When We Love Them, We Love Him

There are many reasons to help people in need. But for believers, none is higher than this: when we love those in need, we are loving Jesus because we are showing others the love of Jesus.

"These things I command you, that you love one another." - John15:17

My oldest son just turned thirteen on Tuesday and already has such a giving heart. Tomorrow, he is leaving on a Mission Trip with our church for five days. They are going to one of the poorest counties in the state to help those in need. They are going to serve others.

In our society, being a servant is often looked at as a low job, but in God's mind it is the highest position that exists. Being a true servant begins with a humble heart, and that is a heart and spirit that is acceptable to God.

When we serve one another, we become part of one another. We experience the true meaning of love.

Jesus was the highest of all, yet He humbled Himself and became a servant. He was able to put on a servant's towel and wash the feet of His disciples. Jesus gave them an example of how they should live, and told them that if they would serve others, they would be blessed and happy to such a degree that they would be envied. John 13:17

When you serve others, you will become a living example of God's love and the kind of person God desires for you to be.

Help as many people as you can, as often as you can.

Blessings,
Dalinda

God's Present Is His Presence

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. - John 15:4

We are all needy! Needy when it comes to God, is not bad at all! Quite the opposite. It is quite good. God calls us children of God for a reason. We need to be always dependent on Him. He's the only one who can fill all our needs with a pure motive and unconditional love.

One of the most important lessons we can learn is to seek God's face (who He is) and not just His hand (what He can do for us).

Be willing to follow Him wherever He leads. Even when His way seems scary, the safest place to be is by His side. No, He won't show you every detail of your day, but He will give you everything you need to handle it. Little by little, He will take your struggles and turn them into strengths.

Troubles are just part of living in an imperfect world. But when they come your way, be glad, for He has overcome this world....and ALL its troubles.

It is not where we are in life that matters, but Who is with us. Because He is with you all the time, every moment of your life can be special.

"You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of the world." - Matthew 28:20

In Him,
Dalinda

A Season Of Suffering Is A Small Assignment When Compared To the Reward

God's plans are perfect; our most certainly are not. So we must learn to trust the Father in good times and hard times. No exceptions. God's plans will never change, because He makes His plans in complete knowledge. Forget hopeful forecasting. Nothing takes Him by surprise. How comforting is that?

"Trust Me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give Me glory." - Psalm 50:15

A season of suffering is a small assignment when compared to the reward.

Most of you know that I have been struggling with my eyesight the past few weeks. I have seen 4 different doctors, gone through multiple tests...an MRI and a spinal tap just to name a few. My condition has been referred to as "special" and "interesting" by more than one doctor. My pupils are not cooperating with one another, therefore I get very swimmy headed at times. Yesterday when the nurse shined a small bright light at each of my pupils, the left one got smaller and the right one got bigger. Weird! Doc says that I am not "weird".... just "special" LOL You gotta put a little humor into your problems every now and then. :)

Anyway, I will agree that I am special, because God made me special, pupils and all!

I can't tell you why all of this is happening, but I know that my pain has a purpose. My problems, struggles, heartaches, and hassles cooperate toward one end....the glory of God.

Blessings,
Dalinda

If You Want The Rainbow, You Gotta Put Up With The Rain

When we encounter conflict or injustice, we want resolution. Now. Wanting this life to resemble Heaven is a God-given desire. But the fact is we're not home yet.

Waiting is part of God's plan. It takes time for babies to mature, for seasons to change, for fruit to ripen, and sometimes for prayers to be answered. Having to wait on God's timing reminds us that God is not our genie in a bottle. He's our sovereign Lord.

UPDATE: My follow up visit with Dr. Shaw went well. I no longer have a swollen optic nerve. Praise God! I do have another thing going on which is called Optic Nerve Drusen, in both eyes. This condition cannot be cured. They are an abnormal build up of protein and calcium in the nerve. So, because I have two things going on, the Optic Neuritis and the Optic Nerve Drusen, I have to be patient and let my eye continue to heal for three more months. After the three months, Dr. Shaw will do another vision field test to see if my vision has returned to normal. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR HEALING!

When God wanted to see if the Israelites would obey His commands, He led them the long, hard way in the wilderness. He sometimes does the same with us. He may ask us to do something inconvenient. God may be using these things to test us. He my be looking to see what's in our hearts and give us a chance to prove how much we love Him.

If you are impatient for a situation to change, pray for perspective, do what you can, then trust Good for resolution in His time and in His way. And remember, whatever God leads you to do, He will provide the power you need to see it through.

Blessings,
Dalinda

God Is Always Near, Right Beside Us, Ready To Help Carry What's Weighing Us Down

We're never alone in our pain or struggle. God is always near, right beside us, ready to help carry what's weighing us down.

Some things are too heavy to carry alone. A couch, for instance. Or a washing machine. The same is true for the mental and emotional burdens we bear. The good news is that strength, peace, comfort, hope and a host of other helping hands are only a prayer away.

Tomorrow is a big day in the Powell household...It is my oldest son's 13th birthday. Yes, he will officially be a teenager and I will have 13 more gray hairs. :) Tomorrow is also the day I go back to the Neuro Opthamologist for my follow up appointment for my optic neuritis. My vision still has not returned 100% in my right eye. I have experienced some eye pain the past couple of days, along with a headache and neck ache. I try so very hard not to complain, but I am so ready to feel better and have my eyesight back to normal. Please say a prayer that I will get a good report at the doctor and my vision returns to normal.

When you and I learn to yield our fears to Christ, we gain strength in our weakness. While it’s true that God may not always remove us from our situation, he will support us in it. He will uphold us. Still, as the pressure of stress and worry weigh on us, it’s easy to forget or ignore the very things that uphold us such as God’s peace and promises such as Isaiah 54:10.
The Lord makes us this promise. “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” God knows; He’s been there and He’s there still. Therefore, you and I can truly live fearless! ONLY THIS WE KNOW, GOD IS IN CONTROL.

Who knows the path better than the One Who made it? And Who knows the pitfalls of the path better than the One Who has walked it? Just something to think about....I wonder, how many burdens is Jesus carrying for us that we know nothing about?

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. - Psalm 68:19

Blessings,
Dalinda

Dark Days Are A Part Of God's Training Program...He Is Training You To See His Light

One of the ways God makes us certain of His Light is by allowing us to test it in the darkness. But this darkness is not to be dreaded. It is the darkness God has created for His purposes.

"I form the light and create darkness" - Isaiah 45:7 God sometimes allows things to get very dark in our lives in order to grow us up and teach us about Himself. And some things that we accomplish in darkness cannot happen in any other setting.

This is not like the darkness of evil, which you can clearly sense. Or the darkness of our own disobedience, which we know in our hearts. This is a different kind of darkness, and God says there are treasures to be found there. "I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who calls you by your name, am the God of Israel" - Isaiah 45:3

The treasure we find in the darkness is Him.

♥ Lessons hard to learn are sweet to know. Life is full of inconveniences, but God is working even though we sometimes can't see it at the moment. It is amazing how God uses you to bring Him glory when you allow Him too. I have seen God working so much in my life these past few weeks. Today, I'm praising God for what really matters. God's ways are not our ways. And sometimes in our greatest difficulties we find our greatest opportunities and blessed responsibilities. Be blessed and be a blessing! ♥

Blessings,
Dalinda

What Is Grace?

Grace is what someone gives us out of the goodness of his heart, not out of the perfection of ours. When a gift comes wrapped in grace, it comes with no strings attached. That's the kind if gift God gives. He doesn't hold eternal life just out of reach, taunting, "If you try harder, this can be yours." He doesn't promise to love us if we never mess up again. He doesn't say He'll forgive, but refuse to forget. God graces us with gifts we don't deserve, because His love is deeper than our hearts and minds can comprehend.

We can say, "God is great" until we're blue in the face, yet the reality of our words eludes comprehension. God's greatness exceeds our capacity even to begin to understand it. It's a little like the brightness of the sun. I know the sun is very bright. But I can't even begin to look at the sun because its luminescence far exceeds the limitations of my sight.

"God is good to one and all; everything He does is suffused with grace." - Psalm 145:9

Isn't it good to know that even when we don't love with a perfect love, God does?

Blessings,
Dalinda

Having Faith Means It Isn't Necessary To Have All The Answers

It is in our human nature to want to understand everything. Why the sky is blue, why bad things happen, how our mind works, and why people act the way they do. We think if we can understand the whys and hows of things, we can control them and then we'll have peace.

If you count on your own understanding to give you peace, then you will never really be peaceful.

Instead of searching for the whys and hows, search for Jesus. His Presence and His Peace go together, so when you find Him you also find His Peace.

Put your faith in Him, not in your ability to figure everything out. Besides, He already has everything all figured out.

A God small enough for me to understand .... would not be God at all. So I'm glad He is too big for me to fathom.

God is bigger than your biggest problem, stronger than your most frightening enemy, and greater than your doubts and fears. Through Him, all things hold together and have their being, and nothing, NOTHING, is out of His control.

In Him,
Dalinda

God Understands My Feelings

Why seek Jesus' help with your challenges? Because He's been there.

Jesus was the recipient of God's wrath. He had never felt God's fury and didn't deserve to. Jesus never experienced isolation from His Father; the two had been one for eternity. He'd never known physical death; He was an immortal being. Yet within a few short hours, Jesus would face them all. God would unleash His sin hating wrath on the sin-covered Son. And Jesus was afraid. Deathly afraid. And what He did with His fear shows us what to do with ours....He prayed. Jesus faced His ultimate fear with honest prayer.

One week from today I go back to the Neuro Opthamologist, Dr. Shaw, for my follow up appointment for my optic neuritis. My sight is not 100% yet, but I have complete faith that it will return 100%. I will be honest with all of you...I have felt God's presence in a deep and wonderful way through all of this. But at the same time, I sometimes feel the panicky feelings of how am I going to deal with this one more hour? I think it's called being human. And God is okay with that. I can't control what's happening with my eye, but I can control my attitude. I'm honest when people ask me about my eye that this stinks. It does. But I'm refusing to get stuck in the stink. There are many worse things I could be facing and there is so much good right in front of me. I truly believe God is going to heal me. But between now and then there is a path of perseverance I must choose. Some days I am tripping and falling on this path. But staying on the path regardless.

Our problems have always been His possibilities....Christ entered the world by a surprise pregnancy and redeemed it through His unjust murder.

So if God can make a billion galaxies, can't He make good out of our bad and sense out of our faltering lives? Of course He can. He is God.

For God's glory is God's priority.

Jesus experienced a physical and factual resurrection. And - here it is - because He did, we will too! Praise God!!!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Having Faith Means Letting Go

Sometimes having faith simply means letting go of being comfortable.

Yet, for many individuals, giving up what is known for the unknown is painfully difficult. For the faithful, accepting change and opportunity is a time of growing in God's love and becoming all we are meant to be.

If faith were perfect we would not fall to our knees and pray for it to increase. That 's why imperfect faith is the best kind of faith because it keeps me right where I want to stay....clinging and grasping for more.

Are you willing to give up what is for what could be? With faith in God, anything is possible.

Blessings,
Dalinda

God's Perspective

Often we pray for something and don't even recognize the answer to our own prayers when we receive it, because it does not happen the way we thought it would.

How many blessings must we have forfeited because we resisted God when we should have been thanking Him?

That's why seeing what's right is entirely a matter of having God's perspective....Being willing to let go of our determination to see things through our own tunnel vision.

God is in the middle doing something great for us and, because we are not as comfortable as we'd like to be, we don't recognize the good things He has put in our lap. "Eyes they have, but they do not see" (Psalm 115:5)

What we're really talking about here is an issue of trust. It's basically believing that God is good and He desires the best for you.

In Him,
Dalinda

Simple Faith

When will we ever learn that there are no hopeless situations, only people who have grown hopeless about them?

God never forgets anything He promises. That's right....never. He keeps His word.

God wants us to walk by faith, not by sight. But we are only comfortable when we can see what's ahead, and what's behind, and what's all around us. We want proof. We want guarantees. We much prefer sight to faith.

But God says, "If you're going to please Me, you're going to have to take My Word on this. You're going to have to believe that I am who I say I am, and that I will do what I say I will do." Plain and simple.

There is nothing negative about God; there is nothing about Him or His actions that will ever disappoint us; everything He does is for our good - so that's what we need to expect as we pray. We should not pray and wonder if God will do anything at all; we should pray expecting God to do even more than we have asked.

God is not asking you to have your whole future figured out. He is asking you to trust that He has your future planned.

Blessings,
Dalinda

Learning To Walk With God Is A Process

Yes, learning to walk with God is a process. And just when we think we have it all figured out, God leads us into a new place where our old tricks won't work. In fact, it may seem like we're learning how to walk all over again. And in a way we are. We enter unfamiliar territory and are soon reminded that, on our own, we stumble. Yet, when we take His hand, we fly. God wants us to soar far above the limitations of our lives and ourselves. He wants to take us to a place we have never been before and can't get to from where we are without His help.

God doesn't want us to just depend on Him as a last resort when we have a medical emergency or a financial crisis. He wants us to depend on Him for every breath we take. And, quite opposite of the way it may seem, that kind of dependent life is not stifling. It's liberating!

The process is not a punishment; it's a privilege. It's not a restriction; it's a reward.

Blessings,
Dalinda

You Have Access To The Power...Turn On The Light

Because any opposition we face from the enemy has spiritual power behind it, the battle must first be fought in the spirit before victory will be seen in the flesh. That means we need to pray.

Jesus said to ask, seek, and knock. If nobody knocks, no doors open. If nobody seeks, nobody finds. If nobody asks, nobody receives.

Because we need to ask in order to receive, our petitions are very important. When our requests are in balance with our praise and gratitude, petitioning God is awesome and exciting. It really is. It is awesome to ask God for something, believe Him for it, and then watch Him bring it to pass on our lives.

THANK YOU, SWEET JESUS!!! Dr. Cunningham called me today and my spinal tap was NEGATIVE for MS. No evidence of a pseudo tumor. The loss of vision in my right eye is due to optic neuritis, which is improving daily. PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!!

He is still the God of impossible situations. He does what no earthly individual can do.

GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS BECAUSE HE IS GOOD, NOT BECAUSE WE ARE.

For HIS Glory,
Dalinda

Total Dependance

God has everything I need.

Tonight, I am praising God that my sight is improving daily.

Thank You Lord, that even if I become weak and stumble, You will help me to rise again and continue on. And though I can't see exactly where I am going, I'm certain that You can and will enable me to get to where I need to be. Thank You, Lord, that You are teaching me how to walk in total Dependance upon You, for I know therein lies my greatest blessing.

Because...He Is My Greatest Desire!!!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Just Enough Light For The Step I'm On

I follow His lead, even when I can't see where I'm going, even when it scares me to do so...because deep within my spirit I know that these simple steps of faith are preparing me for eternity.

God created human beings, not robots, and He will not try to program us to behave a certain way because He has given us freedom to make our own choices, and He wants us to choose Him. He wants us to willingly put our lives before Him every day and say, "God, Your will be done, not mine." That short, simple prayer is extremely powerful when we really mean it, and it represents the kind of full surrender God requires. If God has been speaking to you or dealing with you about anything, I encourage you not to put off surrendering it any longer. Choose to obey His voice and surrender today. Ask Him to be your Strength and remember that through Him you can do all things.

For His Glory,
Dalinda

You Are Secure In God's Hands

He is Lord of the unexpected and the unpredictable. Our times and our trials are in His hands.

When we are suffering the consequences of unfair treatment, there is mercy with God. When we are enduring the grief of loss, there is mercy. When we struggle with limitations of a disability, there is mercy. When we're hurting and in physical pain, there is mercy. All these struggles that occur are no accident. God is in the midst of them. Working out His sovereign will. Yes, it's a mystery, which means we need special mercy to endure the anguish and misery of the pain.

Today, I got a phone call form my neurologist that there was a cancellation so I went in today for my spinal tap instead of tomorrow. The procedure itself wasn't so bad, but the side effects are for the birds. I have had the worst headache that I have ever had today. It made me nauseous. But I felt a little better once I got sick. There has also been a great deal of pain in my back. As I was lying flat on my back for six hours I whispered a prayer, "Sweet Jesus, please give me some relief form all this pain." Not long after that I started feeling a little better.

The sovereign Most High God is ruler over our lives. So it is obvious that if we ever have the feeling of relief, God has given it to us. He's the author of relief. He's the one who grants us the peace, the satisfaction, the ease. Mercy is God's active compassion, which he demonstrates on behalf of the miserable. When we are in a time of deep distress and God activates his compassion to bring about relief, we've experienced mercy.

Bless the LORD, oh my soul,...who crowns you with loving-kindness and compassion. Psalm 103:1,4

Blessings,
Dalinda

One Year Blog Anniversary

Today is my One Year Bloggiversary! WOO- HOO!!!! Thank you to those who have visited my blog....Faith, Friends, and Fruit Loops. I pray that it had been an encouragement to you over the past year. I know it has to me! God has taught me much about trusting in Him. Thank you also for your prayers. Please keep them coming! I am praying that in a few short hours I will have some answers as to what this thing is. God is so good!!!!!

UPDATE: Just got back from my appointment with the neurologist. First, let me just say that Dr. Courson Cunningham is a GREAT doctor. We were very pleased! He believes that based on all of my symptoms, that I have a condition called Optic Neuritis as opposed to Pseudo Tumor. He is not 100% sure that is the case but is pretty certain. He gave me a high dose of steroids through an IV to address inflammation in and around my eye. I go back tomorrow for round two of the steroid and then Friday for my last round of steroids and a spinal tap. If it is optic neuritis, the steroid should help to restore my vision and reduce the pressure. If it is a pseudo tumor, it wont help, but it also wont hurt either. The spinal tap will give a definitive diagnosis of optic neuritis or pseudo tumor. He did say that optic neuritis is sometimes the first symptom of MS. However, MS is detected through an MRI. If the MRI shows lesions on the brain, then it is likely that you have MS. My MRI was clear so he does not believe I have MS. The spinal tap will also confirm this. You can just have optic neuritis without having MS and he thinks that this is the case with me. Please continue to pray for us. Pray that MS is ruled out completely, that my site will return to normal and that I will feel better. Thank you all so much for your prayers!


Blessings,
Dalinda

A Humble Prayer

(A post from my husband Jody)
We always hope that God will lift us above our circumstances. And sometimes he does. But much of the time He walks us through them so we can learn a new dimension of His power. Micah 7:8 says "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me."

My wife Dalinda will celebrate her first full year of blogging tomorrow. She has been faithful to post a God inspired, uplifting devotional blog post every Monday through Friday without fail this past year. What an inspiration she is to me. God has used her in ways that I would never imagine possible. There were days that Satan tried to deter her. There were days that he outright attacked her. But mighty is the strength that comes from the Lord. Many times He calls to us. Sometimes we answer, sometimes we don't because of fear, anxiety or simply being too caught up in our own plans to bother with His. However, the one undeniable truth is that when we answer the call of the Lord, his strength is perfect, his timing is perfect and his work is perfect. His work is perfect despite the fact that we are not. It is never easy but we are easily empowered. When we are in step with God's calling in our life, we have access to his power. And this is the same power that was used to speak the universe into existence.

So tonight, I call upon this power in a humble prayer. Dalinda is battling some medical issues that are quite concerning. Her vision has become blurred and she feels tremendous pressure in her head. We have been to two doctors in 4 days, had an MRI and will see a neurologist tomorrow afternoon. I pray for healing. I pray for relief. I pray for answers. I pray for doctors. But most of all, I pray that the one true God of the universe will be glorified in an amazing and unimaginable way so that others can see the amazing God that I have seen work in the life of my wife. And I pray that he walks us through this trial, as he has walked us through all of the others we have faced.

Coveting Your Prayers,

Jody, The Husband :-)

He Can And Does

You can't see around corners, but God can and does.

If God knows your thoughts, your heart, when you stand up and sit down and how many hairs you have on your head, then He knows where you are at any given moment. He see your circumstances. Just because you can't see anything ahead doesn't mean He can't. He can and does.

He knows where you've been. He knows where you're headed. He knows where you are supposed to be going. And He knows how to get you there. He knows our way because He made the map.

If you have light for just the moment in which you find yourself, it is enough. It must be enough. For you have Him, and He is all you need.

Know this - God is sure about you even if you're unsure about Him.

God is faithful and He loves us! Trust in His promises!

Blessings,
Dalinda

God's Got This

I usually do not blog on Saturdays, but God laid it on my heart to do so today.

True freedom is knowing we can't take a single step without His help.

More and more God is teaching me to trust Him for every step I take. He constantly calls me to stretch beyond what's comfortable. To walk through new territory when I would rather stay with the familiar. To face difficult physical, mental, and emotional challenges. To do things I know I can't achieve by myself without His power.

Over the past month I have not felt well due to, what I thought was just a sinus infection. I have taken three pretty potent antibiotics and am now on my fourth, for four weeks. Most every day my fever has gone up in the afternoon and I have had fluid in both my ears, but moreso on the right side.

I went to my family doctor this past Tuesday and got a cortisone shot for the inflammation in my sinuses. When I woke up Wednesday morning, I could not see well out of my right eye. I just thought it was coming from my sinuses. On Thursday, I still could not see well. I began to get concerned. I had a terrible headache on Thursday afternoon and had to lie down. When Friday rolled around, my eye seemed to be a bit worse. It is almost like looking through a frosted glass window. I can see images, but they are very blurry. I called my family doctor and he said to go to my optometrist immediately to get it looked at.

My husband came home from work to go with me to the optometrists. When we got there he checked my eye pressure and it was good. He dilated both my eyes and looked at each one carefully. He said that my optic nerve in my right eye was swollen. He did several tests to see how much I could see out of it and asked me a series of questions. He could not tell what was causing my optic nerve in my right eye to be swollen so He said he wanted to order an MRI as soon as possible.

They only place that does MRI's, on Saturdays, in this area is in Anderson. I agreed to have it done there. So, bright and early this morning, my husband and two boys went with me to have the MRI done. It took 40 minutes to be completed.

Now, I am waiting on the results...Praying that it is something that can be fixed and that it can be an easy fix. I would appreciate your prayers as well.

As I go through this storm, I am reminded that when Jesus and His disciples were in a ship crossing the Sea of Galilee, the disciples got all upset when a storm came. But Jesus calmly rebuked the storm, speaking peace to it, and it quieted down. He was able to speak peace to the storm because He never let the storm get on the inside of Him. He never let the devil upset Him. He kept His heart peaceful, calm, and loving. And we are to be like Him. I want to be like Him!!!

God's got this!

Prayerfully,
Dalinda

Life Is A Process

Yes, life is a process. To God, process isn't a means to an end; it is the goal. Whatever sends us running to Him, makes us embrace Him, causes us to depend on Him, is the best good in our lives.

The road to glory is difficult with its rock and boulders, its strain and struggle. Things aren't always as easy as we would like. Surprises and pitfalls wait for us along the road of life. We're going to sweat and sway, we're going to wonder why things are the way they are.

Everyone wants to enjoy God's best, but few are eager to be pursued by His refining fire. Always remember that when the refining fire of God comes into your life, He is in charge of the flame. He will never let the fire go completely out, but neither will He let it destroy you. He never allows more to come on us than what we can bear.

Resisting the refining fire of God will not keep it from burning in our lives, it only makes it harder to endure.

Every road has an end; every mountain has its peak. If we can just hold on and keep climbing, knowing that God is aware of how we're straining, He will bring us up over the mountains. It is comforting to know God is in control of every part of our journey to glory, even over the steep mountains.

For His Glory,
Dalinda