Kingdom Surrender and Blessings

Posted on FaceBook Mar 10, 2020

Good Morning Kingdom!

And by morning, I mean early morning. I was awakened an hour ago, about 12:50 am, unable to breathe. As I stumbled to the bathroom, I realized it was darker than usual. It was then that I discovered the power was out, which is why I woke up. No power, no operating C-Pap machine, no proper breathing. After lying in bed for a while, not able to go back to sleep, I decided to get up and finish this post I had started last week, no easy task. I’m typing this on my computer in Word Perfect (don’t judge me), for later transferring to FaceBook. No easy task in the dark, not being able to see the keyboard.

“Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.” Acts 4:32-35Ford has been telling me for the last year that the brakes in our Ford truck needed replacing, like every time I took it in for an oil change. Pat told me this past weekend (Mar 1) that it needed to be done before our trip to Fredericksburg and Enchanted Rock this weekend (Mar 7/8). So, Tuesday (Mar 3) I called around a few places to get quotes. The worst case (brake pads and rotor replacement) for the front brakes came to around $500. I wound up taking it to Goodyear for a free inspection and estimate first. The result? No work needed; the pads were fine and the rotors were well within tolerance. However, the battery would need replacing soon (cranking at around 200 when it should be 700.) The battery is only a year old, bought at Walmart and has a 3 year replacement warranty. I’ll be going to Walmart for that replacement.

Now, I’m no mechanic. It sure seemed like my rotors needed replacement, after running my fingers over their surface, and backed up with “expert” Ford opinion. But, no. God is great! $500 saved. I share this testimony, not to brag, but to give God all the glory and praise. To give others hope. To light a fire of revival in the hearts of all. This world is turned upside down. We may live in this world, but we are not of this world. The only way to rise above the chaos and live a righteous life is through the will of Jesus Christ. My focus for the year is revival, both spiritual and physical. There is something to be said for the early church days as described in Acts above. They wanted for nothing as all their needs were provided. Looking back on my life, I realize that through all the ups and downs of life, my needs have always been provided. Some may say that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth (actually some have actually told me that.) My life testimony shows blessings after blessings. But I know it’s not me. It’s God’s grace. And it continues. Every Christian can experience God’s love and grace by surrendering to His will, and obeying. That’s my revival theme for the year. Walk (and live) it out with Christ.

On Wednesday night, the message at church was titled “Our Testimony.” The testimony referred to was not our story but one Story, that of Jesus Christ. I used to almost feel embarrassed talking about all the blessings God has bestowed on me. That is until I realized I wasn’t focused on me; I was sharing the great things only God can do with an empty vessel. It’s a matter of perspective. When you look at a glass only partially filled with a liquid, do you see a glass half full or half empty? Me, I see a full glass, half filled with a liquid and the rest filled with air, so much air that the glass can’t contain it; the air is spilling over and completely surrounding the glass. That’s how God’s love and blessings are with each of us. He gives us so much blessing that we can’t possibly contain it all, and we’re not meant to. Those blessings are meant to be shared, passed on to others, as stated in John 7:37-38: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” God blesses us immeasurably and we are to then spread those blessings to others by giving God all the praise and glory, speaking of his Story. That’s the perspective. Sometimes, it may be hard to discern the blessings, but if you believe, they are there. Again, it’s a matter of perspective. If you’re looking for blessings that are meant for you, you’ll miss the real blessings.

We had a great trip to San Antonio, with the assurance of riding with good brakes. 9 of us went to, up and back down, Enchanted Rock, then stayed overnight at the TLF on Randolph AFB, where the blessings continued. The genesis of the trip was Pat’s desire to start Spring Break off on a good note for her three teen aged grand daughters. They had never been to Enchanted Rock. So, we packed them, ourselves, Pat’s other grand daughter, two daughters and one of her sons into two cars and off we went. Had a great time on the Rock, all having made it to the top, even this old guy, and safely back down. A problem developed later that night, at the TLF. The upstairs toilet malfunctioned, over filled and had flooded the upstairs bathroom and leaked through the ceiling into the kitchen/dining room below. We called the front desk, and they sent out a Maintenance Man, who confirmed what I had already surmised. After shutting the water to the toilet off, I looked inside the tank and discovered the bulb had prevented the flusher to reset, causing the water to continue flowing, well beyond filling the toilet bowl. The maintenance man reset the toilet, and left, not able to clean anything up, because he was maintenance not house keeping. The front desk had no mops or buckets to provide us, just towels. Remember this was the start of Spring Break. There were no other TLF facilities to move us into and we knew there would be no rooms available at midnight in town, so we decided to block off the kitchen/dining room, sop up what water we could with towels, and tough it out for the night. The blessings came at checkout when we were told they had refunded the cost of the room because of our inconvenience.

Pat got to spend 7 quality hours alone with her three older grand daughters, we enjoyed God’s creations, free hotel, with only a minor inconvenience. Great weekend, thanks to God’s gracious blessings. That’s what awaits the true believer who submits to God’s will and walks it out.

And with that, the power just kicked back on at 2:55 am. Good night. God’s perfect timing. I will post this to Facebook later.