Prayers for Australia

“We never know how God will answer our prayers, but we can expect that He will get
us involved in His plan for the answer.
If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in God’s work on behalf
of the people for whom we pray.”
Corrie ten Boom

(Newsweek)
The map shows active fires across the country of Australia as of 9:14 p.m. AEDT, January 6, 2020
GOOGLE MAPS / MY FIRE WATCH

Day in and day out, I am overwhelmed when watching the news reports regarding the
constant fires raging across the land of our brethren down under.

Simply put, Australia is on fire.

Millions and millions of acres are now burned and scorched.
Thousands of homes are now gone.
Thousands of people are now homeless, having lost everything.
There have been at least two dozen fatalities.
Thousands will suffer the health effects of breathing in air from the ash-laden skies.
And there are an estimated half a billion (480 million) animals killed.
Read that again…half a billion.

Many surviving animals are severely burned and wounded—many are being cared
for at various facilities around the country.

As Corrie Ten Boom reminds us in her quote—when we pray for others,
God will draw us into the answer—in some capacity or other.

Frustratingly it doesn’t seem as if there is anything I can do from here in Georgia
to help those affected by the fires in Australia…
So I researched for various charities and aid
foundations that are taking donations.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/118605092/australian-bush-fires-how-to-help-watching-a-continent-burn-from-our-skies-we-can-all-do-something

I know we must be careful when making credit card donations to various sites on-line
so if you decide you want to do so—make certain the site is reputable.

Normally I would donate to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army but those donations
will go into their general crisis aid accounts—
I wanted something that would be specific to Australia.

I opted for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
for their rescue efforts of the native wildlife.
But St Vincent’s is also a good choice to help with providing food, shelter and clothing
for those individuals who have lost everything.

May the fires be extinguished.

“True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that
seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude
toward that person or circumstance.
People describe intercession by saying, “It is putting yourself in someone else’s place.”
That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place;
it is having His mind and His perspective.”
Oswald Chambers

Broken and in need

“If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart,
then why not thank Him for breaking yours?”
Oswald Chambers

(The Spectatror)

So yesterday I wrote a bit of a confession.

I confessed that whereas I had proclaimed, just a few days prior, that there would
be absolutely no tree this year—suddenly on Sunday, there was a tree.

And thus Tricia, over on Freedom Through Empowerment, in her vast wisdom,
made a most profound observation…one that I just had to share.

The backstory as to why I had I opted on no tree was that
no one was coming home this year.
It would just be me and my husband and that would be a tremendous amount of work for
just the two of us.

Another reason as to why I was not going to put up a Christmas tree was
the fact that one of the tubs that housed my porcelain angels
and age-old nutcrackers fell off of a shelf back in June when I was moving
the older Christmas ornaments out of the deathly hot Georgia attic
to a spare closet.

In the midst of moving, I heard the crash and the ensuing breaking of both
angel and nutcracker alike…
and in turn, the breaking of a piece of my own personal keeping of Christmas.

I immediately told myself that I’d deal with it all in October as it was just more
then I could bear.
At the time—October was far enough away and just seemed like a good time to
think about putting the pieces back together.

Yet October came and went…came and went without any sort of attempted repair.
It was a burden I just wanted to ignore.

I was getting too old for the meticulously gluing back together of the pieces
of so many Christmases past—it was simply more then I what I felt up to doing.
It seems that everything I own or hold precious, in this little corner of life,
has been pieced back together and glued at some point or other.

Knowing that so many of the treasures of my past were now in a thousand shards
and pieces was frankly overwhelming…does everything have to break?!

I knew the work that it was going to take to laboriously sort then attempt to
glue all those broken angels and nutcrackers back together.
Tiny little arms, noses, bases, wings, ornamentation…
Many I had long before I married….going all the way back to high school.

Not expensive really, but just threads of what it is that has helped to make me.

They are the tangible pieces of those who I have loved and who are no longer here.
Those now broken bits being the physical links…the memories of gifts given,
of tiny “treasures”, gathered together.
Each one having a face and a specific memory behind it.

And so I finally dug in on Sunday.
I sorted and started gluing.
Following which, I put up and trimmed the tree…piecemeal angels and all.

Yet my friend Tricia made a very keen observation:

“Beautiful tree Julie!
And really, the broken pieces glued together make it all the more glorious.
Kind of like our savior piecing our broken selves together to a more magnificent product.
Merry Christmas Julie!

And what a revelation!

Here I had what I thought to be a total disaster but in actuality, it was
a telling reminder.

It was a reminder, as well as a lesson, of my very own being.

More than me having come from the memories of trinkets given, past down over the years…
It was actually me being something and someone who was and is so much more.

It is the story of a Savior, who has come to put back together my very own brokenness.
Piecing me back together in order that I might be made whole once again.

Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

A Son, a Savior, who is given as a gift for all mankind?
The bridge that spans the chasm of divide, uniting once again both God Creator
and man created.

He had to come in order to put together that which was broken…broken
that day in a garden so very long ago.
As the breaking has continued down through the ages of time with no hope of repair…
not until the gift of a baby found laying in a manager on a lonely night
in the outreaches of a desert town…it was the Savior who born man that was
the hope of repair.

And so I thanked Tricia for reminding me that now, each year when I go to
decorate a tree, not only will I think of the stories behind each ornament…
of those I have loved and lost…of those whos and wheres of how each ornament
came to my tree…but from now on I will look at a handful of glued together bisque angels
and I will see their glue marks, their faults, and fractures and I will be reminded
of the absolute reason as to why I have a tree in the first place…

I will stop and remember that God sent His only son into the world to repair
the brokenness of someone like me.
And what profound joy is found in that revelation.

So thank you Tricia…thank you for reminding me of what this tree and these ornaments are
really all about…and a very Merry Christmas to you as well my friend!!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:11-14

okay, so there are no losers… because we all win…

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.”
Oswald Chambers

(plover / Rosemary Beach, Fl / Julie Cook / 2019)

And no, that is not some new pitch line for the progressive left’s push for socialism…
but I digress…

I’m talking about prayer.

We’ve been having a bit of an ongoing input session, these past oh so many days here in cookieland,
regarding a collective prayer for those who gather here together…
a prayer we can collectively pray, petitioning God…because we know that when two or three are gathered…
there is an Ear to hear…and Heavens knows…we have a lot to pray about on this sad end of ours.

Not saying that God does not hear the cries of the individual because Lord knows, I have cried out
alone, all by myself, more times than not…
and in the end, I know He heard me before I had even raised my voice…

And yet we are told that when it comes to a Christian consensus…those two, three, fifty, etc…
are told that they can uproot trees…if only they believe…

Here are a few more thoughts that I think most worthy of consideration for our collective prayer…
and I for one was waiting to hear Oneta’s input…

Oneta:
Julie, I support this endeavor.
Plan to be with you in the prayer effort.
I lean toward a specific prayer such coming together to pray against the forces that make
abortion possible (media, social acceptance, complacency, legal systems, deception to the mothers),
against the evil embodied in abortion (selling body parts, selfishness, political advantages),
that legal steps be advanced (interpretation of the Constitution, legislation)
that medical advances continue to show the baby’s viability before birth,
that confusion causes the plans of the wicked to be exposed,
that more financial support be given to groups (Right to Life).
I don’t know whether that is complete, but I’d like to start there with a
community of believers who know God answers prayer.

Mark:
I did not respond yesterday, because I do not know what God’s will is in this situation.
Has God turned His back on us because we prefer leaders who would even conceive such things or is
their any hope to save this nation?
After serving in the military during the Cold War,
I feel utterly defeated and as soon as the Liberals get their way,
and the fickle voters will eventually see to it, it will all be over.
That leaves your prayer for Christian persecution – not a relief from it,
but the strength to withstand it.

Pat at Beholding ministries:
Blessings…yesterday was a busy day and it was my intention to come back to your post
and leave comment!…
Kathy’s comments are exactly mine.
I believe we should begin with our own repentance and humility and then move to unity.
There can be no unity until the dying of self occurs.
Any time works for me.
Bless you for this post!

And so I confess… I’m leaning with Mark in that I am not certain as to God’s will for our prayer.

I know His will is for us to pray…yet I am still a bit perplexed as to what exactly we
need to be in prayer over, because like Kathy said…
there is just so much we need to be praying about.

Yet Pat brings us back to the thought of unity and humility…
and of course, Fran reminds us of the need for us to return to obedience…our obedience under God’s
dominion.

And then we have the time issue…a set time with consideration to time zones.
So what might be a good time on the east coast, may not be a good time on the west coast or across
the pond…

So we’ll ponder for a few days…and I’ll still take all and any input you’d like to offer..

But we do have lots to talk about—
my DNA tests came back…
Plus I’ve trudged through more of the book about The 21—the Coptic Christian Maytrys killed
at the hand of ISIS

So tomorrow we may chat about a few other things…if that’s ok.

What say you my friends?

“We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first
line of defense.
We pray when there’s nothing else we can do,
but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.

Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that
will get immediate results.
We don’t want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because
His idea of ‘good time’ is seldom in sync with ours.”
Oswald Chambers

(Praying hands by Albrecht Dürer 1508)

Back on February 1st, I wrote a post concerning the dire story canvasing the headlines…
that story being the notion of third term abortions—or what some folks have labeled as
4th term abortions.

The idea being that full-term delivered babies, followed by a discussion between parents and doctors,
could be left to simply die.
Personally, I call that murder but hey, what do I know.

Here is the post:
https://cookiecrumbstoliveby.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/third-term-abortions-absolutely-not/comment-page-1/#comment-23198

It was on that post that I received the following comment by a fellow blogger, “Mother Hen”:
(mother hen’s site: https://mamahenprays.wordpress.com/about/)

Mother Hen:
“Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God,
he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling,
deception, malicious behavior and gossip.
All of Romans 1
I would like to join you and others for a set time to pray.
What do you think”

My response:
I think that would be a very good idea!

Mother Hen:
If there is a certain day of the week..
when we could begin to individually lift up our prayers for this specific request or any other
that might come our way. But agreeing together as buddies here at wordpress..
would surely be a blessing.. and much needed.
If you are led you might consider opening it up to others here.
You are excellent with words. But I take into consideration that the mayor needs you right now,
so maybe easing into it might be best for you.
Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20

my response:
I agree and I do believe prayer is a powerful tool.
I’m here in Atlanta with the Mayor until Saturday…and when I say I’m here with the Mayor…
it is 24/7 unitl mom and dad finally get home in the evening…
to say I’m tired is an understatement…but in a good way!
So this weekend I’ll write a post about our praying together—-
I figure we need to be specific—but in which direction?
For the Nation’s leadership?
For Christians in an ever increasing socialistic society?
Maybe I’ll just ask for a consensus….
but I think specific prayer and time will be key!

So when I recently read and later shared the story about our friend the Wee Flea’s testimony
and his near brush with death, my memory was quickly jarred back to my conversation with Mother Hen.

David’s health was rapidly failing so his church sent out an urgent email asking for
prayers for David’s healig at a set time daily.

David later responded…

“The churches responded.
You can call it coincidence.
But from that weekend on I began to get better.”

The power of a committed prayer.

What I call focused prayer.

God honors our petitions and cries.
Sometimes He answers us readily and directly…
Other times He answers in ways we do not always see nor understand.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves,
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask,
it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Matthew 18:19-20

I think we all agree that we need to be praying for our Nation, our leaders,
as well as now for our unborn, or perhaps more correctly, our recently born children…

And so I ask you–
What say you?

What shall we pray for…percisely?

Shall we pray about this third term abortion debacle?
Shall we pray about our loss of morality?
Shall we pray about our oppressed Christian faith?
Shall we pray about our divided Nation?

What shall be our precise prayer?
When shall it be prayed?
And how often shall it be prayerd?

We all need to be in agreement on a specific prayer, a specific day and a specific time…
and then we need to join together in that prayer.

And so I ask each of your—what shall we, the faithful, be about?

Offer your thoughts and we’ll sort out our direction.

dedicating a life…

“The reason some of us are such poor specimens of Christianity is
because we have no Almighty Christ.
We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no
abandonment to Jesus Christ.”
Oswald Chambers

(the cake for the big day / Cakes by Darcy / Julie Cook 2018)

According to Bible.org, a dedication is:
Dedicating a child acknowledges God’s sovereignty not only over the child,
but also Mom and Dad. Parents present their child before God and His people asking
for grace and wisdom in carrying out their responsibilities.
Parents also come praying that their child might one day trust Jesus Christ as Savior
for the forgiveness of sin.

And so that is what we, our family and friends, have come together today to do.
To lift up and dedicate a little girl to God…
asking His grace and wisdom to be poured out over her as well as that same grace and wisdom to be
poured out over her parents and over all of those
charged with her care and raising.

Our prayer is that God’s light will always be the light which shines brightest,
the light to the lamp which will constantly illuminate her path throughout her entire
life’s journey.

(Autumn / Julie Cook / 2018)

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Relinquishing all

We have clothed ourselves with Christ’s grace, with the whole Christ,
so let us spread ourselves like coats under his feet.
St Andrew of Crete

(a silvery canopy of Spanish moss / Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Ga / Julie Cook / 2016)

No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of looking at things. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must let go before we lay hold, and in the first stages it is the relinquishing of all pretence. What Our Lord wants us to present to Him is not goodness, nor honesty, nor endeavour, but real solid sin; that is all He can take from us. And what does He give in exchange for our sin? Real solid righteousness. But we must relinquish all pretence of being any thing, all claim of being worthy of God’s consideration.
Oswald Chambers

Relinquish
To let go
To yield
To release
To surrender

No holding on
No waffling
No balancing
It’s all or nothing.

Jesus beckons…
He calls your name.
He wants you…

Not the pieces…
Not the parts…
Not this or that
Not a portion…

But all…
Of you…

He wants everything…
Every aspect
Every love
Every like
Every dislike
Every hate
Every passion
Every possession
Even…
The darkness
The savings
The wealth
The debt
The stuff that makes you who you are
Your temper
Your joy
Your anguish
Your secrets

Yet are you willing to give Him your secrets?
The things you’re afraid others will see.
That which you hope to hide, especially from Him…
That which you hope to keep hidden…

What of the status, the position…
Your place among others…
What of the security…
The pleasures…
The comfort…
Are you willing to give away that which makes you comfortable?
Stable,
Steady,
Happy…

Are you willing to lay yourself, your entire being…
The good, the bad, the indifference, the naivety, the ignorance, the pompousness…
Everything that makes you you…not only at His feet
But under His feet?

Offering it all
100% of it all
No holding on and no holding back…

To the One who gave His all to you….

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15-17

Undone

The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.
Oswald Chambers

(another year, another tree tossed over the back deck / Julie Cook / 2014)

Undecorated
Unlighted
Untangled
Undone

Once again another tree is drug through the house, leaking a vast trailing carpet of dried needles.
Hoisted up and over the railing, only to fall unceremoniously with a sickening thud,
onto the hard cold ground below.
Off to decompose on the compost heap or off to the lake to create an underwater hiding place for Spring’s spawning fish.

For what’s now done cannot be undone–as time now moves forward, taking us all along with it.
We are slowly beginning the transition of the past to the future.
Packing away all that was, anticipating all that is to be.

Ancient mysteries have played out once again as we recall what has drawn us to this time and place.
For what was set in motion so long ago, with the birth of a single child, cannot be undone with the discarding of a tree, the packing away of ornaments, the traveling back to home and school, the ending of the festivities. . .the parties, the dinners, the services, the sales, the returns. . .all pieces of the ending of a season.

And no matter how much we work to change, pack, repack, stash away, move, transition from this to that. . .there is no act of man that can ever undo what was done that single night, so long ago in that tiny desert village, in that small cramped stable under the watchfulness of that single star.
For what God has wrought, no man can undo.

You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD. “I have chosen you as my servant so that you can know and believe in me and understand that I am the one [who did this]. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me.
I alone am the LORD, and there is no savior except me.
I have revealed it to you, I have saved you, and I have announced it to you. There was no foreign god among you. You are my witnesses that I am God,” declares the LORD.
“From the first day I was the one who did this. No one can rescue people from my power. When I do something, who can undo it?”
Isaiah 43:10-13