It's Already There!

Yesterday was March 2nd, 2010 and we enjoyed a late winter snow, probably about the prettiest I have seen in awhile. It snowed all day, I mean, big flakes and Dan estimates that we probably had about four inches of the beautiful, glistening snow before it was finally done. We drank coffee, I sat under my "snuggyl" (as Landon calls it), we took some pictures, put chili in the crock pot, and made some more memories. Thank You, Lord!!

Let me tell you how the morning began, thus setting up the thought I believe God would have me share with you today. Really, we need to go back to the night before when I went to bed with the forecast of snow on my mind. (I know I don't have to tell you how that excites me.:))  I awoke at around 5:00a.m. and began to praise God for another safe night and a warm house to wake up in, and began to pray and intercede for family and friends. Brian and Jennifer were going on this particular day for his follow-up ct scans, Tony and Lisa Byrd, who I don't even know but read about on Facebook, had celebrated(?) one twin's birthday last week because little Madison had succumbed to swine flu complications and now is in Heaven. I really cannot imagine how hard that must be so they are in my thoughts and prayers at this time; I prayed for widows like Marvena who is missing terribly her husband, Bruce; I prayed for people in my family and yours who don't know Jesus as their Savior; I prayed for pastors and missionaries who are getting the Word out to those who need salvation. As I closed my praises and petitions to my OMNIPOTENT GOD , I said, "Lord, if I could see just one more snow today- I know the weather man was downplaying the possibility but he doesn't control it, Lord, and just a few flakes today would please me and if it is wrong for asking, forgive me, Lord. Thy will be done. Amen."

When I made my way to the kitchen to put on our coffee, it was still dark and as I looked out my window, I thought "What is that in the yard? It can't be, can it? Already enough snow to cover the grass?"  Quickly, I turned on the floodlight and said to Danny (who loves it as much as I do OR  says so because I love it), "come and see the snow."  It was coming down so hard.

 

 Now, I know you will be glad to know that you are not going to have to suffer through another blog about snow, especially in March, right? But when I was talking to Amy around 8:00, (she was wondering should she take the kids to school because it was SNOWING!!!) I shared the happenings of the morning with her and we had this thought- What I was praying for, I already had! I just needed to get out of bed and discover it. God probably smiled at 6:00 when I asked Him for just one more teeny weeny snow and He had been sending it all night , so much the ground was covered.  Now, as a teacher, I have always feared too much of being misunderstood and even more so , blogging, because I can't see faces and can't explain things more clearly face to face. Now, I know, that I was placing too much on me. After all, the Holy Spirit will make clear to those who are seeking the truth. So, let's be clear, I am not saying don't pray because it's already provided because that is a violation of Scriptural command. Jesus, Himself, said "Ask and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." Matt 7:7. Paul tells us in 1 Thess. 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." (one we like to memorize :) )

So, pray, dear believer, but know this- some things you and I already possess- we simply aren't reckoning them to be so. Reckon is a Bible term that the Strong's Concordance defines, from the Greek word, logizomai, as to account, to take an inventory, to conclude. Paul used the term in Rom. 6:11-"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Paul "reckoned that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Rom 8:18    His feelings, during beatings for the Gospel's sake, during imprisonments, during hunger, shipwrecks, and cares of the churches probably tempted him to stray from that truth, but he accounted it to be so because it is so. God said so!

Let me try to put shoe leather on this thought because I feel compelled to write this- this morning. Maybe someone besides me needs this.  At times, I find myself praying,(and again a good and essential thing to do), "Lord, I need your strength.". Being very weak in body often times, the enemy tempts me to believe that I am not up to the task and as usual, we turn his threats back on him,because it forces me back to the truth  that I am not up to the day and its' events but I go to the Word and am reassured that even though I'm not, the ONE Who live in me is! "Greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world." 1 John 4:4 . King David, in all of his manifold trials- times when he literally was fleeing from his enemy, trusted in HIS STRENGTH. Just 2 examples of many in the Book of Psalms -"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" 27:1.  46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  So, struggling one, go ahead and tell Him (He already knows anyway), that you feel weak and need His strength, but get off your knees and reckon it to be so because it's already there!

Sometimes, when the waves roll and the thunders of life crack , I pray "Lord, I need your peace." "Dear child,", He says, "It's already there. It's already yours. "  If you are His by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, you have His peace. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Let me say on a sidebar here, if you don't know Him and lately, your heart is troubling you because you have heard the truth and realize something essential is missing in your life, that is HIM!!  He is calling you to His side. Run there in repentance and faith! 

Believer, you have His peace. It's already there- peace with God. Now, in Phil.4:7, Paul speaks of the "peace of God which passeth all understanding " and we may sense an absence of that at times, and it could be  because that we are not filling our minds and hearts with those things conducive to peace and calm. Paul explains the principle in verses 4-9. I am not here to run any one's race, (as Jeff's excellent sermon last night explained) and especially no one's business but for myself, I cannot watch shows with graphic violence, spend too much time over threats of terrorists, be overly concerned over the new viruses in the world. Yes, we can be informed but if we spend more time on the news' channels, the latest flicks at the movie theater, the science fiction scenario books, than we do in the Truth, this Book that is beside my hand as I type, then we will find some unrest and lack of peace in our lives. May I share one of my favorite verse from the prophet, Isaiah? "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee." I can't leave out vs 4 since it covers our 1st point on strength-"Trust ye in the LORD for ever; for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength."  So, tell Him, dear brother or sister, that your heart is troubled but walk on and feed your spirit with those things are are lovely , pure, and good  and know that His peace is yours- it's already there!

Lastly, and I could go on and on concerning our needs and His provisions for those needs but let me finish with this Biblical term that we use often in our Christian lives. "Lord, I need your  grace." We already have the grace we need today. The Lord said to Paul, after He denied the petition for the thorn to be removed, "My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Dear one, His grace is yours right now.  "But, Deborah, I fear tomorrow, I fear the future."  We don't need tomorrow's grace today. Didn't Jesus command us "take no thought for the morrow."? Don't be anxious about tomorrow, believer, it may or may not come and if it does , His grace will be sufficient. Remember His past grace in your life and that will help you to rest assured of His future grace.

Let me share a personal story, in closing concerning this thought. My dear Mother went to Heaven in 1985, quite suddenly from her first and final heart attack. Mother was seventy and for probably a year, before she left, I felt that God was preparing me for her passing. I would reject the notion because Mom was not only the best mother a child could have but my mentor, my Mark and Amy's MaMa, really, she became my best friend when I married and had children. I couldn't imagine not having her sweet smile, kind words, Godly wisdom in my world here but on October 18th, 1985, as she and I grocery shopped, she suffered a massive heart attack and two days later, went to be with her Lord- her gain, our loss.

Now, I grieved deeply- I would reach for the phone after the kids left for school and Dan for work, and would ache when I realized I couldn't call her. I grieved in those days, alone and with my Bible ( we must let those who sorrow work through it in their way) and  the reason I thought the previous year that I could not bear the loss is because I did not have the grace for that journey in my life until I arrived there . I could and did because when the day came that I needed the grace for that particular trial, it was already there!

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. Tis grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me; His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures"  John Newton 1700's

Please, hear me, hurting one, this morning , and I know you are out there. The Body of Christ holds you up to the Father this morning as you face challenges that thus far, you have not known. Me too, I don't know about tomorrow but I know Who holds tomorrow. And as that snow already lay on the ground as I prayed yesterday morning, HIS OMNIPOTENT STRENGTH, HIS PERFECT PEACE, AND HIS GLORIOUS GRACE  is yours. It's already there! Let's reckon it to be so!!! 

Looking up, Deborah