June Foster's Blog, page 5

Soar Like an Eagle

Isaiah 40:31 led me to think about eagles. “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I place my hope in the Lord. In fact, He’s my rock and my fortress, so if the prophet Isaiah compares people to eagles, I needed to know more about the creature.

There are more than sixty different species of eagles. They have unusually large eyes and pupils with a million light-sensitive cells per square millimeter of the retina, five times more than a human’s. Their eyesight enables them to spot a rabbit up to two miles away.

The Harpy and Philippine Eagles have wings that spread 2.5 meters across. That’s 8.2 feet, about 13 steps up a staircase or a bit over two times the length of a stride. Eagles can soar high above open plains and water. They are admired as symbols of power, freedom, and transcendence.

In Exodus 19 when the Israelites left Egypt, God instructed Moses to tell the people in verse 4, “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” The Bible refers to eagles seven times in reference to strength and speed.

These attributes are for people who hope in the Lord. He will never disappoint us and let us down. Though we may not feel powerful or free, we are. Take the Bible’s word for it. God says in Matthew 6: 26, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” This is good news!

Choices

Sometimes I try to imagine what God is like. My finite mind can’t comprehend even a fraction of His attributes. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 How far are the heavens from the earth? Even from here to the moon is mind-boggling.

I like to imagine God creating the earth, the heavens, and everything there is. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” He formed all that is from nothing. Think about the intricate workings of the eye—or how the ear hears—or how the tide goes in and out. As we used to say, it blows my mind.

He has power over everything—the weather, angels and demons, the course of history. Yet one fact astounds me. God allows man free will to make his own choices. He didn’t have to permit that. Could our own free will be responsible for murder, theft, adultery, abortion, homosexuality? The list could go on.

I’m in awe of our powerful God who would let me make my own choices. I choose to serve and please our awesome Creator.

“For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Galatians 6:7-8

Dear Lord, help me each day to make wise choices. Instruct me from Your word and place your will in my heart so I may do and say those things that glorify Your name. Amen.”

Asking God for Salvation for a Loved One

Is there anyone in your life – friend or family – that you’d love to see come to salvation? Have you been praying for this person for what seems like forever, and sometimes you ask God if He really hears your prayers? I have. And I’d like to encourage you. Don’t give up.

Let’s see what God’s word says. First of all, He wants everyone and that means the person you’re praying for, to come to Christ. 11Peter3:9 says “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Just as He waited until you were ready to receive Him, He’s waiting to save your friend or loved one when they are, and He absolutely wants them to enter into His Kingdom.

Have you been praying with someone else for your loved one or friend’s salvation? Matthew 18:19 says “If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” I know – God doesn’t violate a person’s free will and force them to receive salvation, but I’d say that agreement in prayer sounds like a powerful tool in seeking God.

Now Acts 16:31 says “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” Again, that’s no guarantee that another will be saved. But still, this statement is in the Bible and worth considering. If that person you’re praying for is a member of your family, I’d take this verse to heart. To me it indicates that there is a good possibility other people in your family will be saved when or after you do.

11Timothy 3:16 says “All scripture is God-breathed.” This means it comes from God’s own mouth. So if God says something in the Word, we can trust it as truth. Pray for the person who’s on your heart and remind God what He says in His word. I believe when you storm Heaven in this way, your loved one doesn’t stand a chance to hide from God for long. I’ve seen it more than once in my own life.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

Dear Lord, I agree in prayer with the reader of this devotional for their unsaved loved one or friend. Bring victory to Your name and bring him or her into Your Kingdom.

An Author’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

Give me the strength today to pen the words you want written on the page, the knowledge and wisdom to convey the message You desire for the reader to grasp.

I am weak, but You are strong. Lord, I am helpless and can do nothing without Your mighty power and understanding. You make my fingers move on the keyboard. Without You, I couldn’t even find the letters.

You put the words in my heart and allow them to flow through me and onto the page. Without Your knowledge I couldn’t write even the shortest of sentences. And you even placed Spell Check in the program because you know I can’t spell.

Help me mold the words into a story that comes from Your heart. Bring healing and hope to any who read it. Put Your emotion and desire within me to convey Your passion. With every word I type, glorify Your name. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves.” John 12:26

A Prayer for our Nation Patterned After 11 Chronicles 7:14

Dear Lord,

I pray for Your people, including myself. We are in awe that You would choose to call us by Your great name. We are unworthy, yet You bestowed Your name upon us. Help us to remember we are but dust and that You are the God of gods and King of kings who has created all that exists. Help us to humble ourselves before You.

We seek You, for You alone are worthy. Only You can forgive our sins. Grant that we may turn from our inclinations to follow the world. How easy it is to want to fit in, but these worldly wrongs only stand between You and us. Allow us to walk away when faced with temptation. Living for You is more valuable than anything this world can offer.

Lord, You have promised that if we distance ourselves from godless ventures, you will hear our prayers and forgive our sins. We claim Your precious promise to heal our land, the United States of America, our homeland.

Amen.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July, friends. It’s a joy to celebrate the birth of our nation and say Happy Birthday, United States of America. There is no better country in which to live. I’m so grateful and blessed by the men and women who’ve fought for this country so that we might live in freedom, especially freedom of worship.

But there’s another kind of freedom—spiritual freedom. You see, we’re all sinners and deserve to die because of our sins. When we leave this earth, we’re not fit to meet a holy God face to face. But here’s the freedom part.

Romans 8: 1-4 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering, and so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature by according to the Spirit.

Before I knew Jesus as my Savior, I was a slave to sin, but I’m no longer bound by sin and am free because of what He did for us on the cross—took our punishment. So, this week, I’m living as a citizen of the US, enjoying my freedoms but also as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

I Can Explain – about wasp stings

I love to sit on my back deck in the morning and read the Word of God. This morning, I noticed a wasp’s nest above me on the wall. Not exactly the place where I’d want to build a nest. But I digress.

And I confess. I hate insects and one day when I see the Lord face to face, I’m going to ask Him why He created them. I know. Birds, lizards, and frogs have to have something to eat. But why can’t they be vegetarians?

So, I immediately called my husband to demolish the nest. Which he did. My hero. Now, it was safe to sit and read my Bible. After about two verses in Genesis, I looked up to see a very angry wasp flying around where the old nest was. He wasn’t any too happy to find his dwelling place gone. Before I could get up to get a flyswatter, a sharp pain on my leg let me know there were two wasps, not one.

Yep. One of the homeless creatures stung me. My husband assured me the pain would be gone in an hour. He wasn’t any help when he said that every time I felt a twinge, it was the stinger wiggling. About 6 hours later, the stabbing sensation in my leg was a little better. In the meantime, my daughter assured me that wasps have stingers but don’t leave them behind, only bees.

Fear Not

Recently, I sat out on my deck with a steaming cup of java and began to read Isaiah 41:10. A notion tapped me on my shoulder. Not only I but many need to hear this message. This is for my family, neighbors, fellow church attendees, and friends.

“Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” I love the repetition of the word “I”. That’s God.

In this day and age, it’s so easy to fall into the trap of fearing what’s around the corner. What’s going to happen to my child who’s strayed so far from You, Lord? What if I lose my job in these times when the cost of living is soaring? What if my health takes a turn for the worse, or what if I lose my health insurance? My stomach is in knots and I’m losing sleep at night worrying.

God offers hope in His word. Let’s break it down.

Fear not – simple. Don’t fear but it’s much easier said than done. So, how can I not fear?

For I am with you. Who is I? The God who created all things, Who parted the red sea, Who raised Jesus from the dead. If this God is with me, isn’t He powerful enough to keep me in times of trial where I might be inclined to fear?

Be not dismayed. Dismay is similar to fear. It means to become distressed. When difficulties strike, how can I keep from becoming dismayed?

For I am your God. Wow. The God Who gave His life for me on the cross declares I am His. Good reason for encouragement. But how will the fact He’s my God make a difference?

I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. When I get stuck while working on one of my stories, I turn to someone like Fay Lamb who’s a master of the craft. But there is Someone more knowledgeable than her or me, Someone Who’s the author of our faith and is seated at the right hand of God. That’s the One Who will help me. I have confidence in Him.

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Even if I fall into fear, I can trust that this One will propel me out of the pit of dismay.

I love to take the scriptures apart in this way as the Lord shows me much more than I expected. In light of His word, you can walk through your day in confidence with your head up.

I Can Explain – why our pharmacist had a pair of horns in the church parking lot

Sometimes I shake my head in confusion and wonder. The strangest things seem to happen to me. Oh well. At least I can explain.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Southern Christian Writers’ Conference in Leeds Alabama. One of the classes was about how to write in a man’s or woman’s POV. POV means point of view or how a character is thinking. Of course, if the character is a male, the author must write like a guy would think and if she’s a female, the writer will write the way a woman thinks. What makes it hard is a woman author just doesn’t think like a man and might have a bit of trouble. Same for guys who’re writing like a woman.

So, the class offered some valuable material about the differences in the way men and women think. For example, when a woman encounters stress, she usually talks it out, not keeping the feelings inside. A man wants to take his problems and disappear into his man cave. He doesn’t want to discuss them. He only wants to move on.

When two women get together to have a conversation, it’s usually about complex, emotional topics. Men focus on facts. The latest ballgame, a funny joke, his car, or his hobby. So, when we drove into the church parking lot last Sunday, it was no surprise to see Josh and some other guy deeply involved in conversation over the object Josh held in his hand. A pair of deer antlers he wanted to hang up in his house. That is if his wife lets him.

I didn’t see two women talking in the parking lot, but if I had, they would’ve discussed a new purse one of them had bought at Macy’s or perhaps how they need to go on a diet.

I confess. My writers’ class helped me understand Josh’s antlers at church.   

Happy Father’s Day

Father’s Day. The impact of the day will be different for folks depending on how we grew up. Some of us had loving fathers who were always around and rarely became impatient or preoccupied. Many see our fathers as a loving, caring, and a positive influence on who we are today.

I have a notion that there are others, like me, who never grew up with a father or father figure, or even a weekend father. Some may have lived with a father whom you feared. A parent who punished you rather than took the time to correct you when you took a misstep, misbehaved, or acted out. Whatever relationship you had with a father or no father greatly influenced your opinion of who God is, I have no doubt.

The Bible tells us God is our heavenly father. But many of us have no idea what a genuine relationship with a father is, so we find it difficult to relate to the Almighty Father. But here’s some good news. No matter how you grew up, God, our Father is still the same God, the One we learn about in the Bible. We only need to avail ourselves to discover His attributes.

Best of all, he wants that Father/child connection with each of us. “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 2Corinthians 6:18 and “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” Psalm 103:13.

No matter what happened in the past, allow God to welcome you into His kingdom and into your heart. He is a good, good Father.