Sleepless in Texas

[Rhoni]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

That sounds somewhat painful.

I noticed in another thread that you stated you didn't have a home church.

I hope you find somewhere to be at home.

It has been several years since I have felt at home in any church. I continue my personal devotions but I have no desire to be part of the churches in my area. I am not Charismatic, but not rigid/authoritarian, nor will I allow myself to be controlled and manipulated by men who have a God complex. I am too old, too tired, and too fed up with it all.

Glad you have found a supportive home church Heather. Don't let my disillusionment affect you. I own it.

Blessings, Rhoni

[nahkoe]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

It has been several years since I have felt at home in any church. I continue my personal devotions but I have no desire to be part of the churches in my area. I am not Charismatic, but not rigid/authoritarian, nor will I allow myself to be controlled and manipulated by men who have a God complex. I am too old, too tired, and too fed up with it all.

Glad you have found a supportive home church Heather. Don't let my disillusionment affect you. I own it.

Blessings, Rhoni

No worries.

I've been there though. It's not a very comfortable journey.

[Rhoni]

So glad I went to Indiana. My friend Melony had emergency gall bladder surgery and I stayed at the hospital for three days with her until her brother and sister in law came from out of town to get her to go home with them. My friend Vickie and I celebrated New Years, and I got to see my friend Teresa.

There was one friend that I wasn't sure I'd get to see again: Sis. Esther Hipes. We had a wonderful time of prayer, reading of the word, and discussion about a book: PAUL: A man of grit and grace.

15 hours there and back. It was worth it to see : my three granddaughters: Samantha, Tabitha, and Addalyn.

Blessings, Rhoni

[Rhoni]

For prayer warriors everywhere: As I lay awake early this morning thinking about all the hardships/trials that have come my way in the past two years, and my responses to them...God gave me a word for all those who pray for others when, at times, they are unable to pray for themselves, Paul spoke of a similar situation in II Corinthians:

We do not want you to be uniformed, brothers, about the hardships we sufferred in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.II Cor. 1:8-11.

The same God still has prayer warriors that go before us, to the sides of us and in back of us to protect us from the pressures, and perils we face as we are formed into the image of Christ. I am thankful for mine [armour bearers]. To God be all the glory for the things He is doing.

Blessings, Rhoni

[Rhoni]

So thankful for prayers covering me. I have been sick since Thursday and finally went to the Dr. I will be out of work until at least Wednesday. Head cold, fever, chills, cough, heachache, and body aches. My blood pressure was high because of all this.

God knew I needed a break and my Mom has been taking care of me.

I love Jesus.

[Rhoni]

Rick Warren ( HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE')

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is ashort interview with Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever r, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, 'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Ka y or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

[Rhoni]

Dear Lord,

Just wanted to say that I thank you for the miracle you performed in my life this week. As my armour bearers and I prayed for your perfect will...you opened a door that no one but you could have opened. Thank you for the restful sleep last night and the peace you have brought into my heart.

Thank you & I love you Lord!

Just me

[Falla39]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

So thankful for prayers covering me. I have been sick since Thursday and finally went to the Dr. I will be out of work until at least Wednesday. Head cold, fever, chills, cough, heachache, and body aches. My blood pressure was high because of all this.

God knew I needed a break and my Mom has been taking care of me.

I love Jesus.

Dear Rhoni,

I haven't seen this before. So sorry you have been so ill. I can remember
my mother's gentle hands soothing my brow when I was sick as a child.
She has been gone for nine years but never forgotten. Her sweet picture
nearby keeps her before me and often I breathe a word! MOMMA, and I
miss her all over again!

May our Great God keep His Hand upon you and bring you to wellness again,
in Jesus Name! I love you, Little Sis!

Hugs,

Falla39

[Rhoni]

Originally Posted by Falla39

Dear Rhoni,

I haven't seen this before. So sorry you have been so ill. I can remember
my mother's gentle hands soothing my brow when I was sick as a child.
She has been gone for nine years but never forgotten. Her sweet picture
nearby keeps her before me and often I breathe a word! MOMMA, and I
miss her all over again!

May our Great God keep His Hand upon you and bring you to wellness again,
in Jesus Name! I love you, Little Sis!

Hugs,

Falla39

Bless you Sis. Nancy! God has done a miracle for me this week - I'll call you late and share the goodness of God. Besides this, I have my voice back and am feeling good again. Jehoveh Rophe is still on His throne!

*hugs*
Rhoni

[AmazingGrace]

I too am sorry you have been sick Rhoni but glad you are doing better I meant to get back w you last week but I had my back done Fri and Rob had surgery yesterday but I will check in here again soon. I DO love and care about you and pray for you daily friend!