YOURS

I heard this song today and it really hit home!!!


I didn’t even know that I had heard this song many, many times before!!!  It was the words of the chorus that struck such a chord in me!!! 


You see, like so many others, I have situations in my life that need fixing!!!  However, no matter which way I look, I can see that there will be “fall out!!!”  Maybe I should say that I can see the repercussions of fixing these situations myself!!!   


So, once again, I have to TRUST GOD and turn every situation over to HIM!!!


I have to know and have FAITH that HE can and WILL fix every situation and every problem, if I give them to HIM!!!


Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct^[a] your paths.

Footnotes:

     1. Proverbs 3:6 Or make smooth or straight

YOURS  -  Steven Curtis Chapman

I walk the streets of London
And notice in the faces passing by
Something that makes me stop and listen
My heart grows heavy with the cry

Where is the hope for London?
You whisper and my heart begins to soar
As I'm reminded
Every street in London is Yours, oh yes, it is

I walk the dirt roads of Uganda
I see the scars that war has left behind
Hope like the sun is fading
And they're waiting for a cure no one can find

And I hear children's voices singing
Of a God who heals and rescues and restores
And I'm reminded
That every child in Africa is Yours


And it's all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor


And it's all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper
Father and Ruler of everything.
It's all Yours


And I walk the sidewalks of Nashville
Like Singapore, Manila and Shanghai
I brush by the beggar's hand and the wealthy man
And everywhere I look I realize


That just like the streets of London
For every man and woman, boy and girl
All of creation
This is our Father's world


And it's all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor


And it's all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper
Father and Ruler of everything


It's all Yours, God
It's all Yours, God
It's all Yours, God
It's all Yours, God


The glory is Yours, God
All the honor is Yours, God
The power is Yours, God
The glory is Yours, God
You're the King of kings
And Lord of Lords


And it's all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor


And it's all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
All the greatness and power
The glory and splendor and majesty
Everything is Yours


Yeah, It's all Yours


(PRAISE)

It's all Yours
It's all Yours
It's all Yours
It's all Yours


My life is Yours
   It's all Yours
My heart is Yours
   It's all Yours
My hands and my feet
   It's all Yours
Every song that I sing
   It's all Yours


It's all Yours
It's all Yours
It's all Yours
It's all Yours


All is Yours
   It's all Yours
It all belongs to You
   It's all Yours
Our Gifts are Yours
   It's all Yours
All our dreams are Yours
   It's all Yours
All our plans are Yours, GOD
   It's all Yours

This whole earth is Yours, GOD
   It's all Yours
Everything is Yours, GOD
   It's all Yours
Everything is Yours, GOD
   It's all Yours
Yours, Oh LORD
   It's all Yours

IT’S YOURS, GOD!!!

   
Everyone has situations in their life that they need help with. 


We can choose to worry about these situations and we can even try to handle them ourselves.


Or we can recognize who GOD is and that HE IS WELL ABLE!!! 


When we take our hands off the things that we’d like to fix ourselves and allow GOD to do what is needed, we have to have FAITH to know that HE WILL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING!!! 


We have to decide to give it ALL to GOD!!!  We have to give HIM every issue, every problem and every situation!!!


And when we make that decision, we are choosing to release the responsibility of that situation to GOD!!! 


We have to step back and say, “IT’S ALL YOURS GOD!!!” 


I am NOT saying that this is always easy!!! 


What I am saying is that it works!!! 


I am saying that we have to know that we can TRUST GOD!!! 


We have to know and believe that GOD can take care of us and everything that happens to us!!! 


And we have to know that when GOD fixes something, IT IS DONE RIGHT!!!


We have to know that when WE TRUST GOD, and we turn everything over to HIM, EVERYTHING WILL TURN OUT FINE!!! 


Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.


I like that GOD promises that HE will make my ways smooth!!!  That HE will remove everything that stands in my way or blocks my path!!! 


Isaiah 45:2 (NKJV)

² I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.


I love the PEACE THAT TRUSTING IN GOD BRINGS!!! 


When you give everything to GOD, you are taking the burden and the load off your shoulders!!!  You are giving the responsibility of all these things to GOD!!! 


Trusting GOD and turning everything over to HIM brings such as sense of peace!!! 


I LOVE PEACE!!! 


And when I give everything to GOD and trust HIM to take care of it all, I have PEACE!!!


I DEPEND ON GOD FOR MY PEACE!!!


Jesus said that when HE went away, HE left us PEACE!!!  HIS PEACE!!!


John 14:1-27 (NKJV)

¹ “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.


ONLY GOD can bring you true and everlasting peace!!! 


ONLY GOD can be trusted to take care of all your problems and your burdens!!!


GOD will NOT let you down!!!  You can depend on HIM!!! 


HE will make your paths smooth and straight!!!  


Proverbs 3:5-6 (AMP)

⁵ Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

⁶ In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

Reverend, what does it mean?

   
I’ve heard it said over the years that we should NOT address our pastors or preachers as Reverend!!! 

And I had no understanding of why this was said.

I had always heard this word used as a title.  For example, The Reverend and Mrs. Clayfield.  You know, a title that you would use to respectfully address someone, but denoting his or her profession.  Such as, Doctor and Mrs. Fairchild or Nurse Mulligan.  Or as happens nowadays, Dr. & Dr. Morgan. 

To be respectful, we often say Mr. Smith, or Mrs. Jones, or even, Miss Lovingston.  And in some circles, respect is given by saying, Minister (Min.) Parsons, or Bro. Wellsley, or Sis. Brockmore, or even Sis. Kathy.

Even so, some say the word, “Reverend” should ONLY be used when speaking of GOD HIMSELF!!! 

This morning I was reading in my NKJV, and when I read this same verse in my King James, I saw that the writers of the NKJV had replaced the word, “REVEREND” in the King James, with the word, “AWESOME” in the New King James.

Psalm 111:9 (KJV) He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.


Psalm 111:9 (NKJV) He has sent redemption to His people;
He has commanded His covenant forever:  Holy and awesome is His name.


When I read this scripture in the KJV, and I saw the word, “reverend,” it brought this age old question to my mind!!!  And since I had no idea exactly what “reverend” meant other than a title, I realized that I needed to look it up and find out for myself what it means.

When I tried looking up, “reverend” on my phone, I found several articles, but one article in particular caught my attention.  Among the many articles that had been written on this very subject, I found an article by Cooper P, Abrams, III – Bible-truth.org (sited as it appears at the end of the article noted.)  This article is entitled, Why I Do Not Use the Title “Reverend”

In this article, Mr. Abrams (he did NOT show a title) quotes the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary as saying that the word, “REVEREND” means, “worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection…”

So, with this meaning in mind, we can see why there are folks who object to pastors and ministers being called Reverend or this title being used at all when speaking to a person!!!

And I totally understand!!! 

I have met many truly inspiring men and women of GOD!!!  But I know of none that I would say were “worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection…”.

As I was writing this post, THE LORD reminded me that we are to fear no man. 

Matthew 10:28 (KJV) And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.


Respect, yes!  We give respect where respect is due and even sometimes when it is NOT due!!!  But FEAR, no!!!  We fear no one, but GOD!!!

I agree with Mr. Abrams and all those others who have said over the years that the word, “REVEREND” should only be used in reference and in reverence to GOD!!!  

Mr. Abrams explained in his article that the Hebrew root word for “reverend” means “to be revered” (among other things.) 

So, here I take my stand!!! 

ONLY GOD should be revered or held in such high esteem that HE and ONLY HE should ever be “put on a pedestal” (one of the phrases used to explain the word, “revered,” when I looked it up on Google.)     

ONLY GOD should be referred to as REVEREND!!!  Because I now truly understand what the word, “REVEREND” means, I will no longer use the title Reverend or Rev.  Instead I will use the title, Minister, if needed.  But in truth, I prefer just plain Sis. Kathy.     

As for anyone else, you will have to decide for yourself!!!

I think the Amplified Classic Edition says it best!!!

Psalm 111:9 (AMPC) He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant to be forever; holy is His name, inspiring awe, reverence, and godly fear.

I am TAKING MY HEALING!!!

  
The other night when we were at the revival, the preacher decided that the altar benches needed to be moved.  They were at the front of the church and the preacher wanted them moved to create more room to pray for people.

Without asking THE LORD, I decided that I would help.  However, those altar benches were a bit heavier than they looked.  When I went to lift that altar bench, it didn’t even move.

Now, you have to understand, that sometimes, I forget that I am no longer 18 years old and that I am NOT as strong as a bull ox.

I am asking GOD; THE HOLY GHOST, to PLEASE, PLEASE help me remember NOT to pull on stuff.  PLEASE REMIND ME to let the men in the church do the lifting!!!

I need your help to remember this, HOLY SPIRIT!!!  Please help me!!!

John 14:26 (KJV) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

I lifted and moved that altar bench twice on Friday night, and to be truthful, other than when the altar bench wouldn’t move at first, I never thought a thing about it!!! 

After the service had ended, I went home and of course, I eventually went to bed.  While I slept, I forgot all about moving those altar benches. 

Unfortunately, when I got up on Saturday, I thought, Oh dear, what have I done?  I even said to FATHER GOD, what did I do?  Did I sleep funny?  Cause I could feel a pulling in my back and shoulder.  

I had things that had to be done, so I got up and did them, but I just couldn’t figure out why I was having an issue with that area.  Finally, when it started getting late, I knew that I had to get ready to mow.  So, I did. 

So, I went out to mow.  As I mowed, I noticed for the first time, how much that mower vibrated.  And of course, when I had to pull that mower backwards, I could feel the muscles in my shoulder and back pulling.  It wasn’t pleasant, but I had to mow, because I couldn’t let that grass continue to get tall.   

It was then that THE LORD said, Don’t you remember pulling on that altar last night at the church?  Then I remembered and I thought, Yes, I remember.  I pondered my poor decision to pull on that altar without asking the LORD’s HELP or PLEADING THE BLOOD!!! 

I remember thinking 3 things!!!  You aren’t a bull ox, Kathy, and you need to be more careful.  You know better than to pull on stuff!!!  It certainly isn’t important enough to hurt yourself.  It won’t hurt to allow the men folks to move stuff.  And if there aren’t any men, then maybe, just maybe that stuff doesn’t need to be moved right then!!!  PLEASE, PLEASE, REMIND ME OF ALL THIS, HOLY GHOST!!!   

After I mowed last night, I had to come in and clean-up.  And finally, when I went to lie down for the night, my shoulder and back were definitely aching.  I took some pain meds, and I finally drifted off to sleep.  I really don’t like having to take meds, but by that time, I was hurting.  I had prayed and the pain had NOT lifted!!! 

This morning, I was hurting again, but I had already noticed that even though the pain meds helped for a short time, they didn’t make my muscles feel any better.  I already knew that I needed HEALING, NOT just pain relief!!!

Anyway, this morning, I knew that I needed to study and pray some more.  I knew that I needed for my healing to manifest and that I had to get some relief!!! 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I had already been claiming my healing because I know that GOD heals!!! 

I know that when Jesus died on the cross, HE DIED for my HEALING!!! 

I know that by HIS STRIPES, I AM HEALED!!!

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)

⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

I can’t tell you how many times over the years, I have experienced miracles after getting hurt and how many times I have received healings.  And I have no idea how many times I have headed off illnesses before they began.  

I have stood on that scripture many, many times over the years!!!  I have seen my healing come to pass over and over!!!  

So, I knew that I had to get my HEALING!!!  I couldn’t just wait on it to happen, because I was in pain. 

That’s when THE LORD reminded me of something a friend of mine had told me!!!  She had been experiencing an attack from the enemy and she wasn’t feeling quite up to par. 

She had told me, I AM TAKING MY HEALING!!!  When she said it, it didn’t really sink in!!!  I really didn’t understand what she meant!!!     

Then THE HOLY SPIRIT reminded me what I had heard Gloria Copeland tell when she was preaching about HEALING!!!  She said, “And the violent take it by force!!!”  She said, “We have to take our healing!!!”

THE WORD says, The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent shall take it by force!!! 

Matthew 11:12 (NKJV) …the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

I decided that it was time that I take my healing!!!  So, I am standing on THE WORD OF GOD FOR MY HEALING!!! 

After I studied for a while this morning, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I could tell that my healing had begun to manifest!!!  I felt so much better when I woke up than I had in the last couple of days!!! 

I am so thankful to THE LORD for MY HEALING!!!  I am so thankful to THE LORD for HIS WORD!!! 
   
I HAVE TAKEN MY HEALING!!! 

I AM HEALED!!! 

GOD IS SO GOOD!!!  HE IS SO GOOD TO ME!!! 

I PRAISE GOD!!!  I GLORIFY HIS NAME!!!