Beyond the Call to Duty



Photo by Dee Kamp

 

 



Beyond the Call to Duty

While feeling overwhelmed in the pre-operative room with at least five people hovering over me with questions and doing procedures in preparation for my surgery I suddenly found fear creeping in and I was unable to form even the smallest prayer. But I didn’t have to, for God had called one of His prayer warriors to be on duty that day.

“When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?? The King will answer an and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me’” Matthew 25:39-40

I felt a cool light touch on my shoulder and I turned to see a new woman standing near me. She was smiling so kindly and said  softly in my ear, “Are you a little bit afraid?”

I could only nod my head in agreement. I was surprised by her next question. I thought it would be one more medical related one, but she said instead, “Do you pray?”

Once more I nodded my head at her and to my delight I heard her say, “May I pray for you now?”

She leaned so close to my ear I felt her breath and the words she prayed to Jesus for me filled me with and extraordinary peace. I slipped off to sleep thinking I sure want to thank her later, but sadly, I never saw her again and no one seemed to know who she was.

I shared this wonderful moment with another nurse later and to my surprise there was shock on her face and she said with concern, “Why she could have lost her job for doing that! We aren’t allowed to pray or profess our faith at all here.”

I smiled and said to her, “Then I want to be just like her. I want to love Jesus more, beyond my own comfort and security. That dear woman went beyond the call to duty, she obeyed the call of the Father.”

“Beyond the Call to Duty” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© March 28, 2016

 

Standing Firm

 

Lone Standing Tree, Texas by Dee Kamp

Standing Firm

    There are times when we feel the need to crawl up on Abba Father’s lap and come to Him as a little child. As a devoted and loving Father we know He always has his eye on us and as when we come away alone with Him we will delight all over again in the lavishness of His loving kindness. His seal of ownership and faithfulness is upon us.

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.

He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us

and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. “

2 Corinthians 1 21 NIV

    The balm of His love penetrates deep into old wounds, pours soothing healing to a broken heart and resets the truth of righteousness from the misleading programing from the world around us.

    By and through His Son there is placed in our hearts a freedom found nowhere else, a freedom to be loved, and to love. A freedom of His forgiveness that we too can forgive.
    When we come away alone with Him, He will speak personally in our hearts by His Spirit wonderful words of  unfailing love, words of hope, and words faith to sustain us in whatever life brings our way each day. Stand firm, for His seal is upon us, His banner of love flies over us.

“Stand strong in God…for after winter, summer comes; after night, the day returns; and after a storm, calm is restored.” Thomas A Kempis

 

“Standing Firm” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© March 16, 2016

 

Hope Never Says Too Late

 

 

 

Hope Never Says Too Late

May the God of hope fill you

 With all joy and peace as you trust in Him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

The word hope is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Hope is the chauffeur that drives me through the day. When there is nothing else, there is hope.

I remember a woman who often came into our little country store and had a very hard life. There seemed to be one thing after the other going wrong. She would come into our store and buy only a few items at a time, for money was short. Her husband was ill and her children were in much need. She always had a smile, and surprisingly, this woman was the one who cheered others up! She would say the same thing every time when someone would ask how she was so joyful, “Even in the word hopeless is the word hope, and hope never says “too late”.

 

I knew this woman was a woman of deep faith and she often shared the Psalms with me that she had memorized. And then one day I found a poem in Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, and I wondered if this is where she got her quote. But as I read it, I too was filled with a sweet sense of hope and thankfulness for a God who offers endless love and forever hope. A hope in God is one we can trust and depend on and always be certain, hope never says its too late for hope.

 

“In “hope against hope,” I wait, Lord,

Faced by some fast-barred gate, Lord,

Hope never says, “Too late,” Lord,

Therefore in Thee I hope!

 

“Hope though the night be long, Lord,

Hope of a glowing dawn, Lord,

Morning must break in song, Lord,

For we are “saved by hope.”

-Hope Thou in God!- Hymns of Consecration an Faith

 

 

“Hope Never Says Too Late:, by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© February 28, 2016

Be Still!

 

Be Still!

A forgotten piece of folded paper slipped out from a book I bumped aside to put another book away. The folded paper flew out around me and I was grabbing at it nearly knocking other things over. And later I thought, that’s a fine and surprising way to get my attention Lord!

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 NIV

Sometimes God will get our attention and nudge us to take heed. In those moments when we are called by the Spirit to pause, be still, to take notice― its God and has something He wants to say to us!

 

He speaks to us through His Word, His creation, through the words of other believers and in many other delightful ways, even by slips of forgotten poems falling out of books. I pray these words enlighten and encourage you today too.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD
God, what does it mean to be still and know You are God?
My child, what I mean is:
Though the earth be removed,
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with swelling,
Though the wind blow, Though the storms rage;
IN OTHER WORDS:
Though your bills are due,
Though they give you a hard time on your job,
Though your husband won't act right,
Though your wife won't act right,
Though your children are disobedient,
Though there's sickness in your body,

Though your enemies get on your NERVES;
Stop your WORRYING!
Stop your COMPLAINING!
Stop your DOUBTING!
Stop your FROWNING!
Cease your fears, and dry up those tears!
For I'm right here to comfort you,
I'm right here to guide you,
I'm right here to hold you up,
I'm right here to heal you,
I'm right here to deliver you.
So cast your cares upon me for I care for you.

My child this is what I mean by being still
And knowing I AM GOD.” ~Author Unknown~

 

“Be Still” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© February 23, 2016

Beauty of God's Reflection

Reflection Willapa Bay WA by Dee Kamp

 

Beauty of God’s Reflection

            We were recently called as photographers to the challenge of sending in our best shot of the beauty in reflections around us. Eager to join in the fun I searched my files and found I had several images of nature, birds and more reflected in the waters. It was then that the obvious came to me― reflections are only possible when the waters are calm.

            “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.” Psalm 62 5-6 NLT

            When we come before the Lord in prayer, if we cultivate a moment of calm in preparation for our time alone with Him, our heart will be less ruffled, disturbed and distracted.

            God is the calm we can rely on and He is calling us to enter into His presence in an attitude of quiet trust. When we are feeling calm and trusting in the Lord when others are ruffled by the slightest breeze of unrest it is then they wonder how and then it’s when they discover it’s not us, but God’s beautiful reflection in us for all to see.

            “Do not be afraid of silence in your prayer time. It may be that you are meant to listen, not to speak. So wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness….” Amy Carmichael

“Beauty of God’s Reflection” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© from: April 21, 2014

Showers of Blessings

Walking through the tulips Mt Vernon by Dee Kamp

 

Showers of Blessings

Sometimes there will be your ordinary, and expected showers here on the Olympic Peninsula, and other times there are those that are rather surprising and extraordinary.

“I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.” Ezekiel 34:26

When you live on the west side of the Olympic Mountains you soon learn you may be living in the rain shadows of these great mountains. Not long ago as I climbed into my car on a sunny day at home, I drove a mere three miles down the road to be amazed at a down pour so heavy I had to slow down and speed up the windshield wipers!

It’s rather surprising and extraordinary every time this happens. And we often find people from out of the area scratching their heads wondering what’s going on. Simple to God, puzzling and surprising to us all.

The prophet Ezekiel described an extraordinary downpour-a promise of a shower of blessings like the Israelites had not seen before. A rain so refreshing that it would produce more crops, and trees to grow good fruit but more than that, it was a season of refreshing for them, a time to draw them back closer to God once again.

That’s still what God does for us today. He blesses His followers with showers of blessings to refresh us and to draw us into a closer relationship with Him. Those showers of blessings are sometimes great or they may trickle upon us one by one, always catching us surprise.

 So let us watch closely each day for those unexpected splashes of joy that may come our way, and share them too that others are blessed.

 Great or small, in all seasons of our lives there will come from the God who sees our needs, showers of blessings to reminds us, “You are mine, I am near, and I will always care for you.”

Watch for those showers of blessings

They’re a reminder its God’s promise of love;

His perfect timing so surprising and refreshing

Sent from our Savior in heaven above.

 

“Showers of Blessings by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© February 17, 2016

Little Green Apples

orchards in Chelan WA by Dee Kamp

Little Green Apples

I was making my into a huge cooler of fruits and vegetables at the big box store the other day seeking those out of season fruits we yearn for in winter. As I turned around to examine some fruit I saw a sight that made me giggle and even caused me to speak to a stranger.

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It’s the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit.” Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT

Standing tall above his shopping cart and awkwardly waving their skinny branches as the man moved about were two sapling fruit trees.

As I am so often prone to do, I spoke to the man between the tree branches and said, “Did you bring them in here to give them the right idea of what they should produce come summer?”

We laughed mutually and he surprised me saying, “It’s a good thing the good Lord knows what to do with them so they’ll grow fruit. I’m new at this and I haven’t a clue how to help them out besides put them in the ground.”

We laughed heartedly and I was so surprised when turning to leave he said, “It was sure great meeting someone who loves life and is cheerful these days― and trusts in Lord to grow little green apples.”

There are no coincidences in life, we know them as divine appointments. I just so happened to have read Isaiah 55 about God’s Word bearing fruit that morning. It’s mysteriously wonderful how His Word will come to our minds when we least expect it, and just in time for that divine appointment God has planned for us.  No, we don’t have a clue how God’s Word will go forth or be received, how it may meet a need or how it destined to bear good fruit― but thankfully we can depend on our Master Gardner, Creator God who does.

 “God’s Word is like refreshing rain

That waters crops and seed;

It brings new life to open hearts,

And meets us in our need.”

–Our Daily Bread, Sper

 

“Little Green Apples” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© February 15, 2016