January 19, 2010

 Right on Time

"This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed." Habakkuk 2:3 (NLT)

This past year our school board decided to decrease the passing time between classes in order to gain a little extra teaching time at school. Those who were used to the longer time really had to scramble to make it from one end of the school to the other before the tardy bell. There were a lot of late students for a while but eventually they got used to it. Now most students are right on time - not a minute early or a minute late.

Your parents, you, me - we all serve and pray to a God who is always right on time. As Charlyne often quotes, "God's delays are not God's denials." There are blessings He has stored up for us in the heavenlies and He wants everything to be ready to bring about His best blessings. Why settle for something good when He has something miraculous in store for us?

"And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!" Isaiah 30:18 (AMP)

I know that it sometimes seems like this waiting time will never end. Sometimes it seems like we are not all being treated fairly. It's like when you are at the doctor's office and see patients who came in after you get to go in ahead of you. But you don't know what those circumstances are. They might be seeing a different doctor or just be going in for some lab work or (gulp!) a shot. Whatever the circumstances, it is always right on time.

It's this way with the Lord. Some of us feel we have spent way too much time in God's waiting room and don't understand why this is taking so long. Some of us might visit the front desk time and again, checking on our status. Or some might even give up and walk out and say, "It's not that important." But it IS important. It is important for you and for your parent and especially for the one you pray for. Your prayers, your parent's prayers, the prayers of thousands of others who are standing and believing for a healed and whole family - they are all important to God. He hears and He answers and He is always right on time.

Look at the story of the miracle God worked as His people came to the Red Sea. They were backed up against it - with the sea on one side and Pharaoh's army on the other. The people were frightened, confused, and tired but God kept them waiting. All through the darkness, they waited. All through that long night, they waited as "the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land." (Exodus 14:21b)

They waited for their miracle. The Lord delivered. He made a way for them through the Red Sea.

This is the same God who watches over and delivers you and your family. He will part that Red Sea. He will deliver what He has promised. He will make a way through any circumstance or any hard heart or any proud words. We just have to wait for Him.

"Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today...The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:13-14

God is always patient with us. We need to be patient with God and allow Him to be patient with the ones we pray for, too. Use this wait time to strengthen and deepen your relationship with Jesus. Let the Lord continue to work in your life and in your mom or dad's life as you wait for Him to get everything ready. The best is yet to come.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

"Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD." Psalm 27:13-14 (NLT)

God Bless,
Kim, standing in Nebraska
http://rejoiceministries.org/Kim.html  
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
Post Office Box 10548
Pompano Beach, FL 33061
http://rejoiceministries.org

January 2, 2010

New Things

"Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." Revelation 21:5 (NKJV)

Another Christmas has come and gone. Another holiday season is over. Another year is beginning. Did you get some new things for Christmas? Are these new things still so important to you? I'm guessing some of you don't even know where some of your new things are right now. But God knows where His "new things" are. God's new things are you and me and your mom and your dad and your brother or sister or aunt or uncle or friend. God's new things are those of us who believe and trust and hope.

No matter what the season brought for you, because of Jesus, God has a new thing planned. He told us in His Word that He makes all things new. Notice the use of the word "new" here. He didn't say he would cover up our lives with a thin whitewash of "goodness"; with words not felt in our hearts; with light dimmed by circumstances; with hope tossed up and down by life. No. He promised that we would be new from the inside out.

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ."                        2 Corinthians 5:17-18a (NLT)

"But-'When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.'" Titus 3:4-5 (NLT)

This season we celebrated the greatest gift ever given to us - reconciliation to God through Jesus. This gift is what makes us new from the inside out. This gift is what gives us the promise of eternal life. This gift is what helps us to hang onto our hope when the winds of life blow us here and there. This gift is given to us and promised to the ones we pray for. Did your mom or dad get this special gift this Christmas? If so, praise the Lord. If not, keep praying. Our prayers are powerful and effective. God promises this, too.

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven." James 5:16

A new year and a new decade are beginning. We can spend our lives looking back at the past, saying "if only," wishing we could do things differently, regretting our mistakes or being angry at our circumstances. But what good does that do? We can't change the past but we CAN make a new future. We can continue to stand in the gap and pray for the ones we love. We can let our Jesus light shine even more brightly this new year. We can trust that God is in control of everything - the big and the small, the important and not so important, the good and what we think is the bad. We have a Savior who wants to do new things for us and new things for the ones we pray for. He has some wonderful plans for our families in this new year. Because He is the Lord who makes all things new.

"See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you." Isaiah 42:9

"And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness into light before them and make uneven places into a plain. These things I have determined to do [for them]; and I will not leave them forsaken." Isaiah 42:16 (Amp)

God Bless,
Kim, standing in Nebraska
http://rejoiceministries.org/Kim.html  
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
Post Office Box 10548
Pompano Beach, FL 33061
http://rejoiceministries.org