Where Two Shall Agree.....

I’m in my cozy chair all set for my morning devotion and prayer time and I remember the sweetest surprise last weekend. My dear friends, Charles and Sheila Michie, invited several mutual friends over for a pot luck meal. Little did I realize it was a set-up to celebrate my birthday (26th). I was so grateful for this precious time of, literally, breaking bread together.

Christ started that fellowship when He broke bread with His disciples. Coming together to celebrate Him in us and us in Him. Some of my favorite memories involve yummy food and sharing God's love and caring like this. Scripture shows us how important it was to God for us to break bread together. Acts 2:42,46: "They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."

Like that scripture says "breaking of bread, and in prayers", that's how it played out for us Saturday night. Following our meal, we headed to the Great Room where we sang and praised God that led right into individual prayer for each of us. At one point, I sensed the importance of the prayer of agreement for couples and for any of us who need a prayer of agreement. That kind of prayer is similar to a contract. I know what it means to have a binding contract having been in the real estate business for over 40 years. Contracts are the tool used to legally bind the parties in agreement to the specific terms and acts.

An executed contract is a done deal like Jesus' words in Matthew 18:20 about agreement -- when we take those words to heart and action. “I tell you, if two of you on earth AGREE about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.” That, my friends, is a 3-fold agreement contract. A husband, wife AND God the Father. A friend, another friend AND God the Father. Think about this tremendous tool God has given us. So when I hear someone say “I set myself in agreement with your prayer – maybe for a desire for a better job, the well-being of a child or family member, or wisdom coming when making a big decision -- an agreement is taking place. Bottom line – because we’ve initiated a binding contract, we will NOT come out of agreement with them.

It is beautiful when a couple joins hands, prays and agrees together. The answer to that prayer is not up to us. It is up to Jesus’ words that when we agree in prayer, in the presence of God, it will be done by our Father in His perfect timing and His perfect way. Especially, when couples are able to breakout of their stand-off when they are in dis-agreement and come together in solidarity IN agreement, mountains move, waters are parted and heaven touches earth. I assure you….I speak from the many answers to prayer that my husband and I received because of our agreements in prayer.

The enemy desires for us to get into dis-agreements because he comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). But, Jesus came to give us abundant life and has given us the “how-to” by staying IN-agreement with Him and each other. Imagine the walls coming down in our marriages, our families, our businesses, our finances, and our health as two come together in unity and in agreement. Nothing is impossible with God, when we agree.

Holy Saturday – In Between Day – It’s the Day After – A Day to be Sad – REALLY?

My best EVER friend died yesterday. He was my closest friend. How can life go on without Him? It’s the day after, and I have to be the one to handle the responsibilities of planning the funeral, the burial, notifying relatives, and handling so many other details of what to do without Him. They say “Hold it together by treasuring the memories!” But the memories make me want Him here with me even more. They say “Take your time to heal”, but this is just the day after. How can I be expected to be healed TODAY? Please let me just sit and cry my tears of heartache because my life will never be the same again. But then I hear a voice saying "Hold on my child. Joy comes in the morning!"

Yesterday was Good Friday when Christ was hung from the cross and bore every sin we've ever committed. He carried every sickness we have had, and will ever have. He gave His life so that we would live forever and ever with Him. That was His promise, but this day after -- the day-in-the-middle -- the day between Christ's crucifixion and His resurrection, His disciples and followers could only think...."It's all over for us! Life will never be the same again."

Those disciples had walked with Him and talked with Him. They had seen His good acts and the many miracles He performed (raising people from the dead, opening blind eyes and deaf ears, forgiving the worst of sinners and encouraging them to sin no more and to love their neighbors AND enemies). Now, Jesus was dead -- as dead as He could be. They had forgotten His 3-days promise. It was all over for them. They succumbed to doubt, fear, and unbelief. Yes, it WAS their saddest day EVER.

But was it really the saddest day? Those of us who understand that yesterday He died for our sicknesses, our sins, and to give us "abundant life" on this earth and our eternal life with Him. The cross, the time in the tomb, and tomorrow's triumphant resurrection changed everything. When someone we love slips from this life, we think they are somehow diminished to ashes and dust. But this is only part of the story. The reality, the hope, the truth is that they are more fully alive and more real than ever before. They are experiencing the results of the eternal life that resurrection gave us.

Our “in-the-middle” day may be where we’re at in our life right now. Maybe it feels like God hasn't come through for us, and never will. Our dreams for tomorrow are in the tomb right alongside Jesus. It seems all hope is gone because a loved one may have died, an illness may be bearing down hard on us, our marriage may seem dead, our financial situation may appear buried. But to those who know the end of THIS LOVE story AND who know the Savior – our hopes, dreams, desires and prayers won’t be dead forever, because Jesus was raised to life on the 3rd day and He came to give us LIFE and life more abundantly (John 10:10). So hold on, my child, in the middle, this day AFTER, it's time to get our hopes up because JOY COMES in the MORNING!

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5.

In the Box Moment

I'm having an "in-the-box" moment. It's Saturday after the death and burial of Christ. The devil was probably quite proud of himself. He thought he won. God's son was dead. Dumb devil. But Jesus, like a "Jack"-in-the-box was just quietly waiting for the crank to be turned. Soon, very soon, the lid will open, and UP FROM THE BOX (GRAVE), He will rise as VICTOR! SURPRISE, loser devil!

Good Friday = DAY of all DAYS

You know the feelings...you, or someone you love is hurting so much, or your closest family member has passed away.....and it seems everywhere you look people are just fine -- they're laughing, they're carefree, they're going on with their busy lives, and you think, "How could all that be going on when I'm hurting, or my loved one is hurting so much?" This morning, I had business to take care of, then deal with some other routine things.....and I was smack dab hit with "What am I doing?" This is GOOD FRIDAY -- the DAY OF ALL DAYS -- that should be commemorated with thanksgiving, celebrations, and everywhere we looked were crosses adorned with neon lights, and music and bands playing and choirs singing -- and we'd see people paying homage and giving tributes to what this day means. THIS IS THE DAY Christ bore every sin we've ever committed, He carried every sickness we have had and will have, He gave His life so that WE WOULD LIVE FOREVER and EVER! How could we be so distracted and be so oblivious to this DAY OF ALL DAYS? Oh, happy day! Oh glorious day! This day marks our FREE PASS to heaven! Thanks be to God!

Lent Means Course Correction

What you may not know about me is that I’m a Private Pilot. So I have a little extra help with the notion of “I believe I can fly”. We had a single engine Cessna 182 – a sweet ride. We logged many hours flying across this great country. Though I haven’t flown in a while, I remember some crucially important things that ensured landing where, and when, we intended. Wind speed and wind direction requires course corrections throughout the flight. A strong wind can certainly take you off course. Constant “tweaking” is necessary. All it takes is to be off just a few degrees and you can end up in Timbuktu, instead of the intended destination.

And isn’t that true in our own lives? Our emotions, our bodies, and our spirits may get off course by “negative winds” that we’ve let come in. They may have come in by the company we keep, the food choices we’ve made, some unhealthy habits, some compromising of our ethics and integrity, or literally missing the mark. Perhaps, it’s time for tweaking and correcting our course. The winds can certainly slow us down, and take us completely off course -- not to mention keep us from receiving the blessings that could have been ours if we were on track. Tomorrow, the Lenten season begins -- the 40 days that precedes the passion of Christ and Easter -- the time we deliberately focus our attention on getting it right – getting our hearts right. It’s the perfect time to make course corrections – where we make the adjustments necessary to be fully devoted followers of Christ. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. I promise you….this is the stuff that helps us fly higher than we’ve EVER flown before.