This week is named Bible Study Week because I am discovering more and more how uplifitng and strengthening it is to have regular times of studying God's Word.  Just this morning I was feeling a little drained. I first thought to myself that I was just a little tired, but then I found myself getting on my knees with the intention of reading some  Bible passages.  As I begin to read, I found that it turned into a study for understanding of what God was saying to me.  I was amazed at how re-juvenated I began to feel.  I was reminded of how faithful God is to us and from Isaiah 55 that His word will accomplish everything that He desires it to accomplish.  I was invited by God to come to Him whenever I am dry and thirsty so that He can speak to my heart and fill me with His abundant supply. Thank God that we listen to our spiritual appetites with the same intensity as we do our physical bodies so that we can get the sustenance that we need on a daily basis from our heavenly Father.

I have to apologize for not beginning to name my weeks last week..but better late than never.  To begin this week, I will name it forgiveness.  I heard Jody Osteen (the mother of Joel Osteen) talk about how the Lord healed her body from cancer.  One of the factors that contributed to her healing was forgivness.  She wrote letters to all of her children and her husband asking them to forgive her because she had been quite irritable and possibly offensive during some of her illness.  Sometimes unforgiveness can cause a bitter root to fester in the heart and can hinder the healing process.  This week (whether sick or not) let's think of anyone that we need to forgive and forgive them (release them) ask anyone that we have offended to forgive us.  Jesus said that our forgiveness is based upon how we forgive others.  What a concept.

I am teaching a class on the "Life of Prayer" and last night I introduced the idea of fasting.  I don't know about you, but I started fasting for Lent and I thought it was going to be hard, but I am finding that the one day a week that I have committed to the Lord is not as hard as I thought it would be.  I remember reading a conversation that Jesus had with his disciples when they could not cast a demon out of a young boy and they were perplexed as to why they couldn;'t do it.  Jesus told them that this kind would only come through fasting and praying.  I wondered about this statement as I began my fast...what did he mean by "this kind.," and if you have to have a demon to fast.  What I have discovered is that fasting must be purposeful and more than not eating.  There are also certain situations in our lives that keep us in a vicious cycle ,like I would imagine was happening to this young boy.  Until  we have deliberatly spent time seeking God as to how to handle a situation, we may also find ourselves going around in circles, as well.   No, you don't have to have a demon to fast is the point that I would make, but fasting can provide us with the time that we spend not eating to spend in prayer, study and meditation with God. This can help prevent us from spinning our wheels and getting on the right track again.  I really needed the concentrated time that I have devoted to the Lord.  It has helped to sharpen me.  Bless you.

When I think about this holy season of Lent, I know it is a time when I should be thinking about growing closer to the Lord, and how I am going to accomplish that.  In an earlier writing, I touched on how love has so much to do with our lives.  It is weaved into all of our relationships.  As I was pondering what to write this time...I ran acrose the scripture from 1 John 4:7-8 "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."  I thought "wow" that really hits home.  I stared at this for a while and then I realized that what I really want in my quest to grow closer to God is to know God in a more intimate way.  That means that I need to find out a lot more about love, which is what God is.  God is compassionate, merciful, patient, forgiving..not willing that any should perish. God does not have to try to be any of these things, He just is.  I on the other hand need to always be conscious of what love looks like and how it is displayed in my life.  If it is true that we are like the people we hang out with...I need to spend more time in God's presence.  My desire is to gain more of God in my life so that I can display more of His love.      

I started telling you the saga about my cats last week and how they have brought us to a new place in animal loving.  After we finally decided that we love our two cats...my mom's oldest sister passed away.  Of course, when that happened we knew that we would have lots of out of town guests in our home.  We are a close family and up until this point they had never known us to have pets.  In all of the running around and preparations for the funeral, we forgot to tell my brother and his wife that we had cats and they needed to be careful when going in and out of the house.  On the night that they arrived, we were not at home and in the midst of them carrying luggage in the house, they left the door open and one of our cats Desi went out.  We did not discover this until it was late in the night.  We kept seeing Lucy walking around, but not Desi.  We looked high and low for Desi, but to no avail.  Finally, we accepted the fact that Desi was gone.  It was quite sad, my mom's oldest sister Aunt Margaret was gone and now Desi.  Needless to say we began to pray and pray and pray.  We prayed for seventeen days in faith, hoping and looking each day for Desi to show up at our door.  It happened one night as I was about to go to bed.  I heard a meow on our deck, and I ran downstairs and at first I didn't see him, but then I opended the door and he hopped in.  I ran downstairs to tell my mom, since everyone else at this point was asleep.  The next morning we all rejoiced that Desi had come home.  We took him to the Vet to make sure that all was well, and it was.  It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord for all of His goodness.  We gave thanks on that day and we continue to give thanks, because the Lord is good.  I am reminded of the word of the Psalmist that says "O, taste and see that the Lord is good."  I can tell you that once you get a taste, you will want more.