I start out with determination… but by the end of the day….

I have to share something that happens from time to time, and perhaps it happens to you too?

There are some things I want to change in my life, and all I have to do is DO it…  Well, when morning comes around and before getting out of bed, I start thinking of all the things I am going to do differently that day. I feel very strong about it, I feel like I have the power to do it, and have great determination. I even make a plan on what to do about it.

Then when I get up, that determination starts to fade and by the time evening comes around I’m back to my old habits…

Just between us… I’ve been wanting to remove some of the TV show recordings that I really should not be watching. I asked the Lord how I would gauge those shows and He said, “If YOU don’t do those things, then don’t watch someone else do them.” Wow… that about took care of ALL the programs I watch!! Things like magic and killings and violence. It seems that even in a Disney show, these things are there!! It’s almost like NO TV is the best way, but that’s unlikely…  or is it?

See, I had been having eye issues, floaters, flashing in my eyes, etc… and asked the Lord to reveal the reasons to me. And He said He wants me pure, even what I PUT in my body THROUGH my eyes. He wants me to be pure in heart and spirit and as long as that WINDOW of my eyes keeps pouring in junk, my life and health will respond.

So I have to make a choice… to be entertained or to choose to follow the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. (Not sure why I’m telling you this… but I guess someone needs to hear this… not proud of this blog but this is the truth that I know will set me and someone else free.) What is the cost to our lives and relationship of what we “KNOW” not to do? It could be different for you? Maybe an addiction of sorts? Maybe a relationship? There are many things that we CHOOSE to do… that aren’t good for us.

I encourage you, as I’m encouraging myself, to make a stand today and DO what God has required of us. This life is very short, but eternity is forever…  and what we do on this earth will determine what we will be doing in Heaven…

He Did It All…

I’ve touched on this from time to time, but I believe needs repeating here. Many are still waiting for God to do something in their lives. Like find the person a job. Heal them from an illness. Make a way for a move. Many, many, things. Perhaps you are waiting on God for something too. But if you’ve been waiting a long time and find yourself a little disappointed or mad or wondering why God hasn’t done it, I think there is a missing piece. Because the Bible says, “Ask and it shall be given..” So, if we ask, why isn’t it given at times? Yes, sometimes the Lord says No. But… that’s not what it says here. It says, “It SHALL be given.”

I believe “WE” are the missing piece. We are not doing our part!  God, through Jesus Christ, has DONE IT ALL… When Jesus said, “It is finished” that means He did everything He is going to do. That is why God sent US the Holy Spirit, to continue the work on this planet. That is why Jesus died, so that we can have the same power, strength and abilities to continue to evangelize the world. To live abundantly. To lay hands on the sick and they recover.

The things that we are asking God for are things that have already been given or completed for us. Healing, provision, clothing, housing, etc.. He said these things are a “given” to us so that we can go on and spread the Word and help others find Him. If we are busy dealing with these issues, we won’t be very fruitful on this planet for the Kingdom. We have to come to the grips that we have to stop waiting on God to DO everything. We are to DO something too, meet Him. Just like Isaiah 1:18 says, ”Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

“Reason together” means to cooperate with God… to do our part, and what is our part you ask? Believe and follow. Both of these take US to do it. We have to choose to believe God and follow… these are actions on our part. If you are waiting on God to find you a mate… then perhaps you need to go out and begin to fellowship more with other believers. If you are waiting for God to give you a job.. perhaps you need to put out a lot of resumes and go to businesses. If you are waiting on God for healing… perhaps you need to take some steps on your own to meet him there. For example… I was waiting on God to help me with a stomach issue. I prayed, and prayed, and believed an believed… but… the missing piece was “me” and my choices of the foods I ate, dealing with sin in my life, etc. And when I made a change in these areas, my healing came! We could be the ones blocking our very blessings!

Don’t get waiting on God mixed up with you not taking any responsibility for your life. We wait on God by believing WHILE you are moving forward!! That is faith at work. God moves by our faith.

So… to reason with the Lord is to cooperate with His Word. To find out what He says, and ask the Lord what YOU are to do. Faith is what bridges the gap between us and God. We STEP OUT IN FAITH… that is your part… then God will meet you.

I’ve seen this over and over again that when I choose to DO something, He leads and guides me and directs me into His will. Until we move, how can we be directed? Many are sitting around twiddling their thumbs, well, so is God then. We do move God’s hand by moving on the WORD ourselves… It unlocks His power in our lives. BELIEVING God is the key behind all this because you will DO what you BELIEVE. If you have issues in believing, ask God who will GIVE YOU the ability to believe. James says, “He gives to you and won’t hold anything back.”

I never did like that phrase (nor believed it to be true) that says, “God helps those who help themselves.” But I have another light on that. It’s not that God helps those who help THEMSELVES… but God helps those who help others! When we start helping others we take our minds off of ourselves, and then that’s when we are actually helped too! I’ve heard stories of people giving away the very thing they need, only to receive something greater than they ever dreamed possible.

When we cooperate with God in HIS Word, then we will see God’s hand move more. Cooperating with God is to LOVE one another. When we love we don’t think of ourselves all day long. Now I can almost guarantee you things will change. But again, there is a balance. So many are out doing ministry and forgetting their own family…  We are to start at home.. loving and forgiving one another so that we can be effective in the World around us. And everything YOU need will then be given! “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Go out and love on others, be creative, believe God is with You… and watch your whole life change.

So in a way, it’s kind of a true saying… We can say it like this…”God helps those who believe… God helps those who help others…. God helps those who are His…. God is with US always….  and God helps those who walk in faith.  (And with any of these things we are actually helping ourselves too.) When we are “doers of the Word” and not hearers only, we are actually believing what God said, “It is finished… I’ve done it all… now go and follow me.”

My final word is to stop waiting on God in a wrong way… but step out and start making things happen for your life. If you have health issues, then do something about your health. If you have financial issues, find a job or make a job. If you want to get married, go out and fellowship more. If you want a friend, be a friend. If you want to sing, join a worship team. There are things YOU can do while you WAIT on God to fulfill. Because frankly, the Word says, “Ask and it shall be given.” What is the condition here? “Asking…”  And other scriptures say, “Ask not for lustful gain, but ask for things to further the Kingdom.” There is balance in everything. Remember what the roaring lion does? Seeks those who are out of balance!!! Find the balance in your life with the Lord. Don’t let it be one sided any more because you could fall into fear and depression. But… when you DO your part… and God does His…  there is harmony and a balanced life… which brings you what you want in the first place!

Two or More…. can go both ways!

My husband and I were talking this morning and I was sharing with him some things I’ve been going through pertaining to some girlfriend relationships. I was concerned about a couple of friends of mine as I “felt” there may be some clicky stuff going on. Well, I was sharing my thoughts because I felt they have developed a pact together, almost being against me. (I’m sure this never has happened to you… sigh!). Then my husband said, “This is like that two or more gathered scripture.”

The scriptures say that when two or more are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them. The “in my name” is critical. Because we know that when two or more are gathered at a demonstration rally, it may get ugly. We know that when two or more team up against you and lie about you, it can turn out ugly. We know that it takes two to argue, takes two to gossip. These times are  not ” in His name, but in ours.” But… if we gather together and speak well of others, pray for one another (not the gossipy type prayers), then we are IN HIS NAME, and He is in the midst of us.  Note:  When two Christians are gathered together, even if they aren’t doing it for good reasons, God is still in the midst of them to straighten them out!

Just a thought…

When You Love God, You Will Believe Him

Scriptures say, “If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” And that is our battle… daily living and keeping His commandments to show we love Him. But let me make it easier for you by saying it this way, “When you believe Him, you will keep His commandments and when you keep his commandments, you are loving Him.”

Keeping His Word is easy when you believe Him. Then you won’t question WHY, or struggle in the area you don’t want to do  like tithe or forgive your grouchy neighbor. The degree we believe Him is the degree we love him, and the degree we love Him is the degree we are blessed.

It’s true with anything. I trust my husband and believe Him in all things, so when he tells me something, I simply believe him. And when I believe him, I respond without fear and I do it. But if I don’t trust that person or don’t “know” them, I won’t believe anything they have said…

So we have to ask ourselves this question… Do we “KNOW” God? Because if we truly knew Him, we would believe every Word and live by it. And if we live by it, we will NATURALLY keep all the commandments, which is founded on one…  Matthew 22:37-40, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love others as you love yourself… period!  When we LOVE we fulfill all commandments!

One hand or the other?

I was put into a situation where I was going back and forth on an issue. I would say, I can understand what they are doing on one hand, but on the other hand it makes me angry. And the Lord got into the middle of this and said, “Then just deal with the one hand… not the other.”

I had to laugh.. because the “other hand” is not God’s!!  Yikes

How to Activate Healing

This is truly a million dollar question, but I will give it to you free… as it came to me.

At 3:30 AM I was woken up, not feeling so good. I had been feeling sad earlier that night thinking about my sister who passed. Thinking of my gramma who I didn’t get to know well. I was getting more and more deeper into a state of sadness, that I cried myself to sleep. But at 3:30 AM the Lord took me on a journey with Him, and it changed everything!

I have been reading in the Old Testament for over a month now… getting great teachings out of it, and applying amazing things out of it to my life. But God was clear to tell me that the Old and New Testament are QUITE different. And when I read the OT be sure to mix it with mercy, grace and faith. Because if we don’t we can fall under condemnation and back into the “works” effort for our salvation. Which I do believe many have. I know this for a certainty, because I’ve talked to hundreds of people, and many doubt their salvation! And when they quote scripture, it’s from the Old Testament! Of course that is going to condemn us because it was “under the Law!”

Let me help shed some light. Buckle your seatbelts because this one is a doozey!!!

So as I laid there in bed, just feeling like #&&#^@!!! The Lord visited me.

He took me through the Old Testament, areas I had been reading about, and reminded me that all these individuals did NOT have the Holy Spirit inside them. That He would place the Holy Spirit on people as He saw fit to carry out His work on this earth. BINGO!!!!  This was key! Have you heard people say, “God doesn’t need us.” Well, that is a bold face life… He does, because we are the ones He needs to carry out His will on this earth.

Jesus was put in flesh to dwell among us. He did many miracles and taught many things. He was in a body form! He came and completed everything God was doing previously when He would place his spirit on a few select. But the people were not getting it. They had to do so many offerings for their sins, thoughts, fears, whatever else, to cover every inch of their “unbelieving” hearts, to be sanctified. And they had to do this EVERY YEAR! It was all WORKS! It was to KEEP THE LAW. God knew then, they couldn’t do it on their own and needed to offer sacrifices.

Well, Jesus has completed all those sacrificial laws by his shed blood on the cross! We don’t ‘have to offer pigeons, or kill the fatted calf, we believe! And believing is counted for righteousness. (I just did a blog called, “Do you have a Zeal for God….” – be sure to read it, because this blog follows that thought.) Not only are we made righteous by the blood of the lamb, but we are also given the POWER to become the sons and daughters of God. They didn’t have this kind of power int he OT, only int he New… and that is for us today. The OT is there to show us the things that happened in our generations, things that God did, promises he made, and to help us not to make the same kinds of mistakes they did… And so today, we have the power to overcome, to live, to be free because of Jesus.

Now here is where things get very interesting.

As I was meditating on what the Lord had showed me, I saw something very clear for the first time. God USED PEOPLE to do His will on the earth. He just didn’t wave His hand over a situation and magically did something. Most of the time it was through people, or through His angels, through a donkey, through something on this planet! He even sent His Son in body form to relay his message to us. But He USED something on this planet. And now since He dwells IN us.. He is going to USE us!

So for those of you who think you are a “nobody” ‘you are lisetning to the liar.. Because YOU are somebody, you are the hands and feet and mouth of almighty God!

This then means that John 15 is accurate when it says, “Lay hands on the sick so that they recover.” It doesn’t say to ask God to heal them… It doesn’t say, “Jesus heal them.” It says,  YOU LAY HANDS on the sick so that they recover. It says to go to the elders of the church if you need healing. It doesn’t say to go to GOD!!!  Now don’t misunderstand me here, it is GOD doing it, but THROUGH His people!!!!!!!!!

Just recently there was a bombing in Boston. We wonder “where were you GOd, why did you let this happen?” Let me say it again, it’s up to US on this planet to prevent things like this from happening. Because I know for a fact that if that person had any glimmer of love in their lives, or shown any kindness at all, this never would have happened. And when things happen here, HE IS WITH US so we can go through it in Faith.

Jesus said, “It is finished” at the cross. He means what He said. That is why He gave us the Holy Spirit. They didn’t have it in times past, only when Jesus rose from the grave. So we have been given everything we need to live and do what we need to do today on this planet. Let’s believe what Jesus has done, receive it, and go and do what He wants of us. Then, just maybe then, the world will change.

Faith comes by hearing…..

I want to share a bit more insight on this passage (Romans 10:17), “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” I always read this to say, “Faith comes by hearing the word of God.” I never really understood why it said “hearing” twice. Now I do and I hope you enjoy this insight that I recently heard from my pastor.

If you notice, there is a comma after the first hearing…  So let’s take a look. Faith comes by hearing…. hearing what? He said it means hearing about what God is doing in people’s lives. Our testimonies, etc. As I thought on that, I then recalled the passage in Revelation 12:11 that says, “We overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony (which is the first ‘hearing’).

Just thought this was interesting to note because I thought there was a typo or something in that passage, stating  hearing twice!

So, to put this into our lives today. We need each other. We need to share what God is doing in our lives and praise Him for what He is doing, even in the midst of chaos. Our faith is increased when we hear how God is moving in other people’s lives. Faith grows when we see Him moving in our lives and as we share it, we are actually defeating the enemy as Revelation says. Keep on sharing, keep on talking about what God is doing. Keep it in the forefronts of our minds, and watch your world expand and change all around you. After all, what are we to be thinking about all day anyway? The Bible is filled with things to think on…

Also, notice that in Revelation our testimony is just as important as the “Blood of the Lamb” (word of God and power that Jesus came to give us and forgiveness of sins). Otherwise it wouldn’t be in the same sentence!! You are more important than you think!!!

Insights following the Bomb Attack

This post is NOT for the faint hearted: As I was praying about the bombing in Boston, I fell to my knees when I heard in my spirit that if Christians as a whole were given a grade, it would be a C-. I was sharing this with my husband saying that this bombing never would have happened if the person who did this was loved. And Tom said, even if they were loved for just ONE moment of time! (Tom knows first hand about having been loved for a moment in time when he was five years old. It stayed with him all his life and that is why he can love me as he does today – truly unconditional.) Then I heard this in my spirit as I was writing this: “People who do harm to others is because others have not shown them love. People who do harm to themselves is because they don’t know how to love themselves.”

I hear reports all the time when a crime happens in a sleepy neighborhood that people couldn’t believe that their next door neighbor could do such a thing. Why would that be? I would imagine no one really knows because no one took the time to love them, ask them if they needed help, or prayer. It’s not about feeding the poor all over the world or preaching to India.. it’s what is going on in our own back yard. How are we treating the checker? How do we drive our cars? I heard these lyrics in a song the other day that sums it up: “I want to live a life of love.. to show YOU Lord, how much I thank You for what You have done.” I truly want to live my life like that.

A scripture that comes to mind in times like this is, 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

So I have to ask, if we believe we are doing all these things, why isn’t our land being healed? Our freedoms are being taken away little by little. People are trying to extinguish God out of every public sight. The actual Earth is changing and dying. If we were doing what this passage says our land would be healed. So I have to ask… what AREN’T we doing?

I want to expand this passage for clarity: Humble (I believe to truly be humble is to REALLY believe what God’s Word says, to love Him no matter what, and be thankful), Pray (intercede for others and make petition), Seek (Only God and His righteousness) and turn from OUR wicked ways (don’t be deceived any more but ask God to show us our heart and repent for what is there) and in turn God will FORGIVE OUR SINS… and heal our Land. The bottom line is this is a sin issue. I’m not saying people aren’t being blessed every day, of course they are, but as a whole nation, we are failing fast. But again, it starts with us, in our homes, in our hearts, in our lives. If this rings true with you, I pray we get our own hearts and lives in check then we can truly reach the world in our own neighborhoods without fear. Because perfect love casts out all fear and torment. The Bible says to “be perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.” How do we do that if we can never be perfect? This is talking about loving each other! When we love, we fulfill all the law (Galatians 5:14, Romans 13:8 and 10).

So when next report card time comes around perhaps our grade will have improved? That is my prayer today, I hope it’s yours.

I had a Near Death Experience Today

To define NDE (Near Death Experiences), it’s people who have died and come back to life to tell of their experiences in hell or heaven. But, they in fact died… I didn’t die, but it was close, so I call that an actual NDE.

This was actually my second one in five years.

The first one was when I was in Hawaii, and I got caught up in a wave that pushed water down my throat and into my lungs. This time (still with water) I was outside and was about to drink a bottle of water that had a nozzle on it, and I accidently squeezed it in my mouth and it pushed the water into my lungs. I couldn’t cough or anything, I wasn’t able to get any air, and just kept trying to breath in. My husband saw me and ran out to help, and had me get on all fours as my body began to breath again. It was truly a miracle, because one minute I couldn’t breath and within a few minutes, I was breathing again. There was an after effect, as I did cause some trauma to my chest, it hurt for awhile, but not unbearable.

But, here’s the most amazing thing…  I wasn’t afraid (I had the same experience in Hawaii).  Both times, I had a complete peace, no fear at all. It just wasn’t a good feeling not being able to breath, but I wasn’t afraid.

What the Lord showed me and reminded me of from the last time, was that there is no fear in death. And he told me that when I am about to die, I will be given a peace that passes all understanding. Jesus took the sting of death away. In ministry, many tell me, “I’m not afraid to dye, just the dying process.” Well, I’m here to say there is no pain in that either… because if we are IN Pain, we aren’t dying yet! Peace comes right before we leave this earth, because Jesus paved the way and took the sting out of death.

Well, I just had to share this with you, and glad I am above ground still, though to be absent from the body is to be present with our dear sweet Lord… He still has things for me to do though…  And one thing is to share more about Jesus with my 5 grandchildren who live in Alaska. I am going to skype them on easter  and tell them the Easter Story.

It’s very interesting that in my reading time last night this was the passage that stuck out:  Deuteronomy 6:6-9⁶ And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

⁷ And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

⁸ And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

⁹ And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

 

After I read this passage, I knew I needed to talk to my grandchildren more about Jesus. This NDE really put my focus back on what is important.  I also came across a video on YouTube of an atheist who died and went to Hell. And while he was there, something sprung up in his heart…  the song, “Jesus loves me this I know…” And he called out to Jesus. As he shared his story, he said that as a little boy he was taught this song. So, it only confirmed to me the need to share more of the Lord with my grandchildren, because it may be the difference between life and death when they grow up.

 

Do you have a zeal for God, but not sure why things aren’t happening for you?

I woke this morning with Romans 10 on my mind. I had a dream about it and so I decided to go there this morning.

I had been asking God, what do you want me to be doing? We all need to ask ourselves this from time to time, to be sure we are still on the right path of our calling. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to continue publishing other people’s books, which church to go to, questioning my ministry, etc. So I believe that is why God led me to this passage.

It says, “

10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. ² For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

³ For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Well, I reread that over and over and saw the answer to my prayer. In many of those I minister to, one area seems to be there, doubting who they are in Christ, and some even doubt their own salvation, it’s because thought they have a zeal for God, they are trying to get things done in their own strength.

We need to understand God’s righteousness. Many have a zeal for God, want to minister, want to help others, but have NO KNOWLEDGE. What does the Bible say about God’s people who have no knowledge? They perish…  That is why it seems like nothing is happening for some, because you have no knowledge and are ignorant of God’s righteousness and spinning their wheels, and everything you “try” to do seems to perish. Many are out “trying” to do things thinking it will bring them closer to God, or that God will approve of them and love them more, but that is ignorance. It says we are out “trying” to establish our own righteousness. Trying to let people know about our abilities and talents. Trying to get others to believe we are the answer to their prayers. Trying to get others to approve of us. Trying to get others to agree with our ministry vision. Trying to be good! It gets into drivenness to be loved. But the fact is, when we are IN Christ, we ARE loved!! God is Love.

We are simply ignorant of the truth, we error. Matthew 22:29 says, “You do error not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.”

As I was thinking on this, I saw Jesus in the wilderness. So hungry and thirsty after 40 days. Can you imagine what you would feel like? Remember, Jesus was a man too, so experienced the things we would. So he was pretty much in a weakened state.. and guess who comes along to tempt him with food? Satan…  and what was Jesus’ response… “The Lord has said….” He fought Him with the Word, and Satan left…  AND THEN THE ANGELS CAME AND MINISTERED TO HIM. Many of our angels are waiting around to minister to you, but because you aren’t “speaking the Word” they are twiddling their thumbs. The Bible says that we all have ministering angels of those who are heirs to the kingdom. Let’s put them to work with our words. Let’s begin to understand what it means to submit to the righteousness of God. Let’s get to know our identity in Christ. So many say, “I don’t know who I am.” Well, that’s a good place to start! Let’s ask God to give us deeper understanding of His righteousness IN you.

Let today’s mercies be new for you! And choose today to seek out God’s righteousness and what that really means. Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God. If you’ll notice, there is a comma between “hearing”  and, “and” signifying a new thought. I always read this to say, “Faith comes by hearing the word of God.” and ignoring the “first” hearing. But it was brought to my attention recently, that the first “hearing” is critical! It’s listening to what others have to say… it’s hearing their testimonies. It’s seeing what God has done in their lives. It’s recalling what God has done in ours. And then… hearing the Word of God. So both of these are important to our faith.  And then, continue in His Word… both of these will bring us into the knowledge of righteousness, because we aren’t talking about what WE did, but what God did, or did through us.

It’s not by my might or strength that anything gets done, it’s by God’s might and strength THROUGH me. We have to submit ourselves to the righteousness of God, ALONE. He gets all the glory, He is the truth, He is the way; it’s His way alone. And it comes through faith, not of any works at all. It comes through believing the Word of God. The bible says that we overcome the devil by the Blood of the Lamb (Which I believe to not only be his sacrifice on the cross, but the Word of God) and the word of our testimony.

When we believe and walk this way, our faith will be demonstrated by our works. It’s not the other way around. If I believe I can lay hands on the sick, then that’s what I’ll go and do. If I believe I can cast out devils, then that’s what I’ll do. But if I say, I can’t hang glide, then I can’t hang glide.. What do you believe?

What are we talking about here? Are we sharing what God has done or what WE have done? Are some doubting their salvation? Perhaps you have a zeal but lost your way in all your efforts. Let’s get off that treadmill of “works” and go back to our first love. And that is to simply “receive” God’s love, without doing anything for it. Because when we try to DO something for it, that’s when we get into our OWN righteousness… then our works will follow.