Be The Glow Worm

Do your remember when the glow worm came out? You could squeeze it's body and the head would light up. It was supposed to comfort your child if they got scared at bed time when the lights were turned out.
Funny the only thing that changes in the bedroom at bedtime is it goes from light to dark and the only scary thing that comes out in the dark is our own scary thoughts.
It got me thinking about glow worm Moses. Moses would go to the top of Mt. Sinai and speak to God DIRECTLY!
Exodus 33:11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
After Moses spoke with God he would come back down the mountain and share with the people what God said; however he would not come back looking the same way he did when he left. Moses' face would be glowing from being in the presence of God.
Exodus 34:29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.
Moses didn't realize that his face was actually glowing but the people did and it freaked them out. To be honest it scared them. They were seeing a physical transformation on Moses after being with God and it scared them.
Exodus 34:30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
Why were they afraid?
The result of this was Moses would wear a veil over his face when he got back from speaking to God so he wouldn't freak the people out .
Let's apply this to today. First off I believe any time you have an encounter with God it changes you. We may not physically glow but people should see a difference in us. The thing is today many people go to church, unveil themselves if you will, and allow themselves to be vulnerable before God. The problem is when we leave we put on a veil so the people around us won't get freaked out. We go back to life as usual, we say what we want, do what we want, act like we want. We are afraid or embarrassed to let our people see our transformation. Maybe it's because we're afraid we won't fit in or we'll be called a Jesus freak or a hypocrite, there are many reasons but none of them good.
Gems spending time with God doesn't have to be scary, it's what you do with it that can scare people. If you come back from your mountain with God condemning people or being self righteous people will be freaked out by you. You will be scary.
A friend told me one time, when you get to the light don't forget what it was like in the darkness. Good advice.
When we are before God we take off our veil and He puts His light into us. We can become like the glow worm. When we are squeezed by life we can let off light and life won't be as scary for us and we can help it be less scary for others.
Did you know there is an actual glow worm? According to my Google search there is a chemical reaction that happens in the worm and it's very efficient; nearly 100% of the energy input is turned into light.
Wouldn't it be great if 100% of our energy would be turned into the light revealed to us by God's word! We can help make a dark world take off it's veil one person at a time. We can learn that we have nothing to fear, that God will take care of all our needs, that Jesus prepared a place for us in Heaven if we put our faith in Him, that the Holy Spirit can give us comfort and wisdom in all situations.
We have to decide what kind of worm we are going to be.
"We are all worms, But I do believe that I am a glow worm." Winston Churchill
My prayer for you today Gems is that you will take off your veil, go before the Lord and let him fill you with His light. I pray you will keep the veil off so others can see that light. I pray you will show them how to change their scary thoughts to thoughts of hope and peace.
I pray you too will choose to be a glow worm.

Fly BY

I was listening to a song on the radio but not really listening to the words till I heard something about a flint. This of course got me thinking about flint. What is flint? According to Webster it’s used for striking a fire. That made me think of a lighter. The picture I had in my head was of a lighter that men used to carry around when I was younger. Do you remember the big silver lighters that you flipped the top open and you could smell the lighter fluid?
Anyway I thought about that for a few minutes, if I were flint could I spark a fire.
If the wick on the lighter were wet it couldn’t make a flame right.
I got a visual in my head of the Holy Spirit being the flame and flying by me. I told the Lord that I wanted to ignite every time He was near.
What does that look like? The Holy Spirit flying by?
In my world it’s when I feel like the Lord is asking me to do something. For instance:
The other day I went to Chili's for lunch with a friend and I noticed a couple at the table next to us and I felt like I was supposed to go over and pray for them. They were in the middle of eating so I said to the Lord I’ll wait a minute then go over. Well I got blabbing with my friend and when I finally looked over again they were done eating and the lady wasn’t at the table. I went to the ladies room and she was in there washing her hands. Again I felt like I was supposed to ask the woman if I could pray for her and her husband and again I didn't do it. I told the Lord when I was done I would go right over to the table and ask them if they wanted me to pray for them. When I came back to the dining room they were already walking in the parking lot. I thought about running after them but didn’t. I had missed my opportunity.
The flame came by but my flint was wet…. It’s not that I wasn’t going to do it BUT I should have done it as soon as He said so. Procrastination is the same as disobedience.
Well I told the Lord I was sorry and went about my day disappointed I didn’t talk to the couple right away.
About a week goes by and I’m getting ready for church. We have several services on the weekend 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. I usually go to the 5:00 service on Saturday but decided (so I thought) I would go to the 7:00 one. We have a REALLY big church and there were a lot of people there and at one point I had my head down, when I looked up guess who was sitting a row in front of me. The same couple I saw at the restaurant. I couldn’t believe it! I had never seen these people before and here they were right in front me again.
The Holy Spirit said “I’m giving you a second chance” The Holy Spirit was flying by my flint and this time I was going to spark :)
When the service was over people started for the door and the wife was quick, she got by me before I could get out of the isle. I practically pushed people out of my way so I could get to her husband. I'm sure I was in his personal space when I stopped short in front of him.
I asked him if he and his wife were having lunch at Chili's the week before and he said yes. I briefly explained that I saw them there and that I was supposed to pray for them. I then announced I WOULD be praying for them now. I'm still working on my grace skills or as my friend Melissa would say my filter.
After I got my composure and made more sense he understood what I was saying. He went on to tell me that it was unusual for he and his wife to be together at lunch time but because of a chain of events they ended up near Chili's and decided to have lunch.
It was unusual for me to have lunch there that day too. I worked in an office that most times there were only two of us there so we went to lunch separately. I normally brought my lunch but since it was my last week of work my co-worker and I decided to eat out together.
Of course there are no coincidences and we were all right where God wanted us. The only problem was the Holy Spirit did a fly by and my flint didn't spark.
He then went on to tell me they don’t usually come to the 7:00 service, again God’s timing.
We made our way toward his wife who I’m sure was wondering why I had her husband in a head lock, just kidding. They of course did have a prayer request and the Lord gave me a prayer to speak over them that was right on the money. A fly by of the Holy Spirit ignited by a willing flint.
I really believe when we do things like that it sparks others to be ready for a fly by of the Holy Spirit too. It encourages us to act on the prompting and not just assume we’re crazy. It give us confidence when someone confirms they are waiting on a word from the Lord and He used us to give it to them.
Some of the things that will get your flint wet are doubt, fear, being uncomfortable, pride, anxiety or the worst disobedience. These things will keep us from ever making a spark if we let them.
The Holy Spirit can ignite even the smallest flint so the next time you get a fly by act on it and let your spark turn into a flame.

You Wanna Peace of Me

I was reading a devotional from Joseph Prince today that really hit the “peace of God” statement. The following paragraph is from that devotional.

Before that first Passover night, all the children of Israel had received the same Word of God — “when I see the blood, I will pass over you”. (Exodus 12:13) But I believe that some households lived through that night trembling in fear as they heard the loud wails outside their homes, while other households rested in God’s Word, ate their Passover lamb and spent the night rejoicing in His protection, deliverance and love for them.

What a great example of the peace of God.
It got me thinking about our lives today. We all have the same Bible with the same promises but do we all rest with peace in those promises?
God's word says if we have the faith of a mustard seed we can tell a mountain to move and it will. Not by our power but by God's.
When God asks me to do something I know I can't do I'm not putting my faith in my ability but I put my faith in God's power to make it happen.
For example:
If you are a regular reader of Gena's Jewels you know the Lord moved me and my family to Tampa and we lived with an awesome couple that are now our dearest friends. We had lost our home and I was unemployed for about 2 years. About 6 months after we moved to Tampa the Lord sent me a job and after 4 months of working that job the Lord told me it was time to move on.
Let me tell you Gems in today's economy and the knowledge of how many people are looking for jobs people thought I was CRAZY for leaving a perfectly good job.
My daughter and I had just moved into our own apartment and just got it set up.
What was my plan? How was I going to pay my rent? My car insurance? Food? You know the list.
My friends and family were nervous for me and I truly appreciated it but I was at complete peace. Not because I knew the how part of the above questions but I knew the who part of the equation.
If God told me to do something it wasn't my job to figure out how it was going to happen it was His.
I was at peace in the situation because I know who God is and I trust Him. As a matter of fact I remember a really good friend who invited me over her house to talk. She had a worried look on her face and I could tell she was upset about something. I sat down with her and as she began to speak I realized she was worried about me. She said she had some concerns about my decisions and wanted to make sure I was thinking clearly. I started to laugh because she looked worried sick and I was completely at peace.
One of the pieces of God's armor is peace. Ephesians 6:15 with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
What does readiness mean? It's the action of being ready. We need to be ready to do what ever God asks us to do and if we have our feet planted in God's word we will be able to handle it with peace. Remember this is part of the armor, you only wear armor when your going to battle both worldly battle and spiritual battle and God is telling us we can do battle and still have peace.
Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.
We were called to have peace.
Trust me Gems I didn't always have this peace. The first time God asked me to jump you could probably fit a piece of paper under my feet cause that's as high as he asked me to jump.
Each time I jumped He was faithful to catch me so when he asked me to jump a little higher I did. It was a process. After He caught me I had peace and the next time He sent me on a journey I would remember that peace.
Remember we all have the same promises.
I want to encourage you today to rest in the peace of knowing God will never leave or forsake you. If He sends you on a new journey embrace it knowing the results are not based on your ability but on God's power. Your job is to trust and obey.
I'll close with Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.
If you wanna peace from Him, He will be faithful to give it to you too.

No Desert Zone

I want to talk to you about the story of the children of Israel. After God rescued them from Egypt He told them to take the land He had promised them. I'm not going to rewrite the story but as always I will tell you to read Exodus 13 for yourself.
I'm going to give you the Gena translation.
God brings the children of Israel out of captivity from Egypt and wants them to go to the land of Canaan, a land He has promised them will be theirs.
As usual the Israelites are leary of the plan so God tells Moses to send out some spies to scout out the new unknown land. He tells Moses to pick one man from each of the twelves tribes. The men are picked and Moses tells them when they return to bring back some of the fruit of the land since it was the season for ripe grapes.
Long story short at the end of 40 days the 12 returned from exploring the land. As Moses instructed they came back carrying a branch they cut off with a single cluster of grapes. It took two men to carry them on a pole they were so huge. The spies came back to Moses and the whole Israelite community and reported to them that the land was in deed a good fertile land just like God said and they had the fruit to prove it. However, they also told the Israelites there was a problem, the people that lived there were definitely big and strong. Most of the spies discouraged the people from moving forward all but one, Caleb, he said
Numbers 13:30 “we should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
But the rest of the spies said no way they will kick our butts! The guys are giants we looked like grasshoppers next to them.
The people freak out like people do when they give into fear. Joshua and Caleb, who believed God, tried to persuade them to go into the land but the people started talking about stoning them. And then GOD showed up.
Numbers 14:10-11 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?”
Bottom line in the story, God told the Israelites that none of them would enter the promised land except for Caleb and his descendants. The children of Israel ended up wandering in the desert 40 years for their disobedience before they got to the promise land.

I want us to look at a couple of things in this story. First the problem with the Israelites was they believed in God but they didn't believe God, they didn't trust God.
Second they allowed fear to make them disobedient to something God told them to do. The leaders and their families suffered for their disobedience.
Now let's apply this to our lives. What desert are we wandering in because we are being rebellious?
Have you ever thought not trusting God is the same as being rebellious? We try to justify it by saying we just don't have enough faith, we even compare ourselves to someone we think has more faith. I know I have used that line but no matter how we try and make ourselves feel better we are being rebellious and that is a sin.

Have you ever felt like you were just existing? Like your having a dry spell? You don't feel connected to God and your just idle. You may want to ask yourself why.
You may be wandering in a desert because God has promised you something and you believe in Him you just don't trust Him to make it happen.
All 12 spies saw the same thing, the good land and the huge men but only one man believed God in spite of what he saw. Sometimes God promises us something and just because He promises it doesn't mean it's going to be a cake walk. We still have to decide to move forward in fear and trust Him. Our part is the deciding and moving forward His part is making it all work out.
I remember when I was praying for a bigger house. I prayed for quite a while then one rainy day the Lord told me to take the kids and go find our house. I won't bore you with the whole story but we found the house that day. The kids and I had a list of everything we wanted in our new home and each thing was checked off the list as we walked through it.
The owners were in the middle of fixing it up so we even got to pick the color carpet and tile. We had to sell our house first but the real estate market was doing well and our house was really cute so the owner felt comfortable about us signing a contract.
Little did we know 9/11 was right around the corner and the market came to a stand still. Nothing was selling. I decided to let the owner out of the contract because we didn't want to hold them up from possibly selling the home to a buyer that didn't have to sell their house first.
But God made a promise that wasn't contingent on the market. The sellers ended up buying our house so we could buy the new one.
I remember a friend of mine asking me if I was sure I knew what I was doing. She asked how I was going to pay the mortgage as it was double what I was paying at the time. She reminded me I was a single parent on a fixed income and the economy was not doing so well because of 9/11.
I told her it wasn't my responsibility, it was the Lord's. If He said we could have the house He would have to figure out how to pay for it. I saw huge grapes she saw giants.
A few months after we moved in the house I had an altercation with my boss. He was not the nicest man to work for and he backed out on a promise he made when I accepted the job at his company. When I pushed back he actually said to me “you will have to deal with what happens, I know you just bought a house and you need this job, I own you now.” True story.
I let him know in no uncertain terms that no man owned me and resigned. You see his threat didn't scare me because I knew God was responsible for my outcome not this ego maniac man I worked for.
I didn't just believe in God to get the house I trusted Him to take care of the land he promised me at that time.
Gems we have to accept Jesus to be saved but our journey doesn't stop there. We have to trust Him to grow.
Most people believe in God, even people who don't accept Christ. Even the devil believes in God. God tells us that faith without works is dead. Usually the thing that keeps people from the works part is they don't trust God.
James 2:19-20 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
Gems if you have been a Christian for 5, 10 or maybe 20 years and you don't feel like your walk has changed much there's a problem. If you don't see much of a difference from the time you first accepted Christ and there's not a noticeable difference between you and the world you may have to ask yourself why. What are you doing?
When we don't trust God we become miserable in our walk. We lose the joy of our salvation, not our salvation but our joy for sure.
Gems what has God promised you? What land has he called you to? What has He asked you to believe Him for?
Where are you living in fear because you are rebellious and don't believe or trust God?
How many times are you going to walk in circles before you take the promise God has for you?
Ya know in those 40 years a whole new generation was born and they entered the promise land. I'm sure some of them asked what were our parents waiting for? Why were we born in a dry desert instead of this beautiful land if God told them it was theirs.
I'm sure you agree we don't want our kids seeing us as rebellious parents who don't trust God because guess what they will probably follow our lead and end up in their own desert.
The good news is Gems that God can wait longer than you can wander. He will still carry you through when your ready to trust.
Let's be the generation that enters our promise land. Let's not just believe there is a God let's trust that what He says is true.
Let your faith have noticeable works so the world can not only see a difference but want to be part of it.
Decide today to live in a no desert zone!