Rapha Update:

Saturday:
Dark and overcast. Probably going to have scattered showers today. Not a problem as we have skirted with summer temp's and humidity all week.

Seth Barber speaking tonight in our meeting (THE BACK DOOR).
Seth always brings a good word. I think because he lives it before he delivers it. Seth always speaks from his own struggles with addiction. Be sure to check in here on Monday (After 9:oo a.m. Central Time) for the down load in our pod casts section to hear Seth's message.

Verse Of The Day: Psalm 124:1
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side.........

This verse causes me to stop and think about how my life would be if He had not reached out to me with the message of salvation.
So many things that I probably take for granted (God, forgive me) would not be a part of my life.
So many people that I have interacted with and come to love, would not be a part of my life.
I would not be here at Rapha.
I would never have been a part of the Vineyard.
I would not have had Rev. George Creel as a mentor and teacher for 14 years.
In other words, my life would have been extremely different, and I don't mean in a good way.

I think the thing we may be amazed at when we stand before Jesus, are the things that God the Father kept from happening to us. Things and situations that never materialized or happened because the hand of God reached out and said, "No! Not now."

Last night our family gathered for a meal. I sat there at that table listening to the laughter and conversation that filled the air. It just washed over me, that God has blessed me beyond measure. In ways that money cannot nor ever will be able to buy. It all goes back to a small school room at Gallant Elementary, in 1960 when I was saved. Rev. Lewis Wood had come to our school to give a devotion (you could actually do that back in the '60's). At the end of the message, he explained what it mean to be saved. I remember it like it was only yesterday....my heart beating out of my chest. Wanting to go up front and yet scared to death. I stepped out from my desk and went forward. That was fifty years ago. My life has been a series of ups and downs. Of following hard after Jesus, and taking side trips away from Him and His plans for me. Yet through it all, He has been faithful..........not me. Through it all, He has kept His word and His promises.......not me. Through it all, He has displayed the wonderful and beautiful side of God...................me? I was (as Paul wrote in Romans) a wretched man. A perfect example of fallen humanity. Yet, Jesus called and I answered. Where do we go from here? Forward. I do not know what the next day holds, but I know that He is faithful and has not brought me this far to simply drop me and say, "I'm through with you."
Thank you, Lord!

God on you....
mb