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“AN AGONIZING NIGHT!”

With my son being held in India, it was a couple of rough days. When he was told by the Embassy that they could not issue an exit visa until he had a ticket, I felt discouraged.  When he was able to secure his ticket, I was so grateful.

He was going into the Embassy at a particular time so I thought we would hear something within a short time. I decided that I did not want to go to bed until I heard from him. I knew what time his appointment was so as the hours passed I started to get worried.

It was past midnight, as I was agonizing with God in tears. I knew that the Lord had a plan but I was struggling with wanting to know that plan. I had already almost lost him from illness in India, so now what was He doing? It was probably about thirty minutes after I started to really agonize with God, that I received a message from my son saying he had secured the exit visa.

My son was questioned for several hours. They wanted to know what he was doing in India. He had to answer all the questions very carefully; otherwise he could have ended up in prison. I was so grateful, to the Lord, for helping him through the situation. After paying a fine he was finally able to secure his exit visa. And I was finally able to go to bed and get some sleep.

Now, as of yesterday, we were able to pick up our son from the airport. I watched anxiously, as the people were coming through the gate, for my son. And when I saw him what a joy I had in my heart. I believe my son was relieved, in his heart, that he was finally home.

This made me think of the Christian walk. We are living in the time of the judgment and God is our judge. Our lives are being “questioned”. “Why are we in this country?” “How are you living?” What people are you involved with?” “What kinds of things are we allowing into our lives?” What are we sharing with others?” etc.

I can picture Jesus, as He is agonizing over His children, in prayer. Pleading with His Father for us, as we come to Him with repentance. He is interceding for us so that we can get out of this country, where we are foreigners.

Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit.  “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26

And Jesus “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25

My experience with my son made me realize how Jesus longs for us to be home. He is agonizing over us. He wants us to choose Him so that He can be with us again. He loves us so deeply. He wants us to succeed and win the battles that we have here in this foreign land. He is there for us to reach out to for help. He is interceding for us. Are we willing to accept the conditions to leave this country so we can go home? Are we willing to pay the “fine”?

You might be asking the question, “I thought salvation was a free gift?” You are absolutely right. But there is also a “fine” to pay. To some it is a very high price to pay. The question is “Do you want to get out of this foreign land? “Do you want to secure and exit visa?” I do want to get out of this country. But I can say I struggle with the price at times. So what is the price? The price is full surrender to God, giving God full control of our lives. This price, for some people, is too high and they choose to stay in the prison of this world.  Is the price worth it for you?

Dear Father,

Give us the courage and the strength to surrender all, because even in surrendering we need Your help and strength. Thank You for loving us and for agonizing over us. Help us to realize the pain that we cause You every time we choose the “prison” of this world. Thank You for Your grace and that it is sufficient for us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Jesus is longing to greet us with open arms. He wants to transport us from this country to our home. He wants to wrap His arms around us and welcome us. He will be so relieved when we arrive. I know that each of us will also be relieved to have finally made it to a better country.

Are you willing to pay the “fine”, surrendering all to God? I can say by experience, when I surrender all to Him, it makes life better. Does that mean all the struggles and trials go away? No. It just means that as I surrender to Him, He is able to help me through the trials. His ways are so much better than mine. But I still have my times of taking control back again but God is so loving and gentle. He knows how to get our attention. Surrender all to Him today.

Love you all.

Do you have an experience that God has brought you through, where you can see His hand at work? Please share I would love to hear about it.

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“I’M BEING HELD IN INDIA”

Have you ever felt helpless, feeling like your hands are tied? You want to be able to do something, to help make things better, but it seems that there is nothing you can do.

I experienced this yesterday when I got a message from my son, who has been in India for the last couple of months. His message was, “Hey, not to freak you out but I’m being held in the country.”

He had applied for two 30-day visas. But apparently the second visa was not acceptable. He did not know this until he arrived at the airport to get on the airplane to come home. They would not allow him to board the airplane home. At that point his ticket was no longer valid. He was in a hard place at this point because now he has not ticket and no money. It turned out that they considered him being in the country illegally for 30 days, which a lot of people were amazed that he was able to do that.

He had to wait until the next morning to go to the Embassy to work things out. He filled out the appropriate paperwork but they would not issue him an exit visa until he got a ticket.

It amazes me every time how God works. A few months ago my son went with a friend to an event in another state. This friend gave him an emergency credit card to use if he ever ran into any difficulties. He hasn’t had a need for it until last night. He needed to get the ticket and he had no money but he was able to get it because he had the card with him.

It made me think about the verse that says, “…Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24 He is always there to answer even before we ask.

My son still doesn’t have his exit visa at this writing. I do know that God has not brought him this far, to let him down, He has a plan. His goal is to teach each one of us that no matter what is happening in our lives we need to trust Him.

How can we learn to trust Him? It seems so hard and scary at the same time. I can tell you from experience that it is easier to talk about than to actually do. But I am going to share a few ideas that can help in bringing about this trust.

  1. Get to know God. This seems almost elementary but this is profound. We need to be in His Word and reading how he has led. See His ways. We tend to put God in this box of our own earthly experiences of trusting other people. God is way bigger and loves you way more than any human is even capable of doing.
  2. Claim His promises. We need to claim His promises. We can’t see His purposes for what comes into our lives but we can claim the promise of Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
  3. Spend time in prayer. We need to agonize with God at times. I don’t believe agonizing is for Him but for us. It is hard to give up our control and let Him have control. We want things to go the way we think is best. God knows things that we do not know.
  4. Reach out to others to pray for you. There is power in prayer. And the more people who pray the more power. This gives others the opportunity to share in the blessing of answered prayer.
  5. Let go and let God. After we have done all that we can do we need to let go and let God. As I said before it is easier said than done. This is the only way we can have peace through the storms of life.

Dear Father,

We all struggle with trusting You. Give us courage and strength. Thank You for Your patience and unfailing love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

It can be a struggle but remember you can pour out your heart to God and He understands all. He is a big God and He can even handle you being angry with Him. The peace that comes in trusting is worth it all.

Love you all.

Have you had a hard time trusting God? Has there been a time when you did trust God and it was worth it all?

Please share your experiences no matter how big or small. This helps all of us build trust in God.

 

 

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“HELP, MY FAUCET’S LEAKING!”

Do you feel like your finances are out of control? Do you have more outgo than come in? Do you feel like it just keeps flowing out?

“Fix the leak, please.”

Recently we started having trouble with the faucet in our kitchen. Every time you turned it on a little water would come out where it shouldn’t be. It wasn’t a big deal at first. But then it got to the point that I had to leave a towel on the backside of the sink.

I came in one day and there was water sitting all over the counter. The faucet had gotten to the point that it was leaking even when the handle was not lifted. It was out of control. At this point something really had to be done. I took some things apart to look at it but I couldn’t figure out the problem. My husband finally took a look and was able to fix the problem. Now there is no more leaking. The solution was easy. The problem was just doing what needed to be done.

This made me think of finances. Our money can be like the leaking faucet. It seems like it disappears, just flowing out. We wonder where it is all going. How can we fix the leak? It seems to start out gradual but then it is just pouring out of control. We are not sure what to do so we try to keep ignoring it. But finally it is so out of control we have to take notice and do something about it.

It definitely takes making a decision. Whether you are single or married this is a very important decision you need to make.

One bit of advice that I would give to those that are single, before you get married make sure that the one you are going to marry and yourself agree on how to handle finances.  This is one of the biggest problems in marriages today, so start out right.

I am going to give you 5 ways that you can use to help get started in fixing the money leak.

Make God a part of your decisions. It is so important to include God. Remember He owns everything. We are His stewards. He is the One that understands the leak and can help you fix it. It does take self-discipline and you need His power to help you.

Create a Budget. Sit down with your spouse or if you’re single find a friend that can help you brain storm, and create a budget. This can take some time. You should do this every month until you get it tweaked just right. Then follow it closely, which leads us to our next step.

 Have an accountability partner. This may be a spouse but if you both have different expectations it may be well to have someone who is well-disciplined in their finances to be the person you are accountable to as a couple. And if you are single find a friend or someone who you know that will hold you accountable, it could even be a mom or dad.

 Start Saving. Make a list of things that you need to have in the future or things you would like to have and start saving for them. It is so easy to just go out and buy on a whim and not really think through it and before you know it money has leaked out. Which leads us to the finally step.

 Start buying as much as possible with cash. There is something about buying with cash that makes it more painful. It is so easy to swipe a debit or credit card without even giving it much thought. When you start buying with a cash only system it will be a very effective way to control spending.

These steps are not exhaustive but will get you started in the right direction.

Dear Father,

I pray that you will guide each one of us as we choose to follow You in our finances realizing that everything belongs to You. Give us the strength and courage to take this step and allow You to fix the leak. In Jesus Name,

Amen

Take courage and start today in allowing the Lord to help you in taking these steps.

Love you all.

What steps have you found that have helped you in getting your finance problems under control?