Breakfast For Your Soul

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [Hebrews 11:1]

My pastor often tells a story, about his two daughters when they were little.  He could tell them before Sunday morning service, that he was going to take them to 7-Eleven for Slurpee’s after church.  Angel was about 4, Genesis was about 2 or 3.  They would begin to dance and sing, “We’re going to the Slurpee store!.. We’re going get Slurpee’s!! “.  Angel would come up to me and say,“Ms. Regina, my daddy gonna buy me a Slurpee!” They were excited…for something that had not even happened.  Why?… because their daddy promised it to them, and they had faith that what daddy said… daddy would do… hmmmm…. the same is even more true for our Heavenly Daddy.  See, what those precious babies did not know, was that their family was struggling financially.  There was much going on.  The trip to the “Slurpee” store was a sacrifice, that could be cancelled, if it came a choice between gas to get home, and their Slurpee’s.  Our Heavenly Father is quite different though.  As a matter of fact, “the earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof [1 Corinthians 10:26]“…. no danger of God ever being in the position of being “all tapped out”.  He is Creator, and He has promised you a lot more than a Slurpee… but if that’s all you want, He can give you that…. according to your faith (as long as it not something illegal, immoral or un-Godly)…. so be it.  The possibilities are endless. .. every now and then, we need a reminder that Jesus is sweeter than honey in the honeycomb!

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. [Proverbs 16:24 ]

….. such good news!

Cartoonist’s Comment:

All of God’s promises throughout the Bible are fulfilled in Jesus. The grace of God has been made freely available to us through the blood of Jesus.

Good Morning Beloved,

I was caught by a song this morning by Jason Champion (love that name!). “Always”… There is a part in it that says:

Remember He loves you always

Forever, He love you always

And just because you have yourself a couple bad days

Don’t mean it gonna be this way, always

http://www.thefaithspot.com/videos/id_1283/

We know that stuff happens… that’s life… but sometimes a situation can seem to linger on with no end in sight.  God’s Word and His vessels encourage us that only death is permanent.  As long as there is life…. the situation can change.. for the good.  When we can’t see God’s Hand… that’s the time to trust His heart, and believe what He already told us.  We are people of purpose and vision.  That can present a very unusual problem.  We may see where God is going to take us, but we have no clue the steps we will have to walk in the middle.  People oftentimes give up right at the door of their breakthrough ….. Remember this Olympic story from 1996:

The women’s team was unstoppable through team compulsories and 3 events in optionals. And in the final rotation, the U.S. lead the Russians by a narrow margin when the Mag 7 were faced with the vault. Every girl had been hitting every event until now, and the Russians had the enviable floor exercise. The first 4 girls (Phelps, Chow, Miller, and Dawes) didn’t score outstanding on their vaults, but were still relatively solid. But the Russians were closing the gap in the race for the gold. Next was child prodigy Dominique Moceanu. If little Dom were to score a 9.743 or better, it would secure the gold for the U.S.. That didn’t happen. The young superstar surprisingly fell on both vaults! That meant only one thing–the 1996 Women’s Gymnastics Team Gold Medal depended on the bridesmaid. The little girl praying on the mountainside would get her second chance.

The crowd was roaring. All eyes were upon Kerri Strug. One vault scoring a 9.493 or higher will win it. Strug fell on the landing of her first vault, a Yurchenko with one and a half twists. But on this slip she noticed something was wrong with her left ankle. She heard a crack and a pop. She had one vault left as she limped her way back to the beginning of the runway. Looking at her coach she took a deep breath.

“You can do it,” Bela said confidently.

She looked at the vault at the end of the runway. Thoughts raced through her mind:

‘My ankle’s hurt, the All-Around and Individual competitions are still to come, I missed the All-Around by .014 four years ago, I’ve suffered numerous injuries working so hard to compete for this All-Around,’

Six girls waited on the sidelines holding hands and praying. This vault is very risky with an injured ankle. This would probably worsen it, and eliminate any chance to compete any further.

Strug made the decision to take the risk and sacrifice further competition for the vault.

“Please, God, help me out here. I’m just asking you once here. I’ve always tried to be a good person. I’ve always tried to do what’s right. Please, just let me do this vault,” she prayed as she stared at the apparatus.

The weight of the entire nation was weighing down upon a tiny injured ankle and a prayer.

The green light went on, the determined gymnast saluted the judges, and began her sprint toward the apparatus that can and will take her out of the All-Around. Floor…spring board…horse…air…

In a dramatic finish, Kerri vaulted a clean Yurchenko with one and a half twists, landing with both feet but immediately lifting her left leg in pain. Balancing on her right foot, she turned to salute the judges, and then fell to the floor until the coaches were able to reach her and carry her off the podium.

Kerri Strug had won the Olympic Gold Medal for the United States! She was carried to the medal stand by Bela as the world’s eyes filled with tears. When the officials gave the Magnificent 7 the medals and the national anthem was playing, Kerri got very emotional and told herself,“You’ve been waiting for this all your life. Thank you, God.”

Now, I’ve sprained both of my ankles TWICE…. and I can’t imagine jumping off of anything in that condition.  I saw something in this story. There are obstacles ahead of us, and we are working with weakness and pain somewhere in us….. But God is our strength, He is the healer….He will get us to where we need to be…He will be glorified in our life.  The more we grow to know Him… the more we will trust Him. The more time we spend in His presence… the stronger we will be.  We are what God said we are…. “More than conquerors”…. (Romans 8:37)

Cartoonist’s Comment:

If you are becoming weary in your faith walk, perhaps it’s time to draw on the strength and refreshing that God provides through the force of joy. Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.

“WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE” (Matthew 19:26 and Mark 10:27)

U Blessed

Have A Fabulous Day!

Regina