As she enters the room and sits down at the desk there is a glow on her face and the presence of expecting a blessing. She has no idea of what she will experience in the next few moments, but she is anxious. As she takes a deep breath and begins to read, it is clear that the Lord is in her heart and pouring out of her spirit in abundance.
As she reads out loud, her concentration is intense as she hangs on each word that she reads. She stops for a moment to gather herself because she is feeling and seeing words of grace and mercy that only God could provide. Her anticipation and passion is enhanced as she reads the next sentence and her voice breaks from time to time.
What is this which has placed her at this moment in time, at this place, to read these words? This is not the first time this has happened to her. In fact, it has happened twenty-five times since March of 2010. What could be so important that she would repeat this process over and over again, with so much compassion and love?
As she reads on, a tear rolls down her face and she stops to wipe her eyes. She says, "You do this to me every time. I become overwhelmed by the story and what God has given you for me to read today."
She reads on and comes to the end, takes a deep breath and sighs as she turns to me and says, "How do you do it?" And I reply, "It is not me creating these words that you have read today. It is from our Lord and Savior. He has just passed me the pen to use for a moment in time to tell of His great love for man."
If you haven’t guessed it by now, I am speaking about my wife Bobbie and The Extra Bible Newsletter. I can’t just sit down and write it out any time I feel like it. I pray and petition, my willingness to receive what He may have for me to write. Then, at His appointed time, not mine, he nudges me, and I sit down at the computer and begin to write what I feel is being poured into me at that time.
What is amazing is what’s transformed in that room with my wife as I sit a few feet away and I witness her joy and watch her receive God’s intended message, just as I received it a few hours before. I know she is my wife and loves me beyond measure, but there is a moment when she is reading, and both of our hearts are as one with God. This is a quiet time of receiving His spirit.
I don’t know if these newsletters have the same effect on you as they continue to have on Bobbie and I, but I pray they do. My desire is for you to be able to reach through this newsletter, these words, my heart, and feel the spirit of God moving as I do when I am writing each story. It is for His glory and His alone!!
In the photo above is a Crape Myrtle tree. It stands in our front yard and for the first year it was only about five feet tall, just a skinny twig of a tree. We fed and water it and waited for this year to arrive.
The other day we woke up in the morning and it was raining and the weight of the water on the abundant blossoms were so great that it broke three limbs. We had to hold up the other limbs with rubber tie downs. In Malachi 3:10 it says, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this." The Lord of Hosts says, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."
I believe that this also stands for our love of mankind, our servant spirit. I know that I feel such incredible love and blessing (that I can't contain) being poured out each time in that room.
You see, just as my wife had experienced the love that God has for us, wanting us to have a glow on our faces, expecting a blessing as His spirit is poured out into us. As we anticipate the next chapter in our life, the next word from Him to guide us another day and to keep our passion strong to further the kingdom. This is His desire.
This isn’t a story about my wife Bobbie or this newsletter, it is for you and those who you touch and the touch you receive from our Savior. It is all about the real author and his spirit that has a message. His message is...
There is a Love Story waiting!
This is dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and my loving wife Bobbie for all they have given, endured, and poured into me in my life.
1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
Songs of Songs 8:7
Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised.
