By Martha Bush

Picture this scene:

My husband and I were on our way to the bank to take care of some business.  A disagreement broke out in the car. And just like that, I threw a hissy fit!

If you want to know what a hissy fit looks like, the dictionary describes it as:  the expression comes from the actions of a cat when it is suddenly upset—it shows its anger by hissing and swatting, and baring its teeth.

Now, now, all you Goody Two Shoes! Don’t be judging me!

Good news! From that experience, I learned some valuable lessons to pass onto you, just in case you might ever find yourself on the verge of a fit.

1. Don’t ever disagree while riding in a closed-up car! (You can’t walk away!)
2. If you do find yourself in a closed-up car and a fit comes on, keep your swatting and waving arms to a minimum, so that passing motorists won’t stare at you.
3. Remember what happened to Moses, and you will never have a hissy fit!

Moses? Oh yes, Moses was the first person I thought of when my clock struck 12 midnight a few hours later after the fit. 

Before I tell you of my encounter with the Lord at midnight,  join me with Moses in the Desert of Zin at the waters of Meribah. It was here that the Israelites turned against Moses and Aaron because there was no water. So, Moses and Aaron went to the tabernacle and prostrated themselves before God. (Numbers 20:2-6)

The Lord said to Moses:

“You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.”

So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.

But, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

“Because you did not trust me enough
to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel,
you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”
(Numbers 20:8-12 NLT)

Back to me - - In the midnight hours, it was as though I heard a big Grandfather clock on the wall chime: bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong!

My eyes popped wide opened, and I instantly knew the Lord wanted to talk to me. And this is what He said:

“Martha, at the present time, you are the spiritual leader of your home, and you are to represent Me to your husband. I have pre-positioned you in your home for such a time as this. You are also a leader of a group. To whom much responsibility is given, much is required, as it was with Moses. My grace is sufficient for you to be a leader.” (Esther 4:14)  (Luke 12:48) 

“But, I want to remind you of what the Apostle Paul said, ‘don’t frustrate the grace of God.’  And right now, my grace for you is a little frustrated." (Galatians 2:21)

 “Make sure you understand, Martha, my grace is not frustrated when you come to Me with your disappointments, hurts, needs, asking for guidance; those things intensifies my grace. But, when you don’t represent my holiness in front of people, especially your spouse - - that frustrates my grace.”

 “As your daddy would have said to you, ‘Young lady, I have raised you better than that. Don’t ever let me hear you talk and act like that again.’”

GULP!

And right then and there, I asked the Lord to forgive me.  I wanted to wake my husband up in the middle of the night to apologize to him, but I was afraid he would think I was trying to take another swing at him.

But, when morning came, before he even had his first cup of coffee, I began: “I want you to know I’m so sorry for the fit I pitched in the car yesterday. We are all made in God’s image, and He is a God of love. I didn’t represent Him well. Please forgive me."

____

And now, my friends, I have a couple of questions for you.

1. Do you have a hissy fit story you’d like to share?
2. What are your thoughts on Moses not getting to enter The Promise Land?

And then a thought and a question formed in my mind and this is what I asked of Father…….

Read the precursor to this post (here).

I started to believe and receive encouragement from the LORD, that I was able to cut a covenant of salt for myself. And I pondered what would I like to have for a long time in my life.

Of course I thought about long life, many years, but I’d settled that with God. He and I have that worked out. So, I started to think of the many things that would be important to have for a long time.

Relationships, financial security, marriage, writing, and then one thing crystalized in my mind. Health. Over the past two years I faced some weird health issues and once during 2019 when Mike was unemployed we went a year without health insurance. During that season, I literally had a health scare and believed I was going to die. I wrote about that somewhere. I’ll post the link here if I can find it. (here). Obviously, I didn’t die. I wasn’t even that ill. But facing what you think is death, you will think about healthy living. A lot. Sheesh.

Anyhoo, more than anything, I long to live in Divine health. I bless myself with Divine health frequently and I’ve been changing my eating habits, began purifying my drinking water, and taking a number of steps to live a healthy life. (PS. I’m not perfect so don’t judge me is you see me at the Habit with Onion rings. *grin*)

On this day, I wrote down my Salt Covenant. I asked the Lord for longevity of health, all the days of my life and in exchange I promised Him a sincere effort to do all I can to create health for my body, soul and spirit.

Then a thought occurred to me. “Lord, I promise this sincere effort and each time I sprinkle salt upon my foot, it is a reminder and an action that I ratify and continue in this covenant with you.”

Then I folded up the covenant and placed it in the pages of my Bible. I left for a walk-n-pray and wonder to myself, Will God ratify this covenant with me? How will He do it?

Wouldn’t you know it, half way into my walk I discover THIS:

It’s a Royal Purple Mylar balloon. Y’all know me and my balloons. I scooped it up and snapped a photo. But when I arrived home I pressed it out flat and discovered it was a purple “heart” balloon. And with that revelation came a number of meanings and implications from Father. Wow.

Later that morning, a sudden rain storm began to build. I wasn’t expecting rain that morning. I was on the phone in a prayer session and suddenly the heavens opened and a sprinkling ensued.

A sprinkling.

Immediately I heard the Lord say, “I seal this covenant with you today with a sprinkling of rain.”

WAAAAAAAH… I wanted to weep but I was on the phone.

Weeks later I’m still undone. I’m making progress and He remembers His promise. Each time I pull salt from my Salt Pig and sprinkle it, I smile, I remember. And I look at the purple balloon that sits in a jar next to my computer desk and I hear the rain fall, I know He remembers.

My friends, let’s learn more about what is available to us as His children. Riches are hidden all around us and even within the depths and pages of Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 

What about the Covenants. Want to learn more? Let me know what you think about the Salt Covenant. Talk to me in the comments. March on my friends. We are victorious in Christ Jesus. Love, Lynn

By Martha Bush

Let’s talk about Peace today, starting with its definition: freedom from disturbance; tranquility.

How many times have you heard someone say, “I just want peace”!  I once saw an illustration by Pastor Charles Stanley that compared peace to a tripod. He pointed out that, in order for a tripod to stand, it had to have three legs. Likewise...

 “In order for us to have stability in our lives, we must have
Peace with God, Inner Peace, and Peace with Others.”

The visual of the tripod caught my eye. I believe it's not the circumstance, or people in our lives that rids us of peace; it is the obstacles we place on each leg that causes our tripod to be wobbly.

See if you can relate to any of these obstacles.

Obstacles to Peace With God

The New Testament word for peace derives from a Greek term meaning to tie; binding together something that has been disconnected. When a relationship that has been separated or shattered is made whole, “peace” describes the restoration. That is what happened when Jesus went to The Cross for us. Through His suffering, He tied the relationship between God and man back together that had been disconnected by sin.  The only thing man now had to do was to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. 

Unfortunately, many people pursue peace in other ways, thus sidetracking the main leg of the tripod. For example: climbing the ladder of success, hoping from one romance to another in pursuit of a white night riding into their lives, addictions - drugs, alcohol, porn.

When we have not accepted God’s Son, Jesus, as our personal Savior,
we don’t have a leg to stand on for inner peace or peace with others.

 Obstacles to Inner Peace

At the moment of salvation, Jesus removes our sins as far as the east is from the west, and gives us a home in heaven with Him one day. However, the one thing He didn't do that day was renew our minds. We still have our old mindset and false belief system to deal with to have inner peace. 

Many life experiences come into play to have inner peace, such as:  

• A LOW SENSE OF SELF-WORTH: Very often this starts in childhood and works itself up into adulthood.  Poor parental modeling, being bullied, and overly concerns about body image are contributing factors. Personally, I had allowed others to form my beliefs in accordance to how they thought I should be. I was a puppet on a string and had no idea who I was. 
• LOSSES NOT GRIEVED: When my daddy died at the age of 46. I became so busy taking care of my mother and her needs that I fell to take care of me. Years later, deep down within me was a wound that had not been healed. 
• WORRIES: We all have legitimate concerns, such as finances, health, work, etc. There’s a big difference in legitimate concerns and taking responsibility for those concerns than constantly worrying about what’s going to happen. 
• COMPLAINING: Playing the game, “Ain’t it Awful” led me into pity parties. It trapped me into seeing myself as a victim. To be clear, there is a big difference in voicing a need than constantly complaining about it. I recall a time when my grown daughter said to me, “I want my mama back.” The more I complained, the less joy I had, and it affected my family.  
• TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE: This can happen at any age in life, and reverses how we normally respond. Examples: death, divorce, serious illness, rape, domestic abuse. 

May you be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  (Romans 12:2)

Obstacles to Peace With People

I think you will agree with me that the #1 killers for not having peace with people are: RESENTMENT, BITTERNESS, UNFOREGIVNESS, REVENGE.

Dr. Phil nailed it when he said: “Time does not heal emotional wounds; it’s what we do with time that heals.”  How well I know the many layers I had to work through on each one of these killers.

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.
Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (Colossians 3:13 NLT)

*****

My friends, do you have need of some repair work on any one of these legs of the peace tripod ?  Acknowledging it is the first step. Let's talk about it and I will be glad to pray with you.

Happy Easter!

Because He Lives (This one is for you, Mom) Love, Lynn

If you want to have a greater appreciate for all that is ours because of the Blood of Jesus, you need to watch this video. You will see the sacrifice differently from here on. Blessings on this day. NEVER be ashamed of the blood of Jesus. Shalom, Lynn