Rewarder of those who seek HIM

First of all let me rephrase that HE is the REWARD! Yes HE IS!


This name is a TREAT because there is tangible evidence and it is a TRAIT of His character because He is simply keeping the promise made in Matthew 6:33 (provided at the end).


Ok, now to the post. The last few years have a been a roller coaster at home and in the workforce and in the midst of all this mess the Lord saw fit to provide a women’s ministry to some very busy ladies.

I had a very demanding, micromanaging, never-pleased boss and my husband was going through the same phase at the time. And while this roller coaster was clinking loudly up the steep climb WOVEN began. WOVEN is the name of our ladies ministry. This post is not about that but about Him. So, just briefly it is Women of the Vine Equipping Nations. We have yet to go outside our nation, but we see that as more than the earthly boundaries. We are all just ordinary women with one extraordinary Savior!! (http://www.woven-ministries.org/)

Back to our Rewarder, I left that one job telling my husband it was him or that boss, I could no longer take both. He jokingly said keep the job! HA. Well God saw fit, as I sought HIM, to give me a job doubling my pay. REALLY! Oh yes He is Provider too!

This company was bought, and in one year I was presented another job opportunity. The notice for this job came out the day before it was announced that the company who purchased my current company was also being acquired. Jesus is the ultimate Inside Trader!!! Lol

So, I work there with a boss of some similarity to a previous one, but I will not describe any further as he has passed away this year, and I will not speak ill of the dead. I will only say that he was also hard to please. I did make some very dear, lifelong friends while there. I went on to another company 2 years later for another double hit on the salary scale. Woo hoo! Then after taking 2 months to decide to interview and 2 months for them to decide they wanted me, I took the job. After one month of working there they changed everything!!! The territory I was to work would not change, but what I would sell did. This ultimately would decrease my salary by 2/3rds! WHOA buddy! Stop the press! What was that name again????

Oh yes Rewarder….. Now the new management was awesome. This lady is wonderful and very inspiring. She provided the best sales conference I had ever been to and having been in this industry for over a decade I have seen some fun. The theme was to “Expect a Miracle”. I do every day. Anyway, The Rewarder was not going to let me down (I learned later). I was told that there were no more guarantees, did I mention I was given a 12 month commission guarantee and I exceeded it monthly but everything was changing…..

Ok, on with the changes…..this wonderful lady announced that there were no guarantees and that this whole thing had been blown up to start over new and fresh and better!! Well after being told this, we still did not know what that meant financially to us even after the start date for new pay. I had been hounded by another company to work for them and I took it. I found out after I had accepted the offer the guarantee was still in play but by the way so is their stressors to this day!!
I took that other job and in 6 months (ironically when my guarantee would have stopped) I found myself without a job and on unemployment. During this time, I began college. For 13 weeks I was without work and now making much less than the first underpaid highly demanding job I had left to begin this journey. ARG!!!!!! I nearly lost my marriage also, all this seriously had no reflection on my actions. I was just doing what I was supposed to do and now I had nearly nothing and I could not blame myself or even feel guilty about anything I may have done. There was nothing to blame but I still keep seeking HIM. But it seemed I had lost all my rewards. I was tired, sad, lonely, but making great grades in school. It seems that school, Christian school, was helping me stay focused when I worked on it. I slept a lot and there were no companies hiring. Before I had lost my job there were a lot of job openings, so I knew this time off was God ordained but I was not seeing the whole picture. And for the first time in a long I felt uninspired.

Or was I?

During this time off, there were real break-throughs in my husband’s life and God once more asked me to be willingly obedient even though I did not feel like it. We still had a WOVEN conference but then I had to let a friend go.

It was a very hard year from October of last year to now. The roller coast has now become a kiddy coaster (that is a good thing!) But still the Rewarder is peeking through the fog in my life.

June 30th, I started a new job and I have a wonderful group of people to work with and a GREAT boss! I have not had both together at the same time since running a Senior Center in Tulsa. Even there I had a lying boss for a little while but he met his doom on his own and kept serving him even when I did not want to. I have been writing like crazy and spending more time in the Word then ever accept when preparing for a conference. We average two per year.

I am NOT trying to make myself seem like a saint or a martyr (however you need to know that the root word for the noun WITNESS is martyr!)

I did not always cheerfully obey but I do willingly obey. There is a difference, and I am learning to do it cheerfully even when it hurts. It will be a lifelong process and I give Jesus all the glory. I have not arrived anywhere except in some PEACE.

Recently, I began to question if I was where I was supposed to be job-wise. I could not concentrate or even seem productive in my own eyes. People have seen such potential in me my whole life, but I could never figure out what that was supposed to amount to.

So, I asked my Provider to become the Rewarder financially once more. Now I say financially but know I like to be busy and I have fun in insurance, I know that is weird but I like what I do and I like to see people understand their benefits and I do like to get paid for it. Plus, I am climbing back up the pay scale less ambitious but still eager less proud of the reward and more humble in HIS Grace.

Immediately the answers began to come. DID I SAY IMMEDIATELY???? Yes it was and not just in work but in the lives of people around me too. God is on the move and He is ready to be a Rewarder to all those who diligently and earnestly seek HIM.

Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness and ALL these things will be added unto YOU.” AMEN

Man of Sorrows: Our Blessed Jesus!

Is is too seldom that we spend time on this particular name. I have been clinging to this name and not even realizing it. So, I thought I would share where God has been leading me in His Word.

"Transparency is not about letting people see you at your worst moment, but being willing to admit you have them. " quote by ME! :-) RP

Isaiah 53:2-4

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

I have never truly spent an abiding time desiring to share in the sufferings of my Lord and Savior. Do you long to "know" His sufferings?

Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,


If you saw the Passion of the Christ a couple of years ago you know how it felt when you watched this movie. This movie brought to life the sufferings of my Blessed Savior!
Have you seen this movie, or should I say "participated" in this movie?. See it was proclaimed as an "experience" instead of the usual "entertaining" description. My mother-in-law believes she saw this in English; she experienced every detail to the point of the gift of tongues (she heard English in their Aramaic)! She heard it, felt it, and experienced it.

2 Thessalonians 1:5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.


Have you ever cried out as the Psalmist and the Prophets did in wondering when all the evil would come to an end? When will all those who hate God be punished and when there would be perfect peace? I know...I know.... I'm the only whiner right?

1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.


I have been derailed a time or two myself and suffered at the strike of my own hand and the hands of others. Both for my beliefs even by other Christians and from the result of my stumblings.

1 Peter 4:12 [Suffering for Being a Christian] Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.


But see Paul acted like he could not wait until his weaknesses reared their ugly heads??? WHAT?? Let's get weak? Well let me tell you all these sufferings will show us exactly how weak we truly are. In my suffering (oh the shame of it!), His salvation power is amplified!

Hebrews 2:10 says, "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."


In my weakness (I can't even open a jar 1/2 the time) His strength and ability is magnified! Hmm, I wonder if God is glorified from a jar? Yes He is a Jar of Clay!! The choice storage for Hidden Treasures!

2 Timothy 1:8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, (this is where we defend that none want to suffer alone! lol)



In my weakness He is made strong (in me)!! Sufferings will bring about His harvest in us.

Genesis 41:52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."


This is how we are to share in this name, Man of Sorrows.
Romans 5:2-4, "2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope."

I pray that you do not cringe at the thought of suffering for our Jesus. We seem to want all His characteristics but this one. Hmmm, I personally need to remember that sharing in His sufferings the result will be more of HIM and less of me.

Lovin' The Man of Sorrows today!!
Chel

My Peace

To participate in the Name Droppin' Carnival click this picture and follow the instructions. Don't forget to comment on this post for "My Peace" and tell us where to find you.






God truly provides Peace in the midst of chaos created by us.

When my head is pounding - He is Peace.
When the kids are yelling - He is Peace.
When the job is tough - He is Peace.
When my heart is breaking - He is Peace.
When my soul is aching - He is Peace.
When my mind is busy - He is Peace.
When my strength is gone - He is Peace.



His peace truly does surpass understanding. Today a gentleman associate of mine and I greeted one another, and I don't know if this happens to you but it does me....I asked how are you? It was "his" event, he is the president of our Health Underwriters Association, so I initially thought what I saw on his face was the craziness of the day, but it was more, way more. He did not have words to express what he was feeling. Then he told me that his dad died on Labor day and he was there as the paramedics tried to revive him. Before he spoke he said to me I don't know if you can imagine this but....I told him that I knew exactly how to pray for him and that I promised I would. My mother died when I was 11 and my father when I was 24. After my father died I had a moment that resembled the look on his face so I shared this...



I was on my way to a chocolate social with my Sunday school class, alone and looking cute! I had on a new red t-shirt and a denim ball cap from the Gap. I was stylin' and ready for some chocolate but I could not find the highway, seriously. I got lost 1/2 a mile from the highway and kept taking wrong turns. I began to freak then it was as if the Lord was in the car with me and said, Shhh, turn down the radio and listen to me...I poured my heart out for the first time to God that night on the side of the road. I cried out because I did not know whether my dad knew my DAD or not. Then I heard Him again, "I never promised you answers but I did promise you peace, My Peace."



John 16:33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."



I had been on anxiety medication and no longer needed it after that. It had been nearly 6 months since my dad had died and I was finally free from all sorrowful thoughts. I don't mean the sorrow that causes me to miss him that is still with me but the sorrow that impeded upon my progress for each day. The sorrow that fed my worry of his eternal destination the sorrow that destroyed my peace.


I am here to tell you that Peace indeed was real for me that day and it was not the first time I had met Him. He is real and He is Peace and you will never understand it even when it happens to you. His Peace truly does surpass all understanding....Seek His Face, Seek His Peace.

I know what it is like to feel all alone and to actually be all alone but never forget - I do mean never - that Christ and His Peace is right there all for you! He wants to bear the burden of grief and sorrow. He longs to calm the storm that is welling up inside your heart. He desires to replace all of it with himself, Peace. I pray that no one has to feel the way my friend has felt or the way that I have but if you have or will please remember Christ said, "Peace, Be Still."


On another note, you know we pray for peace in the Middle East, right? Because we should; however, try this pray for PEACE as in CHRIST to BE in the Middle East!!! Peace as in lack of war is great but PEACE Himself would be much more and bring much more than just praying for peace in the land!!! They need PEACE in their hearts first!!


Pray for PEACE to reside in all hearts and the hearts of the Middle East.

Philippians 4:7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In Christ,

Chel

The Branch of the LORD

(for instructions to participate in this Name Droppin Carnival click the image)

I was going to post about the Jealous God today, Jehovah Kanna, but my heart is heavy in so many ways right now. He is showing Himself to be quite jealous for many right now but in keeping it real and transparent, I feel like Elijah and I want to find a tree under which to hide!


But the LORD in HIS KANNA grace brought me to another place!


I am posting this from a book called, Wonderful Names of Our LORD by Charles Hurlburt and T.C. Horton published by Barbour Publishing out of Ohio in 2002. It is a short "value book" but it holds more value than the dollar amount pasted on it.



I was feeling lowly in my spirit and I was about to get down so HE could lift me up then begin another day on the Psalms of the Ascents with Beth Moore in Stepping Up. But then I saw that book. I prayed, dear Jesus, I need you right now, I need a name to cling to, please speak to me and I opened this book to page 27 and this is where He took me:




The Branch of the Lord “in the day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious.” Isaiah 42

By every means and picture which we can understand the Spirit reveals our Savior’s oneness with God. None is more clear or full of meaning to us than this, “The Branch of the LORD.” One with the father, growing out of and yet a part of HIM. And we are “branches” of Christ (see John 15). As we worship the Christ who is very God, we hear Him say, “If ye abide in me, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

Altogether Lovely
“His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely.” Song of Solomon 5:16

Every earthly joy will pall, Every earthly friend will fall, only Christ is to the end, “Altogether Lovely,” Friend

Do you see His wondrous face? Full of glory, love and grace? Look, and all they need confess, Worship His pure Holiness.



This is NO mistake and no embellishment I nearly opened to another page without looking and my finger nail hit that page so I opened the book. You know my other blog is the Abiding Branch.

So I have a few things to say about all of this.....


The WORD is ALIVE and it does speak to those who abide!

The WORD is ACTIVE and it does work in those who abide!

The WORD is AFFECTIONATE and it does console those who abide!

The WORD is ZEALOUS and it does compel those who abide!

His Name is from A to Z all we will ever need! The BRANCH is better than any tree I could hide under. After all the tree is only His creation but the BRANCH is His name!
click on the picture for a poem about the BRANCH by little ol' me!
Rachele (aka Chel the Abiding Branch)

A Branch for Me!

Looking all around I searched for a tree but God reached out a BRANCH to me.

“All the shade you could ever need would be given by each leaf,”

Oh but Lord this will never do, I am looking for a Sycamore or two

He said, “I rejoice in the fact that you have seen now be still my child the Branch comes from me,
I come to you differently than I have some others they are lukewarm and not in need of any covers

Every element this world may deliver will never cause this Branch to whither

Just stand under it for yourself and see, did Elijah save his life under any tree?

Let me speak with you as I long to do but you must stand here so that your soul to me will be clear

What is it that troubles you, why is it you’re dismayed?

Your time is coming quickly my dear, come close so I’ll wipe your tears.

I have plans for you from which you can not hide, all I ask is that you abide.

Abide in me, I AM alive and active you’ll see.

See the Branch with which I choose to cover is my Son and your soul’s true lover.

He eagerly awaits His return for you but until that time there is much to do.

Now kneel and pray before the moment slips away go and tell others you know the way.”