RHEMA 4/02/12  HIS FAITHFUL MERCIES AND COMPASSIONS OVER OUR MESSES

SONG:  I started singing an old hymn today in the shower.  I knew it was the Lord’s preciousness.

"Great is Thy faithfulness

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

NEGATIVE PARABLE:  I had been flushing baby wipes down our toilet and they got stuck in the pipe.  We had to take a hose and wash the pipe clear and it was a messy job.  We were so exhausted we just left all the mess for the rain to wash everything.  Then we had 8 inches of snow and I marvelled at the parable that the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy covers all of our messy MESSages.  I kept thinking how all that icky stuff was covered and everything was so white.  We had many days of rain after the snow melted.

Today was such a lovely day so I braved facing the clean up.  I was not looking forward to looking at what was left, because I still had a strong memory of what it looked like when we pulled everything out of the pipe and left it.  The ground was quite clean and all the stuff was gone.  As I picked up the baby wipes with disposable gloves, I dont think I have ever seen such white baby wipes! 

I was shaking my head at the parable of the last 2 weeks of “messes” I had just walked through.  Myself and a few others have really gone through some tests and I dont feel like I passed them at all.

As I was thinking about this, out loud I said, “THANK GOD HE COVERS ALL OUR MESSES!!”

SONG: As I rolled up the hose I suddenly started singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” again!  It touched me so much because it was one of those God moments that hit me with very relevant impact.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

QUICKENED EYE GLANCE:  As I had put the last tool away I looked down at a piece of Styrofoam packing and it said, “Thoroughly Tested” on its label.

QUICKENED MEMORY:  A few days later as I was thinking about Bob Jones, I remembered that many times I have heard him say that where there is no oxen in the stalls, there are no messes.

Prov 14:4

Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

FROM 1/28/00:  In one short week I felt like I had been put through a blender and turned on high for a crash course. During that week, I passed by a sign outside a neighborhood church. It was obvious from the scaffolding and workers that they were in the midst of construction and enlargement. The sign read, "Lord, please turn this mess into a message!" It made me chuckle and I identified with the concept that sometimes when we are in the process of growing into spiritual promotions that it can look like a mess. The next day I was feeling that the blender had been turned up even higher. As I passed the same sign again, the Holy Spirit nudged me to turn around and look at the other side. It said, "Lord please turn this test into a testimony!"

CONFIRMATION: Today I am harvesting my March rhema and just turned on the recorder of Bob Jones. He said, "It's OK for me to mess up, because it makes everybody else look good!"