Welcome back!  Blessings!  I had a very blessed time with my mom & all of my four sisters and their families.  We celebrated the 15th Pastoral Anniversary of Drs. Zannie & Lisa McNeil and their beloved children.  What a blessing they are and how fitting to celebrate them!!!  I really did miss you and I have been writing new devotions as God speaks them to me.  Some times I think that it would have been better for me to have had learned shorthand because I get overwhelmed sometimes.  It may be that I’m not moving as fast as I ought—please pray for me!

It’s not that God thinks cheaply of a believer when he or she is counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, but it’s that God has greatly and wisely considered that precious one for the highest of honor.  God highly values us as trustworthy to trust us with such a grave responsibility to maintain His cause in the most crucial of times and crushing circumstances.  None other than those who are joint-heirs with Christ Jesus can be presented with such an awesome and priceless opportunity to be groomed and trained to reign with Him.

There is not one definition in the dictionary for the word suffer that I found even remotely close to being suitable to describe God’s purpose of it.  God’s will, especially concerning things such as suffering, is so divine that it cannot be grasped or defined with human comprehension or conventional wisdom.

In the natural mind, it is understood that suffering is a great injustice that must be followed with a much greater good to justify and compensate for it all.  But to suffer for Christ is good and a great reward in and of itself.  I’m not saying that God has called us to be gluttons for punishment.  But in searching the scriptures, you’ll not only find the blessed benefits that come with it but also the blessing that suffering already is (which I will definitely write about in the near future).  The natural mind wants to be able to explain away the suffering and present evidence of how greatly unwarranted it is.  But the spiritual man needs no further explanation than proclaiming, “Oh it is Jesus, Yes it is Jesus in my soul!  No, I don’t deserve this but by His mercies, I am able to present my body a living sacrifice and be counted as highly qualified for this great honor!”

One prerequisite for suffering is that you must be dead to yourself or else you will continue to rationalize suffering with your natural mind; concluding that it’s beneath you to do it and beneath God to allow it.

If I can’t find joy in knowing that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in me then I should at least find joy in knowing that neither am I worthy of the glory which shall be revealed in me.  What wondrous love is this that God would not be ashamed to love me and would set me up for His trophy in His most glorious kingdom!

I do not count the sufferings of our present life worthy of mention when compared with the glory that is to be revealed and bestowed upon us.  Romans 8:18 (20th Century translation)

I know this suffering shall bring me glory in a while;

But I can scarcely take in the great honor I have now!

How I’ve been selected to be known by Jesus’ name;

And then counted worthy to bear suffering for the same.

I know I’m blessed and highly favored to be chosen to

Partake in the sweet fellowship of suffering with You.

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.  Acts 5:41&42

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.  Philippians 3:7&10

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt:  for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.  Hebrews 11:25&26

1 Peter 4: 

1 – Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind:  for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.

12 – Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

13 – But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

14 – If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you:  on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.

16 – Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

19 – Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Be Painstakingly Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!  I will be visiting my beloved family on tomorrow and Monday, so I won’t be posting again until Tuesday.  I will miss you all and will keep you close in heart & prayer.  Be blessed!!!

What are you facing that’s too hard for you?  The fact is that it’s impossible for man but the truth is that it’s not impossible with God.  Don’t go it alone, get with God!  Things will go from impossible to Him-possible!!!

Instead of asking yourself, “What can I do?” you should always ask, “What can’t He do?”  That question is the answer!

Commit to memory these hard facts and solid truths quoted straight from God’s Word to guide you through:

~ With men it is impossible, but not with God: for the things which are impossible with men are possible with God.  (Mark 10:27 & Luke 18:27)

 ~ With God nothing shall be impossible & with God all things are possible.  (Luke 1:37 & Matthew 19:26)

 ~ If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible unto you & if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.  (Matthew 17:20 & Mark 9:23)

Is anything too hard for the LORD?  Genesis 18:14

I told the Lord that life was sometimes more than I could bear;

Then He replied, ”You are to cast on Me all of your care.”

I said, ”The weight I carry is much greater than before.”

He said, ”I’ve strength to carry you, your weight and even more.”

I said I have some problems and there’s nothing I can do;

He told me, ”I’m the One who’s to perform all things for you!”

I said that all I face is an impossibility;

He said, ”I am the Lord:  Is anything too hard for Me?”

Behold, I AM the LORD, the God of all flesh:  is there any thing too hard for Me?  Ah Lord GOD!  behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.  I will cry unto God most High; unto God that performeth all things for me.  Jeremiah 32:27&17 & Psalm 57:2

Be Uninhibitedly Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!  Guess what?  My sister, Patrice, is listening to a nice, new CD today.  How do I know this?  I know because I sent it to her & her beloved family (& mine) to cheer them & help them along in their time of sadness.  Let’s pray that it inspires her to post again and gives her strength as she continues to finish up her own CD (I have a few of her songs embedded here on my blog).

Many things that I know now, I didn’t know from before.  Many things that I thought I knew at that present time, turned out to be different.  God often has a purpose that supersedes all we’ve planned.  For instance, I was visiting in Washington, D.C. and wanted very badly to touch base with a friend who had recently moved there.  She wasn’t in the phone book and all of my efforts failed.  A few days later, I just knew that I was getting ready to go sightseeing.  Here, I get on the same subway line, the same car and the same section at the same time as my friend that I was looking for!  It was a miracle; it was God’s plan.  I can’t tell you what else I saw that day, but I saw God at work and I saw my friend (who I would have never seen otherwise).

Jesus tells us plainly that we don’t know what He’s doing, but HE knows what He’s doing.  If He were to map out the details of His plan to us, we would make so many revisions and alterations until it would never work.  His ways are so much higher than ours until if He would show us the hereafter right now, we wouldn’t be able to make any sense of it.  We would still not be able to understand how it could be.  We behold the end result and know that it is, but still not understand how.  So since we would not know any more then, than we do now, we can trust Him just the same.  We can believe Him now:  we can look to Him and believe it (the promise at the present), just as on the day when we look at it (the fulfillment hereafter) and believe Him.

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.  John 13:7

I do not know what’s happening; You never said I would;

But one thing that I know for sure is it all works for good.

You did not say that I would be the one to understand,

But that it would be You who fully knows what You have planned.

And in the outcome, when the whole of all of it is plain;

I’ll see Your workings, yet still not be able to explain.

For even then, how it was done shall be a mystery,

Because all that You do is always done miraculously.

So I will trust You with all that I do not know for sure,

And in my doing so, I know my future is secure.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

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

Be unconventionally encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

Even if this Christian walk were a treasure hunt, many of us would never think to seek or to go in the places where many precious treasures of God are awaiting.  Yet those are the very places where God calls and draws us to.  Those are the places where we are delightfully surprised time and time again.  And when He brings us out, we are so much better for having been there and our lives are enriched like never before.

Don’t resist the power of His love that draws you away, though it is to a place that you’ve always treated with reluctance.  You may not know where it’s leading you, and you will never know unless you go.  You’ll find that there was a blessing awaiting that you did not see until you entered in and that you never would have experienced unless you entered in.  Like it always is with His love, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Go get your song!  Go and be renewed!

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.  And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope:  and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.  Hosea 2:14&15

Who would think the wilderness would be the place I’d hear

His voice speak words of comfort, love and peace instead of fear?

Who would think the pathway to my answered prayer would be

Through places that were questionable and a mystery to me?

No man would think, but God would know that any place He draws me

Would be a place where only His sweet blessedness befalls me.

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?  Song of Solomon 8:5

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.  Isaiah 45:3

Be Comprehensively Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

If you’re facing a seemingly impossible battle, then this is definitely for you!!!

The impossible can be accomplished through praise.  There is nothing that cannot be done through simply acknowledging who God is with a heart of thanksgiving, admiration & adoration.  When circumstances arise that would raise concerns, lift Him up!

It is apparent that we do not pick our battles in life.  But we can rest assured that every battle that God allows, He fights and we win.  Be encouraged and know that there is no battle that can’t be won with praise!

When they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushments…and they were smitten.  2 Chronicles 20:22

God hears the evil plots and plans the enemy has made;

He hears of the locations where they boast that snares are laid.

He hears of how strategically they move into position;

He hears of their great numbers and their high tech ammunition.

He hears their blasphemy and the ungodly way they flaunt it;

He hears how His dear children are unmercifully taunted.

God hears each threat they breathe and the concerns that these threats raise;

But what He waits to hear is His own children’s voice of praise.

He waits and longs for those who trust in Him to sing and praise Him;

As they ignore the enemy and not let their threats faze them.

For when the ones called by His name rejoice that they are His,

And boast in songs of praise proclaiming just how great He is;

And tell the world, no matter what, there’s nothing He can’t do;

The Lord will move all earth and heaven just to see them through.

Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.  Selah.  Psalm 32:7

The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.  The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous:  the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.  The right hand of the LORD is exalted:  the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.  Psalm 118:14 – 17

Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name.  Malachi 3:16

Be Brazenly Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

In Mark 5 and also in Luke 8, it gives an account of the events of the daughter of Jairus being raised from the dead and brought back to life.  Both accounts make it clear that it was after Jesus heard them say that the little girl was dead that Jesus told Jairus to only believe.  I love how it says that as soon as Jesus heard it; He didn’t let them finish; He didn’t give it a chance to sink in or give Jairus time to sink low.  After the worst possible news, after being given the worst case scenario, Jesus doesn’t say, “Oh, no!  That’s terrible…I’ll have to see what I can do…I really wasn’t counting on that happening…That changes everything…I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done now!”  But praise be unto God, the One who never changes, is still speaking the same thing to us today, “Only believe; don’t doubt; don’t worry; don’t panic; only believe; you will see the glory of God!”  Jesus wants to interrupt your life with a miracle!  Thank You, Jesus!!!  (I may have to give my own e-props & comments on this one—I am being so blessed right now!)

Believing God does not require our responsibility, but our response to God’s ability!  When God asks of us to believe, He is not asking us to lend our support.  He’s not asking us to raise His level of confidence but to raise our level of confidence in Him.  He is not asking us to co-sign for something that He may not be able to make good on.  He knows what He can do; He desires for us to know it, too!

When fear speaks, don’t respond; let Jesus answer!  Only believe, ONLY!

…Fear not: believe only…Be not afraid, only believe.  Luke 8:50 & Mark 5:36

God is not consulting with you for what He should do,

Because it looks like He might fail and maybe not come through.

The Lord is not expecting you to reason or explain—

What seems so strange to you but to Him, is already plain.

He asks that you believe and that is not to make you feel—

As if you must defend His actions or uphold His will.

He stands by His decisions as to why and how and when;

And He does not expect nor ask of you to comprehend.

But when He works, all that He wants of you is that you’d just—

Put all your faith and confidence in Him and simply trust.

…Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.  Mark 9:24

Be Only Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

If I told you of a person who took a sharp knife and cut another person that was deathly ill, who trusted them & could not fight back, you would think, “What a terrible person and what a ruthless thing to do!”  Then if I told you it was a surgeon, using great care to apply his knowledge to help a dying patient and give him a chance to live a healthy and productive life, the whole spectrum changes.

You would go from outrage to admiration; not because the circumstances changed, but because you have gained knowledge and understanding of the circumstances; because the one that you only knew as a mere person now is known to you as a person with wisdom and an authority in the matter at hand.  The seemingly senseless act is now a welcomed process because you’re made aware of its purpose that was always there.  You no longer have an angry question of “why” because you understand the compassion it involves.

Oh, to know the hands that make sore and heal and to trust the hands that wound and make whole!  Oh, to understand that the painfulness of the process is necessary and not negative.  Oh, to know Him as the love that He is!  May you experience a closeness to the Lord and with the Lord like never before!!

He maketh sore, and bindeth up:  He woundeth and His hands make whole.  Job 5:18

Although the workings of God’s hands wrought pain and made me sore;

They also proved of greater power to heal and restore.

The great discomfort I went through could never be compared

With all the pain that would have been of which my heart was spared.

So, I can never doubt the work His hands do for my soul;

No matter how much they must wound, they’ll always make it whole.

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.  Psalm 147:3

Be Indomitably Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

Lately I’ve been experiencing some lean times—times when I must lean on the Lord like never before.  I’m learning to lean on Jesus all the more and the blessed strength and rest there are in doing so.  I’m finding that it’s the only means by which I can have the ability to stand.  If I lean on the Lord, I can stand up to anything.

Leaning on His everlasting arms and standing on His promises—how wonderful it is to be able to do both at the same time!  Please read Psalm 46.

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?  Song of Solomon 8:5

Many people see my life and cannot figure out

How the storms so fiercely rage but I’m not tossed about;

But the ones who know the Lord do not have any doubt—

It’s all because I lean on my Beloved.

Some can’t see why I’m still standing and I never fell,

When they’ve seen with their own eyes the devastating gale;

But I know the reason I continually prevail—

It’s all because I lean on my Beloved.

Some still look with wonder and can’t help but be amazed,

For the strongest ones have toppled but I stand unfazed;

It would be the mighty standard that my God has raised—

It’s all because I lean on my Beloved.

It’s beyond man’s reasoning to feel the earthquake’s rumble,

And see the great foundations melt and lofty structures tumble;

But yet they see me standing firm at times when mountains crumble—

It’s all because I lean on my Beloved.

When the earth seems like it fleeing, as to run and hide;

No one but the Lord knows how I’m trembling inside;

And He strengthens me to stand and take it all in stride—

It’s all because I lean on my Beloved.

It doesn’t matter what the others can or cannot see,

I know His everlasting arms are under-girding me;

I always stand steadfast and upright for ironically—

It’s all because I lean on my Beloved.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…  Deuteronomy 33:27

Be Placidly Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

In case you haven’t seen my post from a few minutes ago, we had to bid a fond farewell to our precious pet Darcy today.  Please pray for Anthony, Patrice, Quinton & Aria as they make the adjustment and allow God to comfort them and fill the huge void in their home.  Ant, Treeda, Q & Ar, I’m praying for you and I love you with all of my heart.  May you continue to be strong in the Lord and the power of His great might.

He hath made every thing beautiful in His time:  And the LORD appointed a set time…  Ecclesiastes 3:11 & Exodus 9:5

Our God who’s able to create things instantaneously,

Would take the time that’s needed to make us what we should be.

He could become impatient or give up out of frustration;

Or work a miracle and use some other in creation.

But it’s His loving plan for us that’s coupled with desire,

That makes His time with us a joy of which He’ll never tire.

And since He is so gracious with the time that He’s affording;

We also should count all those times as well-spent and rewarding.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  James 1:4

Be Largely encouraged!

Pam

If there was ever a picture that’s worth a thousand words, then this one would be called picture-perfect!  This is Darcy a little over a month ago.  She always looked at us through rose-colored glasses of love!  Today we said good-bye to her.  She is sorely missed but will always be a big part of our lives.  Good job, Darcy!  I love you.  My prayer is that I’ll be the great person that you always thought I was (& even made me think that I was!).

Glad to know you, sorry to see you go!

Love,

PamJeanine