Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It’s cold and beautiful this morning, and as surely as I breathe I know Spring is just around the corner. I pray for Peace, Protection, and Provision for this old farm every single day. I pray along the boundary lines of this property…every inch…every day…all 22.5 acres. The Living God has “made the boundary lines fall on me in pleasant places” and He continues to “make my lot secure”. This is serious business for me each morning because I know that this old farm doesn’t belong to me at all…it belongs to Him. It’s His Presence that people feel when they visit and it’s His Presence that keeps them coming back. As I prayed these familiar prayers this morning, I looked out to empty rocking chairs on the porch and I considered how few people I’ve ever encountered in my life feel the same way about where they live. He’s not the Master of my Life in a few areas where I allow Him to be, HE’S THE MASTER OF IT ALL! Isn’t that the way you feel about your life too?

I spend a lot of time praying for people that don’t yet know my God, but I probably spend as much (or more) time praying for the ones that say they do…but it doesn’t show. I’m honored to be asked to pray for particular needs like improved health or stronger relationships, etc., and you can count on me to sincerely pray for your needs if you ever ask that of me. But, just so you know, I’ll spend much more time praying for the Heart and whatever relationship they have with the Living God over any physical or material need I ever hear about. Sometimes people take offense to the direction of my prayers when they listen to them because they believe that I’m “judging” and they think I’m downplaying the suffering, but that’s not true. I know that with God ALL things are possible and I’m confident that He has a Plan in the Works in their lives as is evidenced through their trials. I KNOW that they can be healed, that they can find Joy, and that they can walk through this dark and dreary life with Peace and Perfection if they focus more on their Relationship with the Living God and less on their needs. This is the Key to Strength!

As the years pass by, I see more and more people professing to share my Faith either falling away or WALKING away instead. Maybe they get tired, or maybe they grow weak or maybe they lack the Strength to go against a world that “hates” them “because of Him”…or maybe they’ve just moved so far past a Personal Relationship with the King of Kings that they don’t even realize that they’ve “gone away” at all. Or, maybe they never “belonged to us at all”. Whatever the reason, it’s not up to me to judge them, but it IS up to me to pray and to encourage them in hopes that they’ll come back (if they left) and grow strong if they aren’t. These people are sure to give thanks for their loved ones or their provisions and even for the house they live in. But how many of them understand that none of these things really belong to them at all? How many people consider their home to be God’s home and how many of them are willing to take in the hungry or the homeless or the suffering ones in His Name? It’s easier to draw boundary lines around our lives than it is to give it all to Him, but the true Joy and Peace and Contentment and “wealth” can only be ours when we do. This is the Key to Surrender!

My home has been “home” to more than just my family and it will always be that way. This old farm is a Refuge and is the truest definition of Peace. I open it up to the suffering and I open it up to a host of others so that I can share God’s land and Love with them. Time and again I hear them say “it feels like home”…that’s because it is…as long as I remember that it doesn’t belong to me at all…it belongs to God Almighty…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How about you?