Wednesday, April 29, 2009, "Hem the Scene of Hope in God"

Triumphant Victorious Reminders
Inspired by the Holy Spirit
By: Teresa Criswell

"Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the oak tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash had been threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, "Mighty man of valor, the Lord is with you!"
~ Judges 6:11 & 12 ~

As I walked into the kitchen, the beautiful picturesque window beheld such beauty. The golf course surrounded by beautiful trees, leading down a hill as if I could see for miles. The light of the sun peered through the windows as something caught my attention. The light of the sun reflecting photographs on the breakfast table. Curiosity brought me closer to the photographs. Looking closer I realized that the faces in the photographs were family. The faces of my sisters and their families, my family, dad and mom and others with her fingerprints as evidence that she had touched each face over and over again. Next to her Bible and the photographs was a coffee cup which reads a quote that has been 'tweeked', "Hem your day with prayer so that the day does not go unraveled."~ Anonymous.

The photographs belong to my mom. She has pictures of her children, our spouses, her grandchildren, dad, herself and others. It's amazing to see the pictures of what I would call my beginning. It started with my parents, who begat 3 daughters and each daughter married and they altogether begat 7 children.

It is amazing that she prays for three generations every day and prays for the generations after her grandchildren. She touches each face as she lifts each person to the Lord and covers them in prayer by faith calling forth those things of God upon each of our lives. It is amazing to know the steadfastness, love and investment she makes over her family on a daily basis in prayer. It blesses me to know that we are covered, saturated and drenched in the prayers of my mother unto Jesus Christ who is at the right hand of the Father.

As she prays over three generations it leads me to a smile as those passages in the Bible that are many times so frustrating to read. Such as Genesis 5, Numbers 1-3, and I Chronicles 1-9. Attempting to read all the names that I have no idea how to say. I have even said to myself admitting this to God, "Who cares....", yet through those 'boring' scriptures it reveals that God is so into the generations. I heard it said once by a well known pastor, "When God looks at us, He not only see us, but He sees the generations after us." It is a WOW and aweing thought to try to comprehend.

This leads me to see that without faith it is impossible to please God. Why? Well, first of all because God is Faith, and He also utilizes faith on our behalf. We in faith have to remember that there are people connected to us that are not born at this moment. Maybe future children, future grandchildren. Nonetheless, God knows them at this moment, before they have been formed in their mother's womb (Psalm 139).

Think about this for a moment...when God saw Gideon (Judges 6) trying to hide the wheat in the threshing floor to keep that wheat from the enemies; the Midianites that were taking all of their resources, an angel comes to him and said, "The Lord says of you Gideon that you are a mighty man of valor."

I have to confess that when I have read that, I laugh. The reason is because where he was at in that moment was FAR from a mighty man of valor. Yet it is so powerful to see God speak in faith over Gideon what He was to become. He didn't speak over Him what He saw in that moment, He spoke over Him what he was to become.

Can you imagine if God spoke over us what He saw at this present time? We would be doomed. He is Eternal God, of course He knows what is to come before it happens, however to know that He calls us to do things that He has already done, is really cool. More than anything He has the provision to lead us as He has already led by His own example of faith as He sowed His life into us knowing what He would reap.

This is a great reminder to me that the decisions I make today, I need to ask myself, "How will my decision effect the generations after me?" When I choose not to make bad decisions because it's easier to deal with at this moment, I need to reconsider my decision based on the faces of tomorrow.

Just as my mom has the faces that she has 'begat' before her and her precious fingerprints are on each of our faces, I need to hold close to my heart and pray for the faces that one day will be living out what she has prayed.

"Hem the 'scene' of hope in God today so that the 'scene' of hope in God tomorrow does not unravel."

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