…I am on my way to find a place to stay. Judges 17:9 (NKJV)
Time for another update for those of you following our MOLD STORY… in early October we are moving from our summer camper to a guest house near the one we stayed in last winter. We could move a few weeks sooner, but thought it would be fitting to stay in the camper for the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34), the yearly time when Jews celebrate their pilgrimage in the wilderness after God delivered them from Egypt. Do you remember how the Israelites quickly forgot the Lord’s great deliverance and miracles at the Red Sea? They were yearning to go back to Egypt for the garlic and cucumbers (Numbers 11:5). Those are actually two crops that did very well at our old house on Dry Creek. The cucumbers were even so delicious and plentiful two years ago that at the time as we were eating them, I commented, “These must be the kind of cucumbers that made the Israelites want to return to Egypt!” Though we still miss it, we aren’t praying to go back to Egypt, just praying for that new place to call home.
God continues to provide. While we were hoping to be in our permanent home by now, we count our blessings. We are so thankful for our camping summer at the home of a dear friend in a camper on-loan from other dear friends. We are so thankful for the owners who have invited us to stay in their guest house this winter, where we’ll have beds and indoor plumbing! There will be many windows to let in the winter sunshine, and a gas stove to make it warm and cozy. And our son will be able to have his chickens in the nearby field, just as he did all summer near the camper. God is so good!
And yet, “healing and a home, healing and a home, healing and a home”… we still cry out to the Lord over and over like the persistent widow of Luke 18, often praying David’s Psalms again and again for God says… Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me (Psalm 50:15) One day it struck me how healing and a home are two things we receive when we go to heaven. God promises us…
HEALING: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases. Psalm 103:2-3 (NKJV)
HOME: Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1-2 (NKJV)
Does this mean we must wait for heaven for healing and a home? No! My friend Shannon reminds me when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), we can ask for these gifts of healing and a home now. And so, I continue to claim His promises that by His stripes I am healed (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24) and that my God shall supply all our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). I was even lying in bed singing My Healing Song the other day when the pains were so awful. I reminded Him, He is YHVH Rapha, our healing God, and YHVH Jireh, our provider! And I continue to praise Him and knock at His door with my prayers… on earth as it is in heaven, on earth as it is in heaven, on earth as it is in heaven.
…The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him,
Who shelters him all the day long;
And he shall dwell between His shoulders. Deuteronomy 33:12 (NKJV)
Today’s TEA CUPP: Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-8. Along with healing and a home, what other gifts of heaven can we enjoy NOW while still in this world? Peace, joy, salvation… why not make a list and claim these promises for you and your family today?! Dear one, I pray that whatever you are facing right now, you will persevere, wait on the Lord, be steadfast, press on, keep trusting Jesus, and continue to pour out your heart to Him in prayer.
My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Isaiah 32:18 (NKJV)
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. Psalm 36:8 (NKJV)
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple. Psalm 27:4 (NKJV)
From Jenny’s Journal: 2 Samuel 6:14 Then David danced before the Lord with all his might… Then Jenny wrote before the Lord with all her might, even though she has a terrible tummy ache, and we are homeless. But the sun is shining through the camper window and the sky is blue and we have Your Words of comfort and promise, Jesus, the hope of healing and a home here and now, and also someday in heaven. We have Your salvation because of Your work on the cross and the blood You shed (that drop was for me). We have Your Holy Spirit inside us to comfort and guide us,. And so, Abba Father, dearest Jesus, I lift my hands and heart and pen to You in a dance of praise! I love You so much! Be glorified today! Be glorified in my life! Be glorified in saving our nation! I come and worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord, my God, my Maker, be exalted above the heavens, may Your glory be over all the earth!
Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Recently, I was saddened to receive from my mom an obituary for a high school classmate who was one year ahead of me. We shared the same first name, ran on the same track and cross country team, and both lived in the north part of town. She had the sweetest smile and was so kind to me, the slower underclassman. Her obituary told of running for a small college in Iowa after high school and setting many records there. Then she went on to serve in the political arena. I wept because there was no mention of church or faith in Jesus Christ. That could have been my story (except for the running records).