Comfort Food for the Soul

Anybody hungry?  Are we really hungry for a meal or are we craving something else? What is it? What do we really want? Peace? Joy? Contentment? Love? Hope? We have this empty place in us and we want it filled. Right now! Right? And we're tired of being hungry, right? Where do we go to get what we really need? 

Think about a child who says, "Mom, I'm starving to death! There's nothing to eat here!" And the pantry and the refrigerator are full of food. In our culture that's how we seem to roll these days, we want something now, but we don't know exactly what it is. But we want it. Kind of sounds like discontentment and boredom, doesn't it?

The mother says, "I can make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a ham sandwich and a glass of milk. Or I'll pop some fresh popcorn for you." 

The child says, "No! I don't want that! I want something else, but I don't know what I want to eat...hmmmm."  Then she gives up and stomps out of the kitchen saying, "You're not giving me what I want! Why don't we ever have anything good to eat in this house?"

 Uh-oh. Is this us? The food is offered to her. Her mother is ready to prepare it.  And yet, even though the young girl has cravings, she angrily rejects the offer. Think about this: when she walks away from the offer to have her needs met, she walks away still hungry and discontented. Now she's really angry, too!

We're like that before Jesus changes our hearts and we gladly surrender our lives to Him. He offers Himself to a lost, hungry world as the Bread of Life saying, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry..." (John 6:35).  Then as we draw near to Him, He begins to feed us with the truth of His Word, His forgiveness, love and provision. He begins to fill up our hearts with love, joy, peace, and contentment as we follow Him.

...

Jesus also promises that those who come to Him in repentance and faith and believe in Him "will never be thirsty." (John 6:35). He says, "Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:38) Jesus will give an abundance of life-giving blessings to us and even people around us will benefit! Imagine! He promises to abundantly provide!

All this feeding of the hungry warmly reminds me of a precious couple, George and Ginger Schmidt, who lived near us in our rural area of East Cherokee County. Our two young daughters and I visited them often years ago when we homeschooled, and I ended up writing a feature story about them in The Cherokee Tribune. George was an Air Force Sergeant and a firefighter for the Air Force crews. While still living in New Jersey he was a fire and police commissioner before they moved south to Roswell, GA. Then they moved into Cherokee County and bought a 20-acre farm.

They kept adopting animals and ended up with 60 dairy goats, four dogs, 15 guinea hens, three geese, 13 turkeys, two peacocks, eight varieties of chickens (I don't know how many ... a lot!), a horse named Trudy and 20 or so sheep. You get the picture.

When it was time to feed their beloved critters -- and George and Ginger lovingly cared for every single one -- George would walk out to the middle of the barnyard, clap his hands and loudly yell, "Anybody hungry?" Immediately, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and peacocks came running from every bush, barn, shed and pasture and flocked to his feet. It was loud and it was hilarious. Then George would slowly walk to one of the barns, pick up a bucket and dip it into a bin of corn and walk back out to the barnyard to scatter the food on the ground. I've watched him do this many times! It was always amazing. The flocks knew George. They trusted him. They came to him and they were loved and well fed.

George Schmidt  

George made his "Anybody Hungry" call loud and clear so as not to leave anyone out of the invitation! Sounds like the same sort of invitation Jesus makes to the world. He says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6). But the world isn't hungry for the kind of food Jesus is offering. They don't know God. They don't realize they are actually starving for the supernatural, spiritual fruit of His Holy Spirit which He satisfy ravenous souls of His children: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). So, the world's cravings will continue.

Jesus will faithfully feed His children and satisfy our souls, but people have to have the hearts that want to go to Him when He calls. And He's always calling. 💖

The JOY of the LORD is my strength.

Polly 💖

Get in Your Prayer Closet and Put It On!

 

Worn out? Worried? Frantic? Confused? Emotionally and spiritually exhausted? Well, you're not alone. it happens to all of us who are fighting the good fight of faith for the glory of God.

But God already knows all of this. He knows us. Everything about us. He is sovereign and controls everything he has created...for His glory and for our good. So ya think we should listen to Him? He provides what we need when we need it. God has provided a supernatural, protective shield that is custom tailored for every woman who follows Jesus! It's very powerful because God designed it. We see His Son represented in every piece of powerful armor!

Our Father in heaven lovingly instructs us, "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:10-18.     

This armor of God enables us to overcome evil and keep standing in the midst of the devil's vicious attacks of his fiery darts aimed at us. And remember this very important truth: the devil does not have a shield, but we do! There is nothing in Scripture that tells us he has a shield.                                                                               

Another important note: The suit of armor is only effective if we put it on! We have to take off self-protection, also known as "survival mode" and put on Christ to protect us. He IS our spiritual armor, Sisters! Get in your "prayer closet" [whatever that looks like] and put it on!

My Challenge to the Sisterhood: Go deeper to see for yourself how much He loves you.

I've been experiencing it in a new way!  The Lord has provided me with a specific early morning devotional time focusing on three Scripture passages, which have become transforming, supernatural gifts to my heart. Obviously, the Holy Spirit led me to this specific arrangement of verses over a period of time.

1. Get up at least 15 minutes earlier than your normal time. (30 minutes is better to give yourself more time to let His word soak into your soul.)  Grab your Bible and find a quiet corner to read three passages of Scripture. Yes, coffee or tea, when required!  Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you focus and concentrate on what you're reading.

2. Oh, and the secret to this transforming power is to read all of it aloud. Yes! Scripture says,
"Life and death is in the power of the tongue. Speak LIFE!"  You will be listening to yourself speaking powerful, healing truths to your soul. But this is the main reason to read all the passages aloud: the concept and promise found in Isaiah 55:11: "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

3. Here are the three verses in order. Give yourself time to read slowly and out loud:

Psalm 51. the entire Psalm. (We are confessing our sins & transgressions against God. We see His grace and mercies.)

Psalm 139 the entire Psalm (We see our Creator's deep and abiding love from before we were created in our mother's womb and the preciousness of His love sovereignly carrying us through this life!)

Acts 17:24-28 (This paints a broad stroke of a glorious, powerful Creator, our God who deeply longs to have relationships with His chosen ones. We see His Majesty and His Rule over His creation and His beloved people.

That's it. You'll be in your secret place of prayer armored up with the presence of God, ready for battle! The Holy Spirit of God will use it for His glory and our good. If we commit to reading these Scriptures aloud daily, we get a special bonus of transformation and memorization! "The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword!"(Hebrews 4:12) But it's your choice, of course. This has been amazing for me personally and I just wanted to share it for anyone who wants to do it, too! Human nature is that we seem to find time to do what we want to do. Just sayin'.

I pray this post blesses and encourages your socks off, for the glory of God.

💖Polly

Psalm 34:3

Spiritual Eyes. Supernatural Life.

 

We can't see the blood of Jesus covering our sins. Nope. We don't walk around this planet with His crimson, life-giving blood stains on our clothes. Right? But actually, we do, Sister. 

If we have repented of our sins, confessed them to the Lord, cried out for His forgiveness and love to cover us and carry us through this life...then, Baby, we are covered in His protective, redemptive blood. We just can't see it, but as Christ followers, we believe it's there!

"For He chose us before the creation of the world. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:7).

What about getting totally dressed in God's designer wear of the armor of God? Huh? What color is your suit? Did you get your's online? At the mall? LOL! Right?

We cannot see the spiritual suit of armor our loving God has hand-tailored for each one of us. Nope. But look what He provides for us as described in Scripture:

"Be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against  spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms..." (Ephesians 6:10-12).

 Okay, first of all, we can't see the armor because it's spiritual protection from God. The entire body armor is God's shield for our spiritual warfare! Every part of the armor is a description of who Jesus is to us! Belt of Truth. Shield of Faith. Breastplate of Righteousness. Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God). Shoes of Peace. Helmet of Salvation. Do your shopping (open 24 hours) at this address: Ephesians 6:10-18. That's where you get it, Sister, and it is guaranteed to fit perfectly! 

He's got us covered. All we have to do is obey His command to put it on! But again, we can't see it with our human eyes. 

We can't physically see God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, but as believers, boy, oh, boy do we see the effects of Holy, Powerful Presence in the heavens, the earth, the deepest of seas, in our daily lives, and in our hearts!  Look at the stars, the crashing waves, the mountains, birds building nests, a baby forming in his mother's womb! "Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD"' (Isaiah 66:2). 

We can't see the wind, either, but it exists! How do we think a colorful kite shoots straight up in the air trying to break loose from a little white string in the clutches of a little child's hands? Yep, a strong gust of wind yanks it upward, of course!  "The wind blows wherever it pleases, You can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from  or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

We can't see the Three Persons of the Godhead with our human eyes.God is a Spirit. Jesus sits on His throne in heaven at the right hand of God the Father. The Holy Spirit of God lives inside of every Christian.  But, we have spiritual eyes of faith. We believe. We "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). We believe!!!! And with that faith we are privileged to live a supernatural life! 

Think about it. Wow. We can't see the long, sharp Sword of the Spirit fight for us every time we quote a Bible verse. But it does! "The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit..." (Hebrews 4:12).

This is a spiritual life we are living, Sisters! It doesn't make sense to the rest of the world.

What about prayer? How does that work? How can I, in Georgia, be praying for a specific request from our daughter in California, and she will call me and joyfully tell me God surpassed our requests! (Ephesians 3:20). All I did was pray from the east coast and God specifically answered on the west coast! How? We can't see "how" but our family prays because we know there is no one greater than God. He tells us to "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And in (John 15:7) "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father's glory that you bear much fruit and show yourselves to be My disciples."  We believe He is who He says He is! 

Everyone - believer and unbeliever -- has seasons of pain, heartbreak, suffering, discouragement and loss. Yes. Life is hard. And sometimes it gets dark, very dark, spiritually. But Christ followers have a powerful, loving Father in Heaven; Jesus as the LORD of our lives; and the wise counsel of the Holy Spirit to help guide us. He is our Help and Strength! We gladly admit we love and need Him.

And when we pray, whether it is anxiously or confidently, our Father hears our cries and  responds with the greatest love, power, and wisdom in the universe.

At times, our walk with Jesus suffers because our gaze selfishly comes back to ourselves and the things of this world, instead of remembering God has enriched us in every way with a supernatural, spiritual life in Him. 

"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law." 

Psalm 119:18

Rediscover the Wonder!

Polly💖