May 27, 2010 May 28, 2010

Went to a ministry conference at Agape Ministries, on Bainbridge Blvd, in Chesapeake. What wonderful services!

The first night, Brother Ike ministered. He spoke about us being carriers of the Light to the world each day. How we take the Lord with us, and we should be causing people to desire to know the Lord. We don’t need to be sour pusses; we need to let the Love, Joy and Peace of the Father exude from us, so others can see it and know that we have been with Jesus.

Tonight, Brother Phil Casterline spoke of the different “titles” we can have. The first we took and transformed it from being a “vulgur” title and made it good; that is “Christian”. Then, as believers we are part of the family of God, so we are “brothers and sisters”. You are then, “ministers”; whether you are standing in a pulpit or having a Bible study in your home. Then, some progress to be “mother or father” because they have not only helped people to “show up” but also to “grow up”. Then the last one he spoke of is the Patriarch. These are not “self proclaimed”, these are those that leave a legacy behind them. They have cause others to follow hard after the Lord. That is what I desire. I don’t want, when I go to be with the Lord, to have not effected others with that desire to follow the Lord, to Love him with all their being.

The ministers there prayed for Evans and I, for wisdom, strength and all that we need to lead the church. It was very encouraging and sweet!

May 25, 2010 May 26, 2010

The Lord seems to speak to me, often through music. On Sunday night, Elizabeth played a song for us. I do know it was two songs she merged together, and have yet to learn what the second part was; however the first one was “Jesus, All for Jesus”. It was so sweet! I have heard it before and loved it, then too; however this morning I woke up with the words going through my spirit. The whole song is such a sweet prayer…

Part of verse one is “Jesus, all for Jesus, All I am and have and ever hope to be;” repeat it one time. It seems the songs that have been streaming through my spirit lately have been about being wholly sold out for Jesus and wanting to only follow HIS will for me. It has been my prayer for a long time, but now it seems to be singing in my Spirit, too. The next verse is about laying all ambitions, hopes and plans into the Father’s hand, then goes on to point out that it is only in the will of the Father that we are free.

Romans 8:22-23 says ” For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.  Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body”

The longing I am feeling is like groans, it is deep within me & I do notice that I am praying longer and more often.  I believe that God is getting ready to pour out His Spirit and we are going to see some wonderful things that are about to happen! I believe we are in for some wonderful times!

I have so enjoyed our worship services and the Lord has given me a song, again. I used to sing frequently; and it had stopped for a while. I am sure some of it was the sorrow and stress that I allowed to bring me down. Lately, it seems that 3 or 4 mornings a week, I am waking up with a song in my heart! It’s a wonderful thing, too!

I pray the Lord will help me to live, all for Him! That everything I do, is what He has ordained for me as part of my destiny in Him. I pray the same thing for each of you!

May 24, 2010 May 25, 2010

Well, over the last few days…I have been running all over town and when I have finally had time to sit down and getting my thoughts together, I have (quite honestly) been falling asleep…

Sunday’s church services were really good. Sunday morning the message was more on “Introducing Jesus”. Speaking more of getting to know Jesus & why he came. His destiny for coming. I do have the recording and will be listening to it again, soon; I had my granddaughter with us at church; so it was more difficult to pay attention.

The worship services were WONDERFUL, the presence of the Lord was sweet! Evening service was about falling deeper in love with the Lord. Spending more time basking is His presence and just loving on our Savior. We should be carriers of the presence. So people know we have a reason to be so happy; because He lives!

I know that this is basic, it seems; but we need to fall deeper in love with the Lord. That is my prayer, that I may be so deeply in love with Jesus and have his presence that I carry with me, each day; and bless each person I see and meet.

May 19, 2010 May 20, 2010

This afternoon, I heard a song on the radio that I have on CD. It really hit home, today. It’s been the prayer of my heart over the last few days (aside from the normal stuff of repenting, praying for friends, family, the business I work for, those in authority, our military). I am talking one of those longing prayers, knowing that it’s something that you need to work on, personally…

The song is sung by the group called Mercy Me. The song is “Here With Me”.  The first verse says “I long for your embrace, Every single day, To meet you in this place, and see you face to face”. Those words say so much!  Then the chorus is “And I can feel your presence, here with me, And suddenly I’m lost within your beauty, Caught up in the wonder of your touch, Here in this moment I surrender to your love.”

It’s a wonderful thing to feel the sweet presence of the Father. His comfort, His love, his peace are always welcome!

I know the Lord is causing me to grow in areas, I need to. It’s not always an easy thing; but knowing he has my best interest in store, helps.

Hosea 11:4 “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love:”

 The Lord loves each of us, and is waiting for us to spend that time with his each day talking to him and loving him, and telling him the desires of our heart, and our deepest concerns. I can feel his drawing me to that closer relationship, drawing me closer to him each day. 

I am so excited to see what is coming, and what the Lord is going to do in the coming days, weeks, and months. I know that it is going to be a wonderful thing, and I can’t imagine all that He is going to do; but I am so excited to see it!

May 18, 2010 May 19, 2010

John 6:5-6 “When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company comt unto him, he saith unto Phillip, Whence shall we buy bread that there may eat? And this he said, to prove to him; for he himself knew what he would do.”

In this instance referred to there is a most interesting sidelight on our Lord’s training of the disciples. He was not only giving them instruction constantly regarding the spiritual laws of the kingdom, but also He was seeking to have them put into practice the lessons they were learning so slowly. Phillip failed his Lord in this test. He saw only the inadequacy of their own small resources. The disciples had seen the miracles of the turning of water into wine, the healing of the sick, the casting out of demons, and the stilling of the tempest, but like ourselves, they were prone to forget that the Lord of creation- the Maker of heaven and earth- was in their midst and could abundantly supply the need.

We are faced canstantly with circumstances in our own lives that place us in jeopardy, and with situations in the work of the Lord which we are utterly unable to meet; but if they are rightly interpreted, they constitute a call to enter into a larger life of faith. If we place ourselves and the little we possess in His hands, we shall find that by His blessing and supernatural touch every need will be met.

Christ is ready to honor the largest demand we may make upon Him for His resources are inexhaustible, and He would have us ask largely that our joy might be full. If our hearts are kept filled with His love, and we are seeking the blessing of others and the glory of God, it is our privilege to so trust Him that we shall experience answers to our prayers continually. The difficulties that confront us are not intended to discourage us, but to teach us new lessons in the life of faith, and to prove us to see whether we will depend upon the natural, or trust Him to perform the impossible.- May 18th devotional from Streams in the Desert 2

We had daily prayer meeting at the church a few years back and we were asking for healing of our family and friends that were sick, healing of families and relationships and revival in our community. During those prayer meetings, we came across a poem in a devotional that was written by Frances Ridley Havergal it said “You are coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring, For His grace and power are such, None can ever ask too much”. How much that encouraged us! We received reports from people we were praying for that were genuinely touched by God!

I know the scripture speaks of faith as the grain of a mustard seed, and if you have faith like that, you can move mountains into the sea. It is an amazing thing to think that an act of believing that God is who he says he is, and can do what he says he can do, can cause us to be a channel for the power of God to flow through!

What a wonderful, awesome Father, I have!

May 18, 2010 May 18, 2010

Over the last few days, there has been a song that has gone through my heart a lot. It’s a Hillsong United song “From the Inside Out”.

“In my heart, in my soul
I give you control
Consume me from the inside out
Let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out”

This is part of the chorus that keeps ringing though my spirit! It is my desire to let the Lord have such control in my life that I am consumed with my passion for Him. I want to be willing to do his will. I want people to see His love pouring from every pour in my body that they know they’ve been in the presence of the Lord!

I believe that God is about to do some wonderful things and I want to be a willing vessel in His hands.

May 17, 2010 May 17, 2010

Well, I haven’t posted for a couple of days. It’s been for multiple reasons, the first was computer issues; the second is that I didn’t take the time to go into the office to pull up the other computer. It’s been a very full weekend, since Thursday evening. I am so glad we had such a wonderful weekend, and awesome services at church this morning and evening.

For our morning service my dear friend came and brought 4 friends with her. Evans shared on “Introducing Jesus” and he spoke about Jesus’ mission being 2-fold. One aspect of that mission was to pay the price that we couldn’t pay. He is the only one that was qualified to give his life, so we could have eternal life.

Then tonight, he spoke about “Confessing Your Faith”. He spoke of how words can, indeed have an impact and how we need to believe we are what God says we are. He walked us through scriptures of things that the Bible says of believers. One of my personal favorites that he reminded us about, is that because the Son has made us free, we are indeed FREE! He also pointed out that the promises in the Bible, were for those that are walking in a right relationship with the Father.

Then, my devotional today was from John 14:13 which says “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Praying the the name of Jesus is more than simply adding His name at the end of the prayer. It is to pray in the mind and spirit of Jesus, while we believe in His promises, rely upon His grace & work His works.”It is similar to cashing a check on someone else’s account. I am grateful that when we go to the Father’s account, it never runs dry! He desires for us to come to him with our requests & he LOVES to answer the call for His help.

Now, I am so grateful for all that he has done for me! He is an amazing, merciful, wonderful God! I hope to be able each day to express to him, how grateful I am for his love! I know we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses & right around Easter this year, towards the end of our AM worship, we were singing “Amazing Grace”. I could hear the voices of the elders or “Fore Fathers” that have gone to glory before us singing right along with us! It was beautiful!

It’s MUCH later than I anticipated to be getting done with this; but I wanted to make sure there was a fairly recent update for this. God bless each one of you & I’ll check in later!

Thought for May 12, 2010 May 13, 2010

The walk that we have as believers is ALL about relationship with our Savior. It’s all about spending time with him, because you love him for who He is! The similarities between our relationship with Jesus and that of a bride and groom are eye opening. When we first become a believer, we want to know as much as we can about the Lord. After a while, we sometimes (if we are honest…most of the time) allow life and it’s circumstances get in the way of spending time with the Lord. It then turns to time spent with the Lord is a quick “Hello” as we hop out of bed, from staying up too late the night before (for whatever the reason) and we’re running late for whatever is so important. I am not saying that means that our time with the Lord has to be in a certain position, or anything, I have children and I know how hard that can be. It’s the attitude of the heart that the most important, as long as you are quiet on the inside and know that you can hear the Lord, and make sure you are being open and honest with him, he LOVES for us to talk with him, bear our hearts and feelings to him, be honest with him, because he knows what you are feeling, anyway.

Lamentations 3:25 – 26 says “The Lord is good to them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” then verse 22 says “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.”

I am so grateful for the compassions of the Lord! I see every day how much more I need his mercy and grace! I am grateful that his comassions are new every morning and his faithfulness is GREAT!

As I have walked through the last few weeks and all that has occurred it has been a wonderful comfort to know that He is with me. I have noticed that I am praying more each day, I am trying to spend more time in conversation and communion with my Savior. It’s a wonderful thing to know that He is with me and I can talk to him anytime any place and He is right there!

Devotion for May 10 May 11, 2010

I read this one from “Morning and Evening” and it really spoke to me, so I thought I would share it…

“The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

 Believer, YOU can bear your testimony that Christ is the only begotten of the Father, as well as the first begotten from the dead. You can say, “He is divine to me, if He be human to all the world beside. He has done that for me which none but a God could do. He has subdued my stubborn will, melted a heart of adamant, opened gates of brass, and snapped bars of iron. He hath turned for me my mourning into laughter, and my desolation into joy; He hath led my captivity captive, and made my heart rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Let others think as they will of Him, to me He must be the only begotten of the Father: blessed be His name. And He is full of grace. Ah! had He not been I should never have been saved. He drew me when I struggled to escape from His grace; and when at last I came all trembling like a condemned culprit to His mercy-seat He said, ‘Thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee: be of good cheer.’ And He is full of truth. True have His promises been, not one has failed. I bear witness that never servant had such a master as I have; never brother such a kinsman as He has been to me; never spouse such a husband as Christ has been to my soul; never sinner a better Saviour; never mourner a better comforter than Christ hath been to my spirit. I want none beside Him. In life He is my life, and in death He shall be the death of death; in poverty Christ is my riches; in sickness He makes my bed; in darkness He is my star, and in brightness He is my sun; He is the manna of the camp in the wilderness, and He shall be the new corn of the host when they come to Canaan. Jesus is to me all grace and no wrath, all truth and no falsehood: and of truth and grace He is full, infinitely full. My soul, this night, bless with all thy might ‘the only Begotten.'”

It’s hard to find anything to add to this, it’s written fairly well, I think! I am so grateful for the redemption he paid the price for, I am grateful for His revelation of the truth and that it is accompanied with the grace to bear it and with his help change! I am grateful, too that the truth He reveals helps us to want to change to be more like him.

I did read from another social web site today, someone posted, “Jesus had no darkness in him, any darkness I have that I refuse to let go of makes me less like Him.” This thought again makes me very grateful for the truth he reveals with the Light of His presence, that helps me to want to release the darkness I have within, that I may be more like Jesus.

We have a song, a very simple chorus that we’ve sung at church for many years. It says, “To be like Jesus, To be like Jesus, All I ask, to be like Him, All through life’s journey’s, From Earth to Glory, All I ask, To be like Him.” It’s a simple prayer, I do ask and desire to be like Jesus, that others would see Him, when they look at me.

God bless you, and may you each have the desire to be more like Jesus each day!

Mother’s Day 2010 May 10, 2010

What a sweet day, today has been….

Services today were wonderful. This morning focused, as many churches did, on honoring mothers; from our natural mothers to our mothers in the faith. We mentioned what each member’s thoughts were of their moms. There were many things mentioned from servant to all, and private tutor, to one that taught us a deep love for God. Our mothers were examples of so many things to each of us.

I remember waking up as a young person (I was about 10 to 12) and finding my mother on her knees at her recliner, having fallen asleep there praying. I have also gotten up as a teen, to find her on our sofa, on her face, with the hair dryer on her head, and you could tell that she had again, fallen asleep while praying and seeking the Lord.  She was always there, and willing to help. She loved without question, but you knew that there were things that she would NOT allow. She taught us boundaries and we knew where they were, and didn’t cross them.

I have had 2 Godly women that I would consider my mothers in the faith. They are both in Glory now. They have both shown me so many things and taught me so much. They loved with all they were, the worshiped the Lord with ALL they were, and they loved the flock they were trusted!

Tonight’s service was so sweet…our worship service you could feel the presence of God so sweet! It was wonderful!  The message was on confessing your faith. It’s about confessing that you are what God says you are & you can do what God says you can do. We need to stay fresh in our relationship with the Father, stay in His Word, to know how He is leading us.

I was so blessed today and I do wish each mom out there a blessed Mother’s Day and hope you had a Great Day!