Heaven is not bankrupt

Malachi 3:10 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this", says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." (NKJV)

Tithe...10%...I know this can be a controversial issue. Do we really have to give 10% of our income to the church? The answer is no, of course not, because the Lord gave us free will to choose what we will do with 'our' money. So you don't have to do anything. And for most of my life I chose not to give the Lord 10% of 'my' income, and I went bankrupt. 

That's right, I believed the lie that I could not afford to give 10%, that just seemed like sooo much. I mean really, we couldn't make ends meet the way it was. Every time I'd look at the bills and the amount coming in and see there was just no way to get it all paid, I got stressed out and felt so helpless, sometimes I would just cry. 

Then one day in the midst of our struggle's my father, who always seemed to have plenty of money, told me I needed to start giving. He talked to me about tithing, giving back to the Lord 10% and how much it made a difference in his finances. I have a lot of respect for my father, he's honest, hard working, God fearing, trustworthy; I had to listen.

So I did. I have to admit, I couldn't give 10% right away, that was too big of a leap for me, we started with 5%. We still struggled with our finances but no more than usual. Then a year later when we needed a car we couldn't afford, my father gave us a car he bought for the exact amount we'd given up to that point. I know some skeptics would say he would have done that anyway. Maybe, maybe not. I can't help but see significance in the fact that the amount we were given was the exact amount we gave. The result was that we realized we could afford to give and we could afford to give more, so we started giving 10% of my net income.

We still went bankrupt, a natural consequence of poor financial choices, a very humbling experience for me. That time brought me closer to God and strengthened my faith. As the bank was foreclosing on our house, I put my trust in God to provide us a place to live, and He did. 

I started to understand the way money operates in God's kingdom, here on earth. 

Number 1. None of this is ours, it all belongs to God. When we tithe we are returning to God a small amount compared to what He gives us. He gets 10%, we get 90%. Who's getting the better deal?

Number 2. It's not logical. The mind tells us if we give to the church we will have less. However, we will actually have more because the Lord will bless us with more so we can give more to His kingdom, for His purposes.

Number 3. Tithing requires trust and faith. We must trust God and have faith that He will provide for us. 

Oh there is so much more I could go on and on and on...and I will.  Something that strikes me about the Lords words in Malachi 3:10, He says, "Try me now in this". Basically He is saying put Me to the test and I will prove to you what I am saying is the truth. 

Early this year our pastor's gave us a book called "The Blessed Life, Unlocking the Rewards of Generous Living" by Robert Morris. An amazing book, I highly recommend it. I learned that my tithing was not exactly biblical. We are to give our first fruits, that is 10% of our gross income, and we are to bring it into the Lord's house. Perhaps I should have noticed that by reading Malachi 3:10, but I did not. 

The Lord said, "Try me", and I said, "Ok Lord, I'm going to test you because we're living paycheck to paycheck and returning to you 10% of my gross income will take away what seems like another large chunk out of our monthly income." But I did it and I did it according to His word in 2 Co 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. (NKJV)

And my husband, Chad, agreed to give 10% of his gross income. By logical thinking our monthly income decreased even more. But we are to live by faith, not by sight (2 Co 5:7) and so we committed to being faithful to give back to the Lord with cheerful hearts. 

This past winter was one of the coldest I can remember, the bills were high and our furnace broke down. We needed to buy a new one even though we didn't have the money to pay for it. During one of the most expensive times we gave more than ever before and the Lord came through for us. I can't explain how we had the money to get by this past winter and spring, it seemed impossible but we always had enough; our bills were always paid.

Then last month our car broke down as you know if you read my other posts and we didn't have the money to get it fixed until an anonymous donor deposited a thousand dollars into our checking account. Imagine my surprise when I got online and saw the amount in my bank account was $1000 more than it should have been. I called the bank of course because I thought there had been an error but they reassured me the money was ours. Oh Lord, You are so good! Thank You for always providing for my every need, thank You for always being faithful to answer my prayers. Thank you too, to the anonymous donor for listening to God and obeying His call for you to give. 

And that brings me to...

Number 4. We must obey God. Period. 

If I had not obeyed God's word and returned to Him what belongs to Him, if I would not have asked in faith, trusting Him to answer, He would not have placed it on the heart of another faithful servant to give to me. If I did not have faith, if I did not trust Him, if I had not 'tried Him' in this, He would not have opened the windows of heaven and poured out this blessing. Thank You Lord! 

And it's not just the money to fix the car, Chad's computer repair business has increased tremendously, especially this month. A coincidence? I think not!

And one of the hardest things...

Number 5. Be patient. 

Our blessings did not come pouring in immediately, if they did we wouldn't need to have faith. 

Winnebago River Fertile, IA

P.S. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you will go bankrupt if you do not tithe, but be careful what you treasure. 

Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be.

In my heart I treasured the comforts of financial security and when I didn't have it my peace crumbled. It wasn't until I started to treasure God's word and walk in His will that  my peace no longer crumbled when my finances look bleak. 

Be Still...

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God...

Pastor Doug Domokos reminded us of this verse last Sunday in his sermon about distracted living. But have you ever tried to sit still... silent... focusing on Jesus... only on Jesus? Try it for 20 seconds... Did you count the seconds? Did your mind wander? I know mine does. But don't throw up your hands and say it is impossible...All things are possible with God. Don't say 'I tried that and it didn't work'. With that attitude you would never have learned to read these words. This takes practice and I'm by no means an expert but here are my tips to sitting still and focusing on God.

If you've never done this before I would suggest starting with a favorite praise song that is Jesus focused to listen to. Sit quietly listening and focusing on the song, it's words and Jesus. It's best if the song just ends, if not shut it off and then sit quietly for a moment afterward keeping your mind focused on Jesus.

Read Revelation 4 & 5. These chapters are John's description of the throne room. As you read, form a picture in your mind of what he is describing to draw on when you are sitting still. Focus on this picture as you sit. 

I try to focus on my heart where His Holy Spirit resides and focus on Jesus in my minds eye. I picture Him sitting next to me or standing above me with His hand on my head. Sometimes I see Him sitting in front of me holding my hands, or I imagine myself on His lap with His arms wrapped around me. I have to change things up to keep my mind occupied with Him. And when I realize I'm making a grocery list or replaying a conversation in my head or planning my workday, I will say out loud, "Jesus", to help re-focus on Him.

Sometimes I think about Jesus' attributes. Love, Peace, Truth, Life, Worthy, Faithful, Strong, Mercy, Grace, Righteous, Comforter. Or I think on snippets of scripture. Christ strengthens me. Jesus is truth. Spirit of Love. 

Whatever you do, remember to be gentle with yourself. This is not easy and the Lord knows it; He will appreciate your effort even if you can only focus for a few moments. But don't give up as soon as you realize you've lost your focus, just simply turn your mind back to Jesus. The more times you do this the easier it gets. I wouldn't ever say it is easy, but it does get easier.

And of course ask the Lord to help you on your journey to Him, there is no better tour guide than our Creator.

How do you "be still"? Please comment, I would love the hear how you stay focused on Jesus.

Be Anxious for Nothing

I love Philippians 4, it's been too long since I meditated on it. I know because my loving husband pointed out to me that I've been irritable and a little spacey. Now ladies, don't get all bent out of shape at this, there's no sarcasm in my statement. Chad and I have an understanding. We know that often when something is wrong we don't always recognize it in ourselves until the other holds up that mirror so we can take a look. And that is what he did.

I saw that I had not been rejoicing in the Lord like I should. Not in everything. I'd been anxious, worried, selfish. (pause)

As I was typing this post last night I was interrupted by life dealing a blow to someone close to my heart. I cannot share her story with you but I can tell you my heart is breaking for her and her family. And the words "be anxious for nothing" seem even harder.

People who know me well would tell you I'm not a worrier by nature. I'm pretty easy going for the most part. I've taken to heart, Jesus' words in Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. To me this means don't worry about the "what if's" which I usually have under control, not always but usually. But I'm also not wonder woman and today's stuff on top of yesterday's stuff bothers me. 

So what do I do when there is trouble today? And yesterday's trouble followed me into today. How do I go about "being anxious for nothing"? 

Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Aahh, there it is, I feel better just typing the words. There's so much in those two little verses, God tells us how to "be anxious for nothing". 

1. Prayer: 'An earnest request or wish'1
2. Supplication: 'To ask humbly of' ² or 'seeking, asking, entreating God'³
3. Thanksgiving: 'A prayer expressing gratitude'⁴

So to keep worry at bay we should earnestly, humbly, with gratitude seek God and ask God. There's a promise attached. If we will humbly - without pride - seek God, thank God, ask God, praise God; God in return will guard our hearts first and our minds with His peace. A peace so profound, we can't even understand it, and He does all this through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Notice how it doesn't say run to your friend and tell them all your problems...guilty...it doesn't say allow your mind to try to come up with a million and one ways to solve your problems on your own...guilty...it doesn't say slap on a smile and tell everyone nothing is wrong...guilty...it doesn't say go to the doctor and get a prescription...every other ad on tv...No, it says PRAY...to GOD...it says be THANKFUL...to GOD...it says SEEK GOD...it says ASK GOD! This takes time. This takes commitment, this takes intention. We must make time to pray. Don't try to find time as if it were something you lost. Pastor Doug preached on this today. He said take your schedule to God and He'll show you what to cross off your to do list. We've all got things on our list that are so much less important than our peace. Just think of all the time we would have if we found the peace the Lord has promised instead of spending all that time worrying, complaining, and problem solving without God. He's very efficient you know, He made everything in a week, I'm sure He can help us find 15 minutes here to thank Him and 20 minutes there to seek His peace.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

August 2013 Ames, IA

1 "Prayer" Merriam-Webster.com  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer July 12, 2014
2 "Supplication" Merriam-Webster.com  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer July 12, 2014
3 "Supplication" Blueletterbible.org http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1162&t=KJV July 12, 2014
4 "Thanksgiving" Merriam-Webster.com http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thanksgiving July 13, 2014

Actively Waiting on God

 Painting by Louj

I know the Holy Spirit is moving and that something awesome is happening in the supernatural that is about to give birth here on earth. Not just the car, that is a minor thing compared to what the breath of God is blowing in. I didn't come up with this all on my own. I subscribe to http://www.elijahlist.com/ and read what today's prophets are saying. For some of you this may be a hard pill to swallow but yes there are prophets in this day and age and the Lord does speak through them.

One of the reasons I agree with them is this stirring I have in my spirit. I didn't sleep much last night and this is unusual for me. I am so blessed to be one who falls asleep quickly and sleeps well through the night. Not last night, I know the Lord was dealing with some of my "stuff". Ok I'll use the real words for it unbelief, fear, pride; and He's using our car to do it...

Journal Entry Day 656
July 7, 2014 Mon
14:20 Living Room
....Last night Chad tried starting the car while I was at work, it wouldn't start. But his key fob unlocked the car so there was enough battery to open the electric locks. Today after I posted the blog...Miracle Coming Soon, I took my Bible outside and read Mark 11:21-24 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (NKJV) Then I said to the car, "battery charge in the name of Jesus." I pushed my key fob, nothing. I did this two more times and nothing; I wondered if my key fob battery is dead and I must admit I felt silly talking to the car and worried that someone would come along and hear my failed prayer. I came inside not wanting to tell anyone I failed again. But is this about me? No, this will not happen under my power but God's Holy Spirit. I thought before I went out there it should be simple, walk up to the car and tell it to work in the name of Jesus, which I did. I will not give up, I know in my heart the Lord made this promise to me, it's not about the car, it's about faith, it's about believing in the promises of God, believing the Word of God even when what we see is contradictory... (end journal entry)

Shame on me....failed prayer, did I actually write that? I did, forgive me Lord for my unbelief, forgive me for being afraid someone would hear my prayer and think I'm crazy. I certainly didn't walk out there boldly like I should have. Help me in my weakness oh Lord.

Journal Entry Day 657
July 8, 2014 Tues
22:19 Bedroom
     After Chad and I spent a lovely day together in Clear Lake, brunch at Denny's, a walk by the lake and grocery shopping at Fareway, I took some time to clean the cars. My dad's first, that was easy, light vacuum, quick dusting, it wasn't too dirty. Then our old reliable Olds. First I had to get Chad's set of keys, my fob didn't work and I don't have a key to unlock it. Chad's key fob didn't work either, I needed the key. By sight the battery is dead. And by sight, our car is filthy; garbage everywhere, dirt buildup everywhere, gravel accumulating on the floor. I tried praising God while I cleaned...but thought am I being genuine? or am I just trying to get God to perform this miracle I've declared He'd do? I'm ashamed to say in that moment the latter. So I stopped that and acknowledged God for who He is, faithful always, even when I'm fake. And I realized He would be true to me, our car will run again whether we have to take it to Standard Exchange and have human hands fix it or whether the Lord will charge the battery and fix the electrical problem by His hand, either way is a miracle because today when we look at our finances we see the money's not there to get it fixed. My problem is I always want God to do things the way I want Him to do things. Pride. Oh Lord, forgive me of my pride. I repent of my pride Lord. Cleanse me Father with the blood of Jesus and make me righteous in Your sight. Thank you Lord that I am forgiven.
     The physical act of cleaning was therapeutic for me. By the time I had cleaned the garbage from the car, I'd cleaned up my prideful heart and it was time to wash the grime away. I got a rag and soapy water and this time I wasn't trying to praise God, I was truly praising Him. I thanked Him for cleansing my heart, not just from the days pride but all the days of my life. I thanked Him for the car He provided, I thanked Him for the faith He'd given me to trust Him, I thanked Him for always being faithful, for forgiving me and the list goes on and on and on...
     But don't think because I've accepted the Lord's will in this matter that I am just going to sit back and wait for Him to act. No, after I got it all cleaned up well mostly, I couldn't move the car to vacuum it yet, I sat in the drivers seat and said again, "by the power and authority of Jesus Christ battery charge, lights work properly." I turned the key, not even a click. But that's ok, it's not shocking my faith. 
    Now, I just got done reading Hebrews 11 and was reminded Jericho didn't fall for 7 days. I'll go talk to my mountain everyday till it moves. (end journal entry)

After writing that journal entry, I read the story of Jericho in Joshua 6; how the Lord instructed the priests to circle Jericho once every day for 6 days and  then 7 times on the 7th day and how the people were to remain silent until Joshua told them to shout. There was more to it than that but what I realized was they were given very specific instructions from the Lord to their victory. What had the Lord instructed me in the matter of my car? And I remembered that first day as I prayed I saw myself standing over the car, hands raised to God, declaring the car be fixed in the name of Jesus, the Lord's will to come down to earth and then to anoint the car with oil.

This morning I took olive oil, infused with frankincense and walked boldly up to the car, I raised my hands to the Lord and said, "In the name of Jesus, car battery be fully charged, lights work properly." I took the oil on my finger and made crosses over the lights and said, "I anoint this car for Your purposes in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.  

Now I thank You God for fixing our car in the name of Jesus. And I thank You God for showing me my pride, unbelief and fear so that I could confess them to You and repent of my sins and be forgiven, in Jesus name, Amen. And I ask you, which is the greater miracle?

UPDATE: July 18, 2014
The Lord answered today, we have been given the finances to pay to have the car fixed. Thank you Lord, you are so faithful! And He answered so quickly, Praise God!!

Miracle Coming Soon

Sunday, my favorite day of the week. Today at Word of Faith Dominion Church being the first Sunday of the month, my husband Chad and I arrived early to stand at the door and greet everyone as they came into church. The service starts at 10:00 and we arrived at 8:51; today we were early enough to greet Pastor Doug and Laurel Domokos, that was a treat :-) We have yet to greet anyone on the worship team, they were already rocking, they sounded great. I feel honored to be a greeter welcoming everyone into the church. I pray we can make everyone feel welcome and loved.

Pastor Doug preached on signs, wonders and miracles. It was an awesome service, check it out at http://www.holyfire.net/ and click on the sermon titled God's S, W, M's. It got me fired up because he reminded us that we have the same power, the same Holy Spirit living inside us as raised Jesus from the dead. Think about that. Why don't we see signs, wonders and miracles in our churches? Why aren't people being healed, why aren't financial needs being met? Why aren't prodigals coming home? The Bible is full of signs, miracles and wonders, so why aren't we seeing more of them in our churches?

I think there are several reasons. One, we don't believe God would use us. Ok, I might have stolen that one from Pastor Doug's sermon but he's right, we think we're not worthy. No kidding! None of us on our own are worthy, that's why God had to send Jesus to save our sorry human rears! Jesus' death on the cross paid for our unworthiness. So get that out of your head, get that out of your heart, Jesus makes us righteous. Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience, many will be made righteous. (NKJV) 

Two, we don't want to bother God with our little problems, so we don't ask. Let's think about this. Look around at planet earth here and think about how God created everything there is here. Every blade of grass, every grain of sand, every insect, every bird, every person, every river, every ocean, every mountain, every cloud, etc, etc...He is limitless. Just because we are limited does not mean we should limit God. Our Great God is totally willing and fully capable of taking care of our every problem, our every concern and every need. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives if we will let Him. He knows how many hairs we have on our head so do we really think He doesn't want to be bothered about an injured shoulder, a broken down car or an electric bill that's due? Come on, He can do all things at all times, we won't be stealing another person's miracle if we ask God to heal us or help us. Read Matthew 7:7-12 for more on asking, seeking and knocking.

Three, we lack the faith to act. We say we believe, we think we believe but yet we don't act on our faith. Why? I think it could be we have gotten so used to believing what we see in the world. Remember Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."(NIV) Oh but the things we see everyday, this world programs us to believe what we see. I've been building on my faith for years and yet I still fall into this trap of believing what I see. 

Let me tell you where my sight overruled my faith. We have one car so when it's not running we walk or we borrow a vehicle from my parents, thank God for their support, in fact they gave us the one car we have. However generous they are, we want our car to run properly, it's a 1997 Olds Aurora, yes it's an old Olds but I believe it's not dead yet. 

Journal Entry Day 640
June 21, 2014 Sat
10:05 Prayer Room
Break through today Lord, break through! Yesterday the parking lights on the Aurora wouldn't shut off. Chad took it to Standard Exchange and they pulled the fuse for now. Chad started cleaning at the YMCA last night, praise God, an answer to our prayers for provision to pay his student loans, hallelujah! When he got home last night though the dash lights wouldn't shut off. This morning he said the car won't start today. But God gave us authority and power in the name of Jesus. And I prayed this morning in that power, in that authority, in the name of Jesus and I declare and I decree that car will start and those lights will work properly in the name of Jesus. Thank you Lord! Amen. 
23:13 Living Room
Thank you Lord! The car started. The inside lights are off. Monday Chad will have them put the fuse back and we'll see the lights are off.

Journal Entry Day 642
June 23, 2014 Mon
08:20 Prayer Room
Well yesterday when I went to the car to go to church the electric door locks wouldn't work, the battery was dead.But instead of persisting in prayer and speaking to my mountain, I gave up and called my dad for a ride to church. Lord forgive me for giving up. What do I do now Lord? Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
(end journal entries)

So I allowed my sight to override my faith. Ugh. The great thing though is the Lord is infinitely faithful and merciful and has forgiven me because I was honest with Him and repented for my lack of faith. However, I still hadn't returned to the promise that the car would be fixed completely in the name of Jesus, I still had not acted in faith in the matter of the car, I was thinking maybe God wanted to use Standard Exchange to fix the car. So Monday Chad asked them to order the part to fix the car, it would be at least a week, in the mean time my parents supplied a vehicle. 

Then Wed July 2nd Standard Exchange let us know the wrong part was delivered. Hmmm, a sign perhaps? This did occur to me in passing but there were other things fighting for my attention like seeing my daughter Alex who was home for the day. Anyway it would be at least another week before the right part would be delivered.

Then Pastor Doug's sermon reminded me of this promise the Lord gave me about the car being fixed in the name of Jesus. Again I wanted to declare and decree the car was fixed in the name of Jesus but a voice was telling me there were more important things to pray about, that praying about material things was not right and that the Lord miraculously fixing the car was not going to happen. This shook my faith and again I failed to speak to my mountain, I failed to act in faith. 

But I refuse to give up on the promise the Lord made to me that first day I prayed about it. He showed me if I would stand over the car and speak to it that I will have whatever I ask. I'm standing on Mark 11:22-24 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (NKJV)

You see I just haven't acted on my faith yet, I haven't spoken to the mountain yet. But I will and that is why I say there is a miracle coming soon...

UPDATE: July 18, 2014
The Lord answered today, we have been given the finances to pay to have the car fixed! Thank you Lord, you are so faithful! And He answered so quickly, Praise God!!

Thank You God for healing my back

If you read my first post you will notice that as I thanked the Lord for healing my back, He said, "Why don't you blog about it." So I feel I should start there. First of all let me say the Lord did not audibly speak to me. Just as I "say" this to you now and you are not audibly hearing my voice. Why do I make that distinction? Because occasionally the Lord does audibly speak to people, He has yet to audibly speak to me so when I say I heard from the Lord or the Lord said something I want to be clear on how I actually received the word. In this case it was His still small voice inside me, because He dwells in me, I can "hear" His still small voice inside, just as I can "hear" my own thoughts and can "hear" whispers from the enemy. That is why I am learning to examine these thoughts to be sure where they are truly coming from. More on that another day perhaps.

Today I want to tell you about the lower back pain I suffered from for many years. I'm not sure I can tell you when or why it started, I wasn't in an accident or anything like that. I would guess it started in my late 20's or early 30's as a dull ache. I went to the doctor who determined it was a muscle problem and sent me to a physical therapist. I went faithfully, did the stretches, did the strengthening exercises, it didn't help. Over the course of several years I went to chiropractor's, tried more physical therapy, tried acupuncture, tried muscle relaxers, nothing helped.

Around age 35 I gave up, the pain wasn't so bad that I couldn't function. It was just annoying, it was bad at bedtime and worse in the morning but once I got up and moving around it would usually go away for a good portion of the day.Some days it was worse than others but I figured I would just have to live with it. All those years I was not living for the Lord. I knew Jesus, as a child I had accepted Him as my personal Lord and Savior. But I strayed pretty far off the path beginning in my teens. Unfortunately for me and everyone around me it took me 20 years or better to really come back to the Lord. The road back began with a dream in 2010. I saw Jesus's face in the moon and the Lord's voice spoke to me saying, "All who believe on Him will be saved." And the Lord's invisible hand picked me up and cradled me, my body seemed to float above the ground. After that I decided it was time to get back into the Word and vowed to read the Bible every night before bed instead of fictional novels as I had most of my life. 

By 2013 I was attending Word of Faith Dominion Church in Lake Mills, it was wonderful to find a place so full of the Holy Spirit and the Love of Jesus. There is a strong focus on worship, prayer and the Word. By then I'd attended several services and meetings where healing prayer was offered but I had grown so used to this pain in my back it had never occurred to me that I needed to be healed. 

Journal Entry Day 174
March 10, 2013

Home 12:30

Went to Word of Faith with Dad this morning. Powerful stuff today. Holy Spirit was on the move, is on the move. Healed my lower back. Thank you Jesus! Thank you God! Thank you Holy Spirit! It feels better than it has in years. Today Terrance from MN preached*. He said Holy Spirit gave him the word 'enforcer'. Holy Spirit is the enforcer of the new covenant. He reminded us that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray He said, pray like this, dear heavenly Father, creator of heaven and earth, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He reminded us Jesus died so that we could have heaven on earth. Holy Spirit enforces that covenant. Not to accept anything here that is not in heaven. Like back pain. (end journal entry)

I remember well, Terrance was listing off ailments we should not accept and when he said back pain, I knew that was my call. I went forward to the altar and knelt before God and humbly asked him to heal my lower back. When I knelt down I had back pain and there have been numerous times I've stretched my back in this way to relieve the pain, it was always temporary relief, so when the pain left it was not a surprise. But I had gone forward in faith because I believed the Word of God that was being spoken. After praying and thanking God I got up and went back to my seat sure I had been healed.

I went home, still no pain, all day it felt great, I went to bed, no pain. When I woke up the next day I had the oddest sensation, no pain. It felt so foreign to me I felt strange and elated I was truly healed. It was a miracle and a blessing, oh such a blessing. The Lord cares for our every little ache and pain.

But I had to remember Jesus' words in John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill and to destroy, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV) The thief is the devil and he did come in the form of pain in my lower back. Any time I felt a twinge in my back, I held faithfully to my healing and thanked God for it. You see there is so much power in praise and thanksgiving and those twinges went away. The devil flees at the name of Jesus. I shudder to think of a time in my life when I allowed the devil to dig his hooks in. Had I caved in to that pain and said I guess God didn't heal me, I would still be suffering today. 

So I thank God continually for setting me free from that pain, I laugh at the devil when he every once in a while tries to steal my healing and I give God the praise He deserves. He has blessed me greatly. 

Psalm 34:1-3 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make it's boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. (NKJV)

*Terrance Wilson Reeves-Chong from Living Word Christian Center 
Brooklyn Park, MN  
Click the link to hear him preach on Holy Spirit - Covenent Enforcer http://vimeo.com/34794553

Why don't you blog about it? The first seed...

Journal Entry Day 653:

July 4th, 2014 Independence Day  
05:44 Prayer Room

   I think the Lord wants me to start a blog about what He's doing in my life. I was just praying, thanking Him for healing my back and healing my tooth when this thought popped into my head, "Why don't you blog about it?" Was that You God?

  Well, I'm positive it wasn't the enemy, he doesn't want me telling people how great our God is. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't my own thought...If I recall correctly...this was my spoken prayer..."Thank You for my parents, thank You for my husband, thank You for Alex, Lani, Nicole, Whitney, Alexa, thank You for this building, our home, thank you for our tenants, forgive me Lord for having any unkind thoughts about the state of their affairs. Lord I know unkindness does not come from you God, forgive my doubt and help me see that You God are my provider, that You supply my needs even as some tenants do not pay rent on time, I am safe and secure in You oh Lord. So I ask you to cleanse me with the blood of Jesus, make me righteous in Your sight oh Lord because of the work Jesus did on the cross for me, because of His sacrifice, because of His love for me. I am forgiven and made righteous because of His love. Thank You for Your love, thank You for Your love, thank You for Your love!Thank you for healing my tooth, thank you for healing my back"...a small moment of silence and then this thought..."Why don't you blog about it?"

  Yep, pretty sure that was God's still small voice*, and I thought, why don't I? Because I was never prompted to blog before but now that the Lord planted that seed during my prayer time, I have to tend it and make sure it grows. Oh God, You are good. You are oh so good. I give You praise, I give You praise, I give You praise!(end journal entry)

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32 NKJV 

*see 1 Kings 19:12