July 11 2017 – Click here to listen
The Carpenters, a band from days gone by, belted out the lyrics to a song they made popular back when I was a youngster:
Talkin’ to myself and feelin’ old
Sometimes I’d like to quit
Nothin’ ever seems to fit
Hangin’ around
Nothin’ to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down
This song seemed to describe my day yesterday.
- My Internet and television connection went down (and is still down) due to a storm.
- I got up early to finish some work in order to make my morning doctor’s appointment only to find that it had to be rescheduled due to the person I was supposed to meet with having problems with her son.
- Next, I learned that the beloved wife of my good friend Bill Glass went to be with the Lord and I know that Bill will miss his soulmate more than words can describe. His grief grieves me to no end.
- Later I learned that a young man who got addicted to heroin that I’ve been trying to help died from an overdose despite my best efforts to counsel and pray for him to turn him around. His super nice family is devastated and so am I.
- I then went to a periodontist and had painful work done on my gums for two hours.
- Next a friend took something personally that I had said that was intended to be a joke, and became enraged.
- To add to the mood throughout the day we had rainstorms with heavy lightening and torrential downpours that made our pool run over.
I remembered that it was a rainy day and a Monday. Ugh!
I was pretty down and then my phone rang and I saw the name of one of the most spiritual people I know appear on my caller ID. I whispered: “Thank you Jesus I need a breath of fresh air.”
My euphoria didn’t last. He was calling to inform me that he had not returned my call last week because his disabled sister had been hospitalized and he had just brought her home. He said the cause of her condition, a very painful and badly swollen foot, could not be diagnosed even after a week in the hospital.
Ron is a prophet and a powerful prayer warrior, but he sounded very disheartened and worried. I didn’t mention my woes for the day and simply asked if I could pray for him. He said yes, and told me that when I was finished he wanted to pray for me as well.
And PRAY we did. We lifted up Jesus for perhaps an hour. Close your ears Baptists – We prayed in prayer language, (tongues), and we prayed in normal language. We even sang, which in my case could only be appreciated by God for the effort and not the musical content. We thanked God – We praised God – We petitioned God using every ounce of our strength. I prayed for Ron and his sister – He prayed for me – We both prayed for the world.
When finished I asked Ron if he felt better and I could hear him smiling through the phone as he beamed YES! I responded that I felt much better too.
During my prayer, I mentioned to God that His Holy Word guarantees when two or more are gathered in His name that He will be right there with us and He was. I could feel His presence and warm loving compassion. It also states that when we agree on something God the Father will answer and it will be done for us. Though He did not need a reminder, we reminded God of this promise and iterated our faith that He would answer our prayers.
Bad things will continue to happen in this world until the return of Jesus Christ to rule the world, but praise God that we have a loving Intercessor who has overcome the world. Eternity is FOREVER, our trials on planet earth are but a mere vapor that will disappear before we even know it, and then we spend eternity in paradise with our Lord.
Keep your eyes on that goal.
My grandfather had a bird dog named Belle. He taught her to grin on command. He would say, “Grin Belle Grin”, and old Belle would wrinkle up her nose and appear to be grinning. She had a hilariously funny appearance and seemed to enjoy making us laugh. She probably didn’t feel like grinning all the time, especially on rainy days and Mondays, but did so anyway.
Hey maybe we can learn from old Belle. Com’on now grin my friends – grin . . .
Matt. 18:19
Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”