Stevemidkiff's Blog

He guides us by the skillfulness of His hands

Psa. 78:72

When we doubt our direction,

we surrender our choices entirely to Your Spirit

shut every door but the right one

darkness about going is light about staying

but when we notice light at the end of the cave

we sense You’re in front of us leading us forward

keep locking doors which we shouldn’t enter

guide us to the unlocked ones

we want to be face to face with You and Your liberating openings

Your timely interventions are above all we’ve dared to imagine in our greatest dreams.

You set in motion glorious participation in Your amazing love

guide us, by every circumstance

keep us trusting in Your triumphs over what appears impossible obstruction

give us through insignificant incident, that penetrating eye of faith the echoes volumes from Your voice.

show us how nothing is random

reveal to us how nothing is the results of indiscriminate chance,

but that every circumstance may be an opening up of Your leading

Bushnell noted

That If we go to God to be guided, He will guide us;

He will show us only into a way where, we can go trustfully forward,

He will show us on then progressively still farther

Thomas Curtis Clark writes:

“As moves our fragile boat across the storm-swept sea.

Great waves beat o’er her side, as north wind blows;

Deep in the darkness hid lie threat’ning rocks and shoals;

But all of these, and more, my Pilot knows.

Sometimes when dark the night, and every light gone out,

We wonder to what port our frail ship goes;

Still though the night be long, and restless all our hours,

Our distant good, we’re sure, our Pilot knows.”

OUR PROBLEMS ARE GODS POSSIBILITIES PSALMS 3

OUR TROUBLERS v.1-2

THEIR INCREASE v.1

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!

Wow! We have a lot of enemies, Lord!

O Lord, how many are our foes!

Guide us out of all discouragement

Stop us from being victims of self pity

Energize us from wilting in weariness

Strengthen us by Your Spirit

to advance in stressful situations

to respond appropriately

to bear Spirit fruit of character

In our medical problems

In our multiple challenges

uplift us by Your grace

Discipline us to overcome our struggles

Our scraps with our weight

Our scuffles with besetting issues

Purify us from Perfectionism

Sensitize us to walk in Your light

Stimulate our mind

to fight all procrastination

to battle all delays

In our desire to please others
show us how to put You first

THEIR INSURRECTION

many are they that rise up against us

When others are rising up against us
guide each of our moves

It feels like the whole world has suddenly turned against us!

God! Look! Help!

Enemies past counting!

Enemies sprouting up like weeds defiance germinating everywhere

Enable us to bless our enemies

THEIR INTENSIFICATION v.2

Many there be which say of our soul

God won’t deliver us

Show us Your salvation in each predicament

Throngs of angry people They thirst for our blood!

They chase after us shouting

Mobs of them all around us

Enable us to respond appropriately

THEIR INSINUATION

There is no help for us in God. Selah.

They imply, Not even God can help us!

Reveal Your compassionate help

They roar their mockery

Hah! No help for Him from God!

Keep us trusting and praying

OUR TRUST v. 3-4

OUR PROTECTION v.3

But You, O Lord, are our shield

Show us Your shield of Angels around us

But none of this matters

it all falls on deaf ears

You, O Lord, are our protector

Let us rejoice in Your protection

Let us revel in Your provision

You’re our source of strength,

Give us an energetic spiritual boost

You’re our reason to believe!

Develop us in full confidence in You

You’re our shield us on all sides;

You ground our feet

You Stabilize our every step

by Your Spirit life within us

OUR PRAISE

Our glory

OUR PROMOTION

You’re the lifter up of our head

Fill us with a glow of countenance
From Your wonderful presence

You lift our head high

Lift us above the fray of adversity

Lift us to sing praises in gratitude

OUR PLEA v.4

We cried to the Lord with our voice

Every single time we need You, Lord,

With all our might we shout to You

OUR PRIVILEGE

You hear us out of Your holy hill.

Selah.

You’re there without fail!

Your answers thunder from the holy mountain

OUR TEST v. 5-6

SILENT NIGHT v.5

We laid down and slept;

we sleep without fear

We stretch ourself out. We sleep

SECURE NURTURE

We awaked; for the Lord sustained us

We wake up refreshed Lord,
ready to spend another day
in Your life-giving arms

Then we’re up again rested

Then we’re tall & steady

SURROUNDING NUMBERS v.6

We will not be afraid of 10k of people,
that have set themselves against us
round about

OUR TRIUMPH v. 7-8

POWERFUL POSSIBILITIES v.7

Arise, O Lord; save us, O God

Up, God! Our God, help us!

PAST PERFORMANCE

for You have smitten all our enemies
on the cheek bone;
You have broken the teeth of
the ungodly

Slap their faces, First this cheek,
then the other cheek

Push Your fist hard through their teeth!

Make us Fearless before the enemy mobs Coming at us from all sides

PRESENT PROMISES v.8

Salvation belongs to the Lord
Your blessing is on Your people
Selah

But You are a shield around us,

O Lord; You bestow glory on us

Father, You lift up our head.

Every single time we cry to You,

You answer us from Your holy hill

Real help comes from You God

Your blessing clothes Your people!

Moses took the Tent and set it up outside the camp,

some distance away. He called it the Tent of Meeting.

Anyone who sought GOD would go to the Tent of Meeting

outside the camp.

It went like this:

When Moses would go to the Tent, all the people would

stand at attention; each man would take his position at

the entrance to his tent with his eyes on Moses until he

entered the Tent; whenever Moses entered the Tent,

the Pillar of Cloud (God’s presence) descended to the

entrance to the Tent and GOD spoke with Moses.

All the people would see the Pillar of Cloud at the

entrance to the Tent,

stand at attention, and then bow down in worship,

each man at the entrance to his tent.

And GOD spoke with Moses face-to-face,

as neighbors speak to one another. …

Exodus 33:7-11 MSG

What is covid evangelism?

Every week I take Jill to two to three medical procedures.

I also have medical appointments.

Being home is not an option at this time because I’m a

distance from home. I can’t wait for Jill in the clinic

because that’s the new rules of that clinic.

So I go out and wearing my mask.

So is a face mask a tent of meeting?

Was Moses social distancing by going outside the camp?

The text says Moses was going a distance away.

Also he was getting in a tent (face mask) and talking

to God and God was talking to Him.

Then the people followed Moses to this tent (face mask)

that was at a distance.

They wanted to hear what God said to Moses in the tent (Face mask)

I’ve had various Doctors tell me that I don’t have to wear

a face mask. Why?

First! Because I’ve had covid and I’m not spreading it

Second! I get light headed and I have a problem of

fainting and falling. Falling leads to additional injuries

Third! Doctors deal in science and statistics.

They tell me I probably won’t get covid again.

They tell me I am not transmitting covid.

They tell me I have anti-bodies

But in our social panic we have rules.

You can’t hang out in the clinic because people are in

a pandemic panic

You can’t go into a store without a mask even though

my doctors tell me I don’t need a mask.

It’s hot so running the car and ac causes global warming

which is a completely different hazard to health.

Then to top it off I have a problem with fainting and falling.

So I hang out in the mall and sit in a wheelchair and do

covid evangelism.

I’m communicating through a tent of meeting (face mask)

I’ve discovered also that people are more open to talking

to me in a wheelchair instead of me standing.

I ask questions to initiate communication.

First question.

I’m disappointed with covid?

Are they disappointed with covid?

Or, I had Covid. Now I’m cured.

But it didn’t get me where I wanted to go?

If they respond I talk about Jesus, covid and the panic

and spending our future with Jesus.

There are people that don’t want to talk.

I did have a guy who accused me in anger of being a

racist. Our conversation didn’t go smoothly.

He went and got a store manger. The complaint was

I was spreading covid and I was a racist.

Anyway the wheelchair keeps me from falling and opens

doors for communicating through a tent of meeting mask

I can’t spread covid now, according to my medical advisors

But being a non-progressive society may cause our next

laws to be no communicating to others.

That happened in the 1st century. Talking about Jesus

caused mob violence. The authorities ordered Jesus

talkers to stop spreading the Jesus message.

They basically claimed Jesus was a virus.

I present Jesus as a cure to the strain of the panic of covid

and race issues.

So is covid evangelism a non starter and am I a public

nuisance? I am meeting a lot of new people.

For we do not have a High Priest

Who is unable to understand

and sympathize

and have a shared feeling

with our weaknesses

with our infirmities

and with our liability

to the assaults of tests,

but Jesus has been tested

in every respect as we are,

yet without sinning.

Let us then fearlessly

let us confidently

and let us boldly

draw near to the throne of grace

This throne of God’s unmerited favor

to us sinners

that we may receive mercy

for our failures

and find grace to help

in time for every need

for Jesus appropriate help

and well-timed help,

coming just when we need it

Hebrews 4:15-16 AMP

I’ve been trying to find out what it’s like

to experience the limitations of

imprisonments in a wheelchair

Monday I spent 60 min.

Tuesday I spent 90 min.

Today I’m going for 3 – 4 hours.

I’ve dropped Jill Stephens Midkiff

at a pain clinic for her 4th infusion

Now I’m at Bell Square tooling around

I’ve gone through all of Nordstrom’s

All of Macy’s into a variety of shops

On 4 different elevators

Into 4 restrooms

I’m soaking up the stairs

Feeling the challenges of heavy doors

from a seated position and the timing

of the auto doors.

I’ve transversed 4 skybridges and

wondered here and there stuck in

the same position seated in a chair.

I’m cheating a lot as this chair is

Electric not physical arm action

on big wheels. What a trial this is.

I’m getting touched with the feeling

Of her infirmity in a very minuscule

way. I actually can’t do a physical

wheelchair. My shoulders, neck and

back are too cobbled up for that.

I’m just bought a coffee and sliding

my debit card was a frustrating

experience.

What a awesome thing to come to

Jesus knowing He feels us totally

So God says,

If that’s what you want, that’s what you get

If you want to live smeared with filth

If you want to be yucky inside and out

That’s the trade off rejecting the true God for a fake god

That’s the consequences of adoring a false god in place of the God our designer

If we refuse to bless God

Then God refuses to bless us

My old friend Lucy is back for a short stay.

She came into my life as a loving companion at 4 months.

I bought her from a trucker in South Carolina

She was born and raised in a big truck

Lucy and I traveled all over the U. S.

We did multiple runs to Alaska

Lucy was my faithful companion for years

We staved off the loneliness of the road together

Lucy got married in Santa Fe once

She nurtured her pups in the truck

She was a loving dedicated mother

Lucy decided to marry again in Missouri

As Lucy aged it haunted me

I traded her straight across for a 3 # teacup poodle

In Blythe, Cal. who was living in an R. V.

I had a drop in San Diego.

I was heart broken for Lucy

I picked up a load for Florida in L. A.

We rolled back to Blythe and I bought Lucy again

My sister in law labeled me a sicko for selling Lucy

I couldn’t bear the scorn and derision.

My brother told me Cheryl had cried through the night

over my cavalier dog decisions

Yes it was a stupid move

Lucy trained Crystal in trucking according to Lucy’s rules

Lucy had very high standards and expectations for road life

If anything was to be done it was to be done Lucy’s way

We got to Florida. I bumped the dock to unload.

I came back out to leave and as we drove out I was shocked

Crystal was in labor so I pulled over.

Being only 3# it was a tight squeeze.

I ended up pulling pulling these mouse sized pups out

Unfortunately Crystal was a dysfunctional mom

Lucy was in a rage over Crystals poor mothering tech

Lucy licked the pups at birth

She licked them through weening age

I ended up getting a small cage and snubbed Chrystal up

to force her to nurse her pups as Lucy looked on

In intolerance with Chrystal.

Lucy had a bone to pick with little Crystal.

I guess Crystal had tangled up

with with a small chi wow wow without getting permission

What a dog

Now we were a happy family with Lucy leading the pack

Years later I gave Lucy to Cheryl

as she wouldn’t let me forget what a dumb dumb I was

Here she’s staying in my R. V. as I’m baby sitting

Now she’s blind & deaf & crips around banging into things

She mirrors my present condition.

Oh, the most important thing is Lucy is born again

She loved to study God’s Word with me

I can’t wait to be with her in glory as shes left us now

But she’ll always, be deeply missed and affectionately loved

You, Father God,

are our hiding place

You always fill our life

with songs of deliverance

Whenever we are afraid

we will trust in You

In all our affliction You are afflicted

You are the God of our righteousness

And through pressure

And through difficulties

You mature us

In dependence on Yourself

You are our life, Oh Lord

Have we seen the treasures of hail

which God’s reserved

against the day of trouble?

Job 38:22 – 23

Our trials are great opportunities.

Although we look on them

as great obstacles.

Afflictions are a haven of rest

Adversity is an inspiration

They are a of unspeakable power

if we recognize every difficult situation

as one of God’s chosen ways of proving to us His love

And if we look around for His signals

of His glorious manifestations;

Let every cloud become a rainbow

Let every mountain

Become a path of ascension

Let every circumstance

be a scene of transfiguration.

If we will look back on the past,

many of us will find

that the very time

our Father has chosen

to do the kindest things for us,

Where He’s given us

His richest blessings,

has been the time we were strained

and shut in on every side,

God’s jewels are often

sent to us in rough packages

and by strange servants,

but within we find the very treasures

of the King’s palace

And we find the Bridegroom’s love

A. B. Simpson.

Trust Him in the dark

Honor Him

Yield with unwavering confidence

even in the midst of mysterious times

and the recompense of such faith

will be like the moulting

of the eagle’s plumes,

which was said to give them

a new lease of youth and strength

J. R. Macduff

The word “interpretation”

In Proverbs 1:6

or as some translations render it

“saying”

Is the Hebrew term

“satire”

Much of the proverbial riddles

in the wise sayings of Proverbs

are satirical enigmas

to illustrate the grotesque reality

of wrong choices

Faith is a gift from God

Faith is what we diligently work at

Faith is improved by God’s Word.

Faith is exercised in diligent prayer

When faith

Christlike character,

intimate knowledge in Jesus

Is gained through experience

In our walk in Christ’s Spirit

We’ll have self-control

We’ll have patient endurance

We’ll have godliness

We’ll have sincere kindness

We’ll have love filling our lives

We’ll have fruits of righteousness

We’ll know assurance in our hearts

We’ll know we‘re God’s children

We’ll know clearly God’s will

We’ll know God’s spiritual kingdom