Filling the Gap Ministries

The Story of Jacob (Please read the entire story when you have your quiet time with God): Genesis Chapters 27-33

Galatians 5:25: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

1 Thessalonians 1:3: “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Titus 1:2-3: “-a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at His appointed season, He brought His word to light throughout the preaching entrusted to me by the command of our God our Savior.”

I hope you enjoy reading this post. Yes, it is longer than usual, but I praise God for what He showed me through writing it! May He reveal much to you as well…

The other day, while driving to take Canaan to preschool, I saw a mother duck walking down the side of the road, with two baby ducklings following closely behind. I had to stop for road work, so I began to watch the ducks (Hey, if you could see where I live, you would totally understand! haha!). Based on where we were, I knew the ducks had walked a long way. Their journey came to an end when the mother duck led her babies to a small mud puddle on the side of the road. She stopped, hesitated, but then ushered everyone into the puddle. I felt sorry for them because they were trying to swim in a dirty overcrowded pool of muddy water. As the traffic moved, I noticed that right past the puddle, there was a huge beautiful pond! I thought, “Why didn’t you keep on walking to the pond and not settle for the puddle?” Then, I saw why. The pond couldn’t be seen from the puddle. A big bush was in between, obstructing the view. Those ducks were so close! They had no idea that what they really wanted was right around the corner…if they had just kept walking. I’m sure the momma duck was looking for a pond, but she had a plan-B…the puddle. I know this sounds silly, but God allowed me to see those ducks. He immediately reminded me of how often I tend to become spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally frustrated. How instead of waiting on Him to give me His very best, I settle for what “I” view as His best. God showed me that when I become weary from walking, I often stop at the puddle when the pond is just around the corner. But, there is good news for us “plan-B puddle ducks”!! His word is full of people who did the very same thing! And His word shows us the best part…how to keep walking to find the pond He promises.

As I mentioned, the Bible gives numerous accounts of Godly men and women who went ahead of God and tried to “speed things along”, by orchestrating their own plans. First, you have the lovely couple, Adam and Eve, who decided that God must be ‘holding out’ on them with the whole, ‘don’t eat the fruit’ thing (we know that didn’t go well). Abraham thought he would help God along with His promise of blessing him with children. That didn’t go well either (I can sure see why! Women don’t share men very well). The Israelites thought they would just say and do what they wanted to, even though God kept telling them the game plan (We know that just led to alot of walking). We get so frustrated with these people of the Bible and are eager to point out their flaws. It is easy for us to sit back and say what they should have done. But, we KNOW the rest of their story. It’s so different when it is our own self who is waiting on God to move and we can’t see past the bush. Don’t we, at times, think God is holding out on us? Don’t we get impatient with God? Don’t we grumble and gripe while we walk, even though we have His promises? We even go as far as having a ‘back up plan”…just in case God doesn’t come through for us. Or, just in case God doesn’t answer us exactly the way we want Him to. In preparing this particular post, God brought to my mind, the story of yet another child of God who stopped at the plan-B puddle. I am referring to Jacob. If we read the end of the story of Jacob, we see a patriarch who saw the very power of God in his life. We see a man who God protected and blessed. We see one of the men that would continue the very bloodline of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But at first glance, Jacob was a complete mess. His name even meant “cheater, heel grabber”. He wanted God’s blessing so bad, that he was willing to take it by force by deception. In other words, he stopped at the puddle and made himself fit. But then, the greatest part, God takes Jacob’s failure and works it to Jacob’s good. Picture this(Genesis ch. 27 & 28): Jacob has just ran away from his home for deceiving his father and his brother. He steels a blessing that wasn’t even for him. He breaks his fathers heart and his angry brother vows to kill him. It is night and Jacob is tired, sad, and even afraid. He has never really been away from home and to leave on such harsh circumstances was even more depressing. It was there at Bethel that God meets Jacob in a powerful way. God gives Jacob a promise for the future: “All peoples on earth would be blessed through you and your offspring.” Then, God ministers to Jacob’s immediate problem. He promises this lonely wanderer that he would be with him and never leave Jacob. Verse 15 says, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” What an awesome meeting with the Almighty God!! This gives Jacob fuel to keep walking. Now, if you are like me, you read this and say, “Corrie, this is Jacob, not me. I have been walking my Christian walk and waiting on God to speak and I don’t hear Him. I see alot of puddles, but there is no pond in sight.” We must remember that God’s word and the Holy Spirit, allows us to have encounters with God any time we want or need to. People in the Old Testament did not have access like this. You and I can pick up God’s word at 3:oo in the morning and read His words and hear His promises to us. We also have to remember that God spoke to Jacob when He was in the wilderness. He was walking to “no where” (in Jacob’s mind). But we are never walking ‘no where’ with God. As His children, we must realize the sovereignty of God. We mustn’t, at any point, think that God doesn’t care about our cries and our discontentment. In fact, just as the Israelites did, we must cry out to God for the pond and not settle for the plan-B puddle. No plan that you nor I have for our life will EVER be greater than God’s plan for our life. The last part of the story speaks of Jacob’s doubt of God. After this encounter with God at Bethel, years pass and Jacob gets word that his brother, Esau, is looking for him. Yea, the ANGRY brother that Jacob ripped off a blessing from, then left! Instead of continuing to walk to “the pond” in faith and trust God to be true to His promise, Jacob develops a Plan-B puddle to soften the blow with Esau. That night, God meets with Jacob again and reminds him of His promise. By deciding to trust God, Jacob’s reunion with his brother is then greater than he ever could have imagined OR ARRANGED HIMSELF. Good story, right? The question is, what do WE do? Maybe you’ve read this whole post while thinking about an area in your life that you just don’t understand. Maybe you have been like me, at times, and tried desperately to figure out a way for you to be content with this area…but peace never comes. Doors continue to close. You continue to look for temporary fixes or “puddles”. But God, being the perfect loving Father, must keep His promise to us by only giving us the best…the “pond”. The answer to this is found in Galatians 5:25. God’s word tells us to keep in step with the Spirit. In other words, we keep walking to the pond by faith and never stop at puddles. But how is this possible, when we walk that narrow road for miles and miles? I am learning Paul knew this secret. Paul knew that faith is about perseverance and going with what you know about God, rather than what you don’t know about Him. The problem is we are only willing to know so much. Instead of walking in the Spirit, we look for a ’spiritual bench’ to sit and complain a while. I have noticed while I sit on that bench, the Plan-B starts to develop in my mind. This is dangerous. This is when we risk missing the pond. So, to find the pond, pray when you don’t feel like it. Read God’s word even if you don’t want to. This, is keeping in step with the Spirit. I hope you will join me in continuing to seek God for the pond. Let us not find ourselves “making do” with a dirty puddle, or starring at the obstructive bush that appears to have blocked us. May we cry out to our Father, keep walking in faith, and thank Him in advance for keeping His promise of the pond…no matter when it is we find it.

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today: Father, please forgive me for being impatient with you. You have given me so much evidence that you know what is best for me and if I will just keep seeking you, you will give it to me when it is the perfect time. Help me to realize how significant being YOUR child, really is. May I turn my head away from all the puddles that Satan tells me is the best for me. May I keep my eyes on you so that they forever lock with yours. After all, you have never taken your eyes off of me…

Hey guys! My sister in law, Katie, captured our visit with Beth More and wrote it on my blog. I wanted to make sure you were able to read it on the website. It was truly a blessing to be able to meet Beth and see God be glorified in and through her. I also praise God for Katie. Thank you for taking the time to share your heart with all of us (Love you Katie!!!). I hope you all enjoy reading about our big day with Beth.  Thank you for the prayer for me while I have been sick. Please continue to pray for Shane and I as we travel to Boston this week to see my doctor. Thank you all for patiently waiting on the next post. And yes, a new one is about to go up!!! —Love, Corrie

Meeting Beth Moore: Written by Katie Taylor

Last Wednesday me, Corrie and Canaan loaded up in the Kia and headed to the Family Christian book store. Beth Moore, one of our generation’s most beloved Bible study authors and teachers, was gracing the Birmingham area with her presence on behalf of her new book, “So Long Insecurity”. We were very excited for the opportunity to meet her and have our books personally signed by her. Here is our little posse awaiting Mrs. Moore’s arrival :

Mrs. Corrie Clay

Me

Corrie’s Aunt Nancy

Our friend, Devin

And in case you are thinking “poor Canaan, I wonder how he managed being immersed into girl world like that?” Rest assured, he came out of the deal with 2 wrestlers (R Truth and the Edge if you are up on that kind of thing and care to know) added to his collection.

Here he is holding up his prize:

Around 5pm we met up with Aunt Nancy and Devin at the bookstore and began to line up as we waited for Mrs. Moore to arrive. Our Canaan did so well. Here he is sitting in the floor by Mommy waiting patiently.

Things started to get really interesting after the bookstore staff announced that Mrs. Moore was standing right outside the door about to enter. I took this picture of Devin to fully illustrate the intensity of the moment. I think she was trying to get a really good shot of Beth. This is passion people! (Devin, this is why we love you!)

Canaan really didn’t understand who we were waiting all day to see or why. When asked on the phone earlier that day what we were doing he replied, “I don’t know. Waiting to see some Bible study lady”. Then, when she finally walked in Canaan asked “is that her with the red lipstick?”

Next was my favorite part. Before we started, the whole store quieted down while someone led prayer over us and Mrs. Moore. Then one by one, we each got an opportunity to thank her personally for doing what God has called her to do and have our books personally signed by her.

Corrie went first out of our group. Corrie was personally grateful to Mrs. Moore for an encouraging letter she wrote Corrie. This letter came during the extremely difficult time when Corrie first learned of the incurable autoimmune disease she had, amidst many other overwhelming circumstances she was facing. God used Beth’s letter to confirm to her that He had a purpose through all that was happening. Corrie says that Beth’s letter put wind to her back to persevere. And as Corrie faithfully put one step in front of the other with God through all those incomprehensible hardships, the ministry God had promised her so many years before began to take form and bear fruit for Jesus Christ’s great Name. Yes Beth, you were right, “glory is at stake” in each one of our lives. This blog and Corrie’s speaking ministry is in so many ways a testimony to the importance of encouraging and exhorting one another to keep confidence in God and persevere (Hebrews 10:35-36). Let nothing make you quit. Corrie, you will be richly rewarded for doing this very thing, and you are already receiving so much of what has been promised.

Here she is with Beth,

I, on the other hand, was unusually speechless. There seemed to be too much to say in less than 5 minutes to someone who had been used so greatly by God in my life, but whom I didn’t know personally. That seemed odd to me as I quietly stood there while she signed my book. I think I mumbled something to her about my love for God’s Word being birthed through doing her Bible studies, but I was seriously about to lose it emotionally. I reasoned that no words could be adequate enough to explain what God had done inside of me as a result of her mentoring me through her Bible studies, and that she could never understand this side of heaven all that it meant to this one life. She is a mother to me in the faith. I’ve learned how to study and apply God’s Word in my everyday life from watching how it works in her life.

In case you are thinking that is out there, I hope that you see that this is scriptural. Check out examples of this in Titus 2:3, 1 Cor. 11:1, Phil. 3:17, and 1 Tim. 4:12 just to mention a few. In all of these verses you see that it is Biblical and also vital that people of the faith live their lives as an example or a model to be followed. This godly way of life is unique from the world we live among and is a pattern that is passed down from generation to generation. In my own personal life, Corrie was the first person to show me that being a Christian is about having your very own relationship with God and NOT about all the seemingly mindless, legalistic chores I thought it was about. Mrs. Moore was the first person to whet my appetite for the study of God’s Word, and to see it as personal to me. Their fire and passion for God spilled into my little life, and I am overwhelmingly grateful for them.

Here I am with Mrs. Moore,

Here is Aunt Nancy with Beth,

While we were there, we also had an unexpected opportunity to meet up with 2 fellow bloggers in the faith. Here is Corrie with Jennyhope and Mary Snyder. I’m not sure how to link their names, but here are the links to their blogs:

http://www.maryrsnyder.com/

http://www.jennyhope-jennyhope.blogspot.com/

Corrie has been working on a new post, so that should be up soon. Also, be praying for her and her husband Shane as they will be traveling to Boston soon for her annual doctor’s appointment concerning her autoimmune disease.

To God be the glory!

This past Monday, I was driving down the interstate and passed a cemetery. I noticed that a grave site was being prepared. Though I didn’t know the family, I couldn’t help but think about them…that they would gather under that green tent and bury the body of someone they loved. But then, immediately, my heart was filled with a burst of excitement, as I thought about the hope that we have in Christ! The body is buried but the soul… Oh the soul! Praise God for giving us a soul that can (if we choose salvation) live beyond death in Heaven with Him! But before the birth of Christ, the ’soul’ had no understanding of it’s purpose. This is one of the reasons I am so thankful for the birth of Christ. Even though I had imagined the sadness of that family, I also imagined the joyous night Jesus was born. Inside of my head, it unfolds like this…

I see Mary lying in the stable on hay that Joseph had fixed for her. He tries to make it as comfortable for her as he can. I see rolls of sweat falling from her brow as she thinks, “It shouldn’t be this way. Not for this baby.” I see Joseph pacing, his mind filled with concern for the ‘love of his life’ and now… a new love, that would be here any moment. It is time now. Joseph kneels beside of Mary and whispers that he loves her and that God would be faithful to them. He reminds her of what they had gone through and that it was almost over. Little did they know…it was only beginning for them. The baby is born and Mary wraps him in whatever she can find. She holds Him close to her. She whispers His name over and over again…”Jesus”. I see that precious chosen couple holding this child. The child that changed everything they ever knew. They can’t take their eyes off of Him. Of course they feel the happiness of being new parents, but, there is something else. It’s their hearts… They feel a spiritul completeness that they had never felt before. And then… then I hear Heaven singing. I see God, the Father, stand up from His throne. The angels have gathered for the most wonderful thing they have ever seen or known. For they know that this baby, this Christ child, has changed the world. He has arrived! God’s plan to save the world, is now in motion…

Perhaps that is not exactly the way the night of the birth of Christ really happened, but in my mind… it is. I do believe that the night Christ was born, the world felt it. We know this from reading, in God’s word, of how the shepherds (and later on, the wise men), were drawn to see this particular baby. I guess what I think is so wonderful is that because of this night, you and I have hope. Hope that can never be taken away by death or tragedy. Hope that won’t waiver or fail. Hope that is not only certain, but actually grows bigger inside the heart of the believer. Hope, because of a Savior. I was singing, “O Holy Night” in church, the other day, and God showed me something about that song that will forever change the way I sing it. It was the phrase: “Til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth.” Many Biblical commentaries say that the soul is what contains the spirit of the body. The soul can mean life, spirit, or breath. Genesis 2:7 says, “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God has breathed breath into all of us, thus giving us each a soul. I find it amazing to think that I am a part of God! He breathed life into me! And the night of Christ’s birth, the soul felt it’s worth! In other words, the soul always had purpose, but on that night, it realized it’s value! Do we truly understand that a God as Holy as ours, loves us so much, that He would send down His son to be near us and to give us a place for our soul… Heaven. I guess my question is, does your soul feel it’s worth? If you have never asked Christ in your life, you must do so to truly feel and understand how loved you are! Maybe you are a Christian, but lately, you don’t feel worth anything to anyone. Let me encourage you in the Lord, today, and say that you are so very valuable to God. Maybe your eternity is secure, but you feel hopeless in your walk here on Earth. My sweet friend, don’t buy into Satan’s lies and allow him to rob you of what God says you are. We can rejoice, not because of ourselves, but because we have God’s breath in us! How can we still feel the worth today? How can we feel His “worth” when we have buried those we loved? How can we feel His love when we feel abandoned by our family or feel as though we are drowning in depression? How? Because we have the best thing with us already… God’s spoken word. Dive into His word and you will see Him change your life. When our soul hears the one who created it, it recognizes it’s worth. You will find that in His spoken word, you do have hope, even though the world tells you there isn’t any. You will find that this story that happened so long ago, will come alive in your heart! Why? Because the ’soul felt it’s worth’! God came down as a baby and that’s what changed everything. I pray that you will join me today in just meeting with God and telling Him that you want to draw near to Him…

I pray God’s blessings upon you and your household. May you have a very Merry Christmas and may you rejoice in the birth of our Savior, the whole year through!

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today: Father, I praise your Holy name for sending your son to this world! Thank you for loving us enough to find a way that I may spend eternity with you and not in Hell, apart from you. I pray that if there is someone who is reading this that doesn’t know you, Lord, draw them unto you. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ who are undergoing trials. Lord, run to them. Remind them of your love for them.

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3

Not long ago, I was sitting in church singing an old familiar song. I guess I have sang these words a thousand times in my life, even had it memorized, for the most part. But this time, God revealed something in that song and suddenly I realized my eyes were locked in on this phrase. My voice had stopped singing as God let this phrase take over my mind and my heart: “Oh what peace we often forfeit”. My eyes filled up with tears when I realized how often I had forfeited peace, God’s peace. Why do we do this? God answers that question in this post…

One definition of peace is, ‘freedom from oppressing thoughts or emotions’. One definition of forfeit is, ‘to give up or to loose the right to, especially by some error, offense, or crime’. After reading these two definitions, why in the world would we ever want to use the words, forfeit and peace, in the same sentence? The reason is that Satan tells us they go together. He sells us the lie that we can’t have peace in our hearts as God’s children. God’s word tells us differently. In fact, BECAUSE we are God’s people, we are offered peace, daily peace. So why do we feel so empty at times? Why do we feel so uneasy? Why does our mind run and run, feeling as though we can’t turn it off? Why do we wake up with an unsettling feeling, and go to bed with the same? It is because we are choosing to forfeit, or give up, our peace. Yes, I did say choosing. Once a person accepts Jesus into their heart, the Holy Spirit dwells within them. The Holy Spirit gives us the feeling and the concept of peace. All throughout the Bible, we find evidence of this (Rom. 15:1; Acts 9:21). So why do we abandon this peace we ALREADY have access too? Isaiah 26:3 tells us. It says that God will ‘keep’ us in perfect peace (not a little bit of peace but perfect peace!) if we keep our mind steadfast. So, forfeiting peace begins in the mind, the thoughts. Satan loves to lounge around an ‘unguarded mind’, placing defeating, depressing, and anxious thoughts about our life. God’s word tells us to keep our mind steadfast. This means we must focus on God with our thoughts at all times. We do this by taking the thoughts captive, that shouldn’t be there (the one’s that are forfeiting our peace) and making them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). We then make up our mind not to worry (Luke 21:14) and replace unsettling thoughts with scripture, or in other words, find out what God has to say. We do this over and over again until the peace comes. And, my sweet friends, PEACE WILL COME!! We can then find joy in our trials!!! (James 1:2). Today is Thanksgiving Day. But maybe, you are finding it very hard to be thankful for your trials in your life right now. Maybe you woke up this morning with an empty feeling. If you are God’s child, this means you have chosen to forfeit your peace. The song I wrote about at the beginning was “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. I can sing this song with a light heart today because He is my friend. He wants to be your friend too. Maybe you have forfeited your peace because of a relationship that has gone terribly wrong. Maybe it’s because you have hurt God and others in your past and the guilt consumes you. Perhaps you can’t feel peace because your health is failing or a loved one is very critical. God needs you to know that you don’t have to feel that way. Because you are God’s child, we are given peace…if we just seek Him for it and begin with making our thoughts obedient to Him. I will end this post with evidence of that. The following is the blessing God gave to the Israelites…His people. We, my friends, have this same blessing. Remember it today: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Happy Thanksgiving,
Corrie

My prayer for today: Lord, may we stop forfeiting your peace and receive it on a daily basis. May we trust in you with all our hearts…

Just a note to say “thank you” to my own church, CrossRoads Baptist, for giving me the honor to lead the Bible study for our annual women’s retreat. Words cannot express the love that I have for my sisters in Christ in my own church family. I will never forget the fellowship, laughter, and tears we shared together (and of course, other ‘memorable moments’ that will forever keep me laughing!!!). But most of all, I will never forget how God revealed Himself to us in that cabin that weekend. Hearts (including mine)are forever changed because God showed us more about Him, ourselves, and the Body of Christ. We know that an intimate, personal relationship with God is possible in the ‘land of the living’. Go West, my friends!! (wink)

Love,
Corrie

The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:18

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.” Psalm 91:14

“…and I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17(b)-18

Let me begin by saying ‘thank you’ to those who have been praying for me and my family for the past few weeks. For those of you who don’t know, Canaan had a terrible stomach virus and my grandmother’s health has begun to severely decline. Canaan is well but my grandmother is continuing to collect fluid around her heart. Please continue to pray for her. Many of you have been asking about my health as well. I praise God to say that He answered alot of my questions through the visit with my vascular surgeon on Thursday! New medicine is going to be given to me to try and help control the problems caused by the blockages on my left side.Thank you, also, for patiently waiting for God to reveal to me another post. God’s timing is always perfect. So, I know that God will use this post to speak to your heart as He did mine…

Every time I have been to a public swimming pool, I always see the following scene: A mom, dad, or adult (of some importance to a child), standing in the water with their arms out stretched. They are reaching to an “unsure” child that is standing on the side of the pool. I always hear the adult say, “Come on. Jump to me! I promise I will catch you. I promise I will not drop you. Jump to me!” You can see the child’s mind turning and assessing his/her surroundings, weighing the risks of jumping. They crouch down and get ready… then they back out. Why? It’s not like they are jumping to strangers, right? I, myself have had this “pool” conversation with Canaan too. I found that when Canaan was smaller, he jumped to me without hesitation. But as he became older, it took more coaxing from me or from Shane. What causes the child to hesitate? Why must they ponder jumping out on the faith that this person, he/she trusts, will catch them? The reason is the same when we, as God’s children, ‘hesitate’ to jump into the arms of a God we supposedly trust and that has ‘never missed’. The reason? We, and those children on the side of a pool, are more concerned with the depth of the water than the depth of the love of the One who is waiting to catch us…

Psychologist have studied depth perception for years. Countless numbers of tests and studies have been conducted to find out just how early humans recognize depth. One test was called the “Visual Cliff”. In this particular test, a flat glass table was used. One side was considered ‘flat’, while the other side of the table presented an illusion of a drop off(with clear glass). Infants, who were able to crawl, were placed on the table and urged to crawl toward the pretend cliff. Most of the infants crawled, but stopped just shy of the pretend drop off. To many psychologists, this showed that even as early as infants, we have a sense of depth perception. As babies, the first thing we learn is our dependency on our caregivers, usually our parents. We learn that if we cry, we are responded to and our needs are met. We learn to trust. I noticed that during this stage, Canaan, at the swimming pool, would freely jump to my arms no matter the danger because he was only acting upon his trust for me. As we continue to grow, we learn that there is danger around us. We learn this through physical injuries (Lots of band aids!). As our mind learns to assess danger surrounding us and what ‘could happen’, it becomes harder to trust. We learn that humans fail, even our parents. The child, standing on the side of the pool, becomes clouded by the danger of the water, rather than focusing on the trust they have for the parent. What about our spiritual depth perception? Could it be that we are so busy giving God our excuses of why we can’t give Him control of our problems, that we are standing, paralyzed on the side? Perhaps you are going through a difficult time of one problem after another in your life. You have asked God to ‘help’ you, yet you find you are in the same place you began. When you read His word, you find scriptures on how you can trust Him. When you talk to your Godly friends, you hear them tell you that you must let go of trying to control. And in your heart, you feel the Holy Spirit tell you to step out on faith and that God will help you if you trust Him. God is speaking to you. The reason I lacked a relationship with God for so many years is that I did not realize Ephesians 3:17-18… to know the depth of His love. Maybe you only know the ‘pits’ of the world, the heartaches, and struggles. Tell God you want to know the depth of His love in an intimate relationship with Him. This is what increases our faith. I noticed one more thing about Canaan and the other children when they stood in hesitation on the side of the pool: they only jumped when they locked eyes with the one they trusted. The more Canaan looked around, the more frightened he became. But when I said, “Look at me and jump,” it changed everything. Where are your eyes and to what or whom are they locked in on? Only looking at God through His word will keep you from ‘backing out’ in your faith. Many of you have major decisions to make in your life right now. Fear is creeping in because the jump of faith to God would be so crazy! All I can tell you is, out of all the times His children have ‘jumped to Him’, He never missed…from Genesis through
Revelation

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today:
Lord, forgive me for the times I have doubted the very One who gave me eternal life. Why would I doubt a God who made a way for me to escape Hell? I know everything you do for me is for my good. I want to grow in knowing you each and every day. You are incapable of failure. Help those who read this and are struggling, to turn everything over to you. Help them and help me to trust in who you are and the power of your word. Thank you for your faithfulness…

“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.” Psalm 18:30

“My comfort in my suffering is this: You promise preserves my life.” Psalm 119:50

(Solomon’s prayer) …”You have hept your promise to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it-as is is today.” 1 Kings 8:24

***Before reading the post, if at all possible, please go and get your Bible***

For the past couple of weeks, we have had so much rain in our area. It has rained day after day. Creeks were overflowing, water was standing everywhere, and dripping constantly from the trees and the rooftops. My son Canaan and I were riding in the car a few days ago. It was raining very hard as we were driving. Canaan asked me, “Mommy, is God mad or upset with us?” Even though I have learned that age 4 is an age of what seems like, ‘never ending question-time for mommy’, I will admit, this question made me smile. It made me smile because I knew God was about to teach me something through this child, as He has so many times before. I asked Canaan what had made him think that God was mad or angry. He said, “Well, you know a long time ago, God got upset with all those people that were being ugly and He told Noah to build a boat and then He sent rain. Lots of rain! And it flooded the whole world!” I told Canaan that he was right in what had happened in the story. But then I told him that he had forgotten the best part of the story… the rainbow. I told Canaan how God sent that rainbow to show Noah that He promised never to flood the Earth, in that way, again. I heard myself end the conversation with, “And when God promises something, we can always believe Him.” At that moment, I felt the sweet, still, small voice of God say to me, “But in my word, I have promised much more, Corrie, than withholding a flood. The promises to you in my word are much greater than that of the rainbow. You must believe in all my promises like you believe in my promise that I won’t flood again. My word is full of even greater one’s for you.” This moved me to probe deeper into my own heart. I hope you will too…

Is is me or does life seem to be getting harder? Sometimes, I like to think back to my childhood and spending time at my grandparent’s house in the country. When I was four, I stayed with them during the day while my mom worked at a local sewing plant. I can remember the only cares I had were if I would be able to watch Sesame Street that day (if I got up from my nap in time) and hoping that my mom would be a little late picking me up so I could stay with my Mamaw for a few more minutes As a four year old, my heart was light. All I needed, I knew my parents could take care of. Now, the world is so very different. Stress is a feeling that all of us know too well. Anxiety, depression follow stress and can be frequent ‘visitors’that weigh down our heart and mind. It is true, the world is changing and trials come harder and faster. But as Christians, this should come as no surprise. God’s word tells us from the very beginning what we must prepare for. Currently, I am learning, in my walk with God, the importance of the His infallible word. God’s word. The Bible. That is what this post is about: God’s promises to us; Do we even know them? It’s not to place focus on our trials because those are guaranteed. And to be honest, focusing on the trial is what brings us stress, depression, anxiety, etc. But it is better to place focus on how to seek answers from God through His word, while the trial is whirling around us. Kind of like, finding the eye of the storm. The question God was asking me through what Canaan had said was ‘did I believe that His word is true and is it applicable to every single question, situation, or trial that comes to me?’ The answer is ‘yes’. God’s word is not to be read just on a rainy day, or when just because it’s Sunday, or only when something is wrong. It is not a last resort. It was given to us to help us to endure, be empowered, and stand firm. It is what sets us apart as His children. A simple Proverb may sound good to even a non believer, but it is the Holy Spirit who, for the believer, takes that wording on a piece of paper and speaks to our hearts, causing us to feel a ‘lighter load’ and to build our faith in our Lord. God’s word has power. It has power because it is God’s very breath spoken to you and to me. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” If you can, pick up your Bible and hold it in your hands (right now, as you continue to read). Thumb through the pages. Do you know that you are holding the very breath of God in your hands? Have you searched in that word for your answers to a problem that is on your mind right now? Not just a couple of times to let your finger fall on a verse and then read it, but have you begged for God to speak to you through His HOLY word? We must believe that just as God promised not to flood the entire world again, we must also believe the other promises He states in His word for you and for me. But we must search and read His word for these answers. I know that so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ are going through fiery trials. This includes myself. Sometimes those trials feel as though you are hanging on by a thread. But God is showing me that while He is a God who comforts, He is a God who helps. He is a God of miracles and He is a God of power! You and I must dive into His word to find our answers, these promises. I want to be in His word everyday. I want to study to find these golden nuggets of what God wants for me. We must understand that the answer to a distant relationship with Him is in His word. The answers on how to give to Him a relationship that is broken between you and your spouse, your child, or your friend, is found in His word. The answer to breaking free from a dark past, doubt, and fear is found in a new identity in His word. His word tells you how to finally feel His peace for the grief you feel in the death of someone you loved. His word offers direction to having financial security. I could go on and on. The point He is making is that what we need has to be sought in His word, not in the world. I was surprised to realize that in all the times I had seen heavy rain, even flooding in some areas, I had never worried that God would break His promise that He made that day with Noah. But how I have worried in other areas of my life… and He had given me His promise not to fail me in those situations either. It wasn’t Him, it was me and my unbelief in His flawless word. His word is full of promises. Promises that He has never broken to you or to me. It is up to us to make the effort to go there first. The answers are there…the promises are there. It wasn’t about a colorful rainbow, it was a promise to His children. We can count on Him to be faithful in every problem, every season, every detail. Next time you see a rainbow, I hope it means more. It definitely will to me now…

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today:
Father, I come to you, with your word laid our before me. Help me to remember your faithful promises, Lord. Prompt me to search for you day and night. For those who are reading this now and are weary, show them the answers that they need, God. Show them the power of your very breath leaping off the pages! For those who are reading this in places that they cannot have even one piece of paper of the Bible, bless them Father. Give them your word, somehow. Provide a way. Forgive me for taking this very copy of your inspiration for granted and sitting it aside while I look elsewhere for you. Thank you for you word. Teach me your promises for my life…

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once the prison doors flew open, and every body’s chains came loose.”    Acts 16:25-26

“At midnight I rise to give you thanks, for your righteous laws.” Psalm 119:62

When I was a teenager, I always had a curfew. It was always earlier, it seemed, than the curfew of most of my friends. I thought it was horrible when it started at 11:00 p.m. and it stayed that way for a long time (my friends from high school are laughing because they know this was true!). My parents said that as long as I lived there, I would have a curfew. This curfew thing was always an issue with me and my parents. I would beg and plead to stay out until at least 12:00 a.m. For some reason, that midnight hour seemed like such a mile marker for me and my maturity and independence. But, my dad would always say, “If you can’t do what you want to do before midnight, then there is no reason for you to be doing it.” I hated that saying (of course, now I know he might have been right… ok, he was right. Shhhh!)! I remember the day that my curfew got moved up to midnight! 12:00 a.m. (you are going to laugh… I was a freshman in college!). Wait a minute.. As I pause to remember all of this, I also remember my younger brother, Kyle, NEVER had a curfew! Where is justice? Justice, I say! ( I will have to talk to my parents about that matter a little later…even though Kyle is married now . Anyway, back to me. One thing that sticks out in my mind about my midnight curfew is that I viewed the ‘midnight hour’ as free and liberating. My father, however, viewed it as the darkest part of the night. I remember that when I came in, my dad was never asleep. He would be in his bed, but he never went to sleep until I was home… safe. Two very different views of midnight…

Midnight by definition means, “Intense darkness; a period of darkness and gloom; an ending of one day and the beginning of another.” As I was praying about this post, God revealed to me that so many of His children are going through very dark times. Trials that aren’t just difficult but trials where no end is in sight. They are trials that push your mind and body to a limit you never knew you had. This post is God’s very breath to speak to us with a simple message: He wants us to seek Him at midnight. I am not saying that we should all set our clocks to have a ‘quiet time’ with Him at 12:oo a.m. (We could and I bet it would be cool, though!). He wants us to seek Him in the darkness. To reach out for Him, even though we cannot see Him; to believe He is there and in complete control even though we don’t feel Him. In Psalm 119:62, I found it interesting to find that David, the King, rose to pray to God at midnight. Why? I don’t know for sure, but based on the rest of what I read from David, he wanted God to know he was making the effort to do everything he could to be close with Him. He was a man after God’s own heart, remember? He chased God’s heart to mirror it. We know that David went through very dark times. Many theologians believe David even battled depression. But in the midnight hour, the darkest time of the night, the time when you just can’t seem to sleep for your mind turning and turning, David chose to go to God and praise Him, to give God thanks. How long has it been that you were able to just thank God, even through the darkness around you? David viewed midnight as intense darkness, but he saw God as his light, his hope, his ending of one day and the beginning of another. God also showed me the reward of seeking Him in the midnight hour of trouble in Paul and Silas. Here are two men who had devoted themselves to sharing about the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ… yet they found themselves, at midnight, shackled, chained, and guarded in a cell. Sometimes, Satan convinces us that our trials we are going through have us trapped, bound, and fill us with hopelessness. I found it interesting that instead of Paul and Silas worrying about the fact that it was midnight, almost time for them to start a terrible day over again, they were singing praises (like David) to God! And guess what? God moved at midnight. There chains were broken and they were set free! Paul and Silas even lead a guard and his family to Christ! You may say, “Corrie, you don’t understand. I can’t possibly praise God with what I am going through. I have drifted from Him. I don’t even know where to start.” My friend, all I know is what is true and who has never ever failed me. I know that God says all we have to do is utter His name and He will come to where we are. He heals the broken hearted. I will tell you that when it feels like midnight to me (and it so often does), I have learned that I can dread the next day or I can go to God with every fear, doubt, and tear that I have. And with a pure cleansed heart, then and only then, am I able to praise Him. He changes my view. The shackles come off, the chains are broken, and my faith is strengthened that much more. I pray that if you are at the midnight hour, the hardest trial of your life, you will no longer view it as the darkest part of the night, but you will see it as liberating and a time to have freedom in Christ…

“We can trust God not only above our emotions, but also above our thoughts.”—-Corrie ten Boom

Love,

Corrie

My prayer for today: Lord, how I love you. I am so thankful for those ‘midnight’ hours, for it is then when I see you and your power in my life. Without my trials, I would never know how deep your love is for me. I lift up every person who reads this post, Lord. Run to them, Father, as they seek you in the darkest time of their life. Help us to wait for you to come and break us free from our shackles, chains, and doors of the strongholds. We love you and give you thanks for who you are. Our identity lies in you…

Thank you, ladies of Rockwood Baptist Church in Russellville, Alabama, for hosting a wonderful women’s conference! Our theme was, “Reflections of a Lovely Lady.” Throughout the day, God revealed who He says that we are in Christ. The Holy Spirit moved in such a mighty way. It is so good to know our true identity in Christ! It was an honor for me to be with you and I am so thankful for the invitation to share God’s word. May we continue to remember Debbie King and the entire Bolton family, in the loss of Bro. Oneal Bolton. We lift you up in prayer to be bathed in God’s grace and His comfort. We also rejoice in the fact that Bro. Oneal has been called home by our Father…

Love,
Corrie