Remembering

Hi! Good Morning! What a long time it has been since we got together for a visit! Here, the wind is blowing and the clouds are covering the sky with what appears to be more than a subtle hint of possible rain. Should I put the kettle on for tea or coffee? I thought so too.

With so many hugely dramatic and traumatic happenings taking place around the world something as ordinary as visiting with friends over tea seems like a luxurious indulgence. We at Abundance House have had a summer season filled to the brim and overflowing with hard work, challenges, and blessings. It is just as the prophetic men and women of God prophesied it would be, the greatest  in the midst of the worst. Let it also be known that we at Abundance House are declaring the greatness of God always outshines and overshadows the evil of man. Our God is great! Our God is mighty!

So, the past few weeks I have been pondering a large variety of things. I have been remembering and living again certain seasons or rhythms of life such as bungled attempts at potty training and how to explain thankfulness to a three-year-old. Visiting seasons I never dreamed of living again has become a new experience rather than a repeating of an old because it is being done while parenting young adults in their twenties and almost 20. New. Remember how my word for 2016 was new? Well, everything old is being made new in every way. The exciting, thrilling, breath-taking, and sometimes overwhelming of life are all taking place at the same time! Adventure in its rawest most intense form here.

One of the most interesting aspects of life's newness is that it is happening smack dab in the middle of the ordinary day-to-day living. After all, how much more ordinary does a person get than potty training? How does God do this? How does He touch the ordinary of the daily causing it to become the extraordinary of a lifetime? Only God. And this, only God, is what brings me to some of the things He has had me ponder. Thank you for allowing me to share them with you this morning.


  • God's children need His Word stored up in their heart. It is essential, a vital necessity, NOT a debatable option. 
  • Every answer we need has been divinely placed in the Word of God, the Bible. If we don't know the Bible, we won't be able to know our answers. Hence God telling us in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." See first pondering point for greater clarity.
  • God is God of the individual and the corporate Body of Christ. He desires for both His individual children and His Body to be aligned with Him in every way. 
  • Often the greatest example of faith is not witnessed in the extraordinary or miraculous but in the day-to-day perseverance through the mundane. "Though He slay me yet will I serve Him." "Even the dogs get the crumbs from the Master's table." "At Your Word, it will be done." (quotes from the Bible)
  • A believer in Christ cannot ignore the commands of their Lord and Savior and expect to experience intimate relationship with Him. If knowing our God has instructed us to be kind, walk in love, put others interests ahead of our own, the greatest in the kingdom serves all, give not expecting to be paid back, lay our lives down that others might live, yet we don't follow His instructs, how can we honestly say we love God? The commands are from God Himself, and He has said those who love Him obey His commands. 
  • Jesus promised there would be trials and hardships. He also promised He had provided us everything we need to overcome them all. Why don't I live like the overcomer He has made me?
  • Anyone, and I mean anyone, can be deceived by the enemy. Don't think you can't be. 
  • Relying on anyone or anything other than Christ is an easy in for the devil; don't give it to him.
  • Satan doesn't play "fair". Don't live as if he will follow some set of rules. he won't. There is a reason the Bible says to be alert and cautious, for the enemy roams around like a lion seeking whom he may devour.
  • God is generous, sharing, and hospitable. If I am not generous, sharing, and hospitable I am not being like God.
  • If I am not being and living like God, I am the one who needs to make adjustments, not God.
  • The fruit of my sin is not an attack of the enemy. 
  • Not every "bad" situation is the result of sin; neither is it necessarily an attack of the enemy. Remember the man blind from birth in the Bible? He had been allowed to experience blindness that God might be glorified. 
  • The devil is not nearly as powerful or smart as he is given credit for. He is, however, much sneakier, nasty, and evil than he is frequently given credit for. 
  • God is all: all powerful, all knowing, all present. 
  • Many times we live as if the devil was bigger than God. 
  • Many times we live as if the devil is to blame for the fruit of sinfulness and ignorance manifesting in our lives.
  • Discernment and insight into the ways and purposes of God ought to be sought after more earnestly than it usually is. 
  • Relationship with God is a treasure too often taken for granted and treated carelessly. 
  • If God were as important to me as I say He is, I wouldn't get nearly so frustrated about my plans not coming to pass. I would be too consumed with God and His desires to notice whether mine were coming to be or not. 
  • Frustration and trust cannot co-exist in the same life, neither can confidence and fear.
There you have it. Some of the many things I've been pondering on this spring/summer season. If there is time, tomorrow I'll share some of the books these seasons have held for me/our family. Let's go have some more tea or coffee. 

Love & Hugs,
Abundantly Blessed

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