I had a wonderful answer to prayer this morning. God answered my prayer from a specific challenge I had been fighting for in a calm, professional way and the many channels I had to go through, since March 10th, this year. I was patient and God came through for me in a huge way.
This was a very important financial issue for me, regarding a purchase which I returned, yet the seller was refusing to give me my refund. Today, I finally had the victory, and I'm thankful that God directed my steps all the way, so I could get this refund. I wasn't going to back down. I knew I was in the right. And I must confess, it took the stubbornness of Balaam's donkey to get the job done. Numbers 22:28
Donkey: "I was trying to save your bacon, you bumbling idiot!" 😂
Philippians 4:19 — "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." And He proved it.
This brought me to the place of reflection in my life that taught me long ago, that when I lean in closer to Jesus, he leans in closer to me. Fellowship with Jesus is not a one-way street. I can't find that closeness my spirit needs with the Lord, if I draw close to him only sometimes, then ignore him other times. That's not the way it works.
Sometimes we just pick and choose the time we want to fit him in our busy schedule. The times we "feel" like it. That's not fellowship. That's not love. That's indifference.
That's not even companionship. When I make time for him, he makes even more time for me, and that's the way a love relationship should work. Not, 'gosh, I'm so busy today, Lord, maybe I can fit you in this evening before I go to bed.' Satan loves that type complacency, because he knows full well that when you read your Bible that late at night, your mind is not as sharp as it was earlier, and you're less apt to receive what the Lord would have loved to share with you that day.
Well by that time, we're so tired and sleepy, we can't even concentrate on prayer or reading the Bible. That's piecemealing our time with the Lord. Then we wonder why our prayers are not answered. How well does he know you? How often do you open your Bible and really think about what you have read, instead of just reading it to get through it so you can claim you did your "duty to the Lord" that day? Personally, I don't believe God hears those kind of prayers. They're not from the heart when your half-asleep.
Piecemealing our time with the Lord, happens when we give God only the rushed leftover fragments of our day, instead of quality time. Overcoming this fragmented approach, requires actively restructuring our schedule to make focused time with Him our non-negotiable priority.
"For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7
At its core, it means your deep, inward thoughts, core beliefs, and true motivations, shape your character, and ultimately define who you become.
A healthy body and spirit is essential to our survival. And Jesus' Word supplies us from the top of our head all the way down to our toes! It tells us what we need to know, in order to have a positive, happy and healthy life, addressing both our physical and spiritual side. Oh, how I love this bible passage:
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105 [/c] Representing immediate guidance needed for the very next step you take.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus could erase my sins, and I'm so thankful for the day I decided to choose Jesus as my Lord and Savior in 1973, and invited him into my heart and life to stay. That's one thing I know I did right in my life and I've never regretted it for a second. He has been the solid Rock, on which I stand. The best friend and companion I've ever had in my life. Trustworthy as far as the East is to the West...His love never ending, nor abandoning me. He showed me what true love looks like and what it is, when I read about His character through His precious Word.
I know that when I purposely draw closer to the Lord, he draws even closer to me, and that means so much more to me than any physical food could ever mean. There's just no substitute for that type fellowship. His truths satisfy both my body and my spirit. I can't beat that "peace that passes all understanding" that I find only in the Lord, as I share my quiet time with him.
I have learned so, so much from Him that way, and I wouldn't trade that for all the gold in the world. God's Word is a plethora of wealth to my spirit and soul. Nothing can replace or imitate that. Everything else is just a paper rose. Full of false hope and expectation. As dry as Ezekiel's bones!
The lesson from Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37) is that God can bring life and hope to even the most hopeless, dead situations. It teaches that when we face circumstances beyond human repair, we should trust in God's restorative power rather than our own limited strength.
When I share the love I have for the Lord while fellowshipping with Him, He reciprocates that love a million times over. I don't even miss food when I'm fellowshipping with the Lord. His love spills over me like the River of Life He is, bringing peace, joy, and completeness that I can only experience through Him...and that only He can fill in my life.
THIS is how I deal with hopelessness, despair, depression, or anxiety, when Satan comes knocking at my heart's door. My weapon of choice against him is God's holy word, which says resist the devil and he will flee from you. And the Bible is our Sword of Truth against him. He can't pass that powerful, protective threshold of Jesus' blood, who paid for my sins. Because when Jesus saved my soul, His precious blood paid for and obliterated the condemnation that sin tried to hold over me. The Bible says that when Jesus forgives our sins, He remembers them no more. Hebrews 8:12
It was Jesus, who paid for the condemnation that sin placed on my shoulders and tried to bring me down, but praise be and thanks to the One who set me completely free and broke that sin curse on me -- my precious Jesus, and now I am free! And those that the Lord has freed, are free indeed!
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36
This verse confirms the ultimate spiritual liberation from the bondage, penalty, and guilt of sin.
John 3:17 says: "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him".
This verse shifts the focus from judgment to redemption, highlighting the loving and merciful nature of God's mission.
Jesus wants to share with us, his Bread of Life; sometimes we only offer him our crumbs. That's why God's Word is called the "Bread of Life." It literally brings life to our spirit.
John 6:35 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible, where Jesus declares: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
If we ignore/neglect attending to that part of ourselves that is spiritual, our spirit grows weak and as empty as our bellies do, when we don't take time to eat and nourish it. We cannot afford to neglect either one, or we will die both physically and spiritually. Our spirit will dry up, like a valley of dry bones,
I am so grateful that as we lean in to Jesus and His saving grace, He leans in even closer.
This beautiful and timeless reflection, echoes the promise found in James 4:8. It is an invitation into an active, two-way relationship where you take the first step toward God, and He faithfully responds by making His presence known to you.
"Come near to God and he will come near to you."
It is a profound feeling to experience that spiritual reciprocity, when you intentionally seek a deeper connection with God, It transforms your life, your perspective, and makes you more aware of His presence and peace, in your everyday life.
What specific way or practice, like prayer, meditation, or reading, have you found most helpful in drawing closer to Him?
