God's love and comfort

Good Morning Friends!  Fear not!  We are HIS Friday!  I told you about my sweetie being sick, well he is doing better….Thank you Father, but now, I am fighting it off!!!  Trust me, I am fighting, but I have a cough…kind of a yucky cough….a yucky cough that seems to always fire up in the middle of the night!   Don’t you hate that!  Well sure enough, I had not been asleep to long last night when I was awakened by that “special” feeling in my chest and throat…..that you are “fixin” to start coughing feeling…Yep, first one…then another!   UGH!!!!!  In the darkness I reached onto my night stand and felt for a cough drop….Ahh….there’s one….again, I fumbled in the darkness and got it open…POP….into my mouth.  Almost Immediately I could feel the soothing relief permeating my irritated throat and chest…Cough drops have always amazed me…..how they know right where to go to get the “special” feeling….no chewing or swallowing , just put it in your mouth and the relief gets started….how the heck do they do that….As I drifted back to sleep, coughing subsided, a sweet thought over- came me….God’s love and comfort…..in life’s darkness….when we are fumbling in life’s darkness….His love is there….no chewing, swallowing (maybe our pride at times), no begging, no price to pay…got to buy cough drops….no buying God’s love and comfort…..POP…..feel trouble stirring in your heart and mind….POP…..God is right there waiting to soothe and comfort you….get you through the darkness…fears subsided…..get you through the darkness into the marvelous light of HIS  LOVE…….permeating our hearts and minds, soothing comfort for all of the dark times……Warm Love engulfing us….sweet peace….through His mercy and grace…..Oh Father, thank you for Your sweet love and comfort when we need it most!  Forgive us when we try to do it without YOU…..Father, all Glory to You!

 

Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!  For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4.  Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your disease, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  Psalm 103:2-5

Love you all!

 

Kathie A. Johnson

Receptionist

Get er done!

Today at 11:01 AM

Good Morning Friends! Wonderfully wrapped in His loving arms, Wednesday!  Me oh my, Luke 1: 37, “For nothing is impossible with God.”  Took on a whole new dimension for me this past weekend!  My husband got hit by some kind of horrible cough, cold, sinus, chest, deep cough, headachy, body achy, tummy yucky sickness last weekend.  Well it started about Thursday, but by Friday at noon he was off the ranch and in the recliner….and that’s where he stayed until yesterday!  Now those of you that know him, know that is not at like him….not even a little bit!  So, Friday night when I went up to fill the seed buckets in the fodder factory, I knew I had quite a weekend ahead of me…..standing there alone, filling the buckets I let our Father know exactly how I was feeling about the weekend ahead……Saturday morning, I got up early, got on my work clothes, grabbed a tablet and proceeded to get detailed instructions from my sicky!   He carefully detailed how much fodder, each group of animals got (and how to place it on the truck),  how many buckets of wheat for the calves, bull, sheep….lambs get 50 pounds of pellets, fodder on top and fill troughs with alfalfa and don’t forget to water them….oh cows need half a bale of Alf alpha too….(we are talking a very large bale)…..suddenly he stopped….sadly shaking his head he said, “there is NO WAY you can do this!”  Again, this is not like him….he always thinks I can do and he always manages to get up and go, not Saturday.  Oh boy, I thought I am going to need some reinforcement for sure……So, as put on my coat, hat, and gloves and headed out the door I said, “Father……you are coming along aren’t You?”  Please!”  I was feeling really overwhelmed and unsure of what lay ahead of me…..first obstacle…getting the old feed truck started!  Great little 1983 Isuzu diesel with a little flatbed….has no heat, no defrost, driver’s side door doesn’t latch….and oh gosh did I tell you that to get it started you have to spray ether in the air filter first!  I got the hood popped, found the latch to lift it and then stood staring at all the parts…air filter…hmmmm….let’s see I should remember which one of these figga ma jobbies is the air filter….yep, think it’s this one…one little squirt Kim said that’s all…ok done, now let’s start it.  With a few rattles, bumps, and lots of exhaust we were up and running!  Thank you Father!  Axle (remember our new little dog) and I headed out….our FATHER right beside us…We took one chore at a time, one bucket, one bag, one flake….when I got to feeling like I wasn’t going to be able to do it….I took a deep breath, feeling HIS gently touch I continued…..Cooper, Katy, and Mommy came over and helped me for a while, wow that was wonderful….Mommy said, “what a workout!  I need to do this more often” as she flaked large chunks of alfalfa to the cows.  Late in the afternoon, after giving the lambs and calves their nighttime food, I pulled off my boots and jeans, slipped into some comfy sweats and started sorting the laundry….I was totally exhausted, my back, legs and arms throbbing, but I felt good….the job, big job, for today was done….I smiled as I thanked our Father for going with me…..”For nothing is impossible with God.”  Lesson learned.  Thank you Father for reminding me that if I take you along with me, no task on the ranch, at work, in my family, heart or mind is too much….With YOU we can “get er done!”  Thanks also Father, for getting Kim on the road to health, for the doctors, nurses and meds that You provide!

 

Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith.  I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20.  Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26.  The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.  Psalm.  29:11.  The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Deuteronomy 31:8.

See with your heart, not your mind: Psalm 73:26

Good Morning Friends!  Thankfully His, Thursday!  Went into the bathroom at break like I always do, looked at the ceramic tiles on the wall in front of me like I always do….But today I saw things on that wall I had never seen before…..the wall was the same as it had always been, but today I saw….goodness me, I saw a big animal….wolf like, his features were quite distinct, large head, muscular shoulders, perky ears and eyes wide-open…..at first I thought you are crazy you have looked at that wall a million times and never seen anything but ceramic tile…..today you are seeing a large animal.  I stared at the wall, moving my eyes over a larger area and I saw more animal-like shapes….My mood thus far today had been very sullen….tired, worn down emotionally and spiritually….the sickness and grief in my family….getting to me…..I just sat looking at the forms that appeared life-like to me…..the thought came to me….it wasn’t my eyes seeing those shapes….it was my mind……my mood…..as I sighed, feeling heavy, I felt a gentle tap…..”My child….you are seeing with your mind….not with your heart…..Your heart is Mine and if you open it to Me I will help you SEE through the grief, the sickness, I will lighten your load…..SEE ME with your heart and I will lift your mind, your body….you will know joy through hope in ME.”  Sighing I felt HIS touch again…as if HE had HIS arms around me, under my arms, pulling me up…..lighter…I felt lighter….”Now precious child, simply be still…..be still and let ME lift you out of your darkness into MY LIGHT of LOVE…..be still and know that I am God, I love you and will carry you….open your heart to ME and you will SEE.”  Thank you Father……

 

My flesh and my heart may fail, bug God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Psalm 73:26. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.  Psalm 5:3. The mind of the sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…Romans 8:6a.  God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.  Psalm 46:1-2.  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Psalm 46:10-11.  In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His Holy name.  Psalm 33:21.

Love  you all!  “Rejoice in the Lord….always!”

 

January 9, 2013

Good Morning Friends! Wonderfully wrapped in His loving arms Wednesday! The rain is wonderful, so needed and I thank our Heavenly Father for every drop, but I have to admit that my drive in this morning seemed dreary….so dark, a heavy, misty fog limited visibility causing a sense of gloom to drift in. It’s against my nature to be gloomy, just hate it, so I said a little prayer asking for a gloom lifter……Life does get gloomy at times doesn’t it…..so much sickness, finances….so dang much to do and so little time….life’s gloom limits our visibility….limits us from seeing, experiencing the light of God’s love….My first duty in the mornings is to go over the newspaper for relevant articles. I always read the “Today’s Prayer” on the front page of the OK Paper…So today as I opened the paper and found the prayer my thoughts on my drive in came perfectly clear…..”The comfort of returning to You, Lord, follows the sorrow of our time away from Your words. Amen.” Oh my…..yes….the Light…..the gloom is lifted…..I feel HIS love…..when I return…..when I am with HIM……I am comforted. Thank You Father for comforting us through all of our gloom. Keep us focused on Your Light!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4. Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones. Isaiah 49:13. Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with great joy than when their grain and new wine abound. Psalm 4:6-7.

 

Love you all!