Good morning yall! Sorry I didn't get back as quickly as I had hoped but life gets busy, things start happening & God starts moving! So, about Saturday & how God spoke to me. Of course you know I've been struggling, confused, not sure what step to take next so Saturday was no different. My good friend Karen text me just to see how it was going with the book we are reading, The 4:8 Principle, & I reply "good, haven't gotten to far, etc, need to go far, far away so I can read, study, make decisions etc., without other responsibilities", and she replies, "I believe God wants to heal you right where you are! Don't let Satan creep in, you have control, take it now in the name of Jesus! You kick his rear on your side of the phone & I got him on my end." She's my little fire ball! I just ball her up like a bowling ball & send her straight at him! Like she said, " I'm all over him!!! And I see nothing but flames fleeing in the distance! Whoop Whoop!" So thankful! Meanwhile, on my end I was kinda half hearted at first because I felt defeated but I decided "no, I'm gonna stop what I'm doing & give an honest try!" As I started to pray I just said "Lord, I don't even know where to start, what to say, Holy Spirit speak for me." God said "I hear you, get your Bible out & pray through it." Me, "but I don't even know where to start, what to even read! Show me." So I picked up my "New" Bible & just opened it trusting God to lead me. Where he led me was, umm, weird, confusing & perfect! Buckle up friends, here we go! Jeremiah 48. Go ahead, go read it! I scanned it thinking, "ok what's He trying to tell me?" Moab? This is weird! Then it started to hit me. "Oh ok, I see what I think you might be saying, not sure I'm liking this, maybe this isn't really what he meant for me to turn to. Let me just get out my "Old" Bible cuz ya know the pages aren't so stiff." It kept trying to open to a book marked page and I knew about where Jeremiah was so I completely took my thumbs off the pages then closed my eyes and opened the Bible. Yup, you guessed it! It opened to the book marked page which was Zephaniah 3:17! Comforting, my very favorite vs. Ya know I have never read the whole chapter 3 so I decided to & lo & behold if it didn't say things along the same line as Jeremiah 48, just a little nicer! Ok so next to that is a devo and the scripture Psalm 126:1-2 caught my eye. Surely not! Mmm hmm, I looked it up. How fitting! I mean really! As I said before, God is so funny! He can get his point across even while being loving & humorous! There's a lesson there, pretty sure! Alright, so let's go back & take at look at all this & see what God was revealing to ME about ME. Jeremiah 48 is talking about the city of Moab, full of pride, arrogance, boasting, refusing to listen to God's instruction, lazy & how she, Moab will be punished & destroyed, ashamed, barren, they will scatter & run from God,joy & laughter gone, no song & laughter. And at the same time God says he will weep, wail, cry out, mourn for Moab & its people. Vs 36 says So my heart laments for Moab like a flute. NIV or My heart moans for Moab,...like soft flute sounds carried by the wind. The Message. Vs. 38 ...In Moab there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants. Declares the Lord or like pottery no one wants I will smash her to bits. The Message. Moab has become an object of ridicule. You cannot hide or run, vs 44 says (my words) whether you run in terror or are climbing out of a pit, you will be caught in a trap! But after her year of punishment, vs 44, "I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come." Declares the Lord. This is harsh! I AM MOAB! Prideful, refusing to change, rebellious, etc. God is & has been patient & tolerant. To me this was a warning & a promise of restoration. Now, Zephaniah 3:17 says "The Lord your God is with you (present among you MSG), he is mighty to save (a strong warrior there to save you), He will take great delight in you (happy to have you back), he will quiet you with his love (he'll calm you with his love), he will rejoice over you with singing (& delight you with his songs.). Isn't that beautiful & reassuring? After getting a butt chewing that verse was the salve I needed to soothe my wounds. Chapter 3 talks about Jerusalem who was rebellious & defiled, obeyed no one, she accepts no correction, does not trust in the Lord, & she does not draw near to her God, Vs 1-2. God thinks surely after he has destroyed everything Jerusalem will change their ways & find a way of escape from her troubles & relief from the punishment, but they don't so in vs 8 he says " if that's what you want, stick around. Your day in court is coming & I will bring evidence & will pour out my wrath...the whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger." Then he declares restoration. He will send their enemies running & in vs 13 they will be "content with who they are & where they are, unanxious, they'll live at peace." Scolding, punishing, loving & restoring. Are you getting the picture yet? I am also Jerusalem! Let's look quickly at Psalm 126. When the Lord returned the captives to Zion they were "like men who dreamed." Vs 2 "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy." This is what God promises when we obey! They proclaimed all the wonder God had done for them. Vs 4-6 MSG "And now, God, do it again-(Restore out fortunes O Lord NIV) bring rains to our drought-stricken lives so those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, so those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing." I love that! That was my prayer! Needless to say I got put in my place & lifted up at the same time. Isn't God awesome?! The way he speaks to me never ceases to amaze me! I AM MOAB! I AM JERUSALEM! I WANT TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO ZION! How about you? Did I correct it all in that one day? No, but I am a work in progress & God is happy about that. In fact He has chosen to use me in big ways in the last few days & has blessed me for my efforts according to his Grace! Even in my broken, imperfect way! He can, will, & wants to use you too! Let Him! You want regret it!
Striving
Stephanie Goode
Hey Stephanie. Just read your blog it is awsome. It look like the Lord is really do a great work in you. I am so excited for you. I told you the Lord will use you in a mighty way. I pray that you get a lot of followers and there will be people hurting that will benefit from your Life's experience.. Keep searching his word and blogging.. I think you need to write a book about your life. You definitely have a gift for writting.. I pray that you keep an open ear the Lord. Love Ruth
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