Connection

Posted by Admin on Mar 10, 2014 in Connection, Help from God | Comments Off on Connection

In plumbing, leaks can be caused by loose connections between pipes. And because you and I take it for granted that the connections between the unseen pipes at home are sound, once in a blue moon we are surprised when facing the inevitable—a leak.

In my house, the leak seeped up over the top of the fitting. Somehow the connection had loosened and soundness was compromised. But as quickly as it was discovered it was repaired—the contractor was in the house! Don’t you wish all of the leaks and glitches in your home would occur when a repairman was on the scene? Well, here’s good news—the Carpenter is always in the house!

The leak in the connection between the pipes started me thinking about the closeness of my connection with God. I hate to admit it, but as I look back over the past 39 years of my relationship with Him, I haven’t always maintained a super-tight connection. Don’t get me wrong—once I was born again, I was connected. But sometimes I was content just to appear to have a close connection, while the connection itself had become loose, casual—even sloppy. And upon closer inspection, I can see that the most satisfying times in my life have occurred when I purposefully tightened that connection.

How do you tighten the connection between yourself and God? What tends to loosen it up? What are some of the signs that you need to crank that connection more tightly? And if you’re in Christ and He’s in you, why concern yourself about this connection at all? Isn’t connection with Him a given?

The skinny is this: the connection is perfect on His end; it’s your end that needs watchful oversight, maintenance, and sometimes repair. If there’s any disconnect, it’s on your end.

Remember last week I wrote that I was bombarded by negative thoughts one snowy morning? I ran for refuge that day to a pile of devotionals, knowing in my gut that I would receive direction and help. And interestingly enough, in one way or another, out of every single entry emerged a strengthening, nutritious nugget about—you guessed it—a vital connection with God.

I’ll be writing about what I gleaned that snowy day in the next several blog entries. But tomorrow I plan to backtrack a bit and viagra purchase uk share a dream that I had sometime last year. You’ll understand why when you read “Connected to the Source”.

Dorothy

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4

Another leak

Posted by Admin on Mar 7, 2014 in Help from God | Comments Off on Another leak

The trim nail was discovered and removed, and the section of copper piping was replaced. Three weeks later, after much running of water to flush out the system, my water tastes free of contaminants. Hallelujah!

But I had a hole in my basement ceiling that needed to be patched. My contractor, a godly man with a good attitude, and who is a craftsman in his own right, came to do the job.

He is no stranger to my herd of cats. Two of them hide from him in the compartments between the floors that he himself created—just for them. You see, two years ago he gutted that whole section of the basement to remove the mold problem which had developed due to earlier plumbing issues under the bathroom sink and tub. He saw that he had wiped out their “get-away” in the demolition, so he crafted an area with four “cat compartments”—complete with trap doors for clean-up purposes—to which the more cowardly among them could flee if so moved. I’m not sure if those cats are grateful for his artistry on their behalf, but they sure know where to go when terrifying repairmen come to work on the house.

The other two could care less about workmen; one is thoroughly disinterested until she’s through with her nap and then pays a visit, but the other—a twenty-pounder—likes to supervise everything that goes on.

Big Rowe was busy overseeing the patch job, Cammie was snoozing, and I decided to check in on Ember and Gideon, hiding in their “crawl space”. I climbed up on a step ladder to peer into their secret compartments between the floors and saw the yellow glow of two pairs of eyes. Ugh, I thought to myself. I haven’t checked up here in a while—it’s covered with cat hair! So as I began the task of de-furring the storage shelves beneath the cat hideaway and the bathtub drain pipe, I withdrew my hand in horror. WATER!!!

Not a new leak! Not now! Not here! I removed the bottled laundry detergents and fabric softeners stored on the shelf directly below the pipe and felt around. Yup—sprung a leak.

“BOB!” I called to my contractor patching the ceiling in the other room. “You’ll never guess what I just found!”

He wasn’t surprised; he said these things happen to him all the time; and as he investigated, he discovered the cause of this new leak. It was coming from a poor connection in the fitting between the bathtub drain pipe and the elbow trap attached to it. He repaired it under the glow of four golden eyes, finished the patch job, and then went on his way.

As I returned to clean up the mess, I was amazed that it wasn’t a big mess. In fact, that leak had just started; only the top shelf had water on it; only a couple of paper towels were needed to mop it up.

And I thought of the goodness of God. This second leak could have slowly dripped for months and months before being discovered, but God revealed it to me right away before any damage—or mold growth—had begun.

And what did He use? A different leak, a patch up job, my relationship with two scaredy cats, and a pile of cat hair. How great is that? Surely our God causes all things to work together for our good—even cat hair!

And just like the Lord used the intruding trim nail to reveal truth to me, He has also shown me some interesting things about the value of vigilantly maintaining good connection.

More on that to come.

Dorothy

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Errant trim nail—discovered, extracted, and discarded

Posted by Admin on Mar 6, 2014 in Help from God | Comments Off on Errant trim nail—discovered, extracted, and discarded

After the plumber removed the trim nail that had pierced the pipe, I was fascinated by how thickly corroded it had become in two years and amazed at how well it had plugged the metal all that time. In fact, as I prayed with a group of women soon after, I kept seeing that corroded nail in my mind. I couldn’t shake it, so I shared the story with them and the analogy of contaminants penetrating the fresh, living water in the lives of believers. From that analogy, we prayed for freedom for Christians dealing with intrusive toxins.

In my mind, I figured we were praying for those who were facing addictions or various besetting sins—and I’m sure we were. Those things certainly seek to worm their way into the lives of men and women who endeavor to follow the Lord; Satan uses such devises to bind up, if possible, anyone who poses a threat to him or to the spread of his agenda. What I didn’t know when I shared my trim nail story, however, was that God was about ready to uncover one in my own life.

It didn’t happen right away. God takes His time with us; He not only prepares us for our calling, ministry, and service—He also prepares us to deal with uncomfortable or painful issues. And I believe that He has a due season for everything He does, and He works in us throughout our lives to help us to hear and receive what He has to say.

On a recent snowy day as I hunkered down at home, I began the day with prayer and time in the Word, but for some reason I was flooded with an onslaught of negative emotions. Thoughts of isolation, ineffectiveness, despair, and unacceptability bombarded my mind. I poured out the pain I was experiencing before the Lord. After all, the psalmist urged, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8; emphasis added).

And interestingly enough, God led, not one godly person, but two—right in a row—to call me that morning to share their love and encouragement. The trim nail was still hidden, but He was applying the pre-op salve of lovingkindness and acceptance in the Beloved (see Ephesians 1:6, KJV) through the words of these precious saints.

After the conversations, I determined to hear from God and spent most of the rest of the day reading several devotionals (many were listed here on February 10: http://www.firstofallpray.com/?p=4114). As I read, God spoke to me through them, confirming some key directives I had received from Him previously. By the time I was writing a summary in my prayer journal about everything He had said, the oppression shrouding me earlier was all but gone. As I arose from that task to a more mundane endeavor, however, a scrap of the old heaviness startled me as it leaped on my mind, demanding attention, flooding my thoughts with images of all the disapproval my life had generated.

And just then the Plumber, the Ancient of Days Himself, stepped in and spoke very clearly, “Disapproval”, and I saw a man’s hand pull a piece of trim from the wall of my heart pierced by a thickly corroded nail—disapproval itself. All the condemning images drained away, and I recognized what the Lord—my Plumber—had just done for me.

It all made sense to me. I had been plagued by the feeling of being disapproved much of my life—even as a believer who thoroughly trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ, His precious blood shed for me, the wonderful regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and the living power of the Word of God. For some reason, I was not able to fully shake the nagging doubts and oppressive accusations despite how loved by God I knew I was.

God was showing me that the disapproval my parents expressed toward me as a child, teen, and young woman—even though I knew they loved me—had invaded my system and lodged in my soul. When Jesus came to make His home in me, the living waters sprang up to eternal life and all was forgiven and I was cleansed—but that errant trim nail of disapproval remained. Through the years, with every disapproving look or word, that nail was driven in deeper. I felt it, for sure, but was never able to identify what was going on inside. In fact, the Lord showed me, I had developed a “disapproval response mechanism” in my soul that was triggered whenever I met with anything that felt disapproving toward me—whether it was real or imagined. And if I left it unaddressed, or worse—I nursed or coddled it—and didn’t forgive as quickly as possible, that intrusive trim nail would redevelop its corrosion and the living water within would become tainted again.

And out of nowhere came my Plumber, the Savior of my soul, who simply removed the offending nail. Of course, I have questions: Why now? Why wait this long? But the fact of the matter is this: He did it. He pulled out a grossly contaminating, painful spike from my soul, and I am grateful. The flow of the rivers of life and the washing of the water of the Word will be all the more refreshing, sweet, and powerful.

My purpose in sharing this highly personal incident is to encourage you to press on in God even if things seem impossibly dark, oppressive, or disturbing. When the leak occurred in my basement, I was angry and upset at the mess and inconvenience. However, without that leak, the corroding trim nail never would have been discovered, and my water would still be contaminated.

A surfaced boil reveals that an infection needs to be addressed. Without that boil, the infection can spread undetected. A leak in the plumbing reveals that something is not right with the pipes—perhaps even contaminating the water. And chronic issues of heaviness, oppression, or sin in your life can be viewed as a wake-up call to press in to God and His Word all the more. Instead of allowing the oppression to bind you in shame or despair, use the devil’s attacks as your personal launching pad into the presence of God. The Lord will come through for you—every time.

And concerning errant trim nails:

1. Protect your heart by obeying God.

2. Keep the living water of Jesus flowing within you.

3. Trust Him to bring to light anything that may be hindering you—and watch Him set you free.

Dorothy

What’s in your water?

Posted by Admin on Mar 5, 2014 in Help from God | Comments Off on What’s in your water?

The culprit behind my plumbing leak was a tiny trim nail which had been inadvertently driven into one of my pipes. And when the plumber removed the compromised section, I was disgusted to see what lingered inside of that length of copper. Rusty, dirty water spilled out into a waiting bucket. YUCK!

And then a light bulb came on in my mind. Yikes! The water pouring from my kitchen faucet had tasted funny for over a year now. I asked the plumber if that little nail, slowly corroding in the pipe, could make the water taste “off”. The answer was yes.

After the taste of my tap water went “south”, I began to use bottled water exclusively for drinking. I also started running the water from that faucet until I couldn’t taste it whenever I cooked, prepared coffee, or ran water for the cats’ bowls. I hadn’t trusted the water for over a year; now I knew why.

As Christians, we are vessels through which living water flows. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water [well water] will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13b-14; emphasis added). You and I have a well of water within us, springing up to eternal life. This is the water of life which the Lord has given to us; as long as we drink from it, we will never thirst.

Jesus also proclaimed on the last day of the great feast, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37b-38). Within you and me flow rivers of living water—waters of the Holy Spirit which arise through faith in Jesus (see verse 39).

And yet have you ever experienced a tinge of “offness” coming from the flow of your life? Have you ever thought to yourself in reflection, Something just doesn’t seem right; something tastes “off” as I think, pray or speak? Have you ever wondered, Why do the “waters” seem to get so muddy from time to time?

When that happens—and no Christian is immune—you may question the Lord and His faithfulness to you. But the truth is this: He’s still there; He’s never stopped helping you; His Word still speaks.

The well of which Jesus spoke is still inside of you—it hasn’t moved—with water springing up to eternal life. On top of that, rivers of living water still run deep within you, ready to splash through your life onto the lives of others.

I learned that a little trim nail penetrating a small copper pipe can foul the water in a home until it is discovered and removed. Every day, you and I come into contact with the world around us, its ways, its philosophies, and its loves. Every day, you and I bob and weave without even thinking, dodging suggestions and accusations, taking thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, and declaring, It is written. And the living water within us keeps on flowing.

But from time to time, an errant suggestion or a bit of news, a stray thought or a random image finds its way into the plumbing. Before you know it, the water seems “off”; what was once clear becomes cloudy; what used to flow freely within you seems to be sluggish and stale.

Nothing’s wrong with the Source of that living water; but something has fouled it, nonetheless. The good news is that the Living God is very aware of the condition of the well within you, He knows the exact location of any contaminant that may have worked its way into the river—and He’s willing to share that knowledge with you if you’re willing to hear it.

Your job is to contact the Plumber and give Him license to inspect your “home”. He’ll locate and remove the offending pollutant, showing you exactly what it is and how it penetrated your defenses, and He will repair any damage to your “pipes”. You, in turn, need to kick-start the living waters within you so you can fully flush out your system, wash yourself with the water of the Word, and then commit to refortifying your godly defenses.

Leaks happen, whether in buildings or in your life. Water can become tainted in the spiritual realm as well as in the natural. And your God is big enough to walk you through any of it—or all of it. He’s ever present and He is beautiful for situation—for every single situation.

He can be trusted.

Dorothy

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord,
and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3; English Standard Version

God will come through—just let Him

Posted by Admin on Mar 4, 2014 in Help from God | Comments Off on God will come through—just let Him

After I finally conquered the task of shutting off the water to my house, I entered into the world of living without running water. Needless to say, first on my to-do list for Monday morning was to find a plumber.

Who would’ve thought that every company I called would be booked until Thursday or Friday? But I was in the “trust-God” mode now, and while praying over Angie’s List, I saw a company with “A” after “A”—along with three “F”s. As I read the negative reviews, they seemed picky to me, so I took the plunge on that plumbing company. Yes, they could come today—the plumber would be here in an hour. I was committed.

The young man called to say he would arrive in twenty minutes, and the voice I heard was kind, confident, and very polite. I sensed that God had directed me.

With the knock on the door, I opened to the plumber who was standing back from the door respectfully with his ID held for me to see it clearly. And he looked like a gang-banger.

But there was that voice again—kind, confident, and polite—and without hesitation, I showed him in and downstairs to the flood site.

Long story short, this young man treated my situation like a detective mystery. His enthusiasm at solving my problem was contagious; he thought aloud as he tinkered under my kitchen sink and respectfully consulted with me as to where I was comfortable with him opening the wall. He even spoke with my contractor on the phone about the pipes and possible diagnoses for the leak. While they were talking, I took the opportunity to pray in tongues under my breath for wisdom and supernatural direction.

After the phone call, he was about to cut a hole in my living room wall to access the pipes behind the kitchen sink when he stopped abruptly, rechecked under the sink, and said, “I don’t think I should cut here. Let’s go back to the basement.”

And what do you know, but with the very first cut into my ceiling he found the problem! An errant trim nail had pierced a copper pipe and served as a plug for a couple of years until corrosion finally ate away enough metal to allow water to escape. Of course, replacing the pipe in the tight place where the leak occurred was tricky, but with positive enthusiasm he tackled the problem and cleanly replaced the pipe.

He worked for three straight hours and thoroughly cleaned up after himself. Throughout the entire process, he maintained that contagious joy about solving plumbing mysteries. And when it came time to for me to pay the bill, he charged me for only two hours and the piece of pipe he used to patch the leak.

God had come through for me yet again. And to think that just the day before I had flown into a frenzy, letting my circumstances rob my joy! But thank God, I allowed Him to convict me and address my unbelief and panic; and when I repented, His peace returned like a blanket covering my heart and mind.

And as for judging a book by its cover—despite his appearance, this young man was God’s choice for the job. My pastor often says, “Keep the main deal the main deal.” And the main deal here was for me to seek God, resist panic, let Him lead my decisions, and to allow His peace to act as an umpire in my heart, deciding and settling with finality all the questions that arose in my mind (see Colossians 3:15, AMP).

When you keep the main deal the main deal and resist the onslaught of all the screaming lesser deals, then God can come through for you every time.

Dorothy

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]. Colossians 3:15

Catch up

Posted by Admin on Mar 3, 2014 in Updates | Comments Off on Catch up

Is it ever good to be back to writing! Through writing I have discovered what 1924 Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell meant when he said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure” (Chariots of Fire, 1981). When I write, I feel His pleasure.

I took the last three weeks off from the blog here at www.FirstOfAllPray.com to play catch up in a few areas of my life, particularly taxes and deep housecleaning. After completing the writings on the book of James, I was unsure of the Lord’s leading for my next writing project, and since taxes were looming (hello, April 15) and the house was bulging with various and sundry items conveniently misplaced in terribly inconvenient places, I knew that Uncle Sam, my house, and my mind needed my attention drawn to less spiritual and more mundane activities. And, bonus—sometimes I can hear the Holy Spirit more clearly when pursuing commonplace tasks.

As it stands now, the house looks much better, glory to God; I have direction for the next phase of the blog; but as for taxes…I’ve completed the federal, but still have the state to play with. More fun to come!

It’s funny how our plans can be interrupted at the drop of a hat. The first Sunday morning of my break—with three weeks ahead of me to organize papers, figure taxes, and bring order to the chaos in my house—I went downstairs before church to scoop the three litter pans I set up for the herd of cats living here.

Each litter box was surrounded by gigantic puddles. Who peed the big one?! I fumed as I was pummeled by irritation mixed with concern at the veterinary implications of such an active feline bladder. And then I saw it—water was trickling down the wall from the ceiling. Relief flooded the pet owner/trainer part of me while panic invaded the homeowner/anti-mold crusader/financier aspect of my being.

I ran to the internet to learn how to shut off the water to my house. Turn the faucet near the water meter counterclockwise it said. Nothing. I called one of the premier plumbing conglomerates in the area. Yes, I was told, counterclockwise is correct. Again, nothing. I put in a nearly hysterical call to the man who remodeled my home a few years ago and left a message—How do I turn off this water!!? Picturing him at church worshiping God, I thought Come on, man! Pick up the phone!  Although I was still in my church clothes, I certainly wasn’t being spiritual. I ended up asking the Lord for forgiveness—and told the devil, Yes, I did say that [censored]—but I’ve talked to God about it and He forgave me, so you lose anyway! Bug off, in Jesus’ name!

When my contractor called back (and I never did make it to church), he set the record straight; just as I suspected, you turn the faucet handle clockwise. I guess I thought the water would stop automatically—what do I know?—but he advised me to turn the basement bathroom faucets on full blast to hasten the whole deal. Sure enough, it started emptying the water from all of the pipes, and the trickle of water down the wall finally stopped. Remember this word of wisdom: Righty-tighty, lefty-loosy. It’s the law. Forever and ever, Amen. No matter what the internet says.

After splashing clean-up bleach on my new black top (forgot to change it before I started cleaning) and saturating my fuzzy leopard slippers with water from the Great Basement Flood of ’14, the peace of God nonetheless resettled upon my mind and heart. I had confidence that somehow this inauspicious beginning to my three-week break would work together for good and God would prove Himself to me all over again. This—peace in the midst of the maddeningly mundane along with expectation of turn-around in the middle of chaos—is poised and ever-ready to be accessed by every child of God who needs it.

And sure enough, God did come through for me, granting a good outcome—better than expected—and He revealed sparkling slivers of His wisdom in the very thick of it.

I’ll share more about it in the blog this week.

Until then,

Dorothy

Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord, and whom You teach out of Your law (NASB); that You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked (Amplified; emphasis added). For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance (NASB). Psalm 94:12-14

A break

Posted by Admin on Feb 10, 2014 in Updates | Comments Off on A break

Hi! I hope all of you are well as you press on in God. It amazes me to think that I have been writing this blog for the past eight months—with nearly 190 posts! And the more I write, the more I realize that I’ve hardly scratched the surface of His infinite, intricate wisdom. He is so vast and immeasurable, yet He has chosen to dwell among us and call us His own through His Son Jesus Christ. The more I gaze at Him, the more humungous He is to me and the smaller I become to myself. But that’s not a bad thing—first, because it’s true; and second, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. The majestic God of the universe delights in me—little, speck-of-dust me—and masterminded the most significant turning point of the ages to conquer sin, Satan, and the grave on my behalf. Wow! And He did the same for you. Bask in it. Rejoice heartily because of it!

I will be taking a three-week break from the website. In my absence, I’m leaving some sites I visit frequently. (Yes, I was a school teacher; these are sub plans.) The links are various daily devotionals from different denominations and perspectives. I have found gems on each site.

Some of the sites have advertising; I do not endorse everything on these sites, including the ads. Nor do I necessarily agree with everything I read in each entry. However, I believe that you, my readers, have discernment, Bible understanding, and wisdom sufficient to “have as much sense as an old cow—eat the hay and spit out the stubble.”

I plan to return to active duty on this site on Monday, March 3, by the grace of God. Until then, may you be blessed as you continue to persist in faith, devouring the Word, and seeking the face of God.

Dorothy

• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers:   http://utmost.org/
• Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman:  http://www.backtothebible.org/index.php/devotions/classics/charles_cowman.html
• God’s Word for Today, Gospel Publishing House (Assemblies of God): http://ag.org/top/devotional/index.cfm
• Eagles’ Wings, published by the Free Presbyterian Church: http://fpcna.org/fpcna_daily.asp
• Jentezen Franklin’s devotional blog: http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/blog/
• Devotional by Smith Wigglesworth: http://annointing.wordpress.com/smith-wigglesworth-devotional/  (This site has listed every page of  Wigglesworth’s Devotional. Click the month and then scroll to find the day. Every month is a PDF file.)
• Here’s one I’m adding on February 20. It’s the World Challenge site, founded by David Wilkerson (of Cross and the Switchblade fame). To get to the devotional, find SERMONS in the headings across the top, and scroll down to DEVOTIONS and click. The daily devotional will pop up—sometimes it’s an archive writing by David W. (who passed away in 2011), and at other times the devotion is written by his son Gary (a wonderful man of God) or another minister. Here’s the link: http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/view/devotions (Just tried it—looks like you won’t need to follow the prompts to get to the devotion! Yippee!)
• And if you want, you can always scroll back and check the archives right here at www.FirstOfAllPray.com. And remember to check back with me on Monday, March 3!

See you in March!