Birds and Lilies.....

We have been living in an RV in the Malone's driveway. An old RV....an old... moldy....RV. And while grateful for a roof and bed, it was hard. We had been living out of a bedroom in Gerry's house for a year, then into a hot, moldy bedroom in Jamaica, and now this. I guess we have so much of that American gluttony for comfort, the Lord has been determined to purge it out, or at least help us to see what is in our hearts, whether we want to or not!
Well....Abba had something up His sleeve....we are now living in a 3500 sq.ft. home on a Lake in Victorville California! A gift of a lovely Korean sister, who is allowing our mission staff to live there and enjoy her amazing home. After a hot day in the desert...believe me...this is an Oasis! She has given it to us, rent free, CRI only pays utilities. What a gift! We currently have 8 mission staff living there...some temporary, and 3 of us permanent full time. It's surreal to come home to such a huge, beautiful place and sit on our back patio which is directly on the water. I couldn't have rented a place like this for a week when I was working, let alone get to live in it for any length of time! I may be back in an RV at some point, or a tent....but knowing God always is looking out for my comfort and needs, makes me realize...I don't have to. I don't have to worry about what I eat, what I wear, or where I live....I'm like the ducks swimming by the patio without a worry....
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? .

BAM!

And I got a revelation of deceit in my heart first thing this morning. Ouch...yuck...I agree with you God, and Thank you. Quick answer to prayer.

Heart, Mind and Conduct

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve."” Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV

Pastor Watson quoted the above today on FB. I was dealing with a problem of someone saying the right things, but in the end, not doing them. I think that probably qualifies as that "deceitful heart." Our hearts can be so deceitful that we won't know what's in them.....only the Lord can understand it. I feel like that some days....I can't get a handle on my motives sometimes of why I do what I do. I have to ask the Lord to show me. I know this...we don't get a reward for "thinking" the right things....or "feeling" the right things. We get a reward for "doing" the right things. This is something to think on soberly...because part of the deceit is to believe because I think a certain way or feel a certain way, I'm actually doing it. I can remember being in prayer classes where we never prayed. All we did was talk about it. It felt like at the end we had done something...but we had not.
Lord examine my heart and mind...show me where I am deceived. In Jesus name, Amen