A Good, Good Father

Mildred Bean, an amazing Bible teacher and dear friend grew up in the Bayou Country of Louisiana. Recently she called and, tongue in cheek, told me she was developing some new teachings called Bayou Bible School, because she realized that some of her foundational lessons of life came from the Bayous of Louisiana. I have asked her if I could blog some of her tales.

 

 

Our Last Bayou Bible School Lesson: The Last Deer Hunt

15 years ago on a warm sunny afternoon, Dad asked me if I wanted to go deer hunting. Although not his ‘little Milly, the hunter’ any more, I knew I was still ‘his girl’ and sensed a special moment in the making. As a creature of comfort, hunting on cold days is not my thing, but I made a mad dash to get a hunting license, grabbed my gear and climbed into his jeep heading to the hunting camp.

Hunting has certainly changed over the years. He dropped me off at a high, enclosed deer stand, quite different from the old stump that was my original stand. Then he handed me his rifle and drove away as I climbed into the stand. Enjoying the time alone with my Heavenly Father in His amazing creation I worshipped, I listened and I watched. An opportunity to kill a buck did not seem to be my priority at this point, I was basking in the presence of the Lord of Creation.

Bayou Sauvage NWR Mammals

As the daylight was just beginning to wane, several graceful doe silently eased out into the clearing. Quietly I watched as the buck sauntered regally out of the brush. Remembering the training learned from my dad, I put the scope on the deer and squeezed the trigger. Deer scattered every direction! Not seeing the buck fall, I simply waited patiently in the stand for my dad. I knew he would come quickly. And he did. Scouring the brush for a trail, Dad stepped out of sight into a nearby thicket. Suddenly I heard whooping and hollering and laughing. My dad had found the buck and was much more excited than even I was. Just hearing him laugh and seeing the pleasure on his face because of my accomplishment was much more rewarding to my heart than even the thrill of bringing home the prize.

Later, I reflected on our Heavenly Father and how He takes great pleasure in our success. He is delighted in our obedience and rejoices over our achievements. He’s a good, good Father.

Luke 10 indicates that Jesus jumped for joy when the disciples returned with their amazing testimonies. And in Zephaniah the Amplified version says, “The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior who saves! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in silent satisfaction, and in His love He will be silent and make no mention of past sins, or even recall them; He will exult over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 AMP

So today, know that your heavenly Father also rejoices over you. Just as my dad put me in the best stand in the best location for the best opportunity for success at deer hunting, so your Heavenly Father God is setting up circumstances in your life for your success. And always remember, He is for you, not against you. He knows the plans he has for you, plans to give you a hope and a destiny. As the song says, He’s a good, good Father.

Listen and enjoy!

God’s Amazing Clock – The Heavens!

From Hubble Images

Genesis 1, Day four, God’s clock was set in motion when He set the sun, moon and stars in place. They are moving, turning like a clock. The days, the months, the seasons. Time in motion. Tick, tick, tick.

Tick, tick, tick, Noah was born.

Tick, tick, tick, Abraham was born.

Tick, tick, tick Moses was born.

All right on schedule, all right on time, His time.

When Moses was on Mt. Sinai, he was given a pattern of the Tabernacle on earth just like it is in Heaven. He was also shown God’s Feasts, how they should be celebrated in the earth. Let’s be clear here, these were not Hebrew Feasts, they were God’s Feasts, pictures of His character, His goodness and also pictures of His son, Yeshua Jesus, and the way He would redeem this fallen world. Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Yom Kippur and Sukkoth.

Tick, tick, tick. The Torah was given and the Levites set in motion a schedule of reading Torah. This schedule eventually dictated where each person sat in the assembly and when they would read the Torah selection according to their birth, bar Mitzvah.

Tick, tick, tick Isaiah was born and wrote prophecy about the coming Messiah.

Tick, tick, tick. The Levites added the writing of the prophets to the reading of Torah.

Hubble images

Tick, tick, tick. A star appears in the sky. Remember this was all set in motion on the fourth day of Creation, 4000 years before. God’s amazing clock.

Tick, tick, tick. “And it came to pass in those days…” Caesar was right on time with his census.

Tick, tick tick. Yeshua, Jesus was born

Tick, tick, tick. Two years later the Magi bring Gold.

Tick, tick, tick. 18 hours after the gold came, Joseph is told to go to Egypt and now he had traveling provision.

All right on schedule.

Tick, tick, tick. Thirty years pass. Yeshua, Jesus had just returned from His baptism and temptation from Satan. It was His time to read and according to the schedule set centuries before, Isaiah was the scripture for that particular day. They handed him the scroll and He read:

 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,  Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor;  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”  ²⁰Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4: 19-21 NKJV)

Coincidence? No. God’s amazing time clock set in motion on the Fourth day!

Right time! Right place! Right person! Right message.

Psalm 139 says God knew YOU before you were born, He knows your times and seasons. They too, were set in motion on the fourth day. Whether or not your recognize it, your times were set by a God who loves you, watches you and has a destiny designed just for you. He has great things for you and for you to accomplish. Your destiny is to walk in His amazing time for your life. Acts 16:27 “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live!” (NIV)

He knows you, He named you, He has a plan and a destiny for you!

One day as I was meditating on Genesis 1, I ask God, “What were you thinking?” I heard an old Willie Nelson song, “You were always on my mind. You were always on my mind.” And you still are.

nikkyttmessianic PraiseandWorship          FEAST OF TRUMPETS 

We have entered God’s time and season of the Fall Feasts. The next ten days is the Feast of Trumpets, the ten days of Awe. Every day for the next ten days we are to meditate on the Greatness of our God and His wondrous works. His majestic heavens, His awesome purposes and His indescribable miracles in our own lives.

Remember, You are His masterpiece! And you are included in His perfect time, His Amazing universal clock!

Hubble images, Andromeda

The moon is round

(Moon Picture from NASA files)

Yesterday, as BJ and I came out of the doctor’s office it was early evening. The sky was clear and the moon was bright . There was only one star shining intense enough to be seen beside the brilliance of the moon. It was a fingernail moon, just a sliver left before the full moon shows up in our night sky later this week. We both looked at each other and smiled. He said to me, “The moon is round.”

He had just gotten the last cast off his arm (90% healed) and his right hand was pronounced functional. The ribs and sternum have a ways to go yet, but The Moon is Round!

It’s been seven weeks since his accident. Five days in ICU, four weeks at home, a miraculous two weeks in Israel and now one week at home again. Three cast changes, sleeping in a recliner the first four weeks, a long plane ride across the ocean and now we are nearing the end of a long season of recovery. The moon IS round.

Prayers from around the world and across this nation have supported us and brought amazing miracles along the way. While in ICU, because of the chest injuries, his blood oxygen would not stay up to 89% (99% is normal). It kept dropping down to 84-85%, which would warrant a quick visit from the nurse to say “Breathe deeply, Mr. Young!” Our friend, James Nesbit called the day he seemed to be having more problems with this. As we explained the situation, he immediately asked his network to speak “Ruach” breath to BJ’s lungs. Within an hour his oxygen level came up to 89% and really never went lower again. It was at a steady 91% the day we left the hospital. A miracle? I think so. The moon is Round!

Over the past seven weeks, as I’ve watched my strong spouse rise up and exceed expectations of healing, I’ve been so pleased and proud of him. On the other hand, I found I was a little lost. I felt I could not exhale. It seemed anxiety was my rule of the day. Would we still be able to go to Israel, a trip that had been in the planning stage since January? If so How? Just getting meals and baths and laundry was overwhelming and to add an international trip was just too much. Enter the body of Christ! Meals arrived from precious friends. Children came and helped immensely. Others prayed. Our friend Marty came at 7 AM the day before we left and took BJ to two doctor’s appointments, completely packed his bags for Israel, then came back to help load our suit cases! Yes! The Lord took care of every detail. The moon is truly round!

Yet, because I could not ‘get a grip’ I was having symptoms of anxiety overload and needed a little medical help. Enter God’s awesome servant, Debbie, a nurse practitioner who saw what I needed both physically and spiritually. She gave me two prescriptions to get me through Israel, but then she prayed for me! As I wept in her arms, I felt the presence and the power of the Lord swoop in and calm my anxious soul. That did more than the medication. I walked out of that office knowing in my spirit that Yes! We could go to Israel. And Yes! The moon is round.

And so we did. But that is for a later blog.

What is this “The moon is round” business? Let me recommend a book that has spoken to my spirit and soul in deep ways that I can hardly comprehend during this crisis. The day before BJ’s accident I was on the leadership team of The Ruach Journey retreat in Alabama. My friend, Sylvia Gunter, had just published her latest book and placed one of the first copies in my hand. I knew this would be a good book, one that would minister deeply into my soul, but I had no idea this would be a lifeline for me. During the following weeks, I tried to read my bible, my devotions, but nothing seemed to stick. As I read, my heart would hear, but would quickly release what I had just read. “I will trust in the Lord with my whole heart and lean not on my own understanding” became my motto, my only link with the Lord throughout the days.

Last week, after returning home, I finally just sat down and randomly opened Sylvia’s book. The chapter, “The moon is round” caught my eye. So simple, yet so profound. And I began to cry. As the tears rolled, I mentally walked again through the past seven weeks. Yes, my life had been turned upside down with one phone call. Yes, I had seen God’s hand at every turn. Yet, why had I allowed the stress and anxiety to get such a grip in my soul and why could I not just let go and trust my Father’s hand?

The moon is round. When we can only see a fingernail size, or half moon, the moon is still full and round! It is still complete and whole, just like our Father’s love for us. It really never changes nor diminishes. Even when the clouds hide it, the moon is still round.

God met us at every turn. Even when I didn’t realize it, HE WAS STILL THERE! In all of His fullness, He was there. In all of His love, He was there. In all of His completeness, He was there. I was really never in danger of being dropped for one minute. He was there, holding me even when I could not see it, feel it or even believe it. He was there.

Just like the moon. Ever faithful. Ever round. Never changing, even though my perspective is skewed, darkened by clouds, or overshadowed by other objects, the moon is still round.

Prayer: Thank you Father, that your love never diminishes, never fails, never gives up on us. Lord, thank you that the moon is always still round. And even when I can’t see you, you are there: loving, supporting, caring, protecting, providing.

click on the image to order

 

You may find Sylvia’s new book Safe in the Father’s Heart at https://thefathersbusiness.com. I highly recommend it!

Thank you Sylvia, for sharing your story with the world. We needed it!