Deep Cries Out to Deep

When this man reached the end of himself, he was ready to cry out to Jesus.

He sensed that if he were to die he would go to a very dark, awful place, and it concerned him to the point that he decided to call out to a God he wasn't sure existed. But, the point is that he called; he inquired from a sincere heart. That's all that God asks of us. Seek Him with your innermost being and He will be found by you.

CBN TV - Living a Double Life Catches Up to Cheating Spouse

The Power of Right Believing

I am presently reading a book by Joseph Prince, (pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore) entitled "The Power of Right Believing." It just came out recently and is already on the New York Times Best Seller's list.

From this book, I'd like to share an excerpt from chapter 3 that deals with the power of hearing and knowing God loves you:

"I heard a story of a minister from Oregon who was assigned to provide counseling in a state mental institution. His first assignment was to a padded cell that housed deranged, barely clothed patients. The stench of human excrement filled the room. He couldn't even talk to the inmates, let alone counsel them ~ the only responses he got were groans, moans and demonic laughter.

Then the Holy Spirit prompted him to sit in the middle of the room and for a full hour sing the famous children's hymn that goes, "Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong." Nothing happened at the end of that first day, but he persisted. For weeks he would sit and sing the same melody with greater conviction each time: "Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so."

As the days passed, the patients began singing with him one by one. Amazingly,
by the end of the first month, thirty-six of the severely ill patients were transferred from the high-dependency ward to a self-care ward. Within a year, all but two were discharged from the mental institution." [taken from The Power of Right Believing, Joseph Prince]

If that doesn't speak to the power of those words, "Jesus loves me!" I don't know what does. Thirty-six people got their lives back, literally, from hearing and believing the truth of those three simple words! With child-like faith, sing along with the video that follows. My prayer is that you would know the love of the Father in a deeper way.

Marriage Supper of the Lamb

I enjoy food...maybe a little too much. I could stand to lose a few pounds, as well. I tend to run to "comfort food" in times of stress or when things seem a little out of control. I guess it's confession time. Well, they say confession is good for the soul, right? Mashed potatoes with gravy are probably second on the "comfort food" list to potato chips..

Well, let me just say, I used to drink alcohol (and to excess) and smoke cigarettes. I don't do those things anymore; not because I'm trying to be 'holier than thou,' but because God delivered me from them..thank you Jesus!

He delivered both my husband and I from alcohol. Now I'm not trying to put law on you and tell you that you need deliverance from these things...just giving you "our" testimonies. But, because I don't do those things anymore, sometimes I feel 'justified' in eating the wrong foods or even eating too much of something. There is no excuse for it, and I know that. I'll own up to that.

What I truly look forward to is the 'Marriage Supper of the Lamb.' See verse below~ I can imagine a banquet table set with wonderful foods, an abundance and a variety of foods. Best of all, we won't have to worry about calories!! No fretting over the waistline anymore! We will have a glorified body that can never get fat!! Won't that be awesome?  

But, the most awesome thing will be the fact that we are finally in the presence of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. He will be the Host of the 'momentous meal.' I don't really think that our eyes will be on the food...they will be fixed on Him, in all His radiance and beauty. Make sure that YOU are on that guest list. The only way to be included is to be born again, born from above, born of the Spirit. And that takes place when you make Jesus Lord of your life.

Revelation 19:9

New King James Version (NKJV)

9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

I look forward to dining with you at the 'marriage supper of the Lamb.'

Sheep

I love the book of John; it's my favorite book of the Bible. But, I especially love Jesus' analogy of us being sheep and He being the good Shepherd. I've always had a fondness for sheep, I guess because they look so cuddly with all of that wool, and they're cute! *Some say they are dumb, but they're smart enough to follow the shepherd!

Jesus even refers to Himself (John ch.10) as the "door." So, he is the Door and the good Shepherd. He says that his sheep know him and they follow Him. He goes on to say "the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." (vs 11) I find it so beautiful that He who is the Door and the Shepherd becomes the 'Lamb' that was slain before the foundation of the world.

He was (is) the perfect spotless Lamb that gave His life for the sheep (us). He laid down His life, so that He could take it up again on resurrection morning. He did all that for you and for me; to give us new life in Him. Praise His name!!

The Great Physician

Luke was a physician, the author of the book of Luke in the New Testament. The account doesn't talk about whether or not he practiced medicine after his conversion to Christianity, but we do know that he was a follower and companion of the Apostle Paul.

Overall, the Bible contains very little about healing by way of medical science.

Prov. 17:22 says that "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."

Jer. 30:13 says, "There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up; you have no healing medicines."

Jer. 46:11 states, "Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt; in vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured."

In the book of Luke (8:43) the good doctor recounts the story of an un-named woman who had had a flow of blood for 12 years. He says that she had spent all her money on physicians and could not be healed by any. (until she came to Jesus)

In Matthew, Mark and Luke, it is recorded that Jesus told the people, 'those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.' He was, in essence, saying, I am the greatest physician and I know that your spiritual condition is of the utmost importance; more important than your bodily physical condition. He knew there was a greater need. 

I believe that all healing comes when we come to the Savior of the world and first of all receive His love and become born again.  Know how much He loves you, in that He provided healing for you... spirit, soul and body. He is the Healer.

"For I am the Lord who heals you." Ex. 15:26b

Broken Hearted

Before I came to know God through Jesus, many times I found myself broken-hearted. There were many things that happened to me, as I grew up and even as a grown up person that caused me to have a broken heart, including some very painful boyfriend relationships.

My father committed suicide when I was 19. That was the saddest day of my life, and yes, I was broken-hearted. I would say I was broken-hearted... to the core of my being. There were feelings of blame, shame, resentment, anger, confusion and betrayal. I was in a sea of emotional wreckage.

I was not a Christian at that time. I know that if I had been, it still would have been terrible, but I would have been able to cope with it so much better. I would not have felt the profound despair that I felt that day. Not that terrible things never happen to you as a Christian, but if you are a Christian and something bad happens, you have a "Rock" to depend upon. You have a "Comforter" to lay your head on. You have Someone who will listen to you in the midnight hours. You have Someone to run to when trouble comes. 

If you find yourself broken-hearted today...know that the Father loves you. He truly cares about you and everything that concerns you. I hope that you have been born again and belong to Him, but if not, you can do it right now. Just say, Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God and that You died for me. You became sin for me. You paid the price for my redemption. You rose again so that You could offer me new life. I know that in You is the only place I will truly find life. I give you my life with all its brokenness...take it and do something with it. Amen

If you prayed that simple, but life-giving prayer, welcome to the family of God! He is the Healer of broken hearts. He sets us in families. He intercedes for us. Begin your journey by reading the book of John. You will never be the same!

If You Have a Need, Ask.

Would you say that God would be the best example of what a great Father looks like? I certainly would. He is the Creator of fatherhood! Fathers have such a crucial role in the family. When fathers have gone missing (or never showed up in the first place) there is a real and painful void in that family unit.

My point in saying all this is...God is certainly the best Father of all, and He loves you deeply. He wants to see you blessed, prosperous, healed, joyful and at peace. The true definition of "peace" is "nothing missing, nothing broken." And the Word says that He has "no greater joy than to hear that His children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4

Read "the truth" below...believe in the "how much more" and then ask Him.

…what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 7:9–11

Jesus Culture- Your Love Never Fails

We know, according to the Bible, that God loves us. Just being honest, sometimes we feel as though He is far from us and we have a hard time sensing His love for us. (There are those pesky five senses again) That's why we are told not to go by what our feelings are telling us. We are to renew our minds to the Word of God.... Rom. 12:2 (the truth)

This is what 1 John  4:7-11 has to say: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

And knowing that we are loved by our Father...we CAN love others. It frees us to love others. In order to love, we first have to receive the Father's love for ourselves. Receive it today as you listen to this song....

About My Father's Business

I stayed home from church today. I was feeling a little funky, not to mention...it was -15 degrees outside this morning! We live in NW Wisconsin of the U.S. of A. and it has been mighty cold lately [pretty much all winter]. The kind of cold that makes your eyeballs hurt. Haha No...I'm not kidding.

I was watching Charis Christian Center's online service today. Here is the link.
Once you get there, just click on MEDIA and then LIVE STREAM. The times are 8:25 am and 10:00 am Mountain Time (USA) on Sunday mornings. Lawson Perdue and his lovely wife Barbara are the Pastors there. He was teaching from Revelation 1 this morning, expounding on who the person of Jesus really is.

As I watched the sermon, God began speaking to me about what he wants us to do. We had felt this was the direction to go, but God pretty much confirmed it in my heart. Not only did He confirm it, but He gave me insight as to why we were to do this particular thing. Sometimes we try to reason things out and if it doesn't make sense to us, we toss it aside. So, He knew I needed a reason! He is so good.

This is a prime example of how God gives us revelation and knowledge when we seek Him. His word says, ..."He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Heb. 11:6c We are also told to "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matt. 6:33 These are His promises to us!

Jesus, when He walked the earth, asked his parents..."Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"  Luke 2:49b

He is a good God, and He isn't trying to hide things from us. He wants to pour into us, but we do need to position ourselves to be poured into, the same way you position a cup prior to pouring coffee in that cup. That means being available to listen to Him when He speaks. If we keep ourselves so busy and distracted by what the world has to offer, (which isn't much), we won't be able to hear from our Father in heaven. So, today....make yourself available to Him. He won't disappoint you.