Karen Rabbitt

“Trust me. It’s what Lucifier refused to do.” God whispered to me as we walked out of Carle Clinic. After surgery, Jerry’s prostate cancer numbers are rising and radiation is needed. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” Job said. That’s been the scripture through this process. It’s all about trust, isn’t it?

Trusting God’s involvement.

Trusting God’s passionate love for us.

Trusting that his purposes are worth what they are costing us.

When a spouse leaves, trusting that Jesus will never forsake us.

When a child dies, trusting, somehow, some way, that God is good.

When we lose a job or a house, trusting that the we have not lost the Holy Spirit.

Lucifer refused to trust God’s character and purposes. One of our purposes is to demonstrate to Lucifer that God is a good God. That the supreme value of the universe is to submit ourselves to him. Ephesians 3:10.

Father, may your kingdom come, may your will be done, here, on earth. May we, by the faith you give, persevere in trust.

After a 400 year pregnant pause, God spoke his fresh word in a baby's wail.



I hope your Christmas was full of God's personal word straight to your heart.

Blessings and Peace in your new year!

Download Herald Review Article Aug 09

We walk between heaven and earth. The Kingdom of God is not yet fully present. And yet, by his Holy Spirit, Jesus manifests his Father's rule and reign among us.

As you seek Papa-God's Kingdom with your whole heart, may these words encourage, strengthen, and
comfort you.  Karen

Read chapter one of Trading Fathers: Forgiving Dad, Embracing God, my memoir of finding peace by choosing to forgive the unforgivable. See more info on the sidebar. Or purchase now.

Do you carry a dream? One that hangs around the backside of your mind? It's been there for years but you've never paid too much attention to it. It seems fantastical, beyond imagination. Now and then you invite it into your living room and have a little chat, but you always, somewhat wistfully, send it back to where it resides in the darkness.

Maybe it's a dream of organizing a drama club at the high school where your daughter goes. But you don't have a degree–just some experience, years ago, when you were in high school. Or you'd like to do watercolors of orchids. When you walk into Lowe's the purples and yellows of the phalaenopsis call to you. Does the idea of making jewelry excite you, but you're afraid people will laugh at your attempts, or worse, won't notice at all?

For thirty years, I carried a dream of writing–maybe longer. In my senior year English class in my small high school, the teacher publicly praised my semester thesis paper. In other academic and work settings, teachers and supervisors complimented my reports. So I carried around some sense that I was a good communicator. But the idea of writing my own story lingered in the background. Until five years ago. In January of 2004, I first picked up a pen and wrote. Without knowing a thing about writing for publication, I put together a genre-busting compilation of poetry, journaling, and devotionals. That was the beginning.

This morning, I signed off on the text for Trading Fathers: Forgiving Dad, Embracing God. My memoir will be out in a few weeks. Sometimes those dreams that hang around the edges of our hearts are God's dreams. Sometimes we need to take them seriously enough to invite them into the living room for a long discussion. What, exactly, are my fears? What are the obstacles? And whose dream is this, anyway? Mine or God's?

Father, You are a God who gives dreams and who brings them to pass. May your dream be made manifest in our lives.

Unless otherwise marked, scripture is taken from the HOLY
BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION © 1973, 1978 by the International Bible
Society. Used by permission.SCRIPTURE QUOTED BY
PERMISSION.

Scripture quotations marked
(NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale
House Publisher, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

QUOTATIONS DESIGNATED (NET) ARE FROM THE NET BIBLE® COPYRIGHT
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Quotations marked KJV are in the public domain

Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Luke 13:30  NIV

Her eyes are dull, her mouth turns down, and her step is
slow. She’s over fifty and she weighs over two hundred pounds. “Kathy” is a
church acquaintance from a congregation we attended thirty years ago. By any
American standard, greeting customers at Mejiers, she’s one of the “last.” Leaving
the store on Monday, I smiled a greeting.

“Karen, George had open-heart surgery four weeks ago.”
George was her husband, so overweight the last time I’d seen him that he was
using an electric scooter.

 I stopped and turned toward her. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is
he recovering okay?”

“He’s diabetic, so healing has been slow, but God has been
with us.”

 As she went on to describe their ordeal, I took an internal
deep breath and consciously focused on her words.

 As I listened, watching her face, a completely different
image flashed through my mind. I saw her leading a line of worshippers, twirling
a red silk flag, stepping high, eyes flashing in joy and wonder.

 After a few minutes she said, “Well, I’d better let you go.”
As I walked away, I thought, I’ve just seen her through God’s eyes. To him, she
is a precious, delightful worshipper, first in line. God doesn’t conceal impatience in her
presence. He rejoices over her heart. He looks forward to the consummation of
her life in the fully realized Kingdom. 

Father, we need your eyes to see each other as you see us.

Oops! I forgot to write a devotional yesterday. I’m taking
that as a sign. I need a break. So, watch for a new devotional in a month.

In the meantime, maybe you’d like to read some of my earlier
ones. www.karenrabbitt.typepad.com
contains more than 100 devotionals,
written since February of ’06. And here’s a photo for all of us who are waiting
for the energy that spring gives.

In the story Jesus told about the prodigal son, from Luke
15, the father let the son go. The father did not run after him, begging him to
stay. The father didn’t send envoys to the tavern to bring him home. There’s no
indication of an entreating letter. But when the boy returned, the father saw
him a long way off. He had been often at the window gazing down the lane, waiting
to embrace his lost child. 

What did the son’s freedom cost the father? How many tears
did that father shed at the window? How heavy was his heart as he waited for
the uncertain return of his boy? What projects remained unfinished because the
father spent his time watching? 

If my child made such poor choices, I’d want to run after
her, control her, ground her forever. Had she become a drug addict, leaving a
child for me to raise, I’d have been deeply resentful. My love is shallow.
God’s is deep. God’s commitment to us includes letting us make self-destructive
choices. He understands that the built-in consequences of sin may be the only
way for us to come to our senses. 

Our sins may be more subtle than the wayward son’s. Our
fears that keep us in turmoil. Our unbelief that stops us from acting on his
still, small voice. Our pride that says we can handle things ourselves. But we
always pay a price for having it our way. What amazes me, though, is God’s
willingness to let us go and pay the price with us. 

Father, may we recognize again your deep, deep love.  

Please
join me in praying for this project of healing and restoration:

The March
is a Christian response to the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade which
includes white people walking in yokes and chains to express apology.  The
first part of the 250 mile walk from Hull to London  took 24 days and came
to an end on Saturday 24^th March 2007 when the walkers joined the
Archbishops of Canterbury, York and West Indies in the Walk of Witness. The
Archbishop of the
West Indies, Drexel Gomez, released those in the yoke and chains in front of the Buxton Monument near
Lambeth Bridge.  The event received
widespread national and international publicity.

The second
walk will link up the former slave ports of London, Liverpool and Bristol.  We are very keen to recruit
a diverse team representing the three former corners of the slave triangle –Africa, the Caribbean and
Europe.  Team members will have
opportunities to visit schools and to dialogue with many people as we bring the
reconciliation message.

Go to their
website for more information: www.lifelineexpedition.co.uk