Revelation 5:5; Isaiah 34:2 - "I Don't Want To Miss It"

I woke up this morning to a song Ellie Holcomb sings called "I Don't Want To Miss It" and chuckled at how God speaks to me. I hurt from head to toe in my physical body. My emotional body is struggling as I continue to fight off tears as I wait on Rickey to be better. My mental body is tired from trying to continue doing what I need to do in life. Yesterday was challenging with getting the right words to come out but evidently they were OK in the sermon because there were a lot of people who commented about it being a 'good' one. The song goes...

And I don't want to miss it
I don't want to miss a thing
So, I climbed up in a Sycamore tree
'Cause I don't want to miss one thing
No, I don't want to miss it
No, I don't want to miss a thing
I don't want to miss the melody
That You've been singing over me (Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah)
Yeah, You've been singing all around me

I don't want to miss anything God has for me. I know the only way for that to be accomplished is to stay focused on Him. I must not give the enemy an open door into my life. I must stay strong in my faith and go deeper in it as I wait for change in Rickey's health. I must allow God to continue to work in and through me no matter what the circumstances are in life. Plain and simple. I must. My earthly Daddy was a fighter until he took his last breath on this earth and walked into the arms of Jesus. He was the example I need to follow. I was sharing with someone within the last couple of days about how he called me every morning the last few years of his life. He would ask me what I was doing and if I were still in bed or laying around on the couch he had the same thing he said to me every time. 'Now Sheila Babe, you can only lay around for so long. You can't stay there. If you do, the MS will take over and you don't want that. You have to fight it. Besides that you will get bed sores!' Then he would chuckle which would make me chuckle. If I allow the enemy to tell me I can't do life, that will give him an open door. I refuse to give him that. Yesterday in my sermon one of the names I shared about was 'Lion of Judah.' I spoke of how many times we picture Jesus as a soft-tempered, gentle man. He is that but He also will "unleash his fury against all His enemies..." (Isaiah 34:2). Any enemy we have against us is an enemy to Him. He is here to fight our enemies for us. A way to fight against our enemies is to worship God. That sounds easy but when the enemy fights over and over again through people and circumstances we get tired in our spirit. Yesterday when the stable blew off the trailer on the way to the parade I was upset for many reasons. Alex had put so much time into it and that made me mad. Clay was driving when it happened and I was pretty sure he would be upset and that made me mad. I was struggling emotionally yesterday and it just added more 'junk' to my emotional bank. After getting it all back onto the trailer and continuing to the parade route the conversation in the car reminded me God is with me. Landon said something about it just not being our day. I told him I felt like it had not been our day for quite a few days and we needed to proclaim the Lion of Judah over our days. My dear Annabelle spoke up and said, "Pastor Sheila that's what you preached about this morning!" Wow, God! He sure knows how to encourage us. What a blessing to have this conversation with these two yesterday! After the parade and getting home I received a text from Darrell that said, "A very good day for the Beaufort Church of the Nazarene. Good job Pastor!" God encouraged me all day long with texts, messages, etc. from people who are praying for our current situation. He knows what i need and He provides. God loves me so much and He is my Lion of Judah! Praise His Holy Name!

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for everyone You put before me to encourage me yesterday! Thank You for the sermon You gave me to preach! Thank You for another day of life! Father, I pray for encouraging news from the doctors today with Rickey. I pray You will continue to heal him so he can come back to do life with us. May You continue to give Anna, Michael, Matt, and myself what we need to get through these 'tough' days. Father, cleanse me so You can fill me to overflowing with more of You. May people see/hear You instead of me. May You flow from my words, actions, attitude, and thoughts in a mighty way. May Your peace come down upon all going through 'tough' days. My Momma; my sisters Linda, Sally, and Mary; Ben and Colleen; Pete and Delores; Steve; Tony and Madeline; Cait; Mike; Norma Hall; Carrie; Little Jensen who needs a heart; many with COVID; Sharon Sebolt; the Pottenger Family; Serena's husband; some young ladies with anxiety; a man in rehab for anger issues; a young man out of rehab who needs strength in his daily walk; a teen in a volatile home situation; a husband/father separated from his wife; Gideon; and many others. I also pray healing prayers over many who are having treatments for 'c'...Doug and Gay; Sharon's daughter Ashley and niece Amy; Chrissy's cousin; George and Sharon; Cait's friend with leukemia; my pastor friend with daily chemo; and Little Ivy. Lord, I pray for a physical and spiritual touch on Jeremy. Lord, be with Little Richie and his family as he is having issues. Father, many are fighting the antics of the enemy and need You to knock him down. Empower us to stand up against him when he comes knocking at our door. Thank You for being My Lion of Judah! Amen.