Blue Tanager

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Today a bird flew into our window, just like the one in the picture.  It happens every so often. When that happens we rush to see if the bird will make it.  Fortunately this one did. He was knocked out for a bit then was able to fly away. As this happened I thought to myself, could there be a spiritual lesson in this?

Look before you fly, well that does not really apply to us, or could it?

Have you ever rushed into things, so excited for a new opportunity that you run straight for it and fall to the ground  because it was not of the Lord?  I have, and more than once!

One of the Lord’s promises  is  that we can call on Him, and He will show us great and mighty things that we do not know.  The bird did not know the window was there.  When I made my mistakes, I did not know that I was going to fail, but fail I did and gloriously.

When we make mistakes, we learn and grow from them.  They are beneficial to us, it’s a necessary part of our growth.  With our mistakes we gain wisdom and in turn can help others.  So mistakes are not all that bad.

Our windows

Before you see that next ”window”, take a moment and ask the Lord if this is the direction He would want you  on.  If you ask, He will tell you.  Also ask others to pray for you to help you make that right decision and avoid a detour.  Praise God for His grace, for when those mistakes happen in our life we are able to stand back up and continue our walk with Him.

May you be richly blessed.

As a believer, I have learned that trying something on my own strength does not work for me.    Instead, I have to trust the Holy Spirit to help me with what  I want to accomplish.

As I was making a mental list of goals and what I want to fulfill this year, I was surprised to see that I had already begun.  

Here is a partial list:

Pray more.     I have two journals for my prayer time.   One is my regular journal where I write out my prayers, petitions for myself and others, and write what I hear the Lord say. My second journal is my dream journal.  Since I  dream often, I found that I needed a separate notebook for my dreams.   At one point I had both prayer and dream journal in one notebook, but that did not work out.    Having them separate makes it easier when I need to look something up.

I enjoy  praying for people. I find great joy in hearing that their requests  have been answered, the ministries are growing, lives are being touched, and healings are taking place.   

Bible reading.   I read from the Old and New Testament, and  I also read a chapter of Proverbs a day. While reading, I ask for wisdom, insight and revelation.   

Write – A few years ago I began strong with the desire to write, during the course of life it was lost, and now the Lord has given it back to me.  I plan to write what He has called me to write. 

The believer wants to read the Bible more, pray more, hear the voice of the Lord, fellowship, be involved in church, but  these  are not possible on our own effort.   It takes the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us.  We know we need to do these things, and I have learned that to accomplish these tasks I had to ask for one thing.  Desire.

When we feel obligated to do something, then the passion is no longer there.  If I feel obligated to read my Bible, then what I read is not helping me much.  But if I have a desire to read, then the words become alive. 

Ask the Lord to give you a desire to fulfill your dreams, goals and to give you passion.  Doing it on your own strength may lead to failure, but with the help of the Holy Spirit you are destined to be fruitful.

May you have a blessed and wonderful New Year, and may this coming year draw you closer to the Lord.

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

How many times have you received a prophetic word from the Lord, are filled with excitement and hope, and yet the years go by and nothing happens?  I know how it is, I have been there, and many of you as well.

It’s said that all we need is a word from God to get going, but is that true? We hesitate, we wait, the word grows stale and moldy.  Maybe your mind begins getting filled with excuses such as: I’m too old, I don’t have enough money, I have no ministerial credentials. Maybe your gender is an excuse, or you feel insecure. Whatever the excuse , those are lies from the enemy.

If the Lord has given you a word, that means He trust you and feels confident that you can carry out His work.  But are you willing, do you make yourself available?  Do you have that desire, passion and drive to fulfill your calling?

When the Lord called Gideon a mighty man of valor, he did not see himself that way. He felt insecure,  he was in fact  hiding from Midianites when the Angel showed up.

So what happened? 

• Gideon knew he had favor - we have favor with God
• Gideon offered a sacrifice  – God offered Jesus as our sacrifice
• Gideon obeyed his first assignment - through the Spirit we can obey

After Gideon tore down the altar of Baal, it was then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon him, not before!

Often times we have it backwards.  We wait for the Spirit to move upon our lives first for us to move and act, when in fact God is waiting for our obedience so that He can pour more of His Spirit on our lives and empower us to do more.

My encouragement to you this day, rise up you mighty man or woman of valor.  God has a purpose for your life, and he is waiting for you to fulfill your calling.

May you be richly blessed this day.

The story of Elijah and Elijah is one that I never grow tired of reading or hearing about.  I love reading about Elisha’s devotion to Elijah, and his love for him.

Elisha being a prophet knew that the Lord was ready to take Elijah.  During this time, Elijah was asking Elisha to stay behind as he had to go to Bethel and then to Jericho, but he wouldn’t.   He responded that he would not leave him, and he kept true to his word.

Elisha  focus was to stay near Elijah. When Elijah asked him what he wanted, Elisha responded that he wanted a double portion of his Spirit.  His request would be  granted if Elisha was able to keep his eye on him, and on nothing else.

While the sons of the prophets stayed at a distance, Elisha was right by Elijah’s side.  Then it  happened.  The chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, it separated Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah  went up by a whirlwind to heaven.  Elisha saw it and cried out, then saw him no more.   Elisha then took up Elijah mantle, and now the anointing rested upon Elisha.

This is a powerful  lesson we need  learn: stay focused on our vision, don’t be   distracted when “fire” comes near us, and never ever watch from a distance.  We are to keep our focus on God, his plan and his promises for our life,  lest the mantle fall and another takes it.

May all of us keep our focus on God,  appreciate the anointing and be willing to stand next to the fire to receive it.

When I would volunteer to pull weeds in the garden, my husband would get that worried look on his face,  would then ask me if there was something else I would rather do.  That was Fernando’s  gentle way of telling me not to pull weeds, because I would always pull the new plants coming in.  I did not know the difference between a new plant and a weed.

Today that is a different story.  I have since learned to distinguish between a weed and new plant, most of the time.  And if I am unsure, I then ask.

I have found that it’s pretty much the same in the spiritual realm.   When one is learning to walk in his or her new found faith, there will be times where you will discard a plant, thinking it’s a weed.  It does take time and practice to tell the difference between the two.

I had to continue working in the garden pulling weeds so that I could familiarize myself with the new plants coming in, and pull the weeds around it so that the new plant can grow properly and receive plenty of sun.

It’s the same in the spiritual realm.  When you are learning to walk in your new found faith, there will be things that you will not know if they are true or false, and it may take some time and practice until you are able to tell the difference between the two.

Praise God we have Pastors and church family to help guide us, but most of all we have something greater than those two, the Holy Spirit.

The word says that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and once we accept Christ into our lives the Holy Spirit then resides within us.   While we may not know all the answers, the Holy Spirit will give us what is called that gut feel, our yes and no answer.

The Lord has equipped us with everything we need:  The Holy Spirit, the word and our church family to encourage us and guide us along the way.   In no time, we will be able to distinguish what is real and what is false.

May you be richly blessed this day

Luke 6:43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

While on our summer trip to California, my sister mentioned that she wanted me to cook a plantain. Plantains are from the banana family, sweet and a common staple here in Costa Rica.

I found the plantain in the grocery store and  fried it the same way as I do in  butter.  Once it was cooked, we could not wait to eat it. We took one bite and  quickly realized that  it did not taste the same and both of us were disappointed.

A Pastor was invited over to dinner from one of his faithful church members of several years. The husband asked the pastor to bless the meal, and their three year old was sitting in his high chair.  After the blessing of the meal,  the child asked what he just did. It was obvious that the family never prayed before a meal, but yet wanted to appear the part of strong Christians on the outside.

We will come across people who profess the know Christ, profess to know his word, and say all the right “buzz words” in the Christian lingo, but it all boils down to their fruit.

The word says that you will know them by their fruit, and even though the outside appearance will be the same, you will notice how they really are once you taste what they are serving.

How do you know if they are bearing the right fruit? The word tell us how.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

What do we do when we see poor quality of fruit in a believer?  In my personal opinion, I would like to challenge and encourage the person to step out in faith and surrender those areas of weaknesses to the Lord.  In our weakness He is made strong.

We can encourage them and point out the good qualities of their Christian life instead of condemning them.  An encouraging word goes a long way and does more good.  A condemning word can only cause more damage to the person. It’s best to leave that area to the Lord.

Let’s flow out of grace, love and mercy, and show them our fruit in encouraging others.

May you be richly blessed this day.

A common question was asked to a pastor  I know well and respect, but I did not agree with his answer.

“What do you think about those that are dying, I have heard that there are either angels waiting to escort him or her to heaven, or there are demons, ready to take the person to hell. ”  The pastor replied, “There is no biblical basis regarding  angels or demons being present when a person is dying,  so that notion must be discarded.”

The verse above states that Peter was on a rooftop praying, and he fell into a trance.  While in the trance, the Lord gives him a vision and tells him to kill and eat animals that were unclean.  Peter knew that he was not to eat anything unclean, and resisted the voice that came to him. But the voice came again, and the third time Peter realized it was the Lord speaking to him.

This  vision caused Peter to realize that God was showing him something new.  It was written that Jews were not to eat  unclean animals, but yet God just spoke to him not once, but three times!   This caused a new mindset in Peter.  It was shortly afterwards that Peter was used of the Lord to open the gospel to the Gentiles where they received the  baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We can receive a revelation  and not find any reference to it in the Bible, such as seeing  angles ready to escort a body to Heaven.

We hear  that the Lord will not contradict scripture, but yet what do we do when we “see “ or experience something that is not in scripture?

We put it to the test. 1  Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

In Jesus own words, He says in John 15:26   ”But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”

We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us,  and he will testify of the truth, that truth being Jesus.

The revelation you received, will it draw people closer to Jesus, or away from the Lord?  Is it exalting you or Jesus?  All revelation is to exalt the Lord, not man.

Proverbs  11:14  Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
If you are not sure about the revelation you received, share it with your pastor and with others that you know and trust.

True revelation will produce liberty and not bondage see Romans 8:15

True revelation will produce life, not death.

The word or revelation received should never turn you away from the obedience of God.  See Duet 13:1-5

True revelation should build up the people of God,  encourage and comfort.

Finally, Jesus walked in love.  We are to walk in love and humility, exalting the gift giver and not the gift.  May the church continue to grow in intimacy with the gift giver.