Rain Down Bread From Heaven

 One friend is going through severe financial crisis, having to foreclose his house.

He has done everything possible to prevent it from happening; however, he is drowning in debt and says iit is the worst time of his life.

One friend is buying foreclosed homes, flipping them, and making a profit.

He has cleared all his debt and says that it is the best time of his life.

Both love God.

One is suffering.  One is enjoying life.

From the outside it would seem that God has blessed one over the other.  What we need to understand, is that circumstances do not delineate if God has blessed us or not.  It is important to note, the blessed are those who personally experience and engage with the activity of God. Trust is the key component to engaging with the blessings of God.  At the end of the day, each one of us must make the choice whether or not we will  trust God in the best and worst of times.

Trust, is at the crux of our relationship with God.

We tend to put conditions on God because we lack trust.
Whether we admit it or not, lack of trust usually is centered on a difficult challenge that we have had to face and perhaps blame God for allowing it to occur in our life.  One thing I know is that we can trust God to be trustworthy. The thing is . . . trust doesn't always makes sense . . . making it difficult to choose to trust God.  

The Exodus people set out on a journey with God that required trust.
Along the way, doubt and trust collided.
Sometimes they chose to trust God to be God.
Other times they felt alone on the pathway to Promise and doubted God.
Even so, God continued to be faithful and rained down bread from heaven:

 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."(Exodus 16:4-5)

God promised to rain down bread from heaven, providing for all the people's needs.  But, God's provision was not one-sided; God asked the people to obey and follow His instructions. It was their choice to obey or not obey. 

Obedience boils down to choosing whether we will or will not trust God.  Choice is an amazing gift from God.  Choice can be hard; however, we do not need to manage the choice we make in our life alone. The Spirit of God will enable us to choose to obey and empower us to trust when we ask for help. 
The result of trust is being blessed . . . experiencing the activity of God . . . the bread from heaven raining down:
You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
   You're blessed when you follow his directions,
      doing your best to find him.
   That's right—you don't go off on your own;
      you walk straight along the road he set.
   You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
      now you expect us to live it.
   Oh, that my steps might be steady,
      keeping to the course you set;
   Then I'd never have any regrets
      in comparing my life with your counsel.
   I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
      I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
   I'm going to do what you tell me to do;
      don't ever walk off and leave me.(Psalm 119:1-3)

Trust.  Be blessed.  God has promised: I will rain down bread from heaven for you

 Learning to KickStart keeping on course . . . blessed to be in heaven's rain.,

Kerrie

(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)

On Your Feet Now

Good times seem to bring excitement, anticipation, and gratefulness for life; however, when we experience challenges there is a tendency to lose enthusiasm, easily tire, and complain. A battle for our attitude, thought process, conversations, and reactions ensue with the onslaught of problems and pressures.

We are enabled, through the Spirit of God, to enter into the place of faith regardless of our circumstances.  It requires surrendered, grateful trust.

Can you imagine what the Exodus people had gone through?  They had been on a "walk" of a lifetime. The thing is . . . they were grateful for the miracle . . . . but they failed to see through it.

On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, the whole company of Israel moved on from Elim to the Wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Sinai. The whole company of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron there in the wilderness. The Israelites said, "Why didn't God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat? You've brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!" (Exodus 16:1-3)

So, no one could see the presence and power of God? Really?  Seriously?  That's it?  They responded with  a group tantrum?  Life didn't look the way they wanted it to look.  They needed to get on their feet, thanking God in unmitigated faith.  God had clearly delivered them . . . provided water when they were thirsty . . . told them how to respond to life: to listen carefully, to do what is right in His eyes, and to pay attention to His Word . . . and then led them to an oasis before they continued their journey.  Yet, they ALL complained, failing to see God and to understand their role of obedient partnership.

We have two choices:  sit down and throw an adult-sized tantrum or to get up on our feet in obedience with gratefulness.  Being thankful  draws us closer to God's heart; complaining moves us away from Him.  The thing is . . . we are called into obedient partnership with God . . . but sometimes we miss seeing the miracle of it.  And, when we fail to see the miracle,  we complain.  Perhaps we miss the miracle because we close our eyes to the invisible realm where we can only see with faith.

The answer?  Enter into the place of faith, obey, and give thanks:

 ^1-2 On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
      sing yourselves into his presence.
 ³ Know this: God is God, and God, God.
      He made us; we didn't make him.
      We're his people, his well-tended sheep.
 ⁴ Enter with the password: "Thank you!"
      Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
      Thank him. Worship him.
 ⁵ For God is sheer beauty,
      all-generous in love,
      loyal always and ever. (Psalm 100)

Learning to KickStart the day on my feet ,

Kerrie

(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)

OASIS

Stress.  Say the word and people feel it.  Stress lives so close to the surface of our lives that it is not just a word but a reality of every age and circumstance.  I can't count how many people that describe the stress that lives in their homes, relationships, works, and within their mind, body, and soul.

So.  How do we battle stress?  I have been thinking of  the lessons I learned from the conference I directed for many years called  OASIS.  I stepped into the position after Rubena Poole, the founder and director retired.  Rubena had been assigned with a task to start a conference in an extremely stressful time of life.  It was the one-more-thing-to-do that took life to an overwhelming level.  Completely exhausted, she went home and took a nap.  And, God spoke to her.  He gave her a picture of rest in the midst of the stress from the obscure book, Ezekiel:

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezekiel 47:12)

The vision was the Sanctuary, representing the presence of God, an OASIS where we could be saturated with the River of Life.  In the OASIS we would be reborn, restored, and renewed as we gave ourselves back to God. And, after being in the Sanctuary, we could return to our lives realizing that the source of our life comes from the  Living Water.

God provided an Oasis for the Exodus people . . . they had a lifetime of oppressive stress . . . they needed an experience of new life.

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water (Exodus 15: 27)

Can you imagine the relief of the people when they entered Elim, a true Oasis?  They no longer were under the thumb of their persecutors but could stop . . . breathe . . . rest . . . and experience the healing presence of God.  

We, too, must purposefully stop and go to the Sanctuary to be reborn, restored, and renewed each day.  An Oasis in the midst of busyness will not  happen unless we intentionally stop what we are doing and enter in. The OASIS invitation seems more important than ever:

Come to the Living Waters!
Lay down your stress.
Step into the Sanctuary.
Experience a rebirth . . . restoration . . . and renewal.

Learning to KickStart the day in the Living Water ,

Kerrie

(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)






When all was said and done, God provided an oasis for the people.  They came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They set up camp there by the water. Exodus 15: 27

Afterward Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem, but they stayed in Judea for a while and baptized there. (John 3:22, NLT)Imagine being one of the individuals Jesus and his disciples baptized. The point of the baptism was for the individual to demonstrate the decision to enter into a new life. The individual was freed from the old way of living, leaving it all in the watery grave. The baptism signified a new beginning based on a relationship with God.

That's it . . . we are to live every hour of every day in an active participating relationship with God.
The messes of life are impossible to face without God. With God all things are possible.

Concentrate on the presence of God rather than the circumstances of living.
Use 96 minutes (one minute of sixteen hours of every day until next Sunday)of this week to become more aware than ever of the presence of God.
Respond to the presence of God rather than the messy parts of the day.
Participate with the work of God in every part of the day.
Refuse to activate your old ways and habits of living.
Remember nothing is impossible with God. Nothing.
--

Learning to KickStart the day taking captive every thought in alignment with Logos,

Kerrie

Captive Thinking

They told me how they thought their friends had rejected them.  A few days afterwards, they received news about their friends.  What they thought had been rejection was  actually a reaction to the news that some of their family had been in a devastating accident.

The way we think changes how we respond to life.

Intentionally working on our thought life is imperative to live a healthy and whole life. We are different people when we learn to think as Christ would think.  Our relationship with God shifts, when we realign our thoughts: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

In the Greek translation, to take captive every thought is written as a present tense ongoing action. In other words, in this moment . . .right now . . .  we are to take the thought captive . . . . make it obedient to Christ . . . . constantly . . .  without stopping.
How is that possible?

When we ask Christ into our life, we receive a new way of thinking. Rather than thinking through the power of our own logic we are invited to think through the presence and power of Logos. We are limited when our thoughts are constrained to our own logic and empowered to think beyond our limitations when we take every thought captive to Christ.
John 1:1 introduces Christ as the divine Logos, translated as Reason or Logic: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The thing is . .. there are thoughts such as doubt, worry, and fear which become an obstacle to take each thought captive.  It happened after the people had watched the Red Sea open up, walked on a dry path bordered with walls of water, and turned around to see their persecutors destroyed.  Their Red Sea experience must have been etched into their minds forever; however, after being thirsty for three days they responded through their own logic rather than to God:   There the LORD issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. He said, "If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you"  (Exodus 15: 25-26).

The essentials to responding to life were delineated:
Listen carefully to God.
Do what is right in God's eyes.
Pay attention to the Word of God.
These three essentials are essential to living life through the presence and power of the Spirit. So, rather than responding to a circumstance through our own logic,  we respond to it through the Logos . .. rather than our response being dictated by what we see . . . it is through what God says.  (See Hebrews 11 for more.)

Take captive every thought in this moment of time.
Renew your mind through listening to God, doing what is right in God's eyes, and paying attention to the Word of God.
Think in alignment (obedience) and  power of Logos.

Learning to KickStart the day taking captive every thought in alignment with Logos,

Kerrie

(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)

The Space Between

When God does something big . . . I am referring to Red Sea big . . . how is it that we could possibly walk away unchanged?  The thing is . . . we become so immersed with our personal life that we fail to believe God  . . . . even though we know He provided a way through our Red Sea crisis in the past. 

Read the book of Exodus.  It is clear that the people were  focused on their circumstances rather than on the presence of God:   Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?" Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. (Exodus 15: 22-25, TNIV)

The people faced another "Red Sea" crisis.  They needed water. 

Could it be that the people were unchanged by the Red Sea miracle?   God opened the Red Sea and provided a dry path with the water pushed back; however, their response to the next Red Sea crisis had not changed.  How could they have missed that God would provide everything they needed to conquer the obstacles?

In reality, the story could be about you and me. 

Just because we don't know what to do in a situation does not mean that we are at a dead end. 

What can we do to respond with belief that God is present . . . good . . . and working on our behalf to make a way through the Red Seas of our life?
One thing that is imperative is to renew the mind.  Reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God renews the mind, enabling us to respond to God rather then to a circumstance.  

So.  Let the Word anchor into the mind such as Jesus' promise in Matthew 19:26: Jesus looked at them and said, "With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  (Matthew 19:26, TNIV).

The mind is renewed as we move from thinking that something is impossible to the truth that with God all things are possible.  Our perception changes.  We are able to see there are solutions, regardless if we can't see at the moment that God  will provide a way through every obstacle.

I don't know about you, but I am changed by Matthew 19: 26; however, there is a space between knowing the promise and experiencing its fulfillment. It is in the space that we learn to trust, believing God.

God will open the Red Seas of our life.

Renew your mind.
Respond to your Red Sea through believing God..
Trust.
Believe God will provide a dry path in the Red Sea.

Learning to KickStart the day trusting God between the space of knowing the promise and experiencing its fulfillment,
Kerrie
(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)

ONE

One.  It is a powerful word.  One choice. One way.  One person.
One fights their way through an exhausting journey of life, while the other surrenders their life to Christ.
One perceives that nothing is working.
One believes that with God nothing is impossible.
One is focused on problems.
One is focused on God-solutions.
One blames.
One forgives through the power of Christ.

One will experience pressure in difficulties.
One will experience peace in Christ.
One will say, "Nothing is good."
One will say, "All is well."

The thing is . . . God has made a way . . .  for each one of us to take this journey called life.  The contrast of whether or not we choose to go God's way is written in the book of Exodus:  

For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the Israelites walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea (Exodus 15: 19) 

The Israelites chose to go God's way and lived.  Pharaoh and his men refused to go God's way; it was their choice that led to their death.  Going God's way is not just a one-time decision but a daily choice that leads to a life well-lived:
Christ is the One who is theWay to living a God-directed daily life:

 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. (John 14:6, NCV)

Christ is the One that changes the way we live:

It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. (Ephesians 1:1-14, The Message)

Christ is the One who goes before you and I to make a way:

I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight . . . (Isaiah 45:2, NKJV)

 Learning to KickStart the day with the One who is the Way,
Kerrie
(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)

Waiting

Life is unpredictable. Even so, we can face whatever comes our way, if, we wait on God. Isaiah 40:31 has helped me to understand that waiting on the Lord is the key to managing the things that we must face.
But those who wait for the Lord
[who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
shall change and renew their strength and power;
they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God]
as eagles [mount up to the sun];
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
(Isaiah 40:31, AMP).

We open ourselves up to the renewal of strength when we wait on God.  When we are weak, God will make us strong.  

How do we wait on God?   One thing I do know is that when we fail to take the time  to wait on God, which includes meditating on His Word and praying,  we become weak and less discerning of what to do and where to go. An important concept of waiting is to open God's word . . . mull it over . . . and anchor ourselves to it.  Waiting on God requires us to intentionally be in continual prayer, surrendering our control, trusting God with the unknown of life.  As we surrender, we stop trying to manage life on our own.

Surrendering everything to God, allows us to see that God will make something good out of everything we face, which  is exactly what happened to the people of God in the story of Exodus.  They faced an impossible situation without power, position, or the resources to take control of their destiny.  In their weakness, God revealed His strength, rescuing them. 

 Many others became afraid of the people of God because of the power demonstrated in their lives:

 When people heard, they were scared;
      Philistines writhed and trembled;
   Yes, even the head men in Edom were shaken,
      and the big bosses in Moab.
   Everybody in Canaan
      panicked and fell faint.
   Dread and terror
      sent them reeling.
   Before your brandished right arm
      they were struck dumb like a stone,
   Until your people crossed over and entered, O God,
      until the people you made crossed over and entered.
   You brought them and planted them
      on the mountain of your heritage,
   The place where you live,
      the place you made,
   Your sanctuary, Master,
      that you established with your own hands.
   Let God rule
      forever, for eternity! (Exodus 15: 14-18, The Message)

The people of God were not rescued overnight.  They waited on God.  And, you and I both know that waiting is stinkin' hard; however, waiting is clearly a part of living the best life possible.

There is a point in the waiting process that the choice to continue to believe that God is in control must be made. The waiting process reveals if we actually believe God. When the waiting is finally over . . . we will not only see  the incredible power of God in the present . . . but we can look back and see His presence when life seemed impossible. 
Wait on God.
Experience the power of God today.
Learning to KickStart the day waiting on God,
Kerrie
(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)