Your praise isn’t just an expression of your joy. You actually are doing battle in the spirit realm. While you are praising God–swoop!–the angels of God are stopping your enemy in His tracks. Swoop!–the angels of God are scattering your enemy!
Psalm 107:23-32–23)Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, 24)They see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. 25)For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. 26)They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble, 27)They reel to and fro like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 28)Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. 29)He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. 30)Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven. 31)Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! 32)Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders.
Like the sailors in this Psalm, at some point you will hit great turbulence in your life. Perhaps you are currently experiencing a storm with no end in sight. Your situation may be so serious that you wonder how you’ll ever get through it. You’ve tried everything possible to resolve the matter, but to no avail.
The solution is to do exactly what these sailors did–cry to the Lord in your trouble (v.28). He is sovereign over storms and uses them for His good purposes. God knows we sometimes need to reach the end of our own resources before we will turn to Him. When we call out to the Lord and submit to His authority over the storm, He will calm the waves in His perfect timing and guide us to safety.
The goal is not simply to escape turmoil but to learn to depend on the Lord instead of ourselves. Trusting Him to handle what we cannot will ultimately lead to gladness, thanks, and praise for His lovingkindness and intervention on our behalf. Another wonderful result will be that we tell others how faithful God has been, so they can trust Him, too.
Meet part of my Furbaby Family. These three usually join me for early morning My Daily Med and first words of the day.
Khawaga Kid and Kabtn Khawaga. Kabtn Khawaga is my father. I am his Khawaga Kid. My mother is his First Mate V. I am writing a memoir called The Family Court Case from Hell.
I changed the name of my 10th anniversary “card” to hubby. It’s called Howdy Neighbor. Arrowhead Season is a chapter and also a poem.
Does it seem as if the world today is constantly changing? I know it seems that way to me. This might cause us to be filled with anxiety unless we remember that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Disturbing times should remind us we are only pilgrims on this earth. Our citizenship is in a heavenly kingdom that can never be shaken.
The commotion of this present world is nothing unprecedented. 1944 was a year of tremendous turmoil in our country because of WWII. Many people anxiously listened to the evening news, fearing the death of loved ones as battles were reported.
When times are frightening and uncertain–whether personally, nationally, or globally–the place to find comfort and assurance is the Bible, especially the book of Psalms. Scripture helps us look circumstances from God’s perspective. That reassures us of His love and care for us and lifts our eyes to a higher hope than anything this world can offer.
We all want to find peace, and the first step is to cease striving–Psalm 46:10–Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Remember that the Lord is always with you, and know that His kingdom is coming.
God is in Control
My Daily Med. 3:15am CST. Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Psalm 103:19-22–19)The Lord has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules overall. 20)Bless the Lord, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His Word, Heeding the Voice of His Word. 21)Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure. 22) Bless the Lord, all His works, In all places of His dominion. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇Bless the Lord, O my soul!
In today’s Psalm, David discusses a fundamental attribute of God: His sovereignty. This means God has complete authority and control over all human beings and every aspect of the universe. It also means that “luck” and “good fortune” have no place in a discussion about Him. And because God is good, we can have full confidence in His absolute and loving control over every aspect of our existence.
When we trust the Father’s sovereignty, we stand on two assurances. The first is that He is intimately involved in our daily life. No matter what, He never stops providing, protecting, and caring for every believer. He knows what we need for today and tomorrow.
The second is that the Lord will work every circumstance for our benefit–without exception! When situations are more demanding, our confidence may waver, but Scripture promises “that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
You and I do not live by chance. As children of a sovereign God, we live secure and under His control. Trust Him to carry you through whatever trial stands in your way.
***practice***the Art of Becoming***
Pink Bible. Page 647.
***If you recognize areas in your life where you have been guilty of resisting change, stop right where you are and allow God to cleanse your heart from fear of change. Know in your spirit that something good is going to come out of it.***
Enjoying life and feeling joy in simple things is still very important in my life. This morning I want to share some of my mushroom pictures from this past week.
Even in the midst of personal problems, when you feel small and unnoticed, know that you are not alone. Find something to bring you out of yourself and back into the world. Walks in nature do this for me. I always feel better after I clear my head in the great outdoors
Sometimes, you have to allow happiness to find you in little ways when there is no great happiness in sight. Feeling helpless and hopeless makes and keeps people sick.
Personal experience has taught me to create my own action where there’s been no action. When you hear, “There’s nothing you can do.” don’t believe it. Your life experience can be an important way to connect with others who feel isolated and alone, scared, intimidated, humiliated, exploited, worthless.
Creating the Coastal Coercive Control Coalition, aka C4, during Domestic Violence Awareness month is how I decided to fight for my own right to live abuse free and also share my journey to wholeness. Naysayers, get out of my way!
This is the poem on my sister’s grave:
A Prayer for the Helpless
Let me be a voice
For the speechless
Those who are small and weak
Let me speak
For all helpless creatures
Who have no power to speak
I have lifted my heart
To Heaven
On behalf of the least of these
The frightened
The homeless
The hungry
I am voicing their pleas
If I can help any creature
Respond to a desperate call
I will know that
My prayers have been answered
By the God who created
Them all
Often we try to separate our personal lives from our spiritual lives. Many see Jesus as a way to Heaven and the solution to spiritual problems, but they fail to see that He is the solution to all of life’s problems.
We don’t have to be prominent in the world’s eyes to be an influential person. Through your example and testimony, you can help others understand who Jesus Christ is and what it looks like to live for Him.
Daniel was a godly influence not only on his friends but also on kings. Even as a youth, he was committed to obeying God’s law. When Daniel was offered food from the Babylonian king’s table, he requested vegetarian meals instead, to comply with Jewish dietary restrictions. His commitment to the Lord outweighed any fear of reprisal for rejecting the royal provisions. And God protected Daniel by giving him favor with his overseer.
Most of us won’t have an opportunity to influence global leaders but our example can impact a workplace, neighborhood, home, or future generations. A godly example is rooted in obedience to Scripture because it’s the source of wisdom. In a world tossed about by upheaval, fear, uncertainty, pandemic, our confidence in the Lord stands out and influences those around us.
I have chosen to be honest about my life behind closed doors. The truth of family dysfunction, abuse, neglect, abandonment, and in the course of my own healing, I pray that sharing my knowledge gained through decades of experience will fulfill the mission of my new endeavor called…
C4
The Coastal Coalition on Coercive Control. Awareness. Education. Prevention. Prosecution.
I was mad at God because He won’t heal my broken family. I cannot heal my family by remaining in contact with them, but they can keep me sick. Yes, I was mad at God. Now, I am reconciled and I rely on Him to heal me.
Domestic Violence and Coercive Control. You have to fight to be free even when it means having an estranged, distant, or even monitored relationship with family members still held hostage behind the closed doors of homes all over the world.
Freedom starts in your mind. You don’t have to remain a hostage to the not so secret family secrets. I will be 58 soon. I am estranged from my entire family. It’s me and Hubby together against the world.
Mama V. Seventy-five in December. I am the only child she has living. I am the only person, especially through the Covid pandemic, that gets her to her appointments. I shop for her. Our relationship is one of control, manipulation, domination, humiliation.
V for Vicious. The woman I ran away from in 1979. The final secret of life behind the closed doors of my family. Nothing is off limits when I do not please her. She has lied to people about me and they believe her.
My parents are in what I call the Family Court Case from Hell. My parents, aged 77 and soon to be 75 have been apart since they were in their thirties. They only agree on one thing. Me. Their Khawaga Kid. I became a problem when I stopped being held hostage in my mind and emotions.
I have been humiliated time and again by the antics of the two people who brought me into this world. As their scapegoat, I became angry at God because I had to endure their insanity that once was “love”. No person, professional, clergy, agency has help for me. I felt worthless. If not for my husband as a living witness to the high degree of dysfunction in my family, I would not be here.
Yes. I was suicidal. My reality? No one believed how life really is as the adult daughter of two abusers. Not just Kabtn Khawaga…also his First Mate V. Khawaga Kid. That’s me. I may be a foreigner in this world and an outcast in my family, but I live in the safest home I ever had with my family of one, my husband.
This is my blog diary as I prepare to kick off a new endeavor called the Coastal Coercive Control Coalition, and as I preare for NaNoWriMo 2020.
I’m writing Egyptian Minutes for NaNoWriMo 2020. It’s a short story collection about my times in Egypt.
My memoir Khawaga Kid is still, like me, a work in progress.
Khawaga Kid 