Peace - Spiritual Sundays

Job 22:21-25 - "Stop quarreling with God! If you agree with Him, you will have peace at last, and things will go well with you. 22Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. 23If you return to the Almighty and clean up your life, you will be restored. 24Give up your lust for money, and throw your precious gold into the river. 25Then the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!"






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The Day After Thanksgiving

Hi everyone! How was your Thanksgiving celebration? I pray you all had a good time, together with your loved ones and with our Savior, Who made everything possible!

I woke up early yesterday. My body was just used to having that self, built-in alarm, that roused me at every 3 or 4 am. I did my devotion at that time. As the dawn ended, and the tiny rays of the bright sun peeked through the lingering darkness of the night, I started cooking.

Out of the blue, my husband and son and I just agreed to go near the ocean and whatever I would cook, we’d take and enjoy lunch there.

Sometimes, this family is like that. We don’t plan. Sometimes, it’s better that way for us, having 3 different schedules sometimes to make it agree with each other’s at times. But with all our plans, there is always the 4th Person involved, Who happens to always have time though for us.

We all felt renewed yesterday. A feeling of gratitude just blanketed the Rcubes’ household. I had my hubby read Psalm 100 out loud after we prayed together. He is so good! The Lord is so good. All the time.

So, I peeled sweet potatoes as I boiled some wild rice and stuck the small piece of prime rib in the oven, the size which was enough for the three of us. As I started brewing coffee in the pot and made a heavy breakfast of potato hash browns and cracked eggs on top. The toaster was busy accommodating 4 slices that day at the same time. Let’s say in about 3 hours, I had the prime rib cut up in slices, gravy packed. With the side dishes of sweet potatoes sweetened with brown sugar and butter and wild rice with corn.

My husband, the whole time, readied the small RV we have. I love Roadtreks. Just the perfect size for us and it consumes gas like an SUV. [Attention: This is not a paid advertisement].

My son started preparing all the drinks and the other gadgets we needed.

With everyone working, we made it possible to leave the house by 9:30am.

The road was busy, filled with different kinds of vehicles trying to perhaps make it to their Thanksgiving lunch or dinner with their loved ones in another destination. We got to our favorite spot in no time. The wind was still. The skies were so blue and clear! The water was still. The little boats were docked in their slips, slightly dancing rhythmically with the little waves that occasionally rocked them. Some people were walking. Others were biking. Oh what a calming, peaceful place to be and enjoy His goodness!

We were so awed by the peacefulness that we hardly took pictures! But sometimes, the best in life can't be captured with any camera. It is just captured deep in your heart!

After a few hours of enjoying everything we prepared, we decided to go home a little early. We took the back roads as we neared our place. It was fun to see the other things we otherwise, would have missed if we didn’t take that opportunity to see and slow down with this pace of everyday living.

As my husband parked the RV, he saw me sweeping the leaves in the front yard and called out loud, “Thank God! If we didn’t go out, I wouldn’t have discovered that the hose connected to the sewer line had a big hole now and would need to be replaced.”

This was a big help for us because we were planning to take a trip next month. Can you imagine the big mess if my hubby didn’t discover that problem? “Thank God is just right!”

I loved that I heard him spoke with gratefulness despite that minor problem he encountered. Because that would always be the right attitude to have. To be thankful no matter what circumstances we’re in. Whether we are faced with sicknesses, even death, financial problems, losing our homes, divorce, losing loved ones…..We, as Christians, learn to endure. Our view must be focused toward God and with the eye of developing godliness.

Because that’s what our God says. We are not to tough it out through life because that’s the good thing to do, nor are we called to perseverance just to save face, to avoid embarrassment, or to escape ridicule.

We are called to endurance so that we can follow God, show trust in God, draw near to God, imitate God, please no one but God and reflect God to others.

So, this day post-Thanksgiving, may we all remain joyful and thankful because we are all called to a relationship with God. We are called to conform to the character of God. We are called to walk with God as Christ did. We are called to live by the power of God!

Psalm 95:6-7 -”Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God.”

Are You A Winner Or A Turkey?

[Please silence my playlist first...]

“Can’t stuff this?” Yes, you can be…

In this competitive world, nobody wants to be a loser! Same with Jesus, He wants us all to be winners! Yes, it’s true! We all can be “winners” in Christ, not “turkeys!”…Just repent for your sins, trust in Him and make Him Lord of your life. Just mean this prayer with all of your heart and pray it out loud:

“Dear God in heaven, I know that I have sinned against You and ask for Your forgiveness. I do believe that Jesus Christ died as payment for my sins. I believe He rose again to prove He is able to save. I place my faith in Him alone to save me. I now receive Him as my personal Savior. From now on, please help me to turn from my sin and live a life pleasing to You. I pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

If you sincerely prayed this, congratulations to you for being a winner in Christ! But it doesn’t stop there. Join a church who glorifies no one but only Jesus. So you can be more knowledgeable about His true and faithful love for you. Read the Bible.

The song was singing “can’t stuff this!” Yes…don’t stuff yourself anymore with worldly things but stuff yourself with things of Christ!

“Be filled with the Spirit!” - Ephesians 5:18

Some of the “turkeys” who became WINNERS in Christ:

~ Paul - converted through a light and the voice of Jesus; became a Christian missionary and theologian [his story is in the Book of Acts and he was the one who wrote letters to different churches].

~ Augustine - converted through a voice and reading Romans 13:13-14 “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

~John Bunyan - converted through waking dreams - “A voice did suddenly dart from heaven into my soul, which said, ‘Will you leave your sins and go to heaven, or have your sins and go to hell?’… “Oh, me thought, Christ! Christ! There was nothing but Christ that was before my eyes…Now Christ was all; all my wisdom, all my righteousness, all my sanctification and all my redemption.”

~ Blaise Pascal - converted through a spiritual experience of God.

And there are many, many more!!! So, do you want to be a WINNER or a TURKEY?

Oh, Lord in heaven, thank You for making me be a winner in Jesus. If He didn’t die on that cross, I would forever be a “turkey” with no sense of hope, of freedom, of true love, of everything that Your love offers. I pray that many more “turkeys” out there will come to know Your faithful love and gift of forgiveness and may their hearts be opened and choose to become winners in Christ. Let it start with my own loved ones, who are getting filled with all the empty stuffing this world offers.

Help them Lord to yield their lives to Jesus and be stuffed with the Holy Spirit instead.

Remove any unwanted seasonings in me, except salt that with that distinct flavor, people around me can taste Your everlasting kindness and faithful and true love.

I love You Lord. Thank You for being Who You are. Thank You for Your unconditional love. Thank You for making me feel worthy living this life and as I wait to go home to Yours. I love You Lord! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving you all! God bless you abundantly!

Pray!

"When a Christian shuns fellowship with other
Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the
Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil
shouts for joy." ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The unit deputy sent him to the Clinic, complaining of feeling like he just had a stroke. But he was able to walk in that long passageway. He came in, complaining of left arm pain, some headache on his right side of head.

As the other nurse allowed him to sit to be evaluated, he asked me to go along with him. I helped the other nurse by taking the patient’s vital signs so he could just concentrate on asking him questions regarding his medical and mental health. This was a big, muscular guy, his sculpted chest visible through the orange prison uniform.

All of a sudden, his eyes welled up with tears.

“Why are you crying?” asked the other nurse.

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m not an emotional kind of guy and my eyes just got watery just like that. I got scared. This was something new,” he replied.

But listening to him and watching his eyes turned red and weepy, I sensed something else. I didn’t say anything yet and out of respect, just let the other nurse did his thing.

All the vital signs were normal, except for a racy pulse. Despite the lack of chest pain, both of us decided to do an EKG to make sure that there was nothing going on with this inmate’s heart. 2 recorded readings came back normal.

He sat up, still with concerned look. This time, I interrogated him after the other nurse allowed me to.

“Sir, there is something you are not telling us. You have been denying any medical or mental problems so there is no reason why your eyes would weep just like that. I saw that worried look in your eyes. Is there anything at home or in your unit bothering you?” I softly queried.

“Ma’am, I told you. I have no problems from home. Everything is okay and in my unit. I’m a tough guy! I’m a Christian!” he firmly stated.

“You’re a Christian?” I asked…”Then, pray!”

I usually don’t mention spiritual things in front of co-workers but this time, as the inmate initiated it, I felt the need as I prayed in my mind for the Lord’s guidance:

“If you are undergoing spiritual attacks, pray! There is nothing to be afraid of,” I calmly replied as the deputy and the other nurse just laughed it off.

The inmate said, “Ma’am, I have no demons!”

“I didn’t say you’re possessed or something. But you were the one who initiated it by saying you’re a Christian. If you are a true follower of Christ, then, you must know that demons are all around us, trying to scare you, intimidate you, and stop anything good you want to do,” I continued. “Pray!” I repeated.

He grew silent but still didn’t want to say if there was anything bothering him. There was nothing else we could do. As he got up and left to go back to his unit, the worrisome look on that face came back all over again.

“I’ll call you guys again. If this happens. I’m scared,” he uttered.

As the other nurse and I went back inside the clinic and spoke with the charge nurse, the other nurse had this to say:

“I don’t know about nurse Rcubes, I was just more on the physical symptoms. But every time she would talk to him and asked him questions, he calmed down. But when I started asking him, he became more agitated.”

“There is something he’s not telling us,” I added. “I just know it. I can’t forget that fearful, weepy eyes. He is a big guy and to see him get teary like that, there was just something eating his heart out.”

This inmate was incarcerated many, many times for burglary, rape, and use of controlled substances. Trapped in that habit of using illegal substances, it drove him to steal to provide for that need. His minds not in the right state, drove him to commit more crimes like rape and physical abuse to his spouse.

In the prison, other inmates don’t like those who commit child abuse or other abuses like spousal abuse. When they hear that someone comes in with those kinds of acts, they wait for an opportunity to hurt and even kill that inmate.

I can only wonder what is eating that man’s heart. But he is up against two possible enemies: humans and spiritual.

“Pray” like what I told him. Was all I could do at that moment.

How about you? What is eating your heart out? Turn to God and PRAY!