Money

The poverty spirit is still an old friend. Or is that an enemy.

Easy to blame problems and trials on an evil spirit. Better to say that pride and doubt still have their places in my heart. Any excuse in a storm. The simple fact is that Christ is ready and well able to keep me. And He is able to receive the Glory that is His as a consequence.

Father, it is my desire that the Glory that is yours be rendered to you in spite of my habits of self trust and self rescue. Forgive my rising up. Edify me when and how you will, that will bring You the Honor. Help me to see Your Kingdom advancing and pressing back what can not exist in Your presence.

I am really having trouble writing tonight.

I am really having trouble writing tonight.

This is the first week of a new work year. Maybe I am running harder at it than I am aware of in the midst of it. Ready to sleep when I get home.

Noisy. Yup. Got noisy again. Help me, Daddy, with the noisy. Oh...You've got me.
I am okay. Sorry. I forgot. Thanks so much.

Kiss my brother tonight, Father. Hug my sister tonight, Father. Help me settle. I need to hear.

Plenty

Plenty.

Reminds me of what Zig said about always having enough to eat when he was growing up. He said he always knew he had enough, because his folks said, "You've had enough."

Yes, there is poverty and hunger like that now. My guess, though, is that there are a lot more poorly nourished in abundance than in poverty.

The best thing about writing every day is that I get inspired every day. Meaning that the Spirit of God gives me something to write about. I get enough for the post. Sometimes there is more than enough, but mostly just plenty.

This inspiration is like manna. There was always plenty of manna. Except for the sabbath manna, there was no extra. And the sabbath manna was not extra.

Anyway, there is plenty. Knowing what satisfied feels like helps. The farmer who was going to build bigger barns had not tasted satisfaction.

Maybe now I understand why I need to write about plenty. When I say, "There is plenty." do you say, "No, there is not?" Are you experiencing plenty? Are you tasting satisfaction on a regular basis? If the answer is no, run a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and run an inventory of what you have on the left and what you lack on the right. Then tick off the things on the left that you are giving thanks for. Then tick off the things on the right that you really expect, and might even be giving thanks for in advance. Then thank God for the miracle working Blood of Jesus. Now if the exercise still leaves you lacking for satisfaction and believing you have poverty instead of plenty, then write me and we will see where we need to go from here.

There is plenty. I am learning that there is great plenty in not having to store up in anticipation of the day when God breaks His Word.

Father, thank You that You are the definition of Faithful.

Satisfaction and Gratitude

The obverse of the coin is gratitude. Our Heavenly Father is the source of perfect satisfaction, in Christ and by His Holy Spirit. He says that His will is our gratitude, our giving thanks in all things.

Receiving the manifest Kingdom and giving Him thanks for it are tandem and inseparable. There is nothing like breathing in Love and breathing out thanksgiving. In fact, there is nothing better, and there is no substitute. It is spiritual respiration. Many other things are excellent and characteristic of the Kingdom of God. But nothing gets done without breathing in the Kingdom and breathing out thanksgiving.

Hallel u jah

Convinced

I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is involved in this trip report. This life of faith is supposed to look, sound, smell and feel different. The Holy Ghost stirs people up, makes them see themselves in the light of holiness. If it was a human thing, a part any human religion, nothing would get stirred. There would always be a human path to compromise.

Jesus never is about compromise. He is about uncompromising holiness making a way for uncompromising wickedness to be completely forgiven. That is stirring stuff up. That is open warfare against all that opposes the will of God.

So if Christianity makes people uncomfortable, it is because it is supposed to.

Father, thank you that you are not an ordinary god.