Quippings, Quirks and a Quest

Humility: Transferring Personal Rights

2012-02-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

Ouch! This is good. And hard. It's an answer to pray and new fuel for my prayer life.

Abiding

2012-01-19T10:58:00.000-05:00

I don't think I'll ever really go beyond chapter fifteen in the book of John. Oh, I've read past it. I've read the bible through and listened to it many times over. I've studied certain parts deeply and have spent years loving it, learning it, getting it INTO me in any way I could. Always, since spring of 1994, the hunger within me has been to KNOW the Lord and His ways and to walk in them.

Abiding in the Vine is always such a precious message and whenever I hear teaching or preaching on it, I'm hooked. I'll try and find some devotional music set to John 15 that I heard recently at www.ihop.org.

During our time at Abba's House we had the chance to meet some neat people. Dr. Lew Sterrett's video blurb on youtube reminds me of the wonderful hour I spent watching a video presentation of his. It really helped me see the relationship between the Creator and the created. I was very affected by it!

Here's a short clip to whet your appetite.

http://youtu.be/K9vhFVgRhgQ

2011-11-21T16:59:00.001-05:00

Okay...I admit I think a lot about posting all sorts of things for you...things for you to read and think about and things that will add a lot of great fiber to your life. My problem is I'm SO hard pressed for peace and quiet to be able to write out and explain what I'm thinking and why I think you'll like a certain thing. I have the time but the P&Q is not something I have much of these days.

So, for years now I've had all sorts to write you and tell you and things...but I end up posting VERY short posts or just leave them in my edit box. This grieves me very much and while I'm not sure what to do about it yet I thought I would help make myself feel a little better by at least getting THIS info out to you.

It's a message Brent and I listened to last week and honestly it's an answer to nearly two decades of prayer. I hate to say that's all I'll say about it, as I know without much background you're not really sure why to click through and listen...but I love you and I think you won't regret the time it'll take you to listen.

You can click through to the link and read the blurb about the audio sermon/teaching. If it sounds good, or you're just curious I invite you to take a few minutes to at least start it. If you don't want to go any further I understand.

If you do listen and you have lots of thoughts I'd LOVE to hear them. We are so excited about this...and we think you will be too. Click the link below and then scroll down to the free munchies. Both of those are neat but the one called "Satan's Second Strategy - the Picker" is the one I'm eager for you to hear.

Blessings to you and know you are loved!!!!!!!
Hugs,
Kate

http://www.lifemodel.org/list.php?list=11

To Complain or not to complain?

2011-10-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

That is the question.

I just listened to a popular daily radio program with two women talking an awful lot about not getting what we want in life. I thought the life of a person who is born above is going to be full of seeking the will of the One who saves us! So much talk of not getting what we want is wearisome to me. I am not my own; my life is not my own. My life as a wife and mother are not mine to do with as I please. I choose to submit myself to God and follow where He leads and do what He shows and tells. We're to submit our will to His. Not doing that sure would cause a lot to be upset about!!!

The idea that life in Christ is about getting what we want is such an anathema to me. I gave up my rights to myself. It is no longer I who live! I don't have my own agenda, my own set of ideas. Well, I DO but I am more often than not asked to set them aside in order to adjust myself to the Lord's work in my life.

He is the One who brought my husband and me together. When we face hardships and struggles I remember that life is full of them and that they're a technique/method by which the Lord works good things into me. Complaining about our struggles seems SO non-christian.

Not that we do not wrestle. Of course we do. Our life will be full of difficult things, along with wonderful ones. Struggling is good for us.

There is evil and people can choose to do it. Sometimes awful things come. I am not trying to say we are not to GRIEVE. That's a healthy thing. Complaining is evil and rotten and we ought to take ourselves to the Lord and plead for His help to stop it. A thankful heart causes so much to go well in us, even when circumstances are not great.

Challenges do good things in us. I've read my bible and I continue to read it and that is one of the Lord's clear messages to us. Choose to do good. Lean on Him to live the life He says you ought to live. You can't do that on your own any more than you can be the Way to the Father. Only Jesus is the way to the Father. And only by the Lord's help(er) can we live according to His ways.

So anyhow...I don't have time to chat with ladies who gripe about their lot. I'm too busy talking to the Lord in the midst of my challenges, thanking Him that He cares for me and won't leave me. I ask Him to keep teaching me how to love Him in the midst of all this.

Should I really focus on my growth? My goodness. Isn't HE supposed to be the reward, the prize, the POINT? Not my own growth. That's gonna happen if I'm abiding in Him.

I really don't understand all the words and time and money spent trying to make people feel good about being mediocre. I'm a child of the Most High God. I'm an ambassador. He loves me and I love Him. How is ANY whining okay?

Wanting to give up is a totally different story. Not thinking we can handle things...that I get. But to complain about what comes? My response is to run far and stay away from people who struggle with that. I'm just sayin'.

Too much of the wrong kind of pleasure??

2011-09-05T22:20:00.000-04:00

Here is a good video clip of Dr. Archibald Hart (click the title above). While some of you don't get into the wrong sorts of pleasure, those of you who do might appreciate his message.

Also, his books are VERY helpful!

Strength/Weakness

2011-08-25T11:37:00.002-04:00

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

2011-08-18T15:43:00.000-04:00

I often say most everybody has ten bucks to spend on a good book. This isn't the first book I'd start with if you're a wife who's trying to figure out what on earth is wrong with her marriage. I'd recommend starting with the Bible and then with a book by a sweet little lady named Debi Pearl. She wrote a book that's pretty darn good and is a pretty gentle (though honest) prying into the things that cause we wives to be dis satisfied and looking outside the home for fulfillment.

This book, Passionate Housewives Desperate for God exposes a lot of the roots and causes of why we're where we are. The women who wrote it are younger and therefor have been more directly affected by the thinking of the women's movement over the last several decades which has caused such a great shift.

If you reared by feminists and you're pretty unhappy in your marriage (or your husband is) and you've no idea why I'll keep posting good materials that have shown me the error of my ways. I think they will for you as well.

I earn a small percentage if you click through this link which takes you directly into amazon. Of course you're free to purchase the book from anywhere. I originally ordered it from one of my favorite sites, www.visionforum.com. Bless you as you seek to be the wife the Creator means you to be!!

Please feel free to comment! I may set up a separate email to hear what you think in more detail!

Great tool to help students prepare for the GED

2011-08-02T15:20:00.003-04:00

A great way to study for the GED History test with a bible based cirriculum

2011-07-20T12:13:00.000-04:00

Today's playgrounds making wimps?

2011-07-20T12:07:00.002-04:00

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43810459/ns/today-parenting_and_family/t/todays-playgrounds-may-be-too-safe-critics-warn/

Church leaders, Missionaries, Evangelists and Believers:

2011-07-20T10:31:00.000-04:00

UN Bias Against Israel...please take a look at this important info!

2011-07-20T10:19:00.000-04:00

2011-07-14T16:45:00.005-04:00

"Creative writing is communication through revelation - it is the Self escaping into the open." -E.B. White

2011-07-14T14:50:00.001-04:00

"You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, training them up in God's fear, minding the house, and making your household a church for God as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of Hosts. ~ Charles Spurgeon

Of Utmost Importance

2011-07-14T06:25:00.000-04:00

Fifteen years ago the Lord made it clear to me that intimacy with Him is to be my utmost concern throughout my life. He has confirmed it in many ways and when I'm feeling pulled and tugged and down it's ALWAYS because I've not spent time with Him in the morning...soaking in His love for me and connecting with Him.

I used to spend hours each day with Him first thing. Those were the days of a single woman where I was free to run into Him and stay there.

I still can, but it takes a sort of effort and muscle now that is pretty weak. I've also learned how to fellowship with the Holy Spirit which is something that until I heard from http://mikebickle.org/ I was ignorant of. It's changed things and through these years of being a wife and mother I've learned how to interact with the Lord throughout the day.

Still though I've missed those morning coffee times with Him. Because I used to spend hours with Him it seems strange to only spend an hour - or less. But my spirit needs to be fed directly from Him during this time; my soul knows how to go to Him but since it's so much louder than my spirit -something I am learning to change- I want to give my inner man a chance to drink and sup and sit and to be strengthened.

Ah.....praise be to the Lord. His mercies are new every morning, just like my fresh organic coffee. With so many stressful things in my life right now and SO many uncertainties it behooves me to fling myself into the One who doesn't change. I will seek Him and find Him if I search for Him with all my heart....so here I go.

The enemy seems to try to steal my worship and attention. I am learning how to resist him, yet catch myself looking too long at my old companion Worry and the other Self-Doubt. Looking forward into the face of the One who loves me is my desire and so I go...husband just set down my pretty white coffee cup full of piping hot, sweet creamy coffee. To the Lord I go...

Enjoy YOUR day! You are loved and cared for. Know that it's okay to fling yourself into Him. He's really gentle and good.

Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

2011-07-10T22:01:00.000-04:00

Not a day goes by that I don't think back to this twenty minutes. It's literally LIFE changing. For you who love education, please watch this. I think it pertains to homeschoolers, public & private schoolers, sunday schoolers and everyone who ever hopes to influence children who will someday become adults, OR who deals with adults who were once children. :)

Reggae in the Morning...

2011-07-10T21:57:00.000-04:00

This is a wonderful reggae groove from the prayer room at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. It's a great way to wake up! Be blessed!

My Kind A Worship

2011-07-10T21:46:00.000-04:00

I don't have a lot of time for traditions. Worship in my life and mind doesn't mean songs and singing. It means LIVING and enjoying sex with my husband, loving my children and being a house wife. I know we don't all agree on that. Fair. For those who like to worship while singing, this one's for you:

2011-07-10T21:42:00.000-04:00

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this book." Abe Lincoln

David Pawson Teaching Seminar 2011

2011-07-10T21:39:00.000-04:00

I spent a year at bible college and meant to keep going but the Lord led me in another direction. One husband and five children later, THIS is the best foundational teaching for ANYONE who wants to know what's up with the Bible. I recommend it to homeschool parents, pastors, youth group leaders, and seminary professors. If you're like me and you're just an average joe and don't have time for bible school, or even if you did and you want your passion for the Lord to be re-kindled, have AT!!!

http://www.ihop.org/Groups/1000080068/David_Pawson.aspx?redirected=1

There are free MP3's and video. I don't think you'll be sorry. We gobbled it up- all sixteen hours of it. Our nine year old wants to listen over and over and over, too.

ENJOY!!!!!

On Earth As It Is In Heaven...

2011-07-10T21:31:00.000-04:00

I'm still not sure if my redemptive gift is primarily prophet or exhorter, Either way, I LOVE different cultures and flavors from around God's big ball (earth). I don't know much about these men or about their music, but I LIKE what I see so far and wanted you to have a chance to enjoy the Lord through this unusual site/sound experience, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H2UI25sayXk

Financial Resources

2011-07-10T21:27:00.000-04:00

Praise the Lord for His supernatural provision! For those of you who struggle in the financial realm, or for those of you who want to teach good, biblical principles to others, you might find these free MP3's from IHOP's Joseph Company conference helpful:

http://www.ihop.org/Groups/1000079704/Joco_National_Conf.aspx

Let your heart be tenderized

2011-07-10T21:24:00.000-04:00

Please...clear your schedule and take an hour for this. Your mind, spirit and soul will be glad you did. Don't we all need some heart tenderizer?? I bless you to have ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart that understands what the Lord is saying....

Daddy's Got to do WHAT?

2011-07-10T21:18:00.000-04:00

You know we love fathers and love to celebrate and share media that honors you guys. Here's one just for you Papa's! (I think you Mama's will get a huge kick out of it too!)

Spirtual Abuse

2011-07-10T21:12:00.000-04:00

One of the most serious things we deal with is spiritual abuse. Wow is this ever a great resource for us as we learn to discern and help those who've suffered under it's horrible grip.

http://www.nacronline.com/ru_video/spabuse/1/index.shtml

Marrtyrs in my bathroom

2011-07-10T21:10:00.000-04:00

I've had this in my bathroom for nearly two decades. Talk about perspective!

Un What??

2011-07-10T21:06:00.000-04:00

Un schooling. It's what I do. Here's why:

2011-07-10T21:02:00.000-04:00

It occurs to me that some of you might not know this guy. OH MAN do I get a lot out of his stuff. If you read this blog very much you know about Burk already. If not, here's a taste.

http://landprayers.com/2011/07/03/47-a-fathers-gift/

It's especially savory to me these weeks as I'm pressing into the Lord about which direction I should focus my intercession. City of Refuge? The gays in my city? The state of Michigan getting back to it's redemptive gift GIVER roots? This article has made a huge deposit into my spirit and I plan on drawing from it in large amounts over the next weeks and months. I didn't want to leave you parched without it!

~Kate Mazur
Traverse City, MI

The Church's children

2011-07-10T20:58:00.000-04:00

"Jesus loves little children in a special way, from the moment they are conceived. The disciples, like many adults today, thought that children get in the way of 'adult' worship. If you are concerned about children getting in the way of 'your' worship, very likely God is not paying attention to your worship anyhow."

There's a lot going wrong in the world and within the church, and much of it can be helped. I have so many thoughts on children in the Body of the Christ...I could really go on and on. Much of what I think isn't very popular so I don't speak up much. Maybe I'll start. For now though, if you're interested this is a GREAT article for men and women who long to run with all the blessings the Lord wants to pour out onto their offspring.

http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2009/may/01/a-special-day/

The Womb

2011-04-29T10:54:00.000-04:00

Wow. What a controversial place!

So much conversation, debate and pain originate from such a place.

Yesterday I read there are 4,000 abortions performed each day in our nation. I ache for each woman who must choose between nurturing the life within her or aborting it.

I know it must be the hardest thing a woman must face.

I do not believe the answer is to put women down who do choose to end the life. The agony of soul they deal with for the rest of their lives is heart breaking.

I do not think we should honor the unborn while dishonoring the living women.

I believe in honoring women - no matter what they choose.

My husband and I would like to have more children. There are many issues in our lives we are in need of healing touches and so for now we are postponing pregnancy.

I want to help give women options and educate them. Perhaps if they learn from proven science when they are fertile it will help alleviate difficult decisions later on.

I encourage you men and women to take a look at two resources. The first is the article that helped me so much. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2001/august/01/do-you-believe-in-birth-control/

I ordered the cassette mentioned from FoF.

Then I went to the website for Family of the America's and ordered some of their materials.

http://www.familyplanning.net/

I use what I learned and am able to keep track of my own fertility. What a wonderful gift to my husband!!!

I think this would be helpful for women - who are sexually active or will become so one day. I think we mothers can learn this and teach it to our daughters.

I believe the Creator made things to WORK and though often knowledge gets lost His design still reigns supreme! I am thankful He cares so much for me and that my fertility doesn't have to remain an utter mystery!!!

I think this would be such a good gift to a young lady as she reaches her fertile years. She can begin to know right away.

While many of us hope and aspire to be virgins until our wedding day, the reality is we often don't know HOW to avoid intercourse. Dating is offered by parents all over our culture as a healthy route for youngsters. As we hope to educate youngsters - especially young women - of their dignity we can meanwhile be giving them a precious tool.

Amazon.com also sells copies. You can click below to purchase.

2011-04-05T14:37:00.001-04:00

I was crying out to the Lord today and He led me to listen to this audio teaching - which has been sitting on my shelf for half a decade - and it's grinding me into little bits.

Current Read

2011-03-26T21:30:00.000-04:00

Just read half of this book today. It's putting into words for my mind what is happening inside of me. Thank you, Dave for giving me your copy. It's SO written in now!!

2011-02-04T15:04:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot today. I want to know the Lord. I want to understand who He is and what He's like. I don't so much care about me and what I'm like unless knowing that helps me "get" Him.

There are so many ideas out there - in and outside of the Church - and so many of them are way off. I'm grieved because so many argue over scriptures, when Jesus said they were to point us to Him and His Father. Satan knows the scriptures and so did the Pharisees. That sure didn't help them trust in Jesus.

I'm so bothered by so many things being spoken - so much from the pulpits! Ah, that God would awaken His bride with an insatiable hunger to know Him!! To obey Him! To cling to and TRUST Him!

As I ponder and learn and walk this road called My Life I look to Him to show me, direct me and guide me in the ways I should go.

As our family has been part of Abba's House (formerly House of Hope of Northwest Michigan) I have been introduced to some fantastic, biblically based material. I want to share them with you...but it'll take much diligence and time on my part.

The first step begins with my own journey, and then becomes one of understanding more and more about Abba as I waddle. Learning that He loves me when I fall is a precious treasure I am thankful for that's come over the past year.

I have wanted to share with you so many things, yet I find I've not the time as our family works on the things the Lord sets before us. I hope He will open up a season of speaking more to you this way...I have been writing and storing up lots to tell you!

Some of what I learn upsets me, and I think it will you, too. There are sacred things being exposed as evil heritages surface. I don't mean it is too hard; but it does take a will surrendered to the Most High God, Ancient of Days, to plod forward. Taking down all the "high places" is no trite thing.

You know I like to tell you about books I read. This one has been especially difficult, though for some reason I devoured chapter eleven. Easy it was not but the old invisible mountain was gone.

I know there's all sorts of thoughts out there about what's real and what's right and wrong. Even within the Body there is significant disagreement. I don't want to poke at your sacred cows...but I do want you to want to know and understand the Lord.

In that spirit let me recommend this:

Biblical Foundations of Freedom (Destroying Satan's Lies with God's Truth)

If you feel blocked from freedom in the Lord and you love Him and His word, this book might shed some light.

I'd love to converse with you about it.

Tenderly,
Kate

2011-01-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I'm not sure how honest to be with you. There are so many things the Lord is showing me right now. He is beautiful and lovely and is SO into me. I have no other option than to be "into" Him.

This message from Bethel church in California is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you to KrisVallotton for this fantastic, no aplogies message on matriarchal leadership. It's BEAUTIFUL. Forever I am changed.

2010-12-16T07:54:00.000-05:00

December 16, 2010
7:11 am
Woke, dressed, brushed teeth and walked praying in the Spirit.
It has been many long years now longing for the Lord and hungering for more of Him. Nothing fills my inner needs like He does. He is majestic and wonderful.
There are many things I do not know. One thing that is becoming clear is that we are in a war of good and evil.
When I read John Eldredge’s book Waking the Dead back in the Clark Rd. house I was just scratching the surface of what would become my lifelong vision and work.
Training world changers. That is my assignment.
It occurred to me on my walk just now that going through my journals will make sense now. All along I have been fettered by an unseen enemy, harassed and held back by his tactics of speaking untrue things to me and dressing them as truth. Yesterday at HOH counseling with Ms. Connie and Ms. Chris a spirit (demon?) of fear was addressed. It was probably more like lots of demons but I don’t know about all that.
What I do know is that during my early years in the Lord I fell in love with Him in a most profound way. He became the center of my universe and my deepest desire was to know and understand who He is and to worship Him. Oh how I celebrated, and still do, His deep love for me.
Over the years I have not wrestled with sin as others do. Oh, I have sinned, but my greatest desire has always been to abide and be one with the Lord. I do not know that the idea of being one with Him is the best way to say it, but it gives the idea of the tremendous, continual conviction that has been within me to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.
I do also know that the reason I desire Him so much is because He has put that flame in me, which burns with desire for Him alone. I do not pretend to think this passion for the Lord has anything to do with some sort of goodness inside of me that originated with me; quite the contrary! It is by His will and purpose that I have been designed with such a capacity to adore Him.
Until last week at my counseling session with Ms. Connie at the HOH something else resided in some of the deep places meant to love God. We dealt with the spirit of rejection and since then my eyes have been opened and I see things I could not before.
One thing I experience now is how much pain I feel sometimes. Pain wasn't something I could feel until last week. It was as though the spirit of rejection kept me protected from something precious and good. Pain is not something to run from. It is something to get to the bottom of!
Yesterday we dealt with fear of being in control. It was a blessed time. Spirit of fear in the bible refers to demonic being. The Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of the age…it seems there are angels and demons (yes, we believe this because the bible tells us so) and the demons can impact us internally in ways we would hardly believe.
They often ride in on trauma. They hook themselves to us through lies perceived as truth. When we agree with them we give satan power to work in and through us.
Ms. Connie said words are powerful. She then went on to explain that they are finding word traces in walls. All the words we’ve ever spoken rumble around somewhere and do not cease. It’s not as though we say them and then they are gobbled up. They leave an imprint and continue to produce either life or death.
You know how long I’ve been walking the life path….or at least wanting to choose to walk it. To think we are speaking blessing or curses all day long! What a responsibility it is to have the gift of language and speech! How often I have treated it with casual contempt.
Last night we watched the old movie, "Mr Smith Goes to Washington." I did so enjoy it. At the end I burst out of the room crying and threw myself into the shower (my favorite prayer closet). So moved I was by the affect of words and conviction. Words do have power.

I do not know what this next year will bring, but I know that I am being set free, as in Isaiah 61. The emotional and spiritual and physical captives have great news – there is a Redeemer! He means for us to free in all ways, free to love Him and be filled with Him. He cannot abide in the darkness.
My soul was privy to pockets of it…places where the enemy had come in – by my admission – and was wreaking havoc on my body and in my life. One thing we covered in prayer yesterday was that satan no longer has permission to speak to me in the first person. He must now refer to me in 3rd person. This is a blessing.
We are in a war. The enemy is real and he has power. There is one who has more power, but the areas where we have given over power to the enemy must be exposed.

A blessing

2010-11-09T11:48:00.000-05:00

I am Wife. Mother. Entrepreneur. Daughter. Sister. Friend. Cousin. Niece. Yet the thing that consumes me most is the love which the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has for me, and the love that I have for Him. Wow.

Time is short. Taking seriously George Verwer's words at Urbana '96 to redeem the time, I make the most of time with God whenever I can. Just now I'm listening to an excellent MP3 by Mike Bickle called The First Commandment.

Oh my. If you find your heart wandering from the Lord and you want it to stay put, this teaching will help. No kidding. Mike is practical and isn't afraid to tell it like it is as well as help by exposing some faulty ideas we all fall into (himself included), like seeking a big ministry or this & that instead of seeking to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Did you know you can seek to love and thereby miss loving God? Our love is not to be our focus. Nor our zeal. God and He alone is to the be object of our time and affection. Do you see how easy it would be to slip into focusing on our selves in our pursuit of God, rather than pursuing God?

I love to surround myself with people who's hearts do not loose desire for the Lord. Some are zealous for a year or month or two. I surround myself - sometimes by books and audio/video - with people who occasionally fail but who, like King David, have a heart after God, wanting to love and know Him more than any other thing on the earth.

That is what burns within me...zeal for God, to know Him and love Him and experience and adore and revere and cling to and learn from Him all the days of this life and forever.

I remember telling hubby on one of our first dates that I want to spend the rest of my life telling people - using language they understand - that God is madly in love with them.

Eleven years later that hasn't diminished a bit. Of course more than that I want to KNOW God, but I also long to love my neighbor's as myself and I know of no better way to do that than to point them and show them and tell them about the love God has for me!

Bless you today. I bless you with zeal and hunger to be satisfied with nothing other than knowing God's love in all it's depths and dimensions and loving Him back. I bless you with the continual surrendering of will to His. I bless you with the knowledge, wisdom and understanding that it is the Lord's job to reveal Himself to YOU, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. I bless you with the diligence to seek Him all your days and to surround yourself with people - living and dead, young and old, who share in this quest.

May we not be distracted by the lure of monitoring our own progress but instead to use our energies to enjoy God anew in the mundane and as each season changes, and may we be free from ridicule to follow after the Lord and may His spirit increase in us and teach us.

May the enemy be bound and may the Lord shed His light in and around us on whatever He wants to shine it on. May He hold His light there as long as He wants to until He has finished.

You are loved, precious one!

Housekeeping

2010-11-05T11:30:00.000-04:00

Hello!

The snow falling outside our home in northern Michigan reminds me of the changing seasons. I am thankful for a quiet season today to get some housekeeping done in here.

I'm going through old posts, editing some and pulling others out of published mode and into a draft file. I admit I've not taken the time I should have to decide on which topics to post where. It's a good day for it, snow and all.

I hope you're having a splendid day! Stay tuned.

2010-11-04T11:11:00.001-04:00

The guys in the house are talking about this book. Since we've all read Dr. Hart's book on male sexuality it might be time to look at this one.

Have you heard of it?

I heard Dr. Hart on a Focus on the Family pod cast a few days back. Brent has a bunch of them on file to listen to as time allows. It was good. I remember Pastor Nick saying we should be as free to talk about sex as we would be sports.

We'll press on into more truth and let you know what we find out!

Spaghetti and Waffles

2010-11-03T23:21:00.002-04:00

Maria B. loaned us this book. Have you read it??? I'm only in the first third and I'm thrilled with what I'm learning. I don't know how we all managed to graduate and get into life after high school and college without knowing these basic relational things. I often wonder what on earth we spend so much time learning if we're still deaf and dumb about our own selves and our spouses.

If you're not married this book is still worth the read. I can hardly believe how practical it is. Hmmmf.

Next things first

2010-11-03T23:15:00.003-04:00

This one's on it's way! I'm so excited to have the postman deliver it by the weekend. We've poured ourselves into hours and weeks and months and years of studying and preparing and all that work has gotten us to zero.

Before you feel sorry for us let me explain that we've been at negative 40 for ages! This album on the seven principles will launch us into the double positive digits. I'm pretty sure we're designed to be in the 80's somewhere. Hooray, hooray, time to boogie! :)

From the back of the album:

"There are basic principles from which all other truth is derived (Pro 9:1). These parallel the redemptive gifts. If you master six of the seven without mastering the one that matters for your gift, you will end life deeply frustrated."

Details:

In your community, it is necessary that you understand which principle is associated with the redemptive gift of your city. If you live in a Giver city but are operating at a low level in the area of stewardship, you will have a seriously hard time making any headway. When you know the gift and the principle for that gift, you can be intentional about strengthening your own ability in that area and impacting your community.

The Seven Principles album takes you through all seven principles, their corresponding redemptive gift and what it looks like on the negative and positive sides of the principle.

The Seven Principles:
1. Principle of Design
2. Principle of Authority
3. Principle of Responsibility
4. Principle of Sowing & Reaping
5. Principle of Stewardship
6. Principle of Freedom
7. Principle of Fulfillment

Money, time or relationships cursed?

2010-11-03T23:02:00.001-04:00

Okay. I have no idea why "The Seven Curses" from Burk is listed at that price from Amazon.com. Don't pay $273.86! Instead go to Plumbline Ministries website store and order there. It's only fifty bucks plus shipping. If you really want to spend that much money you could click my blog's donate button and give ME that moolah. Tee hee.

Anyway, after listening to the Redemptive Gifts of Individuals c.d.'s we began to sense we were afflicted by something greater than we had first thought. The info from that series was helpful - more than I can express to you at the moment - but still some things remained very WRONG in our life.

Fast forward a few weeks. We ordered the seven curses album (directly from Plumblineministries.com and thereby avoiding the horrendous overcharge by the over zealous amazon seller) and have just tonight finished the seventh and final renunciation.

I don't know if you've had people in your past - up your family line - who've walked out of the will of the Lord. I hadn't thought about it much. Hubby had been studying the scriptures and decided that the curses along with the blessings are very much a part of new testament life. We decided to listen through these eight c.d.'s and were struck with how much in our lives has been devoured because of past choices.

We spent the past week and a half working through the renunciations together, once we'd both listened to the whole series one time through. We started with the first one and noticed a difference within a few days.

I like how Aurthur puts it. If you're mishandling your money because you're greedy, this album won't help with that. However, if you're beginning to think you might be under some invisible glass ceiling, you may find great help here.

Win the Race

2010-11-03T22:45:00.002-04:00

Do you ever wonder why I don't post for months at a time and then bombard with you so many? Well, I have too. Not only have I wondered, I've fretted and muttered and torn at my conscience to force myself to quit it and be more regular.

That's one thing I'm not. Regular. Not that regular is bad. It's just not me. Part of that might turn out to be from stuff that's gone on in my family over the past umpteen years.

Let me back up.

A few months back we ordered the Redemptive Gift c.d. series from Arthur Burk at Plumbline Ministries. We jumped in and gleaned a BUNCH from it. Still are in fact. We have yet to sit down all of us and go over the seven gifts and study them out.

I've seen us all get better at interacting with each other and I think these have really helped. REALLY. ...

What was I designed for? Was I designed for much more than I'm experiencing now? What will bridge the gap? Burk takes the principles from Romans 12 and challenges us not to become relaxed in our life with God, but to press into all that He wants for us, even if means facing lots of things that won't be easy. Here's the blurb from the back of the c.d. album:

"I'm normal, I'm normal, I'm normal!" This was the heart cry of one lady as she listened to the teaching on her redemptive gift. For years her Christian culture had been trying to change her, making her into what they wanted her to be even though God had made her to be different. Finally she was validated as a legitimate person just the way she is.

Details:

Learn your birthright!

This eight CD set includes an introduction to the redemptive gifts and information on each of the gifts to help you discover your gift and the birthright God has for you!

Our current understanding is that the seven spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12:6-8 are in a class by themselves. These are the gifts of Prophet, Servant, Teacher, Exhorter, Giver, Ruler and Mercy. They are distinct from the lists of gifts found elsewhere in the New Testament. Each person appears to have one of these seven gifts and they form the foundation for the DNA of their soul and spirit.

There is an introductory teaching on the theological foundations of this teaching, then one CD per gift discussing the characteristics, inner workings and the birthright of each gift. The heart of the teaching is the seven principles that parallel the seven gifts. Each person must master one specific principle. That is the central battlefield that will determine the success or failure of their whole life.

These teachings were recorded live years ago and may not play as clearly as some of our newer materials.

The CDs in this set are:

1. Introduction
Each person has one of these seven gifts and they form the foundation for the DNA of their soul and spirit.

2. Prophet
The Prophet's vision of God's design for each of the other gifts gives people with those gifts the motivation to possess their inheritance.

3. Servant
The Servant has the highest authority of all the gifts in the area of spiritual warfare, especially over the premature death spirit for both individuals and dreams.

4. Teacher
The Teacher's meticulousness provides the necessary balance to the impulsiveness of the Prophet and the Exhorter.

5. Exhorter
The Exhorter is God's most common choice when He needs a world changer.

6. Giver
The Giver uses the resources provided by other gifts to possess their inheritance. This is far more important than money.

7. Ruler
The Ruler is God's empire builder. Under God's direction, he significantly expands the hegemony of the Kingdom of God.

8. Mercy
The Mercy is the crown jewel of God's creation. His primary domain is worship.

Opening Communication

2010-11-03T22:39:00.001-04:00

Okay...you know I LOVE books. But not just any book. Books with truth and life and love and direction. Books that challenge me and call me out from where I am to reach to where I'm headed.

This book is one we're reading for our counseling sessions. I'm on chapter two. Wow. There's a lot of stuff in here that's helpful and challenging. Not a dull read.

It was recommended because often hubby and I hear what the other is NOT saying. Do you ever have that happen? You're in a conversation with someone - even a loved one- and you're not making sense to them no matter how hard you try and re-word things? Well, it looks like the prince of this world is also the prince of the AIR WAVES.

Think about it. I say one thing but he thinks I'm saying another. It's been strange. This book by Dr. Mathias is helping. It's for the courageous. Go for it. I think you'll like it.

Biblical Foundations of Freedom (Destroying Satan's Lies with God's Truth)

The Sexual Male

2010-11-03T22:32:00.001-04:00

The guys in the house are talking about this book, which is causing us gals to take a look as well. Hmmm...VERY good stuff indeed.

An Intercessor's Relief

2010-10-11T19:15:00.002-04:00

Just read this article from Arthur Burk. It gave voice to what I had suspected and is indeed very good "news." Condemnation: be gone! (Click the title above to open up the article in a new window)

Seven kinds of intelligence?

2010-08-18T15:50:00.001-04:00

Just ordered this from amazon for $2.39. Looking forward to diving in! Has anybody out there read it?

Update
11/5/10

I've gotten into quite a bit of the book. While there's more to wade through captures my interest, I've gleaned a fair bit so far. Light is being shed.

Pity's Lure

2010-08-18T15:33:00.001-04:00

It's a few minutes after that last post (it's right below this one).

Hubby and I were both about to head out to the garage to tackle six foot tables piled high with junk we've collected when Brent noticed a pile of papers mounting on the back counter. He asked me if I needed any of it (I'm so thankful he asks me now instead of just pitching all the stuff. :) A few pieces of mail had gotten mixed up with the lot as well as some canoeing brochures and a few other northern Michigan summer activity highlights.

Before tossing the stuff I happened to notice the latest news journal from Koinonia Institute, grabbed it and tore it open. I often read periodicals back to front or from middle forward then backward, so it was not unusual for me to flip open to a random page within an unknown article and begin anywhere in a paragraph. My eyes fell on this from page 20:

"You Must Want to Be Healed

There are many people who don't want to be healed because their broken heart has become their identity. It's their way to receive temporary, powerless pity from other people. They want to be known as people who have never recovered but made the best of a bad situation."

Hmmmm!!! I've got a lot I'm thinking about all this...will post as I'm able.

The Pity Cycle

2010-08-17T10:23:00.001-04:00

I have a strange sort of question and it's kind of rhetorical.

Do you REALLY want the people around you- family, friends, c-workers, etc- to be healthy and whole or do you sort of like that they're broken?

Josiah and I just had an enlightening conversation where we uncovered something like jealousy or envy that mixes with self pity. We got good word pictures (metaphors) and hope to develop it into a pod cast.

If you secretly feel jealous (envious) of people around you as the get promoted and walk into good things, and if part of you hopes they'll still have areas of pain and brokenness I have some warnings and some good news for you. I guess you could say bad news/good news. They need to be received in order, bad news first, in order to be set free from the tying binds of lies.

This one of several messages I hope to get out as soon as I can.

Sexy Opposites

2010-04-17T08:16:00.001-04:00

If you're single or you know anyone who is AND you're/they're a lover of Jesus I recommend this book.

Let's face it. The statistics aren't pretty. Marriages within the church are falling apart right and left.

It's time for a different approach to relationships among God's sons and daughters. John Holzmann offers unique advise for those dealing with the opposite sex.

I just re-read the introduction as I'm going through the book with one of my single friends and WOW! is it ever good.

Balcony People

2010-04-17T06:47:00.001-04:00

Dave loaned me this little booklet by someone called Joyce Landorf Heatherly. So far I've only read the first page and am struck to the core.

I've been arrested, affected and assaulted...

"I was hungry and you formed a humanities club to discuss my hunger.
Thank you.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel to pray for my release.
Nice.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
What good did that do?

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
But I needed you.

I was homeless and you preached to me of the shelter of the love of God.
I wish you'd taken me home.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.
Why didn't you stay?

You seem so holy, so close to God; But I'm still very hungry, lonely, cold and still in pain.
Does it matter?"

~Anonymous

As a person who appreciates, enjoys and looks for honoring ways to use sarcasm, WoW!-
does this please me. Not to say it doesn't rub me raw...it does.

Even as I typed that I was struck down again. This blow is one I need; one I want, and one that is an integral part of what the Lord is saying to me. I am so convicted, moved and pinned down. Oh this holy kick is good for me.

All We Need Is ????

2010-04-14T06:53:00.001-04:00

My heart and mind are SO stirred by this just now. Wow.

THE FALSE LOVE MOVEMENT

"When men become humanistic, meaning when they get focused on love for man in a way that

cuts them off from the essential supernatural supply of encountering the love of God, then they

have confidence in their own love—and their love will come up short. They will end up burned

out and it will turn into something other than love. It will just become a masquerading of our

own image of being loving, but it will not be genuine love at the end.

The reason I’m saying this is, there’s a real movement around the earth today, and it is becoming

strong in the Church. It is a movement of darkness and it has the words “love” and “man” and

“goodwill” in it. The reason it is dark, the reason it is broken, is because it is promoting a love

that originates from man without reference to encountering the love of God, as though man’s

love is sufficient. It is a statement of pride. God will prove it to be a false boast before it is over.

It is sweeping the Church because the language is confusing. The language is the same as the

biblical language: “Love people.” But we love people in an overflow of encounter of loving

Him, because we don’t have confidence that we can love sufficiently without regular encounter.

It is a statement of humility on our part. It is a statement of need. When I see people minimizing

the need to connect with God, it seems as though they are loving, but at the end of the day, in the

court of heaven, they are arrogant about their abilities and their virtue. I have no confidence we

can pull this thing off without regular, even small increments—that is not the right phrase.

Inspirations of the Holy Spirit in our daily life are critical if we are going to love well."

~Mike Bickle

First Commandment Series

Session 2: Defining Wholehearted Love Four Spheres and Four Stages

Truth Sets Free

2010-04-13T16:32:00.000-04:00

Jesus said in John 8 verse 32, "And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." If they needed to be set free I infer they were bound. If Truth sets free then what is it that binds? Lies...from the father of lies.

We know there are difficulties and struggles in the Christian life. Paul wrote there are strongholds and that we war against principalities and dark powers.

The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. He lies and twists the truth. He makes us think his ideas are our own. Even worse he appears as an angel of light and speaks things mimicking the voice of the Lord.

It's important that the things we think about ourselves (and the things we say) be TRUE. How can we know what's true? The bible is full of true things...the ugly and the good...about us. It gives an honest answer to the problems we face. It's vital that we have a working knowledge of the scriptures in order to combat error and lies.

I found this book helpful. You may not like or agree with everything written in it but even taking the scriptures out and looking them up in your own bible will be a step in the right direction!

Lame definition of science?

2010-04-08T20:23:00.000-04:00

Good article.

Herod's Temple

2010-04-08T20:16:00.003-04:00

I appreciate this man's labor and passion; WOW! does it give me perspective! Please click the title above to go to the news article.

Today's Cry

2010-04-03T08:09:00.001-04:00

I awoke with my soul vexed, sensing great failure and feeling at odds with myself. "Surely I have done something horrible," I pondered as I forced myself out of the warm bed and padded down to my office. "I must get into the Word," was the only thought that gave me comfort and hope for relief from this deep sense of having erred, that horrible sense of dread for imagined wrong-doing, and a vague feeling that some invisible enemy was wagging his finger at me accusing me of great filth.

Perhaps I have erred! Perhaps I have done a grave thing. I insist the Lord show it plainly, and ask the Spirit to convict me. I hate this general sense that I am no good!

Psalm 107 is where my eyes did fall...and OH how I rejoice. I'm told to GIVE thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy and loving kindness endure forever. That alone made my heart leap. Then there is more...

"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He had delivered from the hand of the adversary..."

So I say it!!! I am redeemed! He HAS delivered me from the hand of my adversary (oh how I sense the adversary!).

The truth of it is I do fail; I do get prideful. I do fear instead of having faith; I do take offense instead of throwing grace. I want to be a grace thrower! The truth of it is the God of the universe adores and loves me, has saved me and I love Him. There is none on earth who is more lovely, more just and fair, true and right. He alone is God and it's Him that I adore and worship and follow and seek. It is He Who is my Shepherd, who saves me from the wolves who stalk and drool waiting for pieces of my flesh.

Let them have my flesh! I shan't be walking in it anymore, by the Lord's grace. Oh Lord! Help me to walk continually by Your Spirit. You know I trust, lean on, rely and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or my hope in You be disappointed. Let not my enemies triumph over me. Let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause. Show me YOUR ways, O Lord; teach me YOUR paths. Guide me in YOUR truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for YOU -You only and altogether - do I wait expectantly all the day long... Remember not the sins (the lapses and frailties) of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your mercy and steadfast love remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O Lord. (Psalm 25)

Oh, how You forgive and give mercy and grace to the humble. Thank You for the gift of humility...it is one I need often. Thank You, Lord, that my failures don't disqualify me from Your love. Thank You for the grace which causes me to look up when I've fallen. Seeing Your strength and affection I see You reach for me to help me up. You do not hold my faults against me! NO!! As I walk with You You transfer more and more of Yourself into my being, washing me from my ignorance.

Oh how GOOD You are! You are kind and full of gentleness toward me. You heard my cry. You lifted me out of the pit and set my feet upon a rock. You give me a firm foundation! You put a new song in my mouth!! A song of praise to God Most High!

Working on an E-Book

2010-03-03T17:09:00.001-05:00

I'm working on an e-book about the spirit of poverty and how to break the cycle. It's going well. It's a lot of work. I'd appreciate it if you'd pray for me. THANK you!

These Days

2010-03-03T16:58:00.001-05:00

We've been pretty isolated the last few weeks. Maybe months. It's been good. Learning to trust each other and lean on the Lord; watching Him supply; listening to His voice and following His sometimes strange leading.

We're certainly on a less-traveled road...Brent doing lots of the instructing and guiding of the children while I keep him company. :) It's not what either of us expected but it seems it's the way for us.

I don't know many who've taken this route - where the father is the primary one rearing the children - handling some of the academics as well as character development.

We're still in the awkward phase. Trying to get a routine & a schedule hammered out is posing more trouble than we thought. We're figuring it out - a little at a time.

It's good to hear what the Lord is saying and then doing it, stepping out in faith even when it doesn't make sense.

By the way! The financial freedom seminar is good so far. We're almost done with part two. Only 18 more to go! I think it'll help us hammer out the rest of life that's foreign to the two of us.

http://iblp.org/iblp/discipleship/financialfreedom/

Unwilling to follow? He knows!

2010-03-03T16:50:00.003-05:00

If you don't want to follow the Lord...if you don't really trust Him or if you find yourself feeling SOMETHING that keeps you from wanting to obey Him I think your best bet is to tell Him and then ask to make you want to follow/obey Him. He can help us with anything - even the "want to."

Not Ashamed of Our Leader

2010-02-16T08:39:00.002-05:00

While my children watch Curious George I'm reminded that our family in some ways isn't very normal. We do school at home, we work around our family life, we have fun learning as a whole family. We believe most of what the children need has to come from their Dad while Mother spends her time delegating to the children and making her husband's life as much fun as he can bear.

We don't have a car or house payment, we barely make any money but we're happy and in love and sure our ideas will someday pan into a little more than just enough moolah. We're learning to be good stewards in the little areas and not worrying any more about where our next job will come from.

We're entrepreneurs, homeschoolers, & Christians who surrender to the Lord and cling to Him and rely on Him for everything. We like house church and a few good friends. We are in love, we love our kids and want very much to help fatherless people. We believe men of good character should be the backbone of society and are glad to be given the challenge of rearing a few of our own.

We need emotional healing and we're trusting the Lord Jesus with that process as He leads us into the wide open places beyond the narrow road (did you know the narrow road opens up to WIDE OPEN places???).

We're not very traditional and we're marking our own course - it's one it seems few have taken. We look a bit odd and we know that but that's okay with us, as long as we're following our Odd Leader. He's the Oddest one of us all and He knows a wonderful way - HIMSELF!

Blessed are the Snivels

2010-02-13T15:54:00.001-05:00

Weeks ago I posted about demonic activity. Let me state this. Believers can suffer from serious attitude problems even after they are saved. Generations of thinking does not get broken or changed in the conversion experience, rather it is from moments and days and months and years in the Word relating to the Holy Spirit within that the mind is renewed.

There is something strange out there...some sort of unfortunate influence. I don't understand if it's thoughts, attitudes, emotions or demons, but it can hinder a believer's walk in every day living.

So I dig into the scriptures with the Spirit as my guide to teach and show me how those who are afflicted in this way can be helped. Are they emotionally damaged? Maybe. Do they have attitude problems? Yes. Are they able to function at "normal" levels? Sometimes.

There is a disposition that looks odd to outsiders...one that the Lord has great empathy toward. I have noticed within the church family a disconnect from people who do not fit certain norms - people who don't smell nice, who have physical ailments and lack social graces.

I am convinced these people - I call them Snivels - are adored by Jesus. I think they suffer from strange afflictions not understood by healthy people. Isaiah 61:1 is the primary filter the Lord has handed me as I'm wrestling through these ideas.

Is poverty of spirit a demonic thing? Is it caused by trauma or abuse or neglect? Is it merely bad thinking? Is there specific deliverance needed in order for freedom - which Christ purchased - to be manifest?

This is part of my quest...to understand these things from the Lord's perspective. Please pray for me (and my hubby and our family) as we continue to press in to the Lord to understand how to reach the many who are on the outskirts of society, often times just beyond the local church's grasp.

Mercy Abounds - A special Valentine Journal

2010-02-13T15:40:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you but I don't deserve the Lord's mercy. Neither does my hubby. Yet over and over He continues to give it...wooing us with His kindness and faithfulness. My affection for the Lord increases; He DOES like me! He DOES care for me! He DOES make things work out in my life, as I walk according to the Spirit.

Learning to trust and obey Him in all things is such a joy. It sure is a lot of work, too. The Lord is funny, thoughtful and gentle. His affection toward me continues to enamor me. Oh how good is this love!!

O.C.

2010-01-12T08:23:00.002-05:00

Margie just called and read to me what she said the Lord asked her to pray over me from "My Utmost for His Highest" Dec. 31. Pastor Jim has been teaching on it and Mic told me the same thing last night. I guess the Lord wants me to go forward in grace! Ohhhhhh what good news for my soul.

Please click "O.C." above to go to the page where Oswald Chamber's words are posted.

C.S. Lewis on the Christian Faith

2010-01-07T17:38:00.002-05:00

"Christian faith is not about discovering God; it is the experience of having been found, despite our resistance and rebellion, by a God who is in search of all humanity: 'The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10) Christian faith is incompatible with a general affirmation of all religions because of a fundamental difference in understanding of what religion is. For Christians, it is not our quest for God, but our response to God's quest for us in Christ. Consequently, Christians do not so much claim to have discovered the truth as to have been apprehended by the truth."

~C.S. Lewis

Gettin' er Done!

2010-01-06T15:37:00.000-05:00

I'm reading a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen. Tyler S. bought it for my birthday last August. He said it would help. He sure was right. I really WILL be writing and getting the Training Center started.

Please keep praying for me about this. It is a job I detest that I MUST press through. I've spent HOURS going through Allen's miserable process of setting up my work area so I can actually accomplish things.

Here's one thing he says: "You must be assured that you're doing what you need to be doing, and that it's OK to be not doing what you're not doing."

If you understand how remarkable that idea is then you get why I'm glad I'll soon finish this horrible process of training myself to work differently.

Ask me about it sometime if you're interested. It's worth telling you about but now I'm out of steam from all my INBOX work.

I still have two bins to get through but I'm making amazing headway. I can see this method will work in ways I still have to squint to imagine.

Josiah, my volunteering assistant, helped the past two days and was useful and irritating. I'm grateful for his help and trust it was the Lord's timing. Over time we'll learn to work with each other and will be able to adjust to each other's little quirks. I'm full of them and so is he! :)

Watch out James and Betty...I'm comin'!

How Old Is the Universe? Good Science!

2010-01-04T08:15:00.001-05:00

I'm reading a good article by Dr. Gerald Schroeder titled, "The Age of the Universe" and think you might like it too.

Click the title above. Hope it works!

Traveling Mercies Psalm 91:11 +

2010-01-04T07:38:00.006-05:00

If you ever wonder how you can pray for traveling mercies, I've found an excellent answer. It's biblical and practical. It's about 4 minutes long and is WELL worth your time.

Understanding Men

2009-12-30T12:09:00.001-05:00

This is a great email I got from hubby's dad. I LOVE it. It goes right along with what the Lord is teaching me through Rick Johnson's book titled, "The Man Whisper."

"The Man Rules :

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down. Finally, the guys' side of the story. ( I must admit, it's pretty good.) We always hear " the rules" From the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side.

These are our rules! Please note.. these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports: It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something. Or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really.

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseballor golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this..

Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping."

The Bible and Intercession

2009-12-30T11:31:00.002-05:00

It seems good tell you about my connection to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

The story is long and fascinating but for now I'll be brief.

Eleven years ago I was looking for an intercessory bible college and for all I knew none existed. I went to a bible college down south instead which focused on making Jesus known. Many great things happened that year.

In fall of '99 IHOP-KC started a prayer meeting (using music) and they never stopped. It's been ten years!! Had I gotten a whiff of it, in my zeal I would have moved to Kansas City, even against the Lord's will.

I now believe the Lord hid IHOP-KC from me for His purposes. He continues to reveal things to me and I think He wants me to facilitate a training center.

There are people who are very troubled emotionally and He is training hubby and I and a little band of people in order that we will reach out to the homeless, the addicted, and the poor with the love of our heavenly Father. These people, once saved, will need to learn all sorts of things - spiritual and practical - and we will train them. It is an ordeal we cannot take on without the Lord's guidance so on Him we wait all the day. :)

There is so much more I could tell you. All in due time!!

Christian Life Basics

2009-12-30T11:19:00.002-05:00

Pressing into the Lord through the Word SHOULD be our first business each day. Jesus was God in the flesh and yet He still go up while it was still dark and went to a quiet place to pray. This MUST be a priority if we are to live well here, fighting as we ought to. We cannot fight unless our inner man is nourished by the One who adores and loves and comforts us = God Himself!

It is the hardest battle to win - to make and keep time set aside EVERYDAY for this. That's why Bickle's urging in Power of a Focused life is so vital for you to understand. You can listen to others talk of their own quiet time with the Lord but you must go to Him YOURSELF and hear what wonderful things He has for you each day if you are truly to be a benefit to anyone else.

If you will dedicate and FIGHT for time in the Word each morning - even 10 minutes!- you will find your life makes sense and you are full of positive things to affect this dark world.

It is God in you you must connect with and the Scriptures are the fastest way to get the Spirit of God in you stirred.

In terms of what to read.

There's a difference between devotion and studying. Both are ESSENTIAL. One should come first.

Devotion deals with the heart and emotion and mind.

Studying deals mainly with the mind.

Devotional time in the Word encourages your soul (mind, will and emotions). The Spirit of the living God inside of you gives you nuggets of truth to hold on to. He breathes in the written Word as you read it and makes it come alive - a term called RHEMA.

It is very important to have a devotional, RHEMA notebook where you WRITE DOWN the things the Lord quickens to you. He will speak wonderful things to you EACH AND EVERY morning. Take that notebook with you and when you have spare minutes at work and throughout your day open back up to the entry from that morning. You'll find sometimes you don't even remember what He spoke to you. Your heart and mind will be continually re-stirred this way and depression and funk of soul will be gone.

I like to write the actual scripture down in the journal too...that way if I'm not near a bible the Word can still do it's fancy magic upon my heart and mind.

We need to keep our hearts and minds stirred up. This discipline of a few minutes of devotional time, making certain to write down what the Lord speaks, is the absolute best way I know of to keep those embers stirred.

As far as what to read? I like to read Proverbs but not usually during devotions because they're more practical and less heart oriented. Actually I like to have a copy of them in the bathroom; they're broken into 31 days and I think a man/woman who reads a proverbs a day will be full of the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom.

To be honest, understanding may not be there at the initial reading. The first chapters of Proverbs instruct us to ASK for and SEEK understanding, knowledge, discernment, etc. If you find yourself NOT understanding Proverbs a simple request of the Lord will give Him the idea that you're serious and He will begin to illuminate your mind.

Okay. So I would spend devotional time in the Word in a place other than Proverbs. Remember that's just me. Others may say otherwise but since you're reading my thoughts I wanted you to have them coherently. :)

I have a few thoughts on what to read. Psalms is a wonderful place to read, turning the heart cries of David into personal prayer and conversation with the Lord. The Psalms are rich soil and always will bring great things into our lives.

I personally LOVE Oswald Chambers. The devotional created from his sermons to the military men he taught is called, "My Utmost For His Highest." It's my favorite devotional aid. Some say it's too deep. For me, the Spirit presses into areas of my mind and heart where there is a tiny trouble - sin, etc - and He exposes them. Often when I read MUFHH I feel it's WAY above my head but I reach anyway. As the years go by I have found what was only a dream many years ago has become a part of my everyday life in the Lord.

After all these years, my favorite way of stirring up my heart and making it happy in the Lord is to read a Psalm in conversation w/ the Lord interacting with Him about things. It's good to focus on how good He is. It's so important to get our minds off ourselves first thing and focus on Him. Think of it as tithing your time to Him...giving Him the first portion back. That reminds me. I've a series called, "THE BLESSED LIFE" that would be helpful. It's on D.V.D. Let me when you'd like it.

Anyway, giving the first portion of our day and heart and mind and body to the Lord is practical and yields wonderful dividends. You will never regret mornings spent with your heavenly Father.

Another GREAT thing to do to stir you up in love of the Lord and in helping you to understand how to develop practical disciplines is to read biographies and autobiographies of men and women who loved the Lord. INVALUABLE to me have been the stories of the lives of people like George Mueller, Rees Howells, Samuel Morris, Corrie ten Boom, Oswald Chambers, Hudson Taylor just to name a few. The Spirit of God in them will awaken in you things you don't even know are there!!! I've got a lot of those books here if you want to borrow them and there are MANY others I didn't mention. Each person's life was full of a different aspect of the Lord and it's good to get the nutrition of so many into your own system.

To help during the day, Chuck Swindoll is on M-F at 9:00 on the radio. He will spur you to keep your gaze on Jesus. His teaching/preaching is a good foundation for any believer wanting balance in their life. You can probably listen to podcasts on the Insight for Living website. This morning he did a practical though painful message on priorities for the new year. Good stuff.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if I can clarify or be more specific about anything.

You're loved.

Robinson's Exposure Expanded

2009-12-13T10:59:00.003-05:00

"I was angry with my friend;

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe;

I told it not, my wrath did grow."

~William Blake, A Poison Tree

I LOVE this quote. I read it this morning. I keep a book of quotes around and highlight ones that I want to show you. This one grabbed me today; I feel like the Lord illuminated it as a way to walk out of the "sickness" I've been trapped in.

Anger is not something I've felt good about having. When I haven't liked something I've ignored it, let it go and let it fester and boil until it began to poison me.

I will not live this way any longer. I will tell let anger out. May the good Lord Jesus help me be fierce and warm, speaking the truth in a loving way. I've opted for silence and instead got fat. NO MORE!

As hubby and I sat at breakfast, the children quiet and learning to sit still while big people converse, I thought about Jonah and the message for the Ninevites. He was supposed to deliver it so they could repent. I feel like a lot of my anger, once told, will help others do the right thing. The big shift in my mind is understanding they have a right to the truth and then they can choose to repent - or not. They have the power to choose life or death but if they don't know they are in error how can they know or repent?

Part of me still doesn't like any of this. Part of me would rather hide and let people hang in their errors; but I can't stand being fat any more and I think it's the path to health and well being for me.

It ties in so well to Goob's character in this movie I'm crazy about: "Meet the Robinson's." Goob could have told Lewis to shut up and let him get some sleep. Lewis was a decent guy and would have worked something else out, or so I'd like to think. That's how it is in my life...most everybody is decent enough to adjust to my needs if only they knew what they were.

That's how it is in my life. Most would adjust to my needs if only they knew what they were. Now I need to learn the difference between how I feel (emotion) and what I think (opinion). I don't know what place my opinions have - but it's next in line.

Exposed While Meeting the Robinson's

2009-12-13T10:46:00.004-05:00

^"23Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! ²⁴And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Psalm 139: 23 & 24 is often the cry of my heart. I long to be set free from things which lurk in my heart. It seems there are hideous things in there clinging and desperate to stay.

This past week I watched an unusual movie called, "Meet the Robinsons." It caught me off guard and has exposed gross things. I fling myself at the God of my salvation and offer myself...He is a skilled surgeon and can extricate the filth. I need it!

O. C. - A Poem

2009-12-09T15:02:00.002-05:00

“Sad heart, why art thou weary with anxious stirrings dear?

Thou has no cause for sadness, no cause for restless fear.

Thou longest for thy Master, then cease and be at rest; for shall not He who made thee know what for thee is best?”

~Oswald Chambers

Rejoicing with Joy - Day Two

2009-12-09T09:12:00.004-05:00

Day two from With Joy and Rejoicing:

"Paul testified this way and my voice joins with him: "...I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation... the things which have happened to me have fallen out to the furtherance of the Gospel... Christ hall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or death... being reviled we bless... we glory in tribulations (Montgomery version says, 'exulting even in our troubles') knowing that tribulation worketh patience... accounted as sheep for the slaughter, nay in all these things we are more than conquerors..."

No wonder Paul could turn about and exhort us!:

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

"Giving thanks ALWAYS FOR ALL things unto the Father..."

"Rejoice! and again I say rejoice!"

Then James chimes in: "Count it ALL joy when ye fall into various temptations." Phillips translates it this way: "When troubles and trail crowd upon you brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends." It's exciting to read James' words in chapter 1:2-4 as the various translators have interpreted them; "...Consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way... consider it pure joy... treat them as a happy privilege... count yourselves supremely happy... COUNT IT ALL JOY!!"

And there it is!

Their words may be different, but the message is clear to me - REJOICE in trials, ALL trials. Not some - not sometimes - but ALL and EVERY! REJOICE IN, THROUGH, FOR, NOW, THEN, and EVERMORE!!"

~Joy Ridderhof copyright 1979
Click below to order the booklet from amazon:
With joy and rejoicing!

Rejoicing With Joy - Day One

2009-12-08T20:20:00.006-05:00

Mr. Germann gave me an invaluable little gift one day back on December 9, 1999 while I visited him. Our meetings always brought much life to me; in this one he passed on a tangible expression of his kindness toward me. "With Joy and Rejoicing" is the name of the tiny book. Taken from the writings of Ms. Ridderhof it is FULL of faith. It is my hope to share it with you regularly. Be encouraged!

Day one gives you a good sense of where she's coming from. It's one of my favorites.

DAY ONE:

"Should we really thank God for a terrible trial?"

"I can see the import of thanking God in a trial and through it, but to thank Him for it? It doesn't seem right, nor does it make sense to me!"

"How can you thank God for this suffering and therefore attribute it to Him?"

Everywhere I go these questions and comments are most commonly shared by earnest Christians as they seek to understand the life of rejoicing faith. Perhaps it would be of help to rephrase their questions:

"Shall we rejoice in the Lord and thank Him for what He allows and does, as well as for who He is?"

I have to say, "YES!" Actually, I have no questions, no doubts about it in my mind. You see, dear ones, when we believe He doeth all things well and that His way is perfect - and when we believe that He controls everything that comes to us as from the hands of a loving Father - then we will rejoice in all, for all, and because of all He does, all He allows, intends, plans and brings to our lives through adverse circumstances. O thank Him just now for the blessing you cannot see as yet!

~Ms. Joy Ridderhof
Click below to order Ms. Ridderhof's booklet from amazon:
With joy and rejoicing!

Children Learning

2009-12-04T14:08:00.004-05:00

I'm the kind of parent who sometimes wonders whether t.v. and video games is helping my children as they develop into young people who will one day be grown ups who run the world.

When the first children's books appeared there were grown ups who considered reading a waste of time. "It'll rot their brains to sit and look at them letters and pictures all day," was the response of many. "They don't need those books to make 'em smart. Working out in the field all day: that's what their minds need to grow best!"

Each generation which faces huge shifts in advancement must deal with these shifts in thinking.

Some today champion book learning as the best type of mental work for youngsters. T.V. and video games are dismissed as a waste of time, labeled fruitless endeavors allowed to dumb the world of it's greatest minds. Perhaps that was the thought of many who cringed at the printed word.

The mind of child is magnificent. Full of curiosity and wonder, a child's mind is like a sponge, absorbing and processing at levels that makes the greatest computer seem lame. Watching a child learn to speak, clear his spot at the table, fold and put away his clothing...these are monumental things in the development of a mind. Our son David at two knows which dressers drawers are his and which holds shirts and pants.

A child mind can absorb so much! Children are always watching and ever learning. They watch and see and hear. They see our fears and hear our faith lived out; they watch us relate to other big people and observe the way we treat children.

They are like little blank slates. They do not know the difference between right and wrong; good and evil. It is as though they are in neutral, waiting for us to show them the way.

There is much on t.v. and in video/computer games that is full of goodness. Any parent who talks with their child and explains things can add tons of mental nutrients to their minds.

Andrew, three and half, loves the movie, "Cars." While I'm still undecided wether he should be exposed to any more anthropomorphic characters, this morning I asked if the cars which were trying to run Mac off the road were good or evil. Without hesitation he blurted out, "Evil!" Luke then asked, "Is Snot Rod evil, too?" Snot Rod didn't try and run Mac off the road but he hung out with "thugs" who did. Luke's question was harder for me to answer; I'm still not convinced I answered him well.

We love stories. They used to be oral. Oral tradition is still alive and well on planet earth; it's now been enhanced by technology and boy do we enjoy it in our house. Stories (Jesus called his "parables") have been around for centuries and have changed and been adapted as new methods of communication sprang up.

Last week we watched one of my favorite childhood movies. I stopped it each time I noticed something being communicated that needed explanation. For example, before we got too far into I said that Disney likes to tell story using animals and that we can learn a lot about human behavior and emotion but that we need to remember the story isn't about real animals but is teaching us about PEOPLE and they're using animals to tell the story.

A disclaimer: As in everything these technologies need to be balanced. Some wisely decide to keep them away entirely. That's up to each family to decide. But this is written for those of you who were often struck by guilt or uncertainty ...to give you food for thought.

~Kate

Nourishing Traditions

2009-12-04T12:55:00.005-05:00

Part of my wifely duty is to make sure I'm feeding my family things that will nourish their bodies. There is much written about food and what's good; I tend to think the good Lord created food to benefit us and we do well to eat it as close to the way as He intended as possible.

Years ago I purchased the book "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" by Sally Fallon. It is huge and has too long sat neglected and ignored on my shelf. Intimidated I was by the vast array of strange words and foods foreign to me.

For years I felt overwhelmed by the job of learning and understanding such strange concepts as fermented foods and raw milk, let alone learning how to shift from mass consumptions of white and wheat flour and corn products loaded with high fructose corn syrup and sugar.

I've enjoyed James and Betty Robison's T.V. program LIFE TODAY for many years. I've missed it since we moved north; it's not on basic cable up here in northern Michigan as it was down in Lansing. When I was pregnant with Ruth who's now approaching her fifth birthday, Jordan Rubin appeared as a guest. I was struck by his story of being deathly sick and then learning about eating foods the way God created them. He wrote a book of his journey and shares lots of ideas and even meal plans, called, "The Maker's Diet" and it's a good introduction to the idea of leaving alone foods that have been over-processed and messed with by men who often times remove the nutritive elements to name a few of the things he points out.

I don't claim to know a whole lot about health but the Lord did tell me to walk the Maker's Diet way. This journey has taken years and I'm still learning and experimenting. I'm so glad Rubin mentions Fallon's book. It's a great resource.

I admit though that I've been pretty resistant to the idea of fermenting grains. It seemed like too much work and planning. But after reading Fallon's chapter just now on whole grains I am convinced: I can do it!!! I will no longer complain about the work it takes to prepare wholesome, healthy, nutritious things for my family. We are worth the time.

It takes time to soak grains, but do you know how many diseases come from eating them like we find them in the store? How interesting that as I learn to keep my home, have my heart and mind centered in my home and not out "there" ministering I am able to spend time on things that before were an anathema.

Yesterday I had my friend Mic listen to a tape (for women only) on what wives can do to "set" for their husbands. She was challenged by many of the ideas presented and then I was encouraged all over again by our discussion afterward. I was reminded that our jobs as wives is to provide wonderful, peaceful loving homes for our husbands and feeding them food that will give them life should be a main priority.

Two Questions

2009-12-03T11:07:00.003-05:00

I ponder these two things:

Why do we ask for blessings on things God has asked us to do?

Where is the biblical precedence to ask for God to bless the "stuff" we do?

I appreciate your thoughts.

A Declaration

2009-11-23T11:36:00.003-05:00

I will stop telling my husband that I love him so often and will instead say, "I honor you."

Article by Mike Bickle, Charisma Magazine

2009-11-23T10:43:00.004-05:00

This is long but I think well worth the read.

"The holy passion of the Bride"
By Mike Bickle,
Charisma magazine:

"The body of Christ, in the days ahead, will have a fierce and determined spirituality. Yet we will have little or no tolerance for traditional "religion." Passion for Jesus with extravagant obedience to him will be the heartbeat of the church in this coming generation.
Where will this passion come from? I believe it will be imparted to us as we come to understand what I call the "bridal paradigm" of the kingdom of God—the important truths that emanate from our relationship to our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ.
God wants us to experience the "superior pleasures" of the Gospel. He knows that we are best equipped to resist the "lesser pleasures" of sin as we experience satisfaction in intimacy with him. In the days ahead, I believe we will increasingly experience these "superior pleasures," empowering us to extravagantly follow our Bridegroom wherever he goes.
For some, that will be to martyrdom. The Great Commission will not be fulfilled without martyrs. The apostle John related a vision that reveals the role of martyrs in the last days: "I saw…those who had been slain for the word of God…saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’
"Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed" (Revelation 6:9-11, NKJV, emphasis added).
The fact is, there have been more martyrs in the 20th century than at any other time in history. The Western church, however, has been mostly exempt. This will soon change. Many ministries in the coming hour will be sufficiently anointed to equip "joyful martyrs," even in the Western church.
How will these martyrs be empowered to face even death with joy? They will experience a deep spiritual intimacy with Jesus—an intimacy that results from feasting on the knowledge of the beauty and majesty of our Bridegroom.
Longings of the Heart
Into every human heart God has built seven specific longings that can be satisfied only through our identity as the bride of Christ. As we come to an increased understanding of the bridal paradigm and allow Jesus as our Bridegroom to meet these desires, I believe the Holy Spirit will cause us to overflow in emotional wholeness, with gladness.
It’s important that God supernaturally strengthen our emotions. I believe an unprecedented emotional crisis will confront all who live on the earth in the generation in which the Lord returns. Sinful perversions, occult activity, divine judgments and martyrdom will reach the highest intensity ever witnessed in history. Supernatural emotional strength will be vital in light of the coming global crisis of social, spiritual, economic, political and emotional disruption.
Only a satisfied people who are happy in God will be equipped to stand in that hour. God intends to empower us and give us all the emotional resources we need by answering the longings of our hearts.
1. The longing for assurance that we are loved. This is where we begin our introduction to the romance of the Gospel. In every heart God has placed a craving to be pursued, delighted in and enjoyed—first by God, then by our families and friends. It is so integral to our identity that we become emotionally crippled when we feel rejection and shame from God or from others.
This most fundamental longing to be enjoyed and loved is initially satisfied by the revelation of the finished work of the cross. However, God wants to touch this vital area in an ever deeper and abiding way. He has chosen to do this through the revelation of his emotional capacities as both a Father and a Bridegroom. We will be satisfied only by experiencing a revelation of the affections of God. It is not so difficult to believe that God enjoys and loves mature believers who’ve learned to walk closely with the Holy Spirit. But the fact is, God enjoys and delights in young believers as well, even in the midst of spiritual immaturity (see Luke 15:4-5, 8-10, 20). He wants to marry us—yes, even us! The Word of God declares, "I am my [Beloved’s], and [His] desire is toward me" (Song 7:10). The Lord enjoys us even now, as we are.
When our hearts are assured through the revelation of the Spirit that we are deeply loved and enjoyed, something powerful is awakened within us. This is truly the beginning of our experience of the divine romance. Eventually even our emotional chemistry is changed, and our hearts are set afire.
2. The longing for enjoyment. There is a second craving in every human heart— a longing to marvel and to be fascinated, awestruck and filled with endless wonder. The secular entertainment industry has identified this human longing for enjoyment and has exploited it commercially—to their own profit and to our ruin. So many of us search endlessly through worldly entertainment and recreation to fulfill this God-given craving.
We really do need to experience a sense of wonderment in the very core of our beings. Without having a sense of awe, we live aimlessly and become spiritually bored. This makes us vulnerable to Satan’s tactics.
A spiritually bored church is a weak and vulnerable church. But a satisfied believer is a spiritually strong believer who lives protected from Satan’s schemes.
The Lord wants to answer this longing by an unprecedented unveiling of the beauty of Christ. In Isaiah 4:2, God declares that in the last days the Branch of the Lord will be manifested as "beautiful." The Branch of the Lord is none other than Jesus, our Messiah. God will fascinate his people beyond anything they have ever known by the unveiling of the beauty of Jesus in the last days.
This is divine entertainment at its highest as God the Father reveals God the Son to us through the Holy Spirit!
Throughout church history most believers have not been deeply fascinated by the Lord; they have simply gritted their teeth and tried to avoid evil. But a new anointing is going to be released on the church worldwide.
Think about it: We worship one who possesses transcendent beauty! The seraphim gaze on him and cry out, "Holy! Holy! Holy!" as they are stunned by the beauty of God. Within the bridal paradigm the Lord will answer our craving for awe and wonder by revealing to us the beauty of the Bridegroom.
3. The longing to be beautiful. Every one of us longs to possess beauty and to feel beautiful. No wonder: A beautiful God created us in such a way that we long to possess and feel his imparted beauty. Unfortunately, our culture has an obsession with physical appearance and vanity because it seeks to answer this legitimate longing in a wrong way. Most of us pursue carnal beauty because we feel so unsettled and unhappy when we feel ugly.
The glorious news is that the beauty of God is not just something he possesses—it is something he imparts through redemption to his bride. In Psalm 90:17, Moses prayed that "the beauty of the Lord" would be released upon the redeemed. Similarly, David prayed that God would "beautify the humble with salvation" (Psalm 149:4). This is a staggering concept. God transfers his spiritual beauty through redemption to formerly demonized, hopeless, sin-ridden people! His beauty is transferable to human beings through Jesus!
4. The longing to be great. In the core of our being, we long to be successful and noble. Our great God created us with the pursuit of greatness programmed deep within our emotional genetics. Sometimes we misunderstand this longing and assume that we must repent of it, but this isn’t true. We cannot repent of the God-given longing to be great—only of pursuing it in a wrong way.
We were made for greatness and honor. The Lord meets this longing by granting his bride a position of authority that surpasses even the highest-ranking angels. Jesus declares that his people will one day be exalted to his very right hand, sitting with him on his throne (see Rev. 3:21). In the embrace of our Bridegroom King, we co-rule with Him. Believers are at the very pinnacle of power in the created order. We are a part of the aristocracy of eternity, a part of the ruling class. In Jesus we have married into indescribable wealth and power. As the church takes hold of the truth of who we really are as honored and esteemed heirs of God’s throne, then our lives will portray a divine inner strength and a fierce determination to be wholly his.
5. The longing for intimacy without shame. We long to know and be known before the Lord. God put this longing in us because he wants us to find its deepest satisfaction in experiencing intimacy with him. This spiritual intimacy is available to the redeemed.
Jesus wants to entrust to his bride the unique secrets of his transcendent beauty and divine strategies. He has many secrets that he will reveal to his bride, ones that even the principalities and powers do not know (see Eph. 3:10). Because of our value to him we are invited into this mysterious realm of divine knowledge.
That intimacy is reciprocal. While we will have knowledge of his secrets, he also has knowledge of our secrets. He understands aspects of our lives that are unknown and misunderstood by others.
Jesus feels our pain and struggles. He knows our sin and shame. Yet he treats us with honor as he walks with us through every season of life.
He is intimate with us in our victory and prosperity. He rejoices and celebrates with us as He shares our triumphs. He knows our true greatness, and he sees the heights of our nobility in redemption.
He is also intimate with us in our heart passions. He knows the depths of our longings, dreams and intentions to love him. Even our failed intentions to love him are seen in his love, To be fully known without shame and to have no fear of being left to experience the mysteries of life alone is exhilarating!
6. The longing to be wholehearted and passionate. In our hearts we long to possess the power to abandon ourselves completely to God. We long to avoid the spiritual boredom, disloyalty and compromise that leave us broken and discontent. We desire the ability to give the deepest affection of our hearts back to the Lord (see Matt. 22:37).
We cannot function properly until we have passionately given our hearts to a Person and purpose beyond ourselves. If we don’t have something to die for, then we don’t have anything to live for.
The passive heart is vulnerable to every lust of the flesh. In order to be emotionally whole we must reach for wholeheartedness as the Lord graciously imparts it to our weak hearts. He will give us the power to be passionate because He is a passionate God.
7. The longing to make a deep and lasting impact. As human beings we are desperate for a life of meaning, relevance and significance. We long to make a contribution to the lives of those we care about. We experience great enjoyment when we bring pleasure to others.
This, too, is a legitimate longing placed in our hearts by a God of meaning and purpose. It is fulfilled by anointed service in his kingdom, resulting in rewards that literally last forever.
God designed his people to make a relevant impact in the lives of others. In fact, Jesus wants us yoked together with him in the holy mandate that the Father has given him to disciple the nations (see Matt. 28:19). As we reject our tendency toward self-centered isolationism and walk out the second commandment at our Bridegroom’s side, we will satisfy the longings of our hearts.

Holy Lovesickness

The perversion of the human heart has reached intense proportions in this present day, and it will only get worse. Jesus described the people in the last generation as being filled with bitterness, offense and betrayal, with hearts continually growing cold in love.
I believe there is going to be an unholy explosion of pornography in the coming years through the fast-growing technology industry; the same measure of increase will occur in the realm of the occult. Yet God has a plan to bring his people through in victory.
The bridal paradigm has been reserved by God to empower the church to overcome the coldest and the most lawless, fearful, demonic and sexually perverted generation in history. As the days grow near for his Son’s return, the Holy Spirit will increasingly unfold the revelation of Jesus as our Bridegroom and our corresponding spiritual identity as his bride.
Already the Holy Spirit is beginning to awaken a "holy lovesickness" that will not be denied. An intervention by God of radical proportions is coming. Through this bridal paradigm, he will change the way we view him—and the way we view ourselves.
He will fulfill the deepest longings of our hearts. And in that final hour the Spirit and the bride will say, "Come!" (Rev. 22:17)."

Mike Bickle is the founding pastor of Metro Church of Kansas City and the author of Passion for Jesus and Growing in the Prophetic (Creation House). He is also ministry director of Friends of the Bridegroom. He recently stepped down as senior pastor to focus his energy on building a 24-hour citywide prayer ministry in Kansas City called the International House of Prayer. The church has already raised the funds to release singers and musicians for each of the 70 prayer meetings that are conducted weekly. Bickle’s vision is for a 24-hour house of prayer, in the spirit of the tabernacle of David, to be established in every city and prison in the world.
Reprinted with permission of Charisma magazine, March 1999, Strang Communication Co., USA.

The Father's Love

2009-11-19T18:55:00.003-05:00

God the Father longs to pour out His love on us. Where He is there is no sickness, no disease, no lack. He longs for His will to be done on this earth. His will is already being done in heaven.

Emotional healing. Physical health. These things He desires for us! He does not want us sick and broken.

Isaiah 61 is the proof of hope!

Of First Priority

2009-11-19T14:57:00.004-05:00

No matter where I go or what I do, who I meet or what I learn, this truth - as expressed so well by George Mueller - is one which guides me.

This is a treasure which I have kept in the front of my bible for over 13 years. It is from the autobiography of George Mueller (p. 152). I hope you will blessed and encouraged.

"It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distresses, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit. Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer after having dressed myself in the morning. Now I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Words of God, and to meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart be brought into experimental communion with the Lord."

A disclaimer

2009-11-12T15:17:00.000-05:00

There are things I don't mean and things I do mean. I get irritated with myself often for saying or writing things that are not CLEAR.

Anything I write or say to you that is not of the Lord throw away! Do not take anything that is not truth.

I sure have a long way to go to learn to say what I mean. Oich. Pray for me!

The Abiding Principle: John 15

2009-11-12T09:05:00.007-05:00

I'm hooked on John fifteen.

It's so important that we understand the context of verses we hear and read. Sometimes just a verse or two can be taken out to teach us a truth or principle. This is helpful as we gain glimpses of understanding of who God is and how He works.

John 15:7 is quoted a lot..., "ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."

There are several implications. For example, 1) we need to voice what we want, expressing it verbally to our heavenly Father. It's not enough to just think our needs or ask silently. Jesus doesn't say here, "ask aloud" but based on lots of other things He says in other places I think He means ask in prayer and say it out loud.

Second, what we "will" will be done for us! I don't know if the word "will" here (I'm using the Amplified Bible) means want or need, but either way it's good news that what we need/want will be provided.

I have heard this verse used to encourage believers to ask of the Lord ~ and so it should be used. However, these same people who learn this principle about the Lord and how things work within His kingdom should also be taught the abiding principle. There are six and a half verses leading up to the end of verse seven.

Read John 15: 1-6. Jesus explains a process. Vine dresser; vine; branches; fruit. There are many truths within this chapter! As time permits I'll go into more.

These questions came today in an email:

2009-11-09T19:28:00.009-05:00

"Why do you insist on demons when most of what we are or have become is probably learned which does not in any way negate grace. Demon sounds like it came from the outside, like a virus, which it is not."

"And what pray tell is other’s troublesome moral faults?"

Below is my reply:

"Look at what Jesus did. When there were demons He made them leave. Period. They were real and He trained folks to cast them out. He sent first the 12 and then the 70; commissioned them all to preach and proclaim the kingdom of God, cure diseases and cast out demons. It was the work He sent them out to do and the call hasn't been revoked. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the principalities and rulers of this present darkness. Saint Paul said it! (see Luke 9: 1,2 and Luke 10:17 - 20)

Ephesians 6:12
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

There are many who ascribe moral default to those who are not able to be free without the touch of Jesus. When He looked out over the crowds and the twelve pressed in He saw blessed people who were outcasts and left out of the system God's people had set up. They were maimed and unpleasant, socially inept and financially bound. They were physically ill and mentally ill. He came to save those who were lost, not those who were well.

He does not discriminate; He brings His spiritual life to all who will receive Him. The church and the world however do perceive these wounded folks to be a detriment to society. They are and Jesus can fix them.

In Isaiah 61 and Luke 4: 18 & 19 the Lord makes plain His intentions:

^"1THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound..." Isaiah 61:1 (amplified)

Today there are those who are unable to deal with life. Scripture screams that when people turn from the Lord's ways He lifts His blessings and curses ensue. The blood and name of Jesus can remedy that but until that happens the curses pass from generation to generation. Haven't you ever wondered why some people just can't seem to get set free from crap? Jesus said some only come out by prayer and fasting (Math 17:21 & Mark 9:29).

Jesus wasn't afraid of demons. Why do we dismiss them? We're supposed to be giving people the good news: that the Lord's mercy is here for all men to grab hold of. The enemy, the prince of darkness, seeks only to kill, steal and destroy the life Jesus came to give. We don't have to put up with that in our own lives and we can fight for the freedom of others!!!

Instead most prefer to shrug and wonder why those folks don't walk away from their crud. Jesus implied some cannot until they are set free.

We need not fear the demons! They are like meddling buffoons who lurk and lie and hide until the Prince of Peace comes (by way of individuals walking according to the Spirit) and ousts them.

Jesus said the truth makes free which implies we are bound. If then we are bound and truth sets free what then is it that binds us? I think lies!! Satan is the father of lies. Some of us are "wired" and hear him condemning and accusing all the day long. Maybe the spiritual gift of discernment causes this: I don't know. But I know lots of folks who adore the Lord Jesus of Nazareth and cannot get free of certain things no matter how much their minds are renewed by the washing of the Word.

Troublesome moral faults...well...Saint Paul writes about it in the sixth chapter of Galatians. I've copied it below from the Amplified bible.:

^1"BRETHREN, IF any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.
²Bear (endure, carry) one another's burdens and ^a]">[a]troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete ^b]">[b]what is lacking [in your obedience to it].
³For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another's load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.
⁴But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [^c]">[c]in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor."

The church is in error and judging those to whom they are supposed to show mercy.

There seems to be a link between generational curses and demons which are passed on through birth lines which can be stopped by the name and power of Jesus of Nazareth."

The Root of Our Battles + other various thoughts

2009-11-09T07:40:00.003-05:00

The Lord is amazing.

He's showing us by way of the scriptures that demons are real. He dealt with them and has power and authority over all of them and He gave that authority to His people.

Long story short: sometimes when we are unable to get free in an area it's because of demons. No need to fret, worry or be scared. Jesus can make them leave! SO....the Lord had prepped us for Pastor Jim's "deliverance" message yesterday.

The Lord is revealing stuff to us which is marvelous and thrilling. In time we will share as we're led!

Re: wives and submission:

I've not done ballroom dancing yet; I'm learning the moves of submission but in a different metaphor. I think of it like volleyball: I am setting for my husband who was created to spike and win.

I once thought it my job to spike and to coach and to be water boy; I now understand I am to set, set, set, concentrate on building stronger setting muscles & technique and praying for him that he'd be open to the Lord teaching him new moves.

I'm training our children to be water boys!

I do get up there and try and spike sometimes without realizing it; when I "feel" he's not confident or lacks maturity.

I realized this morning it is NEVER my place to spike. If he needs to stop and rest or regroup then I am to stop, too...get him some water and a good shoulder rub if he wants it or if he's not in the mood I can go off the court and do something else til he's ready to try again. The husband was MADE (created, designed) to spike and win and the Lord MADE us to be amazing setters.

In our culture lurks and insidious idea: men are incompetent and women are the one's who really know what's going on. This is a lie from the father of lies who seeks to kill, steal and destroy the life Jesus came to give.

Men need honor and we give them our love. They do not need our love. They need our honor and we need people to teach us the honor "man speak." It is foreign to most women in this culture but it is not difficult or hard to learn. I am learning it and my husband affirms I am doing it well.

When they lack confidence or even refuse to spike we can opt for two things: one, to take on the role of husband and father for them (as well as carrying the load of mother and wife) and be crushed, or we can let him deal with whatever is bugging him (whether it's sin or maybe he just had enough of our dishonoring him!) and be ready to get setting once he's ready.

For those who are divorced and not re-married: It isn't too late. The state, by which you were legally married and divorced, cannot undo the marriage God made when you came together. Months ago I had something really exciting - it was this idea. I was so excited when I read it; If you dare here it is: http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2009/june/02/holy-matrimony-2/ The state cannot unmarry you. No man can separate what God has put together.

If dishonor is in a wife's family line (learned by her mother and aunties, etc.) and she embraces it (it is a god of this age and SO common) it is in the way of her children reaching the Lord's potential in their lives. Dishonor sown in marriage will enrage husbands and cause children to dishonor the mother. It is a serious breech but CAN be completely healed by our dear Truth.

The Lord has a hurting world to heal and that he wants to use our husbands to help Him heal it.

The Lord can teach women how to trust; may we be willing to let the Lord shine His light into our hurting places; may He strengthen our "inner man" so we will have courage to surrender the things (which may be demons) which have so affected us and caused us not to trust.

There is a "victim" spirit that is demonic...we will write more about that later as we're just beginning to get understanding about it.

Also, a man's iniquity does not disqualify him from running the race. Immaturity does not disqualify them. Our responsibility is to honor him and pray for him...

We wives carry burdens which so weigh us down. Like Pastor Jim's message we seem "caught" by the enemies lies. I pray we are willing to consider this: that all which you think you "know" and "understand" about our men and ourselves (and what happened) was not complete truth.

The enemy is a liar. May we be willing to let go of all that we cling to - however justified we feel- that is not Truth and Light. May we let the Lord into us with His light as He reveals where deception took its hold.

The Lord is the head of our family; we wives are not. Our husbands are accountable for how they handle their family. We are not his judge. We are his helper. We are to intercede when he is weak; pray when he is angry; ask forgiveness when we have dishonored and tried to control because we were afraid.

The god of this age hands women a note when their husbands are down and out. It says something like, "he's violent (or fill in the blank with what he tells you). useless. you can't do anything else. protect yourself!!!"

Intercession is one of your primary responsibilities!!! To believe God can make your family into what HE wants and that He WILL do it as we partner with Him. We are like change agents. The Lord shows us and gives us a vision of where He wants the family to be and then we are to line ourselves up like the Proverbs 31 woman...who's husband trusted in her all the days of her life.

When we see him struggle we are not to judge nor condemn: we are to PRAY!!

Wife: in order for the Lord to do HIS work in your husband, your marriage, your family, your church, your community, your state, your nation and your world you must let Him deal first with you. He WILL point out ugly things for the sake of having you surrender them to Him. May you set your will to staying underneath His probing finger. He will ask you to hand over the crud you cling to which is not of Him.

May we no longer listen to the voices telling us to distrust that probing finger. The Lord is gentle and wants those demons exposed. They are screaming that it's all our mens fault. The Lord has given them us as helpers...to pray and intercede that the Lord will intervene and break through curses and strongholds and principalities and powers. We are to stay by their side no matter what the enemy screams at us. May we come together as women and commit to listening to our Lord and Saviour Jesus of Nazareth who came in the flesh; to allow Him to cast out demons and free us and our families to be life changing agents for those around us.

May the Lord's will be done on this earth and in our hearts and homes and families and communities as it is in heaven!!!

Our men may have demonic strongholds which are causing things to happen in them that are not God's will. They may not seem to be able to get free no matter what they try. Believe that these "things" are not him...they are of the enemy. Jesus has all the power and all the authority to cast them out.

FEAR is a demon and it causes women to cling to crud they were never designed to carry. Let us believe God that He CAN take the ashes (of our marriages) and turn them into something more amazing than we hope!

To God be the glory forever.
~Kate

Communication's Calling

2009-11-07T08:59:00.008-05:00

I am at the beginning of a long life of speaking out what the Lord is saying.

Sometimes the message is unpleasant to deliver. The strength with which it boils within me assures I will not keep quiet much longer.

I am studying how to speak to others:

Galatians 6 (amplified)

^1"BRETHREN, IF any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.
²Bear (endure, carry) one anther's burdens and ^a]">[a]troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete ^b]">[b]what is lacking [in your obedience to it].
³For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder anther's load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.
⁴But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [^c]">[c]in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor.
⁵For every person will have to bear (^d]">[d]be equal to understanding and calmly receive) his own [^e]">[e]little] load ^f]">[f][of oppressive faults]."
It has taken over ten years for me to learn this. Mostly I have run from speaking. This has been in part to my own lack of understanding as well as sin of pride. The Lord has been purifying me and helping me understand His grace and mercy and the desperate need to communicate it to the saved and to those without Christ.

I have wrestled with wanting the Lord to judge those in error rather than be merciful; feelings like Jonah have welled up and I spent a long time in the belly of "my" whale, learning to adjust my attitude to one of obedience and service in the transmitting of what I hear from my Master.

In this blog I share bits of my devotional life with the Lord but also will declare what He is teaching me and what I feel He is saying to others.

I know there is a danger in sharing this...what if I am wrong? It is my job to tune into the Lord, listen and receive what He says and then be obedient to transmit whatever it seems He wills.

From the Kitchen

2009-11-07T08:33:00.004-05:00

With a family of seven meal time is no small thing in our house. We each have favorite recipes and have decided to begin posting them for you to enjoy as well! On the main page of this blog click "From Kate's Kitchen."

Halloween Blues - A Journal

2009-10-31T22:46:00.002-04:00

From a note to Faith:

I'm here and we're fine. Just real tired. I think dealing with all this new in-the-Lord stuff is wearing us out a bit. Been sleeping a lot. Hubby's been grouchy and I've had a hard time staying positive. We're trying to focus but there seems to be something keeping us from it. Would you pray?

I'm fighting discouragement. It's a low time...pressing in to the Lord is not overtly fruitful now. I sometimes fear when hubby feels he doesn't know which way to go. I think he might be resisting the Way. Hard to know what I should do as help meet.

When my man stops playing ball I guess I just wait on the sidelines along side him. Not easy. Trying to encourage him to get out there and play doesn't really work.

Ick..

We're doing bible studies to try and understand what's up. We feel cursed re: money. The Lord may be asking us to step out in a certain way but we're not sure and need absolute confirmation that it's Him. We've stepped out in to a lot of things that weren't Him and the consequences aren't pretty. We wanna obey. Fear of the Lord is being instilled.

Battle Cry

2009-10-27T06:43:00.003-04:00

Themes formed in an email to dear Frank this morning:

This is no small work we do. As we step out I am aware of the increase of tension. Getting the Lord's kingdom on this earth is no trite task. It is a bloody fight and I'm glad for Jesus' shed blood...I dance around in it anew this morning as I need a fresh covering.

That you are blessed by the blog is so good to hear. It has taken me years to have the boldness to get "out there" where others would see my relationship with the Lord. It's been fiery and passionate for years but I kept it hidden. It seems the time has come for me to let the Body see how I move and keep in rhythm (dance) with the Lord. Oh thank goodness for my hubby, who has helped me find the boldness to dance in the open. How I adore him. I think the Lord has anointed him as father/shepherd/teacher to the Body. Oh my. He adores his little ducks (spiritual and physical children). He aches for the fatherless - old and young.

We know we are heading into new waters. We know this means many things. I am comforted knowing how to hide in the Lord while the battle rages. We are fighting at the front lines and souls are at stake. So many in the enemy's camp don't even know they're there. They are asleep and the enemy nurses them with filth and lies and deception.

I want to be ready for these battles. I have been in fierce training all these years learning how to take orders from my Commanding Officer in the midst of great turmoil and unrest. There have many times when all the voices and sounds were shouting a myriad of things but I am learning to quiet myself and tuck into the Lord and wait for His instruction.

He is my Lord and my Commander and from He alone do I take my orders. I will not hesitate. I will not balk. He has sent me to let the lost know they have been set free.

Intercession is a precious gift...it calls down His power and resources to the battle lines a head of time so that when we arrive in the physical we already have the tools needed to communicate and reach these lost folks. They are in need of a Savior and He has come into the world. He is seated at the right hand of the Father for only a little while longer. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Sometimes when I write I am proclaiming things for the principalities and ruling powers of this present darkness. It's nice to have you close enough to hear me. It is a battle cry.

Fogged In - A Journal Entry

2009-10-27T06:25:00.002-04:00

What a tough morning I've had. I've been in tears with so much uncertainty.

I feel like I'm in a little boat surrounded by an evil fog. Reading the Word didn't make the fog lift like it normally would. So instead I crept into the land of worship and prayer...praising the Lord Jesus with my voice and body...moving to the music and letting it give me strength. Certitude came though the fog remained.

The Lord allowed me to hear others nearby in their boats...

We are at the front lines of this battle. WE WILL NOT BE TAKEN OUT. The only comfort I find this morning is in reaching out to those nearby...interceding and connecting with them in the Spirit.

The fog has lifted enough for me to feel the Lord's comfort. I am glad. This is a gloomy fight sometimes.

To Write Right? A very personal note

2009-10-23T06:15:00.004-04:00

For years I've sensed the Lord wanting me to write so I've documented specifics about my journey in Him. Once married I continued to keep record. I have 15 years of journals with ideas, words from the Lord, intercession, struggles. I sensed someday others would read it.

The Lord gave me some specific direction about His desire and I surrendered the writing gift to Him years ago. Since then I've learned much about fearing Him instead of man and now submit myself to my earthly husband.

"Lord, if you want me to write [and get it where people will hear You] You've got to make that clear to my hubby."

He just has. Hubby has become the fuel, encouraging me and guiding me, organizing me and helping me focus. He has said he will not stand in the way [of what the Lord wants to do through me].

On a personal note, yesterday morning the Lord shared with me His desire for me to be more gracious in speech. He gave me Proverbs 22:11 as a goal to reach for and with His help I will be gracious (kindly, courteous, charming, attractive, generous) in speech. He will do it and I will submit!

He also continues to speak that I am like Deborah. I don't know what He means but I am beginning to believe 1) that it is the Lord who keeps saying it and 2) that He means it. It's all right that I don't yet understand. He'll show whatever I need to know when I need it.

I am wary of the spirit of Jezebel. The Lord extricated the filth of "her" from me this past winter, one very cold day. I left her behind in a bathroom stall. Since then my ability to submit to hubby has gained strength. I have learned to honor him, which is a language and dialect I did not know.

The Lord will send the spirit of Elijah over the whole earth. He is waiting to do so. The spirit of Jezebel keeps Elijah out. She must be extricated first. Oh! How many wives live with their tendrils throttling the life of God out of her husband? So many. Wives fear and are in charge of so much...to their emotional detriment. Wives were not made to handle the burdens our men can bear. We carry a masculine load and feel dead under its weight.

The Lord has given to me the power to extract "her" on the earth. She WILL be thrown out the window. By intercession the Lord will do it. I will help wives learn how to become excellent wives - women who submit themselves to their husbands, trusting the Lord to lead and following wherever the husband goes. We women WILL learn to excel in "setting" for our men, as we help them spike and win.

The Lord WILL show these men how to lead. He longs to be good to us all and to teach us and show us things we don't know. He is a good leader and an excellent teacher.

Spiritual Stop Sign

2009-10-21T10:04:00.002-04:00

Oh to gather all the words You've given to the proud! I shudder!

"Haughtiness of eyes and a proud heart, even the tillage of the wicked or the lamp [of joy] to them [whatever it may be], are sin [in the eyes of God]."

Proverbs 21:1 - A Clue

2009-10-21T10:01:00.003-04:00

Hmmmm....Proverbs 21:1 astounds me and gives clear confirmation re: intercession.

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."

Psalm 61:5

2009-10-21T09:59:00.003-04:00

I was very encouraged this morning in my devotions with the Lord. He spoke Psalm 61:5 as a piggy back verse off of Proverbs 19:23.

"You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name." Precious truth. I run with it!

Roar!

2009-10-20T16:49:00.002-04:00

From Reinhard Bohnke:

"King Saul and his generals laughed when a country-boy proposed to be the defender of Israel. But when Samuel had anointed David, Saul had become the ex-anointed. Now the anointed and the ex-anointed stood face-to-face. Saul looked at David with amusement. David stood, shaking under a powerful anointing, like a roaring engine, with brakes applied, ready to storm the battlefield. Inspired?"

Proverbs 19:23

2009-10-20T09:15:00.002-04:00

I am encouraged by this verse from yesterday's Proverb:

"The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil." 19:23

What a promise!

Posts of Old

2009-10-19T13:44:00.001-04:00

I have an old blog that may interest you. Click the title above to be re-directed.

A stirring within

2009-10-16T06:57:00.002-04:00

Something loud stirs within me. A message to a part of the Body of Christ bubbles. An exhortation? It is a strong word. Abba, give us strength to heed it!

2009-10-16T06:47:00.001-04:00

As I crawl through Brennan Manning's book, The Ragamuffin Gospel I'll post different thoughts and quotes.

Here's one:

"It remains a startling story to those who never understand that the men and women who are truly filled with light are those who have gazed deeply into the darkness of their imperfect existence."

O.C. - Missionary?

2009-10-15T06:46:00.004-04:00

Chambers' words for today are tough and good.

"A missionary is one who is wedded to the charter of his Lord and Master, he has not to proclaim his own point of view, but to proclaim the Lamb of God. It is easier to belong to a coterie* which tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, easier to become a devotee to Divine healing, or to a special type of sanctification, or to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Paul did not say - 'Woe is unto me, if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,' but - 'Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.' This is the Gospel - "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!"

*coterie: a group of people who associate closely.