Friday, August 26, 2011

Hurricane Warning...Taking it Seriously or On Vacation?


 "HE answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.   And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Matt. 16:2
     
   Dear Praying Friends and Family,
            As i began writing this email, we are all aware of the hurricane warnings for the East Coast.  New York City is doing massive evacuations of hospitals, nursing homes, etc. while the governors of 8 states I believe, have declared states of emergency.  Been looking at "Drudge," report www.drudgereport.com  off and on and some reports indicate the hurricane is weakening and may not be as bad as predicted.  I haven't seen indications of it weakening on www.watch.org, but we all need to pray for all those in harms way of what could be a very devestating hurricane throughout the weekend for our friends and relatives along the east coast.  A friend of mine who lives near Charleston, SC, told me she really didn't want to have to deal with a hurricane this weekend...they were planning to take the first real vacation they've been able to take in a long, long time, and some of those plans involved the east coast.  I sure hope and pray she gets to take her vacation, but the truth of the matter is...sometimes the LORD interrupts our plans with an unexpected hurricane in our lives...maybe not the kind that is churning off the Atlantic Coast right now and fastly approaching land, but nevertheless, a hurricane indeed that disrupts our lives, our plans, our dreams, to the very core of our being.  No matter how much we love JESUS and know that HE loves us...these hurricanes sure can hit without warning, and shake us to the very fiber of our souls.  
    I have asked you to pray for a couple of friends of mine, Darlene and Arthur Anderson, and most recently Jean and Bill Brinkley.  Both of these dear women have cancer and are in the midsts of hurricane force winds at times.  This week, Darlene had to receive some platelets and had another reaction to them.  She had to stop her treatments for the week, but was hoping today to be able to start back on her regimen again. Jean is a dear lady whose daughter used to take guitar from HB.  She and her family homeschool, are very active in Lindsay Lane Baptist where Arthur and Darlene go, and are usually the ones ministering to others...not the ones being ministered to. Please remember Jean and her husband as they seek the LORD's wisdom and turn to HIM for guidance through storm in their lives, and Arthur and Darlene and their dear families.
    As I write, i am reminded of a picture that hangs on our den wall up above the computer.  It's a picture of a man standing safely in the doorway of a lighthouse with the angry waves of the ocean swirling all around him.  The verse underneath is 


The LORD is my ROCK, my FORTRESS and my DELIVERER; my GOD is my ROCK, in whom I take refuge. HE is my SHIELD and the HORN of my SALVATION, my STRONGHOLD." Psalm 18:2

   
As I quietly sit here with Troy wrapped around the back of my neck on the couch where he likes to lie when i'm having my quiet time, I realize how very much the LORD has been all this for me and more this summer as I have experienced some reoccuring health issues from my past that I didn't see coming and some new ones I haven't experienced before...this "hurricane" hit, out of nowhere it seems, and as fluctuating as my emotions and my body has been, JESUS has been my ROCK, and my FORTRESS.  As much counsel and wisdom I have sought to deal with these issues, HE is also teaching me that HE is my DELIVERER, and this trial will last as long as HE determines, not me.  I have felt shaken to the core at times, and the warrior has very much been a child as I have cried out for deliverance and relief...not wanting to be in the midst of a health hurricane, but i'd rather be on vacation!  I praise HIM for what seems to be some answers this week, and some relief...yes, i am very thankful, and please continue to remember me in your prayers...that I wouldn't just want to escape this trial, as i do very much,but I truly would draw nearer to JESUS and trust HIM with these circumstances that HE has engineered for me.  Oswald Chambers reminded me of that today in My Utmost for HIS Highest, and it brought peace to my soul...
     "Are you painfully disturbed just now, distracted by the waves and billows of GOD's providential permission...then look up and receive the undisturbedness of the LORD JESUS.  Reflected peace is the proof that you are right with GOD because you are at liberty to turn your mind to HIM.  If you are not right with GOD, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. If you allow anything to hide the face of JESUS CHRIST from you, you are either disturbed or you have a false security.  Are you looking unto JESUS now, in the immediate matter that is pressing and receiving from HIM peace?  If so, He will be a gracious benediction of peace in and through you.  But if you try to worry it out, you obliterate HIM...We get disturbed because we have not been considering HIM.  When one confers with JESUS CHRIST the perplexity goes, because HE has not perplexity, and our only concern is to abide in HIM.  Lay it all out before HIM, and in the face of difficulty, bereavement and sorrow, hear HIM say, "LET not your heart be troubled."John 14;27

    
I don't know about you, but I sure do need these words, but more than these words, I need JESUS to be my all and all, not just in thought, not just in these FRIDAY emails, or my quiet times, i need HIM every hour throughout the day, and this "hurricane" that has blown in this summer, is helping to drive me closer to HIM, to cry out to HIM, to take refuge in HIM, to call to HIM, and depend on HIM to help me, the helpless. This is indeed where "All things work together for good to those who love the LORD," because if a "hurricane" blows us closer to JESUS, who loves us so much HE gave HIS life for us, then let those winds blow as HE holds me, HIS child, safely in HIS bosom.  I don't like the pain, the discomfort, but if my LORD sends it, then it must be good for me.
     Yesterday's devotion from Streams in the Desert is one of my favorites throughout the years and it's called "Shut Up to Faith." What a dear encouragement this devotion is to my heart, as I have read it in different seasons of my life and I have found it to be so true...

     Author: Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
Source: Streams in the Desert
Scripture Reference: Galatians 3:23

Shut Up To Faith
"Shut up to faith" (Gal. 3:23). 

God, in olden time suffered man to be kept in ward by the law that he might learn the more excellent way of faith. For by the law he would see God's holy standard and by the law he would see his own utter helplessness; then he would be glad to learn God's way of faith. 

God still shuts us up to faith. Our natures, our circumstances, trials, disappointments, all serve to shut us up and keep us in ward till we see that the only way out is God's way of faith. Moses tried by self-effort, by personal influence, even by violence, to bring about the deliverance of his people. God had to shut him up forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for God's work. 

Paul and Silas were bidden of God to preach the Gospel in Europe. They landed and proceeded to Philippi. They were flogged, they were shut up in prison, their feet were put fast in the stocks. They were shut up to faith. They trusted God. They sang praises to Him in the darkest hour, and God wrought deliverance and salvation. 

John was banished to the Isle of Patmos. He was shut up to faith. Had he not been so shut up, he would never have seen such glorious visions of God. 

Dear reader, are you in some great trouble? Have you had some great disappointment, have you met some sorrow, some unspeakable loss? Are you in a hard place? Cheer up! You are shut up to faith. Take your trouble the right way. Commit it to God. Praise Him that He maketh "all things work together for good," and that "God worketh for him that waiteth for him." There will be blessings, help and revelations of God that will come to you that never could otherwise have come; and many besides yourself will receive great light and blessing because you were shut up to faith.--C. H. P 
"Great things are done when men and mountains meet,
These are not done by jostling in the street."



   I could talk all night about the blessings and the education and light I have received from the LORD because of the "hurricanes," HE has allowed in my life through the years and you know that I can do that:).  It's good for me to remember those blessings as I am going through another one though, because like you, I sure can forget my "song" in the night, and I sure can feel sorry for myself when i'm in the midst of a hurricane but had rather be on vacation:).  I am so thankful for so many of you who sing my song for me, and pray for me and encourage me...you are GOD's grace to me, and HIS strength to help me in my weaknesses.
    I wasn't sure which direction this email was going to take when i began writing, just like we're not sure what direction the hurricanes are going to take that the LORD allows in our lives and orchestrates to accomplish HIS plans and purposes.  We don't know, but HE does...HE is the MASTER of the wind and the waves...on the ocean, and in our lives, and HE knows when to calm the storm, and how to use it to bring us closer to HIM and accomplish HIS plans and purposes.
     If you don't know JESUS, the MAKER of heaven and earth AND the LOVER of your soul in a personal way, and you have never trusted HIM as your LORD and SAVIOR, turn from your sins today.  Tell HIM that you have been wrong to be the boss of your life and sin against HIM, and come to JESUS, just as you are.  HE loves you so very much that HE gave HIS life for you and for me on a wooden cross that we might be reconciled to GOD.  "But as many as received HIM, to them HE gave the right to become the children of GOD, even to those who believe in HIS name." John 1:12. 
      All around us are warning signs that we are living in the last days...an earthquake and hurricane on the east coast in the same week...floods, famine, nations aligning against Israel including our own, the birth pains are increasing...and JESUS has promised in HIS WORD that HE is coming back soon when all these things are happening...see Matt. 24-25. 


   From this mornings Daily Light, we read these words of warning:
    "Why are you sleeping?  Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." Luke 22:46
-But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap." Luke 21:34
"As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept."Matt. 25:5,
 "Yet a little while, and the coming ONE will come and will not delay."  Heb. 10:37
 "The hour has come for you to wake from sleep.  for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.-" Rom. 13:11
  "Therefore stay awake-for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or in the morning-lest HE come suddenly and find you asleep." Mark 13:35,36




      Earlier this week, I listened to a fascinating radio drama about JESUS coming back and a couple that was left behind because they waited to accept JESUS as their LORD and SAVIOR.  They had every warning in the world from their brother and kept putting him off... "The Coming Global Transformation" radio drama is a great way to share JESUS with others.  You can listen to the whole drama for no charge at http://www.thecomingglobaltransformation.org/prologue.html .   Another great website is www.johnmcternan.name. John documents current news events that are happening around us in light of Biblical prophecy...hope you will take time to look at his website to help you understand today's news through the lens of the Bible.  The signs of the times  point to a soon returning of JESUS coming for HIS children, and I pray that you will put your faith and trust in HIM if you haven't already.  It is not HIS desire that any should perish or be left behind, but that all would take refuge in our blessed hope, the LORD JESUS CHRIST ..."looking for the BLESSED HOPE and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,"Titus 2:13   HE is the only WAY to heaven..."I AM the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIGHT, no man comes to the FATHER except through ME."  John 14:6... 
     Jan Markell ,  http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/, shared on her radio show this week the Bible warns us that JESUS is coming back over 300 times...i'm not sure about that number, but it's a huge amount.  The hurricane warning has sounded...the signs are all around us.  Are you ready to face the coming storm? Are you safe in the shelter of the  of JESUS, waiting for our Blessed HOPE to return?
    This coming Sunday our choir will be singing "YOUR GREAT NAME,"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6vHHbUOCQA&feature=related for the choir special.  If you live close enough and don't have a church home please come and visit us at FBC, Athens at 10:30 p.m. We would be so honored to have you.  As I have listened to this song over and over this week, my faith has been strengthened in my LORD JESUS...i know HE is WHO HE says HE is...though i've been tossed around in the boat this summer, HE hasn't. HE is the same, yesterday, today and forever and HE loves you and me so very much.  As Corrie ten Boom used to say, GOD doesn't have problems, HE has plans...don't you love that...HE has plans for your "hurricanes" and mine...I praise YOU JESUS for those plans and for "YOUR GREAT NAME" that dispels my fears and replaces them with YOUR peace.
   Please remember all  on the East Coast...please remember Hannah Beth as she gets in full swing of nursing school and the heavy load of studying there.  It's Friday night, and she's in her dorm studying...yes, she's busy.  John Mac got an invitation to come for an interview at UAB med school on Sept. 15.  We are very thankful, please remember him in your prayers...Johnny and I both are dealing with some health issues, thank you for remembering us. My brother Joe is in Tampa, Fl doing some training for a new position.  Please remember him and his family while they're away from one another...GOD bless you dear friends and family...so many blessings, and you are among HIS greatest to me.
                                                                                                   With all HIS love,
                                                                                                                       mitzi
 
                                    "Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Luke 18:11

"When I passed by thee,...I said unto thee..., Live."
Ezekiel 16:6





Friday, August 19, 2011

"Thy Troubles to Bless"


"In the day of my trouble I will call to YOU, for YOU will answer me." Ps. 86:7
  
    Dear Praying Friends and Family,
               Would anyone like to trade bodies?  Just kidding, sort of...I wrote this email yesterday and was working on this morning...before well, i had to go.  Kind of been a rough day at the office here...but GOD has given me some wisdom into one of my problems that has plagued me this summer, and for that I am grateful. I have been asking for wisdom, and HE is faithful to give it.   I will confess to you, i am a little on the scared side too, cause I had this problem earlier in my health journey and it was really persistent until I went to the E.H.C.D. for treatment several years ago.  Since then, i have not had to deal with the anxiousness, and weird feelings in my body, and feelings of despair to be honest, like i have this summer.  GOD gave me this wisdom earlier in the summer through a test i had done, and I didn't take enough action.  I couldn't get by this time, with what I have the past several years.  So, here i am with a "trouble to bless," that I really had not rather be troubled with...but GOD has a plan...i think it's for me to be smushed in humility...and that's always good, but certainly not always comfortable.  I am asking for your prayers as I continue to seek wisdom for this problem and some others i've been having.  Yesterday i had the privilege of talking to my doctor in Texas over the phone, and i am so thankful that  GOD has blessed her  own health troubles to help her learn so much to help me and all HE sends to her for help.

              Wednesday, I had the privilege of going to see my friend Darlene who has cancer.  I stopped by and knocked on the back door.  When no one came to the door I decided to see if the door would open and it did.  I walked in, hoping I wouldn't get shot, and called quietly in case Darlene was asleep.  She heard my voice, and cheerfully called out, "Come on in, Mitz!"  She was in her bedroom where she was laying on her bed reading her Bible, and had just turned on one of her favorite shows that I interrupted.  It was so good to see her-though we don't live to far from one another, I have not seen her in several weeks, and haven't seen her since she got back from getting treatments at the Bryzinski Clinic.  We rejoiced together that the treatments Darlene is receiving from the clinic are working to shrink her tumors.  She had been trying to leave off the pain meds, and the doctor told her it was too early to do that...the pain was a good sign that the treatment was doing what it was supposed to do.  Darlene and i both acknowledge that we are impatient when it comes to pain, discomfort and just want out of it and want to rush things along. As usual, Darlene, was the "giver," and after we talked about her phone appt. with her doctor that morning from the Clinic...she was all interested in what was going on in my life, and seems like I spent most of the time talking about me. Darlene is such a good listener, and always has been.  Her son came into the bedroom while we were talking and he too said that his Mama was a good listener.  After we visited a while, we prayed together, and while we were praying the LORD reminded me that HE had used Darlene's cancer to bring our relationship back together after a long pause of several years.  Darlene shared many other blessings that has come from her cancer journey, and one is the precious relationship between her and her husband...how he encouragers her, and holds her, and even feeds her when she has been too weak to feed herself.  He grocery shops, and cooks the nutritious meals that she has been eating, along with working full time, and caring for all the things it takes to keep the family going with a 22 year old, 17 year old and 8 year old.  We talked of a man in their church who has been a particular encouragement to Arthur through all of this...and now, this man's wife has cancer too it seems.  Arthur will be able to encourage him with the encouragement he has been to Arthur.  Darlene and Arthur's family on both sides has grown in the LORD leaps and bounds through their trials, and though some still do not know CHRIST, they know that Arthur and Darlene's faith and trust is in the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and it's hard for them to understand sometimes the peace they see in Arthur and Darlene.  GOD is  blessing the troubles that HE has allowed in Arthur and Darlene's life.  What an example this dear couple is to me...they were before Darlene got sick, when Arthur was our Sunday School teacher at First Baptist when our kids were all younger and we homeschooled together.   Please continue to remember Arthur and Darlene in your prayers...we praise GOD for the progress that Darlene is making physically, and pray earnestly for her complete healing. Be assured if GOD says no to her physical healing on earth, they know the LORD JESUS loves them and will heal her perfectly in heaven.

     I talked with my cousin Bruce today, up in Louisville, Kentucky.   Been way too long since I had called them, but GOD prompted me to today, and ask me if I would pray for his granddaughter Caylee who is a little over two years old.  Caylee is in Children's Hospital right now where the doctors are trying to understand why she has not gained weight in several months and she is not developing in her motor skills as she should.   Please remember Caylee and her family in your prayers...I told Bruce I would share her with you my praying friends and family and he was very glad.   
     As Bruce talked about his little granddaughter, I was reminded of two other young children of friends of mine who are having similar struggles...one you have prayed for, Josie Smith who almost died last year after being born prematurely with complications, and the other is the young son of our Minister of Music, Harrison Leffel.  GOD did such a miracle to answer the prayers of so many to spare Josie's life, and so many of you were a part of praying for her, and part of that miracle.  

   "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16



     Her Mother tells me over and over what a joy she is to their family. Both of these precious little ones are having difficulties in using their muscles properly.  Recently on FB, Josie's Mom shared a praise that Josie reached out to her for the first time...and Br. Ryan shared a praise last night at choir, that Harrison has sat up on his own for the first time...we all rejoiced with them in these monumental milestones, which brought more joy to their parents and to us, because of the delay being able to do them.  Isn't that what GOD does...when HE delays our blessings we get even more joy than if we had received them with no struggle, no waiting..."Weeping may last through the night, but JOY comes in the morning...Psalm 30:5

    As my friend Tony Greene used to say, seems everywhere you go folks are in a storm...they're either coming out of one, or going into one.   Speaking of the Greene's, Tim Greene, Tony's brother, whom you have prayed much for over the years if you've kept up with these emails, is hosting the Greene's homecoming this year up in Boone, NC, this weekend.  It will be tomorrow evening (Fri) and Sat. evening and you can read more about it at www.timgreenetrio.com.  What a miracle that GOD has done, and answered the prayers of so many for Tim that he is traveling all over the place singing and sharing the gospel and is able to carry on the Greene's tradition of having homecoming each year in the beautiful mountains of Boone, NC where the Greene's are from.  The year that my family got to go to the Greene's Homecoming...Tim made a surprise appearance, he sang, and then was promptly whisked away in an ambulance.  Tim was very allergic to mold before the LORD healed him, and he was not able to live in his hometown.  Now he is having homecoming there again...carrying on years of tradition of what his family has done to share the LORD with their family and friends through gospel music,  preaching the gospel of JESUS CHRIST and sharing the love of JESUS with those who come. Praise GOD for the "Miracle in Me" GOD has done in Tim and Amy and their family to bring healing to Tim.   At the same time, the family and friends continue to grieve the loss of their brother Tony who went to be with JESUS last September.  I had the privilege of seeing Tim and Tony's sister, Kim who sings with the Hopper's, www.thehoppers.com
 last Friday night in Huntsville, and Kim's heart is still breaking over her brother's death.  As Kim shared with me the loss she struggles with almost daily, my heart went out to her so much.  I miss her brother dearly, I can't imagine how she and the rest of her family must miss Tony.  As she sang on stage after we talked, and she sings with the power of GOD upon her so much, I realized that so much of what she sings and shares that touches our heart, comes from her own sorrow and suffering.  GOD makes the song so much more beautiful from the heart's of HIS wounded children who continue to sing HIS praises in their darkest nights.  Please remember the Greene family in your prayers...this is going to be a tough weekend for them as it will be the first homecoming they have without Tony, and without their dear grandmother who went home to be with JESUS just a few weeks ago.  But oh, what a homecoming awaits them all in heaven when they will all be reunited with one another because of their trust in their SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST who died for them and us on Calvary.  
   "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only SON that whosoever believeth in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

   The Greene's granny was one of the main ones who  helped cook the pies and pinto's and delicous mountain cooking that people came to the Greene's homecoming to enjoy.  It was the whole family and many friends affair to put on the Homecoming's.  Last year, for the first time in years there wasn't a homecoming.  Now Tim is leading the way to to carry on the homecoming in memory  of his daddy and his brother.  Please remember he and Amy in your prayers, and their Mom, Carolyn and the rest of the family.   This is a family that truly GOD has blessed their troubles to minister to so many other hurting hearts...including mine.Tony Greene used to sing one of my favorite songs,  that "I Can't Even Walk Without YOU Holding My Hand." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgSNUKv9yQI .  I love  Tony Greene, and I sure do miss him.  I'm so thankful for Tony and Tim and Kim Greene Hopper sharing their GOD's faithfulness in the midst of their troubles whereever their bus carried carried them to bless and encourage the hearts of folks like me who was going through a similar struggle.

   As I write out here at "The Campsite," I am looking at a banner I hung up earlier this afternoon that I took from inside the house.  I bought it years ago when I was walking in an especially hard place, and now it is ministering to me again as the LORD takes me through this difficult spot....(similar hard spot cause i was probably dealing with the same issues!).  It doesn't exactly fit in with "the Campsite," decor, but it does fit in where I'm walking and you may be walking in your life.  You've probably read this poem before, and I'm pretty sure I've shared it many moons ago.  Just been hanging in my dining room and i've passed it day in and out, until recently when the words have been ministering to me again. The poem on the banner is called "The WEAVER":
"The WEAVER"
My life is but a weaving
between the LORD and me;
I cannot choose the colors,
HE worketh steadily.
Oftentimes HE weaveth sorrow
and I in foolish pride
forget HE sees the upper and I, the underside.
Not 'till the loom is silent and the shuttles
cease to fly
shall GOD unroll the canvas and 
explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
in the WEAVER's skillfull hand
as the threads of gold and silver 
in the pattern HE has planned."

      This morning, i got up, and I felt like I was in the "Dungeon of Despair."  I really did...my feelings were telling me that, even though the WORD of GOD reminds me over and over that JESUS is my DELIVERER and "a righteous man may have many troubles but the LORD delivers him from them all." Psalm 34:19. The term, "Dungeon of Despair" is from the book "Pilgrim's Progress," the kids read when they were younger.  The main character is CHRISTian, and on his pilgrimage to heaven, journeying through all the things that we find ourselves going through on earth, he found himself in the "Dungeon of Despair."  After languishing inside the "Dungeon of Despair," he finally realized what the key was to getting out...GOD's promises.  You may wonder why I write so much week after week that I've gleaned from GOD's WORD and other devotion books based on HIS WORD.  GOD's promises are the keys to victorious LIFE and  helping us to have faith and to trust in the LORD JESUS for whatever HE takes us through.  First of all, to trust HIM as our LORD and SAVIOR to deliver us from our sins, "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of GOD,"Rom.10:17, "That if you confess with your mouth JESUS is LORD and believe in your heart that GOD raised HIM from the dead you will be saved." Rom. 10:9 ...and then to trust HIM as our SHEPHERD and GUIDE to lead us through this world that is filled with troubles.  "In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world." John 16:33.  "Yet man is born to trouble as surely as the sparks fly upward." Job 5:7.


    Troubles are all around, but so is GOD's grace as HE carries HIS children through these troubles and blesses us and our loved ones in ways that we cannot imagine through our darkest valleys.     This morning during my wrestling in the "Dungeon of the Despair," while i was trying to have my time with JESUS, the LORD brought sweet words of comfort to me as HE always does to reassure me that HE is in control of my circumstances.  One of the readings that really spoke to my heart was from the little devotion book JESUS Calling, by Sarah Young.  

     "Expect to encounter adversity in your life, remembering that you live in a deeply fallen world.  Stop trying to find a way that circumvents your need for ME.  When you became a CHRISTian, I infused MY very LIFE into you, empowering you to live on a supernatural plane by depending on ME." 
      Anticipate coming face to face with impossibilities:  situations totally beyond your ability to handle.  This awareness of your inadequacy is not something you should try to evade.  It is precisely where I want you-the best place to encounter ME in MY GLORY and MY POWER.  When you see armies of problems marching toward you, cry out to ME!  Allow ME to fight for you.  Watch ME working on your behalf, as you rest in the shadow of MY ALMIGHTY PRESENCE."
      Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High 

   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1





   Last week, when I used the song "How Firm a Foundation," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwGW8qRqz4I, I left out one of the best verses of the song  because it wasn't in the hymn book I was used.  
     "When thru the deep waters I call thee to go, the rivers of woe shall not thee overflo; for I will be with thee thy troubles to bless, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress." 

 Thy Troubles to Bless..."  I kept hearing that phrase on the video I included and the more I thought about it, the more I thought about how much GOD has blessed the troubles HE has allowed in my life, and HE has blessed yours too.  Hallelujah, what a SAVIOR!    These troubles i'm having right now, if I had my way, I would toss them as far as the east is from the west, but everyday JESUS is reminding me, "In everything give thanks for THIS is the will of GOD in CHRIST JESUS concerning you."  I Thess. 5:18. HE has a plan and purpose to bless your troubles and mine....and use them to be a blessing to others like HE has in my doctor's life, the Greene's lives,  Arthur and Darlene's lives, Br. Ryan and Kelley's, and Catherine and Stan's lives to bring others to CHRIST and to encourage and comfort others in their times of trouble.  "All things work together for good to those who love the LORD, to those who are called according to HIS purposes." Romans 8:28...including the yeast issues and other things i've been dealing with this summer. 

     This past Sunday, with tears in eyes from not feeling so well from another round of trying to take my old thyroid med, I asked my Minister of Music, Br. Ryan to pray for me.  He was straightening the chairs, getting ready for the Sunday morning service, and he stopped what he was doing and we sat down in the chairs and talked a little while.  We talked about the upcoming drum position that is opening up when our young drummer leaves for college next week and the possibility of me filling that position.  I told him I really would like to try it, but i'm unsteady right now with my health and really having to depend on the LORD.  Br. Ryan reminded me that's the best place to be, and he is right.  Br. Ryan, in his quiet and gentle way took time to encourage me  with his devotion that morning...about being patient and waiting on the LORD.   I'm sure many of the songs that Br. Ryan picks out for our congregation comes from his own trials  and heartaches with his young son.  The LORD uses Br. Ryan's trials to bless our whole congregation and I pray that HE would bless my troubles to bless others.   I would ask you to pray for me, that if the LORD wants me to fill this position, kind of unorthodox for an almost 49 year old woman to play the drums at church, but GOD works in the "unorthodox" it seems...that HE would play through me, for HIS honor and glory and give me the strength I need to be faithful and play for HIM. I sure would love the privilege of playing for HIM who gave me this gift of drumming to glorify HIM.

    This week as I was reading in the Amazing Grace,  devotion book by Kenneth W. Osbeck, a devotion book about the hymns we sing and their back ground, the song, "I Need Thee Every Hour," ministered so much to my soul.  JESUS is teaching me again, that I need HIM every minute, every second, every hour of each day.   I'm going to include this beautiful hymn written by Annie Hawks, because "I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR," and I know there are those of you who are walking in a narrow place like I am and need HIM every minute of every hour.  We all do, we just don't realize it as much when life is easier... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDzyPdzwtRE.


    I love you and thank you so much for letting me hear from you last week...so many of you shared your prayer requests with me, and wrote me, and what a blessing to hear from you and get to pray for you or your loved ones.  Please forgive me if I don't get back with you right away...honestly sometimes I don't feel up to it, and just have to wait, "Until the Storm Passes By."   GOD bless you, dear ones, thank you for praying for me, my family, my husband and his health issues, John Mac started school again today, taking a couple of classes at UAH, and HB starts nursing school Monday at the U of Mobile...please pray for her.    I remember how difficult nursing school was...and I sure do covet your prayers for her, for our family.  Pray above all that through the trials GOD allows into our lives, HE would be magnified and glorified..."thy troubles to bless and sanctify to thee our deepest distress." 

                                                                            With all HIS love,
                                                                                     mitzi

        
   Thank you for your continued prayers for my friend Blanche Clanton...she is very sick in California, and is requiring around the clock care at home.
Thank you also for praying for Jean Brinkley and her family in your prayers.  I mentioned Jean above...a young homeschooling Mom who has recently undergone tests and it looks like she may have cancer.  

Thank you for continuing to pray for my in laws...they felt up to taking a little trip last week to visit friends...praise the LORD.  But the days are difficult...thank you for remembering them.                                                       

Friday, August 12, 2011

JESUS CHRIST My FIRM FOUNDATION


"Fear thou not; for I am with thee:  be not dismayed for I am thy GOD:  I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."  Isaiah 41:10

Dear Praying Friends and Family,
                                                 
    It is very pleasant out here "At the Campsite" this morning...it is heating up , but where i sit in the breezeway on the porch, i catch a  breeze every once in a while and it's really refreshing.  It's a good time to write while I am feeling steady this morning...these days, my body is feeling more like a roller coaster than steady, and I am continuing to have some issues with my health that perplex me, and dismay me at times.  This morning i was reading a devotion about Chuck Colson in my One Year Book of CHRISTian History.    Chuck Colson was a part of the Watergate crimes, and after the LORD broke his prideful heart and saved him from his sins, he plead guilty to a Watergate crime that he had not been charged. The man who had become a senior partner in a prestigious Washington D.C. law firm and then served in the role as special counsel to the President of the United States was sentenced to a prison term of one to three years at Maxwell Federal Prison in Montgomery, Alabama and put in charge of the washing machines.  After he had been in prison seven months, his family began falling apart, with his wife near the breaking point and his son was in jail for drug possession.  At this point, Chuck Colson completely surrendered himself to the LORD, and two days later the judge released him from prison because of his family problems.  In 1976, Chuck Colson founded Prison Fellowship, that ministers in six hundred prisons in 88 countries with 50,000 volunteers.  The devotion shared that "Colson was prepared for this role in GOD's kingdom through a painful process."  The question at the end really spoke to me as it said,

     "What do you believe your role is in GOD's kingdom?  Have you experienced painful periods of preparation?  Can you see GOD's hand through it all?"
     The verse following that question was:

     I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the GOOD NEWS...And because of my imprisonment, many of the CHRISTians here have gained confidence and became more bold in telling others about CHRIST." Phil. 1:12-14
     I was going to say, I don't know about you, but I have been going through a painful process lately with my health and in some other areas.  But you know what...i do know about some of you, and that you too are going through painful processes.  If you're not now, you have in the past or you will be soon if you are able to read this and you are walking on this earth....JESUS promises us that in HIS WORD..."In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

     I guess this is as good a place as any to share with ya'll that I have decided not to return to nursing school.  It was kind of decided for me this past weekend, as I struggled majorly with some health issues, and then found out the scholarship money that I had counted on to help pay the tuition just wasn't there.  GOD was very gracious to "turn the heat up a little on my suffering," to help me with this decision.    Those plans, came to a screeching halt this weekend, and you know what...i am glad and so relieved.  It was a heavy burden on my back to think of taking a full load of classes that I wasn't even interested in but had to take to get to where i thought the LORD was leading me.  Johnny, and others have mentioned the possibility of  me taking some nutrition courses that would be more along the line of how i feel called to help others.  At this point, after enduring a strenuous math class this summer, i am very content to read and study at home at my own pace, and sharing again on a more informal basis the knowledge the LORD has shared with me on my own health journey.   I'm looking forward to teaching a class at our church again on Sunday nights under the umbrella "Caring for our Temples."  This semester we are planning to study Dr. Sherry Roger's book about High Blood Pressure.  We will be learning together triggers in our environment that can cause high blood pressure, allergies that can cause high blood pressure, things in our diet that contribute to it, and ways to help cure it naturally through supplementation, environmental changes, food changes, etc...under your doctor's supervision.  Come and join us starting Sunday night, Aug. 21, in room 207 at First Baptist Church in Athens.  Come and join us to worship our LORD and visit us SS if you are looking for a church home...we would love to have you worship with us.

    I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the LORD in this way, and share the information that HE has blessed me to learn along my journey with those here.  When Johnny and I felt called to the foreign mission field, he went to seminary, and I to nursing school to prepare for that calling.  I never dreamed I would get to be a "missionary" in my own home church, teaching the people here what I have learned from my doctor's in Dallas and other places that has helped me so much.  I may have hit a "bump" in the road with my health, but I believe GOD is healing me every so gradually, and this "bump" is part of that healing process.   Though this process is painful, so is the surgeon's scapel that brings healing to the person who needs that operation.  Somehow, i think that GOD is using this to help further equip me, so that I can better serve in the way that HE wants me to.  I can tell you this, i have been humbled this summer, and I have learned a lot through this process and i look forward to learning even more...not just about physical things about supplements or my body, but more importantly that GOD wants us to turn to HIM with all that perplexes us.   "Call to ME and I will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things that you do not know."  Jer. 33:3. A friend shared this verse in SS one day recently, and although I had learned it many years ago when the children were little, I hadn't thought of it in years.  It hit me like a ton of bricks...GOD wants me to call to HIM, for me to ask HIM for wisdom, for answers, and really depend upon HIM to provide my needs.  
       Psalm 34 is one that I memorized when I first got sick...real sick, when I was 27 years old with a 9 month old baby, and I could hardly do anything eventually but lie in the floor. It has become much more real and meaningful to me this summer, as I think about how many times in that Psalm  it shares that the LORD is the ONE who delivers us from all our fears.   THE LORD JESUS  and HIS WORD  has become a " Firm Foundation,"  to remind me of all the LORD has brought me through on this journey and will continue to, until HE leads me safely HOME with HIM.   "O taste and see that the LORD is good," says Psalm 34:8.  See how many times the LORD  reassures us in Psalm 34 that HE will indeed deliver us from all our troubles...one way or the other.  I know this to be true after living with a chronic illness for many years...HE has delivered me from one trouble after another and HE will deliver me from this one too. It's funny, the things that I am struggling with now are things I dealt with in my illness early on.  I am hopeful that nutrition, detox, and the supplementation i am using are part of the  tool's the LORD is bringing to help restore my health.  The most important part of my healing is my "Firm Foundation," JESUS CHRIST.  HE is the one WHO restores my soul, and leads me beside the still waters.    As I'm going through these earlier symptoms i used to have...the LORD is bringing back to my memory HIS WORD in Psalm 34 that HE led me to memorize during those earlier days.  HE reminds me over and over how many things HE has brought our family through the years...and HE will continue to be WHO HE says HE is.

Psalm 34

1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
   HIS praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
   let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
   let us exalt HIS name together.

 4 I sought the LORD, and HE answered me;
    HE delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to HIM are radiant;
   their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
    HE saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The ANGEL of the LORD encamps around those who fear HIM,
   and HE delivers them.

 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
   blessed is the one who takes refuge in HIM.
9 Fear the LORD, you HIS holy people,
   for those who fear HIM lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
   but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
   I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life
   and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
   seek peace and pursue it.

 15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
   and HIS ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
   to blot out their name from the earth.

 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
    HE delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
   but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 HE protects all his bones,
   not one of them will be broken.

 21 Evil will slay the wicked;
   the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD will rescue HIS servants;
   no one who takes refuge in HIM will be condemned.


     Speaking of those many things...last Weds. night, my husband and son and I were at the table in our kitchen eating supper when Hannah Beth called.  She had left for Mobile that morning to return to school, and on the way, she stopped at her old roommate's house in Montgomery to spend the afternoon with her.  Her roommate is transferring to Liberty University this semester so they wanted to spend some time together before they both went off to seperate schools.  Hannah Beth called to tell us she was leaving a movie she and her friend went to, and after grabbing some yogurt, she would be heading on down to Mobile. I didn't talk long since we were eating, and kind of hurried off the phone.  Less than 10 minutes later, Hannah Beth called her Daddy's cell phone, and told him that she and her friend had been in a wreck.  I could hear Hannah Beth's voice and she sounded calm, but her friend was crying in the background.  Hannah Beth was sitting on the passenger side of her friend's car, and the car had hit right above where Hannah Beth was sitting.  A split second and the impact of the car would have plowed full force into Hannah Beth.  The  airbags went off in the car, and Hannah Beth and her friend both recieved some scrapes and bruises, but thankfully that is all.  When the paramedics arrived at the scene, they had just left a fatality to come to the wreck where Hannah Beth was.  THANKFULLY, no one was hurt badly, just a couple of cars totalled...we are so blessed.  But you know, we would have to had said the same thing if the LORD had chosen to take our baby home last Weds, or allow her to be injured.  Those are easy words to say, on this side.  I sure hope that I could say them if that is HIS will sometime.  HB made it safely down to Mobile late Weds. night...and now she's taking off to Atlanta this weekend to see her friend being baptized Sunday.  I hate to think of her on the road again... be praying for that ANGEL of the LORD to encamp around her and keep her safe...so thankful the angels protected my baby this week through the car wreck and each and every minute of the day. 
     "The Angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear HIM and HE delivers them.' Psalm 34:7

      We had another issue come up this week with my husband's health...more decisions, more prayer, more opportunities to lean on JESUS, our firm FOUNDATION, our gentle SHEPHERD and GUIDE, OUR GREAT PHYSICIAN, our DELIVERER that HE is for you and for me.  HE is ALL these and more...so much more, HE is the GREAT "I AM..." HE is everything we need HIM to be in every situation in life...if we had never been in "that" situation, and HE delivered us from all our troubles, how would we know what a GREAT DELIVERER that HE is?

    This morning I got out the hymn book and starting reading the words to the great old hymn "How Firm a Foundation."  Those words became very meaningful to me when the kids were little and I was homeschooling and struggling so with my health.  What great WORDS, WHAT GREAT PROMISES that hymn contains from Scripture about our FIRM FOUNDATION, the LORD JESUS CHRIST.   My feelings, my hormones, my blood sugar, my circumstances may fluctuate all around me, but MY JESUS never fluctuates.  HE IS MY ROCK and MY FORTRESS, and MY REDEEMER.  HE is MY FIRM FOUNDATION and HE is my DELIVERER...and HE runs to me when I call.     This is a great video of the great hymn, "How Firm a Foundation" from the CD  "Together for the Gospel Live" from Sovereign Grace Music.   I hope that you will take time to listen and let the promises of GOD seep deeply into your soul... 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwGW8qRqz4I



             
                                                        "How Firm a Foundation" 
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the LORD,
Is laid for your faith in HIS excellent WORD!
What more can HE say than to you HE hath said,
To you who for refuge to JESUS have fled?

Fear not! I am with thee; O be not dismayed,
For I am thy GOD and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by MY righteous omnipotent hand.

"When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on JESUS hath leaned for repose;
 I will not, I will not desert to his foes.
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
 I'll never, no never no never forsake!" 

   Well, my husband's home early from work and he's sick...so i'd best go and check on him.  Before i do...i want to tell you that JESUS is THE FIRM FOUNDATION for all the waves that come up against us in life.   If you have never fully put your trust in HIM like Chuck Colson and surrendered your life to HIM, you can do that right now where you are reading this...I have noticed on my blog where the LORD takes this email to all parts of the world.  It's kind of humbling to think of something that I am writing on my back porch here in the Deep South, that HE may use to bring someone to know HIM as LORD and SAVIOR in another part of the world.  HE is giving me the "desires of my heart" to be a foreign missionary in many ways and to tell others of HIS great love for us.    That LOVE that loves us so much gave HIS one and only SON, JESUS CHRIST, to pay the price for our sins that seperate us from GOD.   HE doesn't want anyone to perish in hell for their sins.  "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only SON that whosoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life."  John 3:16.  Won't you accept JESUS CHRIST as your LORD and SAVIOR? HE will become your FIRM FOUNDATION too, that will take your through your trials, and help you to stand.  
   
"The Campsite" on my back porch

    I had a sweet friend who i have never met, except through these emails, to ask for a picture of "The Campsite," last week after I sent that email out called, "At the Campsite."  If you missed it you can read it on the blogsite http://mitzi-hisgraceissufficient.blogspot.com/.  This internet friend has become a great encourager to me and i thank GOD for "inserting her" into my life for such a time as this and encouraging me with the WORD of GOD.  Since I felt up to it this morning...thought I would share with you, "the Campsite" where the LORD and I wrestled and had victory over "Precalculus" this summer...I haven't officially seen my grade yet, because I keep forgetting to ask John Mac how to help me find it on line...but I'm pretty sure the LORD made an "A."  Thank you so much for all your prayers for me and my family.  You are such a dear blessing to me.
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                          With all HIS love,
                                                                                                              mitzi
P.S. Since I wrote this...John Mac found  my grade  online and indeed, the LORD did make an "A" in PreCalculus this summer..."All things are possible with GOD!"

                                                            




--
"Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Luke 18:11

"When I passed by thee,...I said unto thee..., Live."
Ezekiel 16:6


    

Friday, August 5, 2011

"At the Campsite"


 "The LORD shall...satisfy thy soul in drought...and thou shalt be like a well watered garden, and like springs of water, whose waters fail not." Isa. 58:11

Dear Praying Friends and Family,
    Well, the precalculus class, has come and gone...it is finished, and through the strength and grace of GOD, I survived.  Not only did I survive, but GOD allowed me to make better than I ask or thought and I praise HIM for HIS great faithfulness to provide all my needs in CHRIST JESUS.   Thank you all so much for your encouragement to my heart that lifted my wilting spirits, your prayers that HE answered and strengthened me to do what I didn't think i could do.  I turned my final precal test into today...after taking it yesterday on my backporch that I have called "the campsite" this summer.  Early on in the summer, when I was spending my Saturday mornings on the back porch instead of on the river paddling where I had rather be, I got out my Werner boat paddle and leaned it up against the garage door facing in the breezeway.   I had my Cabela's lounge chair that I sat in to do my school work and watch the lecture's on line while i propped my feet upon a Coleman cooler.  I even had a Coleman lantern that I would turn on in the late evenings while I did my homework. Since i went fishing the other day, I have propped up my rod and reel out there too, and it really does seem like 'the campsite."  Some Saturdays I would get on my "Life is Good" t shirt that has a kayak on it,  and says, "Take me to the river," my nylon shorts, and  Keen water shoes that I wear kayaking, along with my "Kayak and Canoe" cap and just wear it while i was studying so I would feel like i was at the river.  It didn't altogether make me feel like I was at the river, but it did ease the pain, and GOD has been gracious to allow me to go paddling a few times this summer, along with my studies.  The most important thing I took with me to "the campsite," was a stack of cards I've written Scripture and words of encouragement on to strengthen and encourage my fainting heart when I've wanted to give up.    I've been wanting to tell ya'll about "The Campsite," cause I sure did spend a lot of time outside on the porch this summer, studying and doing math.  That will really be a fond memory to me, and something special the LORD did for me to help me.  I could really think better outside in the mornings and late afternoons, and that place became my haven.  I even did my final outside yesterday morning on the porch....setting up the card table and setting up the fan on the cooler to blow on me, while I took the test. I wasn't feeling well when I got up yesterday morning , and GOD was so gracious to give me that spot at "the Campsite," to help me settle down and be able to concentrate and think once I got going.  I got up yesterday morning, feeling anxious and just wanting to get the test over with.  I thought, I will just have a short quiet time, and get out there early and start on the test.  Well, GOD had many sweet things to encourage my heart yesterday morning, and as I began reading HIS WORD, and my other devotions, HE just continued to encourage me and strengthen me in the midst of my body that was rebelling against me. I ended up having a longer time with HIM than usual, and I was so blessed and strengthened in HIS WORD.  HE brought peace to my soul through that time with HIM and  after i finished reading and praying "Troy" and I went for a bicycle ride...he rides in the basket on the front.   Our computer man came about 9:30 to get our internet working, and I knew he is a great brother in CHRIST and I asked him to pray for me.  He is deaf, so he talks like a deaf person, and he prayed the sweetest prayer for me and I sure thank GOD for hearing and answering his humble cry for me.  I sure wanted to feel better to take the test, but GOD strengthened me and helped me to do very well on it.   GOD sent me those "streams of refreshing," outside at "the Campsite," all summer  to make the trials I was going through with my health and precalculus easier to bear.  HE is so good...
     Well, I didn't mean to tell you about the campsite in this email, but I'm glad the LORD led me to share it with you.  I have been wanting to share it with you all summer because it has been, and will continue to be a special place to me, that I have been able to meet the LORD and HE has strengthened me to do the task that was a mountain for me to climb.  If you had told me before the summer started that I was going to face all the health challenges I have AND do precalculus, I would have run as fast as I could in the other direction....but GOD's grace has been sufficient and HIS power has been made perfect in my weakness.  I remembered this morning one frantic day a couple of weeks into the semester when I was feeling panicky and the LORD used that panicky feeling to get me down to Calhoun and switch my class back from online to "being in the classroom," and there my teacher allowed me to do all my work at home, including taking the test and turning them into her.  She allowed me to watch the lectures online with another teacher, do my homework on line, show her my scratch paper, and give me credit for that...and worked with me every way imaginable.  GOD just really made the way for me...and I am so grateful, so very grateful for all of HIS help to me, through my teacher, my tutors, your prayers, your encouragement, my doctors, ....so much help to this weak vessel.
    Well, that precal class, was the last prerequisite i needed to start my senior year of nursing at UAH...and I have orientation for that coming up next Thursday, and I sure would appreciate your prayers for me as it is several hours indoors in the library and being indoors around chemicals is not my strong suit....but we will see how GOD provides.   I will be taking three classes, and that is intimidating for this gal who struggled with one this past semester.  But, GOD has been so gracious over and over to encourage my heart and strengthen me along this path....
    Yesterday, HE shared so much with my heart at "The Campsite," and I feel led to share some of those thoughts with you who may be trudging along the same path as I am, feeling not quite up to the call that you feel the LORD is leading you to....i talked with someone very dear to me this morning, who will be beginning a new job in a season of life that one is usually considering retirement in a few years,  he confessed to me, that he was not confident that he could do the work.  I was reminded of the words from Oswald Chambers..."the weaker, the better."  And this morning's words in "My Utmost for HIS Highest concerning GOD choosing us were: 
     "The bravery of GOD in trusting us! You say-"But HE has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing in me; I am not of any value." That is why HE chose you.  As long as you think there is something in you, HE cannot choose you because you have ends of your own to serve; but if you have let HIM bring you to the end of your self sufficiency then HE can choose you to go with HIM to Jerusalem, and that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which HE does not discuss with you."
       "We are apt to say that because a man has natural ability, therefore he will make a good CHRISTian.  It is not a question of our equipment but of our poverty, not what we bring with us, but of what GOD puts into us; not a question of natural virtues of strength of character, knowledge, and experience-all that is to no avail in this matter.  The only things that avails is that we are taken up into the big compelling of GOD and made HIS comrades (I Cor. 26-30).  The comradeship of GOD is made up out of men who know their poverty.  He can do nothing with the man who thinks that he is of use to GOD.  As CHRISTians we are not out for our own cause at all, we are out for the cause of GOD, which can never be our cause.  We do not know what GOD is after, but we have to maintain our relationship with HIM whatever happens.  We must never allow anyting to injure our relationship with GOD;  if it does get injured we must take time and get it put right.  The main thing about CHRISTianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship.  That is all GOD asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is being continually assailed."

    ...And once again, I am reminded that this is a relationship, not about the work, but about walking and abiding and living and leaning on my LORD JESUS CHRIST and following HIM when the way seems baffling to me...trusting HIM, and leaning not on my own understanding, and taking delight in HIM as HE reveals HIS love to me in so many ways in the midst of the journey just as HE has done through this precalculus class....now, back "at the campsite," I want to share with you some of the thought HE shared with me yesterday morning on my backporch as I prepared to take my final precal test.

Manna from Heaven:

"Take therefore not thought for morrow." Matt. 6:34
     JESUS CHRIST knows our circumstances better than we do, and HE says we must not think about these things so as to make them the one concern of our lives." Oswald Chambers

"Maybe you see no way out of your situation, no light at the end of the tunnel.  In GOD's time HE will deliver you.  HE is your strength." Elisabeth Elliot, Gratitude...www.elisabethelliot.org
     "And the LORD will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for HIS heavenly kingdom." II Tim. 4:18

"Those who honor ME, I will honor." I Sam. 2:30

   "Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men.  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers.  Pray for powers equal to your tasks.  Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." Phillip Brooks
     "Quit you like men, be strong." I Cor. 16:13

  "I learned that I must accept with joy all that YOU allowed to happen to me on the way and everything to which the path led me!" Hannah Hurnard, Hinds Feet on High Places
     "HE holds victory in store for the upright, HE is a shield to those whose walk is bleameless, for HE guards the course of the just and protects the way of HIS faithful ones." Pr. 2:7-8

     "GOD help us so to live, and thus to make real to those around us, the simplicity, the beauty, the glory and the power of the CHRIST life." Springs in the Valley
     "CHRIST in you, the HOPE of GLORY." Col. 1:27

"I will make all MY mountains a way." Isaiah 49:11

     "Longsuffering is really that lovely quality of forgiveness and beraing contentedly and joyfully the results of the mistakes and wrongdoing of others." Hannah Hurnard, Mtn of Spices
     "Is your life full of temptations and difficulties?  Then be happy for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow." James 1:2-3

    "Faithful is He that calleth you, WHO will also do it." I Thess. 5;24

   
   Well, this is only a partial sampling of the WORDS of life that GOD has been speaking life into my heart the past couple of days to help sustain me during this time of "drought" in my life.    My  makeshift "campsite," on the back porch has helped me keep my sanity, in a hard place for me.   I hope that you have "a campsite," a place where you can get alone with the LORD JESUS each morning, and let HIM speak HIS WORDS of life and peace to your soul, and bring comfort and strength and refreshment to you in the midst of the circumstances that HE has engineered to reveal HIS great love to you and to me.  I wouldn't have chosen to take my final without my thyroid medicine, and had to change IV ingredients in the middle of the semester, and all the other changes i have gone through...but my sweet SAVIOR has met met in the midst of my dismay, and discomfort, and reassured me that HE is in the midst of my circumstances and they will not overwhelm me...though I have felt like it at times.  HE loves you and me so much that HE gave HIMSELF for us on a Cross to pay for your sins and mine, and set our feet upon a ROCK and give us a reason and purpose to live...that HE might live HIS life through us and fulfill the plans and purposes for which HE created us.  HE loves us so much and will do whatever it takes to bring us into a living and intimate and personal and vital relationship with HIM that overflows with HIS life to draw others to HIM.  
    Another neat thing the LORD did through me this semester was the privilege to go on a "mission trip," with our church.  No I didn't go anywhere, except to church every Tuesday evening for the past four weeks, and all I did was pray and write notes to those who our callers had talked to, but what a joy to my heart it was to be a part of GOD reaching out to our community and showing HIS love to them through our church family.  When I signed up for "Harvest Unlimited," I had made up my mind to drop my precal class, and shortly thereafter, GOD persuaded me to keep on.  I didn't think I would be able to go to the church and be a part during my class, but GOD enabled me to, and I even went the night before my final, to be a part of the final evening for me to participate...just amazing grace what HE allows us to do for HIM when we don't think we can do things in our own strength.  I'm looking forward to going with our choir tomorrow evening to the "Downtown Rescue Mission" in Huntsville, where some of the members will be going early to help serve supper, sort clothes and do whatever needs to be done.  Then later, others of us will join them, and we are going to sing and play GOD's praises and encouraging songs...I can't wait.  Ya'll pray for us that the HOLY SPIRIT will fill this time with HIS presence, CHRIST will be magnified in all that we sing and play and do, and HIS love will reach out through us and draw others to HIM.  GOD is so good to let me be a part of these "mission" trips and I love HIM so much for HIS plans and purposes.
    One of the songs we are singing at the "Down town Rescue Mission" is "Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone," by John Newton and Chris Tomlin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbe7OruLk8I I just recently finished a biography about John Newton's life and I love the words that he shared near the end of his life...

"Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior." — John Newton (Amazing Grace)
    
Thank you JESUS for your amazing grace in my life..."and like a flood HIS mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace."
" HE wanted weakness, who was so weak as I?  HE promised that HIS grace, that wonderful transforming grace into which I had just been lifted would prove sufficient all the time." Hannah Hurnard

     "And HE said unto me, MY grace is sufficient for thee:  for MY strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of CHRIST may rest upon me." II Cor. 12:9-10

     Please continue to be in prayer for my friend Darlene who is in Houston this week for treatment for her cancer.  Her husband said she may get to come home this weekend.  Darlene and Arthur love CHRIST, and HE is being magnified through there lives through this journey.  Thank you so much for praying for them.  I also would like for you to pray for a friend that has some life threatening health issues. Please remember Blanche Clanton in your prayers.  Blanche is younger than I am and she is really struggling.  Thank you so much for continuing to remember our family in your prayers...HB heads back to U of Mobile next Thursday, the same day I have orientation at UAH. I sure am glad I will have something to think about...i'm going to miss my baby girl.  It's not the kind of summer I would have envisioned for us,  we mostly just studied, and we moaned and groaned over our school work together...and we rejoiced together when the LORD brought us through our classes and helped us to make good grades. I didn't feel like doing much of anything else with her, but it's been the summer that GOD had for us and I thank HIM for HIS plans and purposes.  John Mac is working on submitting his secondary application to UAB now, and will know by Oct. if he's accepted into the early entrance program.  Johnny hasn't found out anything about his hip yet...please continue to remember him, and then there is me...you can just pray anything the LORD brings to your mind to pray for me.  GOD bless you prayer warriors...I love you and thank GOD for you and your emails and calls and all that reassure me of your prayers for us, and your words of sweet encouragement to my heart. I wish you and I could enjoy visiting at "the campsite," and enjoy sweet fellowship together in our LORD JESUS CHRIST.  We could spend  time  talking about the good things the LORD has done for us and HIS faithfulness  to help us through the hard times.   I will pull you up a Cabela's chair, we'll turn on the fan, share a glass of iced  tea, and enjoy the sweet fellowship we share in CHRIST JESUS "at the Campsite" on the back porch.   But until then, keep those emails a coming and we'll fellowship, "Across the Internet..." 
                                                                                  With all HIS love,
                                                                                      mitzi

More Manna from Heaven:



Do Not Forget the Holy Nature of God

AUG
Myriads of professing Christians at the present day have not an idea of their own sinfulness and guilt in the sight of God. They flatter themselves that they have never done anything very wicked. They have never murdered, or stolen, or committed adultery, or borne false witness. They cannot surely be in much danger of missing heaven. They forget the holy nature of that God with whom they have to do. They forget how often they break His law in temper, or imagination, even when their outward conduct is correct. They never study such portions of Scripture as the fifth chapter of Matthew, or at any rate they study it with a thick veil over their hearts, and do not apply it to themselves. The result is that they are wrapped up in self-righteousness. Like the church of Laodicea, they are “rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” (Rev. 3:17.) Self-satisfied they live, and self-satisfied too often they die.
~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 208. {Mark 10:17-27}
The Simplicity of the Gospel

























God be thanked for the simplicity of the gospel. The longer I live the more I bless God that we have not received a classical gospel, or a mathematical gospel, or a metaphysical gospel; it is not a gospel confined to scholars and men of genius, but a poor man’s gospel, a ploughman’s gospel; for that is the kind of gospel which we can live upon and die upon. It is to us not the luxury of refinement, but the staple food of life.

We want no fine words when the heart is heavy, neither do we need deep problems when we are lying upon the verge of eternity, weak in body and tempted in mind. At such times we magnify the blessed simplicity of the gospel. Jesus in the flesh made manifest becomes our soul’s bread. Jesus bleeding on the cross, a substitute for sinners, is our soul’s drink. This is the gospel for babes, and strong men want no more.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Soul-Satisfying Bread," delivered May 18, 1873. Image
 by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.
     "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON that whosoever believeth in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16-- 


"Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Luke 18:11

"When I passed by thee,...I said unto thee..., Live."
Ezekiel 16:6