Stevemidkiff's Blog

I’d love to be with my Dad and Mom

I’d love to be with my Grandparents

Yes for the blessings they are

But more for the opportunity

To honor and love on them

With deeper affection

I lament the many lost opportunities

God says: Prove me now

Mal. 3:10

God says:

Call to me,

I will answer you,

I will show you great things,

I will show you impossible things and

I will show you unimaginable things

Jer. 33:3

Jesus says:

Don’t pick on people,

don’t judge them

don’t jump on their failures,

don’t criticize their flaws & faults

unless, of course, you want the same treatment.

Don’t condemn those who are down;

that harsh attitude can boomerang.

Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.

Give away your life; you’ll find life given back,

Give to others freely.

You’ll not only get back

but it’s given back with bonus & blessing.

Giving, not getting, is the way.

Generosity begets generosity.

WHAT is God saying here but this:

God has open windows in Heaven.

They are yet in service.

These windows aren’t bolted shut!

The hinges aren’t rusty.

God flings them open

God pours forth blessings from them.

He doesn’t hold back.

He opened them for Moses, and the sea parted.

He opened them for Joshua, and Jordan rolled back.

He opened them for Gideon, and armies fled.

He will open them for us─if we will only let Him.

Heaven has rich storehouses.

God’s fountains and streams are overflowing.

His treasure rooms are still bursting with gifts.

The lack is on our side.

God’s warehouse is full and it’s ours if we ask.

We have not because we ask not

James 4:2

Ask, and it will be given to us;

seek, and we will find;

knock, and it will be opened to us.

Math 7:7

We know God hears us in whatever we ask

we know we have the requests

that we have asked of Him.

1 Jn 5:15

Our Lord constantly says:

Prove Me now.

Ask me.

Give Me a chance.

adapted

God will pour the blessing out

until we’re embarrassed for our lack of space.

“Give all He asks; take all He promises.”

S. D. Gordon.

The ability of God is beyond our prayers,

beyond our largest prayers!

I have been thinking of some of the petitions

that have entered into my prayer list innumerable times.

What have I asked for?

I have asked for a cupful, and the ocean remains!

I have asked for a sunbeam, and the sun abides!

My best asking falls immeasurably short

of my Father’s giving: it is beyond that we can ask.

J. H. Jowett.

“All the rivers of Thy grace I claim.

Over every promise write my name.”

Eph. 1:8-19

It takes 100 squeezed grapes to make 5 ozs. of wine

5 ozs. of wine equals 1 shot (1.5 ozs.) of Vodka

Drive responsibly or you’ll be squeezed like a grape and

Squeezed grapes can get very sour

Repetitions with weight resistance

builds physical muscles

The constant opposition

The continuous endurance

pitted against heavy obstacles

opposed against obstructing tensions

develops our strength and

develops physical resilience

Spiritual tests

Character challenging trials

build our spiritual inner muscles

To grow in Jesus we need

His regular gym dynamics

for spiritual growth

in a relationship with Him

When life gets really difficult,

don’t jump to the conclusion

that God has forgot us

or He isn’t on the job.

Instead, rejoice that we are

in the very thick

of what Christ experienced.

This is a spiritual refining process

His glory in us is coming next.

Don’t be surprised by fiery ordeal

that has come on us to test us,

as though something strange
were happening to us.

The trial of our faith is more
precious then gold!

Sure it would be great to have a
pickup bed loaded with gold

But heavy obstacles

And obstructing tensions

are more valuable

It’s often through weird challenges

that God’s plan is made clear to us

By faith they passed through the Red sea as dry land

which when the Egyptians tried it they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down,

after they were marched around seven days.

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not,

when she had received the spies with peace.

Faith is an endless account of victory

Gideon,
Barak,
Samson,
Jephthah;
David
Samuel,
and of the many prophets:

BY FAITH

They subdued kingdoms,

They wrought righteousness,

They obtained promises,

They stopped the mouths of lions,

They Quenched the violence of fire,

They escaped the edge of the sword,

They out of weakness were made strong,

They waxed valiant in fight,

They turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

I’m so disappointed with Covid-19.

I’m dying to be with Jesus.

Covid you let me down.

I hope I get it again

for my one way ticket to glory

They’re barely baring with each other

Someone scorned me about calling the Police on them.

Actually I’ve never called the Police on them

Not that I wouldn’t

But I do call the Chief of Police multiple times day & night

on them and many others.

The amazing thing about those calls is the Chief
makes me feel so special

I’m never placed on hold!

I’m made to feel like I’m the only one

This Chief is Supreme but he reaches through
the line and pulls me up close to Himself

He makes me feel comfortable and loved

He shares His rich joys and soothing peace with me

He feeds me a gourmet feast smack dab
in the midst of my enemies

What treat to delight in His presence

My batteries never drain but are charged
with eternal energy

Suddenly I realize I never want to get off the line
with Him

The call is never dropped but engaged with
amazing assurances and hope

Suddenly I’m catapulted into a sense of strong capacities

I realize I’m binding evil forces and casting out fallen angels

I realize I’m dispatching the armies of God’s powerful
Angels to pull down, lift up and release the captives

Now that’s a holy police force

Move aside robin and batman

There is no patience so hard as that that endures,

“as seeing Him who is invisible;”

This is the waiting for hope.

As George Matheson so aptly noted

Jesus has made waiting beautiful

Jesus has made patience divine

Jesus has taught us that the Father’s will can be received just because it is His will

Jesus has revealed that a soul can see nothing but sorrow in the cup

And yet refuse to let that cup go,

Jesus has convinced by His supreme supernatural example
that the eye of the Father sees further than our own eye.

Give us this Divine power that You have, Lord Jesus,

Give us the power of Your Gethsemane

Give us the power to wait for hope itself,

Give us the strength to look out from the windows where there are no stars.

Give us Your power, when joy is gone, to stand unconquered amid the night

Give us the vision to see “the eye of our Father is shining still,”

As one inspired has said

“We will reach the climax of strength

when we have learned to wait for hope”

When we feel hopeless,

If we drift into discouragement,

When something drops seemingly out of no where into our

And we’re afflicted in the moment,

Those times when suddenly we’re unable to see the light,

We can hear God’s Spirit speaking through Jeremiah, the prophet,

As he wrote,

“blessed are those who trust in the Lord

Favored are those who’ve made the Lord their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

Their roots reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

As God’s inspired poet recorded:

“weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning”

Psalm 30:5

David was a “man after God’s own heart”

Acts 13:22

To be a person whose after God’s own heart means we keep our eyes on the Lord

To be a person whose after God’s own heart means our heart beats to God’s heart

We want to be like John who laid on Jesus chest to affectionately

To hear His perfect heart beating with love for every person

To be a person whose after God’s own heart means we will do what God tells us to do for Him