Y2K
Remember when December 31, 1999 loomed largely on the horizon with the threat of computer melt-down, economic devastation and innumerable other horrors we could only imagine from the dire reports circulating the web? I sure do! I coaxed several hundred dollars from our over-stretched budget and stockpiled candles, batteries, food, water, extra blankets, oil lamps and kerosene to keep them burning, matches, first aid supplies, soaps - literally everything I could think of. We entered New Year 2000 with a cupboard full of goodies, and it was the middle of the year before I had to do another major shopping. Blush! (Talk about not depending on the Lord to see us through. Ouch, huh? But on the other hand, He had laid it on my heart to have enough on hand that we would be in a position to help others if our assistance were needed. It works both ways. Sometimes laying in provisions is just as godly as waiting for God to hand us our needs on a silver platter and neglecting to use our human intelligence. Hey, I even shop for groceries!)
But I digress. (What else is new?)
One of the strains we put on our finances was the purchase of a gasoline-powered generator. We'd never used it before - but when a major power outage struck Ontario yesterday* at the supper hour, we were certainly glad we had it to fall back on. At first we expected the blackout would be short-term. We went out for supper and considered it a bit of an adventure. When the hydro was still out at bedtime, we piled on a couple of extra blankets and snuggled in quite happily for an early bed and a good night's sleep, which we both needed badly after all the excitement of getting our new store up and running.
* Started writing this issue several weeks ago, then got side-tracked... but the story bears repeating, I think, so here it is anyway, okay? Enjoy...
By this morning the hydro was still out and the temperature in the house was too low to register on the thermostat. The wind hadn't stopped whistling all night. Yesterday it had been warm enough to sit out on the back deck and enjoy the early spring sunshine. This morning I wore TWO sweatsuits and two pair of socks when I went down to do the chores, leaving Archie to get our God-given generator working. By the time I got back to the house the furnace was starting to take some of the chill off the rooms, the refrigerator was working, and we had water. HALLELUJAH! (Those were the things we had wired into the generator fuse panel: furnace, water well pump, and a few wall outlets, one of which is in the upstairs office where my office is.) We set up a small propane stove in a well-ventilated area (so well ventilated that we need our coats and hats on to babysit it), and have been enjoying our instant coffee throughout the day. We were even able to cook ourselves a hot lunch. Super!!! :-) Needless to say, we have been praising the Lord all day for our ability to be warm and well-fed and to look after our animals' needs as well, despite the continuing failure of the provincial hydro system. Oh, how we praise You, Lord, for making it possible for us to get this generator three years ago!
That's the "foresight" part. The "friends" part is an even more wonderful blessing:
Our Mennonite neighbour Joseph dearly loves our farm and would like to buy it, but it's out of his price-range. He has to consider values in terms of how long the expenditure would take to pay for itself producing crops on the land with horse-powered equipment and natural fertilizers. Convenience for commuting to a city job doesn't enter into his equation; nor does the wealth of gravel, the main-floor laundry, the upstairs office with separate phone line, the proximity to pavement, shopping, schools, community centre, etc., etc., etc. It was a sad day when we came to a mutual understanding of the fact that he wouldn't be getting a chance to live here, believe me.
What does this have to do with the blessing? Simply this: Joseph, bless his heart, just came riding through the blizzard in sub-zero temperatures to see how things are going for us, and to invite us up to their place for a hot meal if we wanted a chance to warm up! We were abundantly grateful for the thoughtfulness, and at the same time happily thankful for the ability to assure him that thanks to the generator we wouldn't have to take him up on his kind offer. Isn't it wonderful how friends pull together in emergencies? We praise You, Lord, for our friends and neighbours!
And we praise You also for sending me over to the store yesterday afternoon to relieve Archie so he could come home and move a couple of round bales of hay into the barn for our animals. We certainly couldn't have done it today with the wind, which has been having a field-day trying to rip the large barn doors off their hinges and/or tracks. We have been going from one door to another tightening, reinforcing, improvising and generally doing our best to off-set the force of the wind. There are some pretty strange assortments of ropes in various places, but the doors are holding and the barn is snug and comfortable inside. Another cause for rejoicing!
Right at the moment I can see one of the trees on the front lawn and a bit of the driveway from where I sit at the keyboard. Beyond that the world ends, at least visibly. The tree branches are swaying in brittle protest, with a litter of broken twigs spreading across the lawn. The vaguest outline of the barn across the road ghosts through occasionally like a watermark through the blowing pellets of snow. Even the sky is a uniform gray-white. Brrrr! But with our super-incredible, wonderful, absolutely magnificent little generator puffing away and giving us heat, light and water, our little stove ready to heat our meals, and our dear friends ready to help out whenever needed - we're ready for anything, and grateful beyond words for ALL that is filling this most beautiful of days.
God bless you, Canada, for your changing seasons and your indescribable joys!
But I sure am glad the computer is one of the goodies Archie had hooked up to the generator. :-) I'd go stir-crazy without it today. Know the feeling? Another reason to thank the Lord. Amen!!!
Praise the Lord, people, cuz Christ is King!
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
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HE CARES!
People, we are told time and time again that God loves us and cares for us. We are encouraged to cast all our anxieties on Him ("Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain thee;" "Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you;" are two that come to mind, but I'm sure there are dozens of others if I were to take the time to search them out.) But how often have you heard somebody say with authority from personal experience that He really DOES honour these promises today, in 2002 A.D., and He really DOES care for YOU - wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you have done or left undone in your life? Well, hang onto your seatbelts, because that's exactly what I'm about to do right now: tell you a very few of the instances that have convinced me that God DOES care, that He DOES live, that He IS with us every step of the way. Read on and rejoice, because OUR GOD REIGNS! :-))
I started off some years back with baby-steps of faith in following the leading of the Holy Spirit's 'still small voice.' ("In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He SHALL direct thy paths.") If I believed the Lord had led me to do a certain thing, I trusted Him to have a perfect parking spot right where I needed it. Amazingly enough, the empty spot would be there. If I felt His guidance to detour and go into a particular store without any particular reason, I'd trust Him to lead me to exactly the item He had in mind for me to buy, knowing I'd have enough cash with me to make the purchase - but not knowing if I was going to buy a vaccuum cleaner or a book! And sure enough, there in a back corner would be a stack of household dishes in my favourite pattern, an out-of-circulation Hereford china.
He even taught me that He's involved in every moment of my day whether I'm aware of Him or not. When I was following the soap opera "The Young and the Restless" a few years back, He startled me one night with the question, "How many coloured actors are there in the cast?" I couldn't answer it off-hand, but discovered I didn't need to. He answered His own question: "Nine." And sure enough, when I put on my thinking cap and reviewed the list of actors involved in the plot back then, nine there were. Thing is, HE knows them each as individuals with their own problems. I figured I was doing famously if I knew their character in the program! But to our wonderful Father, we are all His children with our own personalities and our own needs... and He loves each one of us.
Over the years I graduated to trusting Him to have perfect weather conditions along a route we'd have to take to keep an appointment. There might be incredible storms to either side of the highway we were on, but we would be blessed with just a light shower or wet pavement. If our journey were along a road that would ordinarily lead us directly into heavy traffic and the blinding sun, the day would be foggy enough to keep most drivers off the road, without being dangerously dark. As long as I TRUSTED Him to see us through, our needs were met every step of the way.
With all these years of experience in His faithfulness, you'd think I'd trust Him with my life and turn over every little concern on a daily basis, right? Right!
So do I?
Nope. Duh! :*(
You see, somewhere deep down inside I have this ridiculous conviction that I'm quite capable of looking after my own affairs, when it doesn't concern something like a parking spot or climate control.
Ouch.
I'm just as guilty as anybody else when it comes to saying, "Thanks for the hand, God; now if You would just put Your head back in the box until I need You again..."
Well, dear hearts, He's tightening His hand on the reins and letting me know in no uncertain terms that that attitude won't cut it any longer. I am to turn over EVERY care, EVERY concern, EVERY worry, EVERY need to HIM the moment it crosses my mind... and I'm to leave it there with Him for Him to sort out as He sees fit. He is "able, more than able", and if I am to be a functioning part of His body then I must acknowledge that His Son is my head in every aspect of my life. I can't indulge in do-it-myself fantasies of independence, because He needs every particle of His body ready for instant action - where HE wants us, when HE needs us, doing what HE says. Now that time is getting short and the spiritual warfare is increasing exponentially in its intensity, He needs even a toenail on the Body such as I am to be in place and ready to stand firm.
Please, won't YOU turn your life over to Him today too? He is our loving, all-powerful Saviour and God; He bought you with an unbelievable price of pain and suffering; and He wants to save you from a frustrating morass of problems that threaten to overwhelm you if you keep on keeping on. Stop trying to put on a brave front; don't fret yourself by trying to be something you aren't; don't struggle beneath a load of cares any longer. Turn it all over to Him right this minute and trust Him to see you through.
"Seek ye the Lord while yet He may be found."
In Jesus' precious Name I ask it.
Amen.
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
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***A WORD OF WISDOM***
Exercise daily. Walk with the Lord.
Compliments of Fair Haven, Bob Simenson's beautiful ministry. Fair Haven is designed to strengthen the faint-hearted, encourage the
down-hearted, amuse the light-hearted, heal the broken-hearted, and fill the
empty-hearted. To subscribe or unsubscribe to MORNING MANNA (from which the above Word of Wisdom was grabbed for your enjoyment) - just shoot Bob an
e-mail at bobson@chibardun.net.
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
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GUEST EDITORIAL
Absolute Power
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly ABOVE all that we ask or think, according to the POWER that works in us." (Ephesians 3:20)
As a believer, you have the power of the Holy Spirit inside you. You have more absolute power than Clint Eastwood, but it won't go to work until you do.
The Greek word translated as power is dunamis, from which we get the English word dynamite, dynamic and dynamo. The Holy Spirit, however,
won't just muscle in on you like Tony Soprano. He won't come in and stop the DVD of that R-rated movie while you are getting hot and heavy.
No, He's An Officer and a Gentleman, but much better than Richard Gere. He's been sent from heaven to help you to do the will of God, to strengthen
you, to teach you the Word of God, to comfort you, to advise you. But He won't do a thing until you ask Him, until you plug into the socket of His dunamis power.
That's why James 5:13 says if you're suffering or afflicted, pray. It's prayer that puts the yoke-destroying, burden-removing power of God within you to work.
The Spirit of Almighty God, the Ruach Elohim, the Spirit that hovered over the waters and carried out God's spoken Word at creation, is the very same
Spirit inside you, waiting for you to call on Him! If God were sitting In The Bedroom next to Sissy Spacek, you'd fall on your face and
worship Him, wouldn't you? You'd jump at the opportunity to have fellowship with the LORD of all things instead of the Lord of the Rings.
Well, the Holy Spirit is no hobbit, He's in you and He's waiting to hobnob with you. He's ready 24 hours a day saying, "I'm not from the government and
I'm here to help you. I can strengthen you and comfort you. You know that problem that's bugging you? I can help to wash that out of your life.''
The Holy Spirit has good things He wants to show you, things you've been trying to get on your own. He's waiting there with the absolute power to
overcome every obstacle in your life, to turn your scars into stars, your mess into a message, your test into a testimony, and your trials into triumphs.
Take time to pray, and pray in the Spirit. Pray with understanding in accordance with the Word of God. Pray and activate the power that works within you today.
Copyright © 2002 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved.
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Any help to redo, maintain, host or promote the website, mass email to spread the Word of God to the needy would be appreciated.
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
Keep on reigning; You're my Lord!
Sharpen my mind by Your Spirit's sword.
Compliments of NicksHumor.net
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That's about it for now, folks. God bless you and keep you, one and all!
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