copyright 5/21/2006
Have you ever been on a boat in the sea? When the waves
are calm and the sun is shining, and you hear
the soft movement of the waves, it is so relaxing,
it soothes the spirit, and causes you to feel peace.
But let the winds pick up and start to toss the
boat, it changes the picture entirely. Suddenly
you are challenged in your spirit by the rising
fear of what may happen next. Will this boat
make it, or will it sink?
Have you ever seen the flight of an eagle? They
are such a majestic bird, they fly higher than
any other bird, serene, slow and graceful
and their wing span is magnificent. They create
an awesome reminder of how wonderful it must
be to soar far above the earth and its troubles.
I think our lives are just like these pictures.
When hard times come we have several choices.
We can plan to sink or we can plan to soar.
Remember yesterday, when all your trials seemed
so overwhelming? You probably were planning to sink.
You didn't see any way out. You made it through
yesterday did you not?
How many yesterdays have you made it through?
All of them, I imagine. Yet through many of them
you doubted God, and watched the storms in
terror. Oh God, what shall I do, what shall I do,
as you push him away and try to handle it all in
your own mind.
My friends, you are going through things with the
wrong attitude and concepts. It is not about what
you can do about your situations, it is about what
He can do in them. I keep remembering what
Jesus said as He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.
Not my will, but thine be done Oh God. He released
it all to God... God you work in this situation, and lead
me through these dark times with your hand in mine
and your light guiding my path.
Is that what you are praying? When you first get
up in the morning, before you meet the challenges
of the day, are you meeting with the Master?
If you are not, you are planning for yourself the
day, depending upon your own capabilities,
and really, not allowing God full movement and
reign in your life. He brought us through yesterday,
He will bring us through today, and He has
tomorrow planned.
You can live a life of faith or a life of Fear.
I don't care what anyone says..it boils down to that.
You have a mental and spiritual choice each day.
Discipline your mind.. learn to think based on faith
in Christ, rather than basing your thinking on
your circumstances.
Don't defeat yourself before the day starts by
focusing on the storm. Focus on the One who
can calm the waves of the storm, and restore order
and peace to your heart, mind and spirit.
For He is Lord, and nothing can prevail against His Will.
But those who wait for the Lord -- who expect, look for
and hope in Him -- shall change and renew their
strength and power; they shall lift their wings and
mount up (close to God) as eagles (mount up to the sun);
they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not
faint nor become tired.
Isaiah 40:31
Suddenly, behold there arose a violent storm on the sea,
so that the boat being covered up by the waves,
and Jesus was sleeping. And they (his disciples)
went and awakened Him, saying, Lord rescue and
preserve us, we are perishing!
And He said to them, Why are you timid and afraid??
O you of little faith? Then He got up and rebuked the
winds and the sea, and there was a great and wonderful
calm (a perfect peaceableness)
Matthew 8:24-26
Who are you trusting in today, the One who controls
everything, or yourself, who is in control of very little.
Look to the author and finisher of your faith,
and your source of Strength, Jesus Christ.
He will give you the joy, and the strength to soar
like an eagle in the midst of your storms.
Love,
millie
remember
Only one life, will soon be past
Only what is done, for Christ will last
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Don't Look Back
One of the things I am noticing among many Christian friends
is the self condemnation they heap upon themselves for their past,
or situations they did not handle well. They cannot seem to move
past it, forgive themselves and live a life free from the past because
of the precious mercies and forgiveness we receive through Jesus.
I also see many of you clinging to the hurts you have received
from others. You are unable to disentangle yourself and cling
to these hurts as if they were important possessions. My dear
friend, they are not important, they are spiritual bondage! You
are being tied to the past with a spiritual umbilical cord that has
kept you in slavery to your past. You are not free to move on,
or savor fully the life you have today.
Yet, if you see someone else doing this it is so easy for you
to point at them and say what are you holding on to that for?
There are several places in the Bible that truly instruct us
on this mindset.
So you shall do all the Lord your God has commanded you,
you shall not turn to the right or the left.
Deuteronomy 5:32
Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:27
To me these verses signify staying focused on God and avoiding
evil. Slavery to the sins and hurts of the past is evil. It is robbing
you of joy and peace in Christ and productivity in your current day.
I am reminded of the story in Genesis 19, I urge you to get
out your Bible and read it today. Lot was in the
city of Sodom, and God was about to pronounce great
judgment upon this city. Angels arrived to tell Lot that
they had come to destroy the city because of the great outcry
against this city before the face of God. He was told to get
out of the city and to warn his family to leave quickly, for the
city would soon be destroyed. In Genesis 19:17 they were told:
"So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside,
that he said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you
or stay anywhere in the plain, escape to the mountains,
lest you be destroyed."
You see this required absolute surrender and complete obedience
and trust in God, not only for safety from harm, but for God's
provision. For this to happen, Lot had to listen to God, and
he couldn't be focusing on many things that distracted him
for the purpose and journey ahead, he had to stay focused.
His wife did not obey God, she looked back and was turned into
a pillar of salt, a judgment for her utter disobedience to God in
a situation he was trying to lead her out of.
You see there are consequences in life for our disobedience.
If we look to the right or left and get distracted by the troubles
or cares of this world, we are not living fully, and successfully
in today. We are limiting ourselves, we are unable to surrender
and work for God fully, because we are not focused, and we
have withheld areas of our mind that should be free of the past
and of distractions. It is leading us down a road we should
never have walked on, into a life that is less than it should be,
and all by a mental choice on our part.
Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to Him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Are you fit for the kingdom of God today? Are you holding
onto grudges, blaming people from your past, and in bondage
to these things? Are you so busy you never have time for God?
Are you condemning yourself for your mistakes?
My friend, God said we can be forgiven, and we should forgive others.
Once we REALLY do this, we move on, to a new purpose, to a new
life.
You MUST be in the word of God, and fill up on it and live by it.
You MUST be free of the past. You MUST let go of anything holding
you down and keeping you in slavery to something that is not worthy
of your time and is displeasing to God.
When a thought from the past comes up, say I am not looking back.
Give it to God. Let it go. Read his word, pray, and be faithful and
diligent to God. He needs workers and laborers for his kingdom,
and you cannot do it if you are wandering around lost, hurt,
and enslaved. Be Free, today in Jesus name. Give it all to him,
and let it go. He is waiting, even now.
Remember none of us are perfect, that is why Jesus came.
He just wants us to turn to him and be new in him and live
life to the fullest. He will equip us, but we must do our part
and not cling to the past in any way. Look not to the right or left.
Focus on God.
love always
millie
is the self condemnation they heap upon themselves for their past,
or situations they did not handle well. They cannot seem to move
past it, forgive themselves and live a life free from the past because
of the precious mercies and forgiveness we receive through Jesus.
I also see many of you clinging to the hurts you have received
from others. You are unable to disentangle yourself and cling
to these hurts as if they were important possessions. My dear
friend, they are not important, they are spiritual bondage! You
are being tied to the past with a spiritual umbilical cord that has
kept you in slavery to your past. You are not free to move on,
or savor fully the life you have today.
Yet, if you see someone else doing this it is so easy for you
to point at them and say what are you holding on to that for?
There are several places in the Bible that truly instruct us
on this mindset.
So you shall do all the Lord your God has commanded you,
you shall not turn to the right or the left.
Deuteronomy 5:32
Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:27
To me these verses signify staying focused on God and avoiding
evil. Slavery to the sins and hurts of the past is evil. It is robbing
you of joy and peace in Christ and productivity in your current day.
I am reminded of the story in Genesis 19, I urge you to get
out your Bible and read it today. Lot was in the
city of Sodom, and God was about to pronounce great
judgment upon this city. Angels arrived to tell Lot that
they had come to destroy the city because of the great outcry
against this city before the face of God. He was told to get
out of the city and to warn his family to leave quickly, for the
city would soon be destroyed. In Genesis 19:17 they were told:
"So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside,
that he said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you
or stay anywhere in the plain, escape to the mountains,
lest you be destroyed."
You see this required absolute surrender and complete obedience
and trust in God, not only for safety from harm, but for God's
provision. For this to happen, Lot had to listen to God, and
he couldn't be focusing on many things that distracted him
for the purpose and journey ahead, he had to stay focused.
His wife did not obey God, she looked back and was turned into
a pillar of salt, a judgment for her utter disobedience to God in
a situation he was trying to lead her out of.
You see there are consequences in life for our disobedience.
If we look to the right or left and get distracted by the troubles
or cares of this world, we are not living fully, and successfully
in today. We are limiting ourselves, we are unable to surrender
and work for God fully, because we are not focused, and we
have withheld areas of our mind that should be free of the past
and of distractions. It is leading us down a road we should
never have walked on, into a life that is less than it should be,
and all by a mental choice on our part.
Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to Him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Are you fit for the kingdom of God today? Are you holding
onto grudges, blaming people from your past, and in bondage
to these things? Are you so busy you never have time for God?
Are you condemning yourself for your mistakes?
My friend, God said we can be forgiven, and we should forgive others.
Once we REALLY do this, we move on, to a new purpose, to a new
life.
You MUST be in the word of God, and fill up on it and live by it.
You MUST be free of the past. You MUST let go of anything holding
you down and keeping you in slavery to something that is not worthy
of your time and is displeasing to God.
When a thought from the past comes up, say I am not looking back.
Give it to God. Let it go. Read his word, pray, and be faithful and
diligent to God. He needs workers and laborers for his kingdom,
and you cannot do it if you are wandering around lost, hurt,
and enslaved. Be Free, today in Jesus name. Give it all to him,
and let it go. He is waiting, even now.
Remember none of us are perfect, that is why Jesus came.
He just wants us to turn to him and be new in him and live
life to the fullest. He will equip us, but we must do our part
and not cling to the past in any way. Look not to the right or left.
Focus on God.
love always
millie
Friday, June 04, 2010
Confidence in God's Protection
1 O God, listen to my cry!
Hear my prayer!
2 From the ends of the earth,
I cry to you for help
when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
3 for you are my safe refuge,
a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
4 Let me live forever in your sanctuary,
safe beneath the shelter of your wings
Psalm 61:1-4
NLT
There are times in everyone's lives where the troubles and
hardships can pile up like a stack of hay. We feel buried in
them, and often overwhelmed. I have to say if we get
down to a practical standpoint in looking at it, what can
we solve by being overwhelmed or sad? What can we
accomplish by allowing depression and despair to set in?
Where can we run to except God?
Will running in circles of hopelessness, and no direction help?
And if we run to God, why fear? Why allow anything to
dominate our thinking except hope? This my friends
is a mental discipline we learn through faithfilled lives. It
is a determination within our spirit to trust God no matter what!
I can hear some of you now, but you don't know what I am going
through. No, I do not, but I know many people around the
world, and I get letters that tell me of what they are facing.
And I know what I have been through in my life, and looking
back I can see the provision and loving care of God, even
in the darkest of times.
I remember the time my husband had 3 cardiac arrests in a hour.
The last one he had, they were unable to stabilize him. There
was a nurse pounding on his chest, and they were bringing
out the paddles to zap him again, trying to revive his heart.
95 percent of the people who have 1 cardiac arrest die. To
have 3 within a hour and recover is a miracle.
They brought out a counselor who was standing next to me
preparing me to let go of my husband and comfort me. My family
was standing all around me, and I felt a scream rising within
my heart. I just wanted to lose it, and scream.
As clear as a bell I heard God say, "Millie, you can
scream or pray. You can believe everything you have ever
heard about me, or you can give up and let go." I made
a clear cut decision then to take God at his word. As my family
and I gathered hands, I started to pray, and I felt the power
of God come in that prayer. And I rebuked the spirit of death
and the powers of darkness coming against my family (we had
several tragedies going on at that time). I prayed against
them, and I spoke what I felt God was laying on my heart,
and such strength surged in my spirit. The minute I stopped
praying the doctor ran out and said, "He is Back! I cannot believe it,
he is back!" But I knew it was God. I knew God had given my husband
a second chance to make things right with Him. And I knew
God heard the cries of my heart.
Dearest friends, wherever you are today, whatever you are
going through, we serve a great God. He is not limited by
our interpretation of Him, or our mind set. You see God has
not changed. He still heals, he still answers prayers, He
still is above all, and over all, and all powerful. He cares
deeply about you and your life.
Above all He wants you to surrender to Him. To be born
again through the precious blood of his son. When you
repent of your sins and receive him as Savior, you can
go to him in prayer and ask what you will, and according
to his word it will be done. Sometimes it takes fasting
and prayer, sometimes we just have to rely on Him and
know he knows what is best.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
Matthew 7:-7-8 ESV
But don't for a minute give up, or run to something that
does not satisfy or answer your cry. Run to the living God
who is waiting with open arms for your cry and your surrender.
Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
My dearest friends, you can either trust or scream. You can
take God at his word and seek him and cry out to him with
all your heart, or you can give up. Which will serve you best?
Are you limiting God? That is your fault. He is not limited.
Cry out to Him, read his word, and then believe it without
reservation!
Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.
Isaiah 43:2
Hear my prayer!
2 From the ends of the earth,
I cry to you for help
when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
3 for you are my safe refuge,
a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
4 Let me live forever in your sanctuary,
safe beneath the shelter of your wings
Psalm 61:1-4
NLT
There are times in everyone's lives where the troubles and
hardships can pile up like a stack of hay. We feel buried in
them, and often overwhelmed. I have to say if we get
down to a practical standpoint in looking at it, what can
we solve by being overwhelmed or sad? What can we
accomplish by allowing depression and despair to set in?
Where can we run to except God?
Will running in circles of hopelessness, and no direction help?
And if we run to God, why fear? Why allow anything to
dominate our thinking except hope? This my friends
is a mental discipline we learn through faithfilled lives. It
is a determination within our spirit to trust God no matter what!
I can hear some of you now, but you don't know what I am going
through. No, I do not, but I know many people around the
world, and I get letters that tell me of what they are facing.
And I know what I have been through in my life, and looking
back I can see the provision and loving care of God, even
in the darkest of times.
I remember the time my husband had 3 cardiac arrests in a hour.
The last one he had, they were unable to stabilize him. There
was a nurse pounding on his chest, and they were bringing
out the paddles to zap him again, trying to revive his heart.
95 percent of the people who have 1 cardiac arrest die. To
have 3 within a hour and recover is a miracle.
They brought out a counselor who was standing next to me
preparing me to let go of my husband and comfort me. My family
was standing all around me, and I felt a scream rising within
my heart. I just wanted to lose it, and scream.
As clear as a bell I heard God say, "Millie, you can
scream or pray. You can believe everything you have ever
heard about me, or you can give up and let go." I made
a clear cut decision then to take God at his word. As my family
and I gathered hands, I started to pray, and I felt the power
of God come in that prayer. And I rebuked the spirit of death
and the powers of darkness coming against my family (we had
several tragedies going on at that time). I prayed against
them, and I spoke what I felt God was laying on my heart,
and such strength surged in my spirit. The minute I stopped
praying the doctor ran out and said, "He is Back! I cannot believe it,
he is back!" But I knew it was God. I knew God had given my husband
a second chance to make things right with Him. And I knew
God heard the cries of my heart.
Dearest friends, wherever you are today, whatever you are
going through, we serve a great God. He is not limited by
our interpretation of Him, or our mind set. You see God has
not changed. He still heals, he still answers prayers, He
still is above all, and over all, and all powerful. He cares
deeply about you and your life.
Above all He wants you to surrender to Him. To be born
again through the precious blood of his son. When you
repent of your sins and receive him as Savior, you can
go to him in prayer and ask what you will, and according
to his word it will be done. Sometimes it takes fasting
and prayer, sometimes we just have to rely on Him and
know he knows what is best.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
Matthew 7:-7-8 ESV
But don't for a minute give up, or run to something that
does not satisfy or answer your cry. Run to the living God
who is waiting with open arms for your cry and your surrender.
Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
My dearest friends, you can either trust or scream. You can
take God at his word and seek him and cry out to him with
all your heart, or you can give up. Which will serve you best?
Are you limiting God? That is your fault. He is not limited.
Cry out to Him, read his word, and then believe it without
reservation!
Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.
Isaiah 43:2
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