IF!

Last night at prayer meeting I was lead to turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and began to read in my bible. Great story about the finishing of the temple that Solomon built that his father David had a burden for. Solomon made an end of prayer and a fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and how the glory of the LORD filled the house. The priests couldn't even enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled the place. Then all the children of Israel bowed their faces down to the ground upon the pavement and worshipped and praised the LORD saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

It's not like that today. When the fire from heaven comes down, we don't have to leave the building when He enters into it. We get to stay with Him and bask in His glory. We don't have to bow our faces down to the ground in His presence but we lift our faces towards heaven and we worship Him freely. Today, we still worship and praise the LORD, For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.

The LORD told Solomon that He heard his prayer and that He had chosen the temple to himself for a house of sacrifice. I am reminded by this passage that many, many times God has heard my prayers and He has chosen me as a house of sacrifice. For He no longer dwells in a building but in the hearts of man. He also went on to say: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place." verses 14-15

Such beautiful promises God has made to me. I want to make sure that this house that I have yeilded unto Him is clean and pure so that His eyes will be open unto me and His ears will be attent unto my prayers that I send up unto Him. In order for these promises to come to pass I have a duty to Him as well. In verse 17 He tells me that I must walk up right before Him as David did and do all according that He has commanded me. For if I don't and I turn away and forsake what God has told me to do and go after other gods then this house (me) which He has sanctified for His name will He cast out of His sight. It will be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land and unto this house?

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, (the world) and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them therefore hath He brought all this evil upon them.

I will keep this house Holy for He is Holy. He can not and will not dwell in an unclean temple. I must do all that He has commanded and observe His statutes and judgments. I can not forsake them for He is my God and I am His child. When the fire from heaven comes down, I want it to consume me for I am a living sacrifice and I offer myself unto Him. I want the LORD to fill this house (me) to the brim and running over so that there is room for nothing else to enter in.

I do not want to be that house that is looked upon as one that forsook the LORD but I want to be one that walks upright before Him as David did.

We Are Family

Where would we be without family? I hate to think about that. I thank God daily for my natural and spiritual family. I love you all very much. I need you! I couldn't make it a day without you. You are the wind beneath my wings. You lift me up when I am down. When I am weak, you give me strength. If I am lacking in faith, you give me a boost to bring it back. Likewise, if you are the one who is in need, then I will be there for you. I will lift you up when you are down, encourage you when you are discouraged, bring you hope when you feel there is no hope, send you joy when you feel no joy, restore a song in your soul when your song has faded, send a healing your way when you are sick. How you might ask? Through prayer! I will pray for you as you have prayed for me. God WILL answer my prayers and HE WILL hear my cry and you WILL be restored just like I have been. We laugh, cry, hope, dream, believe, stand, fight, struggle, push on, and NEVER give up together. Together we are a team and we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us.

His ways are far above our ways. We may not understand everything that we have to go through. The heartaches and sorrow that sometimes comes our way may seem unbearable but He will always be there to comfort us. Though we don't understand, remember, "And WE KNOW that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 So when troubles, trials, and tribulations come, don't be discouraged, don't turn your back on Him, or your family. Stand fast, reach out to Him, lean on Him, turn to Him, for He loves you and cares for you like no other.

Together, we can make it! You, me, & Jesus, we're a Team. WE ARE FAMILY!

Pecans In The Cemetary

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.

'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me,' said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, 'One for you, one for me. On for you, one for me..'

He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. 'Come here quick,' said the boy, 'you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls.'

The man said, 'Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk.' When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.

Standing by the fence they heard, 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.'

The old man whispered, 'Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord.'

Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord.

At last they heard, 'One for you, one for me. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done.' They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.

Proverbs 19:22 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..." Sooooo.....SMILE, God Loves You!

My Grace IS Sufficient!

It seems my insurance doesn't want to pay for another MRI so they wanted more documentation proving it was necessary for the need of another one to be done. So I was called in for an emergency follow-up. My appointment was yesterday, Monday, the 30th of March. My Neurosurgeon was very upset that this had to be done. I really didn't feel like making the drive since I had a full blown out migraine but what can one do when the insurance company thinks they know more than the doctors or the person who is suffering with pain, right? My neurosurgeon made the statement that since I do have a brain tumor and they already have pictures of it on file, why in the world does the insurance company need more documentation? Don't they understand there is a need to keep track of the tumor's growth to make sure that there is no serious complications arising? To see if surgery is going to be needed or not? This is a brain tumor we are talking about not some freckle for Pete's sake! Yes, he was very upset.

Testing and documentation was done for the benefit of satisfying the insurance company. Doc took one look at me and knew I had a migraine. He plugged me into some wires with this goop and measured the strength of the pain by the wave patterns on the print out. Not good! The doctor was not happy that I have had a migraine for 27days straight now. So he gave me a little something to help me out. I went over to my daughter's and slept like a baby. It felt soooo good. I woke up around 6:45p.m. and went home and back to bed. Problem is I woke up around 2a.m. this morning with another migraine and it still hasn't let up. I am scheduled for more very extensive testing. He believes it has nothing to do with the brain tumor. So we will see.

This morning as the pain was so intense, I told the LORD, I can't take it anymore, He replied, "My Grace Is Sufficient!" Immediately I felt the presence of the Lord near and the pain began to subside to a dull throb. I do serve a GOOD & LOVING GOD!

As I lay there on my bed, I began to think about my pain and each throb as it would slice through my head, I began to think of Calvary and the pain and suffering that Jesus went through for you and me for the sake of our Salvation. Now, think of the very worst pain that you have ever, ever suffered and multiply that by 1000 and then maybe you will realize just how much He really loves us. To think that He would be willing to suffer so much pain and agony to take upon Himself OUR sins, OUR punishment, OUR beating, and to bear OUR cross that day at Calvary.

As the pain was so excruciating in my head and each throb would pound, I tried to compare it to each strike of the cat of nine tails that struck the back of my precious Savior. I tried to imagine it ripping the flesh off my back as it did His that day. I tried to imagine my blood running down my back onto my legs and feel my insides being ripped apart and exposed as my flesh was being torn away by each strike. The piercing pain that would shoot through my head, I would compare to when they pierced my Lord's side. Then I realized, Lord this is NOTHING compared to what you have suffered for me and you did it all in the name of LOVE. There is nothing that we go through that HE hasn't suffered and that HE doesn't understand. He knows our every pain, heartache, disappointment, sorrow and HE cares. Yes, His Grace IS Sufficient! But it doesn't stop there. For as the first song below says, He gives us Beauty for ashes and the second song says, He turns our mourning into dancing and our sorrow into joy.

As Easter is quickly approaching, let's remember the purpose of the cross and give Him thanks for what He suffered and endured for the sake of our Salvation. Then let us rejoice to know the He is ALIVE and that we too can make it through whatever comes our way. We are over comers in Him. His Grace IS Sufficient!

WDLC 2009

Western District Ladies Conference 2009 was by far the best I have ever been to. As I stated in my last post the speakers and singers were so anointed you couldn't but be blessed.

My sister and I went up a day early this year so that we could have an extra day of just sister/sister time together. We live so far apart that we don't get to spend that much time together so we took advantage of it. It was fabulous! After we got settled into our room. We took off to check out the Mall and the town. Then we decided on a place to eat dinner, the Cheesecake Factory. First time there for the both of us. I don't know what we were thinking, ordering all that food because we didn't eat it all. We ate the salad on our plate and one quarter of the sandwich. Then we made an attempt to eat all of the cheesecake. Didn't happen! Then we told each other, "Next time we come here we will split a cheesecake". LIARS!!!! Next time we went was just for dessert but we ended up getting appetizers and we got our OWN cheesecake and ATE IT ALL! Pigs we are!!!

We laughed so much together. Thought of evil things to do that would cause chaos. Like when we signed in at the registration table for seating for the Brunch I asked my sister, "I wonder what they would do if we mixed up all these name tags?" Then we snickered and giggled just to imagine all the confusion. Then we saw Sis. Cindy Ziegenbein coming our way and new by the look on her face that she knew we were up to no good. LOL! Of course we wouldn't have done it but just the thought was enough to laugh about.

When eating breakfast at Double Tree, we were laughing so hard and again Sis. Ziegenbein pops out of no where and tells us "You girls are having waaaaaay to much fun!" She scarred me because she just popped out of no where. Sort of like what the Lord is gonna do on that glorious day of the rapture. Know what I mean?

When we were eating at the Cheesecake Factory we laughed and laughed and laughed until my sides were splitting. Our poor waitress, she must have thought she had a couple of ol' ladies who had escaped from the loony bin because we were really over the top. But then again, she would just come over and smile and laugh with us and make sure we had everything we needed. She was really an excellent waitress. My poor sister, she never knows what she is going to get herself into when she is with me. I am the oldest and I have led her into more trouble through out the years in her life. You would think that she would have learned by now. She just keeps coming back for more. She must have blond roots.

We would walk up and down the halls of that hotel and literally have to stop because we were laughing so hard. I know people must have thought we were crazy. But hey, we were making up for lost time. Remember, we don't get to see each other very often. My poor sister, Jovina, that's her name, would beg me to please stop because she was laughing so hard and I was really carrying things to the limit. The more she begged, the worse I got and the harder she laughed. I know, I'm evil and then I wonder why I didn't get my healing. Go figure!!! :)

We had more than one person tell us, "What are you girls up to now?" I mean, come on, did we look that Ornery? Tee Hee Hee Hee!

The best part of our visit together was standing side by side worshipping our God in spirit and truth. Sure wish I had some pictures of that to share with you. But we were busy praising God then and didn't have our cameras out. So you will have to use your imagination for that part of our trip. God bless!

Serving God Regardless...

What an awesome Western District Ladies Conference we had this year. The speakers, Sis. Donna Linville and Sis. Debbie Saiz, were absolutely phenomenal. These ladies were ANOINTED! Let me tell you, my soul has been blessed. The music, now that is another thing that was Divine. The singers and musicians were definitely in the will of God. Sis. Hurst and her group sang under the power of the Holy Ghost. The brunch on Saturday was delicious and the entertainment was great. I laughed so much through out this entire conference. If you were able to go and didn't, then you cheated yourself out of one blessing after another.

I attended this conference this year with a continual migraine. I believed God for a miracle at every service. I just knew I was going to receive my healing. Yet, it never came. I would wake up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain and have to take meds and pray, pray, pray for relief. At times in the middle of service I would feel as though I was going to pass out and have to sit down or grab a hold of the seat in front of me.

On Saturday morning I told my sister that I just didn't understand why I didn't receive my healing because I went with a believing heart that I would. Right away the devil jumped on me and began to whisper discouraging things in my ear. We went to the brunch and Sis Andrea Arcovio sat at my table and she began to talk to my sister and I. As she began to talk she told us of a baby that had died in Africa and as they were preparing to bury the child, a preacher asked them if they had prayed the will of God for the child and they said no. So he prayed and the child came back to life and everyone began to rejoice. Then again, there was another child that had died and he asked them if they had prayed the will of God for the child and they said no. So he prayed for the will of God for the child but this child did not come back to life. So it was the will of God for this child to be buried.

She went on to tell of of a lady who had no nose and she had a dream that God spoke to her, telling her that He was going to give her a new nose. So she went about telling everyone, "See my new nose", yet there was no nose. She was causing such an uproar in her village that her pastor decided he must talk to her. As he was talking to her and telling her that she didn't have a nose, she was telling him that God told her He was going to give her a new nose, and right before his eyes she grew a nose. Sis. Arcovio brought it to my attention that I need to seek the will of God for my life in ALL things. Even concerning my healing. Even Paul had an affliction that he never received his healing from. Also, just because I didn't get my healing at conference, maybe it just wasn't in His time. Just like the lady who was going around saying "See my new nose?" yet, there was no nose. But when the time was right she received her nose.

So,like Paul, if it is the will of God for me to carry this affliction in my body or if it is not yet time for my healing I don't have the answer to that. All I know is that Romans 8:28 says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." So, I only have one thing to say to your discouraging words that you whispered in my ear Satan, I am not careful to answer you in this matter oh king of this world. For I know that my God is well able to heal me. BUT, if He doesn't I will still serve Him with all my heart, might, mind, soul, and strength. He's my best friend and always there when I call. He has done me nothing but good.

Cell Phone VS. Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones?

What if we carried our Bible around in our purse or pocket like we do our cell phone?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to our kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled for directions?

What if we used it is case of an emergency?

This is something to make you go....Hmmmmm.....where IS my Bible?

And unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Knock knock! I knocked on heaven's door this morning. God smiled and answered, 'Request granted.'

Thanks for sending this to me sissy. Definitely Good Food For Thought. Makes you stop and search your heart to make sure your priorities ARE in the right place. I love you!