Perks and Rewards Program

Almost every store has a reward system. Grocery stores reward return customers with coupons, lower prices, or matches lowest price items sold elsewhere. Clothes stores offer 10% off if you apply for their credit card. Does any of this sound familiar? Perks and rewards. Amazon has Amazon Prime. Barnes and Noble has a program you buy into to get lower price on books. Sam’s Club card owners pay a fee to buy things cheaper in bulk. We’re always looking for the perk or reward for doing something or for buying something.

Well, good news! There are perks and rewards to fasting! After the post yesterday with the WARNING, I thought you might want to hear a little more about the perks and rewards.

From my own personal testimony of fasting, I can tell you I have received the reward of clarity. God gives me clarity on decisions that need to be made. He gives me clarity on my purpose and where I should be focusing my time. He gives me clarity in regards to relationships I’m in.

I have also seen the reward of watching God’s hand move to answer long-time prayers. Was it in the way I imagined? Rarely does He answer my prayers the way I think He will. I only see my circumstances. He sees the bigger picture. Isaiah 55:8-9 lets us know His way and thoughts are much higher than ours. Sometimes the way He chooses to answer my prayers can be painful, but looking back, I can see the pain was necessary. He was grooming me. He was cutting off the dead stuff so new growth could occur, and that can be quite painful at times. Not gonna lie. But it is definitely worth it on the other side.

He has put me in positions where all I can do is rely on Him thereby growing my faith. Faith growth is a reward to fasting. He will put me outside my comfort zone like no one else. Will I trust Him? Will I walk by faith and not by sight trying to control the situation myself? Will I follow Him even when it doesn’t make sense?

But my favorite of all is how close it brings me to my Abba. I love sensing the Spirit’s presence. I enjoy intimacy that can only be found during fasting, praying and praising. This happens because the time I would normally spend on Facebook, Pinterest or watching TV is spent fellowshipping with my Savior.

So what is the perk? I do tend to lose a little weight, but God knows that the intention of my heart is not to lose weight but to draw closer to Him.

There you have it. My testimony of the perk and rewards of fasting, praying, praising and meditating. What will be your rewards? Only God knows, but there are so many benefits to this time in your walk with Him, and He is so generous with His blessings.

One last thing. You might only see the perk and rewards after the fast is over. It may not happen for a week or two or more after the fast, so keep watching for the Spirit to move and to answer prayers. Keep watching.

The Route from Bondage to Freedom

I saw a pin on Pinterest the other day, and it said, “God, why are you taking me out into the deep waters?” and God’s response was, “Because your enemy doesn’t know how to swim.”

Have you ever wished God would allow you to see the “big picture?” Have you ever asked questions like, “Why has God led me here,” “Where is He leading me because there’s a much better way I see that’s closer,” “When is He going to…?” It isn’t often God gives us a glimpse of what He sees much less His reasoning, but when He does, we really should take note. Often times, we don’t see His hand until we look back on a situation, a season, or a struggle.

 unIn Exodus 13:17-18 we read, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, ‘The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.’ So He led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.” These two verses say so much about our Father.

Just want to clear something up before we go to deep. God is leading the Israelites out of bondage into freedom. They were in bondage because of a severe famine God had allowed, and the Israelites sold their land, their animals and themselves to Pharaoh just to survive. Some people are in bondage today because of poor decisions and sin in their lives and want God to deliver, so they suffer no consequence of their sin. That’s not how this works. God forgives sin, but there are still consequences.

In this passage, God didn’t lead the Israelites down the path or route they would have chosen. The shortest and common route out of Egypt was the coastal route, but Egypt would have military outposts along the way, and God knew the Israelites were not ready to face a battle. The Israelites might have looked like an army marching in battle formation, but they were no trained army. This road would have been easy and good with water and food along the way, but the risk of danger outweighed what many would consider to be good reasons to take that route.

For Christians who have been led by God into a time or season of bondage like the Israelites, I want you to see a few things.

1.       Pharaoh eventually lets God’s people go after the effect of all the plagues. What holds us hostage is under God’s control even the results of your sin, and He is ultimately in control as to when we will be freed. There is nothing and no one who can defeat God or thwart the will of God.

2.       God leads us out of bondage to freedom. He doesn’t just open the barn door and say, “Get after it.” God leads us. Do you have the faith to follow? It can be scary taking that first step out of the known into the unknown. You have to have faith.

3.       When God leads us anywhere, He goes before us making the rough places smooth and turns the darkness into light (Isaiah 42:16). We also know when we follow God that goodness and mercy follow us (Psalm 23:6), thereby hemming us in from the front and the back (Psalm 139:5). There is security in following God’s leadership.

4.       God does not choose the most convenient way out or the most obvious way out. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. His ways and thoughts are so much higher than our own, and we know from 1 Corinthians 1:25 that God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and His weakness is stronger than human strength. So when God leads you out of your bondage, and He chooses to take a path less traveled, TRUST HIM.

5.       “The people will change their minds.” He knows your thoughts and fears before you have them, and believe it or not, He goes before you to lead you down paths He knows that are best for you for where you are right now in your faith. Just like God knew the Israelites couldn’t handle a battle right after being freed, He knows what you can’t handle.

6.       “The Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.” Always be prepared. God might have known the Israelites might have tucked tail and run at the first sight of conflict, but they were at least prepared. When you follow God out of what has held you captive, be prepared because the enemy does not give up. We don’t fight against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers of the unseen world.

Remember, God is in control. His timing is perfect. Have faith He will lead you the way you need to be led, how you need to be led, when you need to be led, and where you need to be led. And when God leads you out, remember He goes before you and He’s behind you – You are in the most secure place when God leads. Also keep in mind, He does things and will take you on paths you do not know, and that’s okay because He knows what is to come and He knows what is best for you. He also knows your thoughts and fears before you have them and makes allowances for them. And be prepared to follow God wherever He leads.

http://blueletterbible.org/

Last Minute God

If you have never read the book of Acts for yourself, you REALLY need to. It is an amazing book.

One of my favorite stories is found in Acts 12:6-19. Let me set it up for you. James, the brother of John, has just been martyred by King Herod, and Peter has been imprisoned. And if you think you know the story, I guarantee you there are things you have overlooked and missed. You need to lick that cow again, as my daddy would say.

In verse 3, we see Peter was arrested during the days of Unleavened Bread, but with the whole fiasco with Jesus’ illegal trials, Herod decides to wait until the Passover is done in order to execute Peter. Let’s break this down because it’s important. There is the Passover which lasts 24 hours. The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts 7 days. So there’s 8 days total the Jews celebrate.

In verse 6, we read, “On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution…” God waits until the night before Herod is going to execute Peter in order to break Peter out of prison.

Is anybody else wondering what took God so long? Why didn’t God rescue Peter on the first, second, third, even fourth night? Have you ever questioned God’s timing in your life? Dottie Peoples sings a song “He’s an on time God.” She sings, “He may not come when we want Him, but He’ll be there right on time.” Beth Moore’s quote from “Wishing Up”: “God is never late. He misses a few good opportunities to be early, but He’s never late.” The point is God shows up, but it’s in His timing.

We may not understand His timing but that’s not our job. Isaiah 55:8-9, For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways. This the Lord’ declaration. For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. HCSB

In verse 5, it says “prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.” James 5:16 says…”The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” HCSB. If nothing else resulted from Peter’s last minute release, those who were praying for him had to have been encouraged in their faith upon hearing his story of escape.

God never wastes anything. Don’t you know Peter took every opportunity to witness to the guards who were chained to him 24/7? Don’t you know the guards probably heard the word preached boldly and without hesitation? We don’t know how many families were impacted by Peter spending 7 days and nights in prison.

Who is watching you wait for God? What will they see? What will they hear? What will your testimony be?

During times of trial and tribulation, are you seizing the opportunity to witness and share the good news to those who God places in your path? Those guards would not have crossed Peter’s path had they not been chained to him day and night.

Too often during trial and tribulations, are you stressed and wondering where God is? Why isn’t He answer your prayers? Are you focused on the problem ahead of you so much you fail to see the God who is in control? Easy to say, not always easy to do.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

http://blueletterbible.org/

Meet Sandra Timmons -- Blessed by Cancer - Isaiah 55:8-9

Surely I am not the only woman in the world who has ever traveled with a man – husband, dad, brother, whoever – who refused to stop and ask for directions! I know our daughters have because I know their father. I tell people I am a member of the SAU sorority – See America Unintentionally!  When our daughters were young and we would strike out on a family trip, we knew what to expect (sort of). If we saw a “scenic route” sign, the girls and I tried (usually unsuccessfully) to distract my husband so that he wouldn’t see the sign. It was interesting to me that he could always see the “scenic route” sign but never notice there was also a “Travel at your own risk” sign very close to the first sign! In retrospect, we can now admit that we got to see a lot of things that we wouldn’t have otherwise, and we can laugh at some of the things that were not so funny at the time. But more times than not, I was wondering, “What was he thinking?” or “Was he thinking?” I couldn’t figure out how his mind worked; I think I should have been scared if I had understood.

Have you ever noticed that life is like that sometimes? Things can be going great just as planned (My plan? God’s plan?) then all of a sudden, something happens, and when the whirlwind turns you loose, everything in your life is headed in a totally different direction. 2007 was one of those years for my family and me. That was the year that I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. I knew I didn’t understand how God’s mind worked, but this made no sense to me whatsoever.

It was a very confusing time for me in many ways. In the two or three years leading up to 2007, God had been building a speaking ministry for me, and I was loving it. He had already put several speaking engagements on my 2007 calendar, and once I got past the shock of having cancer, I realized that I might have to cancel one or two engagements. Then my wonderful Christian oncologist told me that I should probably just go ahead and cancel them all. What?!! Knowing nothing about chemo and its side effects, I figured that I could still handle a few engagements along the way. Then my oncologist dropped the real bomb on me. He said it would probably be the end of 2008 before I would start to feel like a human being again, so I probably shouldn’t count on doing too many events that year either. I wondered what was going on; it made no sense to me that God would put speaking dates on my calendar, knowing that I would have to cancel. Very confusing! What was he thinking?! I wanted an answer; I wanted Him to tell me why He was doing this to me – not the cancer, but taking away the speaking ministry He had given me!

Isaiah 55:8-9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.

(9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (KJV)

I don’t think it would be possible to make things any plainer even to someone who is dealing with “chemo brain.” (I’ll explain that term some day in case you’re not familiar with it.) In essence, what God said to me was – He is God, and I am not! I’m pretty sure He realized that I needed “blunt.”

I still don’t know why God did it the way that He did – why He gave me those wonderful speaking opportunities and then allowed something into my life that would keep me from doing what HE had planned. But it really doesn’t matter. The main thing is that I must always remember that God uses a willing heart – even if I don’t understand His ways.

Just as on our family vacations and taking those “scenic routes,” we did often see things that we would not have otherwise seen. During my time with cancer, God taught me some things I might not have otherwise learned. And if it took having cancer to teach me those things, then I was blessed to have cancer.