May 12, 2018 Saturday

“Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:15-23 NKJV)

            In celebrating the faith of the Ephesians Paul takes the opportunity of reminding them of the Gospel which has impacted their life so.  Paul’s testimony is offered as a prayer which is offered for the Ephesians as they live out their faith and the Gospel of life.

            Paul reminds us our times of celebration can become times when we forget what God has done and is still doing in our lives.  Even as we celebrate all God is doing we can lose our faith by thinking the mountains top times are normal or that we made all this possible.  We can get lost in the scenery and forget the journey we are on and Who we are traveling with.

            Allow God to open your eyes and your soul to the enlightened understanding of yourself, the world around you and mostly the amazing Traveling Companion for this journey of faith.  Allow the gift of the Holy Spirit to open you to all the wonders and mysteries of not only this world but the wonder of seeing God working in it.

            Let God help you discover the flow of kingdoms and powers throughout history and discover your Traveling Companion holds every crown and power of every leader who ever was!  And by faith let God reveal to you that your Traveling Companion is greater than all the world leaders COMBINED!

            Allow the Holy Spirit to walk you through the greatest Autobiography of the greatest Life you can ever read.  In this Bible discover your Traveling Companion reveals Who He is by whom He loves – you!

            And then discover the pure joy of prostrating yourself and the feet of your Traveling Companion even as you continue to rest in His loving lap!  After 40 years of serving and loving my Lord and My Love the journey has been wondrous and wonderful but the company has been the best of all!  May you discover the joy of a life with God as your Traveling Companion.

            In every day tedious and boring or do you see each day as a time of joy to discover everything with God as your Traveling Companion?  Are you so enamored of the world’s leaders that you miss seeing the glory of the Leader of all leaders’?  Do you spend time in getting to know your Traveling Companion through prayer and reading His Autobiography?

            I pray for you the joy of the journey but even more the joy of coming to know and love your Traveling Companion!!!

            On Saturday May 12, 2018 I woke up with my CPAP mask making noise and a sense I needed to be up.  And then it began.

            Flowing through me was a prayer for all those who are being sold like animals in the name of illegal immigration.  Women are raped all along the line and forced to work as slaves to pay for their immigration or forced to work as sex slaves.

            Men are bused around to work living in fear of being turned in and watching as their families are abused and misused.  They cannot protect the family they immigrated to make safe.

            Illegal immigration is a source of power in votes, cheap labor, a steady stream of sexual slaves and the sense of goodness we claim.

            Those who immigrate legally are robbed of their dignity as they are left frustrated by illegal being accepted as legal.  They also are lumped with those who are illegal and seen as interlopers rather than the citizens they have worked to be.

            A steady stream of misery and woe is heralded as compassionate and kind.  Our unwillingness to invest the time and money has caused an incredible amount of time and money to be wasted.

            And then God led me to pray for those countries, as He has so many other times, where many of the illegal immigrants come from.  I pray God will lift up leaders who will strengthen their nations to provide hope for their people.  I pray for God’s Church to help build families and empower people by helping them to be able to provide for their families.  I pray that people will seek to rebuild their own nation rather than fleeing to the hell of illegal immigration.

            I pray for those who do nothing to help those caught in this terrible situation we have created because we sought the power of our own kindness which brings about so much suffering!

            At times I am so weary as I hear the cries of pain, suffering and degradation from so many voices in so many languages.  I get so weary hearing the voices of arrogance declaring the correctness of destroying lives and families in the name of kindness and caring.

            But then I think of the weariness and sadness of God who sees so many lives filled with fear and hatred because we either arrogantly think we know better or do not even care about these people whom God loves.

            Some may say to just let it go.  It is not my problem.  To accept that is to return to the horrific numbness of just existing and not truly living. 

            I pray this will bless the fullness of God and make my Lord Jesus smile!

I no longer know how to pray so I ask God to pray with and for me.

            It was such a joy to be able to join together to celebrate Mother’s Day for Mom Perkins and for Bonnie.  Thank you my Lord that I was able to be there for that.  On this day before Mother’s Day I thank God that my Mom is doing well and celebrating Father’s Day before the face of our Father!  My heart goes out to my friend Mac Bumpus who is celebrating his first Mother’s Day in this way.  My Lord comfort him and his family with the joy of really knowing she is alive and well and celebrating the Eternal Father’s Day celebration.  Thank you again My Lord and My Love for this day which is always good because You are “with me”.