Do you know that God is waiting on you?

This morning, as it draws near to Christmas, there are so many devotionals and even worldly postings about the birth of Jesus. Most speak about the way the Maji were led by a star shining more brightly in the sky. A star that had been predicted. I thought about how God has everything lined up to happen exactly when it's supposed to happen. God leads us even when we don’t know that he’s doing it.

I wasn’t looking for God when He drew me to Himself. I knew there was a God, but had no idea about Him or Jesus or the Holy Spirit. They were never mentioned in my life. Then, when I first moved to Live Oak and went to work at a local beauty shop, God’s plan for my life began to unfold.

Her name was Gerri, and she worked out at the boys’ ranch as a secretary. One Friday afternoon, I answered the phone, and it was Gerri wanting a late-night hair appointment. She said that it would take about thirty minutes after five o’clock before she could get here. That meant that I would have to stay late on Friday night. Being new in the area, my clientele hadn’t grown yet, so having to sit and wait on a client that late was asking more of me than I thought I could do.

But something prompted me to agree to her request and promise that she would become a regular customer. So not only was I about to stay late this Friday, but all the Fridays after. When Gerri arrived, it felt as though we were meant to meet. Doing her hair didn’t seem like the reason we met. Soon afterward, we became close friends. We blended our kids (she had three, and I had one) and became one family. Most nights, we ate supper together and talked for hours afterward. I began to watch Gerri closely. No matter what happened in her life, she always had this way about her. I, on the other hand, a way too, but it was being depressed, frustrated, and overwhelmed when something happened to me.

Finally, I asked how she stayed happy. I think I almost blamed her with my tone of voice as if she was doing something wrong. She smiled at me and said, “Sue, it’s my hotline to Heaven.”

I groaned and offered a few words I won’t repeat here, but I did say, “Oh, please Gerri, not religion!”

She said, “No, you’re right, it’s not religion, it's Jesus. I have a relationship with Jesus. He’s always with me, and He helps me with everything.”

That night, I grumbled all the way home. That wasn’t the answer I wanted from my friend. I wanted some sort of action I could take when hard times hit—and there were a lot of hard times for me. As the days went on, I questioned Gerri more, seeking a different answer, but she always gave me the same one. Gerri wasn’t perfect. She got mad at her kids, smoked, and complained about life sometimes. But that smile always came back on her face. But it wasn’t just Gerri who was constantly reminding me about Jesus; it was the Holy Spirit, although at the time I didn’t know it.

I came under such conviction that one night I couldn’t sleep. I sat up in bed and nearly shouted out loud, “What is this? What is happening to me?”

I felt for the first time in my life that God was not just a thought, but He had a voice and He was speaking to me. At first, it scared me. It was so real. My mind was saying things that my mouth wasn’t. Then my heart got involved, and all the words Gerri had spoken to me over the past weeks came rushing in. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I felt such a relief that I cried and surrendered to God. I said, “God, if you are really real and want my life, I give it to you. I need you. I can’t keep living like this.”

Something happened to me sitting there in my bed, something that needed more explaining. So the next night, when I went to Gerri’s house, when we were alone in the kitchen, I asked her what it felt like to be saved. She smiled and told me. Then I said, “Gerri, I think I got saved last night.”

Again, she smiled widely, and tears came to her eyes. “Sue, I knew the minute you walked in tonight that something was different about you!”

I now had the same Jesus living in me that Gerri had living in her. But God wasn’t done yet. I asked her what I needed to do now. She explained being baptized and making a public confession. She also said that she knew my walk with the Lord was going to be different than hers. She knew that I was going to go to church every time the doors opened, and she was right.

A customer of mine had given me a copy of The Living Bible that previous Christmas, and I’d glanced through it, but that was a far as I went. But now I began to devour the pages. I couldn’t get enough. I grumbled about having to find a church and be baptized, asking Gerri why I had to do that. Wasn’t just accepting the Lord enough? But as the days went on, I was so convicted that these steps had to be completed in my life. So on a summer morning, I finally decided to go to Westward Baptist Church. I stood as the invitation song began, clutching the back of the pew in front of me. Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I brushed past the people sitting to my right and nearly charged down the aisle. I remember all too well the startled look on the preacher’s face. I don’t know if he had ever had anyone like me in such a state of mind that morning.

I quickly told him that I had accepted the Lord and wanted to do it publicly. What he did next brought on even more tears, so much so that my mascara was now running down my face. I was one mess. He announced that I was coming today to join the church. Inwardly, I was shouting, “NO! That’s not what I’m doing! I’m confessing my acceptance of the Lord!”

Everything moved quickly. I was handed a 3x5 card to fill out, and then he encouraged the congregation to come and welcome me to the church. From there, all I remember is one woman who really must have known what happened to me. As she hugged me, she handed me a Kleenex, smiled, and said, “God bless you, Sue.”

That woman became another friend and helped me begin to grow in the Lord. There were so many things happening to me. Things that, now, I’m so glad that I hadn’t had any teaching about. The Holy Spirit was guiding me and showing me in the Word and through people brought into my life the truth.

I couldn’t get enough. I was so thirsty and needy. The main thing I remember, and even to this day, is how it felt to finally not be alone. I had the Lord ever with me. I now had my own “Hotline to Heaven.” I understood what Gerri meant.

One of the first prayers I asked of the Lord was that He would promise not to ever leave or forsake me. To this very day, He has kept that promise. All through these past fifty-three years, not once has God ever forsaken me or left me to fend for myself. Most of the time, if the truth be known, it's me who has wandered away trying to do something on my own. But each time I’d end up back before Him, asking Him to forgive me and help me surrender my problem to Him.

I want to close this posting with this thought. I love God. I love Him more than anything. He was the One who sought me through the Holy Spirit and never gave up on me. Yes, you too can go to God at any time, and He will welcome you into the family. No matter who you are or what you think you have done that you don’t deserve God’s grace, you are wrong.

That’s exactly who God is looking for. So I offer you this Christmas season a gift from God with this posting.

And as usual, I end with blessing you.

This is part of one of the devotions I read today that prompted this posting.

Again, led by God, the Magi followed His lead rather than reporting to the King. Like the Magi, we don’t come to Jesus in the manger on our own, but are led by the guidance of His Holy Spirit. Without Him, we would not be able to find the Messiah, just like Herod couldn’t.

How did you wake up this morning?

Every day in the senior apartment that I live in, they make it a daily point to check on every resident. If by a certain time we don’t check in, the person manning the desk will call us. I joke with one of the callers that I’m up, I have a pulse, and can talk and take in nourishment, so he can check all those boxes. It’s a pleasantry between us, but this morning the Lord really reminded me what a blessing every one of those check marks means to my life.

It’s a cold, damp, rainy day here in Florida. There’s a massive cold front coming to the northern and mid states that they say is going to be extreme. My weather here today might cause some extra stiffness to my old bones, but nothing like what some people are going to experience.

Then, as my mind began the conversation with the Lord, I thought about people who will be out in the weather today. Some by choice and some by no choice of their own. People who once owned a home, perhaps through financial loss, health loss, or job loss, will find themselves living on the street or in their cars and even under a bridge. That is an incredible thing for me to even imagine. I was close to living in my car several years ago, but by the grace of God’s hand, he moved me into the middle of his plan for my life.

One step after the next restored my life, and here I sit today by no other means but the mercy and love of God. I acknowledge that fact every day. This last move had some hard bumps along the way in having my expectations in another person instead of God alone. But this morning, my heart is so happy being where I am right now.

Then I remembered the day I went to administer medication out in the community as a nurse in the local health department tuberculosis clinic. I never knew where I would find some of the cases I brought the medication to. One case always comes to mind this time of year.

It was a family of about five, with the mother usually the hardest to catch up with. On this particular day, I was redirected to a trailer sitting just off the side of the road. When I knocked on the door, the eldest little girl let me in, who was probably only about ten years old. It was two days after Christmas, so some of the remains of what might have been these children’s gifts were scattered on the floor.

As she went to get two of her siblings up, the youngest little fellow was sleeping on the living room carpet. She made him sit up and told him to get up and go to the table, that the nurse was here. Still in his sleepy state of mind, he stood to his feet and somehow made it to sit in the chair at the kitchen table. I remember so clearly how my heart felt when I observed two things about him.

The lower part of his shirt was wet, along with the front of his shorts. He obviously had wet himself during the night. The smell of urine was very evident. He was in no mood for anyone to try and persuade him to take a pill. But it was important that he did. But how do you explain that to a sleepy, urine-soaked little three-year-old? Even with the aid of applesauce that I always brought with me for such an occasion, he was having none of it. Even with his sister’s consoling, he pushed the spoon away. Something far greater was on his mind. The sister began to understand his frustration over the fact that he had lost something very important to him.

Lying on the carpet where he had slept was a tiny red mesh Christmas stocking that had probably held a couple of pieces of candy and maybe some small toy. If so, they were long gone, but the stocking was still the object of his affection.

When the sister retrieved it for him and handed it to him, his face lit up, and he stopped crying. He clutched that empty stocking in both hands as if he had just been handed the greatest gift in the whole world. As he now willingly opened his mouth to receive the spoonful of applesauce along with the small pill, my heart was about to pour out of my eyes.

I hardly made it to my car when my tears would not be contained. Even now, as I find myself in a place where I’m out of the weather, cared about by others, and able to start my day off acknowledging God’s love and mercy for my life, the tears come.

I’m reminded in this moment that there are people who are so less fortunate today. Somewhere in the world today, there’s another little child who will hold to something so minor as an empty, cheap dollar store Christmas stocking, and it will bring them peace.

Every day that we find ourselves awake and aware the we have a pulse and in a place of peace and care, there should be on our lips an offering of Praise and Thanksgiving. So I ask you again, how did you wake up this morning? My prayer today is that, for whatever reason, some people find themselves somewhere less than me, that God would have mercy on them and move on their behalf in such a miraculous way this Christmas season.

I hope that little boy found his way in life, where he was lifted out of the place he was in. God is no respecter of persons. I did nothing but yield to the Lord and let Him help me back onto my feet.

I bless you.

 Thanksgiving doesn't get the attention it deserves.

 

Thanksgiving has become all about eating turkey and all the fixings. Family gatherings and playing games out in the yard. Or for some, it’s another day of being homeless and hungry. Thanksgiving wasn’t meant to be either.

Thanksgiving, sadly, many Americans skip over the truth of how God was faithful to lead Christians who longed to openly serve Him, leave their homelands and everything behind, and risk their lives to set sail for a New World. Historian Rod Gragg explains in The Pilgrim Chronicles how, in England around 1606, the Pilgrims began as a group of Christian separatists seeking to worship Jesus in the purity of the Gospel, based on their beliefs and understanding of the Geneva Bible.

However, what they wanted to do was illegal and prohibited, resulting in harsh persecution for the Pilgrims. So they fled to Holland around 1609. But that was short-lived, as their children were being influenced to follow worldly Dutch ways in the Netherlands, prompting the Pilgrims to seek new living options. The hearing of the Jamestown settlement, the Pilgrims set out to borrow funds and request King James’ permission to make the Mayflower voyage.

Let me stop here, and let’s focus on what exactly is happening. Here’s a group of people about to get on a ship and sail off to somewhere sight unseen. That takes incredible strength and trust in God, not to mention an inner drive that they could not give up.

Columbus had sailed in fourteen ninety-two, reaching the Americas in October. The Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower in sixteen twenty, about a hundred twenty-eight years later. Thanksgiving is about the faith of the Pilgrims. Our foundation was laid in biblical truth by the Pilgrims and led America’s Founders to establish godly principles. These biblical truths have given us the right to worship God freely.

Lincoln signed it into law on October 3, eighteen sixty-three, just before the Civil War got any worse. It set the last Thursday in November as the official day. He honored Sarah Josepha Hale’s request by proclaiming the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

So you see, Thanksgiving involves a whole lot more than whether Publix has its turkeys on sale.

Put yourself on that boat that morning. Take very few possessions with you. Unsure of whether you’ll even live through the trip. Dealing with the elements, sea sickness, and perhaps even the loss of loved ones.

Our lives stand this Thanksgiving on the shoulders of some incredible fellow human beings. Surely, we can shut down the TV noise in the background, get quiet, and bow our heads to stand in silence, thanking these brave individuals for the freedoms we have today, our lifestyles, and so much more.

Our hearts should burst with joy over this Holiday before we put the last of the dinner preparations in the refrigerator, shut off the light, and head to bed.

I hope sometime during your celebration, you will take stock of all your blessings and realize they came with a cost that other people paid for you.

I bless you. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Please hold on if you are at the brink of despair and hopelessness.

I listened to a young woman who has been furloughed from her government job, and her message hit me hard.

She was being as open and honest as a person could be. When she listed the things she has done over the years to better her life and the lives of her 4 children and husband… she broke down sobbing. She said,” I did everything right! I worked, went to school, and bettered myself after being in the army….I did everything right!”

She wasn’t asking for a handout; she was screaming out her mental, physical, and emotional pain, clearly displayed. She and others who have been the victims of this schoolyard fight between the two political parties are devastating this young woman and thousands of others.

Her next remark hit the core of this government shutdown. “All those throwing punches at one another go home to their families, not missing a beat. Their children are eating, their bills are being paid, and they are being paid. It’s the average hard-working, dedicated American individuals who are suffering.”

I’m not personally involved in this layoff, but it’s touching me anyway because it's touching my family. The big question is, what do you do when your income just STOPS? And there’s no end in sight?

I’ve been to that jumping-off spot so many times in my life. I’ve felt like this young woman who can hardly speak, let alone breathe. Hanging between where life has forced you to go and the pain of letting go is real. You find yourself dangling over what you feel is an inevitable loss.

It's hard not to hate right now. It’s hard not to want to scream in the faces you see in the news whose lives are in control of your life, and they are saying and doing nothing. It’s like a huge schoolyard fight between grown men and women who are punching the air while those around them are getting desperate.

I’ve had times when I just had to let go and let whatever my fate was going to be. Sometimes I thought I’d never see the next five minutes.

All I can offer to anyone who is suffering in that “what am I going to do” place today, might think my suggestion is lame.

It’s crying out to God, looking to Him and not the situation. Christians, you know Who your source is, and those of you who don’t know God… He’s right there with you, ready to catch you.

I’m living proof of a person coming back from the brink of despair and hopelessness. God NEVER left me nor forsook me.

I always bless my reader. This blessing is to encourage you to please reach out to the hand of God and watch him deliver you back on solid ground.

 

I bless you.

You always have something to give

It’s a clear autumn/fall Florida morning. The turkey buzzards have been circling over the river for hours. Obviously hunting breakfast. This thought led me to think about other references to God’s care for the birds.

Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

When you think about the animal kingdom, you find that they pretty much live day by day. We humans have to store vast amounts of things to ensure our future necessities are met. I’m not saying that it is a bad thing to be prepared for an emergency, but daily we should take no thought.

At this stage of my life, I have pretty much scaled down to mostly necessary daily “stuff.” I look around my apartment and am determined with this last move that all I wanted around me were things that hold a memory.

My dearest treasure is a teapot with little chubby legs wearing polka dot socks and Mary Jane shoes. The set includes two cups, a creamer, and a sugar bowl. These precious little character-laced charmers bring joy to my heart that words can’t describe. My son gave me these as a gift on Mother’s Day with the forewarning that when he saw this gift, it reminded him of me.

As the anticipation increased the day the box arrived, and I began to carefully move the tissue paper aside, the first thing I saw was a white lid to a teapot. I was pretty sure a gayly painted teapot was about to emerge. The more I uncovered the handle, spout, and finally the little round belly of the pot, it was all white!

I thought my son thinks his mother looks like a plain white teapot? Imagine how my heart filled with an unspeakable joy as my eyes overflowed when I pulled the teapot out to find its little legs and shoes!

I could hardly breathe. By the time the whole little family was unwrapped, my heart had been won over. Maybe it was my creative writer’s heart that caused me to see these new family members each having their own personality from that day on.

I shared about how hard it is sometimes to find where the sugar bowl has gotten off to. You probably have heard or said that something you’re looking for has grown legs and walked off! It gives me added joy to envision them trotting about the apartment at night while I’m sleeping.

Giving of gifts is one of the love languages. My son certainly hit a home run with this gift. He has, with many others, too, but this one has always been the best.

Which leads me to my title today. There is a gift that we always have to give to someone that is perfect. It fits every person in any walk of life. Man, woman, or child. That Gift is giving them Jesus. When Peter and John went to the temple, they ran into a lame man begging alms. They didn’t have any material thing to give this man, but they didn’t just walk away. They offered him what they did have in their possession. “Silver and gold have we not, but in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.” That day, this man was given the most precious gift anyone had ever offered to him. It was a life-changing gift. Being lame had robbed him of all the everyday life events.

What if Peter and John had simply looked at their empty coin purse and said, “Sorry, we don’t have anything to give you,” and walked off? But they knew from being with Jesus that they had been given an endless supply of what other people need in their lives. And had been told to give it freely.

Isn’t it amazing that the most costly gift we as Christians have to give to another person was free to us and is free to give away?

But the truth is, this gift wasn’t free to the One who fulfilled the gift. It cost Jesus his very life. It cost him everything he had in this world. He was sent by the Father and cared for like the birds of the air. Every day, every second, Jesus was given what he needed for his life and those who walked with them. This man Jesus never owned anything, never had a big financial bankroll, no warehouse filled with material goods, and yet in every single situation, Jesus had exactly what was needed. Sometimes it was just to hear the truth. As Christians, we carry with us the perfect gift to give away to anyone God brings into our lives. And like my son’s statement of it looking just like me, Jesus fits everyone.

If you don’t feel like you have anything to give today, but you have the Gift of salvation through Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit, then you have a gift that will fill another person’s life with everything they need. And we can give it away freely!

Freely we have received, freely we are told to give.

I always end with I bless you… that blessing is offering you your own walk with God.

I pray that you will receive this offer today.

I bless you!