Today I had the PERFECT 6 hour date!!!! My date was spent with God, an Americano with breve, a Chai pancake, a book by Jack Hayford "A New Time and Place", and the book of Ruth!!
Before I begin about date I'd like to make note of days that I want to remember:
February 5, Noticed
February 9, Emails
February 10, Text
February 11, Call
February 15, Met
February 16, Silence
February 18, Emotional Truth
February 20, Trust..... this WILL be Different
As I trust you God, please allow me to trust my own gut and not
listen to the whispers from the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy. I
WILL BE STILL and KNOW YOU ARE GOD!!!
Love the Way GOD has spoken
today after setting forth the above statement. All confirming that I need to trust my gut,
and still have Hope….. GOD never ceases to amaze me!!!!
February 22, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young:
YOU NEED ME EVERY MOMENT. Your awareness of your constant need
for Me is your greatest strength. Your neediness, properly handled, is a link
to My Presence. However, there are pitfalls that you must be on guard against:
self-pity, self-preoccupation, giving up. Your inadequacy presents you with a
continual choice- deep dependence on Me, or despair. The emptiness you feel
within will be filled either with problems or with My Presence. Make Me central
in your consciousness by praying
continually: simple, short prayers flowing out of the present moment. Use
My Name liberally, to remind you of My Presence. Keep on asking and you will receive, so that your gladness may be
full and complete. 1 Thessalonians 5:17; John 16:24 (AMP)
Now to my awesome date with God today, February 23:
As soon as my eyes were opened and my mind awake today I heard a few thoughts run through my head... Read Ruth and Take him dinner.... Of course many should know me and one of my favorite words from God just a few years back which was "JUMP".... something I knew I was hearing loud and clear from Him but continued to try and ignore. yep, I knew I was hearing Him loudly with Read Ruth and Take dinner, but I rolled over and tried to pray other things.... God continued to insist, so after about a half hour is when I decided to get up and go spend some time with Him, before I even considered the second part of His morning message. I remembered this book that I read a long long time ago that was on my book shelf about the book of Ruth, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have more to reference. So I found it, what an awesome surprise to remember who had given it to me in the first place. My dear best friend from Nashville, Laura.... Made it seem like an even more God calling moment. so, I grabbed my Bible and the book and set out for Uncommon Grounds coffee house in Powell, Wyoming to have a God date, and plus I've learned a long time ago NOT to ignore when or NOT to fight HIM when HE is speaking and calling. I figured too that if it was really HIM speaking the later part of the message He would make it clear to me. Thus, my date began.
I took notes from my reading, parts that hit home to my heart. The book had 5 chapters and the whole day I was met and filled to overflowing by God!!!
page 19: ... The Lord will make it His business to care for those who REST their HOPE in Him rather than RUSH to figure out their own solutions.
page 20: The Lord promises He will faithfully deal with the people who stand firmly with Him- even when they are lacking what their hearts desire.
pages 46-47: One quality in Ruth I admire very much was her refusal to "be cool" or "play it coy." You never find her pretending that Boaz's interest and kindness were of little consequence. In our day-to-day human interactions, we seem so prone to play little relational games and toy with one another's emotions. One of the favorite ploys, it seems, is slipping on that well-practiced mask of indifference and unruffled reserve in the presence of others.
For instance... if a fellow shows a little interest in a girl, she will often as not feign aloofness- even though inwardly she may delight in the attention. Delight, however, isn't "cool." And everyone knows it's a risk to appear "too interested."
Of course this isn't uniquely a feminine trait. It's true of all human nature. At times each one of us prefers to be coy rather than frank and honest. We hesitate to make plain statements. We're reluctant to commit ourselves. It's a trait of our times: We don't want to appear too enthusiastic or excited about anything. Society's sophistry teaches, "Don't let anyone know what you're really feeling or thinking. It's so much safer to be neutral and noncommittal."
Ruth, however, was of a vastly different cut of cloth. And there is something about her spirit in this little book of Scripture that calls to mind my own courting experiences.
I WANT to be like Ruth, a vastly different cut of cloth..... Hayford goes on to describe his own dating experience with his wife and concludes it with:
page 50: Even if she's irritated with me, she's still just herself, with no manipulating or maneuvering. In a world of three thousand exotic ice cream flavors, she is consistently and deliciously Vanilla. And I've always loved vanilla best of all.
page 51-52: ?'s Permit me to ask you something rather pointedly: Are you prepared to allow the Spirit of God to change your status quo? Are you truly ready for the Lord to do something new in your life? Something unexpected? Out of the ordinary? Are you ready to follow Him down roads you've never traveled? Are you open to the possibility that He might bless you in an expected, perhaps startling way?...
Who says you know what's next for your life?
Who says God can't use you in a dramatic, wholly unexpected way?
Who says He can't lead you into a season of life and ministry beyond anything you've ever experienced- or even dreamed?
Just who is the limiting factor here? Is it God? Or are we capable of closing our hearts to what He wants to do in and through our lives?
page 54: I can't help but notice that Ruth found her way and her future in a harvest field. That's where things happen. That's where relationships develop and deepen and where destinies are revealed. True, none of us can earn a relationship with God by working for Him, but we can certainly learn the depths of such a relationship when we busy ourselves with what concerns Him most.... the harvest.
To think of the biblical term " harvest" is to think of people helping people, touching people, loving people, serving people, and winning people into the love of God. On the other hand, to misplace or lose our perspective on "the harvest" - on serving people with life- is the surest way to short-circuit the promised possibilities of our lives.
page 56: ... in Him, today can be dramatically different from yesterday.
page 66: Hear me in this, friend: It is not the will of God that anybody, for whatever reason, live out his or her life as a loser. None of us are ever in a situation beyond His ability to redeem. If He could take a stranger and foreigner and bring her into the ancestry of kings through a kinsman-redeemer, He can also say to you and me,... "I can cause the purpose I have for you to be realized in you."
page 72: "Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day." (Ruth 3:18)
page 75: .. Do it just as He says.... Listen to these three replies once again...
"All that you say to me I will do."
"Let it be to me according to your word."
"Whatever He says to you, do it."
What are we talking about here? We're talking about the kind of commitment that opens the way for the kingly purposes of the living God to be realized in and through us.
page 79: People may learn how to pray and how to praise. People may come into the assembly of believers and lift their hands and glorify the Lord and sing a thousand songs. Yet these things will never substitute for those long hours at the feet of Jesus- often spent "in the dark" - either of night or of circumstances. And those who have learned to live at His feet, clinging to His promises and waiting on Him, experience a dimension of life and fruitfulness beyond what they have ever known before.
pages 80-81: When Ruth walked away from Boaz and the threshing floor in the dim light of that early morning, she walked away alone. Yet she walked away with his firm promise and a "down payment" of grain, a foretaste of the great provision to come.
For a brief time, she couldn't see him, couldn't hear his voice, and couldn't feel the touch of his strong, gentle hand on her shoulder. It was probably a very long day for Ruth. Yet Naomi told her, "Sit still, my daughter... for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day" (3:18).
Similarly, for you and me there will be times when we may feel the Savior is a million miles away from our situation. But receive the promise, dear one. He has placed His Spirit within you and me as a certified assurance of His will to complete everything! And until He settles all things and eventually takes us home to Himself, we may continually rely on the presence of the living God. No matter how dark or long your night, He has pledged, "I will never leave you nor forsake you!"
So come and bow again. At this very moment, affirm your commitment to wait before His throne- dependent on His presence, His power, and His promise.
Jesus, according to Your Word, I will wait at Your feet, for You ARE my Redeemer. However dark or long the night, I receive Your provision, and I commit to live in the inheritance of the Holy Spirit You have given unto me... en route to the fullness of Your purpose in my new time and new place.
pages 87-93:
page 96: Thankfully, scripture gives us a different story. After Ruth made her appeal according to the provisions of God's Word, she stepped back. In quiet dignity, she let the redeemer redeem. She left it in the hands of Boaz... and God. As difficult as it may have been, she obeyed Naomi's counsel to "sit still" until the matter was concluded one way or another.
page 124: "Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. They give us Hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises." Romans 15:4 (NLT).
pages 125-127: Come with me now... in prayer.
Dear Father, I am warmed within by Your Holy Spirit of promise, whose presence has drawn me into Your Word of Truth. In Jesus' name, I come to thank you.
Thank You for the truth that NOTHING can frustrate Your purpose toward me. NOTHING can blockade the possibilities of Your loving intent for my life being fulfilled. As I have read Ruth, one of Your daughters of long ago, You have convinced me of Your car for me, one of Your children in the here and now. I put my case before You, not on the grounds of my worthiness, but on the foundation of the cross which had purchased my salvation and all that I need pertaining to my life as one of Your own....
Now, dear one, speak your heart. My own heart's cry for a new time, a new place, or both and more!
So, dear Father, I commit these words of my heart's hope to You. And just as Ruth's path involved time and trial before her fullest hopes were tangibly fulfilled, I will simply rest my case with You and wait for You to act on my behalf.
You are the Father of my hope and my salvation, and Your Son is the Author and Finisher of my faith. As Your own child, and with Jesus as my Lord, I now move forward to live in the realm of Your Kingdom's new possibilities for me....
at this new time of trust,
and in this new place of rest.
Amen.
While I was having this amazing incredible date with God both of my running buddies came in the coffee shop.... we had decided to meet for a run later in the day. So, when I had finished the book and my date with God, I left and met them. It is so nice to have such incredible women to run with and be able to share life with. I couldn't thank them enough for their encouragement about what I heard God confirm in my heart today. As well as knowing they would be praying for me on the Ruth appeal I was about to go and make after our run, and would not stop praying until they heard from me.
I went home and made the dinner, took a shower and prayed, and prayed and prayed more. I think I was questioning what I was hearing God tell me to do.... This really was a NEW TIME and PLACE for me to be in.... and HE made that apparent starting Monday of this week, and now it was Saturday and time to bring the matter to that NEW TIME and PLACE, where it has NEVER been before.
Dinner was taken, and what I had planned on being about 5 minutes turned into 3 hours..... So,
After I made my appeal according to the provisions of God's Word, I stepped back. In quiet dignity, I let the redeemer redeem. I left it in the hands of Boaz.... and God. As difficult as it may have been, I obeyed counsel and scripture to "Be Still" until the matter was concluded one way or another.
I am overwhelmed by God's Love for me.... not to mention that "last kiss" God would also use to speak to my heart. While I TRUST You, GOD, allow me to trust my own gut, heart and head. Not listening to the whispers of the one who tries to steal, kill and destroy. I WILL BE STILL and KNOW YOU ARE GOD... Sure, Ruth only waited a night and part of the next day, but this Ruth thinks she may be waiting for months... But, I'll WAIT for ALL I've ever Dreamed of to come true in Your Time and in Your Way and in the Place You would have it..... For You are the Father of my hope and I will rest and wait for You to act as I move forward to new possibilities for me.... at this new time of trust and in this new place of rest.
Funny part is later this night before going to bed, I finished another book I was reading and these words jumped off the page at me after the day I had....
"The Grace and Truth Paradox" by Randy Alcorn on page 90:
THEN WE WAITED, HOPING AND PRAYING!!
Yep, that's me Waiting Expectantly with Hopeful Trust.....
JOYFUL, PRAYERFUL, THANKFUL (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
and.... HOPEFUL!!
