Joy is the Word

We went from a 900 sq. ft. home to about a 1400 sq. ft. home. Now to some that would seem like a shack, but to us it is a mansion. Although to some people, in the world, 900 sq. ft. would be a mansion. It’s all relative.

We had been praying for a home of our own for a number of years. The place we lived in was indeed a blessing at the time. But as time went on, it became apparent that we needed more room at least to us it was apparent. Lol!

God says to delight ourselves in him and he will give us the desires of our heart. (Psalm 37:4) I know, I know it’s all about our hearts…and God doesn’t just do something without having a good reason. But still…his word, says, if he considers the little sparrow that falls to the ground how much more will he do for his children who trust him. (²⁹ What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. ³⁰ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:29-30)

At the beginning of 2018; I asked the Lord what His word would be for us this year. I received the word, JOY!

WOW! Really God? You’re giving me the word JOY! That is incredible. In 2017; he gave me the word, “write” and I wrote an average of one post per day for a total of 365 blog posts. That’s a whole lot of writing…

So what about JOY? What is it you want me to do with JOY? Then he reminded me that Joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit. OK. Then what?

Well, we were given the go ahead to pursue buying a home and everything fell into place. The money became available which was a miracle in itself. (That is a story for another time. But it is amazing.) Thank you, Jesus. When God gives, the go ahead…it is absolutely astounding…

We got with our Realtor, Kathy Stafford, who is also our very good friend and sister in the Lord. She took us to see a number of places. Let me back up a minute. In October of 2017, one of our friends was selling her home and we loved it. We told her we really loved it and if it worked out we would love to buy it. But if she had a buyer before we could, that was fine too. We wanted whatever God wanted. She did too. Around the time we were given the go ahead, she had a buyer for her home. Praise the Lord, that was OK. God was blessing her too.

Kathy, took us to see some places but they just weren’t what we were looking for. Then she said I have this one I think you might like. (She had no idea) Low-and-behold it was right around the corner from the one we had wanted and it was the same floor plan. But it was out of our price range and we were told the sellers would not take anything less than what they had listed it for. Bob gave the offer anyway and Kathy presented it to the sellers, who lived in another state. But they said, “No.” So we figured that was it, and we’d just have to find something else. But my heart kept going back to that one. I told Bob I really, really liked that one. It had the garage he wanted and the screened in patio I had hoped for and an extra bathroom. The bathroom was very important to me for some obvious reasons…lol!

In the meantime a nor’easter came to the sellers part of the country, worst they’d had in years.

Well…I’m not real proud of this but Bob and I had a little discussion in the night. This was quite stressful to say the least and our attitudes got a little out of control…ok we were being Biscuits…(a biscuit is something Bob’s daughter made up when she was younger so she didn’t say a bad word. It’s a lot of dough, lard, and water and not much else.) Anyway the next morning Bob went to work and I had a heart-to-heart talk with the Lord. I repented and said, “Lord I am sorry, I don’t want to be like this. I want to honor you through all of this. I want, what you want Lord, just give us the one you want us to have.” I called Bob and told him I was sorry. He said the same.

It was about 30 minutes after I prayed and asked God to forgive me and sorry to Bob. Kathy sent an email and said, “They will take the offer.”

You see God uses everything to help us keep our hearts right before Him. It was more than we could have imagined. The blessing of God is always more than we could hope or imagine…when we obey Him and keep our hearts clean before Him, He comes through every single time…We have a loving, caring, saving, helping, awesome Papa God!!

It’s not our timing it is His… and He will test our hearts to make sure we are clean before Him and without ulterior motives…For God gets all the Glory!!!

Pastor Shane from Journey Church, came to bless our home. People came to help us move and paint. People have given us gifts and time and so much love…our CUP IS OVERFLOWING with the grace and love of God…you cannot out give God!!!

Times spent in prayer and seeking for others…seeking God’s face and honoring Him with our lives and our time and our money… not because we wanted a house…but because we wanted more of Jesus…He is the reason for our living and because of obedience to Him…He has given us favor and showered us with His blessing…it is there for you too…but you must have a pure heart and seek Him first…and love others…and all these things will be added unto you…

I see our home as an oasis and a blessing to be shared, as God sees fit…

Don’t let anything or anyone deter you from obedience to the Lord…He’s worth far more than lands, or homes or any material goods…but when your heart is right he will not withhold any good thing from you. (Psalm 84:10)

All Praise and Honor and Glory to the Giver of Life, to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!

Galatians 5:22-23 New International Version (NIV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

James 4:7-8 King James Version (KJV)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Malachi 3:10-11 New Living Translation (NLT)

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Psalm 84:10-12 The Message (MSG)