A YEAR OF PROMISES

At the beginning of January, we had our KDO meeting. It was alright. No big. Back to the grind was what I figured I'd walk away with. And that was it ... until our Preschool Minister, Ms. Gina, came in to talk with us. She said something that really spoke to me. Each year, she & her family PRAY A WORD. In the past, they have prayed each week as a family for FAITH or HOPE or PEACE. This year, they have decided on VICTORY. Every time they pray, they pray for VICTORY as CHRISTIANS and look for those VICTORIES in their everyday lives. I thought to myself, "what a great idea! I should do this." Then she prayed with us and I was praying, "Lord, what WORD do you want me to hold on to?" and immediately God answered me: PROMISES! The word came to mind and at the very same moment, Gina was praying for God's PROMISES to come true ... I knew it was what the Lord wanted me to pray for. He was telling me that He has granted me so many promises already and that there were so many more to come! And I started thinking of PROMISES in the Bible that he has already fulfilled.

As many of you FACEBOOKERS know, we were outta money in January and could not pay rent. We had no idea where the money was going to come from, but we just truly prayed over it. I knew that the Lord was telling me, "I've promised to always take care of you, haven't I? I've never let you down before." I was reminded of the week before in Gina's presence, praying for PROMISES. So while J went to talk to our Landlord, Mr. Robinson, I sat down with my Bible and just prayed. Here is what I came up with:

God led me, of course, to my favorite passage:
JEREMIAH 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope & a future. Then you will call on me and pray to me, and I will answer you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

I opened my Bible up and found this: 2 SAMUEL 7:1-17, while I was looking for Psalm 23 (the reason I couldn't find Psalm 23, because the Bible I use is a CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE, so it's tough to find stuff) and the passage was on Promises. It was amazing!

I'll post more later on what I discovered that very first day ... but John returned home 1 hour later with a piece of paper. I was afraid it was an eviction notice. And God whispered to me, "PROMISES". Mr. Robinson had told J that he considered J one of his own kids (they've known each other almost all of J's life and he's the same age as Mr. Robinson's daughters). He told J that he was "floating" us the $650 this month and we'd pay him little by little (which he later told us wasn't due until our refund comes in). He gave J & I assignments:
1. new budget
2. look for more hours at our jobs
3. keep him in the loop

It has been very beneficial for us to make a new budget and things are going very well! God has promised to take care of us ... just as He has taken care of David, Abraham, Noah, Hannah ...

I've dropped the ball over the last few months, not praying so much for promises, but praying that God will get me out of sticky situations, but I do know that He promises to take care of us no matter what. I'm counting on that! J is not liking his job right now and really struggling with it. I'm finding myself looking for answers once again and reminded of the day, in January, when God said He will be with us, that He will take care of us ... that He is FAITHFUL to fulfill HIS PROMISES to us: never to harm us, but to always give us HOPE!

So if you get the chance, help me think of people in the Bible that God made promises to, that I can study and claim as my own! GOD IS A GOD OF FULFILLING PROMISES and I'm so glad to be called one of His OWN!