Sunday, January 7, 2018

What is Your Samaria or Connection?


What is Your Samaria or Connection?

And I shall cause thee to have ministry among the sisters and I shall give thee favor. But thou shalt also wait upon thy God and I will give thee a tender heart and yea even more than thou dost even have this night. Thou shalt be broken by My word and by My presence many times but not destroyed nor cast down.

I shall fashion you again and again and each time that I mold and touch thee thou shalt rise up in more of a new transformed creation than you were before you came into the presence of your God. (Prophectic Word for Donna 1984)

 

Do you ever feel there is something in your life that you must or need to do? The scripture in John 4:4 where Jesus said, "And he must needs to go through Samaria." has been on my mind lately. He needed to go there because He knew there was someone who had need of Him. She didn't know it, at the time, but He knew well ahead of time what she needed, and it came in the form of a reality check. It also was a needed connection. She needed to connect with her creator in a way that she never had before.

How many of us need one of those connections? Can we handle them when they come in the words of a friend or loved one? A proverb says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” Recently someone I know called me at the right time, the moment I felt so down, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. THE LORD’S TIMING IS ALWAYS RIGHT AND TRUE.  Dealing with the “new normal” of not feeling good or having energy because of a recent health diagnosis, had gotten me down. 

But my friend had a good report on herself; the Lord had her call me before Christmas, feeling that I had a connection for her that she needed desperately that day. I didn’t know if I did have the connection, but the Lord was faithful and she was able to get the help she needed. It wasn’t me or my connection but it was JESUS ALL THE WAY.  She was able to be revived and had what she needed to get through the holidays which are very painful for her, a woman alone, at this stage in her life.

The Lord is so good! He gave back to me through her words; she was a revived and filled with the SPIRIT, SISTER/MOM/DAUGHTER.  The minute she started talking to me on the phone, I started to weep as I knew I needed what she had and what she was going to say to me. She had a prayer and prophecy somewhat about me as Anna ministering to the Lord and God’s people. Me, praying, being seen, being used of the Lord when frankly right then I didn’t FEEL that and was so tired and down that I didn’t even want to go out of the house. She said she saw me as intercessor not only for my own children but for other’s children, too. May I be faithful to the call and the leading of the Holy Spirit. I write this today knowing that many of you may feel “unseen” yet the Lord does always see and He is very acquainted with our griefs and sorrows. He is always here, so take heart if you feel down.

You, Lord, will bring to remembrance the things I need to remember at the right time, whether through YOUR WORD (Psalm 118) or through friends. You, Lord, have gifted me with such kindness and love and MERCY by allowing me to partake of prophecies given, groups that support me and friends and family who love me. YOU ARE MY CHIEF LOVE, MY SAVIOR, MY DELIGHT AND STRONG FORTRESS OF HOPE! BE THAT FOR ALL HERE WHO READ THESE WORDS.

But even after the high of a wonderful phone call and connection by Sunday there was a great hindrance to me even wanting to go to church. This is rarely ever the case as worshipping the Lord revives me. I realize now it was the enemy trying to keep me from bringing a connection to someone. When I first got to church I was blessed by watching a sister worship the Lord even though less than a week ago her husband passed away unexpectedly. The music began to revive my soul as I begged the Lord to use me and reveal my purpose here on earth. Even at this late stage and age, I’m still one of the few who most of the time feels purposeless or that I’m just not really sure of the call. As I was leaving church a sister came to me and asked “Don’t you have a prayer group?” I sat with her and started talking about our Somebody’s Mother Online Prayer Support Group but then as she started sharing her heartache, I thought, let’s not talk about praying let’s just pray. It was my honor to hold her, pray for her and her daughter, to be used in a small way by the Lord. I knew then the reason for the hindrance, the enemy did not want me to connect or be part of someone’s Samaria. But he did not win on that day.

The right connection is always Jesus.

"And he must needs to go through Samaria" Jesus not only needed to minister to that woman, but He needed to give her a reality check. She needed something to get herself out of the stupor of life where she just existed. She needed to know that there was someone who knew her better than she knew herself and loved her anyway. She needed to know that she was more than she had settled for, trying to find herself in numerous relationships instead of the one relationship that would bring her life, health and love.

"And he must needs to go through Samaria" is such a beautiful phrase even though, the wording at first sounds a bit strange. Jesus not only ministers but is ministered to by doing what He needed to do, which in this case was bring life where there was death and darkness. Where the woman normally tried to hide herself from the community she went on to become a preacher of the good news of God. The news that someone can know everything about you and still love, want and desire you.

We can't change our past, but we can make it work for us and the Lord as wonder and awe forms, when others hear what we have gone through. We give glory to the Lord who has helped us when we were too weak to help ourselves.

Many people are going through tremendous trials at this moment. Prayer requests pour in that would break your heart and the heart of the Lord. The only way we are going to make it is to cling to the Lord and listen to that small voice that tells us what we "need" to do. It might be something simple as giving a dejected person a hug, sharing some time with someone when you don't really have time of your own, calling up someone in ministry and telling them they are doing a great job.

Look around you; that person who is your "Samaria'" or connection may appear in a way or form you didn't expect. But the heart of the Lord who loves us all supremely will always go out of His way to go to your "Samaria."

 Donna Collins Tinsley

A SISTER AMONG YOU

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Y.A.N.A. You Are Not Alone

It's Thursday and
Y.A.N.A. You Are Not Alone. We are never alone when we have the Lord. May those in recovery keep working a program or keep leaning on the Lord. Doing both is even better. Our God is very unique and so He can send recovery in whatever way He sees fit. We have to yield to Him, knowing we can't fix anyone and we can sometimes get in the way of HIS PROGRAM! So let's leave our expectations at His throne and then stand back and see the faithfulness of our Lord.
 
 
 
Think about what if we lived as if Romans 8:28 is true?


Sometimes in conversations we hear these words:


What if?...
 I regret...
If only...

Life as we know it can be full of regrets and pain.

"What if someone had reached out to me as they did to her?" one says.
"I regret that I wasn't what you needed me to be," says another.
"If only I'd had more resources at that time of my life," is a common saying. Or if only I had a better mother or another father, or a car or a college fund, or someone would leave me a house or an inheritance.
"I'm too young to live with this kind of physical pain!"
"Wow! that woman has never gone through half the pain that I have and look at her whine."

What if...
I regret...
If only...

What if Jesus arrives with comfort that only He can bring?
What if He turns our regrets into healing for another person?
If only.... we truly learn acceptance is a path to a fuller, more grateful life and look for that Romans 28 moment when He turns all things into good for us who love Him.



 


Wednesday, January 3, 2018

How to Live With a Codependent Dog


How to Live With a Codependent Dog

I’m really not sure when she became codependent. She seemed like a pretty normal dog when she came here to live. Maybe it was all the hovering over her or the extreme love that got her this way. Willow the willowy Weimaraner has a big fan club with her owner, Ashley, at the top but her “Granddad,” Bill, is a close second. Nothing is too good for Willow around here. Sometimes I wonder if there was a choice if Bill wouldn’t choose Willow first over me!

She is a big “chicken” dog I must say. Of course a lot of dogs are afraid of fireworks, but Willow seems afraid of little dogs and even squirrels at times. Yes she likes to chase them but if one turns around and comes toward her, Willow runs for the door. She does seem afraid that someone may love the new granddoggie, Luna,  more than her even though I tell here “There is always enough love to go around.”

More and more Willow just seems afraid to be alone at night. And that doesn’t even mean ALONE, when we are here upstairs. Just WITHOUT ASHLEY constitutes alone for Willow. Last night Ashley and Isaiah went out to a late movie after I went to bed. Just as I was about to doze off, SCRATCH, SCRATCH. SCRATCH, I hear at the bedroom door. I tried to ignore it as I heard her run down the stairs. Then I heard her run up again. This time scratching led to bounding into the room as she used enough force, by pouncing on it, to open the door.

 “Willow, lay down,” I whispered, as I didn’t want to wake Bill up. Of course, he wears ear plugs to bed so no fear in that. Willow instead paced about the room, whining and actually crying. At this point I was willing for her to get in our bed, anything, so I could get some sleep, but no.  She evidently wanted back out. So I got up and opened the door and she ran back downstairs.

I guess she felt the sudden need to protect the homestead. Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, I hear once again as I was about to go to sleep.

How do you live with a codependent dog?

I have no idea!

I can barely keep my eyes open today. Where is Willow? Sound asleep in Ashley’s room. “Codependent No More” is a very popular book written years ago. I wonder if I read it with new eyes concerning Willow if it would help me? Or does Willow need me to write one for dogs? How am I to learn their language? The best Dog Whisperer I know is Cyndi Walsh. Please Dan Walsh, let her know I need help! I guess the new title for Willow’s next book will be CODEPENDENT DOGS NO MORE. Maybe at last, I will get published!

Donna Collins Tinsley