Open Doors, Shut Doors

A wide door of opportunity for effectual service has opened to me and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:9 

Sometimes the only way to discover God's will is to practice what I call "stepping out and finding out." If I have prayed about something and still don't seem to know what to do, I simply take a step of faith. God has shown me that trusting Him is like standing before a automatic door. I can stand and look at the door all day, but it won't open until I take a step forward and trigger the thing that opens it. There are times in life when we must take a step forward in order to find out, one way or the other, what we should do. Some doors open as soon as we take a step of faith and others never open no matter what we do. When God opens the door, then go through it. If He does not open the door, then be satisfied to take another direction. But do not let fear trap you in total inactivity. Paul mentions the door of opportunity before him, but he also mentions "many adversaries" so we must be sure we don't mistake opposition for a closed door. Paul did not sit and wait for an angel to appear or a vision to come from heaven while he was seeking God's will. He took steps in the direction he felt was right. Most of the times God opened the doors and sometimes he kept the doors shut. When the doors were shut Paul moved on...toward the next door. Keep going forward in faith, searching for what God wants us to do. Walk boldly through the doors God opens for us, and don't become discouraged when He closes one.

 

It's Not About Me

God does not exist to make a big deal out of us. We exist to make a big deal out of Him. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's all about Him. The moon models our role. What does the moon do? She generates no light. Contrary to the lyrics of the song, this harvest moon cannot shine on. Apart from the sun, the moon is nothing more than a pitch-black, pockmarked rock. But properly positioned, the moon beams. Let her do what she was made to do, and a clod of dirt becomes a source of inspiration, yea, verily, romance. The moon reflects the greater light. And she's happy to do so! You never hear the moon complaining. She makes no waves about making waves. Let the cow jump over her or astronauts step on her; she never objects. Even though sunning is accepted while mooning is the butt of bad jokes, you won't hear ol' Cheeseface grumble. The moon is at peace in her place. And because she is, soft light touches a dark earth. What would happen if we accepted our place as SON reflectors?  Max Lucado "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord (we) are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18)

 

What Do You Crave?

They will not hunger or thirst, neither will mirage (mislead) or scorching wind or sun smite them; for He Who has mercy on them will lead them, and by springs of water will He guide them (Isaiah 49:10)  

God doesn't want us to desire anything more than we desire Him. It's not that we shouldn't want things, it's just that we shouldn't want them more than we want Him. He desires for us to live in the reality of His presence every day of our lives and to be thoroughly satisfied with WHO HE IS! We actually thirst for God, but if we do not realize that He is the One we crave, we can be easily misled, the way a mirage misleads thirsty travelers in the desert. Satan can deceive us by making us focus on things that will never truly satisfy. Nothing can satisfy us apart from God, so we must set our minds to seek Him. If we give Him first place in our desires, thoughts, conversations, and choices, our thirst will truly be quenched and we will not be led astray. We have legitimate needs and God wants to meet them. If we seek His face, we will find that His hand is always open to us. However, if we seek things, we can be easily deceived and may find that we have wasted a great deal of our lives being led by mirages, things that appeared to be what we needed but turned out to be nothing at all. Seek the Giver of Life and all else will come. God has everything we need!!

 

Give Thanks!

When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house...he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Daniel 6:10 

Giving thanks is so important to being able to hear God's voice because, like praise and worship, it is something God responds to. It's something God loves, something that warms His heart. Anytime we give God pleasure like that, our intimacy with Him increases and that makes for a better relationship with Him. If we are not thankful for what we have, why should He give us something else to murmur about? On the other hand, when God see that we genuinely appreciate and are thankful for the big and little things, He is inclined to bless us even more. Philippians 4:6 says everything we ask God for should be proceeded and accompanied by thanksgiving. No matter what we pray for, thanksgiving should always go with it. Speaking words of thanksgiving and not words of complaint God will do great things in our lives as we continue to move forward with Him, seeking His heart.

 

Faithless No More!!

Thomas would die for Christ. Surely he'd die for the chance to see the risen Christ. But he wasn't about to be fooled. He'd buried his hopes once, thank you. Not about to bury them again. No matter what the others said, he needed to see for himself. So for seven days he sat. Others rejoiced, he resisted. They celebrated, he was silent. Thomas needed first hand evidence. So Jesus gave it. First one hand, then the other, then the pierced side, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe! (John 20:27). And Thomas did. "My Lord and my God!" (v 28) Only a God could come back from the dead. And only a God of love would come back for a doubter.
Desert God-he'll still love you.
Deny God-he'll still love you
Doubt God-he'll still love you.
Paul was convinced. Are you? Are you convinced that you have never lived a loveless day? Not one. Never unloved. Those times you deserted Christ? He loved you. You hid from him: he came looking for you. And those occasions you denied Christ? Though you belonged to him, you hung with them, and when his name surfaced, you cursed like a drunken sailor. God let you hear the crowing of conscience and feel the heat of tears. But he never let you go. Your denials cannot diminish His love. Nor can your doubts, You've had them. You may even have them now. While there is much we cannot know, may never know, can't we be sure of this? Doubt don't separate doubters from God's love. This door has never closed. God's love supply is never empty. "For His unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth." (Ps. 103:11) Max Lucado

 

Not My Way!!

Walk & Live habitually in the Holy Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit) then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of the human nature without God). Galatians 5:16  

Like a horse that has been trained to keep his ear always tuned to the voice of its master, we must be willing to follow the Lord in all His leading's, not just those we feel good about or happen to agree with. We won't always like what we hear Him tell us to do. Just Sunday night as I was coming home from church, God instructed me to take a different route. I did not want to take that route and I told God that I didn't want to because my way was faster. He simply said, "go up the hill, do not take your way!" I again said, No, God I wanna take my way, and with all patience he responded calmly "take my way!" I decided to obey because I know that he knows what he is talking about. So as I pass my turn and start up the hill my oldest daughter asks me, "mom, why are you taking this way?" I laughed out loud, because in times past if I had taken the longer way to go someplace else before home she never asked me why. I took this God's confirmation that he was pleased that I had obeyed his voice. Come to find out later the next day, there was a wreck on the stretch of road that I would have traveled home on, around the time that I would have been on that road. A drunk driver. See had I done it my way, instead of God's way..well I still believe His angels would have been there but you get my point.... We must realize that in order to follow God, the flesh must be told no at times, and when that happens, the flesh suffers, but for a moment. 

There are times when we are galloping full speed ahead in one direction when suddenly the Master tells us to stop and instructs us to go in another direction. It is painful to us when we don't get our way, but ultimately we understand that God's ways are always best. Paul writes about the conflict between the Spirit and the flesh. If we follow the leading of the Spirit, we won't satisfy or fulfill the desires of the flesh that lead us away from God's best. This verse doesn't say that the desires of the flesh will disappear; we will always have to wrestle against them. But if we choose to be led by the Spirit, we won't fulfill fleshly desires and the devil won't get his way. We will sense a war going on in us as we choose to follow God's leading. Our flesh and God's Spirit usually disagree and we are tempted to keep the flesh comfortable. But we all must learn to submit to God's ways. After all He is our Father and wishes above all things that we may prosper and be in good health. Decide today to be led by the Spirit walking after the desire and will of God and not our own, stepping out of our comfort zone and into God's supernatural!

 

Are You Excited?

I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord! (Psalms 122:1) As Christians we have so many blessings! We can know God, hear His voice, receive His love, trust Him to do what is best for us and rest in the fact that He has every aspect of our lives under control. We have lots of reasons to be excited! We get excited about all kinds of other things, so why shouldn't we be excited and thankful of our relationship with God? People often say that any visible display of enthusiasm in a spiritual setting is "emotionalism" We need to realize that it was God who gave us emotions and that although He does not want us to let them lead our lives, He does give them to us for a purpose, part of which is enjoyment. Even Jesus wept. If we are truly enjoying God, how can we not show some emotion about it? Why must our spiritual experience be dry, dull, boring & lifeless? I have been in many churches where people sing of God's everlasting love and how He will get you through the storm, singing as if they were mourning. When I think of God's love or how He is always there through the storms of this life, I get excited! Is Christianity supposed to be expressed by long faces, sad songs, and somber rituals? CERTAINLY NOT!! David said, "he was glad when he went into his Father's house," in 2 Samuel 6:14 he danced before God, "with all of his might". He also played his harp, sang to God, and rejoiced greatly. But David lived under the Old Covenant. Today, we live under the New Covenant and under it we who believe in Christ should be full of hope, joy, and peace. We no longer have to struggle to be acceptable to God, but we rest in the grace that Jesus made us acceptable. We no longer have to try to justify ourselves by OUR works, but we are justified by faith. We can hear His voice and enjoy His presence. We have been set free from every kind of bondage once we recognize who we have become in Christ Jesus....stepping into His righteousness..not of our own but of His!! That alone is one great reason to get excited!! I know I am thankful and excited, are you?

 

 

God's Love

The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you; not that you can know God but that God already knows you! He tattooed your name on the palm of His hand. His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore. You never leave His mind, escape His sight, flee His thoughts. He sees the worst of you and loves you still. Your sins of tomorrow and failings of the future will not surprise Him; He sees them now. Every day and deed of your life has passed before His eyes and been calculated in His decision. He knows you better than you know you and has reached His verdict; He loves you still. No discovery will disillusion Him; no rebellion will dissuade Him. He loves you with an everlasting love. The greatest discovery in the universe is the greatest love in the universe-God's love. "NOTHING can ever separate us from His love" (Romans 8:38) Just think what those words mean......Max Lucado

 

 

 

I am worthy of God's Love

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) Here are five life changing question. Question one: "If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" (v.31) The presence of God tilts the scales of security forever in our direction. Who could hurt us? Question two: "Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?" (v.32) Would God save our soul and then leave us to fend for ourselves? Will he address eternal needs and ignore earthly? Of course not! Question three poses: "Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with Himself" (v.33). Once God accepts you,what other opinion matters, including your own, sounds wimpy in the tribunal of heaven. God's acceptance trumps earthly rejection. Question four continues: "who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for He is the one who dies for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us" (v.34). Adjacent to God, within whispering distance of your Maker, sits the One who died for you. He occupies the place of his authority. So let your accusers or your conscience speak against you. Your divine defense attorney mutes their voices. Why? Because He loves you. Question five asks the question of life: "Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?" (v.35) Can you name one thing, one element of life that signals the end of God's devotion? "Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry, or cold or in danger or threatened with death?" (v.35) "Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture" (v.35) No one can drive a wedge between you and God's love. "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us" (v.37) Earthly affliction does not equate to heavenly rejection! Max Lucado

 

 

 

Not My Will

We have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart (1 Corinthians 2:16) 

When we invite Jesus to come into our hearts, the Holy Spirit makes His home in us. From that position in our hearts, which are the very centers of our beings, the Holy Spirit begins a purifying work in our souls (our minds, wills, & emotions). Our minds tell us what we think, not what God thinks. The Holy Spirit is working in us to change that. We have to learn how to think in agreement with God, how to be vessels for God to think through. Old thoughts must be purified from us, and new thoughts-thoughts from God- must become part of our thinking. 

Our emotions tell us how we feel, not how God feels about situations, people, and the decisions we make. According to Psalm 7:9 God tests and tries our emotions. He works with us until we are not moved by human emotion alone, but by His Spirit. 

Our wills tell us what we want, not what God wants. The will over-rides emotions and even thoughts. We can use it to do the right thing even when we don't feel like doing it. We have a free will, and God will not force us to do anything. He leads us by His Spirit into what He knows will be good for us, but the final decisions are ours to make. God wants us to regularly make decisions that are in agreement with His will, not our wills. As these areas of our lives, mind, will, and emotions come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will become more mature as believers therefore becoming more like Him. We can manage our emotions instead of letting them manage us!!

 

Spirit Of Love

No man has at any time yet seen God, but if we love one another God abides (lives and remains) in us and His love (that is love which is essentially His) is brought to completion (to its full maturity, runs its full course, is perfected) in us!! (1 John 4:12) We cannot give away what we don't have. Trying to love others is useless if we have never received God's love for ourselves. We should love ourselves in a balanced way, not a selfish, self-centered way.. Love ourselves, not be in love with ourselves. To love yourself, you simply need to believe in the love God has for you; know that it is everlasting, unchangeable, and unconditional. Let His love affirm you and make you feel secure, but don't begin to think of yourself more highly than you should. Romans 12:3. Loving ourselves does not mean that we love all of our behavior; it means that we love and accept the unique person God has created us to be. Loving ourselves in a balanced way is what prepares us to let love flow through us to others. Without receiving God's love for ourselves in a healthy appropriate way we may have feelings of affection or respect for others, a humanistic type of love; but we certainly cannot love people unconditionally unless God Himself inspires and provokes that love. The Holy Spirit purifies our hearts so we can allow the sincere love of God to flow through us (1Peter 1:22) This is part of the being filled with the Spirit. God wants us to express love to others. When we think of others and how we can bless them, we keep ourselves filled with the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of Love.. We all have something wonderful to give the world today and that is the love of God that is in us!!

 Who is born of love is born of God, for God is Love. ...Without love, nothing can be accomplished. With love, all things are possible." Ernest Holmes

 

Give It All To God

Roll your works upon the Lord (commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will. and so shall your plans be established and succeed Proverbs 16:3 If we want to be in intimate relationship with God and live lives that are truly committed to Him, we have to take everything about ourselves and say to Him, "God I give this to You. I give You this problem. I give You this situation. I give You this relationship. I completely release it and let it go. It is too much for me. I am going to stop worrying and trying to figure everything out-and I am going to let You take care of it. God I also give myself to You because I can't do anything about myself either. I give it all to You. I give You my strengths and weaknesses. I want change, but you have to bring the change. It is a great day when we lay it all down and learn that is is God's job to change us and our job just to believe...we just sit in the passenger seat as God takes over the wheel. Psalm 37:3 says, "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass" What does it mean to commit our ways to God? It means to "roll" them off of ourselves and onto Him. When we roll our problems and human reasoning onto God, which means to trust them completely to Him, then He changes our thoughts and makes them agree with His will. In other words, His thoughts become our thoughts so that we want what He wants. When that happens, our plans will succeed because they are in complete agreement with God's plans. Release yourself and all your cares today and relax so you can hear God speak

 

 

What does love look like?

What does love look like? is the question Ive been pondering
What does love look like?
What does love look like? is the question Ive been asking of You
Once believed that love was romance, just a chance
I even thought that love was for the lucky and the beautiful
I once believed that love was a momentary bliss, but love is more than this
All You ever wanted was my attention
All You ever wanted was love from me
All You ever wanted was my affections to sit here at Your feet and tell me
What does love look like? is the question Ive been pondering
What does love look like? If all of life comes down to love then tell me
What does love look like? is the question Ive been pondering
What does love look like?

Then I sat down a little frustrated and confused
Your fire of life comes down to love. And love has to be more than sentiment,
More than selfishness and selfish gain

Then I saw Him there
Hanging on a tree, looking at me
I saw Him there
Hanging on a tree, looking at me
He was looking at me looking at Him, staring through me
I could not escape those beautiful eyes
And I began to weep and weep

He had arms wide open, heart exposed
Arms wide open, He was bleeding, bleeding.
Arms wide open, heart exposed
Arms wide open, He was bleeding, bleeding
Loves definition
Loves definition, was looking at me
Looking at Him. Hanging on a tree
I began to weep and weep and weep and weep
This is how I know what love is.

And as I sat there, weeping, crying, those beautiful eyes
Full of desire and love. And He said to me
You shall love Me..You shall love Me.
With arms wide open, heart exposed
With arms wide open, bleeding, sometimes bleeding
You shall love Me.. You shall love Me..


If anybodys looking for love in all the wrong places
If youve been searching for love, come to Me. Come to me.
Take up your cross. Deny yourself.
Forget your fathers house and run. Run with Me.
Cause you were made for abandon your heart and listen
Cause you were made for Someone greater, Someone bigger, so follow Me.
And youll come alive when you learn to die.
And He said to me

 You shall love Me. You shall love Me

With arms wide open, heart exposed
With arms wide open, bleeding, sometimes bleeding

Misty Edwards

Atmospheres Of Peace

If we want to hear from God, we need to create an atmosphere conducive to His presence. By atmosphere I mean the environment or mood that surrounds us. Atmosphere is created by attitudes and certain attitudes enhance or hinder our relationship with God. To hear from God we need an atmosphere of peace and we can maintain peace by our attitudes of faith in God and willingness to forgive those we might be upset with. We can feel strife in the atmosphere when it is present. Likewise we can sense peace in places where people and situations are at peace, and we should work to create and maintain peaceful atmospheres wherever we go because we cannot hear from God in the midst of turmoil. An attitude of strife and dissension does not create an atmosphere in which God will speak, but He will speak in peaceful atmospheres where hearts- and minds are at peace and full of love. To enjoy the fullness of God's presence we need to consistently maintain an atmosphere around us and in our hearts that allows us to honor Him. If we want to hear from God, we must yield all bad attitudes to the lordship of Jesus Christ so we can help create atmospheres in which we can sense His presence and hear His voice, making "peacemaker" our roles. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18  

Sometimes, there are those that do not know peace and have never truly experienced the peace of God at work in their lives, therefore making it very difficult for us to remain in a state of peace creating the atmosphere we so desire. Sometimes we have to separate ourselves from those persons and turn it over to Jesus, so that he can fill us with the peace that passes all understanding. Through Him, we are able to abide in peace in any situation..it is His peace that he gives so freely...God inhabits the atmospheres of peace!

 

Take The Time To Make The Time

Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. Job 37:14 

I have heard numerous people say, "God never talks to me," but I am convinced it is more likely that they never listen to Him, don't know how to hear from Him, or have become desensitized to His voice. God makes many attempts to speak to us through His Word, natural signs, supernatural revelation, and internal confirmation. Sometimes we think we cannot hear God's voice because there are certain obstacles in our hearts or in our lives that prevent us from hearing Him clearly. One of these things is simply being too busy. We get so busy that we have no time to wait on God or listen to His voice. We can even become so busy with spiritual activities, such as church or ministering to others, that we don't have a place in our schedules for God. What we do for GOd, should always be secondary to our personal relationship with Him. Time is ours to do with as we please so we should choose what we do with it wisely. Every person has the same amount of it daily and once it is used we cannot get it back. Work your schedule around God instead of trying to work Him into it.

 

 

National Prayer

Do you regularly pray for the peace and prosperity of your nation or city? God commands us to respect the authority He has placed over us. When those in authority are not wise or just, that may be difficult for us to do. At such times remind yourself that we are citizens of heaven and that God's wisdom and justice will ultimately prevail in this world as it does in heaven. We are not citizens of this world, trying to make our way to Heaven; we are citizens of heaven trying to make our way through this world. We are not to live so as to earn God's love, inherit heaven, and purchase our salvation. All of those were given to us as gifts; gifts bought by Jesus on the cross and handed over to us. We are to live as God's redeemed, as heirs of heaven, and as citizens of another land; the Kingdom Of God...We live as those who are on a journey, a radical journey home; a home we know will have the lights on and the door open and our Father waiting for us when we arrive. That means in all adversity our worship of God is joyful, our life is hopeful, our future is secure. There is nothing we can lose on earth that can rob us of the treasures God has given us and will give us.

 

Prayer For All

1. In the name of Jesus, I declare the promises of God, which are yea and amen, will explode into your life. AMEN.
2. I declare the Holy Spirit make you healthy and strong in spirit, soul, and body so you can move in faith and expectation. AMEN.
3. I declare the blessing of supernatural strength upon you so you can behold the things God has planned for you as you obey His word. AMEN.
4. I declare that you will have ears that will only have the ability to hear the uplifting, the encouraging, and the lovely. AMEN.
5. I declare that your feet walk in holiness and your steps are forever ordered of the Lord. AMEN.
6. I declare that your hands be helping hands extended in worship and extended in servanthood. AMEN.
7. I declare that unity rests on this family, through humble hearts and service of love to each other and to the things of God. AMEN.
8. I declare that your minds will be strong and disciplined and balanced and faith-filled. AMEN.
9. I declare grace upon your homes and upon this house, that it be a sanctuary of rest, and of revival and renewal, a haven of peace where sounds of joy and laughter grace its walls. AMEN.
10. I declare prosperity of God, that you will have success in your businesses and places of labor as you acknowledge the Lord as the provider and Jehovah-Jireh through the tithes and the offerings. AMEN.
11. I declare through Jesus that you will overcome the evil one and avoid temptation. AMEN.
12. I declare God's grace upon your dreams and your visions. AMEN.
13. I declare that breakthroughs will come upon your spirit, your soul, and your body. AMEN.
14. I declare that worship will flow from your spirit to the very throne room of God, that you will indeed be the throne zone people. AMEN.
15. I declare a warring spirit upon you, that you possess the God-given spiritual authority in your hearts, in your homes, so that the devil will not be able to take any ground away from you or your family. AMEN.
16. I declare that the signs and wonders of God will be fully engaged in this house. AMEN.
17. I declare that the fire and wind in the earth and the sky and the oil and the grain converge upon you and this house. AMEN.
18. I declare that the freedom of the Holy Spirit come upon you to break every bondage and every chain that would bind you and bind others. AMEN.
19. I declare that the harvest and the reaping will rise up and bring that harvest in through the fulfillment of the call of God to be a harvester and to be a reaper. AMEN.
20. I declare that the cry of revival and renewal will indeed be greater than the cry of sin and unrighteousness. AMEN.
21. I declare that what we have just declared will be fulfilled starting now, in Jesus's Name!

Now in Jesus's Name!

Now in Jesus's Name!

I declare it for the Glory of God Almighty!!!!!!!!

 

God's Medicine Bottle

My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22
 

God is saying in this verse "My child if you take My words and My sayings the right way, then they are life to you and health to all your flesh", if we have health in all of our flesh, we cannot have any sickness in us.

Derek Prince relates this scripture to "God's Medicine Bottle"... "The cure is guaranteed by almighty God and the four directions are on the bottle:"
1. Give attention.
2. Incline your ear to God's sayings
3. Do not let them depart from your eyes. 4. Keep them in the midst of your heart.
jus sayin!!

 

A Simple Privilege

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Psalms 13:7 

I cannot imagine a higher honor than being able to talk to and hear from God, and I believe prayer is the greatest privilege of our lives.  It's not something we have to do; it's something we get to do.  Prayer is the way we partner with God to see His plans and purposes come to pass in our lives and in the lives of those we love and in the world.  It is the means by which we human beings on Earth can actually enter into the awesome presence of God.  It allows us to share our hearts with Him, to listen for His voice, and to know how to discover and enjoy all the great things He has for us.  Communicating with God is indeed the greatest privilege I can think of, but this high and holy work is also the simplest privilege I know.  I do not believe talking to God or hearing His voice was ever meant to be complicated and that, from the very beginning, He intended it to be an easy, natural way of life by which we are connected with Him all day, every day..Let prayer become like breathing; do it naturally and simply all throughout the day.

11-11-11 Biblical Prophecy! What Do You Think God Has Planned?

Check out this link: "11 gates of Heaven and how on 11:11 on the 11th day of the 11th month, the 11th gate will open up and something from another world will enter the earthly realm for 49 minutes." Sounds vaguely interesting ... Of course this is the devil's perversion not to mention Harry Potter being released on 11-11-11.....and read Isaiah 11:11-20 Ezekiel 11-11 Revelations 11-11 Numbers 11-11...if you want.... Tell us what you think God is about to unleash into the body of Christ.http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/08/19/numerology-and-biblical-prophecy-collide-in-11-11-11/

God Does Not Have Favorites, But He Does Have Confidantes

Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You Exodus 33:13   
When we spend time with God, it becomes evident, that we become calmer, we are easier to get along with, we are more joyful, and we remain stable in every situation.  Spending quality time with God is an investment that yields rich benefits.  We begin to understand in a greater depth what He likes and what offends Him.  As with any friend, the more time we spend with God, the more like Him we become.  Spending time with God causes us to become more sensitive to the love He wants to demonstrate to us and to others.  Our conscience alerts us when we are talking to someone in a way that does not please Him.  Our heart grieves when He grieves, and we quickly pray, "Oh God, I'm sorry."  We soon want to apologize to the people we may have offended and then we discover that saying, " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," isn't so difficult after all.  When God told Moses he had found favor in His eyes (exodus 33:12), Moses understood that God was telling him he could ask for anything his heart desired.  Moses responded by saying that he simply wanted to become more intimately acquainted with God.  Moses had seen God perform history's most magnificent miracles, yet what he wanted most of all was to know God intimately.  I pray that knowing God is the desire of your heart.  I pray that it is always the desire in all of our hearts.  We can know Him and hear His voice as clearly and as intimately as we want to.  All it takes is spending time with Him.  God does not have favorites, but He does have confidantes.

Worship From The Heart

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication]. Psalms 95:6 

I believe that worship creates an atmosphere in which God can speak to us. Worship is difficult to define. It is more about Who God is rather that what He does for us. True worship comes from deep within us; it is precious and awesome and it is our attempt to verbalize how we feel about God. It is a powerful outpouring of our hearts toward the Lord and it represents a depth of love, gratitude, and devotion that we find difficult to put into words. Human language is not rich enough to describe everything that true worship is. In fact, worship is so personal and intimate that maybe we should not even attempt to limit or define it with our words. Worship is much more that just singing songs. In fact, true worship is first and foremost a condition of the heart and a state of mind. We can be worshiping passionately without singing a note. Worship is born in our hearts; it fills our thoughts and then it is expressed through our mouths and through our bodies. If our hearts are filled with awe for God, we may want to sing, dance, clap, or lift up our hands in worship. We may also be reverently silent and still before God. We may desire to give offerings or offer other forms of outward expression of love for God. But any of these actions done without a right heart are simply formalism and meaningless to God. I encourage you to sincerely worship God today. Do it because you love Him, and don't be surprised if He speaks to you while you are worshiping Him.

As A Child......

Luke 18:17 says, Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter it [at all]. 

Have you thought about this statement?  God hears the simplest, faintest cry and receives the most child-like requests...I have learned just a few things from watching my children.  I used to think that they were complicated but now I know that they aren't complicated, we as parents make them complicated.  Children have no trouble letting you know what they want, running into your arms when they are afraid, or giving you a big generous kiss, sometimes for no apparent reason.  If they are told something, they believe it completely...if they read something, then it is set in stone...just has to be true..When they ask their parents a question, they fully expect to get an answer. Children are not sophisticated enough to hide their hearts or feelings very well and as a result communicating with them can be easy and refreshing at times.  Maybe we all need to put some of their actions into practice.  That's the way God wants us to be when we go to him.  We need to approach God with childlike simplicity and wait, eager to hear what He has to say to us.  Just as children are naturally inclined to trust their parents completely, we also need to be innocent, pure, and free from doubt as we trust God's voice.  When we pray with simple, childlike faith, we can experience God's miracle-working power and see things change.  Today, I challenge you, as you pray today, call God, "Daddy", and confide in him completely.  God is SIMPLE, His promises are simple, His laws are simple, His reward system is simple, His divine healing is simple, He is simple because He created it all.  We are the ones who make it hard & complicated.

New Levels

Even though God wants us to live joyful, contented lives, He sometimes causes discontent or a feeling that something is not right because He does not want us to continue doing the same old things anymore. He wants to prod us to seek Him so He can take us to new levels. God always wants us to grow stronger, to go deeper, and to increase in intimacy with Him. Most of the time, He leads us into that process of maturity by leading us out of places where we have been comfortable in the past. Too much comfort for too long can mean that we are not growing. Don't be afraid of change, welcome it! Get a new perspective on even old issues. Seek God, ask Him to show you! Out with the old and in with the NEW!! And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Rev 21:5 New things bring change.......

Seven Invisible Barriers To Healing

What I am about to share with you guys is both from personal experience and from a book that I am currently reading entitled God's Word Heals by Derek Prince.  I am sure that there are many of you out there that right at this very moment needs God to heal you from something. I have shared with the group my testimony on my most recent healing, if you have not seen it then you can check my FB page or go down to older post it is there. For many years I have watched my mother walk with God.  I have witnessed several times when God has stuck his hand down and carried her and I both through certain areas in our lives.  I know how much my mother loves God and I know have seen her faith work miracles in my life and in others lives around us.  She is full of passion for people and their salvation.  She would stand firm against anything or anyone who comes against our Father.  However, my mother has battled sickness for many many years, and she acknowledges that prayer and her dedication to God is what has brought her where she is today.  Recently, sickness has tried to take her out and I know that it is not her time...we still have much left to do.  These spirits of infirmity has produced a rage in me that will not be satisfied until she receives what it is that God has promised her and I.  For weeks now I have been on a search for truth, for wisdom, for understanding, I don't know everything that that God has promised, I still have a lot left to learn, but I do know that for a father or a mother to give up their only son (I imagine me giving up Gabe, my only son as I speak) that God's love for us is a love that only God could have...until we come to know him through His Son Jesus.I know that the Word of God says that He is a God that cannot lie. I know that every single Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God will not return void, but will accomplish that which it was sent to do.  I know that the Bible is God breathed. I know that there are angels waiting for us to release commands so that they can perform on God's behalf and on our behalf. This is where the book comes in... I am sure that I will be posting more as I read but I felt lead of the Holy Spirit to share what Prince has said concerning healing.  If you do not know who Derek Prince is just Google him..... I know that this is long but I encourage you to finish reading this...we all have something we need to be healed of, whether it's sickness, unforgiveness, or ourselves. John 16:13-15 says, But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].
He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
There are certain barriers to healing that we can clearly identify, and which the Holy Spirit will enable us to understand and remove so we can receive the healing Christ has provided for us.  The barriers are not on God's side. When Jesus died the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, signifying our access to God through Christ, and every barrier on God's side was removed. These barriers remain within the hearts and lives.  Whether you are seeking healing for yourself or for others, you must be aware of the barriers and deal with and remove them first. The first barrier, is Ignorance of God's Word & His Will!  Isaiah 5:13, the Lord says, Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.  No knowledge of the Word of God, which is all of God's promises to us.  No knowledge of what was accomplished by the death of Jesus on the cross.  Hosea 4:6 says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  The next barrier is somewhat related to the first and it is unbelief.  Some regard unbelief as a kind of harmless weakness but the New Testament calls it a sin..read Hebrews 3:12-13  There are so many "Christians" out there today that still believe that God puts sickness on people and that he does not heal.  There are many that believe in healing for others but don't feel that they are worthy of healing because of unconfessed sins or secrets, not realizing that it is not based on our works but again it is based on what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  The third barrier is unconfessed sin.  Proverbs 28:13 lays down a vital principle;  He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.  Many people are more concerned with what others think of them and their unconfessed sins, than what God already knows.  When you have told Him the worst about yourself , you haven't shocked Him.  He knew it all before you told Him.  God is not asking you to confess in order to find out what you have done.  He is asking you to confess because when you do, HE CAN HELP YOU.  He is never embarrassed to hear your confessions.  He desires to forgive you and to free you from your sins.  Forth barrier is unforgiveness toward other people.  Mark 11:25 states, And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop. Forgiveness is not an emotion but a decision-a decision of the will.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is any hidden root of bitterness in you.  Allow the Holy Spirit to remind you and show you what unforgiveness you may be holding in your heart towards others. Acknowledge it, confess it, renounce it, and forgive as God has forgiven you.  Involvement in the occult is another powerful barrier that keeps us from receiving healing.  There are many forms of the occult and today it is common..being in some way or having been, notice I said, have been involved in. Examples, fortune-telling, Ouija boards, horoscopes, any way in which superstition and satanic cults have invaded our contemporary culture.  We have to be careful of what we expose ourselves to.  Be careful not to allow ourselves to become desensitized to the things in the world around us and our family.  seek the Holy Spirit and He will show you things that need to be renounced. Renounce every contact with the occult.  In Exodus 23, Moses gave instruction to the children of Israel as to how they were to deal with forms of worship and religion that had been in the land of Canaan.  He warned them they were to have no part in it.  Ask God to forgive you and release you from it's influence.  Another barrier occult related is Ungodly Covenants.  It is possible for people to enter into a covenant with other people who follow false gods.  If you do that you become involved in the guilt of those people and their false gods.  This I personally have experienced with the father of my two daughters.  He is a Muslim.  This may be offensive to some of you but I say it in love because I know it to be true.  My covenant that I made with him has allowed the influence of false gods and the occult which is practiced by his family members to prevail at times in our lives.  My entering into a covenant with him has placed not only me but my entire family under a curse.  There are other groups or secret societies that fall into this category. Ask God to show you, release you, forgive you, and break its power over you right now in Jesus name.  The final barrier is the effects of a curse.  There are 7 common indications of a curse.  If several of these things apply to your or your family members, there is probably a curse over you.  The good news is that Jesus was made a curse so that we might be redeemed from the curse and receive the blessing.  1: History of mental and emotional breakdown 2: repeated chronic sickness, especially hereditary ones.  The mark of a curse is that it passes from generation to generation. 3: repeated miscarriages or female problems 4: breakdown of marriages and family alienation, always at war with each other. 5: Continuing financial insufficiency, never getting out of the poverty syndrome 6: Being accident prone 7: history of suicides or unnatural deaths.  The Holy Spirit is able to deal with any kind of curse in your life. I urge you to seek the Holy Spirit to see what barriers there are in your life that are preventing you from receiving your healing.  Let those who have ears hear in Jesus Name......  to be continued........

God Is Not Hiding

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. Psalm 19:1
 

God does not hide from anyone. He reveals Himself to all humankind. He speaks to everyone through His handiwork, and nature itself testifies of His power and His plans. Look around and pay attention to the world God has created. The main thing He says to us through nature is that He truly exists. He tries to reach us everyday and He leaves clues about Himself everywhere, clues that say, "I am here! You don't have to worry or be afraid. I am here!" Every morning the sun comes up and every evening it goes down. The stars come out to sparkle against the night sky and the universe remains in order as a reminder that God is watching over us. When we consider how some trees look totally dead during winter and come back to life each spring, we are reminded that God will bring our lives back into full bloom, even if we feel lifeless or hopeless because of our circumstances. I enjoy simply looking at a tree and watching it blow in the wind. I have noticed that dead leaves sometimes cling to branches for a while, and then a big gust of wind comes along and blows them off, making room for new buds to grow and thrive. This reminds me that the wind of God's Spirit is faithful to blow away everything that is no longer needed in our lives and that He will protect all that needs to remain. He will bring new life and growth and times of refreshing. Remember these examples of how God speaks through nature and look for His clues everywhere you go today!! I challenge you to ask God to show you the beauty through the ashes!