Sometimes just a touch...

I must admit that I am having a time staying focused today...thinking I would clean some house and do some taxes...not got much of that done...but did spend some time this morning at my kitchen table...I first read my "KJ" calendar...

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways.  Isaiah 55:9

"Our definition of what is good changes as we come to Christ and grow into His likeness.  However, God always see what is absolutely good for us...He gives us only the things that are truly beneficial for our growth as His children and that are beneficial for the advancement of His kingdom on this earth.  The question to ask yourself if you have an unmet need today is this: Is this thing that I need something that God defines as good for my life?"

Boy isn't that one one to make you say hmmmm....that reminds me that I think I may be about Firecracker's age in my maturity...and maybe not there...or perhaps I a am just a more spoiled two year old...I want what I want when I want it...of course it is good for me!!!

But I am encouraged as I read on...I love Jesus Calling each day but seems I have been nudged more on prayer...and so reading today...

"I AM A GOD of both intricate detail and overflowing abundance. When you entrust the details of your life to Me, you are surprised by how thoroughly I answer your petitions. I take pleasure in hearing your prayers, so feel free to bring Me all your requests. The more you pray, the more answers you can receive. Best of all, your faith is strengthened as you see how precisely I respond to your specific prayers.

Because I am infinite in all My ways, you need not fear that I will run out of resources. Abundance is at the very heart of who I AM. Come to Me in joyful expectaion of receiving all you need--and sometimes much more! I delight in showering blessings on My beloved children. Come to Me with open hands and heart, ready to receive all I have for you."

And so it always includes scripture to read along...these spoke to me as well and made me think of others going down this journey...

Psalm 36:7-9

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
⁸ They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
⁹ For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

Psalm 132:15

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵ I will abundantly bless her provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.

John 6:12-13

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹² So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” ¹³ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

How this makes me think of my faith and shakes me up and inspires me...I also read in My Utmost this part that just seemed to jump out at me...

"If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He does not ask you to put it right; He asks you to accept the light, and He will put it right. A child of the light confesses instantly and stands bared before God; a child of the darkness says--"Oh I can explain that away." When once the light breaks and the conviction of wrong comes, be a child of the light, and confess, and God will deal with what is wrong; if you vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness."

Oh facing those things that need to be faced and ready to ask for help...YES EVEN MY TAXES that many will say she has really went out of her way to keep away from this...on this my flex Friday...hoping that perhaps an Uncle LaLa will convince a Firecracker and her mama to hop in...and make it a FIRECRACKER FLEX FRIDAY after all!!   But for now I am home and it is an amazing day...which the shepherd has been out and about and so I  have been shepherd on call...granted I am not a great shepherd...but hey I try...so when I heard some ruckus on the lam-cam...out I headed to the barn...and it was so nice decided I would hop on my bike...stop by the barn and go on a bike ride (yes a real bike ride!!)...well I get to the barn and lo and behold we are having a baby!!    So I text the shepherds...and to which I get a call back from the one that resides here full time...that is the one that I thought was close he tells me...the one I had just told Lance about...to which I get another reply back from Lance saying she bred back fast...so the old shepherd tells me there will probably be another...so I decide to take a quick ride down to Katy's corner and then come back...well upon my return...this mama had lost all interest it seemed in the first baby...so my assumptions  being the super shepherd I am...either she is having another or she decided she didn't want to be a mom...I am hoping for the first!!

I decided to give her some time and snuck in the house and throw some laundry in...and finished sending out some e-mail...and back out I headed to the barn this time with camera in hand just like earlier today...only this time...the BATTERY WAS CHARGED...so when I walk in there is a new baby on the ground...and I notice the first one is just lying their cold and still and I had thought when she first had it that I had cleared its mouth and wiped its nose but when I went to touch it now it was cold and still...I began to wipe its face more and shake it up a bit to which it sat up and said HEY I'M ALIVE!   I am sure that is what I said...no don't mistake me with a lamb whisperer...

But something spoke to me...the words sometimes just a touch...and I thought sometimes just our touch to another...or a touch from our Shepherd that says HEY YOU ARE ALIVE AND I CARE ABOUT YOU!!!    And so I smile at this lesson I have learned and yes this break from taxes!!   I hear more sounds from the barn and so perhaps I should head back out...yes the shepherd is on his way but until then....perhaps there are some that need a whisper...or a touch!!

This is the new little guy...I need a good name for him...I think Jeremiah
Jeremiah 29:11 has been my "gift" for this year...

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

 

And so I think I will also throw in the God Calling reading today...just seemed like good ones today as well as the Girlfriends in God What if Jesus were in the boat with you...

God Calling for today...

Until Your Heart Sings

I am beside you to bless and help you. Waver not in your prayers. They shall be heard. All power is Mine. Say that to yourself often and steadily.

Say it until your heart sings with the Joy of the safety and power it means to you.

Say it until the very force of the utterance drives back, and puts to naught, all the evils against you.

Use it as a battle cry - "All power is given unto My Lord," "All power is given unto My Friend," "All power is given unto My Savior pass on to victory.

"He ruleth by his power for ever." - Psalm 66:7

I think I am about done...but I take a break and head out with the "real shepherd" who has been away from the farm...hanging out with his folks...checking on his cows...meeting up with his brother...he was going to work on some other but either wrong parts or no one home...so he is back to shepherding and I realize the difference in caliber of shepherds...oh sure I checked on them...wiped off "slime"...wiggled them until they breath...but then when the big guy gets here...he puts them in their own jug (that would be an individual pen)...he gets the numbers marked down on the wall...to which he makes me laugh as he says, "And when was the second one born?" (good thing I text out on my phone to know)   "After the first one?"  To which I can't resist replying, "no a little before"...He also gives a hit of nutridrench...not sure I am spelling that correctly...but I laugh again because he likes the smell of it...oh that shepherd...he shows a whole different level of "touching"...so I sit back...take notes...and give thanks!!   And PRAY for shepherd skills!!

lyp