How Beautiful, A Gentle Rain

Yesterday, I was reminded of something that was life changing when I was about 10 years old. First I received a recorded message of someone praying that the drought would be broken and that we would have rain. Then I went out to get my mail late in the day and a neighbor was looking to the West and becoming excited that maybe we would get rain. I told him about rain and how the farmer depends on rain for his very life and provision.

I heard the news reports that our president is going to send money to those farmers hit with drought. Do we think beyond that statement that without rain money is helpful but not a solution. We need our fields to produce. We need farmers who raise good food that is not all screwed up with chemicals and genetic altering. No rain equals not enough food to feed our people and others. How hungry are we. How much do we care about this and will we care when our money that we fight for individually be our salvation if we do not have enough to buy food no matter what is in the bank.

Book learning but no Godly wisdom equals stupidity on crack. All it takes is for us to KNOW that God is good and He is love but where is that being preached today. Sin and destruction is mostly preached and many have left the "house of God" which I put in quotes because it is not the house of the God of goodness but a god of hate and judgment and condemnation.

How can we get on our knees and see God as good if we have never been taught that the true God is a God of great provision and love and kindness. Where in this world can we look and see an example of that when we look at Christians who take more than even the people who never spend time with God. So, here is my story of what I learned as a child and was reminded of when I looked out the window this morning as my eyes opened.

Daddy was a farmer in the Detroit area. We had a farm that was situated in the middle of neighbors that worked in the factories, schools, etc. Their income was much more than ours by leaps and bounds so maybe rain was not so important to them. They had their provision.

Daddy came into the house with tears in his eyes. I never saw him cry many times in his life. This may be the reason why:

Daddy quit school in the eighth grade as the youngest of seven children and went to work on his mother's farm the year the depression started. That was the same year my grandfather died of cancer and left my grandmother a widow with a mountain of debt. There was no social security. There were no government helps at all. But there was God.

All of the children came home to work the 80 acres that they had and a kind neighbor who was prospering during that time took a little 13-year-old boy by the hand (my father), and taught him how to prosper that land without hurting the creation around him. They taught him how to be a vegetable farmer instead of a grain farmer which brought in more income. They taught him how to give the land a rest (a bible principle). They taught him how to respect the birds and insects and trees and work with them to produce a wonderful product to feed the people of the area and pay off the debt my grandfather had accumulated before his death. The other six siblings worked hard on the farm and in factories to contribute to paying off the farm debts and grandma said that when she went into her pantry to get ingredients for making food for the family, she always found the food replenished without her having to add to it. That is the background of my father who always knew Who to Praise for what we had.

So now, fast forward to when I was ten years old and the crops are burning up in the fields. Grandma had sold her farm. Daddy got very little from the sale of that land and was forced to trust in God to find another farm in his mid 40s to start over. My mother worked in an office and Daddy and her bought a farm that they could afford in the middle of an area that was mostly developed with homes. Daddy was fearful of a mortgage on that farm but there was no other choice if he was to continue to farm. Then the very first year there was no rain and we did not have irrigation. This is the reason Daddy was in tears when he came in the house that day.

My mother took him by the hand and they sat at the kitchen table in that big old farm kitchen and they bowed their heads and asked God for the rain. As a child I will never forget the complete trust and helplessness of my parents as they prayed. I could not picture anything else but rain after that.

In the morning, I heard Daddy come rushing into the house very early with such a shout of joy. It had not only rained on our farm but it was a good rain that gently soaks into the ground all night long instead of raining hard and running off the dry land. This is the same kind of rain that I woke up to this morning that was gentle, soft, and nourishing. Daddy, exclaimed to my mother, as I listened from another room, that only our land had been rained on that night and all the crops had been watered. The land surrounding us was as dry as a bone.

You may say "coincidence," but there is no such word or concept in the Hebrew language. God does not include a concept in His language that is not true. Today, I thank God for the provision of rain in our country that only God can bring and ask that we would be able to see God's goodness in a world that is filled with so much hurt, hate, and distress. Where is the preaching of who God really is. God is a God filled with love for all of us and no one seems to be teaching about that goodness. No wonder so many do not see God's goodness and so many people hurt.

Bible - Story of Isaac and Rebekah

I have been thinking about some things all morning. It involves the story of Isaac and Rebekah and sons. For years I have wondered why Rebekah knew by God's direction when she was pregnant with Jacob and Esau what there destinies would be and why Isaac was not agreed with her. Is it possible that she either did not share this information for one reason or another or that she did share the information and Isaac chose to ignore it.

I find it interesting that you see no account of Isaac praying for the mate that should be his. You do, however, see the servant who was to come home with Isaac's mate praying for God's direction in the matter. There are accounts of Isaac praying to God but it seems that there is nothing recorded about questions about his wife and his children. Could this have been the disconnect that caused all the problems both for Rebekah and for the children.

Just wondering????

Is this an example of what happens to a marriage where both man and woman are not praying about the marriage or praying together concerning the marriage?

Where Do I Find God?

This morning a question was posed on MyLot.com, a blog site that I like to participate in. It was "Where Do You Find God or Do You?" The following was my reply:

• I find God in the quiet times as I have time to reflect and think.
• I find God when I read the Bible for myself and ask Him what it means.
• I find God when I speak the Words of the Bible over myself, especially the things that I know I cannot do of my own accord like control my mouth.
• I find God when I see nature and all that has been created.
• I find God when I ask for help even in the simplest of things like what color to paint a wall in my house. As I praise Him for being the Architect of the Universe and the Artist of nature, He comes up along side of me and points me to even a simple paint color.
• I find God when I struggle at my job and cannot find an answer. If I get quiet and ask Him for help, the help comes but many times I do not recognize it then. Sometimes it takes me years to recognize that the answer came and was a perfect answer.
• I find God in my weaknesses, like when I struggled with dyslexia for 50 years. It turned out that as I prayed for help, God gave me the help I needed even though I did not know I was dyslexic. I found later that what God had taught me day by day was actually written in a book of how to teach dyslexic students many many years later. His answers did not stop there as He led me to a doctor who worked with my eye muscles (vision therapy) and I no longer suffer from dyslexia.
• I find God when my heart sings for joy or cries in pain. His joy and His comfort have encompassed me many times. At one point in my life when filled with grief, His love so overpowered me that I cannot explain the beauty of it in human words.
• I find God when I take my eyes off the turmoil around me and fix my heart on Him and His goodness.
• I find God as I reflect on all that Jesus did for me on the cross and the sacrifice He and God the Father made just for me.
• I find God as he provides for me everyday (many times I have to ask Him to point that out to me because I am too blind to see that on my own).
• I find God as he directs me to those who should be in my life. I do not have to "save" them, I only have to love them and that is work enough in itself.
• I find God when I ask Him to help me to see someone through His eyes and not through my own. Over a period of time I find that my heart is much more tolerant of even the most unlovely person, a person that would usually drive me right up the wall.
• I find God when I ask Him to guide me to the Church I should be in. He did that on two separate occasions and now He has guided me to be at home for this season.
• I find God when I pray for someone who has hurt me for God to bless them and He does.

No matter where I am, if I am willing, God is there with me but I usually have to ask Him to make that clear to me because I have a hard time knowing that without His help.

UNITED STATES SENATE BILL S510 - What can we do...

You can contact your senator and representative and tell them you are opposed to the bill. Don't feel bad if you do not know who they are. You can just google "who is my United States Senator."

I spoke to Debbie Stabenow's office this morning (my U.S. Senator). I called the local office and left a message that I had some questions on a Senate Bill. I did not want to leave specifics because I wanted a call back. I have found with other government officials if you are too specific, you get sent to email, voice mail, etc. and it's very hard to talk to a real person.They called me back this morning.

Debbie Stabenow's representative was very courteous and informative.

• I asked why this bill does not include cleaning up the FDA, USDA, and habitual violators on Corporate or Company Farms that are owned by large companies.
• I also asked why there is no language in this bill to inspect imported foods from other countries.
• Then I asked why it centered around the small farmer, individuals, etc.
• Also, I asked why there needs to be a bill like this when the USDA AND FDA have not taken care of the problems they are already in charge of. For instance the egg scare. This farm had multiple violations for safety prior to  the egg recall and nothing was ever done by any of the agencies.
• I also think that we need a law in this country to see what and who funds our senators, representatives, and all elected officials. I stated this as a statement and not a question.

There were no answers given to these questions but I believe this is only the beginning of what we need to ask. The representative in Debbie Stabenow's office gave me a website (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:S510:) to go to so that I could read what is going on with this bill and what the wording of the bill is. You can get all sorts of information on the actual bill. I would first look at the person who drafted that bill and call their office. There are also 20 people listed who co-sponsored the bill. Why not call them too even if they are not your representative and tell them what you think.

In the meantime, my prayers are that no evil against this country and it's citizens will prosper. That God will give our government officials wisdom, integrity, and boldness to do what is right in the face of opposition and that they will be blessed as they follow righteousness.

Finally listen to this You Tube by Dr. Coburn (Senator) from Okalahoma. It is a bit long (the link is part one of his speech to the United States Senate) but is well worth the listen. He does an excellent job on this subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddz58kpAl_Y&feature=channel

For part two of the senator's speech, click on the next following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VRRX-7-IKA&feature=channel

Bible - Why Don't I Enjoy Reading the Bible

Yesterday, after much thought and a conversation with a relative, it seemed as if an answer came. Why is it that reading the Bible can be very discouraging? It seems that if we, as Christians, were honest - most of us would agree that we find the Bible hard to read because it makes you feel like you just can't live up to what is written in it. To put it simply - it makes you feel like a crappy person.

Why does this happen? This usually happens because at some time in our past we have found that we fall short in an area. For me it was how I use my speech. What I say to others and even to myself. It seemed that when I opened the Bible, there was always a harsh scripture about how we talk. Another point for me was trying to figure out how God could be so good especially after living life and seeing all the heartache in this world not to mention what we as Christians do to one another.

How can we be set free from this terrible feeling?  First we must understand that God really is love. We need to search the scriptures for God's true identity (His love). There are good books on the subject. Start to ask God to show you His Love. Ask God to help you follow anything (written, spoken, etc.) as it follows Christ. Don't be surprised if you pray this and all of a sudden you start getting revelation of things that are not lining up to God's Word.

One of the most exciting scriptures in my Bible for me is Proverbs 31:10-31. Now you are probably thinking that I'm just as nuts as can be but give me a chance to explain. I like to imitate God like a child imitates a parent and Romans 4:17 is a scripture that I have applied to my life in this area.

Romans 4:17 (KJV) is as follows: ¹⁷(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

My life was about as far away from Proverbs 31:10-31 as one could imagine. I thought as I read Proverbs 31 that I wouldn't mind being like that. I could use some maids, wouldn't mind buying some real estate, and all the other stuff in this chapter including my husband really appreciating me. Then I began to read those scriptures with my name and my husband's name and child's name into these verses. Over a period of time, I saw things change in my life dramatically.

This is one of the ways that I have become convinced that the words written in the Bible are not just regular words. They are THE WORD OF GOD. God's Word carries power to change your life and your circumstances.

I went from a person who constantly saw the negative things in my life to speaking the good things that God had for me and seeing my life change dramatically. You are more than welcome to disagree with me. That does not bother me a bit. I guess I'm just too old to care. I just know that my life has dramatically changed for the good since I have done this with parts of scriptures that I felt so convicted about. I lost hope when I read scriptures like this because I knew how short I fell in these areas. Then, one day I tried it (thought lightening would strike at first but it did not) instead I was steadily surprised. The first thing I noticed is that I felt better about my life and marriage. The second thing that happened as I did this over time is that some of the scriptures began to mean more to me than I ever thought possible. Finally, one day when I was about to give my husband a piece of my mind for the 20 millionth time, verse 12 rose up in my thoughts and I shut my mouth and let God show me when to speak and when not to speak.

There have been times when I have spoken up when I would normally keep my mouth shut. Some of the things I said were written in hurt deep in my heart for many years. The words came out in balance and in an understandable way. We finally got over some road blocks we had had in our life for years. There have been other times when I am at peace to just let something go.

What is the difference in all of this. The difference is in letting God guide you in what you say instead of you trying to figure it out yourself and make a huge mess out of it. We so many times read the Bible and then take it's execution into our own hands instead of being led by God. I found that for many years I lived my life trying to please my husband only to find out that I was trying to follow my husband instead of God. As it turned out, my husband was not pleased, I was not pleased, God was no where to be found in my actions. This is a part of the curse in Genesis 3:16 (KJV) that God declared to the woman. Funny how this part of the scripture is usually skipped over when this story is told.

Genesis 3:16 (KJV) ¹⁶Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

When my desire turned to pleasing God, God intervened in my life and showed me how to not only be pleasing to my husband but to HIM and to myself and others around me. Do I do it perfectly? Not at all, but I know that God is more actively involved in my life and it makes being a frail human much easier to stomach.

Oh, p.s. - Now that I know that God loves me, I know that He will guide me into all things now and in this time in my life. All I have to do is ask. It's so simple and yet so hard because I usually go on autopilot and try to do things myself only to find out that I waste a lot of time not including God in every part of my day. That is when the assurance of His forgiveness covers me thoroughly. Now the Bible for me is filled with possibilities and love. WHAT AN AMAZING BOOK!

Bible - How to find a verses meaning

Psalm 103:20 (King James Version) is as follows:

Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

 This is such a little verse with such large implications. How does a person who is not a Bible scholar learn more about a verse like this. Here are some of the things I use to get a deeper understanding of a verse. The sky is the limit. There are so many resources with the advent of the internet and the computer. I will share some of the things I have used to get you started.

1. Let me introduce you to a free Bible study program on the internet. The basic program is free. If you want to add translations and Bible helps that are under copyright, you will need to pay for those parts but overall, what you get for free is more than enough to get started. The down-loadable basic program can be found at http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html. It takes a bit of time to download all the free stuff offered, but you won't regret it if you love to study the Bible.
2. Once the program is downloaded on your computer, you are ready to go. I love one Bible version in particular. It is the "King James Version with Strong's Numbers." The King James version of the Bible is an old version that many times does not have copyright restrictions. It is written in old English which means the average person does not speak like this anymore BUT there is a way to understand it when it is combined with the "Strong's Numbers." NOTE: There are many versions or translations of the Bible because the words in Hebrew and Greek translate differently in English and many times the original text has a far greater meaning than just one word in English. It is sometimes helpful to use various translations like New International Version (NIV), Amplified Version (AMP), New Living Translation (NLT), to name just a few.
3. What in the world are "Strong's Numbers." These are reference numbers that come from a book named "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible."  Concordance is simply a dictionary of word meanings.

• When you use this book, you must make sure that it is compatible with the version of the Bible that you are using or it can become very confusing very quickly. So if you are using a King James Version of the Bible make sure you are using a "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" that is keyed to the King James Version. 
• The Bible is basically written in two different languages. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew and the New Testament is written in Greek. This concordance shows what a word looks like in the original language (Hebrew or Greek) depending if the word appears in the Old Testament (first half of the Bible or the New Testament (the last half of the Bible).
• When you use the above listed version ("King James Version with Strong's Numbers") it is all there for you instead of having to get out a huge book and figure out how to use it. All you have to do is put your mouse cursor on the green numbers and you instantly have a box pop up with all the information on the word just before the number. So let's get started on what words are defined in the above verse.

Word definition one - "Bless":
H1288
בּרך
bârak
baw-rak'
A primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason): -  X abundantly, X altogether, X at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, X greatly, X indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, X still, thank.

How to read the above definition:

• (H1288) is the reference number that if you had the book in front of you you would be using to look up the word. "H" stands for Hebrew and you need to go to the Hebrew section of the concordance. If the number had a "G" in front of it, you would go to the Greek section of the concordance and then find the number in that section to find the meaning of the word you are looking for. Lucky for you you already get it all when you get it on line.
• (בּרך) this is how the word looks in the Hebrew Language. The beauty of this reference book is that you don't have to know Hebrew in order to look the word up. When you use this reference in e-sword, you will see different lettering. This is because my computer translated this into the modern Hebrew letters. The e-sword version uses an older form of the Hebrew letters. This is another fascinating subject for another article.
• (bârak) this is how the Hebrew word would look in English so that you can get an idea what the word would look like if you do not understand the Hebrew squiggles. 
• (baw-rak') this is how you would say this word in English. I bet you didn't know that you would be able to speak Hebrew, but here it is.
• Now comes the main part of the whole thing that you may have wanted to know from the beginning. What in the world does this word mean. So here is the definition. NOTE: Because I have my own copy of the Concordance (Dictionary) I can look up what all the "X" symbols are in the definition next to the words. So here is the definition of the "X" - (multiplication) denotes a rendering in the Authorized Version that results from an idiom peculiar to the Hebrew. Now I'm stuck. What in the world is the "Authorized Version" and "idiom." (FIRST) I googled "meaning of 'authorized version'" and got a definition from http://www.answers.com/topic/king-james-version-of-the-bible  The definition is: "n. (n. stands for noun which is just a word that is a person, place, or thing) An English translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek published in 1611 under the auspices of James I. Also called Authorized Version, King James Version." So Authorized Version is just another way of saying "King James Version" of the Bible in this case. (SECOND) I googled "meaning of 'idiom'" and got a definition  from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom  This is important because an idiom can be something like "kick the bucket" in English. When you know English and read that you know it is talking about death and not literally kicking a bucket. Now you can begin to see how the Bible can be mistranslated.

Now why in the world did I give you so much information on such a small verse and on one word "Bless" and why would you care. I am giving you the ability to check out what someone may preach, teach, or write about and help you to verify if what they are saying is true. If they are looking at the verse in a good way or giving you an English definition that does not apply to a word that they are talking about. This is how many words are mistranslated.

Does this mean that you have to go through all this every time you read the Bible. Absolutely not! The Bible was meant to be read and enjoyed but if you get a feeling as you ask God to show you what His Word means, that something isn't right or doesn't seem to be logical, here is a way that you can get a basic idea on a verse on your own.  It's just a beginning but it will help you to not be lead down a wrong path just because the person speaking on the subject seems to know what they are saying.

Turmoil Everywhere??

It seems that the last three or four weeks have been so filled with turmoil. Everyone seems to be on edge. Everyone is having extraordinary challenges happening in their lives. What could all of this be. Where is it coming from. I have found that the only peace is knowing God and having His peace. May His peace also fill your life so that you will only be an observer and not a participant of the chaos.