I love watching how God works. Yesterday evening Kathy and I got to be part of a celebration for a man who is celebrating 10 years of sobriety. His wife had arranged for one other couple and us to join them in this celebration. It really was nice. When the waitress asked if it was someone’s birthday, one gentleman said, “well, it’s the birthday of this guy’s 10 years of sobriety.” The waitress said that this was a better celebration than any birthday and we all agreed. At the end of the dinner she brought a very large piece of cake with 6 forks. She said the house wants to celebrate with you. It was a great evening!

This morning I was awakened early and I knew it was one of those I needed to just get up and see what God was wanting to say. I’m giving the devotion for our Celebrate Recovery leadership meeting following the church services and I’m also doing the training. These were on my mind but they were already laid out so I wasn’t sure what was “on God’s mind”. As I began to journal God seemed to bring out so much about the emotions of man. I’ve written about how I’ve hated man’s emotions having lived through those of my dad. God was asking me to see these emotions as man’s choices. Every emotion of man is housed in God’s immensity. God being perfect manages these emotions “perfectly”. Man, because of sin, is vulnerable to them. In our walk with God, He wants us to mature more and more into His likeness which the fruits of the Spirit describe: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, Galatians 5:22-23. We exemplify these best when our emotions are reflecting God’s influence in our lives. We damage these fruits when our emotions only reflect man’s choices.

Emotions allow us to express these fruits as God does as we mature more and more in our walk with Him. Letting go of my old beliefs about emotions is allowing me to mature. This step of letting go is one God has wanted me to take as He walked me through the Psalms this present season. My journey continues.

SPRING IS HERE! Today begins the glorious season of spring. New life is just beginning. Yesterday afternoon I had a two hour visit with a man who had recently read my book. He had contacted me wanting to know if we could talk. He is finally ready to face the abuse of his past and quit having it hold him back in his forward walk with God, his wife and with his family and others. Boy, I sure related to this. In the midst of his talk he said, “I feel like spring is coming to me–new life.” He seemed very ready to start the journey of healing. I gave him the book, Mending the Soul to start his reading. I said we can begin the class after Easter giving him time to read ahead of starting the workbook. I also wanted to see if there were any other men who would want to join the class. The timing seems right since we just finished the step study I was leading.

This morning as I have been having my devotions I found God asking me if I noticed the difference in myself yesterday as we met? I hadn’t been nervous–instead I felt calm and truly engaged. Yes, what I’d heard was troublesome, but it didn’t own me. I didn’t try to deflect any emotions as being unnecessary, they were respected and appreciated at the times they arose to the surface. I had to stop and thank God for pointing this out. It made me realize just how much healing God has done for me–slowly but surely. The prayer that my prayer warrior prayed over me last summer has taken root. She had prayed that the self-doubt and the self-worthlessness would be replace with self-love, self-appreciation and self-confidence. That is exactly what would describe yesterday. The love, appreciation and confidence didn’t have anything to do with arrogance as my father would always accuse me. It was an assurance that God was at work and I got to be part of it.

New life is beginning and new life has begun! How much I praise God!

Yesterday, one of our Celebrate Recovery young men, was told he wasn’t given the new job he hoped he would get. I, along with some others, were praying this would be the “perfect fit” for him. I had prayed yesterday, giving praise to God for whatever the outcome would be. When he called me to say he’d not been given the job he was angry and particularly angry with God. This young man is new to “living in trust” and yesterday was no time to try and do anything but listen to him. I had to end the call due to a meeting I had to dial into on my computer. He had been part of the step study which just ended and chips were being given last night at Celebrate Recovery for those who finished it. I had thought he likely wouldn’t come. However, he did come and immediately came up to me apologizing for his words and behavior on the phone.

Praising God in the midst of the storm is a tremendously difficult task. Yes, it shows faith, but it also shows maturity. All of this reminded me of the ones who were praying for me in my young years when I was ready to give up on God. They were the ones who praised God in the midst of my storms when I was unable to do so. This morning I praised God for His work with this young man even when he has no idea God is in the midst of this with him. I know God is and I know the outcome will soon shed God’s glorious Light.

The song writer wrote these words: “When you’re up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams and your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan’s manifested schemes; and you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fears; don’t let the faith you’re standing in seem to disappear–Praise the Lord!” Today I PRAISE THE LORD!

The power of God’s Holy Word–“God’s Word is very important to Him. The Bible says in Psalm 138:2 that He has exalted above all else His name and His word, and He has magnified His word even above His name.” This is a direct quote from Joyce Meyers written in the preface of the Amplified Bible I am reading.

I am finding as I read through Psalms God is wanting me to bury once and for all the thoughts I’ve had all of my life about our relationship. I’ve known now for several years that I am a new creation. I know that this new creation I am is a growing, living being. Even though the flesh man I am is well into his life, My new creation life is young and yet, eternal. God is showing me that as I have learned to trust Him, it is now time to fully Trust His Word. I have always believed the Bible as being the Word of God. However, believing that God’s Word is magnified above His Name? Well, that truth is just starting to take root.

God’s Word is the tangible part of God I can grab and hold. I know that God’s Spirit lives in me but when I want God to be tangible, I turn to His Word. The Psalms are filled with promise, fulfillment of promise and direction for each day’s living. I am so grateful that the relationship God is growing in Him and me is taking me to this Truth in His Word. How I love our Wonderful God!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today is a day of celebration. Our step study men finished our journey last Sunday. Tonight we are gathering at a restaurant in Nampa to celebrate. Tomorrow night at Celebrate Recovery we will give a step study chip to each participant for their diligence in completing this huge step of healing. In addition to this, a lady in our CR group is having a prayer warrior pray over her this afternoon along with her group leader. There is a darkness they are praying to uncover. She called me yesterday asking that we be praying today for her as this transpires. Satan hates to have his darkness penetrated by God’s healing, brilliant LIGHT, yet that is what is taking place today and I am celebrating what God’s Light has already done in the lives of these step study men and also what God’s Light is going to do today in the life of this lady!

God’s Love for His children is not just kind, but it is also POWERFUL and PENETRATING! Today darkness is being destroyed and we celebrate!

I will never again say that the Psalms are anything but a tremendous help and Light for us as we journey through life. I cannot believe how long I’ve struggled with them. In reality, I struggled to keep my own emotions checked so I didn’t sound like the troubled David or any other writer for them. I wanted to “look like” I was in better control of my life or that the problems of my life didn’t have such a grip on me that I needed the help for which the Psalms are crying. I have been in such denial of my real self!

Today as I was journaling and asking Jesus what He wanted me to know for today, it was clear I needed to address this selfish side of me. Selfish in the truth that I struggle a good deal and don’t want to share that part of me. I’d much rather have those struggling share their burdens with me and I can then be a helper for them. Yes, I go to my prayer warrior with burdens, and I do share them with her. Yet, I tell myself that I need her to pray for the “others”. I also write this blog daily and I express my need in it. Yet, I tell myself I do this so my “little need” will help someone’s greater need.

So, this morning I asked God to forgive this selfishness of mine confessing the sin of it. I want to be an open book for God to use fully for His Kingdom. The Psalms are a genuine example of man pouring out his heart to God and then receiving God’s direction and peace in doing so.

I’ve said earlier that the Psalms have been a struggle for me to read. They are filled with the burdens of David and him pouring his heart out to God asking for help. David isn’t the only author of them, but he is a dominant one. Well, there is a totally different message coming to me from the Psalms as I read them this time. It is the message of PRAISE and WORSHIP. In the deeper areas of my soul there has been a longing for love–to be loved. It goes right back to my earliest memories where I was ridiculed for being the soft-hearted, less than manly boy. I recognize all of this as a lie today. However, as I was reading the Psalms this morning they were declaring into existence what isn’t real as of yet. Psalms 16:10 starts with, “I believed, therefore I said,….” I was challenged to fill in the blanks with what God is wanting me to believe. So, as I began to do this I was inspired to start with praising Him for what He is going to do ahead of it happening.

I am a realist by nature. Something has to be existing or close to it for me to be grounded in it. However, God is wanting me to know that in His Spiritual World, existing is different than in our world of flesh. The healing for the young man I mentioned yesterday is yet to take place but it is going to. I can praise God now for this. A young man who has a job interview today, I can praise God for what will take place with it. I can praise God for another man who is troubled about the role he plays with our Celebrate Recovery ministry. God will be working this out. I can praise God for replacing the inner longing of my soul with His Love.

What a beautiful way to start Monday morning!

Psalms 111:10–“The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of ‘Wisdom and skill’….” This verse was the foundation of my devotions this morning and then it was part of the scripture reading as I continue to read through the Psalms. God is emphasizing a point for which I (and we) need to pay close attention.

Yesterday was the graveside service for a wonderful lady who had taught for me 20 or more years. She and I had also graduated together from college. At the service I saw a few people I hadn’t seen since my retirement from the district 13 years ago. One was telling me of their son who is struggling a great deal. In fact, they said I am the first person they’d shared this with. I told them about our Celebrate Recovery program and invited them to come. As I began my prayer time this morning I was about to pray for this son and a couple other young men who have been on my list. I was going to ask God to intervene in their lives awakening them to Him and His healing power. However, God reminded me to Praise Him first for what He is going to do in their lives ahead of any asking. I had started my prayer thanking God in general, but praising Him specifically for these men and their recovery hadn’t been on my mind until God planted the seed.

As I began to write this entry the verse above resonated. God is wanting me to grow in wisdom and skill from Him. The big one for me as been learning to Trust Him ahead of any visible actions. The wisdom to TRUST is huge in God’s Kingdom Work. That means praise needs to begin each moment of each day. This is another big step for me.

Once upon a time I had one of those moments where March 13th was St. Patrick’s Day in my mind. I prepared myself for the day putting a green M&M on my sports jacket lapel. It turned into one of my more embarrassing moments/days. I won’t tell the story here, but every time I write this date that memory returns and I chuckle inside.

Yesterday was a blessed day. My second oldest grandson who is a junior in high school has had his own battles to address in life. I have wanted him to know there is a huge opportunity for becoming much more than one might believe (at the age of 17) if only you can be exposed to a sliver of them. So, with permission from him, I arranged for him and his best friend to visit a college close by yesterday afternoon. I was able to accompany them too which was a treat for me. My grandson is a “star” basketball player (which is really true). The college had arranged a portion of the tour to be with the head basketball coach. This was a 30-45 minute block of the afternoon. He and his friend hugged me at the end of the time saying this was the best day of their lives! It was one of my better days too just being a mouse in the corner while they kept exclaiming, “how sweet!” and many more exclamations of praise and wonderment.

Once in a while the journey has a day in it like yesterday. I keep smiling and thanking God for it. God truly is AMAZING!

The time is set. I am meeting the gentleman who contacted me a week from today. This is the one I mentioned in yesterday’s entry. I am grateful for this and I pray for him to sense God’s peace knowing he will be exposing things from his past which have haunted him all of his life. I understand this all to well. When I had published my book, The Journey from Error to Heir, I was expecting to have ones contact me knowing now there is someone with a similar background they could “trust”. This didn’t immediately happen and one individual at Celebrate Recovery who I’d shared my thinking with said, “Would you be sharing with someone who wrote a book if the shoes were on the other foot?” Of course my answer was that I hadn’t thought of it that way. I would never have done that! God has to prepare the person’s readiness to speak out and that is what He does.

What an amazing God we serve!