CONTENTMENT

Do you ever find yourself envious of others? Not satisfied with what you
have? Some gets a new car, a newer, bigger TV and the juices of envy and
jealousy begin to flow? Someone’s house is bigger and better — you want
a Jacuzzi because someone else has a brand new pool?

Paul writes in Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak from want; for I have
learned to be content win WHATEVER circumstances I am in.” Henry
Blackaby, in his devotional, EXPERIENCING GOD DAY BY DAY writes: “Our
world promotes dissatisfaction with our lives. We are constantly
bombarded with newer and better things that will make our lives more
complete if only we would obtain them! If we listen to the world, we
will always be comparing the lifestyles and possessions of others with
our own, and we will always be dissatisfied. If our contentment comes
from possessions, activities, or other people, these can be altered or
removed. If our contentment comes from our relationship with Christ,
there is absolutely NOTHING that can take that away.

Paul had enjoyed power and status among his people. He had also been
imprisoned and bound in stocks in the depths of a jail cell. He had
stood before a king and been stoned almost to death by an angry mob.
Paul had enjoyed the benefits and pleasures of life, yet he could give
them all up and still be filled with the joy of the Lord. His
contentment did not depend on his environment but on his relationship
with Christ.

Contentment frees you to enjoy EVERY good thing God has given you.
Contentment demonstrates your belief that God loves you and has your
best interest in mind. Discontent stems from the sins of ingratitude and
a lack of faith that God loves you enough to provide for all that you
need. Strive to be grateful for all that God has given you. A grateful
heart has no room for envy.”

I have shared with you prayers of the puritans. Here is one on
contentment:

Heavenly Father,
If I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty,
make my heart prize Your love,
know it, be constrained by it,
though I be denied all blessings.
It is Your mercy to afflict and try me with wants,
for by these trials I see my sins,
and desire severance from them.
Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations,
if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,
and be delivered from it with gratitude to You,
acknowledging this as the highest testimony of Your love.
When the Son, Jesus came into my soul
instead of sin, he became more dear to me than sin had formerly
been;
his kindly rule replaced sin’s tyranny.
Teach me to believe that if ever I would have any sin subdued
I must not only labor to overcome it,
but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it,
and he must become to me more than vile lust had been;
that his sweetness, power, life may be there.
Thus I must seek a grace from him contrary to sin,
but must not claim it apart from himself.
When I am afraid of evils to come,
comfort me by showing me
that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch,
but IN CHRIST I am reconciled and live;
that in my self I find insufficiency and no rest,
but in Christ there is no satisfaction and peace;
that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good,
but in Christ I have ability to do all things.
from THE VALLEY OF VISION

So how about you? Can you say with Paul this morning: “for I have
learned to be content in WHATEVER circumstances?” That’s my prayer for
me and you today.

THE GOSPEL AND MY MARRIAGE

Most of us believe the gospel and think that the gospel is for salvation
only. But the truth is that the gospel is on-going in our Christian
experience.

The gospel is for you today! The gospel that saves you is the gospel
that keeps you. It has powerful implications for you TODAY! It can
impact your marriage.

Listen to these marvelous truths as outlined for us in LOVE THAT LASTS
— WHEN MARRIAGE MEETS GRACE by Gary & Betsy Ricucci:

1. Because of the gospel, Christians have become new creations (2
Corinthians 5:17). Therefore, in our marriage, our past does not define
us, confine us, or determine our future.

2. Because of the gospel, we are forgiven (Ephesians 1:17). We can live
free of ALL guilt and condemnation for EVERY sin, and we can trust that
God, in his mercy, will be gracious to us.

3. Because of the gospel, we can forgive, just as Christ forgave us
(Ephesians 4:32). NOTHING done against us compares to our sin against
God. Therefore all offenses, hostility, and bitterness between
Christians can be completely forgiven and removed.

4. Because of the gospel, we are accepted by God (Romans 15:7).
Therefore we are not dependent on a spouse for WHO we are or WHAT we
need.

5. Because of the gospel, sin’s ruling power over us is broken (Romans
6:6, 14). Therefore we can truly obey ALL that God calls us to do in our
marriage, regardless of any circumstance or situation.

6. Because of the gospel, we have access to God THROUGH Christ (Hebrews
4:14-16). Therefore we can at any time take any need in our marriage to
the ONE who can do all things.

7. Because of the gospel, we have hope (Romans 5:1-4). There we can
endure ANY marital difficulty, hardship, or suffering with the assurance
that God is working all to our greatest good (Romans 8:28).

8. Because of the gospel, Christ dwells in us by His Holy Spirit
(Galatians 3:13-14). Therefore we are confident that God is always with
us and is always at work in our marriage, even when progress is
imperceptible (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

9. Because of the gospel, we have power to fight and overcome remaining
sin, which continues to dwell and war within us (Romans 7:19, 21, 24-25;
Galatians 5:16-17).

Ricucci’s conclude that “when we grasp the depth of God’s love for us
revealed in the gospel, when we rest in the joy of God’s forgiveness
toward us in the gospel, when we experience God’s transforming power in
us through the gospel, and when we begin to emulate the pattern of
humility and obedience we see in the gospel what a wonderful difference
this will make in our lives and marriages!”

Powerful words from LOVE THAT LASTS — WHEN MARRIAGE MEETS GRACE,
published by Crossway and available at the KESWICK ONLINE BOOKSTORE @
http://www.americaskeswick.org.

EXPECTANT FAITH

I shared with you last week that we are in one of those tight spots
right now at America’s KESWICK with our finances. Over the past 108
years we have been there many times and God has always proven Himself
faithful. Today’s reading from STREAMS IN THE DESERT was one of those
“whack-in-the-head” messages to me from the Lord . . . I pray it will
encourage your heart as together we wait on Him EXPECTANTLY . . .

“Faith is being . . . certain of what we do not see.” — Hebrews 11:1

“Genuine faith puts its letter in the mailbox and lets go. Distrust,
however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the
answer never arrives. There are some letters on my desk that I wrote
weeks ago, but I have yet to mail them because of my uncertainty over
the address or the contents. Those letters have not done any good for me
or anyone else at this point. And they never will accomplish anything
until I let go of them, trusting them to the postal service.

It is the same with genuine faith. It hands its circumstance over to
God, allowing HIM to work. Psalm 37:5 is a great confirmation of this:
‘Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in Him and he will do this.’ He
will never work until we COMMIT. Faith is RECEIVING — or even more,
actually appropriating — the gifts God offers us. We may believe in
Him, come to Him, commit to Him, and rest in Him, but we will never
fully realize all our blessings until we begin to receive from Him and
come to Him having the spirit of abiding and appropriating.

Dr. Payson, while still a very young man, once wrote to an elderly
mother who was worried and burdened over the condition of her son. He
wrote:

‘You are worrying too much about him. Once you have prayed for him, as
you have done, and committed him to God, you should not continue to be
anxious. God’s command, ‘Do not be anxious about anything’ (Philippians
4:6), is unlimited, and so is the verse, ‘Cast ALL your anxiety on Him’
(1 Peter 5:7). If we truly have cast our burdens upon another, can they
continue to pressure us? If we carry them with us FROM the throne of
grace, it is obvious we have not left them there. In my own life I test
my prayers in this way: after committing something to God, if I can come
away, like Hannah did, with no more sadness, pain, or anxiety in my
heart, I see it as proof that I have prayed the prayer of faith. But if
I pray and STILL carry my burden, I conclude that my faith was not
exercised.'” STREAMS IN THE DESERT (Cowman/Zondervan)

So what about you this morning? I shared my burden with you — today I
leave it at the mercy seat! Is there something weighing you down? A
relationship? A problem? “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and
he will do this!”

Good word for today.

GUYS: Good Mother’s Day gift for your wife. Why not send her to our
Spring Ladies Day on Wednesday, May 10th. Annie Chapman is our keynote
speaker. Call today and make reservations for your special lady —
800-453-7942.

This week on KESWICK TODAY, our Guest Services Team talk about the value
of a retreat at America’s KESWICK. You can listen to the broadcasts
right from our homepage: http://www.americaskeswick.org.

MY ALL KNOWING FATHER

One of the grand disconnects of life is that we forget that we have a
Heavenly Father who IS ALL-KNOWING. There is absolutely NOTHING that
your Father doesn’t know about you. I did a quick search in my
concordance and pulled out just a few gems for your consideration as you
prepare for the Lord’s Day:

“But HE knows the WAY I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth
as gold.” — Job 23:10

“The Lord knows the DAYS of the blameless . . . ” — Psalm 37:18

“Would not God find this out? For He knows the SECRETS of the heart.” —
Psalm 44:21

“The Lord knows the THOUGHTS of a man, that they are a mere breath.” —
Psalm 94:11

“For I know the PLANS I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for a
welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” —
Jeremiah 29:11

“And God, who knows the HEART . . . ” — Acts 15:8

“The Lord knows the REASONING of the wise . . .” — I Corinthians 3:20

“Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘THE
LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS . . .” — 2 Timothy 2:19

“The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the
unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.” — 2 Peter 2:9

” . . . for God is greater than our heart, and knows ALL things.” — I
John 3: 20

God KNOWS EVERYTHING about you and me! What an awesome God. Is there
something in your life that you think has gone unnoticed? Keeping you
from true fellowship with your Father? Purpose today to surrender that
to Him. HE ALREADY KNOWS ALL ABOUT IT!

THE GREAT KNOW-IT-ALL

We are pretty excited! Two of my daughters and my daughter-in-law are
all pregnant with my grandbabies. This week, my youngest daughter, Julie
and her husband Garrett, along with my wife Jan, were able to see the
baby growing inside of Julie’s womb. We have a little girl — Emma
Grace. Right now she weighs around 1.5 lbs — but the picture shows a
developing baby be formed! It is very, very exciting.

As I looked at the pictures from the scan, I couldn’t help remember the
words that David penned in Psalm 139 from THE MESSAGE:

“God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book
to you; even from a distance, YOU KNOW what I’m thinking.
YOU KNOW when I leave and get back; I’m never out of your sight.
YOU KNOW EVERYTHING I’m going to say before I start the first sentence.
I look behind and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too —
your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too
wonderful — I can’t take it all in!

Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your
sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me
in a minute — you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, ‘Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I am
immersed in the light!’
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you; night and day, darkness and
light, they’re all the same to you.

Oh yes, YOU shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my
mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God — you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am
marvelously made!
I worship in adoration! What a creation!
YOU KNOW ME INSIDE AND OUT! YOU KNOW EVERY BONE IN MY BODY.
YOU KNOW EXACTLY HOW I WAS MADE — BIT BY BIT, how I was sculpted from
nothing into SOMETHING!
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the
stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day!

Your thought — how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend
them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them — any more than I could count the
sand of the sea.”

Lord, thank You that you are the ALL-KNOWING God! Thank You that you are
shaping and forming my three grandbabies! Thank You, that You are also
conforming and transforming the hearts of my Freedom Fighter brothers
and sisters! What an awesome God!

Colony Grads: Visit the alumni “WALL OF FAME” Many new pictures have
been posted. http://www.americaskeswick.org/addiction/alumni.shtml

STAND FIRM PART #3

There are so many more lessons to learn from this passage that we have
camped out on the past several days, but here are several more thoughts.
Remember what the Israelites are facing. They have just been set free to
leave Egypt — 3 million of them! Pharaoh changes his mind and sends his
army after them — several thousand men with 600 chariots. As the
children of Israel turn back to look, they see this huge army advancing
in on them. Ahead of them is the Red Sea — bottom line — they were up
against an impossible wall — there was only one way out — to cross the
Red Sea!

Put yourself in THEIR place — if they did nothing — they were doomed.
If they moved forward — well what idiot is going to attempt to walk
across a sea that was fairly deep. Is Moses crazy? I missed giving you
the little phrase that came before our verse, “Stand firm and see the
salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today!” — It is
the phrase “DO NOT FEAR!”

Charles Swindoll writes profoundly about this event in his new
devotional, GREAT DAYS WITH THE GREAT LIVES — Daily Insight from Great
Lives of the Bible (published by Word): “Humanly speaking, predicaments
are terrible experiences. If you stay in one long enough, you will begin
to question the very roots of your faith. By and by you’ll begin to look
for someone to blame; usually it’ll be somebody in leadership. That’s
why I am so impressed with Moses’ response. He didn’t say, as most are
prone to say, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ People think that
familiar saying comes from the Bible. It doesn’t. It comes from the pit.
No, God helps the HELPLESS.

Note Moses’ more biblical response: ‘Do not fear!’ What strange counsel.
Can’t you hear his fellow Israelites? ‘Hey, Moses, the Egyptians are
around the corner. They’ve got chariots and bows and arrows and pointy
spears. And you’re saying, ‘Don’t fear?’ What’s the matter with you,
man? Do you need a change in your eyeglass prescription? Can’t you see
they are coming? Moses replied: ‘But I am still saying to you, ‘Don’t
fear!’

But Moses isn’t done. After telling them not to be afraid, he has a
second piece of counsel for his followers: ‘Stand still.’ And a third:
‘Watch.’ And a fourth: ‘The LORD will fight for you while you keep
silent.’

Now there’s a prescription for people in an inescapable predicament!
Don’t be afraid, stand still, watch God come through, quit talking! The
hardest for us if the fourth, because we just HAVE to complain or tell
somebody what a predicament we’re in. But God doesn’t need to be
informed. He KNOWS the predicament. He is simply waiting for us to calm
down and keep silent.

When you are in a cul-de-sac, led by God to that tight place, it is
there you will discover some phenomenal surprises designed JUST FOR YOU.
That’s why Moses said, ‘Look, let’s stand still! There’s a great
blessing here for us that we’ll miss if we turn tail and run!’

You know the common response to panic? First, we become afraid. Second,
we run! Third, we fight! Fourth, we tell everybody.

God’s counsel is just the opposite. Don’t be afraid. Stand still. Watch
him work. Keep quiet. It’s then that He does His best work on our
behalf. HE takes over! He then handles our predicament opposite the way
we’d do it. The Lord is tapping His foot, waiting for us to wait.”

I don’t know about you — but the Lord has certainly been teaching me
this powerful truth this week. God bless you.

GOD’S AMAZING PROMISES

Yesterday we experienced one of those “God Sightings” — It was one of those moments where I had to simply stand there and say, “WOW.” I write Freedom Fighters each day out from my daily journey with the Lord. I tried doing them ahead of time, but for me, it didn’t work.

Diane Hunt, our Director of Women’s Ministries and Family Counseling does a Monday – Friday email for women — Victory Call — and does hers in advance (she’s more organized than me!). So here VC for yesterday was written way before mine . . . Here is what she had written for yesterday’s email:

“Exodus 14:13-14, “And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Lynne’s devotional yesterday on Jehovah Nissi -the Lord of our battles reminded me of this verse in Exodus. Can you just imagine the scene? Moses leading a mass of people who, in great fear, realize they are trapped between the Red sea and their approaching enemy. “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.” Exodus 14:10

The Israelites had limited options. There is no way they could defeat the Egyptians in their own strength. Their only hope was if Someone came to their rescue. That someone was their God. “So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.” Exodus 14:30-31

Do you have a battle that you simply cannot fight, let alone win? Cry out to Jehovah Nissi and “Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today.”

Sound familiar? If you didn’t read your Freedom Fighter for yesterday, this was the exact same text that I used in my email. Maybe it won’t do for you what it did for me, but it was as if God was saying, “How many two-by-fours do I need to use to get your attention?”

Over the years we have faced financial struggles at America’s KESWICK. And we have an amazing record of God’s faithfulness. Right now we have one of those crisis times where we are waiting on God for HIS amazing supply and provision. This past weekend we were closed and that means we have a loss of revenue of about $28,000. This is a payroll week so we are a bit tight on our finances.

The good news is that these are the times when we have no place to turn but to God — that He shows up and says “Watch what I can do! All you need to do is trust and obey!” This morning as I was reading the Word through the ONE YEAR BIBLE, the passage was from Joshua 21. Joshua is assigning the land to the tribes and after his task is complete we read this commentary:

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land which HE had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the Lord gave them REST on EVERY SIDE, according to ALL that He had sworn to their fathers, and NO ONE of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. NOT ONE OF THE GOOD PROMISES WHICH THE LORD HAD MADE TO HOUSE OF ISRAEL FAILED; ALL CAME TO PASS.” (Joshua 21:43-45)

Are you facing a Red Sea experience? STAND FIRM! CLAIM THE PROMISES OF GOD! HE WILL NOT FAIL! Trust Him today and obey. “STAND STILL, AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD, which HE will accomplish for you TODAY!” I look forward to sharing with you how God WILL provide for our need. A number of you wrote to me to how God is working in your lives. Your notes are a great encouragement to me and the staff.

God bless you.

STAND FIRM

I absolutely love the way that God speaks to my heart in my quiet time
with Him. He knows EXACTLY what I need . . . I trust that this
devotional from STREAMS IN THE DESERT will encourage you today.

“Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you
today.” (Exodus 14:13)

“This verse contains God’s command to me as a believer for those times
when I am confronted with dire circumstances and extraordinary
difficulties. What am I to do when I cannot retreat or go forward and my
way is blocked to the right and to the left?

The Master’s word to me is, ‘Stand firm.’ And the best thing I can do at
these times is to listen only to my Master’s word, for others will come
to me with their suggestions and evil advice.

DESPAIR will come, whispering, ‘Give up — lie down and die.’ But even
in the worst of times, God would have me be cheerful and courageous,
rejoicing in His love and faithfulness.

COWARDICE will come and say, ‘You must retreat to the world’s way of
acting. It is too difficult to continue living the part of a Christian.
Abandon your principles.’ Yet not matter how much Satan may pressure me
to follow his course, I cannot, for I am a child of God. The Lord’s
divine decree has commanded me to go from ‘strength to strength’ (Psalm
84:7). Therefore I will, and neither death nor hell can turn me from my
course. And if for a season He call me to ‘stand firm,’ I will
acknowledge it as a time to renew my strength for greater strides in the
future.

IMPATIENCE will come, crying, ‘Get up and do something! To ‘stand firm’
and wait is sheer idleness.’ Why is it I think I MUST be doing something
right now instead of looking to the Lord? He will not only do SOMETHING
— He will do EVERYTHING!

ARROGANCE will come, boasting, ‘If the sea is blocking your way, march
right into it and expect a miracle.’ Yet true faith never listens to
arrogance, impatience, cowardice, or despair but only hears God saying,
‘Stand firm!’ And then it stands as immovable as a rock.

STAND FIRM. I must maintain the posture of one who stands ready for
action, expecting further orders, and cheerfully and patiently awaiting
the Director’s voice. It will not be long until God will say to me, as
distinctly as He told Moses to tell the children of Israel, ‘MOVE ON!’

In times of uncertainty — WAIT! If you have ANY doubt — WAIT, never
forcing yourself into action. If you sense ANY restraint in your spirit,
do not go against it — WAIT until the way is clear.”

Powerful! I needed that word this morning. Maybe you did too. If so, I’d
love to hear from you. Have a great day.

The mind is a powerful tool. Several weeks ago we had a weekend retreat
and one of our friends suggested on Friday evening that we go out on
Saturday night to Friendly’s to get banana splits. Having been on a
“diet” for the past several years, banana splits were not a part of the
program. But guess what — for the next 24 hours all I thought about was
getting a big delicious banana split with all the toppings.

For years advertisers have used subliminal advertising especially at the
movie theaters. Did you ever notice how they will flash ads about the
popcorn and soda throughout the commercials. Before you know it, people
begin to go back to the concession stand.

When I worked at Sandy Cove, the vending machine area was close to the
Front Desk. One of our maintenance guys loved to put a bag of microwave
popcorn on just as the guests were checking in. You’ve got it. You can’t
escape the smell of hot popcorn. People started thinking about it and
would head to the vending area.

The writer of Proverbs says: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he .
. .” (Proverbs 23:7) It has been proven over and over that you and I
become what we think. The bottom line is that we become what we think.
What our mind dwells on often becomes reality.

Have you ever had a toothache? The more you think about it, the worse
the pain gets. When I go to the doctor and get a prescription, Jan
always grabs the bag so that I don’t get to read the side-effects. If I
think about those side effects . . . well, I would get every one of
them.

When my Mom was diagnosed with a reoccurrence of cancer, her doctor told
her to go home and get her house in order as she only had six months to
live. She went to Cancer Treatment Center of America for a second
opinion and asked the doctor how much time she had. His immediate
response was this: “How the heck do I know . . . there is only One
person who knows that — God!” He went on to explain to her that
research has proven that when a person is told a time frame when they
are sick, the mind is so powerful that they believe that it is true and
the body is affected, and almost always, the person dies within the time
frame that they have been given. My mother died 5 months and 28 days
later.

The Apostle Paul reminded the church at Philippi that they needed to
guard their thinking. Instead of being anxious about everything, he
encouraged them “through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to
make their requests known to God” which would result them experiencing
God’s peace that would guard both their hearts and minds. (Philippians
4:7).

He gave them specific direction to guide their thinking: “Finally,
brethren, whatever is TRUE, whatever is HONORABLE, whatever is PURE,
whatever is lovely, whatever is of GOOD REPUTE, if there is anything
worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on THESE things.” (Philippians
4:8)

Someone has said if you THINK you are a failure — you will be a
failure. If you THINK you are junk — that is what you will become.
Think about the that area of your life where you struggle with sin, and
before you know it, you are ensnared again. Sin begins in our minds!

Today you need to check out what you are thinking — maybe today is a
good day for you to memorize Philippians 4:8 and reprogram you mind to
think God’s way. Some of us need to start “taking our thoughts captive
to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5b).

So . . . what are you thinking about today? What is occupying your mind?

There is still time for you to take advantage of our special FREEDOM
FIGHTER special for this weekend. Come and enjoy the beauty of God’s
creation at America’s KESWICK. Call today for information and rates.
Don’t wait — call today — 800-453-7942.

NO ONE CAN PREVENT YOU . . .

The Christian life is an exciting journey. Yes, there are mountaintops
and then their are valleys. I’ve told you before that I think there are
basically two kinds of people — some of us see the glass HALF FULL
while others see the glass HALF EMPTY.

I also believe that God loves to WOW His kids with HIS GLORY and POWER
and things that are only explainable by Him.

Several years ago while cutting grass, the Lord had my undivided
attention and began to place a burden on my heart to move forward with a
residential program for women, similar to what we have been doing with
the Colony of Mercy for over 108 years.

The steps leading up to our Board making a decision to move forward were
downright exciting, and God has confirmed our steps in amazing ways. I
have been journaling the story along the way and now have a new chapter
of adventures to write about.

Up until this point we have hit no major obstacles. However, we just hit
our first potential roadblock. We have a 12.5 acre parcel that is
perfect for what we want to do, however, our Keswick properties sit in a
strategic place in terms of the environment. Because we are located in a
biosphere, we are “blessed” with a number of species of snakes, bugs,
flora and grasses that are federally protected. Quite frankly, our
environmentalist friends are more concerned about the endangered blades
of curly grass and pine snakes than they are about the thousands of men
and women whose lives are endangered by addiction.

We received a preliminary report that states that most likely we will
only be able to use 4 acres of the 12.5 and to dispute the report will
cost $60k. I confess to you that my first response was one of
disappointment. But during the past several days as I have dug deeper
into the Word and spent time alone with the Lord, He has reminded me
that HE is in charge of all of this . . .

This morning in my quiet time, the Lord spoke to my heart from Henry
Blackaby’s devotional book, EXPERIENCING GOD DAY BY DAY (Broadman
Holman). Here is today’s reading . . .

“But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained
alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.” Numbers 14:38

Blackaby writes: “The decisions and disobedience of others will not
cancel God’s will for you. Other people’s actions will affect you, but
no one can prevent what God wants to do in and through you. Joshua and
Caleb trusted God and yet were forced to wander in a wilderness for
forty years because of fear and disbelief of others.

Have you ever felt that someone was thwarting God’s will for you?
Perhaps someone kept you from getting a job or earning a promotion.
Perhaps the government would approve your application (I can’t tell you
how this made me chuckle!) or a committee disagreed with your
recommendations. Do you believe that mere man can stop God from
accomplishing HIS purposes in your life?

God did everything He intended to do in the lives of Joshua and Caleb.
His primary assignment for them had not been to enter the Promised Land
but rather to serve as godly leaders for their people. Joshua and Caleb
could not lead the people if they were in the Promised Land by
themselves while the people were still wandering in the wilderness. God
kept these leaders in a position where they could exert a godly
influence upon their nation, and, as a result, they became models of
spiritual leadership for generations to come.

Even so, GOD ultimately brought Caleb and Joshua into the Promised Land
just as He said. They had been delayed, but not thwarted. Be assured of
this: NO ONE CAN HINDER GOD FROM CARRYING OUT HIS PLANS FOR YOUR LIFE.
ONCE GOD SETS SOMETHING IN MOTION, NO ONE CAN STOP IT (Isaiah 46:11).”

Thank You, Lord, for reminding me this morning that YOU are in charge.
Thank You, for speaking to MY heart. I trust that God’s encouragement
for me this morning will encourage you with whatever you are facing in
your life today. I look forward to sharing with you in the future how
God unfolds his plan for our residential women’s ministry.

We still have some rooms available this weekend. Come with your family
and enjoy a time of refreshing fellowship at America’s KESWICK. Call
today and tell our reservationists that you are a FREEDOM FIGHTER —
800-453-7942.