Everything is Going to Be Alright (4.29.18)

My Child,

Do not panic. 
Everything is going to be all right. 

I Know it’s hard to believe, because the circumstances appear to be so discouraging.  However, We’ve been through this before, so do not fear.  I Was right about your situation then, and I Am right now.  Believe Me, everything will be alright. 

Please do not allow yourself to be overcome
     with anxiety and doubt.
Up until this moment you were walking by faith,
     so don’t stop now. 

It pleased Me so much when you sent the enemy fleeing in My Name and raised your hand in victory.  Therefore, hold onto that faith and stand!!  Because it is that kind of faith that will help you conquer this battle. 

Despite the challenges facing you, do not allow what you see to cause you to stagger.  Stand and be fully persuaded that what I Promised you, will come to pass.  

Stand strong in faith and know that I Am standing with you. You called on My Name before and I answered, why not do it again?  I Am the same yesterday, today, and forever.

My Name will never lose power. 
Use My Name again and again. 
Speak it by faith and watch your faith grow
     even stronger.
 
My child, this is another great opportunity to destroy the works of the enemy and shout victory in the name of My Son, Jesus.  Now, lift your head up and continue to stand on the faith you have in Me. 

For it is by faith in My Name that the battle
     will be won.

 

READ AND MEDITATE ON GOD'S WORD:

Isaiah 41:10 - Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy GOD: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 

John 14:13-14 - And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

Romans 4:20-21 - He staggered not at the promise of GOD through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to GOD; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 

Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 

Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. 

Hebrews 13:5-6 - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So, that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. 

1John 5:14-15 - And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 

#ScriptureReflection - John 14:7-14 (4.28.18)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said to Jesus,
"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it."

 

 

A "Season for All Things" Love Prayer (4.27.18)

Father GOD,

Your Word says there are times and seasons for all things. 

Sometimes I am so weary and depleted that I simply need to rest in You, placing no expectations upon myself except to be yielded.  There are other times when I desire to draw close in the intimacy of communion, and there are times when I desire to celebrate and give thanks for Your goodness and faithfulness to me! 

Thank You for never leaving me or forsaking Me, as you promised. When the world closes in on me, please give me the strength to stand in Your Name and on Your Promises.

Father, I pray for those whom the enemy is using, because they are blinded by his works.  I pray for those who confess to knowing You, but their feet are swift to do and to say evil things. Your Word says this is an abomination in Your Eyes.

I pray for those who are standing in your presence every Sunday at church but continue to do, and speak, evil things on a daily basis. Your Word says You see everything and You hear every word that is spoken.

For all that have sinned and fell short of Your glory Lord, give us the strength to repent and ask for forgiveness when we have sinned against You.

Lord I thank you for being the Father that You are.
I know You love me and I love You always.

These prayers I pray in the name of Your Son,
     Jesus Christ Of Nazareth.

Amen

 

 

God's Word is True (4.26.18)

My Child,
You have wondered if My Word to you has fallen
     to the ground.
It seems as if nothing is happening.
The surrounding events have caused your thinking
     to become negative, and you don’t see signs of life
     from the Word.

Things might look as if nothing is happening in your eyes, but I Am ever moving and working things out on your behalf. Many times, what I Am doing is unseen and unknown until the time to unveil it to you.

The power of My Word cannot fail.
It will not wither and die.

My Child, you already know to take your thoughts off the negative things happening around you. So, keep your focus on Me, My Word, and the people whom I will send to help you.

I’ve told you I have great plans for you.
Keep your mind on those plans and away from
     negative thoughts.
Do not become distracted by negative thoughts.

Every word I speak is true, for I cannot lie.
You must choose this day to believe. 

Choose to believe in ME.
Choose whom you will spend your time with.
Choose whom you will serve.
Choose whom will determine your future.

My Word is true.
I can do anything but fail.

 

 

READ AND MEDITATE ON GOD'S WORD:

Joshua 24:15 - And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Psalm 119:160 - Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Isaiah 55:11 - So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

John 17:17 - Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

#ScriptureReflection - Revelations 3 (4.25.18)

To the Church in Sardis

3 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

⁴ Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. ⁶ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

An Open Door (4.24.18)

My Child,
Today, I put before you an open door
     that no man can shut.

In the past, you did not listen to Me and walked right past the door. Please do not do that this time. Listen to Me so you will know your next steps. Listen to Me and walk through the door. There are things assigned to you that are waiting behind the door, things that I Want you to pursue. There are things I Want to show you and teach you, so you will be able to bless others with words of life that will minister to those in need.

Do not allow the enemy to cause you to doubt
     that it was Me who led you to this door.

he does not want you to advance.  he does not want you to receive your blessings. Do not allow the spirit of fear to stop you from walking through the door and advancing in the Kingdom. Listen very closely to what I Am saying.  There is nothing to fear, walk through the door.

I Have never led you astray, and I Never will.

Stand up in the authority I have given you.
Step out in faith and walk through the door.
I Am with you.

I Will be walking before you, every step of the way,
     leading you in the way you should go.

Together, we will overcome every obstacle that tries
     to block your way.
Together we will be victorious.

Now, do not pass by the door.  Walk through the door in faith, knowing that your blessings are on the other side.

Come.  I Am waiting.

 

READ AND MEDITATE ON GOD'S WORD

Isaiah 30:21 - And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

Revelations 3:8 - I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

#ScriptureReflection - 2 Kings 4:1-37 (4.23.18)

The Widow’s Olive Oil

1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

² Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

³ Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. ⁴ Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

⁵ She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. ⁶ When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

⁷ She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. ⁹ She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

¹¹ One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³ Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

¹⁴ “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”

¹⁷ But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

¹⁸ The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. ¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

²² She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

²³ “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

²⁴ She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! ²⁶ Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

²⁷ When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

²⁸ “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

³⁰ But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. ³³ He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. ³⁵ Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

³⁶ Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Reflections on Repentance, Fasting, Prayer, Humility, Temptation & Wisdom (4.22.18)

O GOD, you are my GOD, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water - Psalm 63:1

~ REFLECTIONS ~

Hunger for GOD. Fasting has a way of helping us really to understand what it means for our souls and flesh to yearn for GOD (reflect on Psalm 63:1). Every time we feel a pang of hunger, we can direct it into a craving for deeper intimacy with the Lord.

Repentance and humility. The only regular fast GOD required of His people, under the Old Covenant, was on the Day of Atonement. That day - essentially a prayer retreat on a grand corporate scale - was a day of fasting, repentance, and deep humility. We, too, can benefit when we humble our souls with fasting (reflect on Psalm 35:13).

Power over temptation. Jesus fortified Himself against temptation with a 40-day fast in the wilderness. Most of us won’t be called to fast for that long (and if we are, we should consult a doctor first). However, fasting is a great way to subject our bodies to the Holy Spirit. People who struggle with sins of the flesh may especially benefit from a time of extended prayer, combined with fasting.

In Crisis. There are many occasions of crisis in scripture when people were called to extended prayer, combined with fasting (reflect on 2 Chronicles 20:1-4 ; Nehemiah 1:4; Esther 4:15-16; Daniel 9:3; Jonah 3:6-9).

For wisdom. When Daniel sought to understand a perplexing vision he fasted (reflect on Daniel 10). Similarly, when the church in Antioch needed to know who to send out as missionaries, and later who to appoint as elders in the missionary churches, they met together for prayer, worship, and fasting (reflect on Acts 13:1-2 ; Acts 14:23).

~ Prayer ~
Father,

There are so many reasons why people in the Bible fasted and prayed, and yet, I
can’t seem to “subject my body to my spirit.” 

Strengthen me to be able to do without physical food in order to gain a deeper intimacy with You. 

Help me to desire to fast instead of being afraid of doing without the comfort food provides. 

I know that fasting can give me power over temptation, peace in the midst of crisis, and wisdom when I need understanding. 

May I long to learn this discipline that Jesus demonstrated in the desert so that Your power might be more fully evident in my life. 

In Your Son Jesus' Name,
Amen

#ScriptureMeditation - The Stone Rejected by the Builders has Become the Cornerstone - Psalm 118 (4.21.18)

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.

I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his kindness endures forever.

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.

Now is the Time (4.20.18)

My Child,
Now is the time when the enemy will do whatever he can to destroy you or cause you to become overwhelmed by your circumstances, responsibilities, or even your finances.

Release your concerns to Me, refuse to overreact emotionally and trust Me to give you the necessary resources and wisdom. My child, I cannot help you if you will not give your concerns to Me.

Trust Me for strength where you have been weak;
    and peace where there has been turmoil.

 

This time is only temporary. This too shall pass. Don't let this overwhelm you. I Am with you to deliver you through every dilemma and I Will cause you to be strong.

I Will bring you through to victory. 

Now, rise up with renewed hope and faith;
     and remember nothing is impossible with Me.

 

 

READ AND MEDITATE ON GOD'S WORD

Psalm 61:2-3 - From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 
 
Psalm 142:1-3 - I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.

Isaiah 40:29 - He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.