Category: Uncategorized

The Cost of Christianity?

About 7 weeks ago I had major surgery. I’ve had a few medical procedures before but this was my first major one with an overnight hospital stay. I coded in the recovery room when they pushed 6mg of morphine for pain before I was ever fully awake but thank God I’m still here and that’s a testimony for another time.

The initial recovery time for this surgery is six to eight weeks. I had a lot of issues the first six weeks with reactions to the nerve medicine I was prescribed and another medication that I was on. It was causing all kinds of pains and symptoms and I couldn’t tell what was coming from where. Was it the pain from surgery? Was it an infection setting up? Was something else more serious happening as a result? Was I having complications? I didn’t know and it was causing anxiety to rear its ugly head.

One day in the midst of all that, I was needing someone to pray for me because I was all prayed out. The tears wouldn’t stop and I just wanted, needed even, someone else to take the reigns for a few moments. My husband was at work and I was tired of bothering him and close sister’s in Christ with the same things over and over again. I was getting on my own nerves and didn’t want to bother others that I knew and were close to me. I needed an outside source, someone who didn’t know me or the situation, who would let me explain what I was going through and how I was feeling and where I was at spiritually so they could pray over me with a fresh perspective.

So I called a prayer line. This prayer line is to one of the many large ministries known world wide. Their doctrine is sound and I’ve called this prayer line before a handful of times when I needed an outside perspective and prayer and the person(s) that I’ve spoken with have always been kind, sincere and genuinely concerned for my well being. This is why I have their phone number set as one of my “favorites” in my phone. Quick access when I need it.

So when I call this number there is of course a recording when the line first picks up where you choose why you are calling, or what department you want, more or less. I selected the prayer line. A brief moment of music played as I was transferred and a recording saying someone would be with me as soon as they were available. I do not know how many people they have on staff or volunteer for this service but I’ve never gotten the same person twice.

When a lovely woman finally came on the line, I expected a greeting somewhere along the lines of “Good afternoon, we are so glad you reached out today, how can we pray for you?”

Instead, I was greeted with, “Hello, thank you for calling, how do you listen to *insert name of ministry here*?”

It stopped me in my tracks. I almost hung up the phone. If this had been my first time calling I probably would have because it hit my spirit the wrong way. I was in the middle of an active anxiety/panic attack needing someone to pray with me, over me, for me, and here they were wanting to know how I listen to their ministry?

I get it. In today’s society there are multitudes of ways to “hear” the Word, from YouTube and Instagram to podcasts and Spotify, and it would be nice to know where people benefit the most and give a company/business/service an idea of where to invest more of their time, resources and money.

However, a prayer line? This is where they chose to ask the question? A prayer line, where I’m sure they know from experience, people are calling in their most desperate moments for a listening ear and prayer over their situation and this is the most important question to ask when someone gets on the line? Where do you listen to us?

I’ll be honest, it cheapened the moment for me. It made me think less of this particular ministry and I’ve been talking to God about it ever since. It made me feel like what I was calling about wasn’t important and could wait while they checked off a box.

When did we cheapen Christianity? What cost is Christianity today? It used to be the cost of your life in some cases (ask any one of Jesus’ desciples) and here we are in 2025 so concerned with what avenue a person listens to our ministry that we would put their burden on hold for a moment to find out where or how.

James 5:16 NKJV
[16] Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

When the woman with the issue of blood pushed her way through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus’ robe, did he stop and ask how she heard of him?

When moments before, Jairus fell down at his feet asking that he come and lay hands on his sick daughter, did Jesus stoop down and ask, “Which synagogue did you hear me preach at?”

Or when the centurion asked Jesus to just speak the words that his servant may be healed, did Jesus say, “Tell me first where you heard I could do that?”.

What is the price of Christianity? Is it “likes”, “stars”, and “thumb ups”? I wonder what kind of letters Paul would be writing to these large ministries in 2025. I wonder how far removed we as Christians have become from true, Christ-like ministry. It starts with each of us and how we treat others.

I Corinthians 8:9 NKJV
[9] But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

What did you said?

When our son was learning to talk and form sentences, he would ask, “What did you said?” when he didn’t hear what someone said.

We would correct him with, “What did you say?” but to no avail. He continued on with his choice of words and he pronounced every single one with gusto. It was cute but we realized it was going to be a hard habit to break. He eventually did break the habit and for the last three years or so, he gets it right.

He is now 7 and we have homeschooled from the start. Today, during his math lesson we were playing a fraction game with a pair of dice (refer to picture). Each person takes a turn rolling the dice and if the written fraction matches the picture of the fraction, you get a check. The first person to three checks wins. The directions even describe it as a game of chance.

So we started the game, he rolled first and his didn’t match. He handed me the dice and as I was shaking them to roll, he said, “I already know you are going to win,” with the sound of defeat in his voice.

The Holy Spirit about knocked me out of my chair. I knew immediately the lesson he was about to learn had nothing to do with fractions and everything to do with, “What did you said?”.

I looked at my seven year old and said, “You just spoke your own defeat. Why would you say that?”

He had a puzzled look.

I went on to explain, on his level of course, how our words impact EVERYTHING. Our words determine the direction we are headed. Our words determine our mood. Our words determine  if we win or lose.

So we started the game over and I told him to speak positive this time. He started by threatening the dice, “If you don’t roll right, I’m going to throw you into next year!”

While funny, I had to correct him again – “No, we don’t use threats, we speak the outcome. Try saying, ‘I’m going to win this round’ each time it’s your turn.”

The game began and his first role was a match. My roll was not. He won that round. You should have seen the look on his face. We kept going.  He wanted to play to five checks instead of three so it took a bit to get there.

Through the game however there were some rolls of the dice that he didn’t get a match. At one point he said, “See, it IS just chance.”

So I stopped and saw another GREAT opportunity to teach him about faith and long suffering and how even when it looks like we are losing, we keep speaking faith. I was able to teach him the struggle between dark and light and when it looks like the dark is winning, we keep speaking light and how it’s a spiritual battle because the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.

John 10:10 NKJV
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.

I explained it to him like I heard a preacher explain it one time. It really is kind of like the cartoons where you have an angel on one shoulder a devil on the other and they are waiting there to hear what you are going to say. When you speak words that line up with the Word of God (I’m healed, I’m whole, I’m blessed, etc) the angel can go to work and act on those words. If you speak negative and contrary to the Word of God (I’m sick, I’m poor, things will never change) then the devil can go to work and act on those words.

What we SPEAK has power and will determine our future.

Proverbs 18:21 NKJV
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

So, what did you said?

GIVE UP

Give up. Yes, you read that correctly, give up.

A few weeks ago God was dealing with me on some things and as I was going about my morning routine I was praying and conversing with the Holy Spirit. I opened the cabinet to grab a mug for some tea and I grabbed this one:

When I looked at it I automatically read it out of habit and then I heard the Holy Spirit say. “Give up.”

My response naturally was, “What?”

Then I heard it again, “GIVE. UP.”

So I asked, “God, what do you mean?”

The things I had been praying about and talking to God about were things I was carrying that I didn’t need to. The constant scenarios in my head of how things could/should/would go and trying to control it all with my mind, (which by the way does not work) were consuming my time, causing me unnecessary worry, and putting me in a bad mood.

God was telling me to give up my control and put these things in His hands.

“Lord, how do I do that? I’m really good at analyzing things in my head, over and over and over…”

Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.

That was the verse that came to mind.  How many things do we pray about and continue to carry?

When I was in first or second grade I took a tap and ballet class. There was a group of girls, four of them, that I became friends with, or so I thought. They were nice starting off but as class went on, one of them started being not so nice to me. She would talk to me but she would be rude and sometimes she would take the other three girls and walk off saying she needed to tell them something and would leave me out. I wasn’t naive, I knew she was a bully, but at the same time didn’t understand why because I had never done anything to her, I was always nice to her.

She used to carry this satchel type bag that cinched at the top with a drawstring. It wasn’t very big, the kind you wear around your wrist. One day she said she had stuff in there she wanted to show us but then she looked at me and said, “Except you, I’m not showing you,” and she took the other girls off a ways and had her back to me as they stood in a huddle. While she took things out of her bag to show them, she kept looking back over her shoulder at me to make sure I wasn’t trying to peek at it.

I remember standing there thinking how stupid she looked. Just being honest.

So class started and we always put our things up along the wall. This was in the school gym right after school had let out for the day so we always had our book bags, coats, etc.

Well that day my mom was running behind picking me up so I was the last one waiting with my teacher. She picked up the satchel that the girl had earlier and asked me if I knew who it belonged to.

I responded with, “Yes, it’s so-and-sos, I can take it home and give it to her at school tomorrow if you’d like.”

I honestly don’t remember any of the girls names now but I remember trying to hold back my excitement of taking that stupid bag home so I could see what it was she was hiding from me.

My teacher agreed and I took the bag and could not wait to get home. When I did, I ran upstairs to my bedroom, threw my things down in the corner and hopped up on my bed still clutching the satchel. I felt my heart racing and the excitement building even more. I stood up and set the bag on my bed, staring at it. All the scenarios played through my head:

  1. Don’t look because she didn’t want me to and just give it to her tomorrow.
  2. Would she even believe me if I said I didn’t look?
  3. Just throw the bag away and pretend like I never saw it…then remembered my teacher knew I had it.
  4. Look in the bag and give it to her tomorrow at school and if she asks, tell her I didn’t look.
  5. Look in the bag and give it to her tomorrow and tell her I DID look…

I remember standing there forever trying to decide what I was going to do. I was a conscientious child and even though she was mean about it, she didn’t want me to know whatever she had in there and I felt like if I looked, I would be commiting a sin. I struggled with that thought all evening. I hid the bag under my bed when I went down for dinner and mulled over my options as I got ready for bed that night.

I pulled the bag back out and set it on my bed and finally decided I was going to look. I remember dumping the contents out on the bed and looking at a handful of charms (the plastic keychain charms we used to collect in the early 80s), some erasers, and a couple of other trinkets and thinking, “That’s it?” 

I turned that bag inside out to make sure I didn’t miss something and sure enough, that was it. I don’t know what I was expecting but I know I was disappointed. I scooped the stuff up and put it back in the satchel  and tucked it into my school bag.

The next day at school I found her before class started and handed it over saying, “You forgot this yesterday at dance class.” She snatched it out of my hand with a look of fear and immediately asked, “Did you look in it?”

I said,”No, I promise I didn’t, I have no clue what you have in there,” with the biggest smile on my face. I remember the look of unsureness on her face as I walked away. I committed the sin I was so worried about the night before.

Next dance class I arrived with a bag of my own with some of my favorite trinkets in my bag and told the group of girls I wanted to show them what I had, except for “her”. She tried to bargain with me and offered to show me what she had in her satchel if I showed her what was in my bag. I politely declined. I already knew what she had and I wanted her to know what it felt like to be left out on purpose.

I remember the look on her face. She was hurt. At the end of class I went up to her and said, “If you’ll stop being mean to me I’ll show you what I have in my bag and you can show me what you have in yours.” She agreed and we dumped our treasures out to find out we collected a lot of the same things.

I wish I could say we went on to become best friends but we didn’t.  We did however remain friends through the duration of that year in dance class and she stopped being mean to me.

All that to say this…

How many things do we carry around in our “satchel” that we refuse to give up to God? Things that are the most important to us but we hide them away from Him? Things that we won’t even let Him look at?

He wants us to share EVERYTHING with Him, big and small, stupid and important. He WANTS to help us with the things that worry us or cause us stress and WANTS to share in the joy of what brings us joy too! He wants this because it PROTECTS us. That’s how much God loves us.

I Peter 5:6-11 NKJV
[6] Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, [7] casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. [8] Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. [9] Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. [10] But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. [11] To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

https://bible.com/bible/114/1pe.5.6-11.NKJV

A WARNING

August 26, 2024 about 4:45am

Woke up from a dream where I was at a church.  A large one. The preacher/pastor of the church brought us all into this small room that kind of reminded me of a court room but there was a horse in there. The seats were all around the outside of the room and the floor was open in the middle. The room was all wood, the seats had the wood railing in front of them, like an old timey courtroom without any furniture. Every time I want to refer to the preacher as “pastor” my spirit says, “NO, preacher”. It was as if he thought of himself as a pastor but he wasn’t, he was just a preacher (someone who talks).

The preacher pulled two of his members to the center, one male and one female, and he climbed on the horse. He started to attack them with the horse and you could tell the horse didn’t want to. The two people were trying to block the horse from going into the seats and trampling the people (including me).

As they were doing this, the horse was getting angrier and angrier because it didn’t want to hurt anyone. The preacher was yelling at them how they were doing it wrong and using Bible verses to justify how they were supposed to act and the horse started to physically grow as the fight went on.

Then the horse kicked his front feet up and the two people rushed him, knocking the horse backwards and there were people under the horse along with the preacher fighting to get out from under it. The horse (a dark reddish-brown, very muscular horse) grew and grew and turned into this purple monster looking thing.

As it got back on its feet, as tall as the ceiling now, filling the room (the center area at least), it picked one of the people up with its mouth and threw them against the wall and yelled, “Is this what you want??”

I saw a straight shot for the door so I took off running and the door was locked when I tried to open it (seems like an important part) so I had to unlock it and then go out. I first thougt I would struggle with the door but it was a simple turn of the lock and I was out.

I ran out into the lobby area and into what looked kind of like a gymnasium. The preacher came running after me yelling something like, “Oh, you’ll never get anything running away like that.”

I turned, pointed my finger directly at him as I walked towards him and said, “Repent now, fall to your knees and repent or this church will fall!”. The rest of the people started coming out trying to tell the preacher about the chaos back in the room and I just kept saying what I heard God telling me to tell him – “FALL TO YOUR KNEES NOW AND REPENT OR THIS CHURCH WILL FALL!”

It ended with me directly in his face saying this over and over while people were scrambling all around us and he was trying to talk/disregard what I was saying. I was having to yell over the chaos so the preacher could hear me. I could tell he was feeling convicted, but his pride was keeping him from repenting, especially in front of everyone.

I shared this dream with a couple of trusted people first thing upon waking. This was their interpretation. My interpretation is at the end.

Interpretation #1

This is a warning to the modern churches and their pastors. They’re using the delivery of the events in Revelations (the horses) for their own use and benefit. They are putting themselves in the place of judge and jury (an affront to the position of Christ the judge at the end times). Christ will empower his people to call out the counterfeit pastors. His people will need to not be afraid and listen to His instruction.

Interpretation #2

I know that this is what God is saying to the church today. It’s time for the church to wake up, stand up, and make their voice heard. It is time for the body of Christ to start to use their authority to put down wickedness and take their place in ruling and reigning. God will probably reveal more in the days to come. We need to talk about this again when we have prayed about it some more. But I know that I know that I know that God has a plan and he will involve everyone that is willing to cooperate.

This has to be reflective of the society today. God will overcome and all evil will be put down. They will not win. God always does.

He is revealing this to you and trusting you to follow up and see where he wants you to take it.

Many churches will be called to answer for what they have done or not done.

There’s so many components in this. We need to pray for revelation.

My interpretation

When I sent this via text to the first person, I was typing out, “What am I supposed to do with this?” and as I was typing that I was reminded of this blog that I have not utilized for quite some time (there is a reason for that and another story for another time). So, this is why I am posting here. I was also instructed (in my spirit) to send this to a few others which I will do later today.

I believe this to be about the Church (the Church in general, not a specific one). I believe the horse was the red horse in Revelation and represents war. Not necessarily the specific event in Revelation but it was showing what would happen if the direction given by God was not followed. I believe the message is simple and straight forward – the Church MUST repent or there will be war and the Church will fall. Many will be thrown into chaos if the preachers and pastors do not examine themselves, set their pride aside, fall to their knees and repent.

Do with this what you will.

SWEEP THE NATION

About 13 years ago I had a vision while I was praying one day. I’ve talked briefly about this before and those who knew me then may remember this as well.

I was praying about a lot of things, just a conversation with God. And then the Holy Spirit hit me like a gut punch and I’ll explain the best I can as to what I saw.

I saw the earth and there were winds of light , as if a fanned paint brush had been used to paint whisps of golden air across the globe. They weren’t nation specific, it was everywhere. I actually painted this at one point in time and there are those who can testify to it.

When I saw this, I doubled over and the following words came out of me:

“Sweep the nation. Put the holiness back into Holy.”

I cried. I shook. His presence was overwhelming in the moment.

After it was over I asked God what that meant and I spent a lot of time meditating on what happened. For the longest time I thought it was a personal instruction and I wasn’t sure how to accomplish it so I would just pray about it and seek God. Eventually I realized those words were spoken as to what He was going to do, not something I was supposed to do, so to speak. So I have prayed all these years in agreement and have repeated those words in my prayers. I’ve stood in faith that I would see it come to pass, not even being sure exactly what that would look like.

Over the years I’ve seen the phrase “Sweep the nation” in various articles, heard in sermons, etc, and it hits me all over again.

This morning (02.14.2023) it happened again except this time I heard , “I’m about to sweep the nation. I’m putting the holiness back into Holy.”

Do with this what you will. I’ll continue to stand in agreement with what I heard Him speak to me.

If My People…

Who are “My people”?

God’s people. Israel. That’s who it initially referred to but if you read on you find that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord are His people.

So what does this mean? God’s not waiting on unsaved people to heal our land, he’s waiting on His Church. You know who you are. We know who we are.

This is an unpopular opinion in the church world but there are many who call themselves Christians who masquerade behind that label while living a life nothing like the Bible calls them to live. I’m not talking about mistakes because believer or not, we all make mistakes. I’m talking about living in ways that do not align with the Word of God. You will need to read the Word and find out what it says about how we should live as followers of Christ if you do not already know. Read with sincerity in your heart and ask God for His help to understand and turn away from those things that He calls us to turn away from.

Luke 12:2-3 says But there is nothing [so carefully] concealed that it will not be revealed, nor so hidden that it will not be made known. For that reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.
Luke 12:2‭-‬3 AMP

Years ago in prayer I heard the following and I have prayed this way ever since – “I’m calling out the so called Christians. Put the Holiness back into Holy. Sweep the nation.” When I heard those words in prayer, they doubled me over, physically – literally.

God has periodically reminded me of this moment and lately has been pressing it upon me to share those words He spoke to me in early 2010.

I said recently there will be many who lose faith or fall away because their faith has been in man and not God. They have put men on pedestals and worshipped the pulpit those men preach from instead of worshipping God. If any of those “men” are brought to light as not living for God, many will feel betrayed and their pride hurt because of their own misplaced faith and it will break them.

It’s time for the Church to examine itself. The threshing floor is about to be purged. Be the wheat, not the chaff.

CENSUS

CENSUS

04.02.2020

Last night I had a dream that I was downtown in a city.  I don’t think the point of it was the specific city, but just being in a city setting, that I was to take notice of.

It was night-time. I was on my way to a special event. I don’t know what this special event was exactly, but I knew important people were going to be there. At one point, I was in an empty lobby of a what appeared to be a bank. I wasn’t sure why I was there, but I was looking around and caught my reflection in a window. I noticed I had no makeup on, and my hair wasn’t done. I found this odd for a couple of reasons. I used to be the type of person who wouldn’t leave the house without a shower, makeup on and hair done. Since having a child, this has pretty much gone out the door and I don’t really care anymore. So in this dream, I found it odd that I was bothered by the fact that I didn’t have makeup on but also bothered by the fact that I was supposed to be going to an important event and wasn’t “dressed up” for it other than a black ball gown.

I walked outside and there were some people on the streets, everyone on foot, not many compared to what it usually would be. I was heading to wherever this event was to be and as I walked around the corner of one block, I had the thought that I shouldn’t go that way being alone as it wouldn’t be safe. About that time, there were a couple others behind me that were also going the same direction. I then realized, it didn’t matter where I went, I would be safe because there were no other people out except those with the same mission – to get to this event. So, I continued on my way.

Those that were out and heading to the special event also were dressed nicely but I noticed they too had no makeup and the men weren’t groomed in the same sense that people going to a special event would be groomed. I remember thinking, “All of us are exposed.”

When I woke up I was saying key/trigger words associated with what is going on in the world, “COVID-19, corona virus, shelter at home, etc”  and as I recalled this dream, I asked God what the significance of it was because I felt this was a dream I needed to take note of. I knew the Holy Spirit was letting me know the dream had to do with the current events.

All this morning I’ve been talking with God and asking Him to reveal to me the meaning of this dream.

I was led to 2 Samuel 24. I encourage you to read this chapter for yourself.

In 2 Samuel 24, King David takes a census. This truly got my attention given 2020 is a census year. David took a census out of pride and not out of the command of God. There is some great commentary you can read at the following link in regards to this as it is too much to explain here:

https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/2-samuel-24/

As well as the commentary for Exodus 30

https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/exodus-30/

Numbering people takes ownership of them. David was trying to give himself credit for the growth in Israel. He was influenced by satan to do this, not God, which brought a three day-plague upon the people and thousands died.

Exodus 30:12 KJV states:

When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

When God ordered a census, the people had to pay a price to avoid a plague. They were only to be numbered if God requested it, not man. Back then, counting something (people, animals, etc) showed ownership. Israel didn’t own Israel, Israel was God’s. David took it upon himself to conduct a census in 2 Samuel thus bringing a plague upon the land.

Now, all of this takes place in the Old Testament. We know that Jesus was offered as the ultimate sacrifice and a New Covenant (New Testament) was made. It did not however abolish the Old Covenant, it FULFILLED it. So what does all of this have to do with current events?

God’s people are being tested right now. God will never tempt us, but He will test us. A test measures our weaknesses and our strengths. It is a way to show ourselves what areas we excel at and what areas we need to work on. God testing us is another way He shows His love towards us because it makes us grow.

Our faith is being tested. There are many who sit in a building at designated times of service and know nothing of God or Christ or the Holy Spirit. There are many who preach one thing and live another. There are many who say they believe but really don’t. I heard “threshing floor” in my time with God and the Holy Spirit today and immediately thought of Matthew 3:12 (Amplified)

12 His [j]winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom), but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”

 

My question was “God, are you clearing out your threshing floor?”. That is when I was directed to 2 Samuel 24. King David repents after conducting the census and buys the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and sets up an altar to God on that threshing floor, as directed by God. He offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God and God was moved to compassion by David’s prayer for the people and He held the plague back from Israel.

So I asked God for clarification on all of this as I pieced things together. Last week, I was going through a box of old items and came across a bookmark that I tossed to the trash pile. When I did, I heard in my spirit, “Pick it back up.” I did and written on the back side were two Bible verses. This was a bookmark I had used as a young girl in Sunday school in my Bible. The two verses were as follows:

Leviticus 27:2 King James Version (KJV)

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation.

And the following:

Exodus 3:17 King James Version (KJV)

17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

 

These two verses tie right back in to 2 Samuel and Exodus 30.

I believe God is exposing His people to themselves through all of this. Our faith is being tested. We are being shown what we reflect. There will be many who fall away from the church as they no longer go to a building. They will be shown the superficial persona of their faith, of their belief. Then there will be those who are strengthened in their faith, those who grow in it.

There are those right now who stopped tithing and giving offerings because they aren’t physically present in a worship building yet will sit and watch the services on line. There are those who are using this time as free ride to not pursue the Word at all believing they will once the church opens back up.

It may not appear this way, but God is pouring His love out on his children as a gardener would on his crops to help them grown. The weeds will be plucked. The weak will be strengthened. The strong will be harvested first.

His threshing floor has filled up and He is making room using what the enemy meant for harm and making it glorious. He is not redefining His Church but taking us back to what He intended it to be all along. Man has redefined it into something that has caused confusion and hard hearts. God is opening the threshing floor for those who choose to come closer to Him.

The message now is the same as it has always been. Repent. Repent. Repent.

People don’t want to hear the message of Repentance because it makes them examine themselves and admit what they already know, that they are not living according to His Word or even trying to.

Faith doesn’t mean a person has to be perfected in the things of God. Faith is seeking the things of God and His ways for a better life for ourselves and those around us. God is testing His children to expose them, to reveal them, to GROW them. Let yourself be tested. Examine your faith. Repent and turn back to God. He waits for us, for you. He has a land flowing with milk and honey for those who would heed His Word.

Repent, pray, give offering to God. Seek Him in what that looks like.

Be blessed.

Misty

 

 

 

 

FEAR

FEAR

On my walk yesterday I was listening to a message from Gary Keesee and in that message they briefly talked about fear.

As I was listening, the Holy Spirit dropped this into my spirit and I’ve been meditating on it ever since.

“Fear is the enemy’s form of faith.”

When I heard this, I asked for further explanation and of course it was given.

It’s often said that fear is the opposite of faith, which is true. But to better understand this and fight off fear, we have to understand fear is the enemy’s form of faith.

The enemy has a way of taking Godly things and twisting or perverting them just enough to capture a person who may not have their guard up, or in Biblical terms, have their armor of God on (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Fear is the opposite of faith. Worry is a form of fear. Thinking the worst of a situation is fear. Thinking negatively is a form of fear.

Fear is having faith that the “bad” thing will happen. This is the enemy’s form of faith.

Godly faith is KNOWING the Word and that all things work together for our good (for those who love the Lord -Romans 8:28).

The Word informs us “bad” things will happen to all of us but for those of us who love Him, He will turn that situation into something good. This is what we should always focus our faith on. Not in worry, not in the negative “what ifs”.

What if we started what if-ing positive outcomes? What if I am healed? What if that debt is paid off? What if that relationship is reconciled? Those kind of what if’s will lead us into Godly faith and KNOWING His promises.

Never Forget

Today I looked at my son and realized one day he is going to ask me and his dad if we remember where we were on 9/11.

I realized one day I’m going to have to explain to him about the evil that exists in this world. I won’t be able to shield him from it forever as much as I would like to.

I’ll have to tell him I woke up that day like any other, took a shower and got dressed for work. I was living alone at the time and working my way through some personal issues that were consuming my mind that morning. I was 22 years old.

I had to be at work at 9am and was running a few minutes behind as usual. I got in my car, tape playing (I’m sure I’ll have to explain what a tape is to him), and headed to work. It was right at 9 o’clock and I noticed there were no other cars on the road. I thought maybe it was a holiday and I didn’t realize it. I kept driving along and things just seemed off.

I switched over to the radio and heard a very serious voice and I wasn’t sure what they were talking about. As I listened, I realized there had been an airplane crash but at the point I was listening, they weren’t really giving details, they were more in shock and at a loss for words. It was a strange few moments as I continued on to work because I didn’t understand why they were reporting like this on an airplane crash and then I heard the part about it being into the twin towers in New York.

I pulled in to work, sun shining, temperature comfortable, light breeze and puffy clouds in the sky. No noise. No traffic and no air noise. No planes.

I went in the front door of the building on Dayton Blvd into my dad’s upholstery shop and when he heard the door ding, he walked out of his office and gave me that look. He didn’t say a word but just looked at me.

I asked, “Am I hearing right? Was there a plane that crashed into one of the twin towers in New York?”

He said “Yes,” and turned on the TV in the front room. The news was on and reporting. We stood silently and watched trying to comprehend what was going on.

While we watched they reported a second plane. I said “This is no accident.”

Then a little while later the report about the pentagon.

I looked at my dad and said, “What do we do?”

His response surprised me. He said, “I don’t know,” and shook his head. He always had an answer. Always. I wasn’t scared until I heard him without one.

The day was solemn. We didn’t talk much, just listened to the news reports and worked at a little slower pace than normal. We didn’t have a single customer that day, not that we expected any. I’m sure, as many others, I spent the day wondering what all was going to happen. Are we at war here at home? Are we about to be? We waited for the media to tell us yes or no.

We left that day and my dad told me he loved me. I told him I loved him. He said if anything happened, head to the house.

I went home and stayed glued to the television. I watched the people on the screen terrified and I cried. I cried a lot. I prayed even though at that time I wasn’t at a place in my life where I prayed much at all.

I remembered being there not long before. This picture was taken earlier that year when I went for a weekend with my friend and her aunt. I wondered if I knew anyone who was in the buildings or those who were nearby. I cried for the families waiting to hear if their loved ones were okay. I couldn’t imagine that city, the way I remembered it, forever changed.

I thought of the ferry ride we took and seeing Ellis island off in the distance, the port through which many of us came to be American citizens generations before. The place where many became free to live their dream. The attack was truly an attack on freedom because it was meant to instill fear and those who live in fear do not live free.

The next few weeks were spent wondering if there would be other attacks and if we were really safe anywhere. Those weeks turned into months, now years.

Those who knew the world before 9/11 can say it’s different now, afterwards. Try taking a flight somewhere and we still see the residue of what 9/11 did to us as a country, as a world.

But after all that, I’ll be able to tell my son how people, for a while, set their differences aside and were a little more compassionate towards one another. For a while, love was shown between strangers by treating each other as we should. For a while, people realized how fleeting life truly is and acted accordingly, but, how quickly we forget.

We remember a date, the news reports, the images, but we can’t remember how to be compassionate. We are back in a place of arguing over our leaders instead of praying for them, we get more excited about games on television instead of checking on our neighbors, we resort to physical contact when someone cuts us off on the road instead of using mercy and grace that we are shown every day.

How quickly we forget. To my son, always be compassionate. Always err on the side of love.

Kingdom Business

SEEK what first above all else? The kingdom of God.

WHERE is the kingdom of God? Inside each of us.

WHAT is in the kingdom? Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33 KJV

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 17:21 KJV

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Romans 14:17 KJV