Precious Treasures and Promises

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God’s Bank Account verse:

Psalm 50:14-15 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most High; and (then) call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.”

What does this mean to me:

During the everyday disappointments of daily life- being thankful for EVERYTHING- Saying “Thank you Lord for allowing this to happen and help me to see the blessing in it” Based on Thess. 5:18 and Romans 8:28.

We raised our children on these verses. They are the key of making Jesus real in our home. It is like depositing in the Bank of Faith- your sacrifices of thanksgiving- even if you don’t feel like it. It will really build your faith as you see that “all things DO work together for good.”

Then when the bad things do come into your life, you can call upon the Lord and you have built an account of faith and you know that He will deliver you in the big things too.

PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING- I Thessalonians 5:17

Pray about everything in your life, little things, big things. Ask him about all the details. Our children have said they felt one of the biggest reasons they became Christians was that Jesus was made real in our home. And this is how He can be made real. To pray about everything and allow the children to see that He does answer and He does care. We would always pray in the car as we left together to go to the mountain, on any little trip. Pray before we went shopping, that the Lord would help us find the perfect things at the perfect prices. Pray for all sporting events. Pray at the exact time of school tests. Pray for personal relationship, for disappointments, for finding things, and this could go on and on. Allowing the Lord to be part of EVERYTHING you do.

Summer

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After saying “yes” to many things during the Spring, we get into our Summer season. Oh yes, we are blooming… we are enjoying what we are doing and our self esteem is going up as we get compliments on the good jobs we are doing. But we start hearing from our children, “You’ve been gone three nights in a row. When are you going to stay home?” They start saying “Who is sick?” when they see a cake you have baked or cookies you have made, knowing it wouldn’t be for them. What started out as fun and challenging is turning out to be a drag and hard work and you start thinking “I’ll be glad when this is over!”

Do we get so busy in the Summer season that we don’t have time for our family? We begin to hear, “You said you were going to fix this…. do this… talk more to me about this… but you never have time.” They said, “I have tried to tell you but you didnt listen, you were in a hurry.” Soon we dont have quite the excitement for the job as we did in the Spring when we said yes. This is why you need to ask the Lord BEFORE you say yes. He knows what it will entail and what it will cost your family. He knows better than you how much you can handle. You might say, “Ok, I didnt ask the Lord or get his OK for what I’m doing but the results are good. Isn’t that what is important?” NO. The bible has some strong things to say about “Doing a good job but neglecting our family.”

I Timothy 5:8 “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

One of the strongest examples is the story of Eli: 1 Samuel 2:11-12 “And the boy (Samuel) ministered to the Lord in the presence of Eli of the priest. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men, they had no regard for the Lord.” Now there was a priest at the temple of the Lord He was serving the Lord and doing a good job, wasnt that enough. He had worthless sons who didnt love the Lord, but that wasn’t Eli’s fault was it?

I Samuel 2:22-2 1 Samuel 2:22-25  “Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.  So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good.  If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.”

I Samuel 2:34-35 “and this which shall befall your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you; both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house and he shall go in and out before me anointed forever.”

Do we become so busy during our summer season that we don’t have time to restrain our children or even love them properly? I shall give you a personal example of this and what the Lord showed me:

Becky was in Bible School, Cindy and Jane in High School, Bart in Jr High and Pollyann in grade school. Dick and I had been asked to be counselors at a Young Life camp and we said yes. We were done for the weekend and left the older children in charge. Monday after the camp weekend I got a knock on the door and it was a policeman. He said, “Do you know what your darling children were doing this weekend? Oh my, I didnt like the tone of his voice. My children were darling but he was being very sarcastic. He said they had pulled out a stop sign and were stopping cars and then squirting them with whipped cream and then jumping back in to the bushes. It was night time and very dark, and apparently they had left Pollyann home alone sleeping.

When the children came home I told them of the visit. They were very honest and said that yes, they had done that and also their cousin Jim Tobiason was with them. They said they had found the stop sign in the woods behind our house and the whipped cream bit was from some movie that was popular at that time. They were very sad and hadn’t meant to do anything bad. Well, I went to the police station and talked to the policeman. He really was a nice man and realized it was just in fun but he said it could have been serious and we should make the children realize that. So Dick and I talked with them very seriously and told them they had to take the sign down to the police station, and apologize to the policeman and say they will never do such a thing again. They did and it seemed like it worked out OK.

But the next day I went to Bible Study Fellowship and we were studying Genesis and it just happened to be in Genesis 34. Jacob was so busy away serving the Lord that he was not aware of what his sons and daighters were going. One of the questions was, “Are you sometimes so busy serving the Lord that you do not know what your children are doing?” Oh my, did that hit home!

It also taught us some lessons. We would concentrate on raising our own children and “do camps” for other children after ours were raised.

Some things I have learned from Grandma Rosy

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Guest writer: Mali Jane

Earlier this month I was reflecting on my 28 years with Grandma Rosy and decided to make a list of things I have learned from her….

1. How to pray for and anticipate my husband

When I was 16 my first longterm boyfriend ended our relationship, leaving me heartbroken and devastated. Everyone was very encouraging and understanding, but Grandma Rosy took it upon herself to ensure I didn’t become bitter and that I still held a vision for my future husband. She invited me over and sat with me as we created a list of “needs and wants” in a future husband. This is something she did with each of my aunts when they were younger and still has copies of those lists. We wrote things about the kind of husband and father I wanted him to be, how tall he might be, the sports he liked to play, and even the kind of relationship I wanted him to have with my family. I remember giggling when she made me end the list with “good lover”. She was never shy about the importance of a good sex life. I held onto this list for 7 years until my wedding day when I gave the list to Rylan and let him know I have been praying for him and waiting for him since the day I sat at Grandma Rosy’s kitchen table at age 16. When I think back on that list I realize it allowed me to give my dream of a husband to the Lord and trust that He would provide the perfect person. And he did. Rylan embodied every single “need and want” on that list…. except for one thing: he isn’t very musical. But I have to give the Lord credit because Rylan sure does try… it just doesn’t always sound that great. I guess that’s a good lesson on praying for specifics 🙂

2. The importance of morning quiet times

Anyone who knows Grandma Rosy has heard the importance of having time with the Lord in the MORNING. She was forever diligent about her quiet times each morning and passed this routine onto her family members. I now love and benefit from time each morning with the Lord reading, praying, and journaling about my thoughts and concerns. This is a lesson that will impact me every day for the rest of my life. What a gift.

3. The love of snail mail

After years of receiving and sending mail with Grandma Rosy I have learned to love the thoughtfulness of a hand written card. Emails are nice and text messages are ok, but getting a letter in the mail means someone took special time to send you their love and thoughts. And although Grandma Rosy’s handwriting was challenging to read at times 🙂 I could always sense her warmth and genuine care.

4. How to keep romance in your marriage

I wont go into too much detail on this one, but I will say that I never doubted Grandma Rosy’s passion for Papa and the importance of enjoying and pursuing your husband intimately. This has been a gift to my marriage, and I am sure many others.

5. An appreciation for my Norwegian heritage

Whether it was the unique spelling of my name, special desserts, or holiday traditions, I have always loved the way Grandma Rosy celebrated our Norwegian lineage. Grandma Rosy’s lefse was always the first thing consumed at family parties and I loved when she showed up in her bunad. Even though I have never traveled to Norway, I hold a lot of pride for being Norwegian and hope to continue some of those traditions with my family as well.

6. The power of prayer

I think it’s safe to say that Grandma Rosy has been our Prayer Warrior. Everyone knows that when you have a need or desire, to come to Grandma and she will join you in prayer. For some reason, it always felt that if Grandma was praying for something… it was more likely to be answered with yes from the Lord. She would also have a list of verses or a bible study concerning the topic you were struggling with. What an amazing example she was for taking your concerns to the Lord and seeking His word for guidance.

7. The importance of leading others to Christ

I wish I could get an approximate number of the people Grandma Rosy touched throughout her lifetime. What I do know is that it was worldwide, spanning generations, languages, and faith backgrounds. She was involved with Young Life, Agros, women’s groups, retreats, Moldovan ministries, Soup and Surprise, cancer care groups, and numerous other groups of people wanting to gather and learn about God’s love for them. This example is what sparked my desires to lead others through bible studies and also be involved myself. Today I have a wonderful group of women in my life that meet weekly to encourage each other in life and in our walks with Christ. I also lead a group of college women who had the privilege of hearing from Grandma Rosy last Spring. It was through her example that the Lord called me to live in a similar way, gathering together to encourage each other in the Lord.

8. How to set a beautiful table

Whether you were visiting Grandma Rosy for tea, lunch, dinner, or just a quick hello, the table was always set. The napkins matched the table setting and the middle of the table was always adorned with a lovely centerpiece (usually flowers from her garden). She always knew how to make someone feel welcomed and special in her home. This is a tradition I enjoy carrying on in my home today when hosting guests for dinner or just dessert. Although my centerpiece comes from the store since I didn’t pick up her gardening skills, I think of her as I set the table in hopes of making everything lovely.

This short list only includes some of the things I have learned directly from Grandma Rosy. So many more things have been/ will be taught to me through my dad and mom, aunts, uncles, and cousins, as they bless me with the things they learned from our sweet Grandma Rosy.

 

Love from MM “Mama Mentor” – May 2005

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The following was sent to Tanea, one of the many women Grandma Rosy has mentored and encouraged over the years…

Sent May 6th 2005

Dear Tanea,

Now I have sent the two letters to I told you about and all that is in the Lord’s hands and we shall forget about it and know he is in control. But I want to talk to you about some other things. I had a very special time with the Lord yesterday in the morning from the Retreat I was a group leader of 6 women. I told them if they would like to try to get up early each morning to have quiet time with the Lord, I would pray for them for 21 days. And Dick would too. Well, 3 of them chose to do this and we have been praying for them and they have been writing back and the Lord has been blessing them.

I don’t know if I told you, but last Tuesday I woke up at 5am and was wide awake and felt so good. My brain was alive and I had energy all day to get ready for Soup and Surprise. The day before I had my list but the Lord brought people my way to talk to and pray for and I didn’t do anything on my list. But when I just said OK Lord, this is your plan and I will roll with it…..it was a blessed day. I thought for one thing, the Lord gave me that day of energy because I followed his plan on Monday.

I did have energy on Wednesday for Soup and Surprise and prayed that yesterday I would again wake early and have a great day. Well, I didn’t and it was after 6am and I awoke tired. I was also a day of prayer and fasting for us as it was National Day of Prayer for our nation and our pastor challenged us to fast and pray and then all meet at the church at 7pm for a special prayer service. I haven’t been able to fast because of my hypoglycemia, but I tried yesterday with no food, but water, and juice and coffee and did fine. But back to my morning… I felt that I could either have a droopy day or “choose” to have a good one. I could “choose” to exercise and I could “choose” to think about the positive side of things. Years and years ago there was a song that said “You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative” and that is what I “chose” to do. So as I sat with my yellow pad while praying and prayed that I could have a miracle from my devotion book to share with my ladies. I wrote on the pad “I Can Choose” and prayed something to do with that would be in the book and I could tell the ladies how so often the Lord has met my heart and need through these books, and of course the Bible. But god Calling, God at Eventide, and My Utmost for His Highest are full of notes on the side of what happened on certain days.

Well, first I opened God Calling for May 5th and what was the title of the message…..LET ME CHOOSE. I was so excited and it blew me away. Yes, here I had been saying “I” can choose in all those things, and wanted a word from the Lord. So I was able to tell all that to my 3 ladies. So I did let him choose, but he also chose to have me exercise…. darn it! Smile.

Then on Saturday morning, just before going to the Agros Training Day leaving at 8am, the Lord brought alive scripture to me that has been a blessing. I dont know if I shared that with you either. But in My Utmost for His Highest for that day, a reference to Romans 5:5 was given and as I looked that up my eyes were taken to the other side of the page where some verses had been marked and circled. What was such a blessing to me was Romans 4:19-21 and what popped out was some words circled were in verses 20-21 “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith AS he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was ABLE to do what he promised”. I loved that his faith grew strong AS he gave glory to God. He didn’t wait until the miracle happened of the promised baby, but he gave God the glory along the way, and his faith grew. We must give God the glory along the way, not just wait until the miracle happens.

And so with him being fully convinced that God was ABLE. I love that. I learned that years ago regarding healing. I would pray, believing with all my heart that a certain person would be healed and then sometimes they wouldn’t be and passed away. I thought “How can I throw myself into believing and having faith when I know He sometimes does not heal?” Then I realized that I could throw my faith and my belief totally on the fact that yes, God is ABLE. Sometimes He chooses not to heal but is able and I will claim that and believe that.

So with this trip and with your daughter, I know God is ABLE to heal her and I trust and pray for that. What he decides to do is up to him, but I throw myself on the thought that he is ABLE and he loves her more than anything and he is going to care for her.

Well, I think I have rambled on enough. Oh, I need to have you right in this room because I have so much to tell you always and it can be hard to put on paper.

Love you so much,

MM (Grandma Rosy)

Guidance for Praying

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John 15:7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.”

James 1:6-8 ” But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that a double minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.”

I John 3:21-22 “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments.”

Matthew 21:22 “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.”

Psalms 91:14-15 “Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him.”

Proverbs 28:13 “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

Proverbs 28:9 “If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.”

Psalms 66:18 “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

Psalms 34:17 “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them our of all their troubles.”

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by these verses…… and then I claim Romans 8:26-27 “Likewise the Spirit help us in our weakness for we do not know ho to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with signs too deep for words, and he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Message version: “If we don’t know who or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God.”

 

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Glad Surprise

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From God at Eventide November 20th Watchful Expectancy

“Can a life be dull or dreary when always there is that watchful expectancy, always that anticipation of GLAD SURPRISE, always wonder of fulfillment, joy of supply?”

From God Calling March 7th Surprises

“I loved to prepare a feast for them by the lakeside- A LITTLE GLAD SURPRISE- not a necessity, as the feeding of the multitude may have seemed. I love to give the wine-gift at the marriage feast.”

From God Calling October 28th Glad Surprises

“Bow as a child bows in anticipation of a “glad surprise” being prepared for him by the one who loves him. Bow in such a way, just waiting to hear the loving words to raise your head, and see the glory and joy and wonder of your surprise.”

From God at Eventide August 10th Glad Surprise

“Live so near to me that you may never miss the opportunity  of being used by Me….. So be very near to Me, and you cannot fail to be much used….. Remember that Love is the Great Interpreter, so that those who love you and are near to you are the ones you can help the most. Do not pass them by for others, though your influence and helpfulness will gradually spread, in an ever-widening circle. You will live in a spirit of GLAD SURPRISE.”

I use the devotional books God at Eventide and God Calling each day, along with Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

Dick and I were in Bergen, Norway on March 7th, 1992 and were reading these each day. As we read the one about the Glad Surprise in the God Calling for that day, we were in anticipation of what the Lord had in store for us that day and each day we were in Norway. It was amazing. We were there, sort of on our own for a change, and He planned a Glad Surprise for us each day. When we got home we began living in that anticipation and also using that term a lot. Now it is so fun to just see what Glad Surprise the Lord has in store for us each day. Sort of an extension of Romans 8:28 that all things do work together for good and God can make glad surprises out of days that might not seem like anything special at the beginning.

Thus came the name for my email address.

 

Helpful Lessons Learned From Philippians 4:4-10

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Over twenty years ago these thoughts were given to me by Claudia Rowe, a Young life leader, and they have been very helpful to me over the years. They come from the following passages:

Philippians 4:4-10 RVS “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:4-10 J.B. Phillips Translation “Delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in him at all times. Have a reputation for gentleness, and never forget the nearness of your Lord. Don’t worry over anything whatsoever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. Here is a last piece of advice. If you believe in goodness and if you value the approval of God, fix your minds on whatever is true and honorable and just and pure and lovely and praiseworthy. Model your conduct on what you heave learned from me, on what I have told you and shown you, and you will find that the God of peace will be with you.”

We are told to give our requests and anxieties to the Lord, with prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving. And then the promise that the Peace of God will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

See the picture of our heart and mind emptied of our anxieties. Then in verse 8-10 we are told what to fill that void with. If we leave it empty it is too easy for the anxious thoughts to return. We are to think about all that is true, and just and pure and lovely. When the anxious thoughts start to return quickly think of what is “true” in that situation. There is always a true fact to state that is positive and will give us something to think about in that situation.

I always think of the lady who always had something positive to say about everyone. Someone said to her, “I think you could find something positive to say about the devil”. She thought a minute and then said, “Well, he is persistent”.

So with us we can usually think of some true positive thing to think about in any anxious situation. When we do this God will put a “guard” around our hearts and minds to help the thoughts and anxieties from returning. But we must do our part.