Unemployment

This good buddy of mine sends me a message that he lost his job…..I mean this was a dream job managing hundreds of acres of land and a business in the Carolinas.  He sent me pictures of what he did and they are on my screen saver at work.  Just spectacular.  My heart ached for him.  And on top of that, he is the type of person you want working with and for you.  He and I worked together for 15 years or so.  He is (not was) a go to guy.  You can trust him.  Solid.  You would want to hire him!

But he is a changed man.  After he got this job,….he gave his life to Jesus Christ…..after that….he married a Godly woman….started going to church (not a requirement for anything…but a good thing I think) and he turned his life around.  I am proud of him.  And now,…after I get this word from him….I am still very proud of him….because he knows that God has him in his hands.  As I was praying about my friend the other night,….I saw God providing for him….I saw God has a plan for his life….a plan to prosper him (like he already has)  it is like God has already paid him up and has more for him. 

I do not know about your situation, about your job prospects, about your outlook… but my buddy in the Carolinas has God in his corner.  He has God in his heart.  I know that God has a plan, a purpose, a success for his life.  I know he has for you too.  God loves you more than anything else and wants the best for you.  As I do this entry, I see success more than my friend can imagine…..I see it for you and I see it for….me.

So, tonight….I speak encouragement into my friend.  I speak prosperity into him and his situation.   I do the same for you,….and for me too.  God loves us.

 

Foreclosure….Working From Inside Out

I was on a very long walk over the weekend in my neighborhood.  There has been this house in my neighborhood….well, many houses….all over…..in every town,….that are vacant due to foreclosure.  Some young working folks moved into this one house in my neighborhood.  They have been working on it really hard.  They are working folks….she is a medical person of some sort and he is in construction.  When I walk early in the mornings, I see them leaving for work.  They have a little girl and what looks like a grandfather living with them.  They have been working on this house for a month straight since they moved in.  I stopped as I was walking this weekend to tell them hello and praise them on what they have accomplished with the formerly run down….overgrown,….neglected house.

A neighbor saw me and after I left them and flagged me down.  She lives just across the street from this new family.  She asked me if I scolded them about the trucks, the lack of care and the unorganized look of the house.  She reminded me that these new folks were in violation of the homeowner’s association rules. 

I did not think of it that way.  I walk every day almost and have seen the progress they have made on the house.  I have seen the effort they have expended while both of them work all day, have a small child and an obvious grandparent living with them.  I have seen the paint, the drywall and the new curtains.  I just did not think about the outside appearance of the house, because I can tell…the family is working from the inside out…….just like me.

I asked the lady,….a retired, sits at home all day and looks at the house type person….if she would rather have the house vacant. 

Strange how we all view things differently.  I hope God still will work on me inside out…..rather than me being vacant.  God does not look on the outward appearance.  He looks at the heart. 

louie

 

Breadcrumbs Are Enough

So, this woman is desperate….  she gets out of her comfort zone, out of her people, out of her church, out of her upbringing, out of her way of life and she begins to beg….   I mean, she is a Greek, she is educated, she is proper, she is not from the area,…..  she is used to getting it because of who she is…..  Maybe it is her color, maybe her race, maybe her social status, maybe her place in life, her pedigree.   But her daughter is sick and she hears about a healer.    The scriptures do not say it… but I do….  that she has tried everything (like another woman in the record…her next).  The last post shows that she was desperate. 

So now she goes to Jesus.  To the feet of Jesus.  Under the table.  Check this out.  She went to the floor.  She wanted the Bread of Life.  She went to the source…..and found that Jesus said that what he had…healing power….salvation….was for the people of Israel first…not her yet!  She was ok with it  because she had a revelation about Jesus Christ…the Bread of Life.  She had a revelation that whatever Jesus gave her was enough.  That revelation was this…….what is in the bread….is in the crumbs too. 

This woman knew that crumbs were enough.  She knew that what was in the bread….was in the crumbs.  She knew that if she only got a crumb…. that the crumb was enough. 

You need something from Jesus Christ?  Son or daughter, husband or wife, a sickness, money or a job..a house?  Get on the floor, do not depend on what you can do and ask God in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  What is in the bread is in the crumbs….it is enough.

louie

 

I Don’t Like My Job

No,..I love my job….!!!!!

I got a call from a good friend who told me he was not happy in his job.  It had been a job he had always wanted and he was at the top of the organization.  But I had seen this coming for a long time.  He is a person that I regularly pray for and seek guidance from the Lord for this man.  God had already shown me about his situation….and I began to laugh over the phone.  He thought I was crazy….but I had seen and began to tell him what God had been sharing with me about him.  It was that he was not happy and that  God had a position for him…..in 2 months.

OK.  I am not some mystic or a prophet….but….when I take time to listen and when I earnestly pray about situations…(which is not often enough)…God speaks to me….or maybe it is that I listen more…  And God had been speaking to me about this man.  And when I told this man, that in 2 months God would place him somewhere,….in the midst of double-digit unemployment….(which is what I was hearing from God…)…well, I told him.  And we prayed over the phone about this situation.

That was in mid January…..I got a call from him the other day…mid March…. He has a new job.

God reveals thing to all of us as we seek Him.  I have always wanted the “things” to be about “me”.  Sometimes it does not work like that.  Seek God so that you might find him.  Scriptures say let the heart of those rejoice or be happy when they seek Him. 

louie

 

With Interest

When I was a young boy,  I wanted a bicycle.  I picked one out and my dad let me make payments to the owner of our local Western Auto Store…the at the time Walmart.  I did not know that my dad and the owner of the store, Mr. Shields,  had worked out a deal that I came in each week on what I made cutting lawns and delivering newspapers to pay off my bicycle….and Mr.  Shields would give the money back to my dad because he had already paid for the bicycle…in full.   It meant something to me but the deal was already made by my dad.  And I found out when I was grown, that my dad, actually never took the money from me…he put it into a savings account for me….with interest.  So I got more that what I put into it.

The people of Israel had been slaves for about 400 years and they were leaving slavery, getting out of Dodge.  But, just out of the goodness of God’s heart, He had the Egyptians give the people of Israel gold and silver.  This is recorded in Exodus 12:35-36. 

You see, God has a plan for us to prosper.  God has the wealth of the wicked stored up for us.  He put what the people of Israel needed into a savings account for over 400 years.  With Interest.

God has us covered.  He has stored up what we need in Jesus Christ.  Our health, our healing, our salvation, our life and it is in the bank for us.  It is one of those odd concepts that we just can have what we need because God has our back.  The scriptures  in Psalms 68:19, says that God daily loads us with benefits.  He has for us what we need…with interest.

 

Leftovers

My daughter was asking me about this Cain and Abel offering thing.  Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve.  Cain was the first born and Abel the next.  When they were bringing their offerings to God,.. Genesis 4:3-4, says, “Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground” and “Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.”  The record goes on to say that the Lord had regard for the offering of Abel but not of Cain.  God liked Abel’s but Cain’s was leftovers. 

Cain was a farmer, a tiller of the ground.  However, livestock was always part of a farm.  So, there was livestock there, however, Cain brought the easy offering, the excess, the part that did not cause too much discomfort.  He brought an offering of the fruit of the ground.  Not the best of anything.   The leftovers.   Abel, he brought the first, the young, the fat, the costly and offered it to God.  You see, Cain offered just and offering.  Abel offered the best.  This giving thing is an issue of the heart. 

We can just give what time, talent and money that we have left over.  Or we can give the best and the first of what we have.  If we prioritize God in our giving, what we tend to do is to prioritize God in other areas of our lives.  The giving is just a part of it. 

God wants the best of our lives.  Yes, in our giving and in everything.  He wants our best because that is the best for us.  Leftovers….well, I eat them at home but I really like a fresh piece of hot, medium rare tenderloin.  God does not need…..he wants….us, the best of us.  Not our leftovers.  Because our leftovers are what we tend to …. well, toss to the ground because we no longer want them. 

louie

 

Wisdom Times 3

So, to follow up on James 1:5…..if you lack wisdom… God gives it in 3 ways.

Generously, ………. to all…….. without finding fault.  Check it out. 

God will give wisdom generously.  I need it generously.  I need a lot of it.  How about you?  I have been dealing with some work issues that I have no idea how to  handle.  I need it generously.  I need it now. 

I need it for all of my work force too.  For all of them  Just like your place of work…..there are challenges that are enormous.  Mine too.  So, I need it for every single person at my work. 

God says he gives it without finding fault.  I am glad because I am ……. well, when I think about it…..I am ….. well, at fault.  I mess up.  I seem to get it … well, incorrect.  I get things wrong.  I mess things up.  I get it all messed up.

So, you need wisdom?   I do.   God provides it generously, to all, without finding fault.   A pretty simple scripture packed full of just real life stuff. 

Ask God.  It is yours.  For  your work, your family, your children, your spouse, your church, your finances….everything.

louie

 

I Need Help (Wisdom)

Ever need help with something?  Ever just need an edge?  I have!  I have just plain needed help..  I need it a lot. 

I need help being a father.  I have kids ranging from 27 to 4 years old.  They all  have different needs, questions and are at different levels in maturity.  It is just plain tough sometimes.  I need help being a husband.  I need it a lot.  It is tough sometimes balancing the needs of a family and I just flat fall down being a husband at times.  I need help being a boss.  I have people that depend on me to deliver and they have their own needs, that sometimes conflict with mine.  They are good people and I love them. 

I need help being a brother, a son, a pastor, a leader…….sometimes I just want to give up.  It gets really confusing sometimes and I just seem to be at the end of my rope. 

In James 1 the scripture talks about needing  help or wisdom.  It specifically says, in James 1:5, “if any of you lacks wisdom.”  I find this comforting that it is not so specific…..not baptist, Methodist, catholic, pentecostal….brother, son, father, husband, boss, employee, employer…..pastor, ….anything……just any of you.  I went to the Strong’s Greek and Hebrew and found that any means….well…..all, any, not discriminatory.  Any of us.

Do you lack wisdom in areas of your life?  I do!  This first part of James says…….if any of you lacks wisdom. 

I will cover more on James 1 this week.  I think you will find it interesting. 

louie

 

I Shall Not Want….Because He is My Shepherd

I went in inverse order of Psalm 23 yesterday….The Lord is my Shepherd…I shall not want..  I went with not wanting, not being reduced, not being lowered before I went to the Shepherd part.  I got a great comment from Eric of Beating Debt, which I happen to agree with.  How debt can and is crushing families each day…reducing them….

Today, the Lord is my Shepherd.  I had always thought of a shepherd as a meek, mild, hang out in the desert, loner.  As I examine the 23rd Psalm, I realize that it is because the Lord is my Shepherd that I am not in want.  It is because the Lord is my Shepherd that I am protected.  It is because the Lord is my Shepherd that I am not being reduced. 

I can, however, and have, walked away…..strayed from my shepherd.  As Eric was and does talk about in his blog….. debt is one way we can leave the covering of our shepherd.  We can just go and do our own thing and act like there is no tomorrow…..and we are exposed to …….those things that would devour us. 

As I read Eric’s comments and began to reflect on this debt issue…. and the debt issue that our country is getting into…..(I will stay out of presidential politics..) I thought about each and every family that, on average, is getting deeper and deeper into debt and being strangled by it….being reduced….being endangered….just like the sheep in the herd.

So, if that is you….and debt is strangling you.  Check out Eric’s site.  But first….go to the Shepherd.  Ask for the way out today.  Stop today.  Believe today that you can get out of debt, bankruptcy, foreclosure, …. reduction. 

Want to not be in want?  Let today the Lord be your shepherd.

louie

 

The Lord Is My Shepherd…I Shall Not Want

Pretty familiar phrase.  This is the first few words of the Psalms 23 or the 23rd Psalm. 

I have always wondered what it would be like to, “not be in want”.  I saw today a picture on the web early about a lottery winner.  88 million dollars.  Bet he will not be in want.  I wonder about Ed McMahon’s wife after his death yesterday and the house being potentially foreclosed upon.  Bet she will be in want.  I drive an old truck, I really like it, but it is old.  Wonder what it would be like to be driving a new one.

See, these things are all material.  I suspect that I am not the only person that is selfish and thinking about selfish things.  But the scripture here is speaking to me about not being in want..for the heavier things in life.  Actually the Hebrew word here litterally means to not be lessened, to not be removed or be decreased. 

God today wants you to know that He does not want you to be decreased.  Are there things in  your life that are trying to decrease you?  Maybe unhealthy relationships or unhealthy behaviours?  Are there habits or actions or thoughts that threaten to decrease you?  How about debt, anxiety, low self esteem that threatens to decrease you?  God does not want you decreased.  He is our shepherd.

It is in the shepard that God will minister to you.  I will hit on this tomorrow. 

louie