The LORD is

3:48 p.m. Today's project was to spend time with women who love, and live, the Word of God, as we are now in our second week of studying II Samuel.

Early this morning, before I reviewed my  Bible study notes, I battled exhaustion because of a strange cellphone notification that went off at 4:20 a.m., causing me to miss out on an hour and 40 minutes of sleep. It was not a great start for my day, but the Lord had everything in order for devotions; He was faithful. I was tired, even though I'd gotten to bed at a moderately decent time. My friend Kay's prayers livened me up, however. I am so grateful for the family of believers He has surrounded me with, to assure me of His loving presence!

Yahweh Shamma, "The LORD is there."

This has been a grueling week in many ways. My computer stopped running, a definite concern for the Bible study, because the lessons are on its hard drive. I do have Carbonite backup installed, so I knew they could be accessed somewhere from cyberspace, but I hoped to just get it fixed when I dropped it off after the service on Sunday at ComputeResource, a company owned by friends from church. Thankfully, I have my notebook computer to do most of my communicating, and had received the thought from the Holy Spirit to extract the lessons from an email to send out to the large mailing list; and perhaps ask the friend who formatted the 30-year-old typed lessons into Microsoft Word, to print out a handful for newcomers.

Yahweh Yireh, "The Lord is my Provider."

Yesterday, I was totally low on gas, had huge distances to drive to pick up a new consultant and a gal ready to join my Mary Kay team, and a brief time to get ready to go after Steve got on the bus. Discouraging taunts from the devil were saying, "You can't go all the way out past the Ramona Expressway, then back to Riverside, and then on to Redlands on an 1/8th of a tank!" And when I did that and the three of us were on our way, the discouraging words became, "You're not going to make it on time!" But we actually got there a few minutes early! One signed right up, and she and the consultant who'd joined just before her were able to have their training beautifully completed by our Sales Director! Believer, you just have to power past the taunts in the name of Jesus, and walk--or drive--on, because we know that

Yahweh Shalom, "The LORD is peace."

I was blessed with a stunningly exciting time in the Word with my group of women! Seriously, they dug in with both hands into the chapter, and we wrestled with many different themes and controversies:  God's promise fulfilled, murder, warfare, political maneuvering, bloodsport, hearing God's voice, discerning when to pursue or when to let go of a spiritual objective--it's all in II Samuel Chapter 2!

We had very serious prayer requests to bring to the Lord also. One member of the group had fallen backwards down her stairs and is resting at home with a concussion; another had a major ear infection and is on antibiotics; one has critical tests to take tomorrow for many ongoing ailments; another is awaiting test results to determine whether she has Multiple Sclerosis or Sarcoidosis, both of which attack the immune system. Yet, when we prayed for these sisters and other needs as well, we went forward in open prayer with belief, with not a doubt to be heard. Why? Because we know another name of our God:

Yahweh Rapha, "The LORD who heals you."

Lastly, on my way home, I pulled over to see if our rent had been deposited for us in Wyoming by our management company, and it had not.  I was not happy about the delay, truth be told. And I had to rearrange some plans for today, but our little three "person" family that includes Jada our lab, had food and shelter today (which is the only day we can to live in). And the money will be available at 8 a.m. tomorrow. And, by the way, we got the computer back, in better shape than ever!

And when we announce the Lord's great handiwork in our lives to any we come into contact with, we are giving Him the glory for bringing us through our trials stronger, more resilient, resourceful, and bolder than ever, let's remember another name of God we are exemplifying:

Yahweh Nissi: "The LORD is my banner!"