Hey guys! It’s been a little while since I have updated you on my tithing report. Let me just start by saying, GOD IS SO GOOD! I have been tithing now since the first of the year, and at first I did it because I thought I was supposed to. Now, I can’t wait to write that check for the offertory. I have been tithing the last month when it hurt the most. AND IT HURT BAD!
When your tithe check is more than you end up with to live off for the week..It’s tough!
But faithfully I gave, because I made a promise that I would.
You guys may or may not know, that I have had a house on the market now for a year. Since divorce struck, making a mortgage payment has been hard on a single income, but I was managing (somewhat). I have been praying my heart out that the house would sell, and that single thing would free me financially from the burden of living paycheck to paycheck.
This morning I was in my car on the way to work, worshiping God. I love that Mary Mary Song, and Mandisa song:
Well here I am, broke as a slick nickel, praising God in my car on the way to work. Did I mention I had just gotten paid the day before and had 100.00 to my name for a week and a half? Mind you.. I had written my tithe check and wasn’t backing out.
This evening I received a call………………… My house has a buyer! A cash buyer! And the contract is signed as of today!
CAN WE SAY:
“Get these shackles off my feet so I can dance….”
Whoooooo hoooo! My God Rocks!
I plan on spending of the remainder of the evening basking in the good news and dancing.
Shackles Song <—- For your enjoyment 
MALACHI 3:10
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (NIV)
What difference did you make in someone’s life today?
So many Christians believe that they have to do something groundbreaking, enormous, and vastly substantial to make a difference. This couldn’t be further from the truth. God uses each of us together to make the big things happen. Have you ever watched a group tug of war competition? Picture watching the two teams battle, but only half of the first teams group is doing the work. Guess who won? It’s easy to see that every little bit that is done helps. Do not discount your “little bit”.
I remember when I was a child, I was working outside with my dad. We were digging a ditch to put in a swimming pool. Gosh, I remember that hole having to be extremely deep and wide, and no matter how much dirt I shoveled, it never seemed to get any deeper. When I was looking drained and exhausted from ditch digging, I remember dad looking at me and saying “every little bit you do, is a little less that I have to do”. I guess my “little bit” meant a little more to him than it did to me.
Another story I am reminded of as I write this. I was given 3 large print bibles by a friend of mine. (their “little bit”). I kept them in my car, just in case the opportunity to minister to someone might arise. One afternoon I was sitting at a Wendy’s eating lunch. I saw an elderly woman with a palm sized bible and what seemed like bottle cap glasses, trying to examine that book in front of her. At first, I laughed at its hilarity, but then I was immediately reprimanded and reminded that I had the solution to her problem not 5 feet away. I put down my hamburger, walked to my car, and pulled out a large print bible I had been saving. I walked in, handed it to her, and said” I think this is yours.” (“my little bit”) She was elated. She smiled, had me put my name and her name in that bible together, and said she would put it on her bedside table and read it every night.
See how small that was? It was a “little bit” of effort, a “little bit” of caring, and a “little bit” of compassion.
Are you ready to start sharing your little bit?
I want to hear your stories like this.
Cherish
I was thinking this morning about Easter, and rightfully so, for as a Christian how can you not? As with everything in this world, many people have turned Easter into a “Bunny and Eggs” holiday. Well, I still celebrate with Jesus, but I also incorporate the bunny and eggs. Do you remember as a child hunting tirelessly for that golden egg? You knew that there would be a great payoff when you found it! $5, $10 or even $20 might be inside, and you wanted it!(I always did anyway!) I want you to think about the Easter Eggs from Heaven today, as you celebrate this holiday with your families in hunting for that golden egg.
I have breathe and life in this egg
I have gifts of the spirit in this egg
I have God’s will and blessings in this egg
I have everlasting life, and a price that was fully paid in this golden egg.
HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY!
For those of you who don’t know what Brookshires is – it is a grocery chain here in Texas, like a Publix, Winn Dixie, or Food Lion would be. The Blog You Rang, God? reminded me about this story that has yet to be told. I used to believe that God only showed up on Sundays. I thought you could only touch God through being in church. Boy, was I mistaken.
One evening I went to Brookshires to pick up three simple items: Pepsi, Advil, Little Debbie snack cakes. My trip inside wasn’t going to take that long, so I didnt even bother getting a cart. I picked up item #1, gathered item #2, but when I got to isle 10 to pick up item #3… my knees buckled. I was with my boyfriend at the time, and he laughed at me as my legs wiggled beneath me and said I must’ve been so blown away by him my knees buckled. I laughed, and said “No buddy, but I know what this feeling is and I must get out of this store!” I grabbed my item, rushed to the check out, and went straight to the car. There I felt the wind of the spirit come over me and I began to shake uncontrollably.
Now in retrospect this part of the story is funny, but then it was just wild… He walks out to the car and sees me shaking like a leaf and almost convulsing in the driver seat (I was parked..btw, you can’t drive while in a full on holy ghost fit). Anyways, he was ready to call 911 and hospitalize me. Poor thing, he didn’t understand. To be honest, I can’t say that I did either. I just told him to go away, that God and I had some business to tend to. Needless to say he didn’t leave so what ended up happening was this….
I got the holy ghost, touched his hand, then he got the holy ghost. So here we both are, in the middle of Brookshires parking lot, fully lit, cars driving by, security camera fixed on us.. and I am convulsing inside the car, he is shaking outside the drivers side door, and we are both looking mighty silly looking like clucking chickens.
He ended up falling out on the concrete before God let go of him. Once that happened, I got the spirit of laughter, and couldn’t quit. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed..Oh, It was quite a sight to see. When I die, I’m gonna ask for God to replay that for me. I think I will get a kick out of that.
What I didn’t know, was he had never experienced the holy ghost before. He also never spoke in tongues. Well, those two things changed that night. God is definitely real. Tongues is real. Holy laughter is real. God will show up on Sunday in church, and on a Monday in a grocery store.
Oh what a life!
Well tonight was quite an eventful evening. I decided to come home after work and go watch a movie and have dinner like a mini-mid-week date night. Well after watching Wrath of the Titans (I do not recommend it btw) we went to dinner. That is where all the fun happened! I’m sitting across the table from my date, and we are having casual, random conversations.Then all of the sudden, he closes his eyes to pray. (Granted I thought it was a little odd because we pray when the food comes, not generally before I smell it coming out of the kitchen)..
But at any rate, I rolled with it. I noticed he prayed an awful long time, but I felt it would have been rude of me to interrupt. So I sat, waited, watched, huffed *once. After that he looked up and said “God is on me”. I didn’t look at him like he was crazy because I know how God shows up, but I was perplexed not knowing what he was showing up like that for.
I ended up eating half my meal alone because he went to the car to take the phone call. At any rate, I just sit here and think about it. Who would have thought that God would show up before dinner prayer? Before Sunday. It reminded me how we forget that God is all around us all the time. I have spent so much time calling out to him here lately, that I probably wouldn’t hear him call me because my line would be busy. I was a little jealous tonight when he got the call from God, the holy spirit of God, and I was left wanting. Then again, I sit here and realize that the call wasn’t for me this time. This situation reminds me of the Brookshires Holy Ghost experience….Ohh Ohh.. I have my next Blog!!
Cherish
Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
We weren’t put on this Earth to roll out of bed, moan and groan, barely make it to the coffee pot, get dressed, go to work, make a meager living, make a couple meaningless transactions, draw a paycheck, and go home to do it over and over again.Our life on Earth wasn’t meant to be that way! We aren’t put here to simply exist and go through the motions - though it’s hard to see that at times.
I was thinking this morning about my aunt. I remember years ago, when I would see her (I was a teenager then), she would come over and want to share something about the bible, or about God. Now, me, at that point in my life – didn’t “get it”. I was more like.. “Oh no, here comes crazy aunt so-and-so again coming to share what Jesus did for her! She has gone nuts!”
(laughing in retrospect) I just didn’t “get it”. I didn’t understand then. When I went back to visit my family this past December, I saw my aunt again. She didn’t have that spark anymore. She had nothing really to share with me, and her visits were mute and hasty. In her embrace I felt her loneliness. I never knew you could feel that emotion from a simple hug – you can. She was one of the few that “got it”. Something happened in her life where God was present. Whether God guided her, protected her, or comforted her in times of need, she got it, she understood. I have no doubt in my mind (knowing what I know now) that God had touched her personally. Then I wonder what changed? What happened? Did life get too much for her? Did circumstance begin to rule her? Did she forget where she placed her bible?
John Hagee said this is one of his telecasts, and I never forgot it:
When you see people with a tattered and torn bible, they rarely have a tattered and torn life.
I didn’t get it then, but I do now. Our days are so short. Every breathe we take is one closer to our last. What are we doing here anyway? Do you think we were put on this Earth just to gather treasures? Build a house and drive a gas guzzler? Enjoy a weekend rendezvous anytime the notion strikes? NO! The bible warns us about this!
Matthew 6:19 ”Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
Proverbs 23: 4-5 Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! 5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
and rather:
Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD makes one rich. And He adds no sorrow with it.
We are put on Earth to be the eyes, ears, and hands of God. He can’t touch another life in the ways that we can. Someone may talk to you, but never even dream about talking to God.
- Do you think you were born into your family by accident?
- Do you think you live where you live by accident?
- Do you think your neighbors and friends are by accident?
Each person you come in contact with, offers a chance to minister. And let me just put this in as a side note for some of you…..You don’t have to “minister” as intrusive as: “JESUS LOVES YOU! GET SAVED OR YOUR GOING TO HELL! SEE YOU IN CHURCH ON SUNDAY AND BRING A DISH!”
believe it or not, people do this!
That is NOT how you minister to people.
People never care how much you know until they know how much you care!
It’s time we get into our communities. It’s time we get into our friends and neighbors and find out what makes them tick! Where are they hurting? Where are their needs? Some people may need groceries so they can move from survival mode to actually being able to love and move toward other human emotions. Some people may need someone to talk to over coffee. Some people just need to vent.
We as Christians should be those people who listen. To take time, to minister, to fill the needs. Life on Earth is about the people. It is about saving the lost and guiding the misguided. It’s about telling the truth and shaming the devil. If we can wrap our brains around that one simple truth, we can make our part of the world a little better and increase our treasure in heaven 10 fold.
I don’t know about you guys, but once you get a touch from God, nothing on this Earth can compare to what he can offer you. No amount of money or treasure can give the love, the happiness, the comfort, and the joy that God can. Absolutely nothing can compare.
I pray that you heed this.
I pray it touches you personally.
Afterall, that is what we’re here for.
Amen.
