My Morning Prayer: God’s Grace Is Beyond Words

-Roy Lessin and Marina Bromley

God’s Grace Is Beyond Words
-Roy Lessin

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others (2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT).

Grace is truly a word that goes beyond description.

Grace is not God’s “a little bit more.” Grace is God’s “so much more.” How much more? More than you could ever ask for, more than you could ever think about, more than you could ever grasp, hope, or dream.

My Morning Prayer
-Marina Bromley

Father, thank You for the abundance of grace You give us. You provide it before we ever ask, before we ever know that we need it. Please give us wisdom and discernment to hear Your voice as You ask us to extend Your grace to others. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

©2023 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Carin Bergen, used with permission. All rights reserved.

God Words: Unshakable

God Words: Unshakable
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

 

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock (Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT).

 

What can be counted upon in a person’s life that isn’t shakable? When something is shakable it means it is subject to change, is unreliable, will decay, or come to an end. Everything about the world—it’s resources, its people, its governments, and its systems—are shakable. When people put their trust in anything or anyone other than God, they are building their lives on a shakable foundation that cannot sustain or uphold them.

 

When someone builds their life upon a shakable foundation it is easy to be overcome with worry, fear, and anxiety. The wise build their lives upon the foundation of Jesus and His words.

 

Jesus said, “Therefore  whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV).

There are no cracks, fault lines, or sink holes in God’s kingdom. His will and His word are unshakable. His love toward you and His care for you cannot be diverted, disturbed, or distracted.

 

God’s peace can’t be agitated, His throne can’t be removed, His glory can’t be dulled, His worth can’t be diminished, His authority can’t be overruled, and His scepter can never be taken from His hand.

 

He is the eternal rock. Nothing about God can be tossed around—nothing causes Him to be moved or to tremble. His word is forever and will remain when everything else has crumbled, rusted, and decayed.

 

The Word of God is unshakable because no warrior can dull its blade, no intellectual can undermine its truth, no skeptic can lessen its authenticity, no mocker can weaken its foundations, no philosopher can out-think its penetrating insight, no strongman can weaken its power, and no religion can replace its freeing truth.

 

Trust God’s Word and His power more than you trust your own feelings and experiences. Remember, your Rock is Christ, and it is the sea that ebbs and flows with the tides, not Him.

-Samuel Rutherford

...

#godwords #unshakable #meetinginthemeadow #roylessin #devotional

©2023 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marla Koch, used with permission. All rights reserved.

Hospitality, Part 4

Hospitality, Part 4
-Char Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

 

I desired to do more hospitality in our home but I held back as I was embarrassed with our drapes. They were clean, but had water stains. Our carpet was an outdated ugly green, our dishes were old and handed down from others and did not match in color or design. One day as I sat at our kitchen table thinking about these things the Lord took me back to a meal served to us when we were first married…

    

The most unforgettable meal I have been served was in a poor village in Mexico. We sat on cement blocks for chairs on a dirt floor. We ate off of chipped dishes. The hostess made us rice, beans and eggs on tortillas in a pan set on an open fire in a hole in the kitchen wall, her stove. There was no furniture to fill the room. The experience of that visit which was so unusual was the peaceful yet powerful presence of the Lord.  The reality of her walk with the Lord radiated on the face of our hostess.  I could have been in a palace with royalty, for the experience lifted me out of the poverty into the richness of His presence. She served us with joy and graciousness like I had rarely seen. Her example taught me that happiness is not in things. The Lord filled her home, and that filled our hearts…

I realized it was not my carpet or my drapes or my dishes that would minister to people, but it would be the presence of the Lord touching hearts, just as I had experienced when sitting on cement blocks in a home of mud bricks, in a poor woman’s home in central Mexico.

Now godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6 NKJV).

...

Char Lessin was raised on a Minnesota farm and grew to love the Lord at a young age. She and Roy met while they attended Bethany Fellowship in Bloomington, MN and early in their marriage they served together as missionaries in Mexico and Puerto Rico. She continues to serve the Lord through their home in NW Arkansas, ministering to the people that the Lord brings to her.

#hospitality #charlessin #meetinginthemeadow #asuntothelord #mrsroylessin 

©2023 Roy and Char Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photos by Grace Nast, Marina Bromley, used with permission. All rights reserved.

My Morning Prayer: Truth Keeps You in Balance

My Morning Prayer: Truth Keeps You in Balance
-Roy Lessin and Marina Bromley

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Colossians 3:17 NKJV)

Truth does not hop around on one foot. It walks forward on two strong, well-balanced legs. Jesus taught the truth and lived the truth.

Sometimes we can put an emphasis on “doing” and make that the most important thing, and sometimes we can put the emphasis on “teaching” and make that the most important thing. One of these truths must never be emphasized at the expense of the other. As believers in Christ, we are called to live the Gospel and preach the Gospel; demonstrate the Kingdom and proclaim the Kingdom; do good works and teach good doctrine; live a life of love and speak the truth in love.
...

My Morning Prayer
-Marina Bromley

Father, thank You for being with me today. Please help me to take these words to heart, learning to speak truth in love. Sometimes I let my emotions overtake the acts of teaching and living, and I need to learn from Your example to do them in balance. Also help me to remember that You alone are qualified to judge, and so often Your example through Jesus was not to give punishment, but to give mercy.  You love sinners, even me! Help me to love. Teach me to love like You do. In Jesus' name, amen.

#meetinginthemeadow #mymondayprayer #love #truthkeepsyouinbalance #truth #biblicaltruth

©2023 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Prayer and Photo by Marina Bromley, used with permission. All rights reserved.

God Words: #3 Almighty

 God Words: #3 Almighty
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

 

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Ephesians 6:10).

 

God’s greatness means God is mighty. 

How mighty is He? Almighty!

 

God is not only big, He is powerfully big. He can part a sea, flatten a fortress, or remove a ruler. Nothing is too difficult for Him. His strength is righteous might, His word is authoritative might, His character is holy might, His wrath is just might, His right arm is miracle might, His throne is royal might.

 

The Lord reigns!

 

God’s salvation is mighty enough to pull someone out of a horrible pit, break the chains of enslavement to sin, deliver a soul from darkness and deceit, transform a selfish heart to a heart of love, uphold that which has fallen, and make new what had been broken, destroyed, or left for dead.

 

There are many accounts in scripture that reveal God’s might to deliver. One of the best known is David and Goliath. The account below includes a fictitious conversation between God and David. Although this conversation isn’t in scripture, it does illustrate an important truth about God’s might.

 

Goliath was BIG.

Big man, big armor, big shield, big spear, big words.

 

David was small.

Small in stature (compared to Goliath), small in family rank, small in influence, small in military experience. 

 

Let’s imagine the following conversation between David and God…

 

“Who does Goliath think he is? No one can mock You or Your people and live to tell about it. I know Goliath is big, has big armor and big weapons. 

I want to come against him and bring him down…can you give me bigger weapons that can overpower him?” asked David.

 

“I can.” answered God.

 

“What will the weapons be?” replied David.

 

“Small rocks from a small brook.” 

 

“Nothing more?” asked David.

 

“That is all that will be needed. Put those small rocks in your small pouch. Select one and put it in your small sling. Then, use your small arm and hurl it with all your might. Once that rock leaves your sling I will move it at a speed and with a force you would never think possible. I will direct its flight to the perfect place in Goliath’s forehead and bring him down.” replied God.

 

Then God said to David…

 

“I want you to always remember, that every battle you face is mine, and every victory is mine. I reign overall! I am your shield and defender, no weapon formed against you will prosper. Mine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. I am the Lord, the ALMIGHTY God of Israel. Is anything too hard for Me?”

 

So David went out to face Goliath and spoke these words of faith…

 

“You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands” (1 Samuel 17:45-46).

 

So David did his small thing (in obedience and faith) and God did His big thing. Goliath and the Philistine army were defeated….and so it shall always be. The future of Israel was never dependent upon David’s skill and aim, but upon God, who is almighty!

How do you become strong in the Lord? You become strong by being in the Lord! It is not your strength that makes you strong, it is His. Your faith places you in the Lord, His might keeps you strong as you remain in Him. 

 

Consider a jet plane. The engines of the jet give it great power for flight. What do you need to do to fly across the country? Simply get in the plane. Once in, be seated. The plane has all the power needed to get you to your destination.

 

Great is the Lord you follow, and mighty is His arm to perform all that He has promised.

...

#godwords #almighty #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow #davidandgoliath

©2023 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley, used with permission. All rights reserved.