Tell It ~ Dispel It

When you find fear choking your heart, when the dark cloud of foreboding hangs heavy overhead, how do you break free? When we are people of faith, exhorted to trust Perfect Love ~1 John 4:18~, and we find the familiar fear-feeling gripping us instead of the peace we are abundantly given ~John 14:27~ how DO we access that peace?


I have had my share of run-ins with, and run-overs by fear. It has crippled me. It has held me back. It has stolen from me. Fear strangles out joy, peace, and light. Fear is darkness. 


"Fear is the darkroom where Satan develops your negatives" ~Francis Frangipane


Understanding that fear is a negative, something related to darkness, it stands to reason that exposing it to the light ~2 Corinthians 4:6~ would  be a good first step in overcoming it. So often I have hidden my fears; kept them to myself, and in doing so have given them power. 


It is humbling to admit fear, but just in the act of telling it, it loses power. Then usually that someone that you trust can give you greater light from a "higher" view, a different perspective, and encourage you. En. Courage. Give you courage. Strengthen your faith. Better still, pray for you and remind you of the truth. That God is bigger, stronger, and loves to bring you good. Reminding you that God is God and He loves you. ~Romans 8:28~


We need that sometimes. Reminders. Peter ~2 Peter 1:12-15~ gives what I call "extreme expression" to the value of reminding and remembering. Because he knows that sometimes... we forget. 


So be free in expressing your fears to a trusted friend and you will find faith coming to light on the other side. 


For more "faith talk" go here:

Home and Happy

I received a call late on Monday night, my brother's daughter Rita had fallen from their hayloft and was being airlifted to the Twin Cities because they may have to do surgery on her brain. Would I please put her on our church's prayer chain?

My brother's facebook status: 

On Monday our daughter Rita Rose fell and hit her head, she was air lifted to Minneapolis where she underwent surgery to remove the blood buildup from inside her skull. I'm happy to report that all seems well at this time and the blood came from the fractured skull and not the brain. God is good!

God has answered several prayers for my family over the past year. A year ago my dad had an artery nearly totally blocked. He had been prayed over a day before, and on our prayer chains after being diagnosed and prepped for surgery. He was, two days later, out of the hospital riding an ATV.  


Then one day late winter this year, my mom's heart had been racing for an hour, I happened to call her on my way home from a Moms In Touch prayer time for Ethan and his college, and I prayed with her over the phone. She was frightened. As I prayed for her, she suddenly said, "It stopped!". 

"Really? It stopped? It's done?" My voice revealed shock {sorry Lord!}. 


"Yes, it stopped!!" 


We started singing together on the phone: "He is Mighty to Save". God moved through prayer again and it was an "auto-response" to overwhelming thanksgiving.

Rita had to have an incision to drain the blood-swelling from her head that night as we prayed. 

My brother's facebook status yesterday:

Rita is coming home. No PE, playground, sports or recess until January at least. All things she loves, this is going to be tough on her! But thank God she will eventually be 100%!

My brother's words off of facebook today:

"My Rita my Rita, I'm so very happy to have her, home, healthy, and healing! her perpetual smile back home where it belongs!"

I have a feeling that God says that very same thing when we turn to Jesus, and He wipes away our tears, heals our heart and receives us home where we belong!

Word Tsunami

Your word, O LORD, is eternal;
   it stands firm in the heavens. Psalm 119:89

Stand in Awe of God

 ¹ Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

 ² Do not be quick with your mouth,
   do not be hasty in your heart
   to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
   and you are on earth,
   so let your words be few.
³ As a dream comes when there are many cares,
   so the speech of a fool when there are many words. Ecclesiastes 5:1-3

In the tsunami of words at our fingertips, it is good to withdraw and dwell on the eternal word that stands in the heavens. :)

Do Joy and Burden Blend?

As I pour out my heart to God for my friends and family hurting, needing healing, my heart hangs heavy with burden. I thank my God for the many blessings in the lives of my friends and family and joy envelops me.

I find there is a weariness in my heart that lingers though, for the ones suffering. I feel so helpless. I cannot get release, and yet I know that our God is mighty to heal and deliver and save. I wear the burden as a mantle of prayer. For if the burden were removed, the Source that can and does heal may remain untapped.

Dear God...El Elyon~Great and Mighty One. El Shaddai~Merciful Provider Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals. Please heal my friends. The ones who have non-treatable, ongoing illness weighing them down. Unable to function in the daily things. Waiting on you Lord. Heal them please. Give them grace to hope in your Sovereignty. My friends enduring chemo, Lord, give them grace to endure the tumultuous waves of anguish. Loss of appetite, loss of hair, loss of energy and clarity of mind. Bless them Lord to endure the wait. To praise you in the storm. I know Lord God in Heaven, that you are Good, Loving, Faithful, Powerful, Gracious, Kind, and able to lift the burden and heal the body. Bless them Lord, give them awareness of your love and peace as they trust you to provide...

So yes, joy and burdens do indeed blend, for all the while I have the heaviness of Burden, I have the weightlessness of Joy. The dance in my heart for the blessings too numerous to name. I sit before the Lord listing my thanks for His giving.

I marvel at the gift of family framed on walls and plastering my refrigerator; at prayers already answered, miracles witnessed. I thank Him for knowledge that I will have enough for groceries today; and grateful that I can throw this day's soiled garments in an agitating machine to come out clean. For there are many who don't have those things. Many whose burdens far outweigh mine. May the Lord meet their needs today I pray. Lord, you are strong enough to carry all the burdens.

In that knowledge, in the knowing that God can handle it all, I find that Joy wins. Yes, through the drone and the dance, in the hope and in prayer, I find that the drone dies, but the dancing endures. For God meets needs, God heals, God lifts the burden and with HIM all is good in the end. It's all part of life's song...

I recall the chorus:

For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

This Life Is Like A Dot On A Million Mile String...............

...if I could help you see...but who am I? 

One who needs the Light of Jesus to show the way.

It's narrow. It's steep. He went there. I will go too.

Better to go with nothing than to miss the way.

On the other side. That is where the glory is. 

I will wait for it.

Here is dirt. And weeds. 

Temporary trappings. 

Things that age, and corrode, and fall apart.

There is eternity. 

Live for then. 

This stuff will end. What good will come of it?

If I live for pleasure on earth, 

I may miss the treasure of heaven. 

The one who made the mountains, the rivers, 

the flowers and the people. 

He will be there.

What more could one need? Or want? 

Just the Maker of all things good 

and right and beautiful. 

That is all 

{Could one ever describe what ALL is?} 

We experience the Glory here.

But There~No darkness. No fungus. 

No sickness. No fear. No devil. No evil. 

No wrinkles. No rust. No lies. No pain. 

No death. No brokeness. No hindrances. No weeds. 

No drought. No poverty. No storms. No lack. 

No lonliness. No rejection. No famine. 

None.

None of the ills that we know here. None. 

Not even politics. 

Just one Good, Wise King!

All is grace and glory with Him.

People I love have died.

Yet, they live on forever. 

I will die. You will die.

What matters is the forever.

After this then what?

With Jesus. Faith's goal. 

This life on earth is like a dot 

on a million mile string.................................

I will walk by faith, for what I see is so very small 

compared to what I cannot see.

The God who said, "let there be, and there was."

He is readying Heaven. I can only imagine...

Power of One

When Jesus was accused by the "lawbreakers" (His name for the Pharisees) of doing his miracles in the name of a demon, He made a statement: 

"a house divided against itself cannot stand." (Mark 3:24-26) 

I am sure you have noticed the walls of division in seemingly every arena of life today. There are "sides to take" and "points to make".

Differing ideas and deep desires to make "my way" understood.

Republican and Democrat

Conservative and Liberal

Pro "this" and Anti "that"

Sadly it seems in the Church of Jesus

there are walls of division too.

Calvinism and Armenian-ism

Pentecostal and Traditional

Conservative and Liberal 

But Jesus has only ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT. Ephesians 4:4-6

The one Body is made up of the disciples of Jesus.

The disciples of Jesus have the Spirit of Jesus inside of them.

Jesus is the Head of the Body.

He says that among the wheat will be weeds. Matthew 13:28-30

He says that among the lambs will be wolves. Matthew 10:15-17

He says that among the sheep will be goats. Matthew 25: 31-34

So the ONE BODY will have people claiming to be part of it, 

but who really are not a part of it.

Interestingly in Matthew 13:28-30 He makes it clear that 

the weeds will not be removed from the wheat until 

the day of the great judgement.

{*So how does the wheat manage to live and thrive among the weeds?}

Dissension is a word that the Bible uses in listing

the acts of the sinful nature or "the flesh" in Galatians 5:19-21.

dis·sen·sion

 

1. strong disagreement; a contention or quarrel; discord.

2. difference in sentiment or opinion; disagreement.

dis·cord

 

1. lack of concord or harmony between persons or things:marital discord.

2. disagreement; difference of opinion.

3. strife; dispute; war.

In light of the divisiveness in our culture today, 

and out of a desire to keep us moving toward the goal

of BUILDING the kingdom of God

and LIBERATING those in bondage,

the following Living Words are our answer to the {*how}

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, ³⁰ since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. Philippians 1:27-29


Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Romans 14:19


Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3


Lord Jesus, help us to be wise and discerning in the way we act and treat one another. Help us to get rid of resentment, and do away with the pointing of fingers. Please bind us together in your love and establish us in unity for the sake of your Name and your glory. We know that Satan wants to bring division to topple us, help us to be aware of his schemes and resist him. Help us not participate with him by being accusers. Help us honor your anointed ones (each other). Amen. 

My Top Books

The following books have moved me to make changes in my life, see things from God's perspective, embrace the hard things (though that is a fight~always) and understand the power of the spoken Word of God which has changed many things in my life and in the lives of those I pray for.


Greater Health God's Way ~Stormie O'Martain
Gave me life-long food boundaries, motivation to exercise regularly, keep short accounts with God, drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest, fresh air and sunshine...Though I haven't followed the principles perfectly, I am grateful now 19 years later for the treasures I gleaned from this read. 


The Uncommon Woman ~Susie Larson
I cannot say enough about Susie getting down to the wire on the issues and battles we face as women. Exposing the lies, making declarations, and committing to live the uncommon (Spirit-led) life.


The Confident Woman (knowing who you are in Christ) ~Anabel Gillham
I have been through this book three times. Once leading a study which is most beneficial. It is an essential book for renewing our minds, understanding REALLY who we are in Christ and what His love looks like. Another book on living in the Spirit.


Dealing with the Rejection and Praise of Man ~Bob Sorge
Who hasn't felt rejected...but Bob helped me see the VALUE, and the company of God's people who have endured rejection. God works ALL for good, and the painful rejection of man drives us to the place close to His heart where we rely on His unfailing love, and understand that He is all we need. It also helps take our expectations off of people and live to love more freely.


Prayers That Avail Much ~Germaine Copeland
This is not only a victory manual, but a training manual for prayer. Practicing it over the years enables me to intercede more effectively and powerfully. ~The Spoken WORD~


The following are my inspiration when I am tempted to feel sorry for myself or feel that things are too hard.


Hudson Taylor committed to eat only potatos for a period of time leading up to going to China. His vision carried him through many heartaches and trials, and God used him mightily!
Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret ~Howard Taylor


I cannot begin to tell you how glorious God is in this book, you have to read it for yourself...
The Heavenly Man ~Brother Yun


This one too. We in America have no idea of the depth of spiritual darkness that is in other lands. This book shows the power of Jesus' light overcoming the darkness and the power of His Spirit to enable men to lay down their lives and let Him live through them.
Lords of the Earth ~Don Richardson

I was only supposed to list five, but couldn't narrow it down...Other authors that have inspired me and fed me are Francis Frangipane, Francine Rivers, Staci Eldridge, and Stormie O'Martian's prayer series for husbands and parents (prayers for my children).


For more Top Reads visit here