Stand Fast!

I seem to always be talking about money on this blog - but that's the area where God seems to be teaching me to trust Him most in these last few years. I know that many of you probably wonder why I'm always stretched for cash, but it's simply because I'm still in the process of getting back on my feet after losing everything.

Today, once again, God proved His faithfulness. My car insurance was due and life insurance comes tomorrow. I was short about $230.00. Payment for the magazine I'm doing won't be here for a couple of weeks, but I hoped that a cheque from the States would be here in time.

I spent the morning with the Lord, learning of His ways and reminding Him of the bills due today and tomorrow. At noon, I went to the mailbox – but no cheque. So, I came home wondering, "What now Lord?"

As I prepared lunch, Lola (my cockapoo) made it evident that she was hungry too. As I opened the refrigerator to get her food, she lay down on the floor, confident that her needs were about to be met. It occurred to me that the Lord was using her as an example of how I could face my needs. I am His child. He is my Father and He knows what I need. I can relax in the assurance that He's looking after me.

My worry turned to peace as I felt directed to simply go to my computer and work as though all were well. A scripture from 2 Chronicles 20:17 rolled through my mind: "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions(s); stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you." I believed I had positioned myself (as well as I knew how) according to God's principles for participation in His Kingdom economy. I had tithed, happily given offerings where needed and blessed them for use in His Kingdom. Therefore, I was expecting Him to intervene in some way – I just didn't know how He'd do it.

About 2 o'clock, the phone rang. It was an old friend whom I hadn't seen for some time, saying that he had been prompted by the Holy Spirit to call and wanted to know what was happening. Because of the apparent connection, I told him. He asked for my banking information and said to check my account in about an hour.

Long story short, my insurance is paid. Thank you Lord. Another miracle of your gentle grace and kindness - by design.

Learning about Faith

This is amazing!

Let me go back a bit. Six years ago, through a family trauma, I was left (at the age of 60) with nothing but my furniture, my computer and my position as a child of God. I knew no one would hire me at my age and so I went back to school and, one year to the day after the trauma, I registered a little graphic design company called byDesign Media – because I knew God had a plan, a design for my life.

During that six years, He has been faithful to supply everything I needed – but the debt I incurred getting back on my feet has remained and I always seem to be cash poor. I have known there was something wrong - something missing in my understanding of God's principles because debt is not glorifying to Him and being cash strapped prevents me from doing a lot of things that would bless people.

Last week, I had to borrow $60.00 from my sister to put out a fire at the bank. It was humiliating, depressing and made no sense to me because I tithe and try to do things to honour God. I couldn't understand why, with my portfolio, my experience and all the things I had produced, I couldn't seem to enter into the blessing He promised.

I went for prayer counseling to see if there might be curses on my life that hindered the release of God's supply. When I arrived home after the prayer, there was a message from a Christian magazine asking if I would do the layout and design for this month as their designer is unable to do it this month. I was thrilled, and certainly saw it as an answer to prayer, but the fact remained that I had only five dollars to last me until the end of the month - and there was a lot of month between now and then. I had no fresh fruit left in the frig and my food supply was dwindling. Several friends offered to loan me money, but I was determined not to borrow another cent because it doesn't solve the big problem - just increases the debt issue.

Last night I read a book by Gary Kersee called, "Fix the Money Thing," in which He explains some little known secrets of the Kingdom of God. He wrote about Jesus' teaching of Kingdom laws (just like the natural laws of gravity, etc.) that mirror the same kind of cause and effect. When the five thousand needed to be fed on the hillside, Jesus didn't just make food appear; He said, "Bring Me what you have." When the disciples brought the five loaves and two fishes, He blessed then and instructed them to feed the people. After what they had brought to HIm had been multiplied to feed all the people, Jesus instructed them to pick up the "fragments." They gathered 12 basketsful of left overs.

It occurred to me today that I needed to pay more attention to the "fragments" in my life and give Jesus what I had (my five dollars), bless it and ask Him to release provision from Heaven. I heard about a situation where a lady was in need and so I asked my friend Peter to give her the five dollars. Long story short, he had brought a huge lot of fresh produce from his garden for me and, on the spot, gave me $400. towards some design work he wants me to do. Wow. God is good. Tonight, my refrigerator is full and I am so excited about what I'm learning.

We need to release what we have to God, bless it for His use and know we can never outgive Him.

On the way home, I went into the grocery store. A young Iranian girl  was sitting at a little table taking her break. I smiled at her and she said, "Oh I love your scharf! (my favourite one) – I wish I had a scharf like that to wrap around my neck because it's so cold in here. Hardly thinking twice, I took off the scharf, gave it to her and said, "Tell you what – take my scharf and every time you look at it or wear it, remember how much Jesus loves you." She was shocked.

Later, I saw her at her post - one of those little tables where people pass out samples, etc. – and there whe was, wearing my scharf. She said, "I really want to thank you. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me in my whole life. It's good to see that there are still some nice people in this world." With that, she came out from behind her little desk and gave me a big hug - right in the middle of Zehrs! I asked her if she knew Jesus and then the door opened wide for me to tell her about Him and how much He loves her.

Ah - what an exciting life! Miracles - by design!

Making Things Right

Today was Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement. I haven't celebrated the Jewish feasts through the years, thinking that it's not necessary under the New Covenant. However, I've been thinking about it and the fact that they were to be a "lasting ordinance" and the possibility that observance of the feasts could bring a new depth to my understanding of God's plan.

Anyway, despite my desire to get some work done, I took the day off and did some reading about atonement and getting things right with God and man. So - remembering a relationship that was shattered many years ago, I called the person and asked if we could get together. Long story short, I extended forgiveness and requested the same of them. Before I left, my negative feelings had morphed into a genuine love! We hugged and expressed a desire to keep in touch. Wow! Amazing!

The transformation of an enemy into a friend is a miracle indeed!