Prayer Needs 9/26/08 cont.

From our precious sister Amrita in India:
"The churches of Allahabad have recieved an attack threat for this Sunday. Uphold us in prayer."


And from Trish:
"My brother Bobby was transferred to Nashville yesterday and will undergo surgery sometime today." (Friday, Sept. 26, 2008)

Prayer Needs 9/26/08

Recently we came to know of an ex-Christian Muslim lady. Her maid does some work for us. Mrs Noori knows our family very well. Some of my relatives taught her in school.

She grew up in a traditional Christian home.Her other siblings married non-Christians and she married a wealthy Muslim and converted to Islam. She is a widow and before dying her husband made her promise that she would raise their children according to the Muslim faith. He even took her to Mecca on a holy pilgrimage.

We asked the maid to find out her Christian name, but she does not want to disclose it. Her college going son does not want her to reveal to anyone that she is from a Christian background.
She told her maid that she sometimes goes to a church in the suburbs of our town.Her daughter married a Christian pilot and lives in Goa. The son is very displeased with that. Mrs Noori goes to Goa to celebrate Christmas with her daughter.

The maid told us that Mrs Noori has converted a spare bedroom into a Christian prayer room. She has a cross on the wall, maybe some Catholic pictures (the maid is uneducated, so she can 't describe it well) and a Bible. She cleans the room and locks it.

Sept was the holy month of Ramadan for the Muslims in which they fast and pray and indulge in good works. Mrs Noori does not fast but she sends food to the Mosque ,her Muslim friends and maid.

Her daughter and son have come to celebrate Eid (Oct 2nd) with her. Tomorrow is the last Friday of the fasting month so she is going to have a special feast in the evening for her family, friends and give food to the mosque and poor people.

It breaks our hearts to see that this woman who must have gone to church in her growing up years has rejected Christianity and has wholeheartedly embraced Islam, although she is trying to pacify her conscience by maintaining a Christian prayer room in her house.

I sent her Christian literature through the maid. She accepted it and said that she would read it after Ramadan and Eid We are praying that she will do that and God 's Word may touch her heart.

Pray with us for Mrs Noori.
Love, Amrita

I'm thinking we need an area to post prayer requests and I'm thinking we need to take these needs seriously and seriously pray about each one. How many times have I glossed over a written need, said a hasty "Lord bless this person and meet their needs. Amen" and gone on with the day? Too many to count to be honest with you. I want that to stop. I want to change. I want to be a person who honest-to-goodness prays when she's asked to ... who prays when there's a need ... who hears the Lord's promptings and prays ... who takes the time it takes to pray and then prays.

I won't beat myself up too badly, for I have taken time to listen to our Father as He directs my prayers and I've prayed accordingly. But not nearly as often as I should have. That, my friends, is changing. If anyone wants to join me, wonderful. Let me know. If there are prayer needs, let me know and I'll post them on a special section on my blog and Lord willing, one day, I'll also post the answers God gives. For now, I'll set that area up and wait to see what happens when God's people pray.

Thanks to a friend from Kentucky, here is the web address to check out the Obama / Biden issue for yourself:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/vpchange.asp

I was sent this via email earlier this evening.....

"This is an interesting read - I looked on snopes.com and it has it but is not able to verify it. We cannot prove anything yet, but if this comes true, then you will know it was planned all along. However, we should get on our knees and intercede for this nation. Our future is at stake.

This was first sent as an email on Thursday, September 18, 2008, 8:37 AM

Have you heard anything about this?"

"On or about October 5th, Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary. This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2. There have been talks all weekend about how to proceed with this info. generally, the feeling is that we should all go ahead and get it out there to as many blog sites and personal email lists as is possible. I have already seen a few short blurbs about this the "health problem" cited in those articles was aneurysm. probably many of you have heard the same rumblings. however, at this point, with this inside info from the DNC, it looks like this Obama strategy will be a go. therefore, it seems that the best strategy is to get out in front of this Obama maneuver, spell it out in detail, and thereby expose it for the grand manipulation that it is. So, let's start mixing this one up and cut the Obama-ites off at the pass - send this info out to as many people as you can - post about it on websites and blogs - etc."

From the rising of the sun to its setting

The Name of the Lord is to be praised

Psalm 113:3

This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them,

because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

I John 4:4

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary

And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west,

From the north and from the south.

Psalm 107:1-3

"God designs all the afflictions of the Godly for the increase of their everlasting joy."

-Jonathan Edwards-

Ever walked across one of these bridges? As a child, visiting family in Kentucky, I walked across a few from time to time. And most all of them scared me. I didn't know if the bridge was strong enough to hold me and a bunch of my cousins all at the same time. I didn't know what was in the water underneath either and that was a concern. What if we fell in and there were snakes down there? I was accosted, or so it seemed, with all sorts of "what ifs". Sometimes they stopped me from fully enjoying the day, but most of the time, I followed my country cousins, held my breath, and forged ahead on one of our day-long journeys into the hillsides of beautiful Kentucky. I guess I trusted my cousins' knowledge of the land more than I trusted the bridges and the water underneath.

I find much the same going on in my life right now ... only this time I'm trusting the One who created me and the hills and the water. And even though I have 'what-ifs' from time to time, and even though I find myself questioning some things, I know the One who leads me will never lead me astray. I am learning that healing won't happen for all God's people while we walk this earth ... that's just how it is. As Deb & Amrita have pointed out in their comments to my last post, there are reasons for not being healed as we'd like to be, and God is Sovereign and does whatever pleases Him. It's up to me to respect Him for who He is ... to love Him regardless of what goes on with my physical health ... to cherish Him for saving my soul and preparing me for eternity with Him ... to take delight in Him simply because HE IS. He is infinitely wiser than all wise men who've ever lived. He knows the path that I take. He knows my questions and my concerns and my pain and He can be trusted with all of it. He can be trusted because He is Trustworthy. And Kind. And Good. And Merciful. And Mighty. And Dependable. And Awesome. And Lovely. And Peaceable. And so much, much more.

In listening to a teaching CD last night, Pastor John Piper made a comment to this effect: "If Christians would learn to truly delight themselves in the Lord their God, oh, the changes that would bring to this world!" We've been taught that repentance precedes revival and yet Pastor John says that learning to delight in God is the key to revival. Think about that. I think I understand what he meant ... when you delight in someone you desire to please them in any and every way you can ... sin and sinfulness wouldn't enter the picture, would it? Oh that God will open our eyes to see and our ears to hear what His Spirit is saying to the church!

My post on Thursday was born out of pain and searching for truth. I thank Deb & Amrita for writing what they did, their words helped me understand what deep inside I already knew. I have been healed in every way that matters for eternity ... my sin-sick soul has been washed clean by the blood of Christ .. I was dead in trespasses and sin and He picked me up and washed me clean and sat me on the road to heaven and eternity with Him and His people. He walks with me and He's closer than the next breath I take, especially when it's hard to take that next breath. I am to be thankful for the health I have and trust that truly "His grace is sufficient".

I leave you with this truth ... "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" and I ask this question ... what truly satisfies you?

It is Tuesday evening and I've come upstairs to get ready for bed. Thought I'd catch up on all your posts & let you know about me. I was doing so much better last week and Thursday afternoon I hit a wall, or so it seemed. I developed severe pain in the upper part of my spine ... that traveled to the back of my head and I had nausea on top of all that. After my daughter-in-law (nurse) came & talked with me I decided it was best to let my Fred take me to E.R. I spent about 7 hours there & was then transported to the hospital for an overnight stay & more tests the next morning. All testing came back normal ... by all I mean 2 CT scans; chest ex-ray; EKG; blood work & an IV (not fun cause I have pitiful veins) and a lumbar puncture. The next day I had an Echo cardiogram & a medically induced stress test. The final conclusion: Probably a migraine brought on by the disc problems I have in my neck. I came home Friday afternoon, utterly exhausted and hurting, but way better than when I went into the E.R. I went to my regular Dr. yesterday afternoon & she gave me new medications to try. Thankfully I feel better tonight than I have since last Thursday about 1:00pm.

Now, after saying all that, I have a question for you: What about the ministers who teach that God wants us well? I know of one in particular who has a series on this right now. I have at times struggled with the statement that we're supposed to always be well, never sick ... and my first question to myself is: If He wants us well, why aren't we? What am I doing to NOT be well? Am I out of His will because I have the health issues I do? Don't I have enough faith to believe for complete healing? Don't I trust Him enough? Is there something I'm supposed to be doing that I'm not doing? Is He angry or upset with me because .....?

Do you understand what I'm trying to say? If we're supposed to be well all the time, why are so many good, Christian people dealing with serious health issues? I have a friend who contacted polio as a child .. today she uses leg braces & crutches but praises the Lord in spite of them. Then there's my blogging friend Deena ... I know she loves the Lord but she's dealing with cancer. And little Ashley ... why has she experienced such traumatic health issues at such a young age? Then I think of Zach, the little boy in my class who has Autism; and Sarah, the little girl who is a Downs' child ... what about them? I could go on and on with examples.

I could sincerely use your input on this ... as I thought about it earlier today these words came to me ..."My grace is sufficient" ... that's all I heard in my spirit ... "My grace is sufficient". Sufficient to see me through whatever I'm dealing with at the moment? Of course. But how far do we take that verse? For me, right now, I take it to mean His grace will be all I need to get me through this time of illness. His grace is enough for tonight and tomorrow and all the tomorrows I have this side of heaven ... then it will be enough to take me there when it's my time to go.

One thing before I close this tonight. While the echo cardiogram & stress test were being done, 3 dear ladies were in the room with me. A nurse, the technician and a lady who recorded my heart rate ... two for sure were Christians ... all three were specially kind and gentle ... and when the pictures of my heart showed up on the screen of that machine they all said "Oh you should see these pictures! You have a lovely heart..." Before I left the room, the technician showed me those pictures and I was reminded that it's God's grace allowing it to beat and if there's any loveliness at all, it comes from Him.

While I've not seen echo cardiograms of any of you, I know for a fact you all have lovely hearts too. Thank you for reading. I cherish each of you.

Good night and may God bless.

I am recovering, thanks be to the good Lord. I was vertical more than horizontal today and that's when I know for certain I'm mending. A new friend from church called yesterday to check on me and said "You seem to get sick so quickly" ... she has no idea, no one does unless they deal with on-going lung problems, just how quickly you can become gravely ill. I found myself seriously dealing with thoughts of death the past few days ... we have no promise of tomorrow, or the next hour for that matter. The older I get the more I realize how close I am to leaving here. I don't mean to sound morose, but perhaps it's good to have these thoughts from time to time. To remember we are mortal beings who have an immortal spirit and that when we do leave here, IF we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, we will go Home, to die no more.

I must admit I'm not quite ready to go yet. Things I'd like to do. People to love and care for.

Thank you for praying for me. I've again read all your posts and made sure you're all alright too.

My love to each of you.