379 – Not Alone

September 10, 1989 San Francisco

We all went to the Crusade after church and did not get home and to sleep till after midnight.

We decided to skip a wedding in Reno and stay through the week to finish out the Mario Murillo Crusade.

September 14 – Thursday

I was awake early. Discouraged. Lonely. On my morning walk I prayed for Jesus’ agape love to come to me. As I went into the courtyard to read my Bible, I had a sensation someone was already there, waiting. Glanced quickly to my bench against the wall, and had the split second perception of Jesus sitting there waiting for me. Oh, I needed to have You be here, Jesus. Thank You, precious Lord.

I asked what would be good for me to read. John 18 came to my mind. Wow, perfect. Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Peter, and the Jews. He was separated from His disciples in His time of great need. (I have not been betrayed, praise God, but the rest applied.)

He said to Peter— v 11“Put your sword away!! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

The cup came from the Father.

⁴³An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.

⁴⁴and being in anguish He prayed more earnestly and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

I accept my cup, Lord.

I accept your strengthening.

I will pray more earnestly.

I will not use the sword, which for me stands for weapons of the flesh—reacting out of fear and anger. I will not be an angry person, I will not react in fear! I put them away!

Jesus, you are covering me, and will continue, but I need to change.

378 – We Keep Seeking Him

September 6 San Francisco

$25 gift from, $600 from friends! Bless Our God!

Our habit is to share with each other which verses the Holy Spirit highlighted in our devotions. Dan was impacted by:

Psalm 66:8-20 Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard; He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For You, O God, tested us. You refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads. We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. I will come to Your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to You—vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble. I will sacrifice fat animals to You and an offering of rams. I will offer bulls and goats. Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!

It spoke to us both. We are encouraged that we are not left behind, not alone.

September 8

The Spirit brought these to my mind and I was helped:

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He is the rewarder of all who diligently SEEK Him.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and NOT TO HARM YOU, plans to give you hope and a future.¹³You will SEEK Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

We all went to the crusade tonight and witnessed many miracles.

September 10

Dan and Timmy (age 10) went to the crusade. They got home at 11:30pm. The rest of us were asleep by 9:30pm.

377 – Please Advise, Lord

377- Please Advise, Lord

September 2, 1989 San Francisco

Dan, Timmy, and Stevie left early to set up Mario Murillo tent. Dan and Timmy went to the 2 o’clock and the 6 o’clock meetings. Tim sold t-shirts and the Latinos gave him one. I did laundry in the men’s locker room by the pool all day. Up and down the stairs. It was free, and I thank the Lord!

September 3 Sunday

Shealyn and I worked in the nursery at church. Directly after church we all went to the Crusade. Donnie Moore did feats of strength. I counseled Natalie and Karen. We had a quick dinner at home and went back to the 6 o’clock meeting. Timmy got another shirt and a music tape from the Latinos! It’s nice he is getting these rewards for his hard work.

September 4

The rent, Lord!! And what about Petaluma job? PLEASE ADVISE!

John 1:1 Jesus is the WORD. ^3-4Jesus is life and gives life, now and eternally! ⁵Jesus is light and He illuminates the darkness.

John 11:6 Jesus is the way, the truth, and the LIFE.

Please bring us the word of truth and show us the way, Lord. You are our life!

We went to Foster City with Ken and Kathy Reed and we were much encouraged by their walk of faith. Dan and Ken clicked. Ken has a history with Japan, also.

376 – God is Right Here to Strengthen

376 – God is Right Here to

Strengthen

September 1, 1989 continued

More encouragements from God’s word to bolster me in this uncertain time!

Cross references I followed up on that are so encouraging.

Psalm 68:32-35 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to Him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice. Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. You are awesome, O God, in Your sanctuary, the God who gives power and strength to His people. Praise be to God!

Psalm 68:28 Summon Your power, O God. Show us Your strength, O God, as You have done before.

Psalm 28:6-9 Praise be to the Lord, for He has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy, and I will give thanks to Him in song. The Lord is the strength of His people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one. Save your people and bless Your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Let faith arise!!!

Friday evening: Akiko and Duane came to dinner. Dan and the boys helped them move out.

375 – He Rides to Help Me

September 1, 1989

Auntie Bev who has been such a good and faithful friend, and her new husband, Chuck, spent the afternoon and evening with us. Good time.

Dan and I prayed. He feels God will speak to us today. Yesterday Bill (property manager) said he was not sure boys could play outside during school hours. Administration is making some changes this school year.

The Lord gave me Habakkuk 3:17 Though the fig tree does not bud…and we have great indebtedness in back rent, though our supporters did not respond to our appeal, and our boys are being confined indoors, though we have no convenient access to washer and dryer, and…

¹⁸YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. ¹⁹The sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.

cross reference to Deuteronomy 33:26 “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun who rides on the heavens to help you, and on the clouds in His majesty. ²⁷The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He says, you are held tightly in My arms, Georgann!

He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, “Destroy him!”

²⁸So Israel will live in safety alone; Jacob’s spring is secure in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens drop dew.

²⁹Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.”

374 – The Word Keeps Us

August 31, continued

The Word keeps us, centers us on the truth; cares fall away, peace comes.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

⁶So we may say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me”|

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever.

⁹It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace.

Worth repeating: the Word of God keeps us, centers us on the truth; cares fall away peace comes.

We commit it all, our needs, our desires, our fears—to You, Jesus. Thank You for Your strengthening grace. It enables us to look away and be content and have joy.

371 – Time Off, Job Prospect

August 24, 1989 San Francisco

We took the afternoon off and went to the Presidio Museum and the Fort Point Museum. We had a ½ hour tour led by an interesting guide, a history lesson for us all. We sat on the beach and watched the sailboats and windsurfers. After dinner we went swimming at the Bridgemont pool.

August 25

Dan went to the morning chapel at the school to hear Art Katz and in the evening I went to listen to listen to him.

August 27

We went to the Cow Palace to set up. We had car trouble so Howard could help us! A stranger who stepped forward.

Four hundred people came forward tonight.

August 28

Dan and Timmy went to the Crusade. Auntie Bev called and will be arriving this week.

August 29

Dan has an interview as a result of newspaper ad. It is for drafting job north of here in Petaluma. One hour and 10 minutes away. We would have to move. He would be a company man, full time, with benefits, 3 weeks vacation. This would mean no abacas class, no Japanese language lessons, no SF Foursquare church, no 19^th Avenue Japanese Baptist church. What is your will, Lord? And the boys would be restrained again, and not be able to go outside and play. This property is fenced and has play equipment. It has space and an inside swimming pool. Lord!!

August 30

Last night at the Cow Palace God healed cancer, arthritis, open heart surgery, crooked leg, diabetes and more. He is so good.

367 – A Party, Abacas Class, a Crusade

367 A Party, Abacas class,

a Crusade

August 19, 1989 San Francisco

I had asked God to encourage me and He did, by counting my blessings: Timmy can read! Stevie can read! Both read very WELL!! Markie is diligent and interested. I received the Alpha Omega homeschool diagnostic test. It is not fearsome. I will make my order for fall.

Daniel is a bright and loving boy since several weeks ago—summer with no school stress!

God has allowed me to see my heart. I am ecstatic and He is helping me greatly!

Later: We went to Nana and Mike Watanabe’s home in Half Moon Bay for Jojo’s birthday. Great fun for all.

Nana has invited us to her abacus class for all the boys for free! They will use borrowed abacus’es (?). There will be a testing and booklets fee. May God give our boys the strong deslire to learn and the ability.

Later, we went to the Japanese church, the 19^th Avenue Baptist church.

And then to the Mario Murillo crusade. We sat in the front on the right side. The boys were all totally attentive and had excellent attitudes. We were there 6-9 pm. Tim’s jaw healing has begun!

366 – Me Better Than Them?

365 Me Better than Them?

August 17,1989 San Francisco

If I think I am better than someone, I can justify being rude, bossy, naggy, impatient, angry; and I am condescending and have low expectations for them. I just want them to be good so I can be accommodated and do MY thing, because of course MY part is the important part.

It makes for superficial relationships because all I want really is to keep coming away looking good to support the ‘truth’ that I am better. I become very controlling and they (people under me) have to make it so I look good.

[This is so true and when the Spirit showed me truths like this I was always convicted. Just heard a variation of the same conviction recently (2019). He keeps going deeper and deeper to the very root of the issue.]

Later: I took Akiko and Duane, our down the hall neighbors (she does not drive) to the emergency room for Duane’s knee. I had done this a month ago, taking all of the boys with me. We were so late in returning that I missed the home school meeting. So I listened to a tape Karen sent: How to Encourage Yourself in the Lord. I must stay surrendered and on top of my emotions.

365 – He Brings It All Into the Light

365 – He Brings It All

Into the Light

August 15, 1989 San Francisco

1 Corinthians 4:5…He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart…

v 7 who makes you different from anyone else? what do you have that you did not receive? and if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

I feel You are speaking to me, but I need the revelation of the Spirit to understand and to make this specific.

About 15 minutes later, He was specific. In the shower the Lord said through me: “I am not better than my children in God’s eyes.”

The Light dawned. With great joy I kept saying it over and over!

Because…if I think I am better than somebody, I do not mind being rude to him. I do not mind ruling over him or sinning by being uncharitable.

I am crying out for wisdom as to how to become a different person through Christ’s help.

Proverbs 16:21 The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction.

23 A wise man’s heart guides his mouth

24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones

32 Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.