"Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless HIS holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of HIS benefits; WHO pardons all your iniquities; WHO heals all your diseases; WHO redeems your life from the pit; WHO crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; WHO satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle." Psalm 103:1-5
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
Your prayers for me this week for my trip toTexas were answered "exceeding abundantly above all i asked or thought." GOD was so faithful in leading me to go when i did, and Johnny being able to join me was such a blessing. We left last Sunday, and stopped by Clinton, Mississippi and had a sweet visit with Lizzie and Jonathon, my niece and her new hubby. What a beautiful home and marriage the LORD has blessed them with...GREAT is THY FAITHFULNESS.
We arrived in Richardson, Texas, late Sunday evening and stayed at the Richardson Extended Stay Suites, where they had a room for chemically sensitive folks like me. It was a really nice room, with a great rate...it just had a rather strong smell that was difficult for me to be in the room for any length of time. So after getting unpacked, i bedded down in the back of my car and slept great. The next day, i thought about an air filter we had ordered a couple of weeks ago through my doctor, and i called to check and see if it was in. It was...and boy, did GOD ever provide through the air filter. I was able to stay in the room without discomfort during the day.
The LORD provided a nearby place to sauna and workout at the 24 Hour Fitness gym. The lady there gave me a great rate too. I went there each day we were in Richardson. I enjoyed their facilities very much, though the sauna was a little hotter than i am used to, 170-180...wow! One guy in the sauna said it reminded him of what "hell," was like and another guy said, "No, hell is going to be a lot hotter than this..." And i added, and hell is going to go on forever and ever. Well, every conversation didn't turn toward the spiritual...the next day i was in there with my green glass Mountain Valley Water bottle, and a guy thought i was drinking "tequilla." I don't know what a tequilla bottle looks like but we had a good laugh about that...i assured him i wasn't drinking tequilla...it was only water.
Johnny and i enjoyed our time away together very much...so thankful for him being able to rest and have a vacation that he hasn't taken in a long time, and for us to be able to spend time together. On Tuesday we saw our dear doctor, and what a blessing it was to see her after over a year! She was very helpful as always, and I sure did enjoy getting to spend time with her.
Tuesday night Johnny and i had fun listening to the Rangers play the Yankees on the radio in the car. The place we stayed at didn't get that channel on TV, so folks were listening on their radios in their cars and out on the balconies. Johnny used to work on the Rangers ground crew when he was in seminary and Nolan Ryan was pitching for the Rangers. It made it extra special for us to be out in Texas while the Rangers are in the playoffs...and looking very much like their first WORLD SERIES. Wednesday i did some allergy testing, and that evening Johnny and i enjoyed going out together and ate at a really good fish grill place in Richardson. Then, we visited the nearby yogurt shop and sat outside under the full moon. The weather was so mild while we were out there and it was great to just sit and talk outside around the tables. We ventured into Starbucks next door, where Johnny tried out the internet on his cell phone, and i read the papers. No coffee for us, but it made us feel young, or yuppy or something just to be in there....
Yesterday we took our time leaving, and after enjoying a Mexican meal in Plano at the El Fenix, we headed home. GOD blessed our trip with beautiful weather and safe traveling. As i was driving when it was getting dark, the sky was blue, pink, and the moon was full...GOD was really showing out. It was really cozy driving home by the light of the full moon...i had the sun roof cover pushed open so i could see it through there also. Reminds me of the song, "Buffalo girls won't you come out tonight, won't you come out tonight won't you come out tonight, Buffalo girls won't you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon..." from my favorite movie, "It's A Wonderful Life." We got home safely about 11:40 p.m. unloaded and for the most part got unpacked, and i got the washing machine going.
GOD was so faithful to hear and answer so many prayers for this week. My faith has grown as i look and see how HE provided all my needs...my sweet Daddy giving us some money before we left to help us out, Johnny's brother and folks here working for him so he could be with me, Johnny's folks caring for "Troy," and my sweet neighbor Trish carrying for the "big girls," and "Peach," our cat, a "safe" place to stay at a very reasonable price, Johnny going with me, the air filter so i could stay in the room comfortably (and our doctor having an extra filter so we could get one for us and for our son) our doctor being so very helpful with our medical needs, safe travel, and the car running well. I forgot to check the oil before we left and it was past due and the check engine light came on just as we left Sunday. Johnny pulled over on the side of the interstate and thankfully the gas cap just needed repositioning...whew, thank you LORD for rescuing me out of that one! And GOD provided so many of the desires of my heart: Getting to spend time away with my husband was a huge desire...and Johnny being able to rest and feel refreshed when he came home was such a great blessing. There were many other answered prayers while we were there and GOD made the way and I praise HIM for HIS leading and HIS provision, and HIM answering specific prayers and giving me the desires of my heart...longtime desires of my heart were fulfilled. HE is so good, and kind, and HIS works are marvelous...oh LORD i praise YOU and rejoice in YOUR lovingkindness and goodness and faithfulness in my life. I cannot praise YOU enough for the love that YOU continually lavish upon me, YOUR child...Abba Father...Daddy, Daddy.
Speaking of GOD providing, i knew we would be traveling all day Thursday, my usual writing day and i wouldn't get an opportunity to write you. Earlier this week, i was reading Paul Heil's "Gospel Greats" email and as i read it, i realized it was exactly what i was planning to write about last week until i sat down and starting typing and GOD led me to share about the miracle that HE has done in Tim Greene's life...and HIS answers to prayers that I had prayed long ago and forgot about. So when i read Paul's newsletter, and he did such a great job, i wrote and ask permission if i could share it with you this week. I appreciate Paul and Shelia granting me that permission and i pray the LORD will use it to help you and me understand more of the great sacrifice HE made in sending HIS SON so that we might be rescued from "the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of HIS beloved SON; in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins." Col. 1:13-14
Paul's Epistle...
"Rescued!"
"Rescued!"
A week ago, all the world was mesmerized by the ongoing "miracle" rescue of 33 miners trapped deep underground in a mine in Chile for 69 days, a process that took an agonizing 22 hours. More than a billion people around the world sat glued to their TV sets to watch the amazing rescue attempt. Fox News Channel had its highest viewership in ten years, drawing more viewers than even NBC.
While the facts of the rescue have been covered in great detail by the mainstream media, here are some things you might not have heard on the news.
When the miners were rescued – when they came up one-at-a-time in that rescue capsule – most (perhaps all) of the miners were wearing special yellow T-shirts. These had been created by the Chilean branch of Campus Crusade for Christ. Emblazoned boldly across the front of the T-shirts were the words, in Spanish, "Thank you, Lord." The miners, in fact, had requested these words. The shirts were made and sent down to them while they waited for rescue.
But that's not all. A quotation on the back of the shirts which began "porque en su mano estan..." was actually Scripture. It was Psalm 95:4: "In His hands are the depths of the earth, the heights of the mountains are His also."
Campus Crusade had also provided the trapped miners – while still deep underground – with MP3 players with the audio version of the "Jesus" film. They also received the Bible in audio format.
Now here's the good news. Rev. Aldredo Cooper, the chaplain to the President of Chile, said of the rescued miners, "They're all wanting to testify to the Lord Jesus Christ. All 33 of them are saying that they found God in the mine. Five or six were already Christians and held services down in the mine. Many went down with no faith at all but they all say this: ‘We were not 33; we were 34 because Jesus Christ was with us down there.'"
One miner, Mario Sepulveda, told reporters, "We never lost faith. We knew we would be rescued. I have been with God and I've been with the devil. I seized the hand of God. I always knew God would get us out of there."
One interesting point that I had missed was that a medic actually was sent down the rescue hole before the other miners could be brought up. Isn't that a picture of what God did? He sent His Son down to us before we could be rescued. We all, like the miners, were in darkness. But, as Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12). And, "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness" (John 12:46).
I can only imagine the reaction, if those miners, trapped deep underground, came across Psalm 88 on their audio Bibles, when these words rang in their ears:
I am counted with those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man who has no strength,
Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
You have put away my acquaintances far from me;
I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
My eye wastes away...
LORD, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
Will You work wonders for the dead? (Psalm 88: 4-10, selected portions)
I am like a man who has no strength,
Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
You have put away my acquaintances far from me;
I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
My eye wastes away...
LORD, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
Will You work wonders for the dead? (Psalm 88: 4-10, selected portions)
Each of us was once imprisoned (trapped) in the chains of sin. We walked in complete spiritual darkness and were spiritually dead. But Jesus Himself went to the depths to set us free. "At just the right time, when we were still powerless [trapped in sin], Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners [trapped], Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:6,8).
Feeling trapped? Longing to see the Light? God is ready, willing and able to rescue you completely. Then you, too, will thank and praise Him for your miracle rescue.
- Paul
Comments on this? paulheil@
You know, last week, i shared about the "Miracle in Me," that Tim Greene experienced...but the greater miracle than the LORD healing him physically, was the spiritual miracle that GOD did when he rescued Tim from his sins long ago to be HIS child and lavish HIM with HIS love for all eternity. GOD wants to do a miracle rescue in each one of our lives...it's not HIS will that any should perish. JESUS says in John 3:3, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of GOD." Only those who have repented of their sins, and trusted in the blood that JESUS CHRIST shed on the Cross of Calvary for the payment of our sins will experience that 'miracle rescue," and be "born again." You can do that right now, as you read this, by crying out to GOD and asking HIM to rescue you from your sins.
I didn't really know what song i was going to use this week, but as i've written this last paragraph i feel led to use "There's a Miracle in Me," that i shared with you last week. Tim sang that so beautifully with his sister Kim, and brother in law Dean, just a few days after they buried their brother Tony. http://www.youtube.com/
Each one of us that JESUS rescues, one by one, is a miracle...and that rescue cost JESUS dearly...leaving HIS glorious home in heaven, and laying down HIS life for us on a Cross. HE did it because HE loves us so very much. "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON that whosover believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:26. Why don't you give your life to HIM today and let HIM do a "Miracle in You?"
Thank you for letting me brag on the LORD JESUS and HIS sweet love and provision and faithfulness in our lives....thank you for your prayers that GOD answered and i praise HIM and thank GOD for you. Thank you, Paul and Shelia for allowing me to share Paul's e letter this week...you can also read that at http://www.thegospelgreats.
Before i close i wanted to share with you an open letter that Taranda Greene, Tony's wife shared this week through the Singing News website:http://www.
I love ya'll and thank GOD for you...your prayers are moving the heart of GOD and bring me great joy and delight as i see GOD hearing and answering them. Would you please remember my friend Shirley as she is making decisions concerning her cancer treatment? As you can imagine this is a very scary time for her. Thank you for remembering her and her daughter Mishel in your prayers. Mishel is getting married in a couple of weeks, and will be leaving her new husband in Nebraska to come and minister to her Mom during this difficult time. GOD bless you dear prayer warriors for your faithful prayers for me and my loved ones.
To GOD be the glory great things HE has done and continues to do.
With all HIS love,
mitzi
GO RANGERS...American League Champions!!!!
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"We have an assured confidence that whenever we ask anything in accordance with HIS will, HE listens to us: And since we know that HE listens to us, then whatever we ask, we know that we have the things which we have asked from HIM." I John 5:14,15
"I never prayed sincerely and earnestly for anything but it came; at some time-no matter how distant the day-somehow, in some shape, probably the last I should have devised, it came."-Adoniram Judson
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