Monthly Archives: July 2018

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THE FREEDOM OF SEEING OURSELVES THROUGH GOD’S EYES

God speaks to me so often through the lyrics in songs. I hear His voice in my heart the clearest in the morning time. This morning, I was lying in bed pondering a dream I had in my sleep and the lyrics to a song came to my mind shortly after I was awakened.

As I was lying there, the lyrics kept flooding into my mind four or five times: “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.”

I knew God was trying to give a message to me, so a little while later I found the song and listened to it online. As I played the song, I was squealing like a child and shouting in victory because I knew precisely what Christ was trying to convey to my heart.

Michael had prayed some extra powerful prayers over me during the past few days. He prayed and asked God to break the power of the critical words of people. He boldly prayed that the words could never again impact my spirit and would fall off of me for eternity. In the moment my husband prayed for me, I shouted, “I AM FREE.”

A pattern in my life had begun as a young girl of allowing the negative words of people to discourage me and hold me back from the destiny God has for my life.

Years ago, I bought a book for my son when he was small and it ministered to my soul deeply. “You Are Special” by Max Lucado is a children’s book with a powerful message. I read it countless times to my son and even read it for myself multiple times. The story has a message about not allowing the “marks” of those around us to determine what we believe about ourselves. The point of the book is to learn to see ourselves as our maker sees us. What others think of us simply does not matter.

Throughout my life, I had been praying for God to help me not to allow negative words of others to impact me and I had made huge progress through the years as I pressed into Christ through prayer. However, even with the God-confidence I had gained, there was a tendency for me to return to old thought patterns. I had a place in my heart that needed Christ’s divine healing to get free of this pattern eternally. Amazingly, Christ touched my heart powerfully on July 4th, on a day that celebrates independence.

My “Declaration of Independence” in my heart was made official on July 4, 2018. “I am free from the untrue words people have spoken about me, I know who I am in Christ, and the criticisms of others will never again affect me.”

I can truly see clearly now. I can see clearly who I am and who God created me to be. Christ cleared all of the dark clouds out of my way so that I can live continually in the beauty of His light and glory. The pain of my past is gone forever. I’m not looking back.

Freedom in Christ is amazing. He came to set the captives free and bind up the hurts of the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1).

Christ is the healer of broken hearts and He helps us see the obstacles in our way. He pushes away the darkness and gives us bright, sun-shiny days. He takes away bad feelings and heals our pain. He gives us beautiful rainbows when the rain is gone. He gives us confidence to know we are going to make it to our destiny and He helps us see ourselves through His eyes.

 Hallelujah.

 

A PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN AMERICA

Many years ago, I began feeling very burdened in my spirit for America and the direction it was heading. I sensed the only answer to our problems would be a great movement of the Holy Spirit and a true spiritual awakening in the lives of multitudes of people.

As I prayed, I began to envision a map of the United States with flames around it and bright light coming out of it.

It felt as though God was saying: The U.S. is called to be the light of the world.

The thought of our country being the light of the world brought so much excitement to my soul. It gave me a fiery passion to pray for an outpouring of the Spirit that would change the atmosphere of America and ultimately impact the world with Christ’s glory and light.

In Matthew 3:11, we are told that John the Baptist was preaching a message and saying: “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Just as I envisioned the flames of fire around the map of America, I imagined the flames of the Holy Spirit consuming millions of souls and drawing them into the kingdom of God.

I wrote the following prayer in June, 2011. I want to share it again and hope you all will join me in praying passionately for the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit the world has ever seen.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your unfailing love, for the way You continually pour out Your mercy and grace. Thank You for what You are doing in the body of Christ. Oh how beautiful it is. I feel it in my spirit: REVIVAL is about to break out in a huge way in the body of believers in our nation. Keep pouring Your Spirit into the hearts of countless people. We (the body of Christ) want more of You. We want You to work in and through us in unimaginable ways. We want thousands upon thousands to be saved in our cities due to the massive outpouring of Your Spirit. We are waiting for You with great expectation to do mighty things in our nation and in our world.

I have visions of people falling at Your feet, weeping in repentance, craving Your love, wanting more of Your Holy Spirit. Please show the world who You are. Show every hurting person Your radical love. Speak to the hearts of all the people who call You, “LORD.” Let every believer know You deeply and intimately. Raise us up to be the church You want for us to be. Make us ready for Christ’s return, without a blemish or stain. Let us be a church who loves You wholeheartedly and loves each other perfectly. Let each follower of You be so focused on You that we would not look to each other, but only to You. Let Your perfect unity and love rule in the hearts of all Your followers. We are ready to see You do great and marvelous things in our cities. We love You with all our strength and we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

“’AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS.” Acts 2:17′”

Happy 4th of July!

 

THE DIVINE PURPOSE OF PAIN

Pain is a universal problem in the world. There is not a way to make it through this life without experiencing losses and struggles. I do not believe God causes pain, but He lovingly takes our painful experiences and turns them into something beautiful as we trust Him wholeheartedly. Depending on our perspective, the pain we experience in life can be the fuel to catapult us into our greatest purpose for living.

In the past, my family went through some very difficult financial challenges due to my husband’s failed businesses and job losses, yet my soul rejoices over all of it. Christ supernaturally carried us through every difficulty. He abundantly restored our finances with a new career for my husband, and we grew closer to God’s heart as a result of the desperate times of our past. I would happily do it all over again because of the eternal treasures my family and I gained in the midst of those painful hardships.

On a day of volunteering at a ministry that provides food to people in need, I was able to see clearly how God uses pain in our lives.

The rest of the story is posted over at DaySpring’s (in)courage . Please click on the link below to read, The Purpose of Pain, a story I wrote in 2014.

The Purpose of Pain