Endurance

Snow in Texas? Who would've thought we would have 12 inches of snow fall in one day in Texas! It beat every record known and was the cause of many a school kid's celebrations.

I am a mail lady by day and my excitement for the winter wonderland was short lived when it came to delivering the mail. Don't get me wrong , it was gorgeous and I am so thankful for seeing the Glory of God painted through frozen trees and white blankets lain over our small town. One of the wonderful things about our God is His ability to teach us through our normal everyday activities , so when an extraordinary event takes place , the voice of the Lord is amplified tremendously.

What I wanted to share with ya'll today is a small part of everything God has shown me through those days in the snow.

We are a very busy society, and sometimes my customers do not check their mail. It only becomes inconvenient when the box is too full for us to continue to do our job. So, until then , we don't concern ourselves with it. Although this week , as I was risking life and limb to " bring the word" to my customers , in seeing the boxes full I was a little bothered.

The roads were treacherous to say the least. I drive a postal vehicle that is definitely not 4 wheel drive , and there was a lot of walking to the boxes to avoid getting stuck, not to mention slipping and sliding all over the road, trying to avoid pedestrians and other vehicles , wet feet and the bone chilling cold.

As Christians we are commanded of the lord to go forth and spread the gospel.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

So , as I am delivering mail , I liken that unto spreading the word. Yet, when I saw that some didn't check their mail , I felt the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit speaking to me.

There are many Pastors , Evangelists, Missionaries , spreading the Gospel in very dangerous atmospheres. There are countries that would secretly ,and some even blatantly , kill those who taught others about our Lord and Saviour . As Christians we hear too many stories of precious ones that have served the Lord unto death , but there is another type of persecution we don't hear much about.

Imagine if you will the brother or sister that is totally surrounded by unbelievers, that may even be of their own household , and their own spouse may be the one that is persecuting them . There are those that wake every morning and know that they will suffer some type of mental abuse for standing by their Lord. There are those that only have the Holy Spirit as a gentle companion who makes the word of God come alive in their lives , yet they still persevere and endure to the end knowing that perhaps someday the people they love will follow Christ .

This type of persecution may not be news stopping but it's very painful to minister day after day and only receive curses and shame in return.

As I saw the mail that had been left in the boxes. I thought of those that risked their lives to deliver the word day after day , and those that disregarded it as unimportant. The word of God is a precious thing and it is very sad that so many treat it as though it was no big deal.

Prov. 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It is for this word and the Love of Christ that we , as Christians, risk our lives and hearts , peace, security , and all things temporary for eternal joy and happiness. Sometimes that word falls on deaf ears and hardened hearts, but it is for us to deliver nonetheless. It is for the Holy Spirit to convict and convince , it is only for us to obey and do our job.

If you are in the "spreading the gospel" business, which if you are a Christian you are, my word for you today is to endure .

Matt. 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Don't quit :

Gal. 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

We will reap what we have sown. Another great thing I saw this week was eventually people do pick up their mail and the word is received!

Finally, whether you are a Christian or not, and you notice that people have been trying to talk to and encourage you, help you, love you, do not push them away or ignore them . Receive the love that God is sending you. There is no greater Valentine than God himself. God bless you all and have a great week. Happy Valentine's Day

A Grand Gift

This week has been an exciting , restful and very tiring week . Does that make sense? Yes, it does. You see, my daughter, my oldest daughter ,gave birth to her first child, a son, also my first grandchild. We began the week with a scary labor and delivery process, which ended in her having a c-section, but is now ending in great joy, due to a brand new presence in our lives named , Levi James Dill.
It sounds so cliche to say he is precious and perfect but he is. We now understand why they are called GRAND!
I remember the feeling I had when I brought his mother, Keri, home from the birthing house. (we used a midwife) There were no words to describe the love I felt and still feel for her. I thought there was never going to be a moment in my life to top that one. When I held my daughter's son I realized I was wrong. It was like my love for Keri had grown exponentially and I could express that love by loving her son, which I really , really do.
This led me to a thought of when I was a little girl and just learning about God. We were born Catholic, which in a Catholic world you are just that ; born Catholic, I began to believe in God and knew He was always with me. Upon reflection I can see His gentle hand guiding and instructing even with all the hardships we faced , but when I began to understand that Jesus Christ , God's son, had died for my sins and that I had to choose to serve Him and live for Him I began to desire to know Him.
I cannot and will not do something , worship something I know nothing about. I am a "why" person. You'll know you have met a "why" person when they ask questions continuously. I suppose I have done my best to wear out the ears of the Lord with all my "why" questions until I reached a certain level of spiritual maturity where I became satisfied with not knowing everything about everything , so in a little Christian church in Clayton, N.C., with the leading of a fiery red-headed preacher , I gave my heart to the son of the God I had always known.
What a patient teacher the Holy Spirit is with me . I am only now seeing this aspect of why we do what we do. I loved the Father, which led me to love the Son, because He loves His Son , and all the while led by the Holy Spirit .
Now my love for the Father has grown exponentially and is expressed in my devotion to His Son, my King , Jesus. How much more does He love us ? God loves you in a way that cannot be measured or explained , but He loved you so much He gave you and I His Son to love and cherish , to serve and worship . What a great gift, a GRAND gift. Thank you Father . He is beautiful and so precious and I really , really love Him.

Away

This week I was faced with the fact that I must begin to work smarter not harder. You know the saying , " So much to do, so little time." As I performed my almost , normal routine I tried to keep this in mind and when visiting Home Depot I spotted the new " self cleaning shower machine" . Well not many of us have time to scrub the shower, so I decided to add it to the growing number of purchases , along with the blue tabs you drop into the tank of the commode so it can join the shower in becoming self sufficient as well.

The assembly was easy, to say the least , but my great revelation came when placing the bottle of cleaner into the actual dispenser. I won't embarrass myself with telling you how long I struggled with it until I finally punched the hole in the lid myself , convinced that the manufacturer had a great design flaw in this product, but upon pressing the start button for the beginning of our revolutionized bathroom experience , nothing! I pushed the button three times to convince myself that it still wasn't working. Admitting defeat , I went back to the instructions and noticed one little word that had eluded my sight when previously reading. " When placing the bottle in the dispenser turn the bottle with label facing ' AWAY ' from you. "

"Oh!" was my reaction and proceeded to change my mistake when it clicked nicely into place but not without bathing my face and hair with a very pungent cleaning product that I'm sure wasn't safe for ones eyes. As I hurriedly turned on the shower to relieve my stinging eyes and burning skin , I felt God speak to me .

" One word made a great difference didn't it." Yes, He knows me like that. He has a great sense of humor and knows me and how my mind works and of course had every bit of my attention. I began to ponder this thought and realized He was right, as if He wouldn't be, one word does make a great difference. In this case the word I had missed was the word 'away' . I then began to notice throughout the day how many one word sentences we use. " Go" , "Yes" , " No", " Stop" *hugs* etc.

My friend, the bible says :

Prov. 18:21 ¶ Death and life ARE in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Your words are seeds sown into someone or something and we are like farmers planting crops , from the moment we wake until the moment we lie down again. What are you planting into your family , your fellow workers , your friends, even strangers on the streets?

The bible also says :

Gal. 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

I promise you this is true. It wouldn't take any of us long to remember a word we said to the wrong person or at the wrong time, most prevalently during our awkward teenage years. I hope , though, with that we would remember speaking good things into people as well.

What you say matters. You matter. God made you just the way you are for a very special purpose and don't ever let anyone or any word , make you think otherwise. Don't call people names. Having many children I've often thought of having this sentence tattooed on my forehead . I am just teasing, but when we call names we are breathing life into that word,and we are planting a seed into the mind of that person. I can testify , that when I was very young a relative spoke a lot of unkind words into my life and I became exactly what he said I would, except by the grace of God I am no longer who I used to be. Yet, I can also testify that there are people here in the ' Never, Never Land ' of the internet, and people at my work place that have spoken very nice words into my life, which I cherish like precious gems.

Sow some seeds of joy into someone's life today, or seeds of love , truth, wisdom . God bless you . You are precious and important . Don't quit being the wonderful you, you are.

Pastor Susan Honeycutt

Lead On Lord, Lead On

Is. 48:17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.............

I awoke this morning after a wonderful series of dreams all with one recurring theme , restoration of friendships of long ago. I now have a melancholy gratefulness for the extra sleep that was deep enough for me to dream yet I can't help myself from asking, " What does this mean Lord?"

This past year has been full of new friendships and old friendships restored. It has been astonishing and wonderful, yet very painful at times, to see where I have been and the good or bad that I have also done.

Did I really hurt so and so that badly that they did such and such? Yes , I did. Those realizations were hard pills to swallow to say the least. On the same note, did I really make such a difference in that person's life that they overcame that horrible pain in their life? Yes, you did , and with that I am suddenly aware of my individual uniqueness.

My heart's cry became , "Father, how did I get here, and why didn't you stop me when I did wrong and then only allow me to do good?"

This is the scripture He spoke to me:

Is. 48:17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.............

What? You lead me here? Of course I understood that my behavior at the places He led me were my own doing but , here, where I am today, is where He led me to be.

God, Ha Shem, Yahweh, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, is bigger than your mistakes and orchestrator of your victories. He leads us in the way we should go , it is our choice whether we follow or not.

Lead on Lord, lead on.

They Are Waiting

They Are Waiting

"They are waiting for someone to help her..." was one of the quotes read today. Waiting. I can not begin to comprehend the kind of waiting the people in Haiti are enduring. For the average person waiting in a grocery store line could create tension of damaging proportions , not to mention waiting at a traffic light.

January 12 th, 2010 , a devastating earthquake seized the ground of Haiti and ripped her fragile community apart. It has been said that 500, 000 are estimated dead. unfortunately we will never know the exact total because most of the bodies will forever be entombed in the rubble. Already the first mass grave has been crudely dug and over 7,000 people have been laid to rest.

"Dear God send someone to help help her! " That was my first thought , but I knew the answer , because I know the scriptures ...

" Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" , Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature..... and go ye : carry corn for the famine of your houses:

Over and over the Lord commanded us to " go" . Alas , I can not physically go , so what does that mean to the believer if we can not jump on a plane and fly to Haiti and search through rubble? The pictures have begun and are being spread non-stop across the internet of people living, starving, dying and yet she waits....

First and foremost , we "go" to our knees and fervently cry out to our Abba , Father, to send the help they so desperately need. Secondly we " go" to our finances and formulate a plan to send whatever we can , even if it is a few dollars , to help these people who so desperately need it . Last , but not least , we "go " to our sphere of influence, whether that be home or work, facebook or twitter, and cry out on their behalf, and beg on their behalf for the assistance they deserve.

There is no need that they should wait too long when God's people are here , ready , willing , and able. Have you once cried out like I have ..." Here I am Lord , send me" ? This is your opportunity to be a blessing and make a difference in someone's life.

God bless you and be with you in all you put your hand to do.