Sunday, June 29, 2014

Why should we pray?

Good mornings my sisters-

Well the storms are moving in once again and our Lord will penetrate the earth with water.  Thank God that our desert place is turning into a lush garden.  The Lord is good! Can you say, "Amen?"

My topic today is on the power of prayer.  Many Christian leaders have been called to prayer and to encourage prayer.  That's not a coincidence. The Lord is calling His bride to be faithful, to repent and to turn their eyes on Him.  It's so easy to turn our eyes anywhere but Him.  Our challenge is to stay focused.  How often does life pull you away from Him?  I know that it's a challenge for me every day.   I also know that He is calling and we must stop, drop and pray.  It's similar to what we were taught as kids regarding a fire, instead of rolling we need to pray.

Prayer and the Word are the most powerful tools Christians have today but they are often to prideful or to busy to sit in prayer.  How do we draw closer to God?  We pray.  How do world events change?  We pray.  How do we protect the ones we love?  We pray.  Get the picture. Prayer is how David fought off his enemies.  Prayer provided Sarah and Abraham with a child.  Prayer moved Moses over the Red Sea.  Prayer delivered the Israelites and prayer changes events today.

What do we pray for? Everything.  The Lord already knows what our needs are but when we pray God hears and we draw near to Him.  Why?  Because we are focused on Him meeting the needs of His people.  He wants to come and be with us but we aren't ready.  If we were, He would be here already.  We need to pray that His people would fall on their knees to the One that knows all.

My mom used to tell me when I was a kid that if I heard thunder it was my grandmother that was bowling. Today, when I hear thunder I know it's the call of the heavens from my Father to drench the earth.  It's about to pour and all I can think about was the numerous times I prayed last year for a drop of rain.  I can remember even praising Him for one drop and this summer we have had rain showers once or twice a week.  He provided, maybe not in my timing, but still He provides.

My goal is to pray now for nations.  I pray for men and women all over the world.  I pray for muslims, jews and hindus.  I pray for every nation, every religion and all people.  I'm praying that God will reveal Himself and that peace would once again be on this earth.  Please join the movement with Anne Graham Lotz starting July 1-7.  Take prayer seriously and love someone more than yourself.  Ask Jesus to come to earth and provide for all.  God is calling us ladies to be more than we ever thought we could be.  You and I can change world events through prayer but we have to believe that He is who He says He is.  Please take a moment this week and ask God to forgive you and to help all of us remain faithful in an evil world.  May God bless you and keep you today!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9 NIV)

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Good Morning all-

It's a beautiful day in Kansas and I'm thanking God for the rain.  He is a wonderful provider.  Sometimes I think we forget that He does provide exactly what we need, not what we desire.  Growing close to Him as a new Christian You begin to see the wonder of who He is.  Over many years, doubt begins to creep in, lack of trust develops and all of the sudden we forget who He really is.

God is a mighty God.  He loves us and He will take care of our needs.  How do I know?  Because every provision comes from Him.  On my way home yesterday, I saw tons of men eating and it brought a smile to my face.  You want to know why?  Because Jesus provided food to the homeless through men and women that love The Lord.  They were eating as if it was their last meal but it wasn't because God will provide another and I was praising Him for His provision.

Life has a way of making us skeptical but we need to trust that Jesus is who He says He is.  One day He will come out of the sky and deliver His bride but we are still too self-absorbed, selfish and have lack of faith.  We are the Isrealites of this day and we need to repent and return to the king of kings and The Lord of Lords.  I did just this morning.  I thanked Him for every provision and asked that He give me a heart to trust Him always.  It's not easy sometimes but I know that God is God and that when I call He is near.  I won't get everything my heart desires but I will get to know Him!  Praise God!

May your day be full of Jesus and if you can get on Anne Graham Lots website please do.  She is praying for the nations, for all people and for Christ to come.  We must stand with her and believe that our God is who He says He is.  Look it up on Angel ministries.

Be well my sisters and believe!

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.” Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. (Exodus 14:13-22 NIV)

We are His children.  Hear the call and ask the army of angels to penetrate the hearts of men.  We must fight with our God and have faith that He is who He says He is!

Many blessings.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

How does Christ define love?

Good morning all-

How does Christ define love and why is it so important to love?  I was talking with my hairdresser yesterday and he happens to be gay.  He told me that he felt like he was that way from the beginning. I'm not here to judge and this is not about one point of view over another.  This is about loving people even though they carry sin.  If you have sin in your life and I guarantee you do then this is for you.

One of the things I learned early in life was how people can be hateful.  I was bullied and picked on all through my high school years, which is why at every corner I deter that behavior in people that are around me.  If you've been picked on, ostracized and made fun of, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  That's not love, that's just evil.  It took me along time to just be me and even then I'm not always accepted for who I am.  But through it all, I always loved people.  Often, I found myself praying for my attackers and somehow I skated through with just a few mental images of that very hurtful time.  Others aren't so lucky.  People in wheelchairs, the homeless, or those with mental illness are judged.  Why do we do this?  What gives us the right to be petty and to make fun of things we just don't understand.

I can't choose who anyone loves  but I can choose to love the sinner.  Isn't that what Christ did?  He spoke with every factor of society that was deemed ruined, sinful and even for some, evil.  I don't have to like a behavior or agree with it for that matter but I do have to love.  I know this is hard for all of us because judgement is so much easier.  But if you think about the characters in the Bible, they were all sinners.  Adam and Eve ate the apple.  David murdered a man in order to take his wife and Sara let her husband have an affair to sire a child.  Homosexuality is talked about in the Bible as is: adultery, lying, stealing and hating.  All these things are part of a sinful human life.  We may not all murder or be adulterers but we have all lied; I'm almost positive of it.

My point isn't to make you think more on the judgement because Jesus will do that when each of us dies.  My point is that we must love people.  We must hate the sin but love the sinner.  It is commanded by God that we love one another.  Why? Because love builds bridges.  It takes us from the depths of despair and give us hope.  It keeps us on coarse and helps lift us up in our darkest hours.  Being loved and loving is the greatest gift next to being saved that a person could have on earth.  If you've been loved then you know exactly what I mean.

I'm happy that God gave us this commandment and although I'm sure I fall short; I love to love and to be loved.  It is essential to me that the people in my life know what it is to be loved so that they can pass it on to the next person.  Hate only breeds unrest, anger, resentment and self-infliction.  It will eat you up and eventually make you unrecognizeable.  Hate never healed a nation, mended a broken heart or gave hope to many.  Hate destroys.  So although we might hate the sin, let's love the sinner because that's what we all need to do today.  Christ called us to love so that we would know the full extent of His love.  If you don't agree then you haven't read your Bible lately.  It's full of word pictures that truly show the  love God has for man, even in our sinful state.

With all my heart, I pray that all of us learn to love like Jesus and that we leave the judgement to God.  I have enough to repent for in my own life; I don't need to judge someone else's sin, do you?

Have a blessed day today and know I am praying for our world and for you.  My God is a God of love, sacrifice and forgiveness.  Just ask and see what He is willing to do.

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3:11-24 NIV)

My prayer today:

Lord lead us to the cross.  We were born to sin and many of us still don't understand what this means.  It is the nature of our past and will continue until you return.  People are people and we must learn to love people even in their iniquities, just as You have loved us.  I will never be perfect until I'm perfected by You, so until that day, help me to love the sinner just as You love me.  I want to love those that are not Christian, those that are tortured and those that hurt.  I want to love the adulterer, the gay man and the prostitute.  I want to see a homeless person and feel something without turning away in disgust and more importantly, I want a heart that feels what You feel.  I don't want to become a Pharisee.  I want to love my neighbor and love You.  Please fill us with love for the lost, the lonely and the hurting.  Bring us to the cross and remind us that Your sacrifice was for all of us, sinners, needing a Savior.  Thank You for loving us and for helping us be better people because You gave us the ability to love.  In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Waiting on The Lord...

Good morning all-

The weeks are flying by and I just realized I hadn't written in awhile. Wow!  I can't believe how awesome God is.  My son proposed this week and the woman he loves said, "Yes!"  We are so blessed to have this beautiful girl in our lives.  She is the daughter I never had but now I do.  Praise God.

You know how time gets away and our wishes change with the seasons.  We are given what God wants us to have. That's hard for us to accept.  We want what we want.  I really wanted a daughter and instead I had two beautiful boys.  I wouldn't give either up for the world but there were days I wished I could play dolls, have a tea party or be part of a giant slumber party.  All my girlfriends had these experiences and often my heart ached but I was reminded time and time again that God blessed me with these boys and I cherish that gift.  And now, after 24 years, I will have my first daughter.  I am so excited because I have been praying for her for as many years as my sons have been around.

They have been dating for over two years and their journey has not always been easy but they have learned one of the greatest lessons of love, patience.  They are patient with one another and although I'm sure they have times of agitation, they work through it.  Why? Because they waited, they prayed and they believed that Christ knew best.

Waiting on our God is the hardest part of being human.  Trusting Him completely is the other great challenge.  I want what I want and I want it instantly.  That is a two year old, right?  But it's more than that.  It's sin.  We can desire but only God can fulfill that desire in His time.  Remembering that is the other hard part but when we do, we are blessed.  This week has been that for me.  A true circle of trust.  In a year, I will be a mother-in-law but my hope is I am just a mother who loves her children with all her heart.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14 NIV)

Be blessed today while you wait!



Sunday, June 1, 2014

Why are some persecuted?

Good morning my sisters-

There is a world wide story out about a woman in Sudan who is in prison because her father was Muslim.  He left the family and she was raised Christian.  It has hit every major news channel, twitter and a world of other places.  It is a story of a woman persecuted because she sinned against the Quran.  If you don't think bad things happen to Christians, read this story.

In order to be released she would have to denounce Christ.  But guess what?  She won't. She will either be released or die confessing Jesus is Lord.  One woman, pregnant and with her other 20 month old child in prison for what?  Because she believes in the one true God and her father's faith is now deciding her fate.  Well, we all know that Christ is with her and maybe that's why she is so strong right now.  She has world fame and her confession makes me really look at myself.  Faced with death, what would I do?  What would you do?

We must ask ourselves questions about the strength of our faith and about our love for Christ.  In the last month women in Nigeria were asked to leave Christ and become Muslim.  We can only imagine the horror they have been through.  My prayer has been that if they were married that their Spirit would change the hearts of their husbands and that the husbands would be gentle to them.

Many incidents are happening in the world just like these. They may not be as widely publicized but they are happening.  Please pray for these women and ask God to intercede if it's in His will.  They are victims to evil but they are the children of God and as they confess their love, He will hear them. The fear I have for these women is great.  I know that fear is not of God, so instead, I have prayed that God would comfort them and guide them.

Women must stand together to intercede for the women that are going through this and for man who has truly been deceived.  Be well and please pray for them.  They need our support!

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:41-44, 46 NIV)

My prayer today

O, Mighty God, many have called upon you in persecution and for all the martyrs You were there.  Some have been sacrificed for your cause and others have lived to tell the story but with each story You still remain the One True God.  Wc cry out to You and ask that You will be with each of these women.  That You will guide them and give them a hope in the midst of their horrible circumstances.  I pray for the children that will come from their attackers, that they will know You and that one day all will know You.  I am also praying for the woman in Sudan who has just given birth.  Give her continued strength and please Lord release her if it's in Your will.  We come together as a body, praying and calling upon the One who sits at the right hand. Please put the enemies under Your feet and release these women from the enemy.  I pray this in Your name, AMEN