Friday, August 21, 2015

Dynamic World

John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

I live in a DYNAMIC WORLD. Just when I think I have all my "ducks lined up" a wind comes and knocks one down.

Change comes for many reasons and I may not always embrace it.

Like a wind that comes unexpectedly, so is life and all its adjustments.

Every time one or two or even three of my "ducks" get knocked down I ask the question, "why?"  Sometimes change is for my good; sometimes change is a rebuke.

In the Bible we see Yahweh, our God bringing change so quickly, it's like a wind; actually it's the Spirit of God moving for His divine purposes.

In
Genesis 8:1 we literally see the wind dispatched to bring Noah to dry land. Man's sin had provoked the Lord and he wiped out everything that had life from the earth except for Noah and those on the Ark.Exodus 10:13 tells us how God called the wind from the east to bring a plague of locust on Egypt. 

Wind an instrument of God to bring conviction, judgment or blessing; his very Spirit changing hearts and sometimes landscape.
Exodus 10:19 reads, that Pharaoh acknowledged that he had sinned against God and then the Lord sent a strong west wind and carried the locust away.

The Israelites escaped when the Lord sent a strong east wind that parted the Red sea allowing Israel to escape and their pursuers to be overtaken by the water
Exodus 14:21-22 .

Metaphorically when we see "wind" in the Old Testament, often judgment is seen coming from the east and deliverance or relief from the west.*

He feeds his people in the desert
Numbers 11 when they grumbled against Moses, really their grumbling was against their Delivering God. 

In the New Testament Jesus describes Salvation coming like a wind. Yahweh uses wind for his bidding in the Salvation call. In the Book of John he speaks to Nicodemus and speaks of being born of the Spirit.

God will do anything to get out attention with his great love; he wants us!

Every time change arrives like an unforeseen wind; life making a turn that I am may not ready for, it does not mean I have sinned against God or somehow missed the mark. Sometimes the Lord needs to remind me that I am His and perhaps it's as simple as wanting to get my attention so we can talk. 


Possibly I have neglected to spend time with God in prayer. If somehow I have become self-reliant, a very dangerous place to be; he may have to send a gentle breeze knocking down my "perfectly" duck alignment so he can get my gaze back on Him.

In a dynamic world, I am lead by a Dynamic God. He does not operate in a "cloning" fashion. He is Unique and works all things out for my best. His helicopter view of my life allows Him to see the end from the beginning.

I must stay dependent on Him. 

Ducks knocked down; no longer in control, we may ask "why?"

If I have sinned, I best repent and get right with the Lord. 

We all need adjustments.


Many years ago he knocked down every "duck" I had. I was captivated by his love and the sweet wind of the Spirit came and my life was never the same; born again by the Spirit of God!

It's possible He will find you a righteous man or women who seeks him daily (read
Job).  He may allow what seems unfair to occur, but at the end it brings glory to God.

So how many ducks are standing today? Perhaps we need a chat with our Father!

*Reference: Old Testament Theology of the Spirit of God by Wilf Hilderbrandt

God bless you!~Liz
www.lizrod.com

Thursday, August 6, 2015

One Score | 20 Years ago...

...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives.  After 20 years of service my husband has said, "thank you" and moved on.  The Scriptures says, "in everything give thanks" and that's what I will do today. 

I thank God for using my husband's current employer to make provision for my family.  God provided for us through this family-owned company to put food on our table, clothes on our back and shelter over our heads. Even a long-time dream I had came to fruition as we traveled to Alaska.

We've grown as individuals and as a family.  We've matured in the Lord and seen other lives transformed as well.  My mother-in-law was taken from this earth quickly without warning; a painful reality that this life is short.  I saw Salvation visit my father-in-law Avelino and also my mom one day before the Lord called her home.  

Hospital visits to share the Good News resulted in lives changed as I witnessed my uncle's salvation and my other uncle's heart encouraged as the Lord called him. Most recently my cousin Hector surrendered his life to Jesus after yet another bedside outpouring of the Spirit of God.  My brother Moses bowing his knee to the Lord behind bars--God is merciful!

Why go back and remember because it testifies of where we are today.  I rejoice in all that the Lord has done!  

This week brings change.   Sunday is my husband's birthday.  Monday marks four years from the last day I saw my mom on earth.  It's a week with a lot of emotion.

In everything give thanks!

A lot happens in a score (20 years).  

My now adult son was only eleven years child.  My husband and I have celebrated over three decades of marriage.

We endured the Blizzard of 2015, Hurricane Sandy  in 2012 and the Blackout of 2003.

Blizzards, hurricanes and blackouts--some are weather related and yet there is another type of these that we experience in our lives.

In everything give thanks!

But this  morning when I awoke I was reminded that God is over ALL.  With a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude, I say I rejoice today; thank you for my breath this morning.  Thank you for the family you have placed me in.  Thank you for every encounter and heartache.  Thank you for never leaving me. Thank you for the new adventure; we are in your hands--no other place I rather be!

Happy birthday to my husband, Papo! 

I am filled with JOY--not joy like the world promotes but that which comes from the LORD--eternal JOY.

God bless you!~Liz
www.lizrod.com

CHANGE, WELCOME IT!

 Acts 9:32-34 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas,...