God says "Move On"

OK....maybe it's just me, but God has really been speaking to me this week in very specific ways. And each time I am just amazed to the point that I have to write about it, to share it, just in case someone else needs to be encouraged, someone else needs to hear that same Word from the Lord.

Recently, my husband and I had been praying over a situation. On more than one occasion, we have had to agree with God that we are like dumb sheep ready to run off the cliff at any moment without guidance from the Shepherd's hand. Therefore, we had been earnestly seeking God and asking for direction.

We felt in a number of ways this weekend that God had made His answer plain to us. Then today, it was as if He were putting an exclamation point on His answer.

Part of my Bible Study assigned reading today was Exodus 14:12-15. The Israelites speaking to Moses said: "Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Okay...by this time I was about on the edge of my chair with anticipation, knowing I had one more verse to go. What was God up to? What was He going to say?

Verse 15 says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to MOVE ON!" (emphasis mine)

I had to be like one of those teen girls on TV...there was no one else around so I had to slap my computer and say "Shut....Up!" Then I cracked up laughing at God's way of saying, I've already given you the answer. When are you going to stop asking me for direction and MOVE ON!

I got the message. Absolutely! So I'm moving! I just feel that this Word isn't just for me. What situation is God saying to you, "Stop crying out to me! I've already answered your prayer. I've already shown you what to do or which way to go, now MOVE ON."

My prayer is that you will not waste another day where you, don't look back, but make the first step toward your Promised Land.

Oh that you would bless me...

WOW! and WOW! I hope you have had some encounters with God in your life that takes your breath away. I was so wowed by God this morning that I had to share it.

Typically when I get ready to start a new personal study, I go into the Christian bookstore, look through the titles, read the back covers, and kind of try to find something that fits some area of my life I'm currently dealing with or something that I think I need to work on. And without fail, (except once....it's a long story), the study I pick seems tailor-made for me. Now, if that alone doesn't make you say "WOW! God"....Think about that. Some of those studies were printed years in advance and yet when I read it, it speaks to me as if God Himself penned it to speak directly to me.

This month I've been working my way through the Beth Moore study, "Believing God." I've already had several times when I had to remind myself that I don't know this woman, yet she is speaking truth directly into my situation.

Yesterday, I met with one of the translators who is working on putting my kids book into Haitian Creole. (If you don't know about that, check out the book's Facebook page or see my website in a couple of weeks). She made a comment to me as we were talking about what moves my heart as it relates to this project of providing biblical truth to Haitian kids in their own language. She said,

"It is like the prayer of Jabez. God is going to enlarge your territory."

I open up my Bible Study today and the Scripture is "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." 1 Chronicles 4:10

I think I almost fell out of my chair. This study went into its 10th printing in September 2010. It was originally printed in 2004. That means that 7 years ago, God knew that on Sept. 23, 2011, I would need that word of confirmation. WOW!

To add to my gratefulness to my Father, who lavishes His grace so richly upon me, I was overcome yesterday to just sit and think that when I was in 5th grade writing in that green spiral notebook, God knew that one day that would lead to having a book translated into Creole. I could not have imagined, but not only did He know it, He ordained it from the beginning of time.

Praise and Glory to His Name.

That is my WOW Moment! What's yours?

Bed, Bath, and way Beyond

There are times in my life that I'm sure when people drive by my car that assume that I'm having some kind of fit. My hands are waving, my head is jerking, my shoulders moving, and they can't hear a thing because my windows are up and so are theirs. And when I'm in my car, I'm not even trying to contain my praise. It's just me and God as I get my praise on.

But recently, I found myself in a situation hard to contain. I was shopping in Bed, Bath, and Beyond, just listening to my MP3 player. Had it on shuffle, so there were all kinds of songs playing in rotation. But then Fred Hammond came on. And if anybody has seen my music collection, you know I'm a big Fred Hammond fan.

But this was one of my favorites, and I had not heard it in a while. It is called "No Greater Love." It simply says, "There is no greater love than the one you have for me Lord. Your mercy, so tender, erasing my transgressions. There is none greater."

That word "transgressions" got me. In a recent Bible study I came across the definition of trangressions as a "deliberate act against the law of God." WOW! That's the stuff that I do, that I know it is sin when I do it, and I still do it anyway." And He, God, chooses to erase that, to blot it out, to exterminate it, to obliterate it, because of His love for me.

I could feel that praise coming on as I thought of what God had done for me, and instead of humming along, I was beginning to sing, and I just had to thank God for what He had done in my life.

I ended up in my car in the parking lot, with the song at full blast, and then it got to the chorus and it just tore me up. "Your love for me is forever. To me there is none greater. Your love kept you hanging there. Your love kept the nails in place and let the blood flow down and reach all the way down and grab me and hold me. Your love let the spear pierce your side. Your love kept me on your mind. No greater love. Your love let them mock your name, and spit in your face, and crucify the Lamb of Glory. To me there is no greater love. Your love kept you hanging there, separated from the Father, just for me."

Needless to say, by then the tears were flowing, the snot was running, the hands were praising, I was just overcome with gratitude with what Christ had done for me. And sometimes you just have to get ugly with your praise, a little undignified, and thank God for who He is and what He has done and continues to do.

What an awesome WOW moment!