Beloved, Stand With Confidence

I’m feeling a little feisty this morning! God has, without any doubt, given me a warrior's spirit. It has been a huge part of who I am since birth. Though it would shine through from time to time this spirit has been, for the most part, restrained and dormant inside. I can’t yet tell you why, but I know God has His reasons and timing for everything. This all changed in July of this year. In July I entered into a 40 day fast. Someday I will share the details of this fast but for right now let me just say that it was intense. Battles were waged and chains were broken. I was freed of things that haunted me and held me back my entire life. All glory to Him. Since that time the warrior’s spirit God placed inside of me has started to manifest more and more. I am finding myself seeing more and more the works of satan around me. I have had feelings and known things of this nature in the past but have never seen them with such clarity and confidence.

1 John 4:1 (King James Version)
1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
We are called to resist the devil.

James 4:7 (King James Version)
7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
So I say to you now, beloved you are strong! You have the Holy Spirit, God Himself, inside of you. The story has already been told and we know how it ends. God wins! As His children we win with Him. I want to encourage you. Stand up! Take your birthright! Resist with all your might the one who would condemn and destroy you. Know that it is not your strength that you are relying on but rather the strength of Him who lives within you. When we are able to truly do this, rest in His strength rather than ours, we will NEVER grow weary. We can battle and resist infinitely. Stand strong and be encouraged in your faith. Put action to it. God will show you that it is possible to rest even in battle.

Isaiah 40:31 (King James Version)
31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

He has forgiven you… get over yourself. He Has!

Ok. Let me start off by saying that I don’t believe we should take forgiveness and the asking for forgiveness lightly. The Word commands us to forgive. Asking our Heavenly Father for forgiveness is part of the Lord’s Prayer and essential in enabling God to hear our prayers. Yes, that is right, I said enable God. God can not / chooses not to coexist with sin and death. For this reason the Word is clear that we must ask forgiveness and clear up sin before He will choose to hear us.

Isaiah 59:1-2 (King James Version)1Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Psalm 66:18 (King James Version)18If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

1 Peter 3:12 (King James Version)12For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

See also for prayer not heard do to lack of forgiveness… (Prov 15:29, Prov 28:9, Isa 1:15, John 9:31 , James 4:3)

We are commanded to forgive each other…

Matthew 18:21-22 (King James Version)
21Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

If we do not ask for forgiveness our gifts can be found unacceptable to God…

Matthew 5:24 (King James Version)24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

I say all of these things to let you know that I understand the true weight of forgiveness. But, with that being said I sometimes feel like we as Christians overdo it. I think we get stuck in a trap and let satan repeatedly attack us with guilt of sins that we have already been forgiven for. I know many Christians that repeatedly ask God for the forgiveness of the same sin. (I include myself in this.) I want to scream, JUST REACH OUT AND TAKE IT. I picture a child nagging a parent for something they have already given them. When this happens we are not focused on Him. We are focused on ourselves. We are thinking so much about what we want and need, ie the forgiveness, that we do not even see Him and the fact that He has already given it to us.

Psalm 103:12 (King James Version)12As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

As a matter of fact, I believe that when we ask for the forgiveness of a sin more than once we create a new sin. First of all you are following the voice of satan who is telling you that you were not forgiven the first time. Second God commands us to forgive so by not forgiving ourselves we are in violation of the law. Third we are saying the work Jesus preformed on the cross was not enough to cover us. Fourth we are siting in judgment on ourselves, a job reserved solely for Christ. I don’t know about you, but I try hard not to be in the business of challenging God for His job.

God has had to work a lot on this with me personally. I have struggled a majority of my life with being hard on myself and forgiving myself. It has just been over the last year that God’s patient hand has worked me to a point where I can write this. He is so good. The release I have felt since has be amazing. If one person reads this and finds that peace I will have considered this post a success.

We should not sin. We should take sin seriously. The truth is that sin is separation from God and death. And in the Bible there are extreme consequences for sinning intentionally. Every sin added one more strip to our loving savior. But at the end of the day He did take the stripes. He hung on the cross. I think this fact needs to be taken just as seriously. He has forgiven you! Take it. Hold on to it. Rest in it. If the evil one tries to hold it against you again send him there. Send him to the cross. Tell him to talk to Jesus about it. It is no longer yours. You are white as snow and it is forgotten as far as the east is to the west.

We love you so much Jesus. Thank you

Mom, I miss you.

I hate to do two sappy posts in a row, but this is where the Spirit led me this morning so please bear with me.

When I am done with my bible study in the morning I often listen to a couple of worship songs before I get in the shower and really start my work day. Lately I have been checking out the website of the local Christian station and it’s “just played” list to get some ideas and keep things fresh. This morning one of the songs on the list reminded me of someone who I love very much. As soon as I saw it on the playlist the Holy Spirit rushed over me and I knew I had to get some things out.

Thought I only knew her for a little while she had a huge impact on my life. Though she was a fairly petite woman she was a spiritual giant. When I was around her I ALLWAYS felt loved. Not with just any love, the love of God. It radiated from her. It was a love that came with an overwhelming peace. I hope this does not hurt the feelings of anyone who reads this (family and close friends) but there is only one other I have ever felt this love from. My heavenly father. I have wish that I could love others like this. I have wish that I could have felt it from others. I have tried to work desperately on relationships where I know that it was my and the other persons goal to love each other in this way (my marriage). Though at times it has come close I don’t believe we ever arrived.

To feel loved by someone in such an unconditional fashion was indescribable. Toward the end of her life she had needs that may have clouded this a bit. This is where I entered her life thought and I can tell you FIRST HAND that even in her condition of need she STILL gave more that she took. The best way that I can describe it is that when I was around her I FELT GOD.

Mom I love you so much! Please forgive me, I know it might be selfish, but I miss you. Mom I have a hard time understanding her sometimes. I have a hard time leading her. Even though I know all answers are in Him, I wish you were here to ask questions to. She is you in so many ways. Her heart is your heart. A heart completely after God. You made me feel so loved and excepted. When I was around you I felt like everything was going to be ok. I know that you are in heaven. I know you are dancing and singing for Him. I know that you have been greatly rewarded for the amazing race you ran here on Earth and are now resting in Him. I know that you are not sick. I know that you body is not frail and holding you back. I know that you are leaping and jumping and singing.

Mom, thank you for all that you have given me. I love you and I miss you so much. I can’t wait to see you again.

Letters to Lynn - You are not alone.

My beloved you are not alone! I am with you. I am still here. I am still covering you. More than this, He is with you. Though I wish with every piece of me that I could heal the pain you feel right now, I can’t. Only He that loves you more than I is capable. Only He can heal the pain completely. Be with Him. Rest in Him. Please know that your husband loves and adores you very much. He is still fighting for you everyday with everything he has in him. He has grown. He sees and understands things that he never did before. He loves you so much that he is willing to let you go if that is what you choose. He is willing to completely release you into the hands of the heavenly Father that created you for him. There is no fear here, not even of death. I am willing to let our marriage die to save it. (Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. ~ Luke 17:33) Our God is greater than these. Our God is capable of resurrection and bringing life out of death. He is capable of this in you beloved. He can heal all the pain. He is capable of this beyond just the surface. He is capable of a deep down restoration that will heal the scars and pains of the past that you do not even know are there.

With the authority of my father in heaven who loves us, I bind the lies of satan. The love that my Heavenly Father and I feel for our bride will remain forever.

Your are beautiful my beloved. I see you white as snow. My precious bride.

I love you so much!

The Fiery Furnace / Daniel 3:15-28

This Bible story has played a huge part in my life over the past two months so I wanted to share it with everyone. It is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Through it God has taught me a couple of different things.

First he has shown me that He will not always stop me from getting thrown in the fire. He can not. He has given His creation free will. The choices that we make and the choices that others make around us have an effect on us.

He has taught me through this story that sometimes he wants me to be tossed into the fire. This confused me a little. If I pray to be saved and not tossed into the fire, would not a loving God save me? If I am doing everything right every set of the way, should He not save His child from pain? The answer is most often yes but not always. He allows us to be tossed into the fire as a means of growing our faith in Him. He allows us to be tossed into the fire to burn up the stubble in our life. He also allows us to be tossed into the fire to show us as an example and to glorify His name to others around us. The great thing is that no matter what the reason, He is allways there with us! He is right by our side! :)

Just because we get tossed into the fire does not mean that we have done anything wrong. The story has also taught me that no matter what, if I keep my faith and eyes on Him that loves me I will come out of any fire with not even a scratch.

I hope these verses touch you as much as they have touched me. I wish you without fear and brave in Him. I wish, even as the fire surrounds you, that you will be able to rest and find peace in Him. He who loves you will always get you through without a scratch or the stench of smoke. God Bless.

PS I have also included this fitting song before the verses. I hope it blesses you.



3:15-28 (King James Version)
15Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

18But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

19Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

20And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

22Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

25He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

27And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

28Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

He Reigns - The Newsboys

Acts 13:22

Acts 13:22 (King James Version)

 ²²And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.