Expect the Supernatural

From Belinda Koestle 

The Women’s Bible Study I am currently involved in “The Frazzled Female” has reminded me of just how important, and enjoyable, it is to make time to sit at the feet of Jesus.  

While I was sitting with him this weekend, I was reading John 5-8.  The very familiar story that spoke to me was John 6:16-21, “Jesus walks on Water”.  I have read and heard this story probably hundreds of times, but this time, the Holy Spirit stirred some very interesting thoughts in me through this passage. 

The disciples were in the boat (without Jesus).  They were seeing something they knew was supernatural because Mark 6:49 says they thought he was a ghost, and they were scared!  They didn’t expect it to be Jesus, even though earlier that same day they witnessed him do something also supernatural  - feed over 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, and provide leftovers!  Feeding the multitude, impressive.  Having enough for leftovers, Priceless! 

My first thought was, “Why didn’t the Disciples expect this supernatural being to be Jesus”?  And then I thought, “How many times have I missed seeing Jesus because I wasn’t expecting him to be doing something “Supernatural”?  And my next thought was, “When I do see him doing something supernatural, does it scare me or excite me”?  Shouldn’t I expect supernatural things from God, on a daily basis, and shouldn’t my anticipation always be excitement, never fear?

 

This time spent at the feet of Jesus, letting him share with me some of his experiences on earth, stirred something up inside of me.  The thought of seeing supernatural activity being done by the Holy Spirit all around me, this anticipation does excite me!  And why should I not be looking for this to happen, nothing is impossible for God and I personally think he likes surprising his children, not scaring them!  I’m so looking forward to my next time of sitting at the feet of Jesus and enjoying our time together. 

I want to leave you with this thought: 

Just think if the disciples had been looking for Jesus to be doing something supernatural, this story could have happened something like this instead: 

The disciples are in the boat (I’m not sure why they left without Jesus).  They are still excited about the feeding  5,000 miracle they just witnessed.   They didn’t even notice the storm that was brewing.  They were 3-4 miles out when they see a figure walking on the water.  They automatically assume it’s Jesus, who else could it be?  So, they start waving and cheering and calling out to him to come get in the boat, because they love to be in His presence.  (Some of them might be nervous, though, because Jesus might be a little upset about them leaving him behind).  They get so focused on Jesus that they don’t feel the boat rocking, or even see the waves crashing around them until Jesus reaches them and gets in the boat, and they realize the sea suddenly becomes calm. 

How can my story be rewritten today by just looking for Jesus in everything?  Well, I’ve got to go, Jesus is waiting.  What will he share with me today? 

Dinner With Jesus

Tonight was a very special night of celebration and affirmation.
A few months ago, a friend at church said that her family would like to do something special for the Celebrate Recovery leaders. It took some time to get a date that would work, but we set it for today, Friday, January 25, and she asked me to give her the names of the leaders.

A few weeks ago, we received a letter in the mail, an invitation to come and have dinner with Jesus. I was asked by many of the leaders what it was about, but I did not know any more than they did.

I can't tell you how special we felt from the moment we walked into the fellowship hall building. The lights were dim and the foyer was decorated with candles and crosses.  (all the pictures are bad, but I wanted to share them so that you could at least get the idea of how special everything was)

This is the sign on the table.

After a few moments, we were escorted into the fellowship hall, which was beautiful. If you are reading this and you attend Cottonwood, you know it takes a lot of work to dress up that room. Here we are getting ready for our meal.

And here are our hosts, Amy and Bryant Goldsmith and their sons Blake and Cade. I have to apologize for this picture. I took it with the zoom on my phone from too far away and it is really blurry. They really do not look like faceless aliens. They are  beautiful people.

They served us a wonderful 6 course meal while we watched a move, Perfect Stranger, about a woman who received a mysterious invitation to have dinner with Jesus.

The move was excellent, the food wonderful, being served was a delight. But, just feeling loved and affirmed by this family was truly priceless.
Thank you Goldsmith family, you really loved us well.

Knock...Knock...Is anybody Home?

Post written by Jeannine Hambrick

This past week I started a Bible study, The Frazzled Female:  Finding Peace in the Midst of Daily Life by Cindi Wood.  Each week the author encourages the participants to take a mini-retreat over the weekend, in which they take the time to draw closer to God through some additional reading or activity.  As we read the first chapter based on the familiar story of Mary and Martha found in Luke 10: 38-42 in which Jesus visits Mary and Martha in their home, we saw a Martha who was was “worried and upset” about everything being perfect and a Mary who was content to sit at the Lord's feet listening to the Savior. It is easy for me to identify with Martha when I am hurrying around picking things up and getting ready for guests. Sadly, once in a while I can get myself so worked up that I don't really enjoy my quests when they arrive. Does anyone hear me?

            This week as I was doing my mini-retreat, I was reading John:1 when the Lord really spoke to me.  Verse 5 says, “The light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it,” and verses 11-13 states “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Of course, I know these passages are talking about when Jesus first began his ministry here on earth.  He came to his own, the Jews, who failed to recognize him as the Messiah. As I read, though, Jesus seemed to be saying to me, “I still come to my own.” 

Jesus still comes to us, his present-day followers because the Holy God of the Universe loves us and desires relationship with us; however, we must put aside our busyness, personal agendas, and preoccupation with things—even with good things—in order to receive him.  We must take time out of our sometimes hectic lives and be deliberate about being open to God. We must sit at his feet and listen to what he has to say to us. 

 We say we want a close relationship with Jesus, but too many times he “comes” to visit us, but our ears are deaf to him because we are listening to the beat of another drummer and our eyes are blind to him because they are on other things.  If we are not careful, we will miss him.  How can we expect to hear a word from the Lord if we do not regularly pull ourselves away from the demands of the world so that we can hear that still, small voice?  Jesus is always knocking at our door.  Will he find anyone at home?

Why Come to the Ladies Retreat? Top Ten Reasons.

We are getting ready for the 16th Annual Cottonwood Ladies Retreat. If you haven't taken note, it is March 1-2, in Abilene.
So, I want to convince everyone to come. I am sad that many of you reading this will not come. I am taking this post to give the top reasons why you should join us.

10. Weekend getaway. Get out of town with your friends, or your mother, daughter, sisters, just getting away from the daily grind is good.

9. BIG breakfast served Saturday morning..buffet with eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, fruit, cereal, pastries, PLUS made to order omelets. What a way to start the day.

8.  If you a are mother of young children, you can sleep all night without interruption. Well, if you have a roommate, you may be interrupted, but you won't have to feed, change, or rock her.

7. Time to RELAX. We have a full sessions planned for the retreat, but we leave time to relax. Anyway, isn't time away with girlfriends relaxing, no matter what you do?

6..  It really is a lot of fun. We laugh a LOT, play silly games on Friday night, visit, just enjoy being together.

5. You get to meet some wonderful women. Cottonwood women are the best; warm, welcoming, loving, kind. You may make a new friend for life there. I love these girls, and I love that we are all ages and all stages of life.

4. NO pressure. You can sing and dance and shout during worship, but you can also sit quietly. You can join in the games on Friday night, or you can retire early and go to bed. You can eat breakfast with women, or stay in your room and enjoy the peace and quiet. You do what you like best. (although attendance at the worship and speaking sessions is greatly appreciated!)

4.. Great worship. It is special to have a time of worship with just women, a lot of freedom and joy expressed. The Celebrate Recovery praise team will be leading worship again, and they bring a lot of excitement.

3. Wonderful teaching from the word of God. Cheri Cochran is our speaker this year. She is known for messages of grace, faith, and freedom that inspire others to wholeheartedly trust God.

2. The topic this year is Shame OFF You. We need to learn to live life without condemnation, shame, and regret. God forgives, redeems, restores. When He convicts, he empowers, energizes, encourages us to move forward.

1. You can hear from God. God is ready to speak to each one of us. We need a time to step away from our usual routine and listen for his voice.

My Mother

I have written sometimes about my mother, who is now 97 years old. She is weak and cannot take care of herself, so she is living in a Nursing home. She gets really good care, and the people who work there seem to truly love her. I have a sister who visits her every day, another one who goes about three times a week, and another sister who visits once a week, as I do. All of her needs are met, and she knows that she is loved.

Physically, she is getting weaker. She is confused and forgetful. But, she still has a spark of her old good nature, and, sometimes she is very entertaining.  (you can see post of August 5 for some stories).

She is well taken care of, but kept wanting to move. She did not want to have a room mate, and did not want so many people around. We checked into some other places, and finally moved her into a residential, licensed home that cared for only 8 people. She had her own room, which we decorated for her. She didn't like it. She said that it was too quite, she missed all the people at the other place, and she wanted to move back. Since she was not happy, and because of insurance complications, we moved her right back to the nursing home after a few days.

She is in a new room, with a new room mate, which is a better situation. The people at the home were very glad to have her back and welcomed her back very sweetly.

I visited her right after she moved back. I took her for a walk around the home, as I always do. Everyone we pass speaks to her and she smiles and waves at them. One woman, an employee, hugged Mom as we passed and told her that she was glad she was back. She then told me that mother told her that she had gone to a Casino for a few days, but she lost all of her money and had to come back.  (I'm sure that mother has never been in a casino.)

Mother talks about church a lot. She says that the church they go to now is not much of a church, they just sing a little bit, and no one preaches, they just eat. When we went for a walk, as we got close to the dining room, she said that was the church. OH, no wonder they eat and don't have any preaching!

She is always telling me that she spent the day working at the church. I think it is so sweet that, in her mind, her life revolves around church activities. I guess she thinks she goes to church 3 times a day.

After my dad died in September, she became confused, because his brother had died a few months before. My dad's name was Hoyt, and his brother was Harmon. Mother, after using the wrong name, told my sister, "Well, I'm just going to call him Harmon." And, she has. I cannot understand how she was married to a man for 73 years, called him Hoyt, which is his name, but now, has decided to call him Harmon. I think it is just so funny. But, it is confusing. I visited her in October, and she said, "Well, it has been a month since Harmon died." I started to correct her that it was almost a year, but I realized she was talking about Daddy. I'm never sure who she is talking about.

Last week when I visited, she was afraid, because a woman was threatening her. She said that it was her "dead ex-husband's girlfriend" who was mad because his spirit comes to visit mother a lot.  WHAT! Mother never had an ex-husband, and her husband sure never had a girlfriend. Mother was afraid to stay by herself and wanted me to spend the night with her. Finally, mother's room mate said that she would stay with her that night, and that made it ok.

This Sunday, Les and I went to see her. Les told her room mate that mother was an "Arkansas Hillbilly", something my mom has always been proud of. He then turned to my mother and said, "Hey, were there any moonshiners in Harkey's Valley?" She said that there was one, and he had a path beaten to his place, but, it was different then, they used it for medicine. Then, she said, "Arley (her older brother) and I would taste it sometimes, then we would taste it again, and taste it a little bit more, and, then it would all be gone. We didn't know if anyone was sick or not, but we didn't care."
Les asked if the "revenuers" went after them.  (IRS agents who enforced the law's against making home made liquor, who were called revnuers."  She said, "Yes, the revenuers came, but they kind of like it, too!"

Birthday Thoughts

Today is my birthday, a big one. I am 60. Whew, that is a little hard to say. Sixty sounds old. I used to think that 60 was old. I do not feel old. I am grateful. I am healthy. I enjoy life. I have too many blessings to even start naming right now.  Age doesn't really mean anything.
However, it does.
In a culture that idolizes youth, it is hard to be OK with growing older. It is hard to admit that I am crossing a line today, into the decade of retirement, the decade that for many people represents declining health and vigor.

These are verses that were in my devotional this morning.

I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I THES. 5:23

Our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. — Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. II Thes. 2:16,17. ‑I Cor. 1:8.


Those were encouraging to read. I know that, whatever my future is, that God has me in His hand, that God loves me, God is with me, God is for me. I have great hope for my future.

As I write that, I am reminded of Proverbs 31, the famous "virtuous woman" passage.
Prov 31:25
She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

The New Century Version puts it this way;  She looks forward to the future with joy

She is clothed with strength and dignity. Clothed, which means it is something put upon her, just as Paul said in Romans 13:14, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, an idea he repeats many times. Virtue that is bestowed, and which we can choose to put on, not have to work up.

Strength-
oz (oze); strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise) - boldness, loud, might, power, strength, strong.

Dignity

hadar (haw-dawr'); magnificence, i.e. ornament or splendor: -beauty, comeliness, excellency, glorious, glory, goodly, honour, majesty.

Clothed with those virtues, she looks forward to the future without fear, but with laughter and smiles. Why not, a woman who loves the Lord, who trusts Him fully, is a woman with might, power, boldness, strength; and a woman with beauty, excellence, majesty. A woman who has the resources to face the future with laughter.

So, my thought for the day, this birthday, is that I will look forward to the next decade, with peace because I know who I belong to, and with joy because I know I can totally trust Him.

New Class, New Studies, New Events

January is a very busy month, ministrywise. We always start new Bible Studies, usually a new Sunday School class, and get in high gear preparing for the Spring Retreat. So, let me just recap what we have going on. If one of your New Year's Resolutions was to get back into Church, start going to Sunday School, spend more time in Bible study, have more fellowship with Christians, these would be some really great ideas for you to jump on.

First, we started a new Sunday School class this Sunday.
The God I Never Knew. Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do? We are watching a DVD teaching series by Robert Morris, and we really enjoyed the first one. We were reminded that the Holy Spirit is a person, not a force or a power, a person who lives inside of me, who knows everything and wants to teach me.

Next week, we start our weekly Bible Studies, and we have several options.

The Frazzled Female  Finding Peace in the Midst of Daily Life
Many women feel frazzled, overwhelmed, stressed out, and in need of fresh hope and circumstances. The purpose of this study is to help women discover that a growing intimacy with Jesus Christ is the key to dealing with life’s challenges.
Monday night 7-9 at the home of Jeannine Hambrick, in Stephenville at 176 CR 484.  Take Hwy 67 toward Glen Rose. Pass a church on the right, Iglesia de Dios, a beige metal building with a green roof. The next road is CR 484; turn right, house is the first one on the right.  (254) 988-2048
Tuesday mornings 10-12, in the conference room at Cottonwood


The Power of Your Words
How God can bless your life through the words you speak
Monday nights 6:30-8:30, at the home of Marcia Koellyn in Deleon, at 132 E. Ross.

Grace, by Max Lucado
Monday nights, 7:00-9:00, at the home of Kandi Rutledge, 4324 N US Hwy 281, Stephenville
Contact #254-967-3273


We also have monthly fellowship lunches, and the first one of 2013 is coming soon, next Monday, Jan. 14, at the home of Belinda Koestle, 2120 Oaklawn, Stephenville. This is a casual time for fellowship. Lunch is served from 11:30-1:00, feel free to come on  your lunch break. Donation's accepted.

And, it is time to register for the retreat.

    

Shame OFF You 

March 1-2, 2013 

MCM Elegante Hotel Suites, Abilene 

If you persistently feel you don't measure up, you 

are feeling shame - that vague, undefined heaviness 

that presses on your spirit, dampens your gratitude 

and diminishes your joy. 

Though God convicts of sin, He never shames us, 

and His conviction brings power and encouragement. 

Guilt and shame rob us of motivation and 

power . . . stripping away our joy and peace. 

Retreat Cost 

Reduced rate for registration with payment by Feb. 1 

Registration by Feb. 1 after Feb 1 

4 people in a room $60 $75

3 people in a room $70 $85

2 people in a room $80 $95 

1 person alone $125 $140

New Year, One Resolution

It is Jan. 2, 2013. I love the start of a new year. It is a clean slate, time to start again, put the past behind us as well as we can, start fresh.
I know this is a common thought. Just look at the advertisements. Suddenly, the stores are featuring exercise equipment, and all weight loss programs are running specials. Advertisers know that people everywhere are starting new diets and exercise plans.

I have not usually been one to set goals or make resolutions. However, I like to know that this is the new year and I get a fresh start. There is something about my psyche that relates to that. Just about every morning, I thank God for a new day, a new start, and find myself thanking Him that His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3). I enjoy every Sunday, thinking about the past week and planning the new one.
The start of the new year is the biggest fresh start.

So, the past few days, I have contemplated what I would resolve if I made resolutions. Looking at my prayer journal for 2012, I found that I prayed one thing more than any others. There are a lot of things that were repeated MANY times, prayers for my family, for friends, for healing, for salvation, for ministry...but one thing was repeated more than any others.

I asked God to speak to me. I asked Him to open my ears so that I could hear His voice.
For 2013, that is my request, and my resolution, to hear God speak to me.
Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me." (John 10)  Since He said that His sheep hear His voice, and I know that I am his sheep, then it is not presumptuous  to believe that He would speak to me, and that I would hear Him.

I need to hear Him for myself, so that I can truly live.

Isa 55:3
Incline your ear, and come to me;
 hear, that your soul may live;


I need to hear Him so that I have something to share with those who are weary.

Isa 50:4
 The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word  him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

I need to hear Him so that my faith will be strong.

Rom 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So, my one resolution this year is to be quite and listen more, because I want to hear HIS voice.