God's Promises and the faith of a child.

Romans 10:17 Consequently faith comes from hearing the word, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Matthew 18:20 For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them. Psalm 5:3 In the morning Lord you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Philipians 4:6 Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive anything you ask for in prayer. Matthew 6:25-34 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat what you will drink; nor about your body what you will put on. Is not life more then food and the body more then clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value then them? Which of you by worrying can add an hour to your life? So why do you worry about clothing? See the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,; and yet I say to you not even Solomon in all his splendor was not dressed as one of these. Now if God clothese the grass of the field, which is hear today, and gone tomorrow, will He not much more clothe you? O you of little faith. Therefore do not worry saying what will we eat? or what will we drink? or what will we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Fathers knows you need these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I stood at my daughter's window this morning after she left for school and I was watching the birds eat from the neighbor's bird feeder. I was praying that the Lord bring the $5,000 we need to catch up and get food.

My 4 yr old son walked into the room and asked "mommy who are you talking to?" I replied "God" He asked "what are you talking to Him about? You should talk to Him like this (eyes closed hands folded)" I said " I was asking God to help us get money to pay our bills." He replied "well I will pray to God for that." And he took my hand, closed his eyes and said "God please give my mommy money to pay our bills. Amen." Then he looked at me and said "there mommy it's all done. The mailman is in heaven right now getting the money from God and he will bring it to us today." "Can we go play now?"

I see what the Lord is saying when he tells us to be like a child. My son asked, kept it short and sweet, believes it will happen and moves on. Not a care in the world. I asked for it, so it will happen. WOW! What a lesson from watching this little guy. Exactly as God would have us do. Ask, believe, and move on.

I know God heard him. I know God was there with us. This is the first time I've actually had two people joined together to pray about this. And surprisgnly when he was finished I had this peace wash over me. I am excited to see what the Lord will do.

God help me to seek you first, and trust that all others things will be added if I do this.

Did I ever mention how much I feel I relate to David?

David was a very emotional person. David knew the Lord. David wrote many of the Psalms. In today's world, David probably would have seemed emitionally unstable and that gives me joy because often times I feel just like him.

One day David is high as a kite, loving life and praising God.

The next, down depressed, feeling like his world was falling apart.

I can relate. Somedays are great. Even when it seems like nothings working out God's peace floods me and I am ok with things. Other days, like today, I feel like I could curl up under the covers and spend the day in bed. There is no real reason for feeling like this. Nothing has changed. I just wake up weary sometimes.

I just reading Psalm 6 this morning, and it certainly speaks to me. I read a Psalm and Proverb a day that correlates with the date and also my regular readings or anything I feel led to read. At least I try to. This is part of the whole discipline thing.

This morning Psalm 6 was right on with how I feel.

Psalm 6[a]
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, LORD, how long?

4 Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?

6 I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.

8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

I think this Psalm is a Psalm of intense despair, but also a proclamation of faith. To me verses 8-10 don't are not the physical evidence of what God has done for David but a declaration of what God promises. If we believe His word and trust in Him there are some things He promises unconditionally.

Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


The thing that really stands out is that God promises to provide for us if we SEEK HIM FIRST. I think God is really trying to impress this upon my heart. I think a lot of times that's what's been wrong. My priorities are all out of whack. I know I've thought "how do I not make money the primary focus when so much of our life is revolved around it." example---if we have no money we can't buy food which is turn affects everday life. If we don't have money to pay the electric bill the turn the power off. This affects everyday life.
I find that even my sleep is not restful. I go to bed worrying about the bills and the first thing I do when I wake up is think about the bills for that day. I don't necessarily think it's wrong to have those things on our mind....we are afterall, human. I also think the enemy is there coming on as strong as possible at night trying to get into our head and be upset and doubt God's provision. I do however, think that it's what we do with those thoughts after they come to us. It's easy to get caught up in the what if's. What if God doesn't provide food, what will you and the kids eat? What if God doesn't give you the money to pay the bills, what will you do? What if God doesn't come through....what are you going to do "just in case"? When these thoughts come we need to speak God's word. If your faith is weak speak His word out loud. He says in Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
So speak His word. Remind Him of His promises to provide to take care of you. Remind God that He says we are indeed more important then the birds of the air. That we are more important then the grass in the field. And most importantly speak positive into your life. I know especially for me it's easy to wake up in the bad mood and dwell on it. To stay in that frame of mind. But God says that we need to think of the good things.
Philipians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

You may not feel like praising God. You may not feel like getting out of your funk but know this. Life isn't about doing things we feel like doing. Doing something you don't feel like doing in it of itself is an act of faith. Declaring the victory before it comes. That is faith. And I believe this is what David was doing in this Psalm. The enemy came against him at night, he wept, he cried, he had his pity party then he changed his attitude and remembered God's promises. He declared them out loud of the enemy to hear. He sent that no good liar running while proclaiming God's truth. So this morning, even though I feel down, I will praise God. I am here and I trust in His promises and provision.

Revelations

I wish I could say that things here were better. Really, they're not. We are falling more and more behind each day that passes. But one sort of ahhh huh moment came to me the other day and it may just be the lesson God has had in all of this for us.
God has brought me to this place of complete dependence on Him. I really mean this. When we can't pay our bills I often try to find things to sell to try to earn extra money. I have cashed in all of my bonds, pawned jewelry, sold most of my clothing on ebay, and was hoping to be able to sell more. But God had different plans. He broke my card reader so I can't upload pictures. The reason I believe God did it, is because I am still looking to much on myself to provide the extra....to fix the problem. This is still not what God wants. He wants me to believe Him and He's taken every possible last way of making money and completely made it useless. He is bringing me to a place of total faith in Him.
He has also given me a heart to help others when they are in this situation. Often times we think we can't do anything. But oh how I would have rejoiced if I had gone to the grocery store and someone came up behind me and offered to pay. Can you imagine? What a testimony of God's love would that be? See we're not just called to sit on our duffs and live our life and speaks the words. How can we sit and spew our "religious" words and not put into action what God has called us to do? What greater expression of God's love then to live out your faith in your community. Fill up a gas tank, pay for the person's food behind you in the drive through, pay for groceries etc. This one small act can speak volumes.
God is calling me in this way to make Himself known. God has allowed me to go through this so I can understand the need, and how one meal can be such a blessing.

Most times I really wish God wouldn't allow these things in our lives, but what better way to learn then to go through it yourself.

It's like the loss of a child. You can't truly understand it unless you lived it.

All of this is part of His plan for me, and though right now I'm still in the "this really stinks" phase, I pray that God will bring us through quickly and that He will bless us so that we may bless others. He has opened my eyes to the needs of people. He is preparing to use me.

Funny thing is, I've prayed so many times for God to use me. That I could be a testimony to Him. I never thought it would require me going through so much garbage. lol I somehow thought that life would be lollipops and roses and that I would be able to help people. And I'm not saying that this doesn't happen, but you certainly become more relatable if you've lived it.

I pray we get through this quickly. I pray for a blessing so I can pay off the bills and catch up. I pray that I be blessed so that I can bless others. I am grateful for finally seeing the light and knowing that God has a plan for all of this.

And most of all that no matter what you do, no matter how much you've messed up, God isn't sitting there wondering what now. I've made many mistakes over the years and the thing is God knew this would happen and it's all part of His plan. He's not scrambling around trying to make a plan B because of choices I've made. This is all part of plan A and He can work it all for His glory and our good.
So I sit and trust God with the desires of my heart. I pray and ask in faith for His provision. And the action I take, is to do nothing. Because somehow I feel like I can fix it if I do this or that. But it's not me who can fix this. Only God can. And I have to believe He will.