Psa 27:4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple.
I must continue to pursue and understand the beauty of the Lord. I'm not sure how, but I know it begins with prayer and contemplation; sitting at His feet. When Martha complained about Mary sitting at Jesus' feet instead of helping her in the kitchen, Jesus said, "...but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Mary had the ability to shut out the world and focus on her True Love. A skill I desperately lack. I want what cannot be taken from me - time with Jesus. I know one of my life verses is John 12:3. I think that's one of the reasons I often smell the fragrance of the Lord.
On favor. This is a puzzler for me lately. What does it mean to have favor? How do you obtain it? How do you know you have it. In the natural, I look about (which is wrong, I know, don't scold me) and say, "That person has favor. Do I have favor?" After the Fire Dweller leadership meeting on Thursday, Tony and I were talking to Ted and Javier. Ted said, "Rachel, the Lord says you're cool." If you know Ted, you understand that phrase.
"Thanks, Ted, for sharing that with me," I said, then asked rhetorically, philisophically, "Do I have favor?" Javi choked on his Cuban sandwich. "Girl, you have favors. Tons. Don't you see it?"
If I did, would I be asking? LOL. Tony's mentioned that I confuse favor with hiddeness. I think he's right. Anyway, I've been studying favor, trying to understand God's heart and the realm of favor.
Ralph and Connie prayed for me this morning during worship. It was good. Ralph verbalized the issues of my heart in his prayers and shared encouragement from the Lord. I am so grateful for the Body of Christ and the Holy Spirit moving in us and among us so we encourage one another.
This afternoon... I read. Sunday's will be my reading day, I've decided. What am I reading, you ask? The Whitney Chronicles by Judy Baer from Steeple Hill Cafe. So far, I'm loving it. My chic lit will be a Cafe release, too. Reading Judy's book stirs my excitment, and brings knowledge into reality! I'm so honored and humbled to be with this publisher and have my book in the Cafe line. I can't put it into words, really.
Insurance and FEMA - we've received our estimates for damage from both organizations now. Looks like we will have coverage for all of our damages, including a new roof, with no out of pocket money. That's great. We didn't budget for hurricane damage this year - twice over.
Cassie is napping. Jack and Pal are napping. Tony is rocking and reading a book on his PDA. Julia, Larkin and Spring return from Orlando in a few minutes with my car. Yeah! I'm so glad they got to have a convertible for their Florida vacation. It's been a gorgeous week, ah....
Tis all. Blessings.
This may sound a little wierd, but I live with an expectation of favor. About four years ago I first got the revelation that as a child of the King, I'm favored. At the time I was attending a Word of Faith church and, while I didn't agree with their complete doctrine, somehow I latched onto the favor issue. In fact, for a while, I would thank God that I had favor with Him and with man and even say that I expected to receive favor from people who didn't even like me.
ReplyDeleteIt happened, too. I would be somewhere dealing with someone who didn't want to help me but it was almost as if they were compelled to go above and beyond on my behalf. I have favor with leaders in the Body, too. It's kind of fun to sit back and watch what God does for me.
I have favor with you and Tony, for that matter! It's everywhere I go. I'm honestly surprised when I don't get special treatment - not in comparison to anyone else - just better than average.
Just last week I was flying to Chicago and my suitcase was too heavy. The person ahead of me was charged for their overweight bag - all I got was an "It seems your bag is overweight." and the tag was placed on it and away I went. I got that both ways... coming and going.
I believe that you'll see favor in your life all around you if you start looking for it and expecting it. Enjoy it!
Love you, Amey