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    A Place to Hide a Place to Seek: Refuge in the Time of Storms
    A Place to Hide a Place to Seek: Refuge in the Time of Storms
    A Place to Hide a Place to Seek: Refuge in the Time of Storms
    Ebook178 pages2 hours

    A Place to Hide a Place to Seek: Refuge in the Time of Storms

    By Thelma Mabry

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    About this ebook

    Are you going through a personal storm this very minute? Did you just come out of a storm that left you battered, bruised, and weakened? Do you have days when it seems like the storms just wont cease? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you need a place of refuge. You need a place to hide to prevent further damage and to heal. You also need a place to seek Gods guidance and direction for your life.

    We may not be able to prevent the storms from coming into our lives, but we can have a place of refuge to prepare us to withstand any level of damage.

    A Place to Hide, A Place to Seek is designed to take you on a journey to achieving the power God wants to see working in our lives. It is designed to prepare you for whatever level of force any storm may bring.

    The journey begins in the City of Praise. We will then travel a short distance to the City of Prayer. After we have spent some time on our knees, we will journey to the City of Promise. The next important city is the City of Peace. After we have peace, we need the City of Perseverance. We must be able to hang in there. The next city is the City of Prosperity. You have probably been waiting for this city. The last city, the one we need for God to do exceedingly, abundantly in our lives, is the City of Power.

    Let the journey begin!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateJul 31, 2014
    ISBN9781490741772
    A Place to Hide a Place to Seek: Refuge in the Time of Storms
    Author

    Thelma Mabry

    Thelma White Mabry has taught Bible classes for all ages for 30 years. She has had articles published in Christian Woman Magazine. She loves in-depth Bible studies. She has an MBA in Finance and has been a tax advisor for 10 years. She has conducted financial workshops in churches and as part of a mission trip to Africa. She lives with her youngest daughter and aunt in Riverdale, GA.

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      Book preview

      A Place to Hide a Place to Seek - Thelma Mabry

      A PLACE TO HIDE A PLACE TO SEEK

      REFUGE IN THE TIME OF STORMS

      THELMA WHITE MABRY

      ©

      Copyright 2014 Thelma White Mabry.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

      Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      ISBN: 978-1-4907-4176-5 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4907-4178-9 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4907-4177-2 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2014912304

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Trafford rev. 07/30/2014

      22970.png www.trafford.com

      North America & international

      toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

      fax: 812 355 4082

      CONTENTS

      Acknowledgements

      THE STORM

      STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY

      1. Preparation To Seek

      2. The Cities Of Refuge

      THE JOURNEY

      3. The City Of Praise

      4. A Place To Seek (Praise)

      5. Attributes

      6. Hebrew Names Of God

      7. Scriptures On (Praise) For Devotionals Or Further Study

      8. The City Of Prayer

      9. A Place To Seek (Prayer)

      10. Scriptures On (Prayer) For Devotionals Or Further Study

      11. The City Of Promise

      12. A Place To Seek (Promises)

      13. Scriptures On (Promises) For Devotionals Or Further Study

      14. The City Of Peace

      15. A Place To Seek (Peace)

      16. Scriptures On (Peace) For Devotionals Or Further Study

      17. The City Of Perseverance

      18. A Place To Seek (Perseverance)

      19. Scriptures On Perseverance For Devotionals Or Further Study

      20. The City Of Prosperity Part 1

      21. The City Of Prosperity Part 2

      22. A Place To Seek (Prosper/Prosperity)

      23. Scriptures On (Prosper/Prosperity) Devotionals Or Further Study

      24. The City Of Power

      25. A Place To Seek (Power)

      26. Scriptures On (Power) For Devotionals Or Further Study

      Sources

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      I was in a storm and couldn’t see the Light. The Light never left me. However, I was so focused on the storm, I couldn’t see Him. The storm is over now! This book is written in appreciation to God and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the guidance and direction they have given me on this journey. In Jeremiah 29:13, we are reminded, And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me will all your heart. If you are in a storm, search for God with all your heart. Despite the storm, the obstacles, or the detours, He is always there and He will never leave you.

      I hope when you read this book, it will help you to heal from the damage caused by whatever storm you’re dealing with. I hope it will bring you into a closer relationship with God and a greater dependency on God.

      To my mom, who instilled in me the desire to love reading and to use it to seek answers to my many questions. Even though she is no longer with me, her teachings continue to live in me.

      To my dad, who instilled in me the desire to dig deeper into God’s word. When I was young, he prepared his sermons at home and practiced them out loud. Of course, by Sunday, I already knew the sermons and was bored. However, those teachings helped me tremendously to prepare this book.

      To my editor, I. David Logan, one of the Elders at West End Church of Christ in Atlanta, GA. He patiently endured more than one draft of this book. Thank you for being adamant about staying true to the text of the scriptures. Thank you also for gently reminding me of sentence structure and word choices. You are a valuable resource.

      To my daughters, friends, coworkers, and tax clients. Thank you for the encouragement and support you have given me on this journey. Sometimes your methods were gentle, at other times, you were a just cruel. Thank you anyway. Both methods helped me to get to the finish line.

      THE STORM

      Do you remember the game Hide and Seek? One person is selected as It and the other players must run and hide, while It is suppose to close his/her eyes (I peeked). You recite some weird phrase and count to 10. When the counting is completed, It announces Ready or not, here I come. This was a warning to all of the other players who were hiding to be sure they were well hidden. If It tagged you before you got to base, you were the next It.

      Wouldn’t it be great if the difficult circumstances we encounter in life would give us a warning to let us know they were about to wreak havoc in our lives? I would even accept counting to 10 because I would know something was about to happen.

      I could have used the warning when I encountered what is called the silent killer! This is what hypertension (high blood pressure) is called. I clearly understand how the disease got that name. I didn’t have headaches, I wasn’t dizzy; I didn’t feel sick at all. I went to the doctor for a simple check-up. I was totally unaware that my blood pressure was 186/112. I had to buy a blood pressure monitor and check my blood pressure twice a day and record each reading. The daily monitoring had readings as high as 222 for the Systolic pressure (the top number) and 114 for the diastolic pressure (bottom number). I’m sure some of that was because I was now afraid of having a stroke.

      The doctor became concerned about damage to my kidneys. I didn’t know what was happening to my body, but I knew I needed a place of refuge. I needed more than a change of medication, a change in diet, and more exercise to be able to get my blood pressure under control. While dealing with my blood pressure out of control, my blood sugar also increased (I am diabetic). I was put on medication to control my blood sugar.

      I needed a place to hide to get away from the stresses of my daily life. The question was how to get away and where to go? How could I get away from work, a defiant and rebellious child who at the time was in elementary school, another child who was a college student who didn’t study and who spent money like she owned the federal reserve, and a eighty-six year old aunt with Alzheimer’s.

      First, I worried about whether my youngest daughter would be suspended from school permanently because of her behavior. She already had in-school suspension and out-of-school suspension. I dreaded seeing the school’s telephone number on my caller ID. I received telephone calls every week; sometimes twice a week. I wondered whether she would have to repeat the same grade again. The school formed a student support team (SST) for her which included several counselors, her teacher, and me. I also sought help for her with a Christian therapist.

      I was also dealing with my aunt’s memory loss; which was now less than one minute. She has Alzheimer’s. She would try to leave every night going to where she called home; however, she could never tell me where home was. She would tell me her mother told her to do certain things – her mother died in 1966. There are times when she walks all during the night and never seems to be exhausted. I didn’t want to give her prescribed sleeping medication every night; however, my lack of sleep as a result of watching her was contributing to my high blood pressure. I had experienced the Alzheimer’s’ disease with my mother, but she was in a nursing facility because she ran away several times. Therefore, I am experiencing some things with my aunt that I did not experience with my mother. For example, I was not told that with this disease, a person would smear feces on the walls, wrap it up and put it under the pillow or inside dresser drawers. When I asked my aunt why she did these things, she said I didn’t want anyone to see it. I’ve spent a lot of money on bleach, other disinfectants, and plastic gloves. I’ve had to throw away sheets and pillow cases because the smell would not come out of them. I knew she had no control over the things she did, however, I still allowed them to raise my blood pressure.

      My oldest child also contributed to the increased blood pressure. She went out of state to college. She learned more about playing dominoes during her first semester in college than she did about math. I learned that a debit card is a dangerous weapon in the hands of an eighteen year old. One of the overdrafts was for a purchase amount of one dollar for a doughnut and the bank charged her a $35 fee. On one statement, she had four overdrafts of $35 each and twelve overdrafts in a six week period. Obviously, my blood pressure went up. I soon learned that this practice of multiple overdrafts was not limited to just being eighteen. It still continues. After her second year in college, she decided to take a break. It took less than a year for her to call me to inform me that I was going to be a grandmother.

      While dealing with all of their issues, I was also experiencing financial struggles. I didn’t know if I would be one of the many people facing foreclosure. There were times when I didn’t know if I could pay for the prescriptions to treat the high blood pressure or even to return to the doctor for check-ups.

      In my search for answers, I discovered all of these circumstances and others like them were symptoms of a much bigger problem. I had to come to the realization that a major contributing factor for my blood pressure being out of control was my need to be in control. Do you think God was trying to teach me that He is the One in control and I needed to let Him do His job? Some lessons are hard to learn.

      I memorized Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. I’m sure you know memorizing the verse was the easy part. The hard part was applying it to my life. I had to consciously stop myself from trying to figure out what was going to happen the next day, the next week, or the next month. There were times I would even try to determine what would happen in the next several months.

      Trust can be defined as to rely on the integrity of someone who is being true to you. That definition is definitely referring to God. He is true to us and true to His word.

      In Romans 15:4, we’re told For whatsoever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. I knew the history God had with the children of Israel. I knew His love and care for His children had not changed. The Lord provided the children of Israel enough manna for each day. In Exodus 16:18, scripture tells us So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. As Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He told them in Luke 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread. Jesus put it as plain as He could in Matthew 6:34 – Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

      I needed refuge in the time of these storms. I needed to spend time with the Lord to seek His guidance; to lean not on my own understanding.

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