and better yet begin listening.

 

We cut ourselves short of a very important relationship with the Lord getting hung up on the fact that God doesn’t verbalize His answers. We lack the patience and faith needed to wait for His answers. If it’s not as quick as we think it should be or what we wanted to hear we shut off any further input from God.

What spoiled brats we are! God gives us so much yet we can’t give Him a moment of our time to talk with Him. We turn to everything from Facebook, to email, to Twitter, to texting someone before we even think about talking to God. He should be the first person we approach and the last person we listen to for our final answers.

 

Our communication with Him doesn’t need to be eloquent full of Thee’s and Thou’s, all we need to do is speak. Sometimes our tone of voice may change as we cry out to Him not only in times of joy but in times of immense pain.

Years ago when I was enduring a very painful time in my life I cried out to God to come down and plant Himself on my couch in front of me and give me my answers. Luckily God didn’t say, “I’m not speaking to her anymore. She was rude and demanding. Tell the angel in charge of incoming prayers to cut off her communication.”

Oh just to type that in a hypothetical situation brought tears to my eyes and I’m still crying. I’m so thankful God doesn’t cut us off. We are the ones that cut ourselves off from Him. He cares and so should we. I’ve never talked rude or demanding to God since. However, I know in my heart if I ever endure that pain again and the feeling of frustration and a bit of anger comes out in my voice I know He is still listening.

I love talking to Him, in fact, as some people have an idea of what they'd like to be doing when Jesus returns my desire is to be found on my knees talking to God. Communicate with Him, it’s beautiful, productive, reassuring, and a treasure that only grows in its worth as we deal with life one day at a time.

© 2013 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Karen's Crossings ~~~~~~~~~ Yes Lord, Yes

Healing! Healing! Healing! The carrot Satan was dangling in front of my face had it written all over it backed with the sound of a smirk Satan’s laugh created as he enjoyed the torture. It was the subject of the scripture I had to read at the annual reading of the entire Bible regarding the woman who had bled for 12 years (Mk 5:25-34). It was the topic of the recent Sunday service about the paralyzed man of 38 years at the healing pool (Jn 5:1-15). One more trip to the church and I’ll bet you anything the subject would have been about the epileptic boy in Matthew 17:14-21, just teasing on the last one.



Tears got me through the reading of the Bible regarding the woman who was healed. That and the gentle hand of the next person in line to read who came up and gave me a hug to strengthen me in a weak moment. The lady in the Bible for 12 years had bled, for 12 years I was disabled with epilepsy. She knew, just as I knew, if we could just get to the cloak of Jesus healing would come.



What got me through the other healing story was the strength of the Lord. The connection I feel with that story, the one of the man at the pool who laid helpless on the ground waiting and hoping for someone to come along to help him into the pool was the question Jesus asked him. That and his determination to come faithfully every day to the pool in hopes of being healed. Yes, that day at the pool Jesus comes along and asks the question, “Do you want to be healed?” The preacher on Sunday admitted to having the same reaction I did when I first read the story, “Well, duh! Yes I want to be healed.”


Still reviewing the story in the Sunday sermon the preacher asked over and over again to the congregation, “Do you want to get well? Is there something you need healing from? Whether it’s a physical or spiritual condition the question pertained to all. The preacher wasn’t pointing his finger to just the back three rows on the left where three of us struggling daily with our diseases sat.


As I sat there thinking about what he was asking I knew in my heart the answer to the question. However, it wasn’t the answer some may have expected to hear. Honestly I have never thought about wanting to be healed from my cancer. It would be fantastic and I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity for nothing. If all it took was to be thrown in some pool I would go peacefully.


The healing that is on my heart is the desire to have those on my ALL UDDERS prayer list healed spiritually. The long list of family members, friends, and even total strangers I’ve been praying for that their relationship with God may be all that it should be.

Indeed the tears that came on Sunday after the sermon weren’t for me but for my ALL UDDERS and the healing I ask for them. In spite of the fact I was having a difficult time standing on my own as church ended the dangling carrot wasn’t for me it was for my ALL UDDERS. As my two granddaughters joined me in the sanctuary all they noticed were tears, they had no idea they were for them and many others and not for me. With a granddaughter on each side of me they grasped my hands as people did for me when I had seizures many years ago. The hugs they gave me, the support they supplied me was an awesome scene in my eyes.


Yes, the very hands I held as little kids supporting their wobbling attempts of standing and walking were now holding my hands as my bone cancer put a wobble in my step. Words can't describe how wonderful it is to have the support around me that I do from all sides. What a treasure in grandma’s heart, what a warm spot in my mind.


Heal? Heal? Heal? Put your carrot down Satan I’m not biting. Any time the Lord is ready to heal me I’m ready too. Until then I’m thankful my cancer is under control and that I have the company of those around me who love and support me, my ALL UDDERS and You Lord. May we all line up in the procession by the pool prepared to be healed physically and spiritually ready to answer when the Lord says, “Do you want to be healed?” Yes Lord, Yes!


***Later in the day after posting this on my blogspot my doctor told me they have found a fracture in my left shoulder blade around a cancerous area. How it happened will remain a mystery forever, now its time to heal and go on with my journey. Heavenly Father, as always I'm in your hands. Looking at the number of bone cancer lesions my body has I shouldn't be alive today. I'm thankful you were watching out for me to get it all under control when they did and that Your caring loving eyes and heart are still on duty. You are my Lord, the one who has never left me nor forsaken me. I welcome Your guidance and strength, I treasure Your love.                             Karen

The test of Time

“Inevitably, the calendar crowds out the Spirit and the face of the clock hides the face of God. Prayer ceases to be the free breath of a ransomed soul and becomes a duty to be fulfilled. From “Transforming Prayer” by Daniel Henderson”

Busy, busy, busy, we always seem to be busy don’t we? Our calendars show it; our amount of time spent on the run shows it. We don’t need to be someone on the road traveling across the country to be “busy” we can be too busy watching TV or being lazy to spend time with God.


It is said that if we look at our checkbook we can see what the most important thing in our life is. It reflects where God stands. Our time and how we spend it does the same. If we would stop and take a long look at what we have done with our time would our actions pass the “test of time?” How many times do we grab for our cell-phones verses grabbing for our Bibles. How important is it to us to read our emails than read God’s word. Do we talk more on the phone than we talk to God? Are we a lot more excited about getting a text message from someone than we are a message from God?


With my head bowed low I raise my hand in guilt admitting I’m one of those people that are anxious to see if I’ve got any “new messages” on my phone, facebook, or email. I have to stop once in awhile and ask myself, “How many times in a day do I do that with God. Anxiously looking to see if He had a message for me, eager to hear what He has to say.”


It’s important that our reverence for God be reflected in our time and on our daily calendar. If its not then soon our conversation with God becomes more of a duty to fulfill, “Oh I forgot to pray today I better hurry up and get it done,” rather than a random act of keeping in touch with our Heavenly Father.


As our calendars on our cellphones are set to remind us of an appointment or special occasion we need to add God into the mixture. “Need to add” is the key. It would do us well to remember the only things that get on our calendars are the things we put there. They don’t get there by themselves; we are the ones who have to make the effort to load it with its information. So the next time we are putting something on our calendars why not add, “Remember to spend time with God today!”


We can’t be throwing God the crumbs and leftovers of our time, efforts, energies or money and expect to get His full blessings. It just doesn’t work that way. It will never pass the test of time but adding God to our social calendar instead of taking Him off will. It’s a test that will show where our priorities are and where the waste begins.

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

None Too Little, None Too Small

“ If we can trust God for our eternal salvation, how can we not trust Him to provide for the “little” things of life?” ~M.E.Howard


Where was it ever written that God was only in charge of the “big stuff” like eternal salvation? We can read the Bible from front to back and back to front and we will not find such a message anywhere. Unfortunately somewhere in life we started to live as if it was written, tried, and true that God was above dealing with the “little” things in life.


To be perfectly honest we would be the last to admit we are living off that theory. However, there’s enough evidence to prove otherwise. As noble as it may sound God doesn’t need our help with the little things so He can maintain the bigger things in life. What He needs from us is our trust with all areas of our lives not just the “bigger stuff.”


Think about it, it’s a wonderful thing to know that our needs, prayer requests, petitions are not weighed on a scale of severity. A scale where bigger things come first and then if God has time for the “little” things then He will eventually get around to it. In an emergency room in a hospital you may see a sign that says, “People are seen in the order of severity” but with God you won’t see such a sign. A sign that says, “Prayers are answered in the order of severity or size.”


Years ago when I was on switchboard at a doctor’s office I had a patient call me. Come to find out she was sitting at our urgent care center waiting to be seen. She didn’t think she was getting in fast enough so she called the switchboard hoping to get connected with someone who could get her in quicker. I reminded her of the need to see the more severe patients first and that they will get to her as soon as possible and they did. Instead of being labeled “left without being seen” her patience got her the attention she was seeking.


God doesn’t operate on “order of severity” there is enough of Him to go around for everyone. Years ago when my life was at its worse I seemed to be on the prayer sheet at church more than the standard weekly greeting at the top of page. I often wondered if I was taking God away from other things more important than having to deal with me.


How foolish! The fact is there is enough of God to go around. He is greater than we give Him credit for. One of the most wonderful things about God is the fact that He isn’t bothered with having to deal with the “little” things in life. To Him they are just as important as something as big as preparing our eternal home.


What is required of us is patience and trust. We can’t be like the lady visiting the Immediate Care Center thinking she wasn’t getting in fast enough. God cares about the little and the big, no one will be overlooked, overshadowed, or disregarded. Instead of leaving His presence without being seen we need to stay and trust that indeed there are none too little or none too small. Praise the Lord!

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Priority Mail

“Prayer invites us to rest in the fact that God is in control, and the world’s problems are ultimately God’s, not ours. If I spend enough time with God, I will inevitably begin to look at the world from the point of view that more resembles God’s own. What is faith, after all but believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.”~ Philip Yancey ~Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

Prayer is such a wonderful experience simply for the fact that we do find rest and reassurance there. It gives us comfort to know that people are praying for us. It gives us strength to know we can do something for others. It was James who told us, “the fervent prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.”

The key word to James’ quote is “fervent.” In other words we are to be keen, eager, zealous, enthusiastic, and passionate in our prayers. The more we do it we find ourselves beginning to look at the world from God’s point of view. If you think about it prayer should be causing an adrenaline rush in us that no energy drink could top. Try selling that out in the market and see what you get! Prayer is something that comes not only with an energy rush but a time of great calming as well.

If you think about it we take prayer to lightly. We often treat it like express overnight mail all in one to get what we want as quickly as it possibly can arrive. That’s not their purposes. Prayers are not measured by how quickly they are answered or how many eloquent words we use to send them. Even Jesus warned about using a bunch of empty words just for show. They are a priority mail between us and God and like the postmen say “if it fits it ships.” Our prayers fit. There are none too small nor any to big for God to handle.

Our part in all of this is to have the faith and patience needed to send our prayers and wait for the answers to arrive. We can’t be like the disappointed kid who throws a fit at Christmas when they don’t get what they want. Our gift is more found in the sending of our prayers than in the arrival of the answers. We may not always get what we ask for but we can rest assure the answers are what were best for us.

This is where faith steps in as we believe in advance what will only make sense in reverse. God is in control and we hand that control panel over to Him when we frequently and fervently go to Him in prayer.

© 2010 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Tragedy To Triumph

Recently I had the privilege of being one of the contributing writers to Guideposts latest book series on prayer.

It was a great honor to be able to share one of many victories brought on through this awesome avenue.


To God be the glory!

In love W.I.T.H. Jesus,


Karen

Affected By the Promises of God

“God’s promises are never affected by our failures. He can use us at any age.” Michael Youssef from Leading the Way.


At work in my desk drawer I keep a handbook that lists the Promises of God. Each morning as I prepare to start my day I take it out and pick a promise to use in my Morning Prayer walk around the chemotherapy room. With God’s pledge in my heart I begin my morning walk from chair to chair praying the words of God’s promises. A prayer directed towards the patients who sit in the chairs and the family and friends beside them in their journey.

Promises such as:
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
“The testing of your faith produces patience”
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation”
“Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights”
“We have a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead”
“Be anxious for nothing but in prayer with thanksgiving let your requests be
known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”
“Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find”
“In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he
trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting
strength”

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord as the list goes on….

What a wonderful thing to know that God’s promises are not affected by our failures. Since we all fall short of God’s glory no one would qualify for God’s promises if the pre-requisite for them in our lives was failure free first and forever! Ouch!

It’s important to learn that just because we have failed in things doesn’t make us a failure. If you think about it, we're all "udderly flawed" in some way or another. What seems to do us more harm than good are not the things we fail at but the perception of always thinking we are a failure because we lack the successes we think we should have. We carry around in our heart our own “easy” button in the form of a “failure alert” knob. A button we frequently push or allow others to push for us that sounds off, “Failure, Failure, Failure.”

It’s time to take the measuring stick away from what we think we should measure up to and measure ourselves against Christ. As cancer knows no age limit neither does God when it comes to being able to use us to do His work. To Him we all can be a success story when we allow Him to work through us. We don’t have to wait until we turn 18 or 21 or 50, He can use us at any age.
It’s not like searching for a job where one of the main qualifications listed is “experience required or preferred.” What God prefers is a willing heart, one that is willing to learn from their failures in order to grow in their faith.

God’s promises are not affected by our failures but our failures can be affected by God’s promises, Praise the Lord. Think about it and you’ll see. Experience it and you’ll know.



The lovely host today is….oh its me! Well stay here and share and go make the rounds to see what others have to say about today’s quote.

Miracles in the Making

IOW quote February 22, 2008

“Miracles have happened when God’s people come together in prayer”—Billy Graham

There’s a funny thing about miracles. We don’t believe them when they happen and we fail to recognize them for what they are. For example, if God was to part the Pacific Ocean today and have us all walk to China when we got there, someone in the crowd would speak up and say, “I don’t think God did that. It must have been the reverse tidal wave brought on by a shift in the atmosphere due to the full moon on the 4th day of the 7th month in an odd calendar year that parted the ocean like that.” That’s how idiotic some people sound when they refuse to believe the wonders God can perform.

Another problem is people don’t have enough faith in themselves to think that their prayers can make a difference. Their reasoning is, “Yeah, the prayers of Billy Graham or other top evangelist maybe but not me, no way. After all I’m just a little follower of Christ from a hick town in Oregon who hasn’t been out in the field that long.” Wrong!

We forget where miracles come from and who is behind them. It’s not our power that makes mountains move. It’s not our strength that makes us walk on water. It’s God working through us. It’s His power. His miracle. And as always we get to be the recipient of them.

Big or little we are the ones who get to see God at work if we would take the time to observe. The miracle of birth, physical and emotional healing, safe travels, miraculous escapes and near misses all because of God’s miraculous power unleashed through prayers. I guess you can say, “It’s God at work and we helped.” That’s what we are here for so God can use us to do great things.

In Matthew 18:19, 20 Jesus told those listening, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Wow what a promise. Prayer is not reserved for those who have been Christians the longest. It’s not set aside for “preacher’s only” its for everyone. Praise the Lord. It’s there for all of us to use not abuse. How effective we are is up to us as the Bible says the “prayers of a righteous man are effective.” We can make a difference and it starts with believing and trusting in the one who makes miracles happen. Our Lord Savior.

CLOSING THOUGHT: We can’t be guilty of lining up the miracles we have seen happen and measure them against what others have experienced and draw an imaginary line showing who is more righteous or not. Some of the greatest miracles are the ones that go unseen. The ones we will never know about until we get to Heaven. Ones that made the biggest variation in the littlest way that show up when we least expect them as a result of going through life on our knees. To God be the glory. To His kingdom be the benefit, the recipient of these miracles in the making!


This week, Christelle is hosting "In 'Other' Words" at her site, Beloved Mama. Go on over there to read and share what others have to say about today's quote.