God gives dreams to kids for a reason. Talk about them.

This morning my 9-year-old was feeling a little poorly. He’s had allergy symptoms that have been going crazy.  My son has great faith, like most kids will, but the enemy tries to twist their minds to pull them away, little by little. Jack has been physically healed of many little things, but in the last few years, he’s battled allergies and they were really draining him this week. We believe, in our house, that Jesus died for our sickness and disease, as well as for our sin. He redeemed what was lost in creation at the cross. I also am so thankful for the promise in Isaiah 54:13 “All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace.” I did feel bad for Jack, but felt convicted that this was a battle for his faith. The enemy fights hard to numb those who are called by God, so I prayed for how to encourage Jack.

If it was just one sick day, that would not be a big deal, but this seemed to be a morning ritual and he was getting behind on his math. So, I sat down by his slumped, blanket covered body in the chair. I took a moment to ask the Lord what to do and I heard the words “Victory in Christ” echo in my head. An example came to me quickly.

“Jack, if you bought a lottery ticket and found you’d won a million dollars, what would you do? Would you be excited!”  After a short debate about how he would not waste his money on a lottery ticket, we got back to the point. “If you had a lottery ticket that said you won a MILLION dollars, would you believe that you would actually get a million dollars when you turned it in?”

“Yes,” he said. “If we have a claim ticket, then they have to pay us.”

“Is God less faithful than the government? If God promises something, is He faithful?

“Yes!” Jack replied.

“You have a ticket that says ‘Victory in Christ. Ask God what you get with that.”

He closed his eyes and listened. “New life,” he heard.

Well, ask God, “What does new life look like?” He closed his eyes and leaned against the chair. I waited…I waited a little more and soon I heard a little gurgling sound like a snore emerge… He fell asleep. “Ok,” I thought. God can use this. Maybe it is God. I prayed for Jack to have a dream that explains what new life looks life and left for a bit.

In a short while, he was up. I asked him if he heard anything. Yes!  “I had a dream!” he exclaimed. Yay! I felt awe and wonder at how God was helping me with my parenting this morning. “Tell me the dream,” I sat down and asked.

“There was a tree with only a couple of leaves left on it. In the morning, when the sun shined on the tree, all of the leaves started to rapidly grow, a couple every second. But when it got dark they began to fall off. They all started to fall off and only a couple leaves were still there. Then the sun shined on the tree, the leaves grew back. When the wind blew in the daytime, none of the leaves came off. At night when the wind blew, all of the leaves went off, except for a couple. The tree was a big willow.”

“Wow! That is a great dream. Do you know what it means?” I asked.

“No,” he said.

I asked him what he knows about willow trees. He knew that they were big and had skinny branches. We got out the encyclopedia and looked up characteristics of a willow. “The willow is often found by streams and rivers.”

I explained the dream. We, like a willow, need to live with our roots in the damp soil that is Christ because we soak up living water from our roots. However, even when we know Him, we can be weakened when we let false things in our heads or false words come out of our mouth. We have to keep ourselves in truth so we produce new growth and new life. New life flourishes in the sunshine of what Jesus has taught. Sin brings clouds. Doubt brings clouds. Deception and twisting the word brings clouds. The darkness doesn’t feed the life of the tree. Be careful whom you take advice from. Jesus is the truth and we must believe what He said. His words are simple and true. His words are life. We have to watch out for deception that would twist His words and cause our leaves to fall off.”

“Now, close your eyes and in your imagination, go stand in the sunshine you saw in your dream and pay attention to how your body feels.”

“Tingly,” he said after a bit.

“That must be what new life feels like as you stand in faith in the light of Christ,” I smiled. “How about if we get up and do your math.”

He seemed to be past his woes and ready to get up and do his math. Amazingly, he finished it in record time, AND got the answer book out to check his own answers and correct them. I’m not sure what all happened to him in the light, but there are definitely some new leaves on his tree!

I know my son didn’t know this, but his dream is almost exactly a picture of Psalm 1.

1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked (in the dark)
or stand in the way that sinners take (he keeps his roots near Jesus)
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, (in the sunshine)
and who meditates on his law day and night. (he remains there)
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, (the willow)
which yields its fruit in season (He is ready and full of leaves when he needs to be)
and whose leaf does not wither— (stays strong)
whatever they do prospers. (leaves grow rapidly in the light)
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away. (the leaves blow off in the night time)
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Our God, Jehovah Jirah (my provider) is amazing. He is the great I AM.

The Charlie Challenge and Getting Rid of Charlie

Have you played the Charlie Challenge or do you have friends who have?

The Situation I’ve learned about this week

Yesterday a friend alerted me to the new craze the Charlie Charlie Challenge.. This week I was with a team talking about Jesus with kids on the street. Our team met three kids in a neighborhood and not one of them knew who Jesus was. Two were eager to learn. Kids are hungry for supernatural things, but still very naïve. The two received the good news of Jesus eagerly and gave their lives to Christ. What does this have to do with Charlie? Charlie is VIRAL right now, but Jesus is not. Because of that, kids are getting sucked into dark stuff.

My Creepy Dream

After I was alerted to the spread of the Charlie Challenge I reposted it on Facebook and let it go. However, the Lord didn’t let me leave it that quickly. I woke the next morning after a strange dream. I regard my dreams pretty highly, and journal those that stand out. God has shown me some really significant things via my dreams that have come to pass. (as in Joel 2 in the Bible). This dream I had was like a short horror movie. I was with a young girl and we were in her room. She said that yesterday she had learned to make a sound (a call) that would call this “thing”. So we were curious to see whether the sound would bring it again.

We climbed up on the bed and she made this little sound, which seemed innocent, and the “thing” came. Through the air, at about eye level, a giant fish swam toward us. It had a long sword extending from its face. It came toward the young girl and its sword went through her gut and then came out again. It pierced her, but physically, we couldn’t see anything had happened. (Graphic scene warning)

Within a very short time, she started bleeding from between her legs. The flow quickly flooded her clothing, and there was massive internal bleeding like it was consuming her from within. Eventually blood began to fill her mouth and flood out of there too. Within minutes, she died.

In the dream, I was an observer and didn’t fear as I watched this scene. This thing wasn’t interested in me; it went for the easiest victim, the one who invited it.

The day after I had this dream, I ran into a group of kids who had just played this game and knew something was wrong with them. They felt something odd going on, creepy and they were eager to get rid of it. RIGHT AWAY God brought me to kids who had been affected by this to help them free and He told me to share this with you in an article.

What does this dream mean?

God created blood. Blood in his language symbolizes life. There is an evil angel called Satan, or the devil or takes what was God’s idea and twists it. That’s why there is this craze about vampires and blood. God actually made us to be supernatural and the blood of Jesus, his Son is powerful. Here’s the story.

God created man in a beautiful garden, a perfect world of peace and harmony, but before that time, there was another of God’s creations, a beautiful angel, that got proud. He, too, was amazed at how God created him but then thought the other angels should worship HIM. Pride was his fall. He fell to the earth where he continues to try to get God’s children to bow to Him. He uses every trick possible, like tricking kids into calling on him for supernatural answers. Did you know you could ask for a SAFE and all knowing Spirit? He will give you wisdom, tell you crazy things you could never know and allow you to have power to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons – like Charlie. It’s the life God made you to lead, but often we don’t see much of that action at church, so we don’t know that it happens. God puts His own Spirit, called the Holy Spirit in those who believe in His Son, Jesus. That Spirit gives us power to hear supernatural answers too and power over demons like “Charlie”!

The blood in the dream was really important. The enemy, Satan, wants to take your life. For everything counterfeit, vampires and messages from Charlie, there is a true. Without real money, we couldn’t have counterfeit money. Here’s what is true and right.

Where did the devil come from?

Long ago, after the first two people were created by God, they made a big mistake. It was kind of like the Charlie Challenge.

God made angels and some of them were tossed out of heaven with a beautiful angel called Lucifer, who thought he should be worshiped like God was, because he was so amazing. He was amazing, but he could not share the throne of heaven with God, so God cast him down to earth. (Revelation 12:9) This made him pretty mad. Man was made for friendship with God and to worship Him. This angel, now also called the devil, is jealous of that to this day and wants us to worship him. Now he’s just mean and cranky about it.

God made the first man and woman (Adam and Eve, Genesis 1) and placed them in a beautiful garden where there was no sickness or pain. It was an amazing place. The world at that time was perfect. God said it was all “good”.

That fallen angel, called Lucifer or Satan, tempted the first people God made and told them to listen to him. They did. They ate fruit God told them not to eat. They tried what he suggested and it led to death, similar to what I saw in the dream of the Charlie Challenge. They handed over the authority that God gave them over the earth to the devil. You can choose who you will invite into your life, God or the devil. The Bible says in Psalm 115:16 “The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to mankind.” We have choices of what we will do with this earth because God gave us that authority. Man chose to give it over to Satan. That is why so much bad stuff happens.

Jesus is the answer – the cure for this problem of sin.

God keeps his word. It is impossible for him to lie, so when man choose to eat that fruit, God said they would die, and they began to die at that moment, to age and die. They also became separated from God because of sin. God has laws and he doesn’t break them. He said the curse of sin is death. (That is where animal sacrifice comes from. The payment for sin had to be blood. I’m sure you’ve heard of that in many cultures.) God loved man and still loves man. He made a way for all this to get fixed, but there is still a battle going on that we don’t see with our eyes between the good angels and the bad ones. All man is suffering because Adam and Eve would pass down this sin to their children for generations.

Right away, God had a plan to save man. He sent his Son, born of a virgin young woman, 2000 year ago, a miracle from heaven. His name was Jesus. He did many miracles and healed the sick to show people that God was holy, powerful and merciful. The people he came to save crucified him; that means they beat him unmercifully and nailed him to a tree to die slowly! It was horrible. God allowed it because it was part of the plan.

Jesus was sinless and human, yet filled with the Spirit of God. He would become the perfect, final blood sacrifice to God. He paid the final price for our sin. He took what you and I deserved upon himself. Charlie is trying to make a sacrifice to himself out of you! Jesus died out of obedience to God. You may have or might invite Charlie out of obedience to “not God”. Not good, hey.

When Jesus died, the devil thought he had won, but GOD – but God raised Jesus from the DEAD and he still lives today! He rose to heaven in his body and but then sent His Spirit to live in us so that we could walk in the power and love that He did! (Read John to learn more.) Jesus took the keys of authority over the earth that man gave to the devil in the garden and gave them back to man. This is how you gain power over demons like Charlie

If you are lonely, don’t invite Charlie to be your friend. If you have another invisible friend that is not God, this works for that too. Those are not the right voices to follow. Jesus will tell you secrets too and they will bring you life, not death. Doing this will bring you eternal life as well! You will live forever in a place called heaven where there is no pain, sorrow or sickness.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF – ONE ONLY WAY

 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father (God) except through me.” He is the gatekeeper of eternal life, joy, peace, and power. He not just protects you, but replaces evil with good in your life. You can’t do this on your own.

 This message is called the “Gospel” or good news. Here it is explained from the Bible:

1. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3;23 (Sin is the bad stuff people do)
2. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (This means that when our bodies dies, our spirits live on. With faith in Jesus, we go to a place called heaven, that is beautiful. Without putting our trust in Jesus, we suffer in a place or torment, because we refuse the accept the gift. It’s our choice, not God’s punishment. We choose who we will follow.)
3. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 )
4. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (Grace is the power of God, a gift that comes because of his love and mercy.)
5. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10

Being saved means you are reborn in your spirit. You move from death to life inside. God said you become a new creation! All old things pass away and things in you become new. You are not stuck with all the consequence of sin. You can be free!

You will feel joy instead of loneliness, peace instead of anxiety and you’ll be able to tell Charlie to leave and God will protect you. He wants all of yourself in his protective fence so he can free you from the things that got stuck to you in the world, the hurt, the pain, the abuse, the fear, addiction, suicide, voices that torment you. Jesus will take it all. There is a book that tells about Jesus called “The Bible”. If you turn to the second half, called the “New Testament” in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, you will read about His life.

How do you get to know Him?

Say this prayer OUT LOUD. IT MUST BE OUT LOUD:

“Jesus, I want your salvation. I believe you died for me and rose for me and that you are the Son of God. Forgive me for my sins. Take my life. I surrender it to you.”

It’s that simple. Did you say it?

If you prayed that prayer, what he tells the disciples in the Bible, he is telling you, because you are now a disciple, one learning from your teacher.

GOD HAS A GIFT FOR YOU!

With salvation comes a free gift, a powerful gift, a mind-blowing gift. Often we feel empty in life, so we seek things to make us happy. Those things, however, don’t fill us and so we keep searching never finding the joy we are looking for. We are made like a pitcher for water, to be filled with the Spirit of God. He says our bodies are HIS temple, His home, and he wants to fill us with His Spirit.

It’s simple. I’m going to ask you to hold your hands out, quiet yourself and invite the Holy Spirit to come. Then, just wait on him and sense what is going on in your body. You may feel peace. God says we can ask for more of him too, so when you start to feel His presence, you can ask for MORE too! This could be a strong sensation or not so much, but don’t be afraid. God is right there with you.

READY? Hold your hands out and say: “Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit”

GETTING RID OF CHARLIE (and other bad voices or spirits)

NOW – You can send Charlie and his buddies away. Without Jesus, the Bible says that when we send one demon away, he comes back with more friends, so we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit instead.

Below is a list of things to say out loud to get rid of Charlie and other things that torment you. You may pause between each one. You may feel physical changes going on in your body. Just wait and ask Jesus to help you if you feel uncomfortable or weak, then go to the next one.

Father, I ask your forgiveness for my sin. I forgive those who have wronged me and receive your forgiveness. Change my heart to look like Yours.

Heal my hurts and my pain. Forgive me for not valuing my life. I want to live.

(Don’t forget to say all this out loud so the devil can hear you.) In the name of Jesus, I loose myself from every curse I have inherited, that has been spoken over me or that I have brought upon myself.

In the name of Jesus, I command every evil spirit to leave me now. (You may feel something physically leave or see something in your mind. You might feel lighter – how cool is that!)

In the name of Jesus, I disagree with every bad word I’ve spoken about myself and I disagree with the negative things others have spoken over me. 

 I declare wholeness over my mind, body and soul right now.

In the name of Jesus, I tell my body to be healed.

In the name of Jesus, I tell my mind to be healed and in order.

 Thank you Jesus. Amen

WHAT NOW?

Congratulations! Now share this with your friends. Get a Bible, read the book of John together. You are a child of the living God, so you have a Father who loves you beyond what you can imagine. Start reading the New Testament of the Bible so you can learn more about your new life. I suggest starting with the book of John, the fourth book/part. Find others to read with.

Ask God where you should go to church and he may tell you right away, show you a picture or connect you quickly with someone who you should go with. The church should value the Bible as completely true and should also believe that the gifts God gave men, like healing, words of wisdom from God and what you’ve have experienced today really happen. Demons are real but God is way BIGGER and already has victory over them.

Trust what you are sensing when you join a church. You should feel LOVE when you enter a church, open arms and you should hear more about how to be a disciple who walks with the power of the living God in you. You should hear testimonies of changed lives. Settle for nothing less! Sin is not ok. The presence of God, joy and peace should be felt in a church. You should not sense that something is “off”.  The Holy Spirit will confirm things in your mind, heart or body when you need help. Any church that says God tolerates sin or that we can stay in it is wrong.  Grace is power to change, not license to sin. Romans 8 says what we should look like in Christ. It is a process of God changing us that takes different amounts of time with different people. God is patient and gentle as he changes us. He’s not going to beat you up for your sin, but you will feel that you have made God sad when you do, so just say you are sorry and then ask for His help to change. God is holy and he says we can be and should be holy like He is. That is the POWER of the gospel. The devil is not bigger than God, nor is His temptation. Find someone who loves and walks like Jesus in their life and ask where they go to church if you need help.

( My church recommendations in this article are for new believers, not for those who are already in relationship in a church. I believe God wants us who are mature spread out throughout the Body to help revive it. God will lead them and you but I wanted to establish what the Bible says a healthy church will look like.)

HEARING GOD

You can now hear the voice of God, so when you ask a question, the voice you hear may sound like your own voice. God’s voice is encouraging. The devil’s voice is negative and your own voice is selfish. That’s how you start to train yourself. Jesus calls his followers sheep, because they follow the Shepherd and he says you will hear his voice and not follow a stranger’s, so trust the leading voice of God. He will take you on some great adventures, comfort you, and direct you. He has a plan for your life! He also uses your imagination and dreams, so ask Him to give you a picture or a dream if you want to know something. If you don’t understand what you see or hear, ask another question. He will answer. He also uses our senses – all of them. Expect the unusual and enjoy it. Your life has become supernatural in a healthy way and God created you to be loved and amazing. He says you are His own child. Today is like a new birthday, so happy birthday in Jesus! 

#charliecharliechallenge, #charliechallenge

Good Friday – The Deepest Love for the Deepest Loss

I am the worst of sinners.

I look upon the agony of Jesus, nailed to a cross, blinded by sweat and swollen tissue, pain shooting through every nerve of his back as he felt the rough wood contact the open festering wounds. There was no Band-Aid for this moment, only raw pain. What pain hurt him most?

Perhaps it was His depth of love for a creation lost. Taunts, jeers, tears and torment filled his day, but He stayed there because He was one in nature with the Father. He chose to go on, to do this hard thing. I can only wonder at such love, and crave to have it. Yet when I do, I know how far from it I am, how remote my understanding of love and sacrifice is. I take the easy way out. I limit myself to what I can feel comfortable with. What kind of comfort zone was the cross!?

Oh how wretched, poor, blind and naked I am in the midst of my gracious surroundings. I see His eyes looking at me with longing and I realize the depth of my sin. Love like this is not normal, yet He asks me to love like Him.

On my knees, on my face, I feel the conviction, the painful knowledge of how far short I will fall of this example. I see the kindness of a Savior who disregarded my cold heart to reach out to me, to break the barriers of what love toward me could look like. I struggle to understand, but know how short I fall. I am supposed to look like Him? …Oh Lord, I am dust compared to royalty. What do I do with this scandalous grace, this heart of love that is mine to inherit. I let myself further absorb the moment of conviction and find transforming humility cloaking me like a garment.

There is so much more love to extend. Miles more grace to walk in. People to embrace that I have passed by and hope to release where no one has noticed. Hanging there, bloody and oxygen-starved, writing in pain from the exposure of raw nerve endings rubbing spikes in his hands and feet, Jesus noticed me.

As I kneel before him in my spirit, I hear, “Forgive them. They know not what they do.”

Following the Leader: Part 1- The Nature of God as a Father and Jesus as our Teacher

We have a Father in heaven who loves us and our children even more than we are able to love our own children, or ourselves. I thought of the verse yesterday that said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11, NIV) There are many good gifts our Father wants to give us. One of them is physical healing.

Someone asked this question of me yesterday. “Who am I to ask that God take this pain away if He wants to use it for His glory?”  The heart of the Father stirred in me and I felt overwhelming compassion for this person, just as I would have felt if my little boy came to me looking feverish, but didn’t understand that I was willing and desirous to help.

If your child was sick, through no fault of his own, perhaps he had a migraine or the flu, or cancer, and you had the ability to heal them, would you let him suffer for his own good and withhold the medicine? Would we give him a placebo, or a slower acting medicine so he could model silent suffering as he was blinded by pain or the side effects of chemotherapy? Even the non-believing world would see that as bad parenting, or even child abuse. Yet, sometimes we reason that God does that to us because, when we ask, we don’t always get healed right away, sometimes not at all. Don’t be discouraged or doubt the nature of God because of your experience! The disciples were LEARNING how to do what Jesus commanded, but sometimes they didn’t see the results either. The problem isn’t in the nature of God or in our worthiness to be healed. We are in a parent/child relationship with the Almighty God.

Why doesn’t God heal me then? Why do I still suffer, even if someone has prayed for me, or I have asked? Most of us have asked that question at some point. I have learned much from Jesus’ example. He told me to do all that he commanded. He told the disciples to go and teach others everything He commanded, that they should then tell others. So, as the good note taker I am, I’ve gone back to study all that He commanded so I could try to do that.

One thing He said was, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and cleanse the lepers.” Ok, so I tried it. It didn’t work the first time I tried. Why doesn’t it always work? Does it mean the gifts have ceased?  … There is no evidence of that in scripture that I can find, but here’s a teaching tip he gave to His first disciples from Mark chapter 9. It’s like a parenting conversation between Jesus and the disciples. The disciples are talking to Jesus after going out to heal the sick and deliver people from evil. The say, “What went wrong? We did what you told us to do!” But they weren’t mature in understanding yet…

17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. 22“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Did you note that Jesus didn’t say “Everything is possible for ME.” He said, “Everything is possible for THE ONE WHO BELIEVES.”

The disciples believed in Jesus, they just didn’t believe they could cast out that demon. We can have faith in God but not faith in what he said we can do. The enemy knows this and fails to listen when we don’t understand the true nature of faith and authority. “Jesus I know, and Paul I’ve heard of, but who are YOU?” demons once said to some who were trying to cast them out. Authority comes through faith and relationship.

The disciples were growing up in faith and in their knowledge of the nature of God, just as we all are. Like little preschoolers, they were trying to do what they saw their parent doing.. Give yourself grace and then persevere to understand more so we don’t frustrate Jesus… because it looks like Jesus had a bit of frustration when he said, “You unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

Haven’t we felt this with out own children as we are training them? We teach them to do something and they say, “I couldn’t do it” or they just don’t do it and we end up doing it ourselves. Here Jesus says, “Fine, I’ll do it myself, but I expected you to do it.” We know they COULD do it if they tried and believed they could, because we’ve given them the tools and the direction, yet they quit before they succeed. Just because our children don’t understand, doesn’t mean they can’t learn or they can’t do it. It sounds like Jesus is having a parenting moment here to me. He’s modeling the Father’s nature, his power toward those who believe, yet his followers are not fully grown up into who they called him to be. Just look at the progress of Peter!

We MUST trust the words of Christ, the God who cannot lie. God calls himself “Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals”. In Jesus example, He healed all who came to him and asked. In Jesus, He showed his true nature. Jesus was the visible representation of the invisible God we struggled to understand. He said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” We can know the Father’s will by what Jesus’ did. He didn’t need us to look humble and pitiful, nor to grovel for his help. Would we want our children to look like that? or would we want them strong, confident and in charge!

It is not humility to be less than we are called to be or to receive less than God has promised us. Humility is saying “Yes” to whatever the Father asks, no matter how foolish we look to the world doing it. It is not confidence in the flesh, confidence in our own strength, or our own wisdom.

Recently, we were facing a big decision and feeling prompted by the Lord to take a step of faith. My husband and I had to ask God for an answer and believe that he would speak, as mentioned in James 1. We had to believe we would hear the answer right away. We prayed individually and compared the first thing that came to our heads. I heard the quiet voice say, “You can’t do this in your own strength.” I held that in and asked what my husband heard. He said he heard, “It’s not going to work.” Yikes! I thought. We better ask more about that, so he asked, “What does that mean?” The quiet voice in his head replied, “Doing it your way.” I then shared the confirmation I heard.  That led to a big step of faith into a decision that seemed nutty and unreasonable. We wanted to do what seemed “wise” in the way of the world, get all the answers before we acted, but the Lord said, “It’s not going to work your way.”

Isn’t that what a Father who knows better would say?! “Son, it’s not going to work your way. I have a better plan and I need you to trust me.” Humility is listening to that voice and bowing your way to the one who knows better.

Jesus modeled humility in actual persecution. He submitted to torture and said the disciples would be tortured as well, but for their faith because they confessed the words of the Gospel. Human eyes can’t see who Jesus is, but the spirits could. People didn’t recognize him, because often we are veiled to spiritual things, but when the demons came near him, they shuddered, because they knew his identity. Know your identity. You are filled with the Spirit of the Living God and shine the light of Christ! The veil in the temple has been torn and you have access to the power of the living God who is making all things new! Easter is every day in the Kingdom of God because Jesus came out of the tomb and is the same yesterday, today and forever!~ Ya

He Came Back to Say “Thanks!” and God Responded With More

Such a great evening at our weather amnesty shelter last night. For those new to my blog, part of our family life includes coordinating a winter weather amnesty shelter for homeless men. For my first night of the season, I brought my famous (boxed) brownies and met old friends again. We heard a great devotion from a volunteer who really prayed and listened to what God wanted to say to these men and heard confirmation that she was right on in their responses! She’d overcome addiction herself. Many here struggle with that. Yeah God! I love those moments.

Also had a man come see us who Steve prayed for the night before. Steve was busy with another man and told him to come look for me. He wanted to share what God has done for him. He took off his glasses and pointed to his eye. He said he had a tumor in there and, before, he couldn’t look at the light without severe pain, so he wore very dark glasses. He took off his glasses and looked right into it and said, “This is so freaky! I am so freaked out!” I have no pain. Then he showed me his leg. He had deep vein thrombosis previously. He pulled up his pant legs as all the guys were sitting there to show them what God has done. The swelling was gone and the two legs were the same size. The cracks in the skin were healing. He was just praising God and in shock. Others were watching and one man just held his hands up in awe and wonder. He showed me his arm and said it had been broken in 7 places by a K9; there were plates in it and it had a big swollen lumpy area above the wrist. I said, “Let’s pray for that too!” “Alright!” he said and stuck it out and closed his eyes. I closed my eyes too and started telling the bones to heal. He stopped me to say “Look! Wait. look!” I opened my eyes and looked at his arm and the lump was gone. He went on to thoroughly point out what was different. The skin was loose and some lump was gone leaving an indentation. The scaring was all in different places and loosed up. We were so excited! Jesus is alive we agreed!

He sat down for the devotion, hardly containing himself, continually checking out his arm and leg. Nearby, another man was watching who went to find Steve. He asked for prayer and confessed his need for Christ. God is so good! I love my job as Christ follower. At The Vineyard Church last week we heard about the 10 lepers and the one who said thanks. There weren’t 10 this time, but is always so rewarding when one returns to celebrate how wonderful God is, but even more awesome to see God say – YES! Let me show you what else I can do when you’re thankful! I remember Mark wondering what Jesus was thinking. I wondered too. Tonight I think I got a picture of what he was thinking – “Let me reward you with more for your thankfulness!” May he continue to wholeness in every way.

Still My Soul – Restore me to rest

I asked the Lord to still my soul and to reveal what scripture he wanted to speak over me today. Psalm 91 came to mind. (You can click the link to read it.) He gave me this prayer to restore my place of security and peace in him. 

God, restore my rest. 

Lord, I thank you that Psalm 91 is true in my life. I thank you that because I abide in you, you are my dwelling place that you give your angels charge over me, that I have help. I will not be left alone or without provision. Thank you that you answer my prayers when I call upon you and place me under the shadow of your wing. Thank you that your voice roars out before me and clears the way of my path. You are my refuge and I trust you. I will do what I need to every day and not get tripped up in what’s not done yet.

Because of what Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplished I have peace. I reside in this world, but am not of this world. Your presence is my sustenance and my portion. I live from your freedom and hold my arms open. I need no other protection but you. I receive that protection and provision and thank you. Thank you that you have carried my burdens and sorrows on the cross. They ripped your flesh apart in such a way that I could find no way to comfort you there in that place other than with a drink of water. There was no place to touch that would not have brought you more pain. You made yourself completely vulnerable and in that place I have strength. I am not my own. I belong to you. I am made to minister to you, so keep my focus there and let me be your balm to the world, the drink of water that it cries out for in it’s pain. Let me bring beauty and life out of the pain you endured, because you did that for me. I will never forget. This is what is important. Your death is the significance of our life.

Amen.

What do all these words from you mean Lord?

Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”

I received some wonderful words of encouragement from a wise friend yesterday. Words from God’s heart. As I painted walls in my home yesterday, this verse came to me when I realized I would have to piece together some of the things God has been saying through dreams and prophetic words to find our direction. Some of the words are vague; some are figurative. I realized I would have to go back and examine them all together…”to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” To be a king requires effort because many are depending on him for their leadership. It is a place of great responsibility. When God gives us revelation, it brings him glory, but he receives more through those who live like a king, taking responsibility that the matter is searched more deeply so more will be blessed or protected.
‪#‎revelation‬ ‪#‎prophesy‬