When fretful thoughts keep you awake

For the last several days I have just been on a cleaning frenzy. I really don't know why or understand what has been my pressing need to clean and organize and do, do, do but I have felt almost an urgency to get all of these things done. I actually wore myself out for 3 days in a row just cleaning and straightening, and adjusting and organizing as if I were expecting that some super OCD fairy was coming with her white gloves to inspect my living space.

I did all of my clothing laundry one day and cooked and straightened and organized and felt like I just wasn't doing enough. I don't know why I felt that way but I did. No matter how much I got done, every single time that I sat down I would see all that still needed to be done or actually things that I wanted to get done instead of seeing all that I had already accomplished. The next day I laundered all of the bed linens and bath mats, and kitchen rugs and so forth and swept and mopped and vacuumed and organized some more and still I really didn't feel like I had gotten as much done in my day as I should have. I just couldn't seem to allow myself to feel a sense of accomplishment and when I finally did lie down to go to sleep, I had a million thoughts bombarding me of things that I need to get done. I need to do this and that and I really need to get that finished and I really should have, this that and the other so much in fact that I was up at 3:45 am realizing that I had only slept like 20 minutes and was wide awake. So, I talked to the Lord and finally drifted off to sleep and was up again just a little while later and once again up and down and prayed and asleep.

After I got up this morning I began to think more on purpose about why have I been feeling this way for the last few days? Why have I felt like I just had to do this or that and felt pressed as if I don't have enough time in my day to get all of these things done. I finally figured out that although I don't have a husband here with me to expect certain chores to be done or a hot meal on the table at a certain time and although I no longer have my kids in my home with me to cook for and launder clothing for or any of those things, I still feel a pressing need to be busy all of the time. I feel like I am purposely giving myself busy work to keep from dealing with something and sure enough I remembered that I had dreamed something and had woken up with a knowing that I have had something bothering me for a while and it is something that needs to be dealt with and although it might not be well received I am going to have to have a conversation about this uncomfortable thing that has been bothering me, causing me to be super hyper and feel the need to stay busy continually and is now showing up in my dreams.

Someone, well actually a couple of someone's hurt my feelings really badly a few years back. I never felt like I had a voice at the time to tell them how they made me feel and why. I never felt like my feelings were even considered and I have so wanted to tell them that I truly did not appreciate being dismissed as if from class. Now that I have recognized what the problem is I realize within myself that the dealing of the said problem may in and of itself cause another problem. So....do I keep running in circles like a dog chasing it's tail? or do I head on on purpose attempt to deal with the emotions and feelings that are actually much more raw than I had realized? I choose to face the problem head on, I choose to not allow this situation to keep me up at night and bother me this badly. I choose to attempt to put my feelings into words and come to some sort of understanding with the ones that hurt me.

The word tells us that the Lord is near to the broken hearted, He is never more real in our lives than when we are wounded, have our feelings hurt, when we feel unnecessary or even an after thought in people's lives. He is with us, His name in and off itself means God with us and that He is God with us, He is for us and He loves us inexplicably and completely and His love is enough. His love has been enough for such a very long time. Emmanuel God with us. I am so grateful and humbled by the fact that He is with me. Every day, through every trial, every hurt, every tiny detail of my life, He is there. No matter who leaves, He is there. No matter what happens, He is still there. He is the peace that passes all understanding. I expect to sleep tonight knowing that I am in good hands and He is the way maker, and has called us to be instruments of His peace. I will lie down in peace and safety knowing that He is my Shepherd and He cares for me. I will cast my cares upon Him and go into a peaceful and sound sleep. No more fretting, no more overachieving, no more running around doing this or that and no more condemnation when I feel like I am not enough, or I am too much or I haven't done enough or maybe I have done too much. I will know tonight when I lie down that He is all I will ever need and He is the fixer of problems. He is the Rewarder of those that diligently seek Him and I have been seeking Him my whole life in one way or another. I have found Him and He truly is the lover of my soul and I know that He is working all things out for my good. No more anxious thoughts, not tonight, I will sleep and arise refreshed in the morning.

The View From The Father's Lap

 
Today it started raining and my little dog began to get really upset. Of course, as we all know, dogs can hear so much better than we can and for them it truly isn't always a blessing. Sounds are magnified and sound so incredibly scary to them. So, in these times when I see that my lil' Angel Baby is becoming distressed I pick her up and comfort her.

Today as the winds began to blow and get louder, I picked her up and began to talk to her. Oh baby girl, it's only the rain. The rain isn't going to hurt you, it is just a sound honey, it can't hurt you, come to me, and she came over to me and put her paws on my leg and I picked her up and as we both looked out the window of my third story bedroom window, I said see? see? it's just rain, it can't hurt you. I am here, see? we are way up here looking down on the rain and it can't hurt you and as I spoke comforting words to my sweet lil' canine companion, the Spirit of the Lord said to me, do you hear the words that you speak? yes Lord, I hear what you are saying to me. I am above it all, I am seated with you in Heavenly places and although right now I have some scary things happening to me, I know that I am in your lap, I can see over all of this and I know that you will not let anything harm me. I know that you love me, I know that you look beyond my faults and see my incredible and desperate need for you.

As the calming effects of these words washed over both me and my lil' Angel Baby. I began to sing to the Lord thank you, thank you, thank you God for allowing me to see over it all and to realize that you have not left me in the middle of my mess and you will forever love me and help me and defend and protect me. No matter what comes or goes, you are the one and only CONSTANT thing in my life. Jesus, lover of my soul, protector of my heart, I need you today more than yesterday. I will no longer try to be tough girl, and pretend as if nothing is wrong and that I am ok. I am not ok, but you are with me and you are in complete and total control and you know what is best for me. Sometimes on this faith walk you run into folks like the friends of Job that seem to think that if you are a person of faith that you shouldn't have bad days. That you shouldn't get concerned and for sure should never be sick or discouraged. They seem to think that it shows a lack of faith or that you have committed some terrible sin or you wouldn't be going through this. Oh my my no! I have faith for days. I have boxes of faith that have yet to be opened. I have a surplus of faith in this great God that I serve. Faith is not the issue, faith is not the problem. As far as the sin goes, if God brought something on me every time I sinned, I would already be worm dirt, real talk folks. No sometimes things just happen.

Sometimes in this life, we find ourselves in the midst of a storm that is just going to run it's course and that is all there is to it. I believe that I will come out on the other side of the storm in tact, ALIVE and well. I don't just have the kind of love for God that rejoices only in joy and triumph, I have the kind of love for God that knows that no matter what happens to me in this life, I will love Him and He will never stop loving me and He will always be right here with me, reaching down and pulling me to His lap, even if it's just to say, see? see? it's just rain, it's just noise, you are not in danger. I am here with you, I will not allow any harm to come to you. It's just rain, just noise, all is well............

Time Out For Meditation

 
As a Christ follower I find it disturbing that now in many of our public schools yoga exercises and middle Eastern meditation is being introduced to control the children. Time out and trips to the disciplinarian aka the Principal are becoming a thing of the past. So now children are being directed to sit on a mat on the floor, get into a yoga stance and meditate, or better yet to sit on top of their desks, oh what fun!There is a blending of the practices of Hindu Yoga, coloring and meditation and focusing on mandalas to achieve inner peace. Yet the word of God and prayer to God has been removed from the equation. First the mandalas are just circles and then other objects are introduced like goddesses and so forth and little mantras for the kids to use during their meditation times, i.e. I am a pond, I am a pond, I am a pond, my only job is to watch the fish go by, I am a pond. Really? What in the world? The last time I checked ponds become stagnant and can get pretty nasty. So by all means let's have our little ones saying over and over and over again, I am a pond, I am a pond, I am a pond. Then when and if they go to church they are taught I am a river, out of my belly flow rivers of living water and then confusion occurs. Can anyone see this? Confusion and chaos are not of God.

As the children are older they are taught to focus on their third eye or inner self to achieve ultimate peace and rest. Since the Dalai Llama has been quoted as saying if every 8 year old child were taught to meditate we could end violence in one generation, well one thing is for sure you would end all resistance to forcing middle eastern practices on our kids. Yes you can achieve some form of peace but not true peace from God. Just because someone teaches you how to self induce a trance and you can feel a peaceful feeling doesn't mean that you have acquired inner peace. Jesus said before He ascended back to Heaven, my peace I leave with you, not as the world gives but my peace I give to you. Do you see? There is some form of other peace or He wouldn't have said it that way. The peace that comes from God is inexplicable, no chanting or mantras needed. No bowing down to a statue or Buddha, no need to be a pond or a star or a cloud or any of the other things that they are telling our children to become.

They are being taught the Koran, leaving out of course all references to killing of anyone that is not Muslim, we wouldn't want to frighten anyone of course and teachers for the most part are on board because they are so frustrated trying to get children to behave, to sit still long enough to learn anything and to be quiet so that at least other children can learn. Well.....here is my take on the situation when parents and teachers agree and respect one another and parents are making their children to be obedient at home, there is little need for trips to the principals office or timeout.

I have friends and family members that are teachers and they face many many obstacles every year because they have unruly children that they just can't seem to reach. They create as much chaos in the classroom as possible and the teacher's are left frazzled at the end of the day. Again, if parents were doing their jobs at home, this scenario would not continue to play out in the classrooms across this country. I am not a teacher in schools but I have been a teacher in children's ministry for years upon years and I also have encountered kids that were so unruly and behaved so badly that upon first sight you would think that the child was possessed with the devil, real talk but once I explained the rules, yes we have rules and explained to them that their behavior would not be tolerated, and that they would be removed from any snack or fun activity if their behavior did not change, almost immediately behavior modification occurred.

I didn't mistreat the child, I just let them know who was in charge and that I was not afraid of them and that they were not in charge. So many children are completely in charge at home and so therefore when they attend church and school or any outside activity they have a complete come apart when they do not get their way. This behavior never straightens out on it's own. Children must have boundaries and when they don't, bad behavior takes over completely. Then you see frustrated parents, grandparents and yes teachers.

So, now someone thought that introducing children to middle eastern religion would be the answer and it seems from all of the many articles that I have read and videos I have seen on the subject that everyone is so pleased because the children are responding so well to this new practice. Sure, brainwashing has been used for years and continues today in every facet of life. Sure, if you have someone sit on the floor, get into an odd configuration and begin to chant or meditate and repeat certain mantras over and over and over and over again, sure, you will become in a trance like state. I for one don't want to lose control of my faculties in such a practice and I am having a really hard time understanding why any Christian parent or teacher would think that this is ok. I guess it is out of desperation. They are saying oh the mantras and meditation have such a calming effect on the children, well....so does xanax but we don't want that administered do we?

The children are introduced in the beginning to Om, which is considered a mystic syllable, and revered as the most sacred mantra in many eastern religions. Educators have been heard to say, once the children are lost in meditation, they are much more peaceful and restful and easier to teach. Did you catch that?, lost in meditation. They are less aggravated and agitated. Om, well excuse me, pun intended of course you have taught them how to self induce a trance, I suppose they are more easy to control at that point. Parents, teachers please hear me today. I am not saying that we shouldn't have an open mind,but not so open that our brains falls out!


I see homeschooling parents taking lots of flack and all manner of hateful remarks being hurled their way because they choose to school their children at home in a God loving and safe environment. I praise God for the homeschooling parents. I say my hat is off to you forever!!! You are brave, you are taking full responsibility for your children's education and you are keeping them safe. Thank you God for parents that can and will do this. I know that everyone cannot do this but if at all possible, it really is a great idea. Due to all of the demonic things that our children and grandchildren are facing in the public school system.

Well.....once prayer and Bible reading were taken out of the schools citing that we need to separate church and state. We need to keep religion out of the public school system,they said and many people bought into that lie and took the bait and switch and now we have Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and many many other forms of religion present in schools today and all of the practices that go with that but although diversity is being preached and inclusiveness not one mention of our Creator, so how inclusive can it really be? How balanced can it be when God is left complete out of the equation? I am sure I will have some folks get mad at me, say that I am old fashioned, closed minded among other things but I don't really care. This came from the office upstairs and I am just relaying the message in my own words so I am cool with losing friends or whatever. That being said and those that know me knew that was the preface for the real clincher! which is this: Dance with the devil if you want to but eventually you will have to pay the band and it is a very high price. Christians are called dogmatic, unfeeling, unrelenting, closed minded but what is so strange and funny about that is noone seems to be shocked when Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus do not practice Christianity. Noone tells them that they are being too rigid, or dogmatic in their religious practices.

Why are Christians being singled out? I can tell you why there is power in the blood and the name of Jesus Christ and when He enters a situation there is no one beside Him or higher than Him or even equal to Him. He is all that is needed and the enemy knows this so he brings confusion and other doctrines of devils to confuse people into believing that all roads lead to Heaven and all is well when it is not well at all. Hear me today people exposing our children to these false doctrines in not the answer to behavior problems, the word of God and prayer and leading by example is the answer. Please hear me.

Let's Stop The Divide

This morning is a sad day for some and a jubilant day for others. Some woke to the fact that their beloved candidate didn't win and others woke to the fact that their candidate did win. I guess I am just from the old school of sportsmanship but all I can say is STOP IT!! If your candidate lost, suck it up, pray for our elected leader and move forward. To those that are gloating because your candidate won STOP IT!!!! makes you look foolish and very ignorant!! When I was a kid playing sports we were taught to not just be gracious losers and show good sportsmanship but to also be gracious winners meaning we did not gloat when we won the game.

This is not a time in our country to continue with division and strife. God is on the throne, He is the one that brings people high or sits them down in a low place. When are we going to realize this? God is in complete and total control. Doesn't matter who we have for POTUS, GOD IS IN CONTROL!! Not man, GOD!! We must now pray, pray, pray for each other, pray for our newly elected leader and pray for this country to come together in integrity and in grace and move forward. We can't accomplish anything if we don't get our own lives and priorities together and stop stirring up strife against one another. We are directed in the word of God to pray for our leaders. The word doesn't say pray for the ones you like and leave the others out on a limb without a prayer covering. NOPE!! Here is what the word says:

1 Timothy 2:1-3

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

² For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

Did you catch that? For all that are in authority, so no matter whether we like the leader or not is not in question in this scripture, we are to pray for our authority. So, let's do what God says and then we will be in a position to be pleasing to God.

I have seen some really hateful, rude, disrespectful and completely unnecessary comments being thrown on both sides. Now is the time to stop the foolishness!! Stop acting like little bitty spoiled children and pray for our country. Pray for God's will to be done in this country. Pray for the lil' babies that are still in the womb, pray that they will have a voice, pray that all people will be treated with dignity and decency. Pray that God gets any and all glory from any accomplishments that this country experiences and lets move forward with grace, integrity and the intestinal fortitude it is going to take to conquer the evils that prevail in our world. We shouldn't be fighting against each other. Rather, we should be fighting the good fight of faith and fighting the enemy of our souls.

Ephesians 6:12

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Donald Trump is not the enemy!! Hillary Clinton is not the enemy!, the enemy of our soul is satan and he would love nothing more than for people to fight against each other and keep the divide ever widening in this country of ours! We are the people of this country. We can make this country what we want it to be with the grace of God and our earnest prayers toward God, seeking His will and His face, not our own will or our own agenda. 

Let's unite today in one thing at least. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE!!!  LET'S STOP THE DIVIDE!!

Julia or Martha?

I have always enjoyed cooking. The idea of cooking, watching people cook, learning new things and although now I am considered a chef or as most of my family would say an alright cook, I didn't learn at an early age. My mother was a very good cook and she was very particular about how things were to be done and didn't really want me in the kitchen bothering her in any way. I was a member of the clean up crew but never on the creating crew. I loved watching Julia Child on television and the main reason, as a child, that I loved her is because if something wasn't just perfect she would say oh that is ok, you can fix that. She was, as she called her own self, fearless in the kitchen. When I got married at 18, because I really wasn't the fearless type and had zero experience in cooking, I had a very hard time learning how to do things in the kitchen.

Today I was watching an old episode of Baking with Julia and here was Martha Stewart with her. I looked at the two women and realized although they could both cook exquisite meals and loved the art of cooking, they were so completely different. Julia was about the experience of cooking and eating, not worrying about making mistakes. If you make a mess, just clean it up, if you burn something, oh well try, try again and Martha has always been be oh so careful about how you do this or that as to not disturb it or make any mistakes. I thought to myself, although, I love Martha to pieces, if she had been on television instead of Julia, I would have never even tried to cook anything. She is indeed a perfectionist.

I am not saying that we shouldn't be careful in how we do things but even though I have been cooking now for a very long time, I still make some horrific mistakes, things get burned, recipes don't turn out just right and that's ok, I will just try, try again. I am now fearless in the kitchen as well. I was very blessed to have worked in the kitchen with some really good cooks and chefs that taught me a whole lot about how to do this or that and were not stingy at all with the knowledge that they had acquired either through experience only or through French Cooking School knowledge. The thing that I find quite hilarious is Julia Child was French Cooking School trained and had a culinary degree, Martha does not and has never been to cooking school but to watch her and to listen to her you would think that she owned the cooking school and taught everyone else and was a Executive Chef Extraordinaire. Titles, don't get the stew cooked, a degree does not a chef make and I have learned over the years to learn and to keep learning. To keep my passion stirred for cooking and to keep a servants heart.

I love to cook and to eat but equally so, I love to watch other people eat, and enjoy their meal. I love to set the table very nice and serve people. Not so they will say oh Priscilla you are fabulous but to  have them enjoy and truly relish what they are eating. Sometimes I tend to gild the lily a little, I suppose but I enjoy trying new things and experimenting with different flavor combinations. Rarely do I ever go exactly by a recipe, unless it is the very first time at a completely different recipe than I have ever tried. Even when I am watching cooking shows I find myself saying oh I would have used Provolone or I wouldn't have put in that much thyme. Cooking for sure is my passion and living alone I don't get to do a whole lot of shall we say impressive cooking but I do try to keep my skills honed and keep my creative juices flowing. Right now in the oven I have carrots, turnips, onions drizzled with olive oil and my own rosemary vinegar roasting in the oven, the whole apartment smells divine.

While I was watching Julia and Martha today I thought isn't that the way we as Christians are some time? We make people think that they have to be perfect to come to Christ, that they have to never ever do or say anything wrong or they just aren't up to par or up to our rigid standards. So in my overthinking which is normal for me, I thought we should all start out as Julia and allow people to learn as they make mistakes and then as they grow in the faith, we will become more like Martha and begin to allow them to become polished as they are growing in their faith and acquiring and growing their spiritual fruit. So.........today as you examine yourself as a Christ follower are you a Julia? or are you a Martha? just a little food for thought, yes pun intended...........

Working On A Building

Lately I have been watching some folks build a building. They started with the foundation and then build outwards. These men have been diligently working on this building now for several weeks and have now got it all framed in and to me it looks quite ugly because what I am looking at is the strength of the building and not the beauty.

 We all know that when the building crew finishes, then the exterior guys will show up to finish what they call the facade. The exterior, what we all will look at and say oh that is a pretty building. After that facade goes up we will no longer be able to see what is on the inside, the strength that makes the building be able to withstand hard storms and the day to day beating of the sun and the wind. We don't see that part because it has now been covered up with the pretty part, the part that everyone wants to see.

Isn't that the way it is in life as well? People want to look on the outside of a strong person and say oh wow! she really has it together, she never seems to sweat or have hard times and if he/she does they really are STRONG!!! That is because they are just looking on the outside, they don't understand what has been built in, on the inside the strength that only comes from the maker, the original designer, the Holy Spirit of God that builds that foundation of truth upon the word of the living God. The word tells us that if the Lord isn't building the house then the ones that are building it are laboring in vain. To be able to withstand the storms of life and to be able to bear good fruit for the Lord, I must allow Him to build my house. Allow Him to furnish it as He sees fit that will bring the most honor and glory to Him.

I'm not too prideful to admit that although I had a really good foundation from Him, I have tried in the past to build my house and do it my way and then when the storms came, it wasn't a pretty sight. He has even had to send in the demolition crew on me a couple of times and tear the building all the way down to the foundation and start back over again. I believe the old-timers called that going back and doing your first works again. Nevertheless now I am allowing Him to build my building inside and out. These days I am for sure more concerned with the fruit that I bear more than I am about the gifts that He gives. I am working on cultivating as much good fruit for Him as I can. I want Him to look at my house and say well built and Wow look at all of those fruit trees!

There's an old bluegrass song called working on a building and I have sang it many many times and loved it all of these years and although at times it may seem repetitious, if you let it minister to you, you will be able to understand that the old timey folks sure had a much better grip on this building thing than we seem to today. Check out this version from YouTube:  Bill Monroe from back in the day.          https://youtu.be/wM3GICtYNAo  I pray today as you are working on your building for the Lord that you consider the fruit trees out front in the yard. They sure do get a whole lot of attention to folks and make them want to work on their building too.

Tears For Rain

 
Psalm 126:5 tell us that they that sow in tears, will reap in joy. The word also tells us in Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. So..... me being the thinker that I am, I got to thinking about these 2 scriptures and said to myself well if God collects our tears and He does and they that sow in tears shall reap in joy, and they do then I think that our tears could be stored up for when we are in those dry and weary places and He just says let me pour out some rain (tears) because you dear child are now traveling through a dry and dusty place on this journey. 

Apposed to what some T.V. ministers will teach you every day is not your best day and every day is not all joyous and full of wonderful surprises and happiness and love and joy. That is just not true and the word does not bear it out to be true. There are times that we will go through places on our spiritual walk with the Lord that it is just as dry and parched as it can be and we are saying oh Lord help me!!! I need the rain, send down the rain, send down the rain, open the floodgates of Heaven and let it rain. Don't we sing these type of worship songs? But for some reason people still buy into this every day is just a bag full of roses gospel and it is just not so, we find many stories in the word that lets us know that some days are just plain ole tough and it is just us and the Lord and in the midst of these times we may feel lost and alone.

There is a story in the word that tells of the children of Israel after they had left Egypt and were Canaan bound. It's just a little seemingly insignificant story to some but it struck me as quite profound. The story is found in Exodus 15,the story of the bitter waters of Marah. Now God had led them this way and they get here after 3 days without water only to discover that the water is so bitter that they cannot drink it at all. Now wait a minute, am I to understand this? God led them this way? Why? Why in the world would the Lord God lead them this way knowing all along that the waters were bitter? That just don't seem right. Doesn't sound like most of the teaching/preaching I hear so much of but it still is the truth. Sometimes God will lead you through a circumstance that is just bad but He knows that you will come out stronger on the other side. What is so funny to me about this is that earlier in this same chapter they are singing and dancing before the Lord because He had destroyed their enemies and now they are beginning to grumble and gripe because the waters are bitter. Like the same God that had just destroyed their enemies couldn't make the bitter waters sweet?

Isn't that just like us? Oh we love us some Jesus as long as everything is going along just fine. As long as we are healthy and well and wise. As long as our bills are all paid and we are prospering, we are just the happy little followers of Jesus but as soon as we hit a major bump or curve in the road we fall to the wayside like a spoiled child that didn't get there way. The Israelites were no different, I can assure you. They grumbled and griped constantly about any of a number of things but in this particular story it was the water but what did God in His gracious way do for them? He turned the bitter waters to sweet.

What I am saying today is this. When we are only following Jesus when things are going good and we are happy and well, then are we true followers? But, when we follow Him through the dessert places and we follow Him when the waters are bitter and we follow Him when our finances are out of wack and when our bodies are hurting and when our kids are not acting right and we follow Him through it all, then that says to a lost and dying world that we are true followers and there really must be something to this Jesus stuff. When they see us in the midst of the storm keeping our cool and with unwavering faith hanging on to the only one that can help us through it, when we are happy no matter what our circumstances then and only then are we truly being a shining light to a lost and dying world.

The Apostle Paul wrote 2/3 of the New Testament and most of it was penned from a jail cell. He said these words Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. From a jail cell he wrote that and meant every word. He also said in Philippians 4:12
I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content--whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. From a jail cell he said these and many other things and here we are well fed, with a roof over our heads, clothes to wear and not once have we been stoned, left for dead, and beaten. Not once. We are wimps in comparison to the Bible saints, to say the very least. We have bought into this comfortable Christianity that says as long as you say the right things, you will get the right things and as long as you have the faith you will always prosper and have lots of money. But see the word doesn't tell us that. The word, in fact, does say I would that you prosper even as your soul prospers. Noone wants to talk about the prosperity of the spirit or soul, just the physical prosperity that brings riches and land and honor and prestige, power and titles.

Of course I am not excited, elated or thrilled to be the next in line to suffer but I do live with a reality that lets me know that in a fallen and sinful world there are times that I will and I still have a wonderful and mighty God that is in complete and total control of all of it and He loves me enough to capture my tears in a bottle for a day that I need rain.