Greetings Beloved!
If you are like me, you are finding the summer sailing by while busy with lots of family time, projects and more! I can barely believe I haven’t posted since the week of July 20. I was recently given what’s called a star word by a beloved cohort. It’s like a word for the year which is usually given out around the end/beginning of the year. I told her I would use a fiscal year. My star word of 2022 … is GRACE. Right now I am learning how to SWIM in Grace and for those of you who do know me, you know I can’t swim! I am better about giving Grace than receiving it. I will provide updates I am sure on my GRACE Journey. BTW – do you have a word for the year or a season, etc.?
I last shared on the subject of TRUST. While I thought I had done some deep digging, I realize I am not finished and know that I will have more to share on that subject as well. At some point, I was concluding that TRUST was like LOVE, a decision. Yet I am discovering TRUST is way more complicated because it is more a two-way initiative. We are called by God to LOVE everyone.
Proverbs 3:4-6 basically instructs us to Trust the Lord with all our Heart and lean not to our own understanding. With that being said, I know we will be unpacking TRUST more and feel free to share your thoughts, observations, comments, etc. on the subject.
This week’s Fast Wednesday came out of our Virtual Prayer Meeting we have at the office on Wednesdays. Its titled Some Significance of Praise Reports aka Telling the Lord Thank You.
SCRIPTURE: “And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned with a loud voice glorifying God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.” (Luke 17:14-16)
The entire story is Luke 17:11-19. Perhaps someday we could unpack the entire story but for now just understand or remember that the Samaritans were hated by the Jews. They were treated like some of our minorities are treated today so the leper had two strikes against him … leprosy and being a Samaritan. Something must have happened that he recognized his condition and this blessing. For he “felt” the healing and could not contain the news. Jesus said, “Your faith has made you whole.”
Back in April, at work, we were asked to pray for someone at work who had a tumor and was told they had cancer. I saw them in the parking lot this morning and was informed that when the tumor was removed it tested FALSE for cancer!!! Furthermore, the person stated “God has been so good to me and thanks for all the prayers. I don’t know how else I would have made it. In this story too, this person’s faith made them whole!
There’s an old song that says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Above all, this is a song and stories that teaches us to be thankful.
What are some of the types of things that happen when we Go Back and Tell those who prayed what happened with our issues …
1) It encourages them and confirms that prayer works and they pray more 2
2) Helps them have “tangible” examples of the power of prayer…some people need visuals
3) Demonstrates how God answers prayers in various ways when you have a few examples of answered prayers. Yes, No, Maybe and more…
What are some ways to express your Gratitude to God and others for the answered prayers:
1) Pray … and tell God Thank You (he often wonders why you don’t call, write or text him like you do everybody else) just kidding but ummm …
2) Put your gratitude to paper – Take out a blank piece of paper and make a list of 3 things and people you are grateful for in your life. A list of things God has given just you.
3) Everybody has problems and issues. You might not have the best but you have; so, appreciate and thank God for what you DO have. Take care of what you have by doing things such as keeping the old car cleaned until the new one comes, etc.
4) Journal to God what you’re grateful for. I journal sometimes and I have a couple from over the years that I can go back to and see how God has blessed my life and the journals show me that God has never failed me and has been with me through the years.
5) Rejoice and share the power of prayer with others! Write a note or card of encouragement and send it to someone you are grateful for and has blessed you.
Song:
Maurette Brown Clark: I Just Want to Praise you Forever
Prayer:
Dear Lord, we praise you God because just like your word says you have never left us nor forsaken us. We feel beat up by the battle of life sometimes. Yet you send us a fresh wind and fresh fire and remind us the battle is not ours but yours. So with that in mind, may we pick ourselves up again, sooner or later, and continue our journey/race. We pray that you will be there saying “well done, good and faithful servant when we finish.” Amen.
Note: This week’s Fast Wednesday is dedicated in loving memory to cousin Susan Marie Carroll Yarbourgh and Sister Jeanne Williams who are now in the bosom of our Lord…
Love, Joy and Peace,
Debra J. Fuller Ellis
Reminder AND/OR for those of you just joining us either by contacting me or I personally added you: The purpose of Fast Wednesdays is to draw near to God on this specific day of the week fasting and praying in whatever manner the Holy Spirit is leading you as sisters in Christ…some have fasted from social media, coffee, or observed a traditional fast with no eating from sunrise to sunset with only liquids for the day, no deserts, etc. I know many of us for various reasons participate every week but in different manners. This has still been beneficial, and the sisterhood continues to grow!
The key ingredient is that we are doing this together as sisters, of all ages, in the Lord both chronologically and spiritually in accordance to: A God-Filled Life Titus 2:3-5 “Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior.” Note: Please share Fast Wednesdays with your friends and/or send me names to add to the distribution list. For now, I will post in three places: email (djf52055@gmail.com), Facebook (Debra Fuller Ellis) and blog on Word Press.
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