But God, I can't handle all of this!!

How many times have you heard the phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle” and wondered why He thought you could handle so much? I know I have tons of times!

I know the people telling me that when I am going through a tough time or some hardship all mean well, but I have to remind myself that they must not be studying their Bible very closely if they truly believe that! Why? Because it just isn't true! 

You see, I know that God DOES give us more than we can handle, on our own. There is something key in that last statement, 'on our own'. It did take me a very long time to realize this, but now that I have, it seems like those tough times have gotten a little easier. I

know that no matter what I am going through, if I will put all my trust in God to get me through it, He WILL! The reason He lets us go through difficulties is so that we will pull closer to Him. Maybe not always, but most of the time, when He allows something that we feel we just can't handle to come into our lives, it is because we have made the decision to distance ourselves from Him. Remember, God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us, but we are always leaving Him. There is always some area of our lives that we just don't want God 'butting into'! Right? 

If we will turn to the scriptures when we are feeling overwhelmed, we will find exactly what God has in store for us! We can search and search for the scripture that tells us He won't give us more than we can handle, but we will never find it. It just does not exist!

The scriptures never say that the Lord won’t give you more than you can handle. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it does speak of God giving us an escape from temptations so that it’s not too much to bear. But, when we have to deal with pain, trials, heartache, and burdens– not once does it say it won’t be more than we can bear. Instead, it beautifully says this instead:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11: 28-30)

The words struck my heart, as you can imagine. Christ is speaking to those of us who are carrying burdens much too heavy for our own shoulders. And in that one verse he simply states the reason why we are given more than we can handle: It’s so we can come to him. It’s so we can trust him enough to hand over our heavy, crippling burdens and let him carry the load.

You might be heavy laden right now, searching for some kind of relief. You are probably full of questions. Maybe you are wondering why you have to be full of sadness or drowning in debt, why did that person at church say that to you, why are you stuck raising your children all alone? Perhaps you have recently discovered that you are not able to have biological children, or an adoption you had your heart set on has fallen through, and you know that as a result, the child or children you were planning to give a loving home to, will continue to suffer. Someone you know and love, or maybe yourself, is dealing with a terminal illness and you question what is going to happen to the children or spouse when the inevitable happens. You know that you need someone to help you through these difficult times, but you really just don't want to depend on someone that you cannot see or hear or touch. You know that you should have faith that God will do what He has said He will, but it is so hard to blindly trust! He does promise that He will carry us through those difficult times, so why can't we trust Him to do what He promises? 

Maybe it’s because of pride that we believe we can do it our self. We know we are strong and tough and that we always help others through their difficulties while keeping our own hidden from sight. However, when we become overwhelmed we realize that we are so totally wrong with this way of thinking!

We don't really understand exactly what God is capable of until we totally trust Him to get us through whatever we are dealing with, when we have no other choice. Knowing that He will get us through when we have no other avenue for help, why don't we just trust in Him from the beginning? Why do we insist on making everything much more difficult than it has to be?

Did Daniel hesitate to trust in God when he was placed in the lion's den? Did Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego hesitate when they were placed in the fiery furnace? We have these examples, and many more, to look at and compare our present circumstances to, so why are we still so hard headed?

We need to stop and remember that, no matter how difficult life gets, God is always right there with us. He is always ready, willing, and able to help us through. He just wants us to trust Him. 

DO NOT COVET AND HELP THOSE IN NEED....DO SOMETHING!!!

When you have children, and then grandchildren, your life totally changes. It is never your own life again. Once you become a parent, your life is no longer about the things that YOU want, it becomes about what is best for your child.
We should always be living our lives for what GOD wants for us, but most of us get involved in making the almighty buck, getting the next, newest toy, keeping up with what everyone else is doing! "Well they have a new jet ski/four wheeler/house/car, so I need to get one too!" Is that how God wants us to behave?
Not very long ago, my pastor, Jared Hollier, gave a sermon about coveting. He was doing a series on the ten commandments and, of course, THOU SHALL NOT COVET, was one of his sermons, and a very good one I might add.
But we all, no matter how hard we try not to, we still covet. We want the newer, bigger, better version of whatever we already have. WHY??
Honestly, what is so great about having a 70 inch television on an 96 inch wall? Especially if your room, living room/den, is only a 12x12 room. Even an 16x16 room is too small for a television the size of a movie theater screen!!! WHY do you need one that large?
Usually it's because someone you know has gotten one that maybe is that size or a little smaller, so you want to be as good or better then them and have the same or a larger television.
Did you know that God doesn't care how big you television is? In fact, He would probably prefer you didn't even have one. Spend the time you would be watching TV reading His word and learning about Him, or praying, or serving Him.
Do you know that God doesn't care what kind of car you drive, or house you live in, or toys you have? In fact, He would probably prefer that you concern yourself more with serving Him, even if it means selling some of those 'toys'.
Somewhere in this world there are people who don't know where their next meal is coming from, they don't know if they are going to have a place to safely lay their head tonight to sleep. Somewhere there is a family living in their car because they can't afford rent. Somewhere there are children, and adults, wondering if the water they are drinking is safe.
Does any of that apply to you? I doubt it, but what are you doing to change any of that? Are you actively seeking out someone in need? Keep in mind, someone near you may have a need that is not as drastic as those I mentioned, but they still have a need. Maybe there is a young mother who desperately needs someone to just visit her. Maybe there is an older church member who isn't able to get out much, if at all, who would love nothing more than for you to go over and have a cup of coffee with them!
Perhaps the person in need is right under your nose. The person that looks like they have it all together, may be so torn up inside they don't know how to pray for their problems without appearing selfish, yet they have the kinds of problems that we know God can and will take care of. This person who is right next to you in church may have something going on in their life that they don't want to discuss publicly, but a visit from one of their fellow church members to listen and pray with them would most likely mean the world to them.
We are such a fortunate society if you really think about it. Most of us don't have to wonder about our next meal, or if we are going to have a place to lay our head at night, but we may be wondering how we are going to make it through this storm in our lives.
The storms we suffer through could be a child having difficulties, medical problems, job problems, differences with a neighbor, a grown child in trouble. There are so many things that go on in our every day lives, most of us take for granted that everyone around us has it all together and is probably not in need of prayer or anything else we might have to offer.
Please rethink that. Carefully watch those around you, listen to the conversations around you, notice the people at church. Do they seem genuinely happy, or do they appear to have something on their mind that might be hindering their worship of our Lord God?
If you notice someone who maybe appears to be down, or distracted, talk to them. Let them know that you are available if they ever want to talk, or need anything; and then follow up with them! Give them a day or two and then you call them, or go see them. If the problem has them that distracted and they don't want to speak about it publicly, they are probably too embarrassed to call you to ask for help, so you call them and make the offer.
What can you do to help them? Maybe they just need an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, someone to pray with them. Some may actually need other types of assistance. They may need financial to get them through the week, until the next pay day. Maybe they need assistance taking care of something in their home. Find out their need, and then fill that need.
1 John 3:16-20   "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything."
If you truly love God, find someone in need, even if they just need some company for a while, or you may find someone in need of $100 or more to pay a bill. Help them find a way to do it, even if it means giving it to them yourself. Trust me, if you do this, God will bless you!!
I'll end this with my church motto.... DO SOMETHING!!!

RAIN DOWN REVIVAL *** repost from Living Proof Ministries Blog

Repost from Living Proof Ministries Blog

Rain Down Revival

July 2nd, 2013 Beth

Tags: Posted in Uncategorized

Words blazed in my soul this morning with such force that I had to scramble to my feet to find paper. I’d prayed a few minutes earlier out on my front porch for true revival: for such a groundswell of souls saved that we’d have no earthly explanation, and for believers to be flooded by the Holy Spirit in such a way that our souls would be purified with a holy, selfless, unstoppable fervor. I have prayed those kinds of things before but this time I called upon the Lord with my whole heart to rip away this ceiling that seems to be over our heads. The Holy Spirit is moving with breathtaking force in parts of the world and in segments of the church. Why not among all of us?? And why not now? We love Him, too!

So many of our pastors, leaders, evangelists, and teachers are crying out for it. We see glimpses of it. We feel it pressing on the walls of many of our churches. The paint is beginning to crack. We sense a change coming. The roof shifting. We know the sun of righteousness is rising on a different kind of day and the horizon beaming with a new shade of color on young and old, on rich and poor. On all who would let Him lift their chins despite their sins, for our redemption draws near. I feel the stirring of a fresh work of the Holy Spirit in my own congregation and sense that He’s ushering us step-by-step and person-by-person and Sunday-by-Sunday to a place of open-armed willingness for whatever He would give us. For many of us who have felt the breezes of revival stirring, we can’t often define how the Holy Spirit is working or explain the difference between one gathering and the next. All we know is that there are times when we are left to say, “Only God could do that.” We taste it. It’s on the tip of our tongues but our throats are still parched.  Our voices may be hoarse and our volume weak but, at the sound of His yes, the mute would find speech.

I cried out this morning for Him to remove the obstacles that hold us at bay on the damp edges of a mighty torrent of revival when, before us, is the deep. We have seen drops of rain but, if we’re willing to be honest, most of us know that we have not yet seen what the living Lord Jesus Christ is capable of doing when He has a mind to pour His Spirit out on millions and wreak the holy havoc of true revival with innumerable souls. We have blamed our government and every secular institution possible when revival has ever remained a matter between God and His own people in the pages of Scripture. They are not our problem. We point fingers at our pastors when many of them have nearly broken their backs trying to drag us to revival. We hold worship leaders responsible for our own small worship and say that it must be the songs.

My heart burns with a sense that part of this ceiling over our heads is our demand that God must bring awakening and revival within our means, keep our rules, and respect our boundaries. If Christ is to do what He longs to do, we must relinquish all our expectations and formulas for revival. Lest we think we can’t leash a work He’s willing to perform, the words of Matthew 13:58 and Mark 6:5-6 won’t peel off the gospel page. We keep getting together and rehearsing for a revival He’s not yet fully attending. Why?? Why does He wait?

I think one reason is that we are afraid for Him to do whatever it would take. We are scared of the uncertainty of revival. We don’t trust God with the work of His own Spirit. He might embarrass us. Or make us change our minds. God won’t work contrary to His Word but many of us must admit that it is not His Word we are worried about Him working contrary to. We are worried about Him working contrary to our tastes. We are worried that He will not use our methods. I said we. I have done the same thing. I want Him to work in a way that makes me feel comfortable. But maybe a true outbreak of revival is not comfortable. I don’t know. I can’t say I’ve ever seen what I believe God may want to do in our day. Meanwhile, numerous gatherings of believers dwindle and die or rust for the sake of routine. Generations are falling away as revival clings to our doorposts. It’s there. It’s close. But why won’t it come on in? We feel it. We hunger for it. Why does it delay? Perhaps there are many reasons why revival waits and we could write more blog articles and list the possible hindrances and deliberate over them and mull over them and debate them and exert more and more energy while we have less and less time.

Or maybe we could say today,

Lord, if Your time is now – and it’s the only time countless millions have – remove the obstacles, whatever they are. Shove them out of the way and COME, Lord Jesus, with a torrential downpour of Your Holy Spirit.

I’m just looking for anyone out there who would be willing to echo a prayer something like this one. I bring it to you in humility, lacking much, wanting much. I do not wish to put words on any tongue detached from a heart. Vocabulary is meaningless without volition. If this is not you and if these sins are not yours and these aches find no place in your soul, you are not who I’m talking to. But this is me and I wondered if it might be anyone else, for where two or three are gathered in His Name, crying out for a cracked-open heaven, that ceiling that we feel shifting over our heads could shatter to our feet. I’m tired of giving God an inch and expecting a mile. I want to go with Him wherever He’s going.

Most glorious all-powerful, merciful God,

Your Son died for more than these. We thank You for what You’ve already done but we beg You to do infinitely more. Look upon this ailing planet, pulsing with the hopeless, helpless, the hiding and the dying. You have willed that people would not die in their sins but be saved and redeemed through Your Son, Jesus Christ. You promised that the Cross was big enough for us all, with stakes pointed northward, southward, eastward, westward, reaching everlasting arms to the ends of the earth. We know what Your Word says You can do and we confess to You that many of us have not yet seen it with our eyes but we feel it stirring in our souls. Hosanna, Lord! Save now!

We who are willing confess to you our sinful arrogance. We have prescribed to You by what means You, the solitary Healer, should heal souls and You have refused to sign Your Name to our prescriptions. We say to You this day, write Your Name across our sky and bring revival! Save by whatever means brings You glory. Bring it any way You like but bring it, Lord. We free You from using our methods. We free You from using our denominational names. We free You from using our buildings though we welcome You to them. We free You even from using us, though we cast ourselves before You at Your complete disposal and beg that You would. Use none of us. Use all of us. Use whatever people and whatever means honors You most but do it, Lord. Please do it!

We confess to You our appalling narcissism in asking You to mirror us. We confess to You our over-sophistication and snobbery. We confess to You that we are terrified of Your Holy Spirit. We confess our pathetic arrogance for having forbidden signs and wonders when there could be no greater sign and wonder than a tidal wave of salvation rolling on our dry banks. Oh, Jesus, that we would not leave You to marvel that You could do so few miracles among us because of our unbelief.

We repent this day for not trusting You with what revival should look like. We repent this day from prioritizing our dignity over Your downpour. We confess to You that we have torn pages from our Bibles and handed them back to You and demanded that You work through what was left. We confess to You this day that the tent pegs of Scripture are vastly wider than our imaginations and our expectations.

Lord, if souls are saved by the thousands of thousands and millions of millions, we pledge to You this day that we will not, in our sectarianism, pick apart the process and reason how it was not legitimate. We are ready even if it’s messy. Even if, atop the beautiful feet carrying the good news, are bruised and broken bodies of willing evangelists.

Open Heaven. Rain down, Holy Spirit. We repent for having asked You to respect our boundaries. We bow now to Your boundless Spirit and make room over our lowered heads for You to fall upon us with power and might and a firestorm of Your great affection. You have loved us so. You have loved us well. Scar our hearts with Your Cross and love through us, Lord. Oh, Holy Spirit of the Living Christ, come without limit. We have known You were able but begged You to be willing. All the while, we have been disabled because we have been unwilling.

To what conceivable degree we could have held them in our hands, we turn the reins of revival back over to the Rider who is Faithful and True and we plead that You would not let them rest on the neck of that great horse but that You’d bid him run.

Whatever, Lord. Do what You want but do it now. Do it here. You have no peer. Make Your name glorious. Save now. We avail ourselves.

O God, I avail myself.

In the holy name of Christ our King. Amen.

Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry;

While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.

God's creations and prayer.

Coming home from church tonight I had the privilege of seeing a couple of God's beautiful creatures that are typically very elusive to humans, whitetail deer. I saw two in a regular spot in the back of a hay field  They stood and just stared at me as I sat in my truck, in the middle of the road, staring back at them. Then it dawned on me that I had my camera with me! So I grabbed it and snapped a couple of pictures. They were pretty far off but I finally managed to zoom in and get my hands still enough to get a couple close up pictures. I didn't see any babies and I don't know if these were does, or bucks since right now the bucks may not have any antlers yet. It is about time for them to start growing them back though!Well, this made me excited to go check my game cameras that I have set up at my deer stand. I am hoping to catch some mommy's with their fawns on camera! So, sometime today, I will load up and head to the stand and go check my cameras. I really hope to have some nice pictures of some moms with their fawns!   This also made me stop to think about the creativity it took for God to create such beautiful animals. Well, one thing led to another and I began thinking about all of God's beautiful creatures, some of them not as beautiful as others, like the armadillo that keeps getting in my garden, but it still took a great deal of creativity to come up with an animal with a hard shell, not quite as hard as a turtles, but close, a pointed nose for digging holes and finding bugs, and just a short, stiff, stubby tail! Of course, I had to think of some of the other creatures God created for us. Cows, pigs, dogs, cats, goats, ALL of the various birds!! All I could come up with to say was, "WOW!!!" I am very blessed to be allowed to sit in the mornings and watch my chickens as they explore their pen, hoping to find a bug that may have fallen in there during the night. I get to watch as blue jays, cardinals, wrens, finches, squirrels, and other critters wake up and get about their daily business. I think some of my favorites are the hummingbirds. I have several feeders set up and numerous hummers that come to the feeders. Every time I have one fly up to a feeder, I feel so blessed that they chose my feeder to come to! I love it when they are comfortable enough to actually land on the edge of the feeder to get the nectar. Just getting to see them up close like that is such a privilege!!!I am also blessed to have been able to plant me a flower garden this spring. I have a large variety of flowers planted in there with still more to plant, I just have to figure out where! I have daisies, petunias, dahlias, hydrangeas, brides wreaths (these were in my now deceased mother in  law's yard so they are very special), a couple of dogwood trees as well as a couple of redbud trees that also came from her yard. The trees had fallen and broken after a severe storm we had, so I am praying that God allows them to survive and thrive. I also have some jasmine and honeysuckle planted, as well as some seedlings of some sunflowers, and daisies that my granddaughter and I planted in some very small 'mini greenhouses'. These are just about ready for transplant in our garden.I have wild petunias planted as well as some native Texas bluebonnetsl.  Then we come to my favorite flowers, my hibiscus and roses. The rose, any rose, has always been my very favorite flower. I have about 5-6 various roses as well as a white rose tree! Practically all of these roses had beautiful blooms or many buds on them. The rose tree itself was quite a show!!Notice I said had and was, past tense. That's because we had a goat escape his pen, and pig out on my flowers! He also ate about half of one of my cherry tomato plants and the tops of several of my husbands jalapeno plants! Needless to say, I was ready to butcher a goat! When we rounded him up to put him back in his pen, I prepared myself because he has been somewhat ornery lately. I  picked up a nice sized piece of bamboo to use if I needed to, to knock him away from me. You see, he tends to want to butt me any time I am around and this day was no different. As my husband was leading him to the gate of his pen, he spotted me and decided to 'play'. He started to come at me with his head down, ready to give me a significant head-butt! But, instead as he got within my reach, I swung the bamboo pole I had in my hand and promptly gave him a migraine headache. He stumbled back a step or two, shook his head a few times, and then just looked at me with this look that seemed to say, "wha-what was that for?" I promptly explained to him that if he decided to come at me again like that, I would put him on the ground, possibly 6 feet under! (I don't think we would actually bury a goat that deep, but it sounded good at the time!) So, he decided to leave me alone and go into his pen with no further problems! Then came a better inspection of my garden.This goat had eaten all but one of my rose blooms, as well as the buds!! He dined on my hibiscus blooms and buds, leaving me one, snacked on some daisies and petunias, and for dessert, he decided to have his vegetables. He devoured half a large cherry tomato plant, complete with small tomatoes, as well as several jalapeno plants and their blooms!We 'grounded' him to his pen for a couple of days.My rest and relaxation come from my flower garden, whether I am working in it, weeding, planting new plants, watering, or just talking to my plants, or just sitting in the shade and watching my beloved plants grow. Of course, on the times I am watching my plants grow, I am also enjoying many birds coming to my feeders, the hummingbirds coming to their feeders, squirrels playing and eating nuts or other morsels  they find on the ground, and my chickens.My chickens can calm me down when it seems nothing else will. I have 5 bantams, 2 of which are roosters who are learning to crow! I also have 23 regular sized chickens, including some yellow (buff orpingtons), black (black australorp), and Americanas (Auracaunas, that lay colored eggs), none of which appear to be roosters at this point. I was hoping for at least two roosters, but it is looking more and more like those I lost as baby chicks may have been my roosters that I ordered. Oh well!For me to kick back in my very comfortable lawn chair and listen to the various sounds my chickens make, including the crows of my two banty roosters may sound crazy, but it relaxes me. I could sit and listen to them for hours. I am so thankful to our wonderful Lord and savior for the many beautiful creatures He created for our pleasure and enjoyment. Many He created for food sources for us, others He created for us to watch and enjoy their beauty, and I believe to learn lessons from them from time to time. Do you think the birds and squirrels worry about tomorrow? Do they worry if Johnny or Suzy like them? Do they worry that their house is not as nice as the squirrel family in the next tree, or the wren's nest in the shed?Simple answer to all of these questions is no! So why do we worry about things like that? As the scripture says, to paraphrase, 'God takes care of the smallest of the birds so why do you think He would not take care of you?'  He promises to take care of us, in good weather and bad, in sunshine or darkness, in feast or famine, so why do we doubt Him? Yes, we doubt Him. We seem to think that God doesn't have what it takes to figure out our problems and help us through them. We seem to think that we know the best way to handle situations without God's help. We must think that way because we certainly don't seek His input or help! It is so easy to ask for His advice or help too, and that is what is so sad!! All we have to do is stop for a few moments and PRAY to Him, speak to Him!! ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!! YOU RECEIVE NOT BECAUSE YOU ASK NOT!! Do either of those sound familiar? They should because they are in God's word! They are words that Jesus spoke! We don't have what we need or want because we do not ask for it, or we may ask in passing, such as while you are walking to your garden you speak under your breath, "Lord we sure could use some rain." That is not a prayer!! I don't think you have to get down on your knees every time you pray, though it sure is a good idea from time to time!! But I do believe that God would like for you to spend more time, more sincere time with Him in prayer. He is not a sharpie that we can use to check off things from our to-do list! He, God, is what is going to help us get through our day!Does he promise that if we pray sincerely to Him, we will always have only good days? NO! But He does promise that if we turn to Him, pray to Him, He will be right beside us in times of distress, as well as times of happiness and celebration, though we usually don't have anything to say to Him when we are happy or celebrating!Think seriously about your prayer life. I know mine definitely needs significant improvement! What about yours? Could you benefit from spending more time in SINCERE prayer? Don't take your grocery list of wants to God and just tick through it item by item until you complete the list and then close your prayer! That's not what He tells us to do!! If you are unsure of how to pray, reread the Lord's Prayer!          Matthew 6: 9-13              9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

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