Gifts From My Dad

Psalm 5:12  For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

The last two months has been like a whirlwind for Chuck and I, but in the midst of it I have had moments of obvious blessings from heaven. There were little things that I have desired for a while and suddenly as if I could see the hand of God extended from heaven with my desire in His palm, there it was. This has not happened just once or twice.  It has been a shower of blessings.

To many it would seem that these things are very little and insignificant.  To me it has been a delight. Mainly because I know my father knew my desire and chose to make it available to me. One hundred and twenty dollar curtains for my bedroom, living-room and kitchen for forty dollars.  Curtains that were exactly what I wanted.  Doors of ministry that have opened up suddenly, trips to places I wanted to see with little expense and good fellowship...etc, etc, etc.

Have you ever seen your child in a hard place and you bought them something they wanted just because you love them and wanted to bring them joy.  Well, that is what my Dad has been doing for me. What a Dad!

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Hath God Said?

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Many times I have said that when I met Eve in glory I was going to ask, "What were you thinking?". Her falling for the trick of the enemy of questioning God's word/promise that caused thousands of years of misery to humanity seems at first glance to be a DUH!.

However, the Holy Spirit quickened to me yesterday that I have been listening and entertaining the same question. "Did God really say?" There are many things that I have felt the Lord told me through the years that I have yet to see come into completion. Some have to do with my family, some concerning friends and a lot about my own calling and destiny. Recently through some medical testing that Chuck and I had, I came to the almost overwhelming realization of how few years I have left to see these things occur. To be honest it sent me into a tail spin, questioning if indeed those things would ever happen.

I set my sight on this old short fat body with all it's frailties and it seemed like the best option was to just let what I felt called to do just go with the wind. Surely, if they were true I would have accomplished at least a part of it by now and those in authority or leadership would have recognized that gifting within me. The life seemed to be draining out of my dreams.

Then came the quick kick to the seat of my paints by the Holy Spirit. Where is your faith? Is God limited by your weight, your looks, your personality, or your age? Is He limited by your finances, your health or even your strength. Is He limited by anyone or anything? Uh.......I believe the answer would be NO.

Romans 4:17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Well now, that was Abraham after all. Wasn't this because he was a special chosen one used by God to bring forth the children of God and Jesus who would bring reconciliation? What about us plan folk?

Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Joseph was a slave rejected by his brothers, Moses was a runaway murderer with a speech impediment, David was a sheepherder whose family had little respect for him, Ruth was a widow who just followed her mother-in-law, Esther was an orphan in a foreign land, Daniel was a prisoner of war transported away from his country. Peter, James and John were ordinary fisherman.  All common people used for Kingdom purposes. They chose to believe what God spoke into their lives despite what the circumstances were and despite their physical, social or financial status.

Psalm 12:6 The promises of the Lord can be trusted: They are as genuine as silver refined seven times in the furnace.

Romans 4:21 says that Abraham was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Can we not also be fully persuaded..... "Hath God said?"

Unsung Heros

I have been in quite a mind battle for the last two months. Feeling so many emotions and trying to discern their origin. Were these thoughts from the enemy, my flesh or was God trying to tell me something? I am just going to be real and say that one of the battles has been in the financing of what we feel called to do in ministry.  I realized that most, not all, of the ministers we have supported through the years live what we call in Mississippi  "high on the hog" or certainly better than we do.  They have bigger homes, nicer cars, clothes etc than we have ever had and yet we have supported their ministries.  Meanwhile, we have to sacrifice to support what we feel called to do.  This was one of many battles and it really made me evaluate my motives for giving. 

In the midst of this, hurricane Irene hit North Carolina and traveled up the eastern coastline.  We quickly responded to the need and deployed with Samaritan's purse to New Bern, NC.  I must say that I did not expect what I found with this deployment.

I found many Christian volunteers from all walks of life and all parts of the country who sacrificed time with family, vacation, their own money and convenience to come and help the victims of this storm. Some traveled long distances and put their health at risk. These same people did not come for the glamour, fame or financial gain.  They were virtually unknown except in their little circle.  Many had heartaches of their own and yet they served with a smile and I heard very little complaining. I believe the Lord told me that they are "unsung heroes"

An Unsung hero is defined as a person who makes a substantive yet unrecognized contribution; a person whose bravery is unknown or unacknowledged.  Someone who doesn't get the praise or recognition that he or she deserves.

As I pondered that, I got a text from my dear friend, Frances. She said in that text "Our Lord has recorded heroes in the faith who were workers, helpers, rescuers in disasters. Even as they experienced disasters or lack themselves, they are heros of the faith".

James 2:24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

There was a hero who had polio as a child and fingers missing from one hand and yet worked in the heat many days to put feet to his faith. A number of women who traveled many miles alone and worked as hard as any man. Another was a young lady from Ohio who crawled under a house after being warned of three different kinds of snakes to pull the flooded ductwork out. One hero came dispite her own fight with cancer and her famiy's severe health issues and cried in my arms the day she left. There were some who were grieving over the death of their loved ones and yet came to comfort others. There were several who had lost their job and had not found one to replace it so they came for many weeks to work for the Lord. There was a gentleman who put off the preparation for a ministry trip to Africa where he was called in order to come cut fallen trees. The list is endless.

I soon realized that all those thoughts about finances was a test of my heart. I did not do so well at first on this test. But after standing in the midst of my dear brothers and sisters who are unsung heroes, I realized we were the blessed ones. We had treasures that would not be tainted or corrupted by this world. We started out as strangers and we came away from there feeling we had left family. The Lord has a large army of unknowns who live under the radar but are a powerful force and my brothers and sisters and his friends.

James 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

Mark 6:7-13 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Open The Door, Lord!

July 10, 2011 while in prayer with our church prayer team prior to our Sunday morning service I saw in a vision a room being swept out by someone with a wide base broom. The broom was like the old homemade hand brooms of pioneer days.  Dust was being blown into the air.  Later in that same meeting I had a sudden awareness that the Lord was strategically moving people for the last days.

For months, it seems, I've been yearning for an awakening in me and the whole body of Christ. My heart desires the Glory of God to move in such a way that nothing can remain that is not Him. Along with that I have been keenly aware of my thoughts, attitudes, and ways that fall so short of who I should be as a servant of the living God. It is not a comfortable place but I cry out with David "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Many in the body of Christ are yearning and praying for the final Glory that is promised in the Word which will be greater than the former. We all carry this expectancy of a mighty move of God.  But our righteous Holy God does not dwell among the vile and the dirt.  He tells us in Leviticus 20:7 to "consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God".  Ezekiel 22:26 "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."

Two days later at our Church women's meeting I had a vision of a very old door that was white and worn and it was closed.  I felt led to pray and declare it opened and that the arm of the Lord was pushing it open.  Then two days later my friend Carol sent me this from a publishing group called 5 fold Media: "Recent Dream: Many new doors and opportunities are coming to the Lord's people. Watch how God puts you into connection with others that will become the key to your destiny. When new opportunities are on the horizon, new people will come into your life."  That connected in my mind the understanding I had that God was going to move people strategically and the vision of the door.

That same week while watching a live stream of a conference in Alabama, I became aware of a conference scheduled in Corinth, TX at Glory of Zion church called "The Open Door, A new door for a new season". I contacted my friend, Mary Lynn, who goes to that Church for information. In the article about the conference Chuck Pierce wrote:

"What does it mean to enter a new door to a new season? As all of us know, a door is an opening for entering or leaving a house, tent, or room. At least five Hebrew words and one Greek term are translated "door" in the English Bible. The two most common Hebrew words have distinct usages, though they may be interchanged. Petha refers to the doorway, to the actual opening itself. Deleth alludes to the door proper, usually made of wood sheeted with metal, though a slab of stone could be used. The Greek term thura is used for both of these Hebrew words.

"Door" is often used in a figurative sense in the Bible. In the Old Testament, "sin lieth at the door" (Gen. 4:7) means that sin is very near. The valley of Achor, a place of trouble (Josh. 7:26), is later promised as "a door of hope" (Hos. 2:15). It will become a reason for God's people to trust Him again.

In the New Testament Jesus calls Himself "the door" (John 10:7, 9). Faith in Him is the only way to enter the kingdom of God. God gave to the Gentiles "the door of faith," or an opportunity to know Him as Lord (Acts 14:27). Paul constantly sought a "door of service," an occasion for ministry in the name of Christ (1 Cor. 16:9). Jesus stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3:20). He calls all people to Himself, but will not enter without permission."

I believe we are standing at the door to what will be an awakening that remains, the Glory of His presence that mankind has not known since the fall.  King Solomon built a temple to the Lord that was exquisite. The day he sacrificed to the Lord and brought the ark of the covenant into the temple, a cloud of His glory entered into His house and the priest could not stand. We are now the temple of God and He is preparing us for that door to open. Matthew 3:12 "His winnowing fan (shovel, fork) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out and clean His threshing floor and gather and store His wheat in His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with fire that cannot be put out."

Touched With The Feeling

Hebrews 4:14 (Amplified Bible) Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].

    ¹⁵For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.

    ¹⁶Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

March 25th I underwent surgery to remove a cataract on my right eye. The surgery went as smoothly as I anticipated it would.  The Lord gave me peace about it from the beginning.  However, the recovery period has not been as quick and uneventful as I expected.  Not that anything serious has gone wrong, thank the Lord, but just challenges.  Having a surgeon who is exactly that and not really interested in bothering to get personally involved, I was not really prepared for these challenges.  As an ole nurse I know the value of educating the patient and as a patient I know the value is priceless.

One of the challenges has of course been vision since one eye is corrected and not yet clear and the other needs glasses.  This drastic difference in my eyes caused my balance to be off at times and reading could only be done by closing my operated eye and trying to read through the uncorrected eye, glasses and at times a magnifying glass.

Several days ago I started having pain in my operated eye. Being a nurse is an advantage at times and a real disadvantage at other times. The enemy loves to use your knowledge as a mental attack against you.  He loves playing all these scenarios over and over in your head.  When you have eye pain it causes other problems such as lack of concentration, nervousness, watering of your eyes, sensitivity to light etc.  I put up with this for several days until Chuck could no longer stand it and called the doctor.  Fortunately, the eye exam just showed scratching and irritation, but nothing serious.

Hebrews 13:3 Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you.(Message Bible)

Through all this and as we were coming back from the doctor's office Sunday night I thought of my sister who is now considered legally blind and my dear friend who has fought with eye pain for years due to a cornea transplant complications. I marveled at how much they had endured and yet continued on with life. The Holy Spirit reminded me of these scriptures as I thought of them.

We have a high priest, Jesus, who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He bore on the cross all our sins and every disease with all the pain and suffering that comes with them.  He can and does go before our Father and intercedes for us knowing exactly (feeling) what we are going through.  Likewise, when we go through trials or sickness we can go boldly to the throne of grace interceding not only for ourselves but also others in the same situation knowing exactly (feeling) what they are experiencing. This compassion brings forth power to heal and deliver. Many times in the word it says that Jesus was filled with compassion and healed them. No wonder the Lord tells us to count it all joy when we go through trials.  He did.

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

WHO AM I - Part 1

In further study of my inheritance these are a few of the things that the word says that I am as a born again Christian.  If you have Jesus living inside of you then this applies to you also.

I am a Child of God; God is spiritually my Father - Romans 8: 14-15 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

I am in Christ - Ephesians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

I am an heir with the Father and a joint heir with Christ Jesus - Romans 8:17  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I am reconciled to God and am an ambassador of reconciliation for Him - 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

I am a saint - 1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

I am God's workmanship, created in Christ for good works - Ephesians 2:10  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

I am a child of light - 1 Thessalonians 5:5  You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

I am the light of the world - Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

I am the salt of the earth - Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

I am a citizen of heaven - Philippians 3:20  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

I am the temple of the Holy Spirit - Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Your Inheritance

My Grandmother, Lucy Lewis, was from a farm area outside a very small town in Mississippi called Tylertown.  She was a widow at a very young age and raised four children while running a boarding house. My mom, Christelle, for years kept a quilt that my grandmother had made with her own hands.  I never really saw this quilt but she spoke of it often and dreamed of having a new backing put on it but never did.  When my mom passed away there was little that remained of materal value left me as an inheritance, but I wanted the much spoken of quilt in hopes of restoring it.  My grandmother was with me 24/7 when I was young since both of my parents worked, so I too would treasure the quilt.

When I obtained the quilt I was shocked.  This notorious quilt was beyond repair.  It was stained and dry rotted.   Standing with it in my hands, I thought it was a pretty good picture of my natural inheritance.

Last year I had a dream.  In part of the dream two of my cousins brought me several gifts.  One package was a square of the quilt that had been restored.  I was amazed. The colors were as vibrant as if brand new. Then there was a package of chocolates and some other gifts.  The last gift I opened up was the whole quilt completely restored.  I was beside myself with excitement. I asked them how they managed to restore the quilt and get it just as it was when my grandmother first put it together.  They answered, "it was there all the time."

I have pondered that statement many times since the night I had the dream and have asked the Lord to give me understanding.  Was my inheritance right under my nose and I had missed it? 

Well, I found that it truly was right under my nose.  The Bible clearly states that as born again believers we have a rich inheritance through Christ Jesus from our heavenly father, an inheritance to which we have full access.  However, just like a natural inheritance if we don't take hold of it then, it is as if we never had it. It would be like someone writing us a million dollar check and we put it on a shelf and never cashed it. Sitting around it is worth nothing, but taking it to the bank makes it worth a million because you access the money in the vault waiting on you.

Galations 3:26-4:7(Message)

 ^25-27But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ's life, the fulfillment of God's original promise.

In Christ's Family

 ^28-29In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ's family, then you are Abraham's famous "descendant," heirs according to the covenant promises.

Galatians 4

 ^1-3Let me show you the implications of this. As long as the heir is a minor, he has no advantage over the slave. Though legally he owns the entire inheritance, he is subject to tutors and administrators until whatever date the father has set for emancipation. That is the way it is with us: When we were minors, we were just like slaves ordered around by simple instructions (the tutors and administrators of this world), with no say in the conduct of our own lives.

 ^4-7But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!" Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

So the word clearly states that we as Christians are children of God with full, complete access to our inheritance. So having an inheritance is not the issue, it is a gift that was there all along.  Having access is not an issue, he says we have complete access. The issue is having the revelation that it is ours and reaching out and taking what is ours as children of the living God.

To not access what the Lord has provided for us through his sacrifice and blood is like being born into a rich family who lives in a huge mansion, dines on the richest of food, dresses in the highest of fashion and choosing to live in the barn with the animals and eat hay.  Stupid gone to seed.

Ephesians 2:1-6(Message)

^1-6It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

So in my dream the Lord was telling me that I have an inheritance beyond my imagination that has been available to me ever since I became a Christian. A provision for me that I have not fully accessed because I was not aware it was there.  I am already seated in heavenly places as a full heir of Almighty God and I am now on a journey to access what He has provided for me.

Wounded Foot

Several weeks ago in my sleep I saw a right foot that had a huge portion of the flesh missing. It was as if something had torn away 1/3 of the inside of the foot. It was a clean wound but non the less it was a wound that would probably require amputation. When I woke I began to ask the Lord to give me understanding as to what that meant.  I knew it was a serious matter.

I pondered as to the function of feet. Feet have many functions such as supporting, helping to maintain balance, and movement.  Anyone who has even a small problem with their feet knows it limits your daily activities. To have such a devastating wound would effect your walk(destiny) in a serious way.

The first scripture that crossed my mind was about the whole armor of God.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

These things are equipment for soldiers in war.  We as Christians are daily in a war with the enemy of our soul and to enter into battle without the proper equipment will result in devastating wounds or death.

As I studied the scripture on peace I began to realize why it is so important that we shod our feet with peace. Without peace our walk is hindered.  I also see that there are degrees of peace and therefore there are degrees of hindrances to our walk.  The word talks about perfect peace which is the protective footwear we should have on daily in order to be warriors.

Isaiah 26:23 NIV You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.

Message Bible: People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit. Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.

The Greek and Hebrew root word for Peace means oneness, which is the where we get the English word harmony.  When your mind and emotions are in oneness or harmony with God’s mind and God’s emotions, there is peace.

I saw a right foot with a gaping wound. Right represents authority. We can't operate in the authority we have been given by Christ if we don't live in perfect peace. And to go into battle without His authority is suicide. To get off on the right foot means to begin doing something in a way that is likely to succeed.

In case you have not noticed, the spiritual warfare has intensified. I have observed that there is a lack of peace in the body of Christ as they try to fight the good fight of faith. As a result there are many weak, wounded saints who are unable to go forward in their walk with the Lord.

Peace is a vital piece of equipment for our warfare. 1 Corinthians 7:15 tells us that God has called us to live in peace. Romans 15:13 tells us that God fills us with joy and peace as we trust in him so we may overflow with hope. And Romans 14:7 says that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy.

As my friend Lisa always says, here's the deal.  Times in this world are not going to get better, they are going to get much worse. There will be no peace in the world.  We have been adequately warned about that. "Peace, Peace, and there is no Peace".  So, if we keep our eyes on the problems and limit our resources to our own making or that of this world, we are doomed to a life of much anxiety,worry and tears. I wonder sometimes if we don't make idols out of our problems, spending more time giving them glory than the Lord.

 We are not of this world, but of the Kingdom of God. Our peace comes only from keeping our eyes on our Lord and King.  He said in Luke 12: 22-34 (Msg) "Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more. Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don't fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being."

We must have on the whole armor and shodding our feet with peace is the only way we will be able to march forward and achieve victory.

 

Only In America

I have lived in this country now 66 years and in that time I have seen a huge increase in technology and an equal decrease in morality. There has been a large increase in incomes and an equal increase in materialism. Churches have gotten bigger & yet the fear of God is hard to find. Abortions, abuse and violence have risen to unimaginable heights and prisons are not large enough to contain the criminals.

The day that Chuck and I knew as a child is totally unknown to our grandchildren.  We had wars and threats of wars but overall America was a safe environment for a child. Abortions were done but they were rare. Abduction of children happened but not to the point that parents could not let their children roam freely around town safely.  Television and electronic games were not our main entertainment and outdoors was our playground. 

All food was natural and many still grew what they ate.  Work was something everyone did to obtain their needs and wants. Our wants were pretty much basic necessities of today.  Chuck and I both worked every summer as teenagers to buy the things we needed. Depending on our parents to provide us everything was not an option for most of us.

We also lived in a country where you could openly worship the Lord and not be censored as was being done in Russia and other countries. Government was still mostly for the people and by the people. 

Then the 60's came and over the last 50 years everything that made America great has been chiseled away. Now my grandchildren have to be watched every moment, it is no longer politically correct to worship God openly and greed and corruption is rampant. 

We have been in a fast decline over the last few years and all the news is filled with is violence, decrease in finances, loss of jobs, closing of businesses, bailouts etc.  You would think that it would wake a people up to stop and evaluate that business as usual was not working, but for the most part they sleep on.

With all the news of our bad economic state you would think that Christmas 2010 would have been a time of decreased spending and an increase in family time and reflecting on the state of our spiritual life.  I did not observe that as being the case. 

While hearing all the bad news about foreclosures, decreased values in real-estate, increased numbers of unemployment etc, Chuck and I were browsing in a local store comparing prices on a couple of items we needed at home.  While in the kitchen section I came across a colander, just a plain old colander painted orange and the price was $30.00. Thirty dollars for something to drain spaghetti, an item that could be obtained in a dollar store and still have enough money left to feed an orphan in a third world country for a month.  As I stood there the words "only in America" went across my mind. 

We think our lives in America are so bad that it is beamed across the airways every day.  Yet even our poorest of poor have it better than most across this globe.  The majority of our population has not had to live in tents for a year with no hope of ever having a home again.  These tent dwellers don't even own a colander much less eat spaghetti.

America does need to wake up and return to the Lord. The very foundations  this country was built upon are breaking up.  But the thing the Lord brought home to me this Christmas was how much I have to be thankful for in the midst of all the trouble.  I can't ignore what is happening to this country and hide my head, but I also can't forget how blessed I have been and am to live here.

We still to this day have many blessings and opportunities that are found "only in America".  Let's don't forget to be thankful for what God has blessed us with here in this country and fight in the spirit to bring it back to the place we knew many years ago.

Book Review

This is a book review on Dr Billy Graham's book Storm Warning

Dr Billy Graham’s book Storm Warning is an revised/updated version of a book he wrote in 1992.  It discusses current events such as the earthquake in Haiti and hurricane Katrina as well as biblical prophecies in the gospels and Revelation of the end times.

Matthew 24:42 says “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

This book paints a colorful picture of where we are in the timing where the Lord told us be watchmen.  Dr Graham states that his purpose was not to dwell on theological issues, but to look at events in relationship to scripture. It is not a book that brings fear but one in which hope springs up that those who are part of the Kingdom of God even though they will go through very hard times will be overcomers.

Intertwined within this book is the basic gospel message of salvation given by the man who has spent his life as an evangelist. One who has the John the Baptist message of “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”.