Worry Is Always Future

Happy Sunday!

I love to share messages from ministers that bless me.  The message is from Brother Bob Yandian and it's entitled, Worry Is Always Future".  I first heard Brother Bob in the 1990's.  A dear friend, Pat Smith shared a box of ministry cassette tapes with me.  Those tapes encouraged, strengthened, and exposed me to some of the greatest bible teachers past, and present. Of course, in our technological world you don't have to rely on cassette tapes.  You have the privilege of YouTube, Podcasts, Blogs, and so many other ways of getting the Word.  I hope you enjoy this one.

Worry is Always Future by Brother Bob Yandian

"And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"(Exodus 17:3, NKJV).

The children of Israel had only been in the wilderness a few days when they came to a place where there was no water to drink. They began to complain to Moses, blaming the situation on him. They also decided that they had God’s plan all figured out. God had brought them to this spot to kill them!

Let’s examine the stupidity of this argument. The Israelites had been in captivity for four hundred years in Egypt. Despite the oppression, their population continued to increase. When Moses returned to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel, God protected them from ten plagues and death while the Egyptians suffered, and many died. God parted the Red Sea for them to travel across safely and even drowned the Egyptian army behind them. And God did all this to bring them to this one spot and kill them?

You have probably done the same thing. You have looked at your bills, your lack of food in the cupboard, and your overdue mortgage bill and cried, “I’m going to die right here!” Stop and think about what you have just said. God saved you many years ago, filled you with His Holy Spirit, healed your body, performed miracles for you and your family many times, and supplied all of your needs on more than one occasion. Has God done all these wonderful things in your life to bring you to this spot and watch you die?

When facing a tragedy or trial, it is easy to lose sight of all of God’s blessings that have brought us to this point. WORRY is always future. When you worry, you are saying that even though God has taken care of you every moment of every day, somehow tomorrow He will fail because His grace ran out today. But the truth is that the God Who has always taken care of you will not fail you tomorrow, next week, or next year. He will continue to walk with you and provide until Jesus comes.

David said, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). Why wait until you are old to look at God’s faithfulness in hindsight? Look forward now in faith and expectancy knowing that God will continue to provide for you and will never fail.

Yours in Jesus Christ, 

Brother Bob Yandian

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Don't Be Scared!

 Happy Sunday!

"They hated the heavenly Light because they wanted to sin in the darkness. They stayed away from that Light for fear their sins would be exposed and they would be punished. BUT those doing RIGHT come gladly to the Light to let everyone see that they are doing what God wants them to.”(John 3:20-21, Living Bible).

Even though I don't do scary movies, when I read this scripture I thought of the movie, Poltergeist and the phrase, "Carol Ann come to the light".  LOL!  I must have heard it somewhere, because I have never seen the movie.  I watched the clip from this portion of the movie today, and it was actually comical.  In the shadows, and in darkness there is fear and uncertainty.  But in the light there is understanding and clarity.  Have you ever laid in bed and thought you saw a figure in the room with you?  Then you turn on the light to see that it was just your coat hanging on the door.  I have.  I felt really silly for laying there in the dark contemplating what I would use to defend myself from the imagined intruder.

2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."(KJV).  God doesn't want us to live in fear.  No fear of the past, present, or future.  He wants us to know who we are in Christ, and that we have authority in the Name of Jesus. 

Hebrew 2:14-15 says, "Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and FREED all who COWER through life, SCARED to death of death."(Message).  Don't miss this!  Jesus' perfect work fixed things!  We don't have to worry!  We don't have to fear!

OK, so you don't think this applies to you?  I know it does!  You don't have to fear starting your own business.  You don't have to fear moving to another city.    Your don't have to fear telling the truth.  You don't have to fear making a mistake.  Life goes on even after mistakes.  Each day comes with new mercies, and fresh opportunities.  Pastor Randy Morrison always says, "If you don't die, you are going to live".  Sounds so simple, and it is.  Decide to live.  Decide to make each day count.  Decide to live fearlessly.

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Time Is Life

Happy Sunday!

Psalm 90:12 says, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."(KJV).  

Have you ever stood in front of the microwave complaining about 3 minutes taking so long?  I have!  But I can remember life before microwaves.  My mother-in-law, Minnie Pruitt would cook her whole Sunday dinner on Saturday. Then after church, we didn't head over to Applebee's.  We went home and waited for the food to be warmed in the oven, or on the stove top.  Have you ever thought you didn't have time to complete a task but spent hours on social media before you even knew it?  I have!  Yes, I also remember the time before social media.  If I wanted to see the pictures from your vacation in Kokomo, I'd have to wait at least a week for you to get them developed at the Foto Mat, then come to your home to view them.  Have you ever put off something that could have easily been done today, only to find that it was more difficult later?  Yes, I have.  Breakups, dishes, laundry, and exercise all come to mind.  Even though we have so much technology to make things faster, we still don't value time as we should.  And we waste precious time and spend it unwisely.

Psalm 90:12 encourages us to number our days.  Another translation says, "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."(Living Bible).  Don't miss the last part, "help us to spend them as we should".   Time is money, but more importantly time is LIFE.  We are spending our time, our days, and our lives as currency.  

Ephesians 5:11-16 says, "Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people WASTE their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,

Climb out of your coffins.

Christ will show you the light!

So, watch your step. Use your head. MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY CHANCE YOU GET. These are desperate times!"(Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

LIONS Plural!

 Happy Sunday!

This is a Re-Post from August 2019!  Enjoy!

Years ago, and for a period of time, I stopped listening to Gospel music after I heard a soloist proclaim that Daniel put his foot on the neck of the lion in the lion's den.  I can't find that in scripture.  Can you?  But what I do find in scripture is this, "Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of LIONS. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee."(Daniel 6:16, KJV).  Don't miss this!  There were lions plural.  So if it was as the soloist sang, what were the other lions doing while Daniel had his foot on the one singular lion?

Ok, so you think I'm being unreasonable, and nit-picking.  I most certainly am not!  The visual of one lion diminishes the significance of the true miracle that occurred for Daniel.  God delivered Daniel from an impossible situation.  This was so serious the scripture says the king couldn't sleep that night.  The Bible says, "Then King Darius went back to his house. He did not eat that night. He did not want anyone to come and entertain him. He could not sleep all night."(Daniel 6:18, Easy-to-Read Version).  Daniel was not a lion tamer.  He was a good man falsely accused and sentenced to death for praying.  

It happens all the time, are you guilty?  Do you lose sight of the tremendous MIRACLE WORKING POWER of our God?  Are you disappointed because things didn't work out like you thought they would, so you secretly stop trusting God?  Our God is an AWESOME God!  He has not changed!  He is still TRUSTWORTHY.  

What really happened?  So glad you asked!  Let's read Daniel 6:19-23.  "At daybreak the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. As he approached the den, he called out anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from the lions?” “O king, live forever!” said Daniel. “My God sent his angel, who closed the mouths of the LIONS so that they would not hurt me. I’ve been found innocent before God and also before you, O king. I’ve done nothing to harm you". When the king heard these words, he was happy. He ordered Daniel taken up out of the den. When he was hauled up, there wasn’t a scratch on him. He had TRUSTED his God.”(Message).

In case you were wondering if those lions were vicious, "The king gave yet another order; this time he demanded that those who accused Daniel of wrongdoing be captured and thrown into the lions’ den—but not only them—their wives and children too. As they were being pushed into the den, before they even hit the bottom, the lions jumped on them, overpowered them, and crushed their bones in their powerful jaws."(Daniel 6:24, Voice).  Ouch!

Don't let unbelief creep in in any way, not even in a seemingly harmless song.  Our Powerful God specializes in miracles, signs, and wonders!  His Word is truth!

The Psalmist proclaimed, "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven."(Psalm 119:89, KJV).

Love and prayers, Cynthia