In my prayer time to the Lord, I was thanking Him for his abundant blessings, love, and how He continually provides and cares for us, even when times are rough.   I then asked the Lord a question.

“How can I serve you Lord, you have done so much for us?”

That  still small voice replies “By pouring out to others you serve Me.  By sharing my grace, my goodness, my love and compassion to a hurting world. Heal the brokenhearted, hold nothing back.  My anointing rest upon you, and my glory rest upon you.”

What a wonderful response from the Lord.  When the Lord laid his life on the cross, it was a selfish act of giving His all to us, even to those that would reject him.  Even to this day, His Name is the only name that we can call  to help us in times of trouble. 

I know that this word does not only apply to me, but to all that serve and Love the Lord.  Even to this day, He gives.

May we do the same, and give what He has poured into us.  the more we give out, the more He pours in.  In doing so, we  give others hope that can only come in the name of Jesus. 

May you be richly blessed this day.

In Genesis Chapter 2, we read how the Lord God planted a garden called Eden.  In that garden there were many trees that were pleasant to eat, such as the  The Tree of Life. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was also in the garden that God planted.  Later,  God took man and placed him  in the Garden of Eden to tend and to keep it.  There was only one directive the Lord gave him. He was to  eat of every tree including the Tree of Life, but to abstain from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

We all  know how the story went.  Adam and Eve sinned by eating  the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Their eyes were opened  and they realized that they were naked.  Because of their sin, God took them out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.  Genesis 3:23

You may ask yourself, why did God ask Adam where he was?  Doesn’t God know everything? Of course God knows everything, but sometimes it’s those moments that we need to hear for ourselves and answer the question, where am I? 

Where Are You?

I have had to ask myself that question.  Where am I, what is it that I am to do next?  I have accomplished certain thing in my life, so where do I go from here? What areas in my life need improving?  What are my weak areas? Where am I with my goals and aspirations?  Where am I in hearing His voice clearly for guidance, and  am I  listening?

While Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we still have the Tree of Life at our disposal, and that tree being  Jesus.

Perhaps we have failed with our goals, aspirations, and maybe life just got the better of us and we let some people down.  But guess what, we are no longer under the law, for the letter kills but the spirit brings life.

While we may not know exactly where we are, God does know.  He knows that you have a hope and a future, and that He loves you so much that He sent His Son to be a ransom for our sin, and we can continue to partake of the Tree of Life fully, to establish and prosper us.  

Now that  you know where you are, walk forward with the confidence in the Lord to your next goal or aspiration.

May you be richly blessed this day.

2 Corinthians 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

There have been times in my life where I just cry out to the Lord and ask Him, “What about all the promises you gave us?  Why did it not  happen  yesterday!”  At times I grow weary of the battle, then something rises up in me and reminds me of His word spoken over us.

Focus

The invisible realm is superior to the natural realm.  The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

My present situation is temporary, as is yours.  What we don’t see with the natural eye is eternal.  For that we need to look with our spiritual eyes.  It is with our spiritual eyes we gain insight, hope, a future, and we see the plan to prosper us.

When we look with our spiritual eyes, we gain faith. Faith is anchored in the unseen.

It was mentioned to me once  to remind the Lord the promises spoken over us, to declare them out loud.  Why?  Because faith comes by hearing, and in declaring out loud I am hearing His word spoken afresh.   It is to build up our faith, as God does not need reminding.

It also helps me to clear my mind of the lies of the enemy.  When we submit the mind of man to the things of God, we end up with faith and a renewed mind.

So what am I seeing?  A prosperous future, filled with the blessings of the Lord, walking in victory and freedom. 

What do you see?

May you be richly blessed.

Isaiah 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:“ Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

How many of you have been guilty of procrastination?   I know that I have, and at times find myself falling into it.  Webster’s defines procrastination as  putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention.

If I procrastinate in certain areas of my life, how many times do I make the Lord wait?  How many times has the Holy Spirit  nudged me to do something, but excuses abound. 

• There’s no hurry
• I can do that later
• There’s time
• I don’t have the right materials

Yet I procrastinate. 

Wait, I have  better excuses.

• God does not want me to do or say that
• I’m not qualified
• I’m not ready
• I need confirmation by at least ten people
• I don’t have room to hold meetings

Can you imagine God’s frustration with me?  I can.

Guess what.  God want’s you, yes you to carry out His work upon the earth.  He is calling His bride, and it is He that has placed that burning desire in your heart.

Jesus is coming back soon, very soon, and God needs us to do the work before His return.

So what set’s us apart from the rest?

We are mature Christians

We don’t drink milk any longer, but eat  meat.  God is the one that qualifies, and not man.  God knows you are ready, willing and able.  God gives us the courage to go forward, and it is He we put our trust in.  God has put our faith and trust in us, and we can go ahead and do what we have always wanted to do, for Him, and for us.  

Yes, there is personal satisfaction that comes with accomplishing something, and that encourages us and motivates us to go forward and do more.

Shake off that procrastination, and gear up and roar like that mighty lion and let His voice be heard throughout the earth.

May you be richly blessed!

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.

I just started following a new writing blog that has greatly encouraged me.  For quite some time I have had a desire to write, but through life’s circumstances my desire for writing disappeared. It was not until I had some wonderful people pray for me and it was discovered that the enemy stole my gift!  Since he was found out, he had to return it and I am back writing again.

In this blog post, the writer  challenges us to call ourselves ‘writers.”  That sparked something in me, and not only does God call us many wonderful things and His promises are true, it’s important that we call ourselves what  the Lord shows us and  yes, what we desire to be.

Besides writing, The Lord has also called me to preach, and that is something I already do.  So I thought, what else has the Lord called me to do and be?  Are the gifts and calling limited to just one or two  things, or many things?

What has He called you?  What is your desire?  It’s not what people label you but it’s what you label yourself that will make the biggest impact on others.

Are you a missionary, evangelist, exhorter?  What a about a prophet?  Maybe you have the gift of service, helps or administration and don’t feel qualified for the job.  Qualification begins from inside out. Trust me, that is how it starts, I have been there!  Once you “believe ”  that  the Lord has called you and has given you a gift, it will only be natural for you to  operate in that gift and then it will show on the outside.

Maybe you were like me, where the gift was gone, stolen. God gives life to the dead and calls those things that are not as though they are.  Reclaim what is yours, and begin walking out your gift today, not tomorrow but today.

May you be richly blessed this day!

The American dollar is about to lose 30% more of its’ present value.  This will be the second drop since the previous 2008 drop of 20%.  The dollar will then be worth half of what it was before September 2008.  This drop will cause great economic distress upon our nation.  The church will be shaken and many will wake up spiritually and cry out to ME.  There will be also looting, rioting, and terrorism in our land. 

There is an even greater financial disaster that is falling upon Europe that will collapse the Euro, cause panic and chaos there.  Germany will refuse to prop up the euro any more.  Basic needs in the poorer European nations will be threatened.  Many will lose their money overnight as the stage is set for the financial takeover of the Antichrist system.  This is imminent, and the dollar will also follow, although it will survive for a season more.

The great revival will also begin.  God has hidden His Holy Apostles and Prophets for this present hour.  There will be great outpourings of supernatural provision, miracles, and healing in various places.  These areas will become cities of refuge and places of refuge for God’s people.  

There is coming an all out war in the Middle East as the neighboring Arab nations will come against Israel with a sudden missile attack starting from the north with Hezbollah, Lebanon, and Syria.  Other Arab nations will join.  Israel will be hit from all sides at once and there will be deaths and partial destruction of settlements, smaller cities to the north, and some damage to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as well.  Israel will respond with great force, and limited nuclear weapons will release devastation upon the neighboring countries, particularly Lebanon, Damascus, which will be destroyed completely, and the rest of Syria as well as military strikes into Iran, Gaza, and even northern Egypt/Sinai region.

The resulting shaking of the West will then release a tremendous movement of Jews making aliyah back to Israel.  There will no longer be security or stability as it has been up to now in America and Europe. Israel will emerge victorious from this war, but hurt. However, the devastation inflicted upon the attackers will be one hundred times worse. The spoils of this war will include much territory and will force the west to recognize the Holy God of Israel.  It will emerge as the only stable country in the region.  Many, even millions of Arabs will be killed.  Islam will receive a mortal wounding by the Holy God of Israel. 

I am taking Billy Graham home to heaven soon.  When you see this, know that My time of grace for the Gentile nations is coming to a close. 

Prepare your hearts, the LORD is at the door to appear for His Bride, the overcoming church in this midnight hour  

Pray for those that are trapped in darkness that God will reach them in time.  

In our Messiah,