by sharing the truth
about myself as called forth by God, this blog is my attempt at pulling back the veil on what our natural eyes see in order to reveal the hidden supernatural realm that the majority of the world is unaware of being an actual reality! So many of our fights in this world are caused by the whisperer of contention. I myself have been drawn into battle while in my full suit of armor and the war waged against me was so intense, that I refer to it as being in a crocodile roll!
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Many in the world are familiar with quote John 3:16. Some I imagine have heard it mentioned but don't know what it is about. I, myself have seen the Book, Chapter and verse posted on sites all across the United States of America in my travels. I often wonder when I see it, "Will people know this is a Bible verse and search it out on their own?"
I have to admit, we live in a fast paced world and often a soundbite is all one can get out in a crowd. Obama is by far one of the best sound bite machines I have ever watched in my life. I know there are some big fans of his out there. I am only a fan of God and I see man for man; we all fall short. Our president is no different, nor were any of the previous ones so please don't take me the wrong way. I was pointing out how influential some soundbites can be depending on how they are introduced.
I am not certain that random signs with John 3:16 written on them are delivering the power of the truth in that message!
For those who have never taken the time to search the actual message out, this is what John 3:16 tells us:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NASB)
My question for you is this, "How can you believe in someone or something that you have no knowledge of?"
My next question is this, "If you are seeking life after death, wouldn't you at least be curious enough to search out this Son of God on your own time?"
Searching Him out on your own time does not mean going to church once a week. While that can be helpful; surrounding yourself with others who love God, not all churches teach. Sadly, the majority preach. I don't like to be preached to, but I love to learn! That is what my home church does. Honestly at Leavener, I often feel like I am sitting in Bible College because you learn more than just the words in the Bible. You are taught about the setting in history and the original context of the words themselves is often broken down. This adds massive flavor and color to the books in the Bible and gives one so much greater understanding as well as a personal desire to learn on ones own.
Now, if I were to post soundbite signs across the USA, I think I would pick John 3:17 as my soundbite shout out to the world:
"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:17, NASB)
You see, we have a mutual enemy in this world, evil. Evil lies to us about who we are and labels us as unworthy to be saved. This is a lie. God obviously found us worthy enough to send his son after us! It is so important for us, especially at this time in history to come to know and understand what is truly against us in all things in this world! You will only discover the depths of shrewdness and how to best protect yourself against such a foe in the word of God!
It irks me to no ends when people say, "God has already decided who gets saved." or "There are only 144,000 people that God is going to save" or "The Bible says those who are saved are predestined already so what's the point?"
While there is some truth in these statements, they are far from absolute truth! The enemy always uses partial truths to snare us. It is why he is so effective! We need to KNOW the truth in order to defend it. How can you know it if all you do is stand on others soundbites?
In reading God's word for myself, one thing is certain, we all fall short, we are all sinners in need of help!
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Romans 3:23, NASB)
Now granted these 3 verses I have shared today are indeed soundbites, but they are statements of absolute truth. These also are VERY important truths in the fight against the lie of evil that tells us that its already been decided who gets saved and who does not! Allow me to build the case for truth:
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3, NASB)
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:44-45, NASB)
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgiving, be mad on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all . . . (1 Timothy 2:1-6, NASB)
I have a boatload more to share but let us connect the dots with these:
God sent his son to save the world (all creation, not just mankind but the world as well, remember that it to is in a fallen state!)
He did not send His son into the world to judge us, but to save us! ALL of us!
If only some are predestined to be saved, why provide all of us with a measure of faith?
Obviously God blesses all of His children and creation with sun and rain. (Karma is a misnomer. good and evil happen to those who are both good and evil. Those who thank the LORD daily also petition for more blessings and He is a faithful God, my advice; "Get to know Him!)
God makes it obvious again and again and again that He wishes all of us would turn to Him and be saved. It is our FREE WILL to do so as it is our FREE WILL to ignore the life line He so lovingly provided to ALL!
I did not come to where I am today overnight. I truly sought to understand God's word. Today, I know who I am in Christ and it is what that knowledge did for me that drives me to share the truth with others. Yes, I will have eternal life, but on top of that, I am living an abundant life in the midst of a fallen world. I cannot tell you how FREEING that is. How joyful I am in spite of all the junk that the evil in the world tries to throw in my path. This is the good news! Another great thing my church has done is to compile a list of verses that share who you are in Christ. Check them out!
Be blessed my friends! Life is worth living abundantly. Discover the truth for yourself and stand firm in your faith! The enemy is indeed a roaring lion and it is us that he longs to devour! Don't get eaten!!
If you have read my blogs for any length of time, you know one thing is certain. I LOVE God. I have this enormous, can't put it into words, gratitude for the message of mercy and grace that you only discover through Jesus Christ, my LORD and Savior.
Recently, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and lead a Bible study group focused on faith in Jesus Christ. True faith. The kind that makes you stand firm in the face of death come what may. I led a Bible study in my past where I witnessed girls transform before my eyes. This took place in a mere 6 days so there is no doubt it had nothing to do with me or what I said, the Holy Spirit certainly spoke through me those days.
So, here I've been, basically stand still in my writing. I haven't felt led to write, which of course has left me in contemplation mode. When I contemplate, I contemplate on God and the things of God. As I ponder, my heart speaks to Him. For me this is a form of prayer. It is open and honest conversation. I know He loves this forthrightness for He answers me when I take the time to truly get to the heart of things.
That is exactly what I have been doing these last few days. I need to prepare for my next gathering and I want so badly for my friends to 'get it'. I mean to really really GET IT. 100% faith in Jesus Christ. Now I kind of know the answer; the truth of the matter is it is the Holy Spirits job to speak to them, however, it is my duty to invite them to stop long enough to take a listen and to pray over them requesting that their eyes and ears be opened to all He has to say and show. Outside of that, it is them themselves that have the free will to decide if this venture into God's word is worth their time.
You can't claim to have the desire to know God and not continually seek someone who is in the word of God themselves. That doesn't mean attending Sunday service and getting preached at. That is not how you learn about God! It means truly seeking to understand what God authored through 40 devoted servants over the course of 1500 years.
It is not hard for me to believe the history that is told in the Old Testament. I often say I got to cheat my way to faith. Don't get me wrong. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that every person born has a measure of faith. We also have free will. How we use our faith, if we chose to use it at all is up to us. However, I do know that it is from faith to faith that we indeed witness glory to glory. So, I had faith. Honestly when it came to knowing if God was the real deal I had no doubts at all. That is because I walked with God as a child. I talked with Him, He talked to me. All of this is shared in You Are Worthy Too: The Proof is in the Pudding!
Regardless of my faith in God, I had not one iota of an inkling exactly who Jesus Christ was outside of being told that He was the Son of God. Knowing and understanding EXACTLY what that meant in my life, I was 100% clueless. I know that I am not alone in that truth. Those are the things I was talking to God about; "How do I help people get to where I was in my understanding to where I am now?"
I have been known to say that I wished I could just take everything that I know to be truth in regards to God and Christ and transfer that knowledge to others. This morning the first verse I read thanks to K-Love was this:
Timothy 1:15, NASB): It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
If I told you that didn't make me laugh out loud, I would be lying. This statement is written by Paul one of the 40 known authors of the 66 books found in the Bible. He writes in a style that causes me to hear him speaking to the crowd almost as if I were actually sitting in the room with him. I love Paul for who he is in Christ. I get him. I too see myself among the greatest of sinners for the crimes I committed against God before I came to know who I am in Christ.
Paul titles himself as the greatest of sinners because of the things he did in life before he came to understand and know who he was in Christ. You see, prior to that, Paul, a Pharisee, was actually persecuting those whose faith was firmly found in Jesus Christ! He was actually present, influential and approving of the first recorded stoning of the believers in Christ Jesus. Paul was 100% devoted to God. He honestly believed he was doing God a favor by hunting down these believers in Christ Jesus. On his way to Damascus where he intended to persecute many more believers, all of that changed. It was then that Paul learned the truth of Christ for himself.
When you see yourself as the worst of sinners, and then discover the truth found in Jesus Christ, which includes the message of Love, mercy and grace, you become driven to share that truth with everyone in the world no matter their stature in life. You see the world and all humanity as God sees it and you just want all to understand the good news which is so good, it is often hard to believe.
I feel sorry for those that only accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in a moment of emotion but then get caught back up in the ways of the world; never taking time to study and grow in faith. I am certain this is why Christ explains that even though many could be saved, they are lost because believers in the world are not working as they are meant to.
(Luke 10:2-3, NASB): Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
This is why I find myself here, longing to be a viable laborer for the LORD. One who truly takes the time to not only nourish myself, but to find others who are willing to hear what I have to share. It's life changing news, yet so few find the time to seek the truth for themselves.
I am going to continue to pray on how best to go about this desire of mine, to help others find their way to an abundant life for that is the promise of God Himself, a life of abundance now as well as eternal life in the end. It is also my prayer that you stay tuned to my future posts as I am certain as I pray, God will deliver! Until then know that I am praying over you, that your eyes and ears may be opened to the truths found in Christ Jesus.
This morning like always I began my day first with reading the encouraging word courtesy of K-Love and then I checked my blog stats and lastly I opened up facebook to see if I had any messages. This is the only message I was greeted with:
Hi Wendy I was quite saddened to read a posting of yours that contained derogatory comments of your spouse. If a husband cannot trust his wife to defend him then what does that say ? The bible gives warning of the destructive power of gossip in several places . Here is one such admonition from Proverbs 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down to the innermost parts of the belly." Also Proverbs 17:9 "He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter seperateth closest of friends."Proverbs 17:9. I pray the word of the Lord will speak to you itself. Believe we are living in the days of sifting and where God is separating the true from the counterfeit and one has to show genuineness that they bear the nature of Christ and without mixture. No longer place for lukewarmness , it is either serve God entirely or not at all . As far as friendship here on facebook is concerned our likes seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. No ill feelings just must stay true to my convictions or they mean nothing.Shalom.
I have written this person back but have yet to hear back from them. It was a man that wrote this to me. I took the time to make sure I had the word 'derogatory' itself correct in my mind and according to the dictionary, it states that the meaning is: "expressing a low opinion of someone or something
: showing a lack of respect for someone or something".
In my heart I do
not feel I have committed this crime. As I re-read several of my posts, I see honesty
regarding my situation and the truth that often I fall short of the glory of
God. I openly admit that I have much progress to make to reveal Jesus Christ to
Mike.
It is my belief that in my being open and honest in regards
to my life that I am helping others. We are the church. If we hide all of our
troubles behind closed doors, pretending all is well, then we are by all rights
harming ourselves and in a way blocking any healing we are meant to receive or deliver. I think that is the biggest problem within our churches
today. We sit in our pews listening and pretending that we are living perfect
lives when the reality is we all face trials and tribulations. I know the full
scope of what goes on behind my closed doors so when I read my own words, I
truly feel I am being kind and am not gossiping. If I were to tell everything
that goes on word for word, verbatim, and trashed Mike that would be one thing.
That is not what I do. In a way, by admitting that he falls short due to his
lack of faith and knowledge of God is in a way defending him. By openly
admitting that he has no relationship with the LORD reveals the truth that he
walks in darkness and does not see the truth in himself.
I pray for Mike daily. When I talk to him, I often come to the table and share scripture. I don't hide what I blog. I ask him about his thoughts. It is in our discussions that I have come to know several things about the Word of God:
Not everyone gets it. They read without understanding if they read Scripture at all. When they do read and listen, they can twist Scripture in ways that reveal how evil the evil one truly is. It can make your Spirit feel as if it's heart were punched out at times. That is the depths of how sad witnessing such deception can be. It is not completely their fault. The devil can blind and deafen a person, cause them to see what is not there and believe what is not true. Their own Free Will often becomes their worst enemy, for God will not force you to succumb to Him.
(2 Corinthians 3:14, NASB) But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. [15] But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; [16] but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. [17] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. [18] But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
(Isaiah 44:18, NASB) They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared
over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot
comprehend.
Because of FREE WILL, one has to desire truth to see and hear it. We can only pray that they begin to desire. I often pray this prayer for Mike, "Lord if he so much as turns to you in flash of curiosity, please reveal yourself in such a way that he cannot deny you are His LORD and Savior. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
I promise you, I have often wished I could take all that is in my heart where the LORD is concerned and transfer it directly into Mike. He would literally be a different person were he to become a believer. I know this because I became a different person. I often say, "You would not like to know me and my thoughts without Christ's input!"
That is a major reason I also pray for myself! I know that I am a work in progress. I know that since Mike is not a believer the evil one is able to use him as a weapon against me. It is through my sharing my life that often I find myself strengthened through my own testimony for the LORD often takes me to places in the Bible that help heal my soul.
It is true that often I too fall to the flesh and react instead of turning the other cheek. Those moments do not make me proud, but as I have mentioned before I truly am 'just a girl' walking through life like the rest of you. I am far from perfect. I do my best to wear my armor and to keep my focus on the truth. Being pregnant does not help when it comes to keeping my emotions in check and it is in confessing my own shortcomings that I am able to reset myself as well as forgive myself.
I refuse to pretend that my life is perfect for I believe in truth. I believe in my heart I have not made derogatory comments when it comes to Mike. I have shared truths from our relationship and truly am curious as to how I am to defend him outside of pointing out the truth that he does not read God's Word, follow Christ, much less believe in Him, and since he does not, how on earth am I to judge him as if he did? It is not my place. I can only pray for him. I can only ask for prayers for him.
I am fully convinced that I am not the only woman who has found herself unequally yoked. I know the battles that are waged when the scale is out of whack. It can be ugly. God takes our ugly and turns it into something pretty. How can He do that if we are all unwilling to share the ugly in our lives?
When God first called me forth to share my life in written form, I truly was taken aback and downright scared. I had BIG secrets that I didn't want the world to know. After all, 'What would they think of me?' In all honesty, I could not stop myself from obeying the call. Like I literally could not ignore it. The fear of not stepping forward outweighed the fear of what anyone might think of me. Hence, I cared more about how God felt than how I felt. The same remains true today.
A really good friend of mine told me recently, "God is not calling you to a ministry of normal so what you do is going to look different."
I have to agree with her assessment. My story is not the norm, but there are chapters that resonate with many. I know in my heart God is using me to reach others caught, who don't have the relationship that I do. How can they get my faith, if they don't understand that I am in their very shoes? There are parts of my personal story that I don't put out there. The LORD has not pulled at me to go into all the tiny details. Since He does not lead me to, I don't.
It is truly my desire to reveal the glory of God working in my crazy, broken life. It is my prayer that this is what my readers see. I cringe to think I may be viewed as a mere gossip.
If I have offended anyone by the things I share from my life, I apologize. I would suggest that my blog is not for you. I write as I am led by God. It is not the most comfortable thing in the world to reveal my own shortcomings to the entire world. I guess if it was, that would make what I do easy. Sharing my heartache, my shortcomings, my trials and tribulations is often a bit scary, but it is what God called me forth to do.
Seeing how it is Super Silly Sing Song Saturday and the topic of this blog seems to be on the openness of being 'broken' this is the song I am sharing today:
Broken Together by Casting Crowns:
What do you think about when you look at me
I know we're not the fairy tale you dreamed we'd be
You wore the veil, you walked the aisle, you took my hand
And we dove into a mystery
How I wish we could go back to simpler times
Before all our scars and all our secrets were in the light
Now on this hallowed ground, we've drawn the battle lines
Will we make it through the night?
It's going to take much more than promises this time
Only God can change our minds
Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete
Could we just be broken together
If you can bring your shattered dreams and I'll bring mine
Could healing still be spoken and save us
The only way we'll last forever is broken together
How it must have been so lonely by my side
We were building kingdoms and chasing dreams and left love behind
I'm praying God will help our broken hearts align
And we won't give up the fight
It's going to take much more than promises this time
Only God can change our minds
Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete
Could we just be broken together
If you can bring your shattered dreams and I'll bring mine
Could healing still be spoken and save us
The only way we'll last forever is broken together
Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete
Could we just be broken together
If you can bring your shattered dreams and I'll bring mine
Could healing still be spoken and save us
The only way we'll last forever is broken together
Here is a link to the YouTube video for those that would like to hear it:
If you are someone who has enjoyed this post, I invite you to read my book. It is my prayer that this collection of 36 True Life Stories compiled into one complete book will help all who read it. I know God intends to bless many through my story for that is the purpose of Him calling me to write it!
Father, I come before you today asking for more grace. Let my words be words of healing and not viewed as words of gossip Please help my book become a vehicle that helps others, encouraging them to seek You and giving them hope should they need that. Father as always, I ask that you unblind the blind and open the ears of the deaf. Alot each person with more understanding. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
As many of you know, I subscribe to K-Love's encouraging word; it is also one of my favorite radio stations. This morning the song 'All the People Said Amen' by Matt Maher began playing and my heart was overjoyed to have all my children sing and dance to the song. It is a catchy tune you know! If you've never listened to it, click on this link and get ready to bust a move!
The more you get to know God, the more you see Him moving in your life with your 'faith eyes' and the more often you find yourself uttering the praise, "Amen". Psalms is one of my favorite books in the bible; who am I kidding lol. In going to college I have taken so many classes, I have been blessed in reading and understanding parts of all 66 books. Regardless, this is the verse I am sharing today:
Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us and not we ourselves. (Psalm 100:3, my alphabet picture)
I think one of the most interesting things I have read in the last year came from a book called, 'The Fear of the Lord' by John Beverre. In it he shares the truth that in man are the very elements found in the earth. Seeing how man was formed from the earth, it makes perfect sense that this would be the case. However, until I read it, I had never thought much about it. Today I think about it every time I till the soil.
I bring up God alot in my daily conversations with others. I can't help it. Often when someone is sharing things about their life and why they are stressed or worried, I ask them this simple question, "Where are you in your walk with God?"
When you begin walking with the Lord and building your relationship with Him, the biggest thing you will notice is that you are able to find peace in the midst of turmoil and stress no longer holds you in slavery. This stems from the promises He makes His children:
Romans 8:28: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Psalm 91:15: "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
When it comes to worry, Jesus lays this to rest with one simple challenge:
Matthew 6:27: "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?"
These verses, these truths, speak volumes to me for I have seen them play out in my life. Those of you that have read my book know that I did not create an easy path for myself, however, God, true to His promises, has indeed used all of what I thought was rotten and useless and has in turn allowed me to see others blessed by it. I promise you when stuff like that happens you are often left in utter joyful tears. I blogged on such an instance once. I still cannot read this post without crying! Lost or on a Mission?
When it comes to trouble, I often joke that it is my middle name. I know I am not alone in that thought for I have had others tell me the very same thing. As I have built my relationship with the LORD over the last few years, trouble has come barreling down my door. Through it all I have managed to stay positive and at times I have even flourished through it all by leaning on the promises of God. Indeed, He has not only rescued me, he flipped the situation and I have found myself redeemed if not at times honored. Knowing the LORD is FULL of blessings, I encourage you to join a bible study group or better yet, read my past entries and build your own personal relationship with the LORD. It will truly enhance your life no matter what you get sidelined with.
I still have moments where worry tries to grab hold of me, but I have gotten pretty good at raising my shield of faith. I have found humor helps in the midst of worry and that is what I find in the advice Jesus gives on the subject of worry. When it comes to adding an hour to my life, I know that God alone is responsible for that. I say that because I died in a house fire and I was given breath and brought back to life. It is one of the stories in my book You Are Worthy Too: The Proof is in the Pudding!
I know many people have prayed for something and have not seen it come to fruition, I have been in that boat as well. I have also witnessed my prayers being answered and when I read that when I call on Him, He will answer, I also know that this has been the case. I have several stories about answered prayers in my book. Often I read my own stories because oddly enough, they remind me of who I am to God. They remind me of who we all are to God. We are His children. His creation. You can fight against that truth all you want to but it is a fight you will never win.
I think the most confusing things about God for many are tied directly to the biggest gift he allotted to mankind; free will. God knows your heart, while He may try to reach you through circumstances that take place in this fallen world, one thing He will not do to reach you is strip away your Free Will.
So, as I have asked many in person, I ask you today, "Where are you in your walk with God?" If you are in a place of doubt, I encourage you to go to Him with that. As I wrote recently in a post titled Come as You are, But Don't Stay There!, God will meet you right where you are. The true question is, "Are you ready to meet God?"
Today I say for you the same prayer said by Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus:
Ephesians 1:17-19: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. [18] I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, [19] and what is the surpassing greatness His power toward us who believe. Amen!
This morning my encouraging word from K-Love began with the word 'rather' according to my personal study bible the word mentioned is 'but'. The verse was such that curiosity rose in me to see what came prior to that conjunction. Curiosity is said to have killed the cat, but I am human and when it comes to the Word of God, curiosity is often blessed! The verse they shared came from 2nd Peter. I was curious enough to get out of bed, grab my bible and check out what preceded the advice given in the shared verse. Before I knew it, I had read most of 2nd Peter! I am always amazed when this happens. It is like the book jumps to life before my eyes and I find my soul on fire for the LORD. I wish I could simply take what is in my heart and brain and transfer it all into each person I meet in life that is lost and lonely. The best I can do is use the talents that God gave me and pray that the seeds I cast out land on welcome soil. With that being said, this is the full encouraging word that I felt led to share with the world today:
[3] Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, [4] and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." [5] For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, [6] through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded by water. [7] But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
[8] But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. [9] The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
[10] But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. [11] Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, [12] looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat! [13] But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. [14] Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, [15] and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, [16] as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. [17] You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, [18] but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. ( 2 Peter 3:3-18, NASB)
I know that is a lot to bite off, but I could not simply share the last verse and expect you to get full understanding! This chapter has a lot of helpful advice as well as warnings in it. For instance, how many of you don't attend church because you feel in your heart what is being preached is designed to control you or manipulate you in some way? How many of you feel that the church is full of hypocrites who say one thing and do another? How many of you believe their is no point in reading the Word of God because you have been told that it is full of contradictions? All of this is easy to believe if all you have ever done is step inside of a church. We go to church to find other true brothers and sisters in Christ because in them, we find encouragement. I spent years of my youth going to church only to be taught things that made me feel bad about myself. Some churches pound home the message of sin and while we all must admit that we are sinners, God does not want us to focus on that aspect! He actually wants us to walk with Him and grow. He wants us to discover the truth, for the truth as we know will set you FREE! It is this exact FREEDOM that drives me day and night to want to share all I have learned with others.
I have a lot of parts of the bible that I would consider favorites. This conversation between Thomas and Jesus would be one of them:
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. [2] In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. [3] If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. [4] And you know the way where I am going." [5] Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" [6] Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. [7] If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also, from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."
If you truly long to know God. To understand His nature, His thoughts, His LOVE for all, you should truly get to know Jesus. We are blessed to be able to get to know Jesus through the Gospels. Jesus is loving, compassionate, clever, witty and so much more than all of that!
You cannot say that you long to know God yet never pick up the book He had written for all humanity through 40 writers with the help of the Holy Spirit over a span of 1500 years! As I have mentioned before, you could spend your entire life reading the bible and never learn all the truths and mysteries it holds inside. It is in reading His Word thought that you begin to understand how He communicates and in that aspect, you will begin to hear Him for real.
All relationships take work; that includes your relationship with your Heavenly Father. When you work on this relationship, it actually will enhance all of your relationships. You cannot get to know God and remain stuck in who you are today. You will evolve, you will grow and you will love who you are in Christ. I tell people that if you were to meet me without Christ, you would not always find a kindhearted person! It is only Christ in me that guides my footsteps as well as my tongue! If I did not know Christ and understand God's Word, I would be capable of unkind acts left and right. However, in knowing who I am in Christ, I am reminded that I am here to love, not to hate. Christ in me, keeps me in line, convicting me of the truth, and protects me from the ways of the flesh.
[19] We love because He first loved us. [20] If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. [21] And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
(1 John 4:19-20, NASB)
Life will become abundant when you seek the LORD. It will become more colorful and you will become more joyous, not being constantly dragged into depression, worry, anxiety or fear. That is not to say that you won't have days where life comes to kick your rear end; no, quite the opposite. This is why as you get to know the Lord, you also learn about your armor. Your shield of faith is vital to your well being. I encourage you to learn about all of your armor for as you learn who you are in Christ and discover true freedom, you may be driven to share the truth with others. As you do this, you will be attacked by the enemy, but fear not, Christ already conquered Him. While we may be engaged, it is our faith in Christ that will keep us safe. As King David famously said, "The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?" (Psalms 118:6, NASB)
One of my favorite songs to this day is "Whom shall I fear?" by Chris Tomlin. It speaks volumes to me. At one point in my life, I did believe the very things He sings about and in more recent days, I have come to understand the truths he also mentions in this song. For those not familiar with the tune, this link will take you to a YouTube video with the words included. May you be lifted and blessed in your listening!
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my post. I am simply a girl who sought and found and truly longs for all others to find as well for I know the FREEDOM that comes with the truth. It alone is worth the effort! May you be blessed today in all you do, in all you read, in all that you understand. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
I started this week out in a panic. The children are off on
spring break I signed up for two more college classes that both began this
Monday! By day one I was overwhelmed by all of the reading and assignments that
were looming ahead. On top of that, we moved to the other side of the RV park
and it turns out that the WIFI doesn’t work over here yet. Talk about making
life a little harder when it comes to online classes, not to mention blogging
and marketing on Social Media!
I am grateful that my classes are focused on the Word of God
so that in the midst of my personal panic, I have to fill my mind with the
LORD’s words! As the week progressed, my anxiety levels decreased. It is funny
what happens as you renew your mind with life breathing words. Yesterday I even
managed to stay ahead of the game concerning school and have now completed
every assignment with the exception of one paper that is due on Sunday and here
I sit today calm as a cucumber sharing a post!
I had a fellow student ask me how on earth I manage to get
everything done that needs to be done in a day. I still need to go back and
answer her on that one. When I read it, I was honestly in the midst of my panic
and thinking to myself, “Get everything done?!?” That is truly humorous because
there is never a day that goes by that I manage to check off every single item
on my to do list!
The truth of the matter is, when it comes to making it
through each day, I have a checklist of must do’s, need to do’s, and want to
do’s. I also apply self discipline telling myself each day that I can play once
all my work is done. Some days I don’t play at all!
I will be honest in saying that even though I have a plan in
place, I still find myself swimming in the midst of anxiety at various moments;
especially as the end of the day approaches while tasks on my must do list are
still looming ahead!
I have found when it comes to chaos, anxiety, fear, panic,
waves of overwhelmingness, it is God’s promises that calm my heart and settle
me down. It has taken me years to learn that I am truly not in control of much!
The rest I must give to God. So let me share what I tell my friends when they
are in the midst of their own individual “Turmoil Tornado”.
(1) I ask them if they know what Jesus had to say when it
came to the subject of worry?
I usually get a blank stare if this is the first time we
have talked about it. I then smile and say something like, ‘He actually asked
what one of us could do something as simple (SIMPLE!) as adding an hour to our
own lives! Like adding an hour to your life is simple! He basically asked us
why do we worry over anything when our own limitations to perform the tiniest
of miracles are so blatantly obvious.
“And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his
life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry
about other matters?” ~ Luke 12:25-26 (NASB)
I also go on to share with them that God’s mercy and grace
are sufficient each day. I remind them that we need to live in the here and now
not in yesterday or tomorrow. That is a trick of the evil one to keep us tied
up in our inner turmoil; shaming us with the guilt of yesterday and worrying us
about the events of tomorrow. God’s word advises us to live each day
accordingly.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” ~ Matthew 6:34 (NASB)
Even with me being a student of the Word, even with me
seeking His input daily, I find myself in various spiritual battles. Some so
intense I often pull out a devotional or turn up the music on K-Love. As
revealed in a chapter out of my latest book, sometimes I even use chocolate as
part of my defense!
I don’t think one of us out there has the perfect life full
of perfect days. We all face various trials and tribulations. It is the
weaponry that we use that differentiates how the battle ends! If you don’t know
all the armor God has provided you with, I invite you to read past posts of
mine regarding the subject. I will leave a couple of links at the end of this
post for you to check out!
Hopefully this has helped someone somewhere with their own
anxiety and worry. If you are not a student of the Word, I highly suggest you
open up the book of John and learn about Christ. It is my prayer that your eyes
are opened to the Truth, The Way and the Life in such a way that you dive fully
into the River of Living Water and find yourself refreshed each and every day!
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!
May you find yourself better dressed for battle by reading
these two posts. May you find yourself blessed in sharing them with others in
need of armor!
This week I have a lot on my plate. I want to finish my
Renew Your Mind Calendar so that I can finally share it with those who have
asked about it. I am going to get started on my fourth book, “In the Midst of
Spiritual Warfare” and for my end of year ministry gift, I am going to combine
my first 3 books into one book and republish them at a lower cost than I was
able to do as single books. It is my hope that in the consolidation of the
three, the message that God shares throughout my story will be even more
affordable and accessible for all who need to hear the message that “They are
worthy too”!
It is hard for me to believe that it has been two years
since I began writing again. First an entire year of blogging and then last
year, I published my first three books under the ministry that God put on my
heart. As a child, I asked God to help me be a message of hope. I requested
that He allow me to help His people through writing. I asked Him to make me into
a great writer. I always thought it would be via the money I would make while
writing that I would gain the tools necessary to be of such help to countless.
Today that is not my belief. I see what God is doing through me. He is using me
and my story, a modern day tale of sorts, to reveal His grace and glory.
While it is true that I would love to still have an endless
supply of money to do other things to help countless people, they no longer
involve the material things I thought would help others find happiness. I know
today that material possessions and buildings made by man may provide some level
of comfort, but what the world needs today is the whole truth and nothing but
the truth!
Pontius Pilot once asked, “What is truth?”
We all have heard the saying, “The truth shall set you
free.”
In essence you couldn’t share the end result of what happens
when you discover who you are in Christ simpler than that. It is so simple the
majority of us can’t even see it; the truth really does set you free. Jesus is
the way, the truth and the life. If you have ever for one moment fallen apart
and cried out in desperation for better days, I urge you to discover the truth
for yourself! For when you discover the truth, you will also find a sense of
peace and dare I say even joy in the midst of the trials and tribulations of
life. One thing is for certain, we will all have rotten days. That is the one
guarantee I can make you. We live in a fallen world. Bad things are going to
happen! If someone promised a secret way that you could hold onto your peace of
mind and heart and even feel joyous in the midst of the most turbulent of
storms, how many copies do you think they would sell?
We live in a world seeking answers; in a population of
people searching for the good life. That is why I am going to put together my
personal story, at least the part currently available in both print and
electronic formats into one consolidated book. I don’t know what I am going to
subtitle it as of today, but I plan on having it available before weeks end. It
is still my prayer that God enlarge my territory, broaden my use and explode
the sales of my books so that I can do what I want to do for countless others.
One day I will see my dreams as a reality and until that day, I will continue
to pray for my desires to be fulfilled. I seek the kingdom of God and I seek to
save as many of my brothers and sisters from the pit of hell as I can along my
way!
Please, please, please, be on the lookout for my
consolidated book release! It is my belief that God will use my true life story
to speak to countless people in desperate need for answers. Please stop by and Like
my ministry page on Facebook and you will be notified when the three part
series is published into one book! Click here to like it now: https://www.facebook.com/youareworthytoo
For those that have access to you tube, here is my renew your mind video! Leave a comment below letting me know if you enjoyed it or not! Be blessed and be a blessing!
It is Super Silly Sing Song Saturday according to my faith calendar I created for myself. This morning Mike found K-Love on the radio for me. The first full song I heard was "Whom Shall I fear" by Chris Tomlin. It is truly something when you realize the God we serve is indeed the God of angel armies.
When we dive into the Holy Bible, we are told about angels and messages they brought to various people including Mary and Joseph. I too have seen an Angel. I even had an army of angels help me defeat a three alarm fire in my last true home that I lived in for seven years. When I hear a song like Chris Tomlin's, it almost brings me to tears at the same time that it brings me to total awe. God loves us so much it is at times overwhelming for me. How can one cry and laugh at the exact same moment? It is my belief it is out of pure appreciation and awe at the depth of the love the Lord holds for his creation.
I often wonder, "Who am I to have been so blessed?" I know the answer, I am a child of God. It is my belief that knowing that truth, that I am a child of God, is what has kept hope alive inside of me through all of my rough bumps in the road.
I heard another song this morning but I don't know who sang it or the title. All I caught was the gist of the song itself. Basically the singer was saying something like, 'You may look at your life and wonder what went wrong, how you got to where you are today, but you are not at the end of your story. You are only in the middle.'
I don't know how many of you reading this have read my first book, "In the Beginning", but those that have know that my life did not turn out the way I thought it would. Certainly in the middle I felt just like that. Somehow what I had planned had spiraled into nothing that I had planned! Those that have continued to read my story from 'In the Beginning' to 'Marriage, Motherhood, and My Moral Meltdown' know that is the absolute truth! I would have to say all the awful things I have done and lived through have been a blessing in a weird way. You see, we are not born to judge. I certainly have no leg to stand on when it comes to being self righteous. I consider myself among the lowest of the low so it amazes me that God sees me through a different lens. This is the same lens we are to see each other with.
Today as you go about your day, I encourage you to see yourself as God sees you. When I look in the mirror, I see a plain girl who is still carrying too much weight on her bones. This is my flesh view. I know the majority of us look in the mirror and criticize various aspects of ourselves. I urge you to not look at the outer shell but to go deeper and look at the light inside. We are children of God. Fashioned in His image. It is a trick of the mind that makes us doubt our beauty. It is the world that mandates what is pretty or handsome and what is not. We are not of this world so why should we care what the world says of us? We should not. Instead we should do as we are advised in Philippians 4:8, as quoted from my NIV Study Bible:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable ~ if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.
I know many in the world have a misconception of just what is in the Holy Bible. The Word of God is twisted and used to manipulate people. We are even warned that this will happen. We are warned to stay close to the truth and to not be tricked by false witnesses and teachers. Their is power in knowing Christ, but you should not seek to know Christ to gain power. You seek to know Him because you desire freedom, not control of others. When you get the message of Grace you realize how twisted religion can be. How cruel it can be. It is just like the Pharisees and Sadducees ruling over the people. Burdening them with ridiculous laws that were never God's design. They plotted to kill Jesus because he was teaching the truth and that truth was going to remove their power. They simply could not have that. Gaining power is not what we are born to do. We were born to bring Glory to God and to love one another. Now that sounds like heaven to me!
Today I pray that more and more and more people are drawn to the truth. I pray that my books and blogs that God encouraged me to share with the world are read and are shared. I pray the encourage countless to discover the truth for themselves and in turn share it with others. I pray the light inside of us shines so brightly we drown out the darkness. In Jesus name I pray. Amen!
Here is an audio clip / video reading the back cover and a snippet out of chapter one. If you love the Beginning, purchase the book! Available in both print and e-book / kindle formats.
Today is Thursday, May 15th! On my calendar it is clearly marked as Tremendously Thankful, Thoroughly Thoughtful Thursday. Today I am thankful for having less.
Last weekend was Mother's Day. The best part of that day is getting the cards the children made me while at school. My second graders filled in balloon prompts on a card. My favorite line on Michael's card was the one that said, "My mom likes smaller houses."
I literally laughed out loud when I saw it. He must have overheard a conversation I had had with his father while driving in the car. I was chatting away explaining to him how much time I saved by us living in a smaller house. I said I loved living in a small house because it didn't take me anytime at all to clean the place and have the rest of my day.
On Marissa's card she had said she enjoyed watching me read the Bible everyday. That made me smile but for a completely different reason. Recently since we downsized from a three bedroom apartment back into the house that God gave me, we donated the majority of our books to a laundry mat as well as a Goodwill. Each one of them is responsible to read for ten minutes each night. I decided rather than check out books at a library, that it would do the children good to read out of the bible. I have selected certain Chapters and verses that I pray cause them to become curious for more of what God has to say about things.
Recently we have read out of Ephesians, Timothy and Philippians just to name a few. I think one of my favorite readings was from Philippians, chapter 4. The children discovered that the phrase 'whatever' was used in the bible. I shared with them that the phrase 'As if' can also be found in the bible. I used that to explain how many think the bible is old school and there is nothing in it that applies to our age. Sadly that is a lie spread by Satan through those who either don't take the time to read God's word for themselves or those that are simply too self involved to recognize the truth within the pages.
I sit back today reflecting all that has taken place in the last 6 months or so. I moved out of my small home as winter closed in and moved into a gigantic apartment that was always cold and much too spacious in all honesty. I used to joke that I had to walk to another state to hang the girls clean clothes up in their closets. It literally took me the entire weekend to organize and clean our home each weekend. In those few short months, I somehow managed to publish three books in both print and e-book formats. The apartment is something I should have never been approved to move into. As it turns out, when it comes to apartments, the federal rule states that you can only have two heartbeats per room. For those of you that have followed my blog, you know that when I first went to apply for this apartment, I had recently left Mike or rather he had actually left me and moved to Florida. You also know at the time, I had six children with me; four of them were girls and two of them were boys. Any way you slice that pie, not only did I have more than two heartbeats per room, I also had more than six on my original application. I knew God had moved me to go to that apartment and I also felt He was in the process of moving me again before things went into motion. By the end of February, the maintenance crew had done an inspection of my home and had discovered that we had one heartbeat too many living in the apartment and they gave me a 60 day notice to vacate. I was not formally evicted through the court system, I was simply sent a letter stating I had to be out by April 29th.
I guess some people in my shoes would have been caught up in a whirlwind of emotion. I on the other hand have gotten much better at praying for direction and then waiting for an answer. I always believed that God gave me my home on wheels for a reason so that is where we went back to. Winter is over, although tonight it will dip down to a chilly 37 degrees, so the mobile home truly is a great place to go back to. Now, while I do not have Internet or even 24/7 electricity, I have all I need. A bed for each child, a warm shower, lights that run off of our battery power and a very small house to clean! While I lost space, I gained massive amounts of time, including quality time with the children. We hang out at the library or the park more now because our day is not gobbled up by constantly cleaning floors! Less truly can be more. It all depends on how you look at it.
Today, seeing how it is Thankful Thursday, I am going to leave you with the advice found in Philippians 4, beginning with verse 4:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
What you focus on with your mind will alter how you go about your day. This is certainly why we are advised to renew our minds. Make sure you renew yours daily with a bit of God's word which has much encouragement to stay focused on the truth. That being said, Mercy Me just came out with a new album which is titled, "Welcome to the New". It is full of wonderful songs but I really really love the words sung on the song also called 'Welcome to the New' for those that can listen online via my link, enjoy. For those that cannot view it on your electronic device, take the time to search them out on You Tube when you have the opportunity!
I would also like to invite you to read my full story ~ well the parts that I have published anyway. I have many more books to follow. I think I could write everyday for the rest of my life and still have stuff to share. For now, you can find all of my books in both print and e-reader formats at www.amazon.com/author/wendyglidden for less than $13 you can own all three on your e-reader and if you prefer print over electronic, you can own all three for less than $25. With each purchase you are supporting my ministry. I truly appreciate each purchase!
Totally Terrific Testimonial Tell All Tuesday: My tell all, even when the outlook is bad and you think it may be the end, often, if it not your scheduled moment of departure, Our God has one more move:
"Look!" Nebuchadnezzar shouted. "I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!"
Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn't even smell of smoke!
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king's command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!"
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon. (Daniel 3:25-30)
This is our God! Don't undersell Him to yourself. When is the last time you opened yourself up to an honest conversation with Him? When is the last time you read His word for yourself?
Over the centuries, the evil one has come along and whispered to many that the bible is full of 'fairy tales' for things talked within its pages simply could not have taken place.
Why are we open to vampires and zombies but un-open to the miracles of God?
I assure you, we are surrounded by the living dead, they may even desire to hurt you. They need the light, yet run from it. Eyes and ears both closed off from the truth.
We must be shining examples so alive, they come to us seeking what we have.
Today is Tremendously Thankful Thoroughly Thoughtful Thunderous Thursday! Today I am thankful for the power of prayer. I am thankful for my spiritual armor. I am thankful for the servants of God that He called for the task of writing the bible. I accept it as the written word of God for I know He calls many to write for Him. I know this because I am a writer called forth.
I have been amazed at what has come out of my own fingertips many many times. It is something when you learn as you write. I love how God uses me. I have always wanted to write and I have always wanted to be a part of helping others. When you put God first, He truly will give you the desires of your heart!
I am very close to finishing my third book. This morning God helped me with solidifying my final two chapters to be written and I found myself elated. He truly is a brilliant writer. I love how he sews my stories together.
This week has been a crazy week for me. I realized truths I had not quite seen before and I had to remind myself exactly what it means when you are a follower of Christ. While it pains me to know I may be hated by those I love, I realize that Jesus was hated by those He loved. I refuse to turn away from the truth of His word but pray for the wisdom in how to communicate in the most loving way one can when discussing the Truth.
With that being said, here is the encouraging word of the day:
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. - Hebrews 2:1 (NLT)
Sometimes the truth is not what we want to hear. Often we close our ears, shut our eyes and talk over or outside of it. We as man make other arrangements in our minds for how things may have come to be. I completely understand why it says they think they are wise but they are fools. Your heavenly Father grants wisdom and knowledge and understanding. HOWEVER, if you resist the TRUTH of HIS word you will miss out on the gifts He has set aside for you.
Today is March 18, 2014. That would make it Totally Terrific Testimonial Tell All Tuesday! This is my tell all: It was my belief that the third book God put on my heart to publish would be out before the end of this month. So many obstacles have occurred since the editing process for book two in February that I am not sure You Are Worthy Too: Angels, Answers, Signs & Wonders will be available before months end. I do know the evil one does not want this one to hit the shelves.
An element I had wondered how I would write is what I have written this morning. In each book, I include a Dear Reader letter. I feel it lets the reader know I truly have heart in the game. It is a more personal call out to them than the true life events I share. To me they are truly a very important element of my books if not the most important one.
With this book I was not sure what I was meant to say in my dear reader letter. I knew of one thing that needed to be a part of my letter, but how to take that and stretch it into a letter when it was simply a single truth, well that was an entirely different matter. That brings me to today:
This morning I knew God wanted me up early. Funny enough, a dream I had just prior was so real I was able to share a point of view with Mike because of it without him getting bitter or offensive.
When Mike woke me up at 5:15 AM to ask if I had seen his gloves, I went to look for them. I asked him where he last saw them and he insisted he had left them in his helmet and now they were gone! I wasn't angry at all that he'd woken me up because I already knew in my heart God wanted me up. In my sleepiness and honestly disobedience I was trying to deny what I felt to be the case.
When Mike decided we had looked everywhere that the children may have hidden his gloves, he apologized for getting me up so early. I confessed that God wanted me up anyway so he had done me a favor as I was being disobedient. I was pretty sure Mike had been used to force me to get up. He kind of laughed me off until he went to leave. When he went to put his helmet on his head, he found his gloves inside. He looked at me astonished and said, "God really did want you up."
Everything about this morning makes me smile. It is God that took away the pain that made me dread each morning. That in itself is a wonder. I still hurt a little ~ perhaps a gentle reminder of how life used to be.
I marvel at God and His ways. We all often complain about how God works and his timing, but do not see how weak willed we truly are. In all Honestly, God has been extremely patient with me. All awful moments in my life were never the end of the world. They were just awful moments. I also have many moments I treasure. Some of them, the ones I feel called to share in this volume God put on my heart to share, are within this book.
My next book coming out will be entitled 'In the Midst of Spiritual Warfare'. I thought it would be my second book but it has become my fourth. That just may be so that I am more prepared to write what God wants in it than I was prior to writing my second book and starting my third!
I have been under the craziest attacks since I began piecing this book together. In every way I have been under assault. It has been eye opening amazing to watch God come through for me in all aspects. Each time I have found myself no worse off and perhaps even a step ahead, just in another way, as I have continually walked faithfully in the Spirit come what may. I find myself instantly praying as I have felt myself pulled away from the fruit of the Spirit. I quickly call upon God to carry me through. Refusing to fret and worry as I am bombarded with fiery arrows by being on alert and picking up my sword. By recognizing the enemy at work and being dressed for battle, I go into the fight calling out, "My Lord help me."
I pray as you read this book what you walk away with is an unshakeable faith. A faith that anytime anything in your life begins to take place that your heart frets, you panic, any form of fear or distress weigh in upon you, you find yourself on your knees. You do not always have to be on your knees in a physical sense but that is your posture in a heartfelt sense. You will recognize that force of fear upon you deeply and you will pray in a way that you speak from your heart and He will answer.
If you have read my first two books you know I am NO 'angel'. Yet, when I was at the end, knowing on my own I was not going to make it, I called upon the Lord from my knees. I was desperate but seeking. I wanted help but did not realize quite yet that I was forgiven. It took me a bunch of reading and listening to have that light come on. In all honesty, it was three years down the road before I was able to believe and KNOW I was forgiven. As if I heard Jesus himself say that it was done.
I was at a weekend event called the Great Banquet. I see how God put me there right when I was meant to be there. I was asked to write down anything I felt kept me from the Lord and I wrote it all down. I said them all out loud. I knew in my heart I had repented for all of them. Until that day, I was still convinced that I was unworthy of forgiveness.
When I took that paper with me into the next room, there were 3 crosses on the ground. I went to the one in the middle, picked up my hammer and with three blasts drove that 16 right into that post nailing it all on the cross that Jesus was nailed to as a sacrifice for all sinners. As a carpenters daughter one thing I know is how to drive a nail. It was as if I broke every chain Satan had on me as I drove that nail deeper and deeper. With my final blow I knew I was free and belonged to Christ. I wear my ring and my cross to this day. They remind me of the vow I made; to spend the rest of my life sharing the good news.
We have a way out of this place many truthfully call hell. I get why so many refuse to believe that God is in Heaven cheering them on. I too believed I had fallen too far to ever be picked back up let alone though of. That is a lie! If you seek, you will find but you truly have to seek. You have to give God the best of you every day. You have to rely on Him when trouble hits. As you do these things you allow Him to show Himself to you. We are blind to the heavenly realm. It is beyond our understanding. It just is. I have been blessed to have seen both a person and my Winnebago shrouded in indescribable lights. As if surrounded in a ceiling of diamonds. I wish that mental image did due justice but it truthfully doesn't. More Beautiful than you can imagine. Those two stories as well as how God got me jogging, bending and jumping again as well as strong enough to pick up my littlest one are all shared in my next book.
I leave you with a smile on my face this morning for I have fretted about what I was going to put in my dear reader letter. It is, after all, a very important component of all my books. I want you to know I am truly interested in helping you find your unwavering faith. It is a vital part of your armor and in my opinion one of the coolest elements of your suit!
As you read my book you will see that I have had run ins with angels. As a word of caution, do not get caught up in the angels themselves. Remember that it is God that created them. Should you find yourself amazed or curious about them be more amazed and curious about their Maker. He is the one that sends the angels to you.
I pray this book finds you building your own relationship with the Lord. As a child I talked His ear off and asked many questions. It was when I mistrusted Him that I cut myself off. I truly was that teenager with the worst attitude toward my loving Father for a decade. Then for two more decades I was convinced I had to find a way to work my way to forgiveness and worthiness. I was so lost. The truth was hidden from me by my own misunderstanding and lack of effort. Don't repeat my behavior then, repeat my behavior now. For as boldly as I talked to God as a child, I talk to Him today. As much as I depended on Him then, I depend on Him now. He is my Lord and Savior and He loves me. Should I be weak, I call upon Him for strength. When I feel myself becoming who I was through anger or frustration, I quickly realize I am in the flesh, and I do not like how it feels at all. I give my situation to God and let it go. Often I walk away for a moment and quickly call out to God to help me with my tongue. I pray you get here too, because here is where life becomes amazing.
With that, I leave you with this final statement; Be blessed AND BE A BLESSING
Good morning my friends! Today is marvelously magnificent miraculous Monday. What do you consider to be a miracle? For me just this day and the way I can laugh is a miracle. For you see, a small part of me would prefer to be curled up in a corner crying my eyes out. However, I know that that is what the evil one wants for me. His only purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. His desire is to keep me in bondage in the dark buried in misery. Pardon the pun, but I say "Hell no!" to that!! My God came so I could LIVE life and live that life abundantly! He sent his only son to share with us the message of His NEVER ENDING LOVE and GRACE. His only begotten son, doing no wrong, died on the cross and proclaimed, "It is finished." Who am I to say otherwise. I say to you who are down for whatever reason, recognize misery and worry for what they are: Satan's sad attempt to steal your joy, kill your dreams and destroy your purpose.
God is always good. He gave us free will. Satan uses that knowledge against us. He whispers things to us and tricks us into focusing on things of this world. It is miraculous what happens in your life when you change that focus onto God and His kingdom. All of a sudden what is meant to destroy us, loses it's power. Let me see if I can show some examples here from my own life. God knows I've been through one hell of a thirty day storm. Let me recap it all for those of you who have not been following my blog:
July 31, 2013: My children and mother were having what seemed at the time a battle of wills. She had made a bad decision and in the process my children were removed from her custody by a sheriff and whisked off to the hospital to be examined thoroughly. LONG STORY!
August 2, 2013: Mike headed off to Florida as his grandfather was on his death bed and Mike, while not close to his grandfather, felt his mother needed him. He had stated, "I've never heard her cry so hard."
August 4, 2013: By 5:00 pm, Mike had not been heard from anyone. He was driving to Florida on his motorcycle. The last time I had heard from him, he informed me his tire was showing the metal mesh and he was looking for a tire shop. While he was missing in action, I received a call from the sheriff's office. My heart lurched and my mind immediately thought the call was about Mike. However, it was in regards to my 14 year old. ANOTHER long story!
August 5, 2013: While at court with my 14 year old and her father, my phone rang and I was informed that another report had been filed with the department of children. In the process of trying to put all the pieces of this crazy puzzle together, I discovered a great betrayal committed against me by both my mother and my oldest child. Yelp, you know it, yet another long story!!
August 6, 2013: Mike's grandfather was buried. I removed my children from my mother's care permanently. Mike decided he should be back at home and had me wire him money to get back earlier than he had originally planned on.
August 8, 2013: I took the two children in question regarding the 2nd report filed with the department of children for their criminal forensic interview. We were there for three very long hours. I was informed my mother was going to be arrested when all was said and done. I was also informed that the case worker needed to come visit my home and have a safety meeting there with the children, Mike and I. It was scheduled for August 12th, 2013. I left that meeting there leaning on the strength of God.
August 9, 2013: Mike made it back home VERY early in the morning. However, it was quite obvious he would have rather been back in Florida. I enrolled Michael, Marissa, Marie and Delilah into school. My mother was officially arrested and in the process signed a statement saying I knew everything that she had been doing concerning the punishment of my children. I learned about this via a voice mail left on my phone letting me know the investigation was still ongoing and now I was also being focused on for neglect of my dependents.
August 11, 2013: After getting the house in order for the safety inspection, we headed off to Ohio to participate in Faith Day with the Cincinnati Reds and Mercy Me. We had an extra ticket due to Tia still being incarcerated so I brought along a sister in Christ, who witnessed first hand the old Mike. It crushed my heart to witness it myself. I recognized the complete change of heart in him even before she commented on it herself. Not many have seen this Mike in action and those that have always look at me in amazement. Like I said, I have wanted to be loved for so long, I show a ton of grace just to prove what I read about me wrong. (Much of this is in the blog post 'Better off With God')
August 12, 2013: My caseworker called and rescheduled the appointment to August 19, 2013 due to her own illness.
August 14, 2013: The Fantastic Four headed off for their first day of school and I returned to work with my 3 year old at my side. He works with me every day now.
August 18, 2013: I shared at church what I was going through and requested prayers for myself and my family.
August 19, 2013: The caseworker came to my house to interview my children. She was there for an hour and a half. I learned even more about things that had happened under my mothers care. In the end the caseworker said she was not going to substantiate charges against me for neglect but due to the severity of my case, she would have to have that decision confirmed by her superior and the district superior. Five minutes after our meeting ended, it was verified that Tia was being released from custody.
August 23, 2013: The school children rode the bus to school for the first time this year. Because of our late enrollment a bus stop had not been created for them. I praised God for the timing. Mike had scheduled the family car to be dropped off for a new front control arm and wheel bearing on the driver side. It was supposed to be finished before the end of the day. This did not happen. Imagine a weekend with more children than will fit in one car. Let's just say Sunday morning we drove the house and the jeep to church
August 26, 2013: I injured myself playing with Jeffrey Thomas. I had picked him up and he managed somehow to shove off of me pulling my shoulder out of place.
August 27, 2013: I awoke to not only arm pain, but neck pain. I scheduled an emergency chiropractor appointment and went in to get my shoulder put back in place and realized just what a mess I was. My neck had muscle spasms galore. He managed to make a little headway. I was still in pain.
August 28, 2013: It was becoming undeniable Mike's heart was in Florida. I awoke to pain. It felt like my neck bone was bruised and my arm was on fire like my muscles had been torn.
August 29, 2013: I had come home to find Mike in a mood after bible study and I had had it. In a fit of righteous anger, I got on my knees and prayed, "Dear Lord, either Convict Mike or Remove him from my life. In Jesus name I pray. Amen."
August 30, 2013: I found my Great Banquet Cross Necklace in the process of helping Mike find a sweater. I also had an add for an apartment complex flip on my desk and decided to take it as a sign. I called and reserved myself a 3 bedroom apartment. They thought one would open up in either December or January. Department of children called to say they were filing their official report and only needed to hear from Mike before they signed off. He of course had left his phone at home but when he got in he called. No one was answering the phones so he left a voice mail saying in a gist, I was told to call, this is my call. As far as I know they never called him again. By nightfall I was in a lot of pain. Typing had not helped my back / shoulder / neck muscles. Mike told me I needed to tighten up.
August 31, 2013: I took the children to play McDonalds and then to the water park. Mike took his defensive driving course. I was waiting for him to finish thinking he'd call me and we'd go have an early dinner together and then I would do laundry. Instead, he sent me a text and took himself out to Broadripple to eat lunch by himself. I was miffed to say the least. The children and I went out to eat alone. Mike called while we were out and informed me he was finally on his way home. The plan was for me to drop off the children and go do laundry by myself. I ended up doing laundry with all the children. I was in immense pain by the time I got home. Mike had promised me a massage when I sent him a text letting him know I was on my way, but ended up yelling at me over some essential oils and the fact that I was not interested in experimenting with them until I took my class with the friend that had introduced the company to me. After that I shared with Mike exactly where I stood.
September 1, 2013: Mike was in one of his moods and decided he was not going to go to church with us. We went without him and then went to the annual cookout with a very good friend of mine. Mike checked on us once around 6pm. I'm sure his only reason for calling was just to get a feel for when I might be home. Amazingly enough my neck began to feel better as the day progressed. The day before it hurt just to hold my head up!
September 2, 2013: The big blow up happened. I left Mike. I was homeless and without transportation due to a broken down car that was running fine just prior to the blow up. This is again another long story and all in my blog.
September 3, 2013: I had my car towed into the mechanic and received the news of what was wrong. (Long story and yes, in the blog.)
September 4, 2013: Mike decided he was going to leave the house with me and move to Florida on Friday. My car was fixed at an amazing low low price. (I also blogged on these blessings)
September 6, 2013: Mike said goodbye when he collected his last paycheck and packed up his Jeep, hooked up his trailer and loaded up his jet ski. He went out to where the rest of our stuff was to finish loading the rest of his belongings, including his motorcycle.
September 7, 2013: Mike went to the Chicago Cubs game with his mother.
September 8, 2013: Somehow Mike had discovered we were at the hotel and he along with his mother showed up after midnight at the hotel I was staying at for the night and surprised everyone at breakfast. He gave me $150 to cover child support for the week. He promised to send me a letter with money every week. He informed me he'd be back in January to ask me to marry him and we parted ways. Me, off to church and him off to Florida. After church I took the children to the store and we bought a wading pool with a slide, a slippy slide that ended in another wading pool, a little air compressor and a 75' foot no kink hose like the one that had burned in the fire pit four years prior. Who'd think a simple hose could cause so many emotions! I think greater understanding regarding why a hose could cause one to cry can be found in the blog "Saved by an Army of Angels". After we set up the pools, I went inside the house and rearranged the furniture and closets.
September 9, 2013: My first day at work knowing I will not be seeing Mike walk through my door anytime soon. I am filled with peace and great sadness all at the same time.
I am here to tell you, this last month would have left someone without belief in shambles. Destroyed. It is my shield of faith, my helmet of salvation, and very much so, prayer that kept me standing. If you don't recognize these articles of clothing, I highly recommend you check out the book of Ephesians!
So, I was looking at my phone the other day, and I was going to delete all my texts back and forth with Mike. I cracked up when I read the oldest text I had sent him. This one from August 4th. I had sent it to him in hopes that he would give me a call. If you have read my blog post 'Suckerpunched' you know about much of this, but I neglected to share the text I had sent him in hopes of getting him to call me before the one I sent asking if he was going to call soon as I was getting ready for bed. I sent it with this picture of the children. I laughed so hard because it happened to be in a somewhat of a poetic form. Cracks me up to see myself in the rear view mirror. Turns out, with Jesus as my guide, I'm turning out to be pretty funny! Here is the picture and text I sent him:
School starts weds.
They got new doos
and new shoes
and an outfit our
two.
Would have gotten a little more
but the police called me while I
was in the store. . .
You could say it's been a fun day
all but you
missing and Tia hauled away.
Seems she ran away from her dad.
He called
the cops on her ... yelp pretty bad.
My point here is simply this. Life happens. Some of it is awesome but a lot of it is filled with the chaos of this world. God does not long for you to focus on all of that junk. He wants you to focus on Him. Read His word. It is full of advice and warnings. Arm yourself. You are in a spiritual battle. Good and evil exist. Within yourself, if you are a believer, you will hear the voice of righteousness guiding you and convicting you when you drift from the narrow road. If you are not a believer, I pray you are simply lost or misinformed, my prayer for you is that you find your way home. To all believers who are being fed the lie that you are no longer worthy of grace or mercy, those of you who believe you have gone to far to ever come back home, read my story. I highly doubt you could be any worse of a sinner than I was. Sin is sin. Today I am a holy redeemed saint. I am a light of hope for others. I am doing my Father's will. He called me to share my life, my story with all who care to read it. I am inspired by much of what I have written and I lived it all! Please, if you are down and depressed or filled with worry, I encourage you to go back to my first post and read my story. I add to it monthly. I think perhaps with less chaos in my life, I will begin to add to it more and more often. There is still so much left to share. May God bless you.
Father, today I come to you with such joy. How clever you are. How blessed I am. Never in a million years could I have put together all you have sown in my life. Thank you for loving me so. In the midst of this brutal storm I felt you by my side. Thank you so much for the artists that sing your praises for the lyrics helped to encourage me through my tears. Songs like, "Whom Shall I Fear" and "Overcomer" just to name two of them! Thank you also for allowing me to see an angel as a child. Thank you for her message. I have clung to that truth more times than you know. Ha as if you don't know! Silly me. I love you Father. Please use me however you like. I am forever your loving daughter, your humble servant. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Here is the song I was led to share with this post. Pretty awesome. I am a lyric girl so of course they are included with this video! Enjoy!
