I heard someone speaking the other day about relationships and she quoted some statistics that were very interesting.  She said that it's been proven that 10% of the people you meet and know will take an immediate and permanent dislike to you.  They will cross you off their list before you even get on it. 

That's one in ten people who will not like you.  For no reason at all.   AND then she gave some other statistics about how three in ten people will EVENTUALLY dislike you and will have a reason for doing so. They will think you are too something or other - or maybe they will think you are not something or other - but they will use it to justify not liking you and not pursuing a friendship with you.  

So that's four out of ten who will NOT LIKE YOU.  That leaves six people out of ten to work with.  Six people out of ten.  And of those six people, only one (according to her) will "get" you, and love you, and stand next to you through life's ups and downs. Only one will be a true friend.

The real secret is to decide which "one in ten" I will focus on. 

I guess it's human nature to focus on the one person who doesn't like me. Or to replay in my mind the scenario that happened to cause the other three people who DID think they liked me to change their minds and walk away.  I guess it's nothing but healthy to allow myself to see their "truth" about me, to see the truth in their criticisms of me, and to grow and learn from it, while grieving the end of a friendship.  It hurts when a friendship ends... no matter whose "fault" it is.   But.. as the song says, "I can't make you love me if you don't".......and that's the truth.  Some people... just won't. 

There is that "one in ten" who loves me.  I have friends who have been my friend for decades.  They know me, I know them.....and we love each other anyway.  I have learned, as the years have passed, that these "one in ten" friends are more precious than gold.  And yet, 

as thankful as i am for the "one in ten" friends I have....

I would have to say that the real secret to contentment and fulfillment is to BE the "one in ten" friend to others.  To BE what I want others to be for me.  

If I focus on being that "One In Ten" ..........that's the focus that fulfills more than counting who loves me and who does not. 

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEONE WHO LOVES ME....NO MATTER WHAT.  HE IS THE KING OF HEAVEN.  That's enough love for a lifetime. 

"Do to others what you would like others to do to you." - Jesus

You know.. life is so scary.  That's the honest-to-goodness truth.  Even if you are living a life in a good and peaceful season right now - you know - because you are human - that at any moment a phone call, a doctor's report, a sickness, a disaster can turn your world upside down.

I think quickly.  That's the way my brain works.  Sometimes that's good... when I have to figure something out, or find a new way to write about an old subject .. but sometimes.. it can get me in to trouble.  I can think about what can happen... or more specifically.... what can go wrong... IN AN INSTANT!  

And so... I have.. in the past.. (and sometimes, still, in the present) given myself stress over something that MIGHT happen......and usually never does.

Then I realized that God gives me a choice every day.  I call it "Choice Thinking".  I can choose to think about all the bad things that COULD happen... and I would be 100% accurate in saying that it COULD happen.

OR

I could choose to remember the faithfulness of God and all the things in my life that COULD HAVE GONE WRONG and because of the LORD'S GREAT MERCY... did not.

True - the economy is looking scarier and scarier

TRUER - the Lord provides for His children.

True - at any moment disaster could strike.

TRUER - When we walk through the waters, He will walk with us.

True - the world is getting more wicked

TRUER - God is in control.

True - The world is a scary place

TRUER - God has not given us a spirit of fear.  He HAS given us LOVE, POWER and a SOUND MIND.

True - Life is filled with trouble.

TRUER - "In this world you WILL HAVE trouble, but be of GOOD CHEER for I  have OVERCOME THE WORLD!!" - Jesus, The Christ, The King of Kings and Lord of Lord, Ruler of All that Is.

True - Sickness can destroy us.

TRUER - "I am the Lord who healeth thee"

CHOICE THINKING means remembering that God has been faithful.  You are reading this today... because???  Because He wants to remind you that HE IS FAITHFUL.. even when you are not.   He will never let go of you.  

Ever.

Not yesterday.

Not today

and not tomorrow. 

So... think about that.  It's your choice to remember the FAITHFULNESS OF GOD...

OR NOT.

Ever notice when siblings get caught doing something wrong... they often blame the other guy. "HE DID IT!!"

"I DID NOT !!!"

"YES! YOU DID!".........(tears, sobs)

Well... honestly.. some of us have never grown up. And we often don't like to take the blame for stuff.  Who does? 

This is always unfair on our part - especially if we should take all or part of the blame.  

But what about when we get blamed for something that we really, truly,  honestly, sincerely did not do? 

Say....

A co-worker hints that YOU are the one responsible for a catastrophe and your boss believes him...or.....

someone says you gossiped about someone and you did not... or..

people have the idea that the reason your marriage failed is completely YOUR fault.... or...

you said something and the other person thinks you meant something mean and you didn't.. or

the list goes on and on.

Being blamed for something that you don't deserve to be blamed for can knock the wind out of your sails... and make you want to give up.

Jesus understands.

He was perfect - they blamed Him for things He did not do.

They killed Him.

How did He react when treated unjustly.  He did not retaliate.. He prayed for them.  And trust that God would judge the situation justly.

IF you are struggling with being misunderstand.. and being blamed for something you should not be blamed for...

JESUS UNDERSTANDS.

Tell Him.

He will send the comfort you need. 

He knows what it feels like.

When a small child gets hurt - maybe falls off his bicycle - at first there is intense drama... they cry.. they scream.. they sob.   And a good parent goes to the child and holds them and lets them cry and sob.. and comforts that child..  And the next step is to attend to the wound.. Get some healing.. get some medicine.  And as the wound is healing, a good parent keeps it covered and protected.  A good parents doesn't want that old wound to open up again. 

BUT... if.... six weeks later we observe the parent and child were still crying over the wound.. still sitting in the driveway sobbing and crying together... we would think that parent was being a very neglectful one.  Wouldn't we?  Yes.  We would.

The most loving thing a good parent can do is direct the child away from the wound... and back in to enjoying life.  It  isn't mean.   It isn't heartless. It isn't ignoring the grief that's been suffered... It's the pathway to healing. 

The highest goal of dealing with and healing a wound..is to live as you did before you were wounded.  Isn't it?  Yes. It is.  The child on the bike will be wiser next time.. maybe avoiding that part of the driveway that caused the fall.. but.. the whole idea of healing is to be WHOLE AGAIN.  Isn't it?  Yes. It is. 

And God, our Heavenly Father is the only PERFECT PARENT. He holds us, heals us, hides us ad then He guides us back in to the life we are supposed to live.  He doesn't sit there with us for decades and decades crying in the "driveway" over the wounds we have suffered.  First...

• HE HOLDS US. when life has wounded us - people, events, death, illness, emotional wars - there is a season when He simply holds us and comforts us and lets us cry.  He comforts.  He sits there with us while we cry.. and He grieves with us for the pain we are feeling.  Even if we caused it ourselves.  He is our FATHER and He comforts.
  

• HE HEALS US. And then.. when we feel and know that He is there holding us.. He begins to deal with the wound.  And at times this can be painful.  He UNCOVERS the wound and inspects it.  And He pours medicine on it... His Word.. His Spirit..  His begins the process of healing us.   He might teach us how to avoid it in the future.. what we did to cause the pain.. or.. not.  He just heals. Heals. Heals.  The first step toward healing is to get over the indignation that hurt has touched us.. touched our lives.  We have to accept that this HAS happened to us.  We cannot be healed if all we do is scream that we've been hurt.  Life is hard.  Some days the sun is shining on you and some days the rain is destroying you.  The sun will shine again. The rain will fall again.  IT's called "LIFE".True, some things - some losses - are so devastating that life as we knew it can never be as it was before... but.. still... we must, with God's help, continue to live life.  Continue to believe He will hold us and heal us. 

• HE HIDES US.  For a season, He hides the wounds.. like a parent puts a bandage on it.  He protects us... our hearts.. our spirits.  He is healing us, he is holding us, he is hiding us.  But eventually.. just like every good parent, He takes the protection off the wound.  Every wound has a time when the best healing is to simply be exposed to the air.  By the time an earthly parents does this.. the kid is outside playing again.. and not remembering the bike accident.  As a matter of fact, the kid is riding his bike again.  There comes a time when we have to get back to building His Kingdom, loving our King, loving His people, shining His light, preaching His Gospel... winning the LOST.
  

• HE GUIDES US... back in to the life we had before we were wounded.  REAL HEALING cannot happen if we refuse to stop being hysterical and ANGRY about what has happened. REAL HEALING eventually leads to REAL LIVING again.

It isn't heartless to tell someone who's been wounded - after a season - "OK, go outside and play again."  It's loving parenting.  It isn't heartless to tell someone who has had spiritual or emotional wounds that they need to keep looking toward being WHOLE again.  Get out there and fight the good fight !  AGAIN...AND AGAIN... Keep getting up.  Keep going on.

IF you've been wounded, let Him hold you, let Him hide you, let Him heal you. But remember, eventually you have to go outside and play again.  You have to live your life again.

BE HEALED. BE WHOLE.  

"I have come to heal the broken hearted" - Jesus  

HE WILL HEAL YOU... IF YOU WILL LET HIM.  WHY DON'T YOU LET HIM?  TELL HIM RIGHT NOW... "Lord, I am broken.  Heal me. Please."

So......................like..................uhhhhhhhhhh.............

LOVE MATTERS TO GOD.   We say we know this.. but sometimes love doesn't matter to His followers.  We have dimininshed love.  We have made it something "emotional" and "weak".  But LOVE IS THE MOST POWERFUL THING IN THE UNIVERSE.  It is our eternal search for it that keeps us going.  It is the absence of it that causes a person to do anything to find it.  

MOST IMPORTANTLY....It is the driving force behind ALL that God does and plans.  When a person cannot grasp that it was LOVE that made Jesus die on the Cross.. they cannot grasp the Gospel.When someone cannot believe that Jesus only motive for going on that Cross was LOVE - LOVE - LOVE... they cannot grasp the Gospel.  When they don't comprehend that they will never comprehend love that would TAKE a punishment that was not deserved.. they don't grasp the Gospel.

WE may convince ourselves that we can figure out a way we can earn, or deserve eternal LIFE... BUT WE CANNOT.   It is a GIFT from God... and LOVE is the reason.

Many times...people we know cannot grasp the Gospel because sometimes they cannot feel our LOVE... They cannot feel that the reason we are telling them that God has the gift of eternal life for them is because we LOVE them.

Sometimes it's our local church we are serving - our motive is to build that local church - sorta like a "Come join our CLUB" message..... and people cannot grasp the Gospel if LOVE is not the motive.

LOVE doesn't care who gets the credit as long as God's LOVE is given and received.

It is regretable that when we stand before LOVE HIMSELF... and He looks at WHY we did WHAT we did in HIS NAME....... it will be the most unfortunate moment to realize that LOVE has nothing to do with what we do.  

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS TO GOD.  And LOVE for Him and LOVE for others has to be the reason.  

WITHOUT LOVE...........I am nothing.......and so are you.

I don't know why some people are just continually sour and grouchy.  Sure, life is difficult and at times... it's more difficult than others.   I'm not talking about someone who is suffering under the weight of a trial.. or catastrophe.

I'm talking about someone who is just impatient and grouchy all the time every day.  Why?  Why? Why? 

Do you know someone like that?  Do you have someone in your life who always sees life as a glass being half empty instead of half full? 

God loves grouchy people.  Yes He does.

He loves them, and He wants them, and He calls to them and He yearns for them to come Home.  To let Him love them.

When a grouchy person is raining on your day... remember that God loves that person.

Yes.  He does.

It isn't easy... to just trust God.  If it WAS easy everyone would be doing it. 

But... it takes the kind of faith that comes from another world to have the kind of faith to get you through this one.  We cannot just HAVE this kind of faith... but if we ASK FOR IT.. God will gladly give it to us.

When we just trust that He loves us..

that He is good

that He will never fail us

that He is in control of all things

that He knows what we are going through

that His answer is on it's way

then life is easy.

Isn't it?

If you don't have that kind of steady faith.... I have found that when I ask for the faith that I need to get me through the life I am living... 

I get it.

Ask for faith.

Admit you don't have it.

Ask for faith.

And you will get it.

As a gift.

Jesus is the Conqueror of all that exists.  He is the King of the Universe.  All authority has been given to Him ... ALL authority over ALL THINGS.  And... He shares all that power and authority with all who believe.  HE has been GIVEN all Authority by God.......and......what does HE DO with what HE HAS WON?  He shares it with His disciples.  

And I am learning that I rarely use THE POWER and THE AUTHORITY that is mine as a child of God through Jesus, His Son.  I have been given whatever Jesus has been given.  I have authority over whatever Jesus has authority over.  And He is teaching me.........like a mother eagle who makes the nest less comfortable so that her babies will learn that they can FLY..........He is teaching me to USE the authority HE HAS WILLINGLY GIVEN TO ME.

And....so the Kingdom of God is not merely about "words" but of POWER.  

If I forget the TRUTH about WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus did and how that affects me, then I believe the LIE that I am powerless.   I am not.  And if you have confessed Him as your LORD then.. neither are you. 

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME.  YOU WANNA TALK GIFTS? NOW THAT'S A GIFT !

The last couple of days I have had a stiff neck that is VERY PAINFUL.  I don't know what caused it but I wish it would go away.  It's difficult to think of anything but how much it hurts to turn my neck.  All of my pillows have become like stone boulders.. nothing is comfortable... and ibuprofen doesn't affect it enough to make a difference.

The pain in my neck is bad enough.. but... did you know that the body often reacts with sympathy pain?  It means that because one little spot in my body - a muscle, a tendon, a nerve - is inflamed or hurting... other areas are hurting also.  My head hurts... but the pull is in my shoulder.. or neck.. or somewhere... 

As I type this, nothing matters more to me than this pain going away.  My entire day is affected by my stiff neck.  It's difficult for me to think about others today.  It's difficult to concentrate on anything but the vice squeezing on my head.  (At least that's what it feels like) All I want is for the pain to go away.  If someone could promise me that the pain would go away, I would pay them anything they wanted......for the pain to go away.   I've had well meaning family and friends say things like, "Do you think you slept wrong?", "Are you sitting at your computer too long?", "Do you remember when you hurt yourself?" 

At this point in time, I don't really care or have the desire or strength to figure out what CAUSED THE PAIN.  

I JUST WANT IT TO GO AWAY AND TO GO AWAY NOW!

MOST PEOPLE YOU MEET are often in severe pain - perhaps physically, emotionally, spiritually. 

The first and most important attribute a healer can have is to understand that the person in pain just wants relief from the pain.  Period.   When someone is in pain, it is NOT the moment to try to help them figure out what caused it.. or that they did something wrong.. or careless.. or stupid and that's why they are in pain.

Sympathy pain means feeling what the person is feeling and understanding that comfort should always come before correction.

When it comes to sympathy pain, Jesus did more than have sympathy - HE TOOK OUR PAIN ON HIS BODY.  He sympathized so much for us and our painful, pitiful lives on earth, that He gave up His own life to heal us.

His followers should be the ones who understand that people in pain are often self-absorbed and just wanting the pain to stop.  If you are not in pain at the moment, if you have a season where you are feeling healthy- then share your strength with someone else. 

Do what you can to take someone's pain away. No matter what they may have done to cause it. 

 (Well, here it is the next day... Saturday morning... and the stiff neck is greatly improved and I am almost without pain.  Thank you to The Healer for healing me.)

.......WHAT I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THEN... THEN MAYBE I wouldn't be thinking, "Wish I knew then what i know now"

I think about Paul, the Apostle of Jesus, who wrote a great deal of the New Testament. And before he was Paul the Apostle of Jesus, he was Saul of Tarsus and Saul's main goal was to eradicate Christianity.

And THEN... He becomes God's greatest tool to reach the world.  But.. I wonder if there were times he was with a group of Believers.. and maybe he was responsible for the death of some of the family members of the people gathered there.  I wonder how they dealt with this? 

I wonder how the people forgave Paul for being responsible for the death of their father.. or their son.. or their brother?  I wonder how Paul forgave himself for the harm he caused to the Body of Christ?

Evidently, he found a way to be effective and be honest about himself at the same time.  He didn't hide the pride he had - but he didn't let it keep him from moving forward.

We aren't told how Paul dealt with his former, though religiously zealous, mistakes.  He may have gone to people to ask for forgivenes... or not. 

The main thing is that Paul didn't let guilt... or condemnation... or mistakes keep him from completing the life tasks that God had ordained for him. And neither did the people he had hurt.  The Gospel was the most important thing.   They didn't let the humaness of the messenger distract them from the GLORY of the MESSAGE!!!

And neither should we. 

I was decorating the Christmas tree yesterday, and had a CD playing of Bible verses and music.   One of the verses hit me... it said that Jesus HEALED whoever came to Him and asked to be healed.  He also healed people who didn't ASK to be healed... like.. the man sitting by the Pool of Bethesda, and the dead son He resurrected back to life... not to mention Lazarus.  These people didn't ASK to be resurrected.. obviously... but Jesus did it anyway.

The point is that HEALING is what Jesus was all about.  HEALING.  Healing sick people. 

AND....it's obvious that the first step toward being healed is acknowleding that you NEED TO BE.

And I got to thinking about how often I refuse to acknowledge that I need to be healed.  I brush it off.  I don't know if it's because I don't think He WILL heal me... or because I think it's just part of being alive to battle disease. 

And.. I'm not speaking just of physical illnesses.. but.. even more specifically of broken heartedness.. and loneliness... and disillusiionment... and every emotional sickness that follows every one of us.

If we don't acknowledge that we need to be healed.... then what's the point in calling out to the Holy Healer?

If we don't believe He has the power and the willingness to heal us... then what's the point in calling out to the Holy Healer?

He wants to heal me.  He wants to heal you.  ALL POWER has been given to Him. He can do it.

Ask Him to.

Furrthermore.... as His Follower....my words must be spoken... The Gospel coming from my mouth... must have as its motive the desire to announce HEALING.

Healing from eternal death.

Healing from emotional pain.

Healing from physical pain.

Healing.

Not a big deal to Someone who has conquered DEATH ITSELF.

"Father.... send Your Word and heal me."

It took me many years of following Jesus to understand that it isn't about how tightly I hold on to HIM... but how tightly HE HOLDS ON TO ME!

It isn't about MY strength......it's about HIS.

It isn't about MY power......it's about HIS.

It isn't about MY love for HIM...it's about HIS LOVE FOR ME.

It isn't about MY holiness.....it's about HIS HOLINESS.

It isn't about my sacrifices....it's about HIS SACRIFICE.

It isn't about MY PROMISES TO HIM... it's about HIS PROMISES TO ME!

It isn't about me AT ALL.

IT'S all about JESUS.

It's about HOW MAGNIFICENT JESUS IS....

And He will NEVER LET GO OF ME. HE promised HE would "NEVER" leave me or forsake me.

HE PROMISED that even when I am too weak to have any strength to HOLD ON TO HIM...HE will never, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER 

LET GO OF ME.

IT ISN'T ABOUT ME HOLDING ON TO JESUS. If it was.....I'd be in trouble.

The good news is that it's about HIM HOLDING ON TO ME...

And He has strong everlasting arms.

Who's holding who? 

JESUS IS HOLDING ME.... and that's why I can sleep like a baby... and walk without fear.

It's all about JESUS.

....if we'd be honest.. that's what we are a great deal of the time - Unthankful Turkeys.  And I think it's because we forget that thankfulness is not ONLY about thanking God for what we have... but.. thankfulness is about what we don't have.

We don't have to fear that our country will be taken over by the army of another country.  This may seem kinda corny to say.... unless you stop and count the number of people in the world who are living under the rule of a country that just walked in and took over.

If today...

YOU DON'T HAVE - 

• someone you love in the hospital..
• someone you love with a terminal illness
• to put your children to bed hungry.. or cold...
• the loss of your eyesight, your hearing, or an arm or a leg
• to ignore hunger pangs of your own with no food to eat and no where to get food
• to ask someone else to help you to walk. 
• to wonder where you will sleep tonight.
• to feel all alone.  That you have at least one person you know you can call when you are in trouble who will drop everything to help you....

Then YOU DO HAVE something to thank God for.... and so do I. 

He gives many, many blessings  to me that I don't deserve....as He does for you. 

"Thank you God for all you give - and for all you keep away.  I am blessed"

Having a baby is a big deal to the baby's parents... but for the baby.. it's not really that big a deal.

Honestly?  The baby doesn't even realize it's a baby, or that it just entered LIFE, or that it's life is dependent on the parents who gaze adoringly at the baby.  Eventually... little by little.. the baby starts to comprehend that it exists...that the two people (parents) seem to like to give him food.. change his diapers... and pay lots of attention to him.  

Little by litte the baby becomes AWARE.  Life as a human starts to reveal itself.  Life is pretty limited to toys in a crib, eating, sleeping and diaper usage.  It goes on like this for a pretty long season, and then suddenly, things begin to change.

Just when the baby is starting to get the hang of important stuff like crawling, walking and chewing on anything he holds in his hands, those parents begin to change their attitude toward him.  Now, they say things like "NO! NO!" and they say it with a stern voice.  And then one day, like a flip of a switch, they begin something called Potty Training.  Here he was, all happy and content to let someone else take care of his messes, and NOW.. NOW.. he is being REQUIRED to take care of his own mess?  WHY?  ALL HIS LIFE THINGS WERE GOING FINE WITH THE DIAPER SYSTEM!  The baby has no reference to time.  All his life.. two years here or there - is not going to be ALL his life.  He doesn't know enough to see ahead to things like bicycles, and playing outside, and learning in school, and family vacations, and high school football games, etc.  He just knows what he knows and for ALL his life so far... the diaper system  of mess removal is perfectly fine with him.  And...

One day... out of the blue.. everything changes and now the Diaper System is being phased out.... completely.  ONE DAY...expecting someone else to clean up his mess is perfectly fine.. and then the next day.. it's bad?  

Any parent reading this knows that it is LOVE to phase out the Diaper System.  What parent would allow a five year old to go to school in diapers?  Phasing out the Diaper System is an act of love.

But not to the baby.  Not at first.  At first, the baby wants things to stay the way they are.  

Another thing a baby doesn't understand is that the day he was born, he became a being with an eternal future.  Some people are still babies when it comes to eternity.. and eternal things.  They don't want to have a Heavenly FATHER.. who teaches them and at times... requires them to grow up and learn.

 At times, God chooses a day to force us to grow and mature a little more than we have been.  He changes His mind, seemingly, and won't allow us to continue in an immature pattern.......even though.......up until this day.....  He seemed to have no problem with it.

We may not understand what He is trying to teach us.  Of course we don't.  If we ALREADY KNEW what He is trying to teach us.. He wouldn't be trying to teach us...  DUH.  TODAY may be a day when God is a Father to you and no longer a Heavenly Santa Claus who just gives you every thing you want.  Maybe today He is teaching you to endure something you've never endured before.. or experience something that hurts you...  

The baby being potty trained doesn't understand what's going on... he's a baby. He doesn't understand how IMPORTANT it is to leave The Diaper System and grow up.. Someday he will.  For now, he simply does what his parents say.

Sometimes.. to us... God's ways seems confusing.  It's not because He is NOT a good and perfect LOVE Father... it's because we are still babies in some ways.

Today.......if you are not sure He is allowing things that are happening in your life BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU... ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to remind you that His love never changes. 

But sometimes His love requires that we do.

We have dear, dear, dear, dear friends who live in another state and they are such an example to us (and everyone who knows them) of what it means to "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk."

This couple has a long history of international ministry... and their children have followed in their footsteps.  Their son, a traveling evangelist, is married to a pastor's daughter and a wonderful woman of God.  This woman has been suffering in her body for many years.  A brain disorder has caused her to feel numbness in parts of her body.. especially her feet. 

A few nights ago, while visiting a church, the pastor asked her if he could pray for her. She said "yes"... and without knowing that her feet were always completely NUMB he knelt down and touched her feet... and she immediately had feeling return.  I don't know what your theological position is about healing in this day and age.. but.....your position on it doesn't really matter to this young woman. 

BEFORE the prayer she had no feeling in her feet - AFTER the prayer she did.  Does SHE believe God still does miraculous healings?  YES SHE DOES!  

Anyway... as my friend.. her mother-in-law was telling me about it.......she said something that really caught my attention.  She said, "You know.. her lack of feeling in her feet actually is a result of a problem in her brain." 

The pastor touched the woman's feet, but God touched the woman's brain.  The pastor touched the OUTSIDE... but the healing took place INSIDE.

It got me thinking about that's the way God always works when we need to be healed. We cannot see where the deep healing needs to take place, but God does. 

• When there is a relationship gone dead......and we pray.. God heals on the  INSIDE. He softens a heart... a mind....a spirit.  The outside healing begins where only God can see... IN THE HEART. IN THE MIND. IN THE SPIRIT. 

•   We pray for people with habits that are destroying them...."God, please make them stop drinking!! " "God, please stop their anger!"  And we can think God isn't working because we cannot see the HEALING PLACE... the heart, the mind, the spirit of that person.  Be encouraged in God's Word.. and don't let outward actions convince you that God is not hearing your prayers.

WE ARE CALLED TO BE HIS INSTRUMENTS OF HEALING... BUT WE CAN ONLY TOUCH THE OUTSIDE.  We can hold someone, and bear their burdens, and help them... and we pray.. The Body of Christ on earth.. we pray.. and touch the outside but God goes to the Healing Place and heals the hearts... and heals the body....in places we cannot touch.. but He can and He will.

Anyway... yesterday when my friend told me the good news about her daugher-in-law, the Lord reminded me that The Healing Place is what's inside.......and that's where He sends healing FIRST. 

First......He sends the INSIDE Faith to someone to believe He can heal - situations, finances, bodies, relationships.  Then we speak the words of Faith to Him... and then He begins to heal.

And sometimes He is healing though we cannot see it.  We ask for healing.. and He heals us in the place we need to be healed.  And then......flowing from the secret place.. from the inside out........we can SEE the healing with our own eyes. And we rejoice and thank HIM for the answer to our prayers and for the faith to pray them in the first place.

Today.........I will rest in His ability to heal.......  He is working.  Even when I cannot see it.

When I was younger, I had answers for things all the time.  That's because when I was younger, I didn't have that many questions.  But... as a person.. any person... continues to live through life.....situations arise which... seemingly... do not have answers.  Well, at least they do not have easy and/or simple ones.

As I am watching the years go by, and getting ready to flip another year off the calendar, I know now that Jesus was telling the truth when He told His disciples, "In the world YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE."    Who knew that we would be living in a time in history which could also accurately say, "The world itself is in trouble"?

Everything - governments, the economies of nations, the earth itself - is shaking.  And you can just "feel" it.  This is enough to make people shake... Truly a time IS coming when "men's hearts will fail because of FEAR."  (another Scripture)  So Jesus was being the Truth when He told the truth that we would have trouble in the world.  So why did He tell us something we already know?

Jesus says,  "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]"  John 16:33 (Amplified Bible)

AND SO..WHEN THE WORLD SHAKES AND MY HEART QUAKES.

.. AND.. WHEN TROUBLES COME...

JESUS' WORDS COMFORT ME TO REMEMBER  THAT ALTHOUGH I AM IN THE STORM.. ALTHOUGH MY HEART BECOMES ANXIOUS..

WHATEVER I AM GOING THROUGH HAS ALREADY BEEN DEFEATED BY MY LORD, BY MY SAVIOR JESUS... AND THAT... THE TROUBLE DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER TO HARM OR CONQUER ME.   

AND IF HE IS YOUR LORD.. THE SAME THING IS TRUE FOR YOU.

So, I guess today's blog is just a reminder to rest in Him.. for me.. and you... HE IS VICTORIOUS OVER ALL THINGS... AND WHATEVER HE IS.. HIS CHILDREN ARE!

It isn't easy to forget some stuff, you know? Some things you are ashamed of can keep popping up in your mind. 

It isn't to forget when people you have loved betray you.  

It isn't easy to forget your failures. BUT IT IS NECESSARY.  People say you learn from your mistakes...but in God's kingdom... mistakes aren't what we learn from... we learn from His LOVE.

But forgetting the past is as important to following God as trying to find a new vision, His path for your life.

Only God can help us to forget the former things... and to believe He is doing a NEW thing.

Forgive yourself for your past mistakes.  Ask God to forgive you.  He will.

He often does a better job of forgetting my past than I do. Thank God.

Has anyone ever misunderstood something you've said?  Or something you've done? And what they THINK you meant when you said what you said isn't what you meant at all?

It happens to almost everyone at least a few times in life. I don't think there's anyone alive who hasn't lost a friend... or had a family disagreement.  And most times we feel misunderstood.

The ironic thing about people is that in most cases the person you feel is misunderstanding you and your motives is positive they are NOT. ... and that.. furthermore.. YOU are misunderstanding them.

If you are going through a season now of being misunderstood.. if you truly KNOW that you are innocent.... you can take comfort in knowing that Jesus understands exactly how you feel.  You can speak to Him - whoever you are, where ever you are - and pour your heart out to Him..... HE IS REAL.  HE IS ALIVE.  AND HE CARES.

HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU.  HE WILL NEVER FORSAKE.  He is, the Bible says, a friend who sticks closer than even a brother. 

He understands your side of the story.  He understands the other person's side of the story. And only He can bring the both sides together.  If both sides want it.  He brings restoration and resurrection to things that have died. 

HE IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE.... and there's no real peace without Him.

And the amazing thing about having a real, deep friendship with Jesus is that He sees your heart... and you never have to say to Him, "That's not what I meant".

JESUS.......always understands.

GOD LOOKS AT THE HEART.  Period. End of story.

PEOPLE LOOK AT THE OUTSIDE OF A PERSON.  WHY?  It's the only side we can see.  God sees INSIDE a person.. we cannot.  So we cannot truly judge someone else.  WE don't know what's in that person's heart... but God does. 

Therefore, if in your heart.. you WANT to be forgiven... God sees that.  Even if to the world around you.. you LOOK LIKE A LOSER.. that isn't where God is looking.  He is looking at YOUR HEART.

If your heart is repentant.. God sees that.

If your heart is proud... God sees that.

If your heart is unforgiving toward others.. God sees that (and isn't happy with people who TAKE His forgivenss and won't extend forgiveness to others.)

God sees in to the HEART of every person.

For some people reading this.. that is GOOD NEWS.. because even though you may appear to be a sinful, disgusting failure to the world ................to God.............if your heart is soft toward Him.........He sees that and He will come to your side........and LOVE YOU... and RECEIVE you... and FORGIVE you... and RESTORE you..

For some people reading this.. the fact that God is able to see your HEART is BAD NEWS.. because you think you've got everyone fooled... and you think your envy, and resentment, and sin, and jealousy and anger are hidden by your false smile and your PRIDE convinces you that you can even fool God.  You cannot.  The only thing that matters to God is a soft and honest heart.

Your heart.  Is where God looks.  And you cannot hide your heart from Him no matter what you do.

.........and if children could choose that's all they would eat.   Until they are old enough and mature enough to understand that candy has no vitamins and that God created them to eat real food with real vitamins and nutrients.  God created them to eat things that will feed their brain cells and their bones.  We understand this as parents...and if we are good parents we are not convinced by a child to let them eat what they WANT - because we know what's best for them.

We don't let them play outside too long in the snow... we don't let them play outside too long in the heat.  We don't let them see certain things on TV.. we make them do their homework, and go to bed at a decent time... even though they WANT to stay up.. even though they don't realize that frostbite is the reason Mom won't let them continue sledding outside...

So, we ignore the pleadings, and the proddings and the temper trantrums and pouting becaues we are BEING GOOD PARENTS to not let a child have everthing a child wants every time a child wants it. Our child will not understand for many years the love behind every time you said "NO" to something.

We know better, don't we?

And so does God.  He is being a good heavenly FATHER when He doesn't allow you to TELL HIM what He should allow and not allow in your life. He loves you.  Even when He says, "No"