My Strength Comes From the LORD!

Simple

Sincere

Seeking

Sunday

I chose to rename each day a few years ago because the various names of the week I made up cause me to contemplate upon the LORD on a more regular basis. This week I learned that this contemplating on the LORD is a very important step in building your relationship with Him. It is VITAL to our well being that we contemplate upon the LORD daily. When we are instructed to pray without ceasing, this is one of prayers forms! How many things do you fret your head around in a given week? I make this challenge to you. When worry creeps up to your door, I challenge you to contemplate things. Ask yourself questions about your situation. Seek If you have been through something like this before. Go to God boldly and ask Him to reveal to you how you can move beyond this into something better. GIVE HIM THANKS. Reflect on all the times of trouble where you made it through. REFLECT. Contemplate. I KNOW that God was there for you were not completely destroyed. You got back up. Somewhere in the midst of that trial you caught a glimpse of an end of the battle, you got a dose of hope.

I have written blogs on the dark days of disconnect where after feeling immersed in God’s overwhelming love for me, I felt like I was by myself. I have come to learn I am never by myself. He is always with me. 

Back to my point, there truly are days of disconnect. Everyone has them. Even Mother Theresa had them. So here I am reading this required text for my current college class at Colorado Christian University and I am literally devouring this current book. I only needed to read Chapters 3-4. I almost finished reading it last night. The reason being is I am learning about the maturity of my relationship with the LORD and what I have to look forward to. I was surprised of how accurate the book was in describing my own personal walk with the LORD and I was humbled to see where I had been in what the author refers to as Mansions and Rooms. I was also thankful to read what I did regarding Spiritual Warfare. I write about it and talk about it often. I know I went through hellashish things while growing up. I know full well today what the enemy said to me and how in my rash immature emotional explosions I walked further and further away from God who truly was someone I had walked with on a regular basis. In my youth I can confidently say I met God face to face. I spent what felt like hours conversing with Him. This level of intimacy with God in a very real way set me up for a very intense level of trials and tribulations. 

I got a little choked up last night as I flashed once again on my past. I see where I am today. Free thanks to the Love of the LORD. I am blessed beyond measure and I am so grateful for the gigantic hope and faith doses I was given along the way. I just want for everyone to know God like I do. You would find peace in the midst of any given storm. I don’t want to weigh you down with the list of my worldly issues for truly they don’t matter. Today I am confident in the LORD and it truly changes things. I have friends who have gone so far as to tell me they admire my strength. Me! I laugh. I am not strong. I am just a girl. I can cry and wail with the best of them! My strength comes from the LORD. I am truly blessed to have lived the life I have. I’ve been sung to by angels, I was blessed to see and hear an angel who said something to me that I reflected on often during my darkest days, I know God knows my name because He has called me by it. I’ve seen light from heaven and I am living out some of my childhood dreams already.

So, what do I contemplate on Sundays? How simple my walk with the LORD has become. How wonderful it feels to know that He always has me; to have no fear. How grateful I am for His immense love. How blessed I am in this stage of my life. I sincerely love God. I sincerely want to share this gift with the world. I pray all my motives are sincere and I ask if there be any pride or lust for wealth and personal belongings in me that they be completely removed. I pray that in all my actions I am sincere in my heart. I seek what God has for me today. I ask Him to be bold in what He wants me to see. I remind Him that I am blind so bill board signs work best. I seek His advice concerning my relationships with others. I share with Him how I feel I may have failed in showing love in my various interactions and instead got caught up in my own feelings. I often pray that God help me in the areas I need help and that He uses me in greater ways. I pray He expands my terriortory. I pray I get to be a light in someone’s life. I ask to be one who helps a lost soul find their way back home. I pray that I am a mighty warrior who is there to help break the chains of bondage for others. I do all of this often throughout the day as I remember it is Sunday. You see, three years ago in my desire to be more focused on the LORD throughout the whole day, I renamed the days of the week so that I would contemplate upon the LORD and His various characteristics.

Here are my constant renamed days of the week. Sometimes, I add a word or change one if I feel I need to contemplate on something new.

Simple Sincere Seeking Sunday

Marvelously Magnificent Miraculous Monday

Totally Terrific Testimonial Tuesday

Wild Wonderful Wacky Wednesday

Tremendously Thankful Thoroughly Thoughtful Thursday

Fantastically Fun Filled Friends and Family Friday

Super Silly Sing-Song Saturday

Many of you know I wrote a ton of my story and republished it into a single book. Today I am confident once again that I wrote this as God called me forth to do because through my story you will learn more about the depth of spiritual warfare we all are drawn into. None are exempt.

I am going to publish another book soon that I have promised to publish for the last two years. Some stories take longer to get on paper than others. For now, I ask that you began building a foundation of faith in these things by purchasing a copy of my trilogy. Just click here to be taken to my author page on Amazon. I do offer a direct print purchase from my e-store as well. If you are going to purchase a print copy, please do so from this link.

I promise you will begin to see things you never saw before after you read this book. Keep your eyes open for my upcoming publication as well, “You are Worthy Too: In the Midst of Spiritual Warfare”.

I thank you for your support first in your reading and sharing my blog posts and second your financial support each time one of you purchases my life story. I promise it is not a boring read at all. If you love a good true life story, this is one you won’t want to miss out on. Again, click here for print and here for my author page and access to the book on kindle.

This is a picture I keep on my wall and I look at it every morning and every night. It represents Psalm 46 for me. As you can see, I am dressed in my full suit of armor for I know where my strength comes from. The LORD!

May you be blessed in reading my story, may you pass the blessing on <3. Peace, love and hope is what I pray for you. Please pray for strength, boldness and confidence for me to continue sharing the word of God with all who have an ear to hear! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!

Wendy Glidden, walks with God, Mom of many.

© Wendy Glidden 2015

The House is on Fire!

I don't know a single person who has not at some moment or another either found themselves angered by another or found themselves being the one that stirs up anger in another by mere words that are spoken.

God's Word has a lot to say about anger and its effect. In Proverbs, which are considered to be words of wisdom, we find these three verses:

Proverbs 15:1, NASB says: A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 26:20, NASB: For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

Proverbs 26:21, NASB: Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

I have shared them with the children and explained the meanings to the point that when one of them is angry and the others decide it is time to whisper something, I simply say, "Don't throw wood on my fire!" It quickly lets them know to be quiet without me having to say anything else.

The other day though, my entire house erupted into arguments and I yelled out, "My house is on fire!" Instantly I had the children's attention only to have my husband call out from the back, "I don't want to hear stuff like that." To which I called back, "Not literally, metaphorically."

Over the years, by pointing out the fire in the room, I have managed to have quite a success record when it comes to extinguishing fires before they get out of control. However, when it comes to Mike and I, this has not worked quite as well. He does not have understanding regarding these verses and to top that off, he can whip some wood around pretty darn quickly. Recently, he has taken to throwing rotten wood at me and I have truly struggled with my own anger towards him.

He mocks me a lot for going to church, for my faith, for the degree I am seeking in college and for blogging and writing regarding God. It's a lot for a person to take. When you consider all the other things I have on my daily plate, its a wonder I don't combust into flames!

Regardless, I know that the Lord is where I find my strength and I also know there is strength in numbers. I don't go to church to be preached at. I go to church to learn, to be encouraged and to stand in worship with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I need that food. I need that time. I need those hugs from my fellow sisters, and I need to hang with others who understand this fallen world!

This Sunday, we had a guest teacher from Detroit come and speak. At the end, they called those of us that felt we were cloaked with something that was keeping us in chains, something we needed delivered from to come forward. I came up. While I have tried with all my might to rid myself of anger and resentment towards Mike, I was still struggling with them both. As I stood in the front praying for help with these, tears began running down my face. Someone put their hands on my head and began praying in another language for me and suddenly I fell backwards and found myself on the floor. Now I have seen this happen on TV, but I have never felt it happen to myself. After a moment I got back up and began praying and thanking God and again someone put their hands on me. It was a lady and she said to me, "Its okay, let it go. He is all over you, just accept all He has to offer." and wham I fell back harder and I truly thought someone had turned the lights on full force for such brilliant light exploded behind my eyes. That time I remained on the floor and basked in the Son's light and wept with gratitude. I truly believe God removed my resentment of Mike from my heart for my eyes see him differently now. It will be interesting to see if he can give me rise to anger with his words in the near future or if they will fall uselessly to the ground. What I do know is this, something inside me changed and for that I am grateful. Anger is a rotten emotion. It only grows much like jealousy grows. It is no wonder our world is in the shape it is in. How many angry people seek God for help with their emotions? Not enough, that is for sure!

Too much has happened in my life for me to lose my faith. Too much has taken place for me to quit writing just because Mike gives me a hard time about it. I have told him more than once that it is God that called me forth to write and I am listening to that call. I also understand that I need to surround myself with others that have true faith in Christ Jesus.

Mike fears the church. After taking both the History of Ancient Israel as well as the History of Christianity, I understand his fear. False teachers abound. We are warned by Paul time and time again to be on the lookout for them. This is one of the reasons that you need to read the Word of God for yourself. As you do, pray for understanding. The Holy Spirit is a wonderful teacher. While the Word of God will help you come to know God, it is in seeking Him directly that you will grow by leaps and bounds. The LORD wants you to get to know Him. He has countless promises for those who seek.

For today, I encourage you to put into practice the advice found in proverbs, "Don't throw wood onto the fire!" and should you find yourself enraged by someone else, kindly utter the phrase back to them. Perhaps it will halt them long enough for you to calm your heart and recognize your own wood throwing skills!

I would like to leave you with this last little tidbit. Satan LOVES for you to become angry. I am fully convinced that he is a whisperer of evil thoughts. From the very beginning, he has been at the root of sibling rivalry and so much more! Most people know that Cain killed Abel, but did you know that before that murder took place, God came to Cain and counseled him? I promise you , this is true. It is in Genesis that we read this:

Genesis 4:1-10, NASB: Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD." [2] Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. [3] So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. [4] Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; [5] but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. [6] Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? [7] If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." [8] Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

There is a lot to this story that I am not going to get into right now, for today our focus is on anger and the truth that sin is always crouching at our door desiring to capture us. The LORD's advice for us is the same as it was for Cain. We MUST master it!

I have tried myself to bite my own tongue, to calm my own angry heart, to get hold of my emotions and trust me when I say, "It is no easy feat." Even when I have been able to stifle it, I have not been able to fully put out the coals. It was only until I went before God and admitted that I wanted to be rid of it all, that it was taken from me. I pray that this remains to be the case. I know that it is only with the help of the LORD that it will remain so for I am under no disillusions that the evil one will not continue to whisper into the ears of those that are close to me. I know if he can't get my attention directly, he will use others in an attempt to pull my from my 'happy zone'. That my friends is part of Spiritual Warfare. Our nation is at war but the biggest war is the one being waged against humanity as a whole. It is my prayer that more soldiers for Christ wake up and begin helping bring the Kingdom of Heaven here to earth.

Today if you realize you are holding onto anger and resentment, I encourage you to ask God to help you be rid of it all. It is my prayer that you do this. It is my prayer that you feel the change in your heart. When it comes to others, it is my prayer that you begin to recognize your own 'wood throwing skills' and begin to teach yourself to grab a salt shaker instead ;-) ~ blessings to all who do!

Wendy Glidden, Mom of Many, walks with God.

Do You Know That the Devil is Scheming Against You Daily?

Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Ephesians 6:13 (NLT) This was the first thing I read this morning. One thing I have learned while reading the Bible is that the battle is real. Satan has been trying to keep God's people in bondage all throughout history. You read about his first spiritual attack in Genesis right in the beginning when He convinced Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit. You read about his next attack as you discover what happened to Abel, Adam and Eve's son. You see it unfolding as you read the history of King Saul and King David and it is well written about during the days that Jesus walked the earth. Do not fool yourself into believing the battle is still not going on. It is. Do not believe that Satan doesn't know the likes of you. He does. He has been roaming this earth for thousands of years. He has way more practice at this type of war than any human being could dream of having. We have one major event on our side, the resurrection of Christ. He conquered death. It is through Him that we can also win the battle. Another thing I have learned when reading snippets of scripture is that anytime you see the word 'therefore' at the beginning, it is important to see what was shared prior to the 'therefore'! With that being said, let us dive a little deeper into God's word this morning. 6:11: Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the word forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. This was the first thing I read this morning. One thing I have learned while reading the Bible is that the battle is real. Satan has been trying to keep God's people in bondage all throughout history. You read about his first spiritual attack in Genesis right in the beginning when He convinced Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit. You read about his next attack as you discover what happened to Abel, Adam and Eve's son. You see it unfolding as you read the history of King Saul and King David and it is well written about during the days that Jesus walked the earth. Do not fool yourself into believing the battle is still not going on. It is. Do not believe that Satan doesn't know the likes of you. He does. He has been roaming this earth for thousands of years. He has way more practice at this type of war than any human being could dream of having. We have one major event on our side, the resurrection of Christ. He conquered death. It is through Him that we can also win the battle.  Another thing I have learned when reading snippets of scripture is that anytime you see the word 'therefore' at the beginning, it is important to see what was shared prior to the 'therefore'! With that being said, let us dive a little deeper into God's word this morning. 6:11: Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the word forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The battle is brought on by the devil. He schemes and plots and plans to deceive you in any way possible. He speaks to you and at you through others as well as straight to you. It is vital to your well being that you wear all your armor because without it, you are vulnerable. KNOW this as well, Satan never rests. He has attacked me in my dreams before and I have used scripture to defeat him. When you read the gospels you are shown that Jesus also used scripture to defeat Satan but here is a truly chilling thought, Satan quoted scripture to Jesus. One of Satan's greatest accomplishments has been to infiltrate the church. He is not afraid of the Word of God. He uses it himself. He has punishers use it to control people. I get why so many people want nothing to do with religion. For that matter, I want nothing to do with religion! It was the religious ones that plotted to kill Jesus so that they would not lose their power in the world. That my friends is another chilling thought. A church truly has no need to pass a basket at its service. They do that so that more people will be guilted into donating. In all honesty, God doesn't care much for flash. When a basket goes around everyone sees who is giving and often how much. I have always felt extremely uncomfortable when the basket part of the service begins. I imagine I am not alone in that feeling. I attended a church that never passes a basket. It took me a year before I finally learned how to give money to them. They had service to teach about the Word of God only. Sadly, many churches have service to use the Word of God to make a point that often even isn't the true message that God intended you to hear. This particular church that I attended for close to three years, had service and truly taught its members about the Lord. They drove home the point that it was important for you to build a relationship with Him and then share His Love and Truth with others. They also educated you about spiritual warfare. This fellowship had more than enough money to go on mission trips and to help those that needed help and they didn't do it by reciting verses in the Bible that suggest that you are to give money to God. People sought them out to donate money. This is what happens when you are a part of a true church family. Today I would encourage you to seek the Lord for yourself. While it is important to also find a church family, it is even more important that you spend time with the Lord by yourself. Begin by reading His Word. Ephesians is the first book that I studied and within its few chapters, you are taught a lot. If you have never picked up the bible, this would be a great place to start. After you read that book, it would be wise to learn who Jesus is. The four gospels share many of the similar stories but only the Gospel of John fully reveals the Lords love for His people in a way that none of the other Gospels do. Every day read a chapter and reflect on it. Every day seek the Lord and His will. They are both activities that will help you keep focused on the truth and not get pulled under by one of Satan's never ending schemes. Another thing that help is sharing the Lord with others. By encouraging someone else you will be strengthened yourself. Father today I pray that more and more of your children learn about the armor you have so graciously provided us all with. May they learn it exists and then begin using it daily. May the hands and feet of Jesus be as active as they can be, encouraging others to discover God's love for them as well as discovering who they are in Christ. In Jesus name I pray. Amen! Wendy, walks with God, Mom of Many © Wendy Glidden 2014