Joy in the Presence of Angels

 

I have added a new audio for March 27, 2015. You may click on the picture to hear audio, or you may click here https://youtu.be/C81UXNLOxfE to watch video version.

 

 

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"Joy in the Presence of Angels"




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What Do You Believe?

     There was a year when I was teaching, and a class of my kids one day came to me saying, "Mrs. Reece, Mrs. Reece, all the other kids are calling us the dumb kids, the trouble makers, etc..." I very frankly looked at them and said, "No you're not!! You know why?!" "Cause I'm your teacher!!"
      They immediately began to agree with me, that they weren't, and I was right!

      Within a day or two they came back laughing and saying that now everyone is saying, "We are the cool kids, and our class is one of the best, and wanting to be a part of us".

      That greatly ministered to me that day.... What do you believe?

      Do you believe what you hear? Do you believe what the devil says to you? Do you believe what someone else thinks about you?

                                                                                  Or

     Do you believe the word of God? Do you believe what the Lord says? Do you believe what he says about you?

 The scriptures tell us how God calls those things that are not, as though they were!!

      In Mark 1:15, Jesus says to repent and believe the gospel. That is for us, to have a change of our mind, a change of our will, from what we are believing, to believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

      We are to believe what Jesus did for us. We are to believe that he died for us, taking on all the things of our lives, and all of our sins, on his own body, crucified. We are to believe that Jesus was buried for us; and we are to believe Jesus, rose again, the third day; victorious, over everything, for us.

      That's why we can believe the gospel and walk in the power of God, that's why we can believe the gospel and have that power of God work in our lives daily! Remember, the gospel is the power of God for all we have need of.

     God did not send his Son Jesus to us for nothing, and for us to not believe. So believe!

      You know, when those kids changed what they were believing, the situation changed.

      What are you believing?

The Power of God Will Work When You Believe

     One thing I appreciate about the Lord, is that he will meet a person wherever they are at! On a boat in the middle of the water,  in an office, on the farm, in a classroom! You can call upon the Lord Jesus and be saved, delivered, set at safety, from every hindering influence in your life.

 

     I was an Oklahoma school teacher for 14 years; I have found over the years, that the Lord would always meet me in my job for whatever I needed.

 

     There was a year I needed new things to decorate my classroom. I was use to spending lots of money on my school things, but over time, God was leading us more and more to not do that; but to consider what he wanted us to do with our money. At first it would make me nervous, but God always provided for us. This particular year I was not going to be spending any large amount, and possibly nothing. I went to my classroom one day after reporting back from summer vacation, and I watched everyone begin to bring in all their new purchases to decorate their classrooms; it was a little heartbreaking at the moment. I endeavored though to look at Jesus, to believe him, to trust, him. I spent that morning worshipping the Lord out loud, and in my heart, and talking to Jesus. I was singing an old him from my childhood, not really considering what I was doing.

     Psalm 100 says we can come before his presence with singing... and that’s what I was doing. I had been working on preparing what I could in my classroom, cleaning desks, moving furniture; when I walked outside the door within our media center, were numerous items that were being given away. I was excited. So many items that were nice, home interior type things, and just the colors I loved and could use. I was so thankful and my classroom was fantastic. Someone remarked how the look of my room was so comfortable, it was like home. Well, that was my style, and that was what God provided for me that day.

     After teaching for a few years, my books for my classroom had begun to be worn. We were traveling a lot, doing things with the ministry, and my time at home was mostly short on weekends; I didn't always have "extra" time. I saw where there were some opportunities to write grants for your classroom, in other words, write up your ideas of what you need, get some quotes on price, and hope someone wants to do it for you; I honestly wanted to, but didn’t know that it was right, and certainly didn’t have the time needed to put together such a project.

     I began talking to the Lord telling him my cares about the whole situation. Others had put in requests and had written the grants, and the deadlines came and went. I just kept telling my cares to the Lord Jesus.

     One day shortly after, I went to see a friend who was over our department. When I walked in she remarked how she had just received some news and she couldn’t wait to share it with someone. Our department had just received around $60,000 dollars; therefore, all the Language Arts teachers ( of which I was ) would be receiving a little over $2,200 dollars in new books, and we would be choosing them ourselves, for our own rooms. I was so blessed and appreciative of what God had just done for me, and the others.

     The gospel of Christ is power, it is, the power of God! And that is what believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that gospel, will do, and produce, in a person’s life; it will bring the power of God.

   

 John 14:6 Jesus speaking,

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

    

     Do you want to have access to God? Do you want what God has for you? It will come through believing on his Son, Jesus.

   

     I encourage you to keep seeking the Lord Jesus in your own life, for whatever you need. Call upon that name Jesus, and be saved, call upon that name Jesus, and be delivered, call upon that name Jesus, and receive salvation for your situations; and when you do, you will see, the power of God.

God Bless You!
Misty

Whosoever Surely Meaneth Me

 John 3:16

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

  

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"Whosoever Surely Meaneth Me"

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The Choctaw People and the Irish

      I have shared over the years about my own American Indian ancestry, of which I am 29/64 Creek,  3/64 Seminole; and a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation.

     I was reminded of this article today I came across in 2010. I have very dear friends who are members of the Choctaw Nation; and I have appreciated very much this testimony of the Choctaw people when I came across it a few years ago, I still do today.
 
     Sixteen years after the fact, the Choctaw Nation became aware of the Potato Famine occurring in Ireland. Someone was quoted as saying, "Out of the depths of their own poverty, there was an outpouring of compassion."

     The Choctaw Nation collectively came together and sent $710.00 dollars across the Atlantic to help the Irish people.

   Below is the article that explains it more in detail.


Article

  One hundred fifty-four years ago this week, on March 23, 1847, the Indians of the Choctaw nation took up a collection.
 
Moved by news of starvation in Ireland, a group of Choctaws gathered in Scullyville, Okla., to raise a relief fund. Despite their meager resources, they collected $170 ( THIS IS ACTUALLY AN ERROR IN THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT AND SHOULD READ - $ 710.00 dollars ) and forwarded it to a U.S. famine relief organization.
 
It was both the most unlikely and the most generous contribution to the effort to relieve Ireland's suffering.
 
Begun two years before in the fall of 1845, the potato blight and subsequent famine had reached its height in 1847. It was, of course, much more than a mere natural disaster. British colonial policies before and during the crisis exacerbated the effects of the potato blight, leading to mass death by starvation and disease. For example, in March of 1847, at the time of the Choctaw donation, 734,000 starving Irish people were forced to labor in public works projects in order to receive food. Little wonder that survivors referred to the year as "Black '47."
 
First through letters and newspaper accounts, and later from the refugees themselves, the Irish in America learned of the unfolding horror. Countless individuals sent money and ship tickets to assist friends and family. Others formed relief committees to solicit donations from the general public. Contributions came from every manner of organization, from charitable societies and businesses to churches and synagogues. By the time the famine had ended in the early 1850s, millions in cash and goods had been sent to Ireland.
 
What made the Choctaw donation so extraordinary was the tribe's recent history. Only 16 years before, President Andrew Jackson (whose parents emigrated from Antrim) seized the fertile lands of the so-called five civilized tribes (Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee) and forced them to undertake a harrowing 500-mile trek to Oklahoma known as the Trail of Tears. Of the 21,000 Choctaws who started the journey, more than half perished from exposure, malnutrition, and disease. This despite the fact that during the War of 1812 the Choctaws had been allies of then General Jackson in his campaign against the British in New Orleans.
 
Perhaps their sympathy stemmed from their recognition of the similarities between the experiences of the Irish and Choctaw. Certainly contemporary Choctaw see it that way. They note that both groups were victims of conquest that led to loss of property, forced migration and exile, mass starvation, and cultural suppression (most notably language).
 
Increased attention to the Great Famine in recent years has led to renewed recognition of the Choctaw donation. In 1990, a delegation of Choctaw officials was invited to participate in an annual walk in County Mayo commemorating a tragic starvation march that occurred during the Famine. In honor of the special guests, the organizers (Action From Ireland, or AFRI) named the march The Trail of Tears. Two years later, two dozen people from Ireland came to the U.S. and retraced the 500-mile Trail of Tears from Oklahoma to Mississippi. That same year the Choctaw tribe made Ireland's president, Mary Robinson, an honorary chief.
 
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of these events is that while they commemorate dark chapters of the past, they are focused on the present and future. In other words, they seek to dramatize the need to stop starvation and suffering worldwide. As the plaque on Dublin's Mansion House that honors the Choctaw contribution reads: "Their humanity calls us to remember the millions of human beings throughout our world today who die of hunger and hunger-related illness in a world of plenty."

Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law.
2001 Irish Echo Newspaper Corp.
Hibernian Chronicle
154 Years Ago: The Choctaw Send Aid
<p>By Edward T. O'Donnell</p><p> </p><p> </p>

A Hedge Around Us

1Peter 1:7-9

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

 

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"A Hedge Around Us"

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