Beauty for Ashes

I have been so sick... so broken.  So deep in depression, discouragement, fear, shame, guilt over my failures, rejection... so unable to function.
BUT GOD, you stepped in, took my hand, and said, "Come on daughter, let me show you what you can do, what you can be, in Me.  Come on, it's OK, we will take it one step at a time.  Don't be afraid, I will never let go of your hand.  I will give you My strength. You are safe with Me.  There is a life awaiting you, even more abundant than you can imagine.  I won't give up on you.  I Am your Daddy.  I am a good Daddy.  You can trust Me.  I know you lost your joy for awhile there.  You even wondered about your reason for living.  This was all so that you could find your reason for living again, in Me.  You live because I MADE YOU.  I WANT YOU.  I LOVE YOU.  You are my greatest treasure.  You are my child, my wife, my friend.  YOU BELONG TO ME.  This is why you live."

Thank you God for showing me what I can be.  Thank you for healing me.  For taking all that fear, shame, depression, discouragement, and rejection and giving me beauty for ashes.  How can I ever thank you enough?  Thank you for showing me what I mean to you.  That fact that you went to the cross should have been enough for me to know how much I meant to you... but I just needed to hear you say it.

I am sharing this because God wanted me too.  Because you may need to hear it as much as I did.

Blessings and Curses

Deuteronomy chapter 28 talks about what things God considers "blessings" and what things He considers "curses". 
Included in the blessing are things like abundant prosperity, provision, and protection.  Included in the curses are things like poverty, lack, and disease.
Wow, never once does God say that a sickness is a blessing or that He will give us poverty to teach us something.
If sickness and poverty were given to us by God to teach us things wouldn't most of the world be wise by now?
In Galatians it says the Christ has redeemed us from the curse by being made a curse for us so that the blessings of Abraham may come upon us!
This shows us what God's perfect will is.  It is so important to know what God's perfect will is in order for our prayers to be heard and answered and for us to have victory in our lives.
The garden of Eden is the picture of God's perfect will for man!  Man messed it up by sinning and brought the curse upon himself but God fixed it by sending Jesus to redeem us from this curse!  Hallelujah!
Just because something is God's will doesn't mean we will automatically walk in it.  Do good Christian people get sick and suffer poverty and lack?  Yes, it happens all the time because of bad decisions or simply lack of knowledge.  It's not about placing blame... it's about learning the truth and learning to walk in it!
I am so glad God is revealing these things to me so I can begin to walk in them and receive all the BLESSING that He has intended for me!
A side note, yes God can bring good out of sickness or lack.  He can and will take what the devil meant for his good and turn it around for our good!  He is so good like that!  But the point is, He doesn't give us sickness or tragedy to teach us things!  It hurts Him so when we blame Him for things like that.
God came to give us life and life more abundantly!  Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Light!
Learning God's perfect will is the starting point to receiving and walking in all that He has for us!  Ask Him to reveal it to you, ask Him to show you truth!  Ask and you shall receive!

Faith Works by Love, A Life Changing Revelation!

    A man of God had a vision, in his vision, God showed him a man trying to hang some huge heavy curtains on a big wall.  He was having a  miserable time of it.  He'd hang one panel, then run over and grab another; but before he could get the second one hung, the first one would fall down on him.  He'd put the second one up, turn around to get the first one, and the one he'd just hung would tumble down on him.
   The harder he worked, the more tangled in those curtains he became.  It was like a comedy routine.  "Look at that guy!" I said.
     As I chuckled at his predicament, I noticed something.  Each curtain had a name on it.  One curtain was "faith".  Another was "righteousness".  Others included "healing" "prosperity" and "the gifts of the Spirit."  After struggling awhile, the job finally got the best of that poor fellow and he collapsed in a pile of curtains on the floor. Then the Lord drew me in, and I heard the cry of the man's heart.  It was anything but funny.  "What's wrong with my faith?" he cried.  "I believe in faith, but I'm sick.  I believe in prosperity and I can't pay my bills."  I knew how he felt.  I could remember times when I cried the same way.
    Suddenly, my vision zoomed in on the pile of curtains and I saw little snakes slithering in and out of it.  They were biting the man and nipping at his heels.  That made me mad.  "Hey, those are the gifts of God!" I said.  "What are devils doing in them?"
     At that moment, The LORD drew my attention to the corner of the room.  There, I saw a massive rod.  It was so big, it looked like part of a bridge, and it was solid gold.  Written on the side of it was Matthew 22:37-40:
Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all they mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy  neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

When I saw that rod, I heard the voice of the LORD.  He was shouting, Hang the rod, not the curtains!  The curtains are fastened to the rod!

When I (Kristi) read this story, it hit me HARD.  I was that man.  For so many years, I have been that man... so frustrated, so tired... from years of struggling to hang those curtains.  This story changed my life!  Finally, I understand the missing piece!  Not that I didn't know to walk in love, but I didn't realize the importance of always walking in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 kind of love!  Just a week before I read this story, God had prompted me to memorize the definition of love in  1 Corinthians.  Soon after that I was tested in my love walk... sorry to say, I failed miserably.  And I knew it too.  The saddest place to be is out of the will of God and knowing it!
    Since reading this, I have been meditating on 1 Corinthians chapter 13's definition of love.  I have written it down, spoken it out loud, and God has brought it too my mind every time I need it.  Oh, I've had to repent many times but I am getting the hang of it!  I am already having break through in my life.  I am so excited to walk this out with Jesus!
You see, the Word says, Faith works by love and the promises of God are activated by faith.  There is no other way to have answered prayer friends.  Without faith, there is no victory, no answered prayer... without love, there will be no faith because faith works by love.
This story came from Kenneth Copeland and he said, "Faith works by love like a car works by gas.  No gas, no go.  No love, no faith.  No faith, no receiving!" 
I am soooooo excited to make love my way of life!

All I need is God

This is what God has been saying to me A LOT lately, "All you need is Me, and when all you need is Me, you are free."
What exactly are we free from?  Fear.  Fear of not having enough.  Fear of being alone.  Fear of being sick and in pain.
You see, God wants to be everything to us.  He will be everything we allow Him to be in our lives.  He is our security, our healer, our best and closest friend, our provider, our EVERYTHING.
We don't have to rely on people for security, self-confidence, happiness, or love.  We don't have to manipulate or control people.  We don't have to pressure them to be a certain way.
Our only job is to love and serve God, and to love and bless others.  We need to concern ourselves with loving God and others and not whether they love or even like us.  When we are loving God and loving others through His love, God takes care of the rest.  Many times He will use people to answer our prayers, to provide the love we crave, but no one person can be everything we need them to be all the time.  All people are human and will fail us sometimes.  Only God can be counted on to be everything we need every time we need Him.
So set some people free today.  Set them free to be themselves, not to always have to meet your expectations in order to earn your love.  And set yourself free.  Put all your trust and expectations on God and let Him be your everything.
All I need is God.  And when all I need is God, I AM FREE!

Just exactly "how" do I spend time with God?

In my last post, I described how daily time with God is a life or death matter.  If you haven't read that post yet take a minute and read it.  I also told about how I am a "need to know exactly how to do it" kind of person.  During my prayer time today, God led me to write this post about how to spend time with Him.  I love to spend time with God and will spend anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours at a time praying.  I have had people ask me, "How in the world do you pray for that long?  Don't you run out of things to say?"  That's a good question, and I think there are some people who are just wondering exactly "how" to spend time with God.
   First, I want to say that there is no exact way that is right or wrong, but there are some things that God has shown us in His word that are effective and pleasing to God.  Each one of us has our own individual relationship with God, therefore, each person will have their own unique way of spending time with God.  Just as we have different relationships with our spouses, we each have different ways of relating to our creator.
   The Bible does say, however, that we enter God's gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.  This is showing us the way into the throne room. 
    I usually begin by thanking God, then asking Him to show me any sin in my life and asking for forgiveness.  Then I thank Him some more.  I like to put on praise music and just spend some time telling Him how great He is, how much I love Him and how much He means to me.  For me, praise is a huge part of my prayer time.  Just listening to the songs, singing along with them at times and getting my focus on God is the main way I pray.
     Next, I usually lay down all my cares.  I give them to God.  Many times I write them in my prayer journal or just tell God about them.  I ask Him to just take these things and take care of them.  Then I don't worry about them anymore, because I trust Him to take care of them!
     In the last couple of years I have started a prayer journal.  I write out my prayer requests and cares.  It really helps me to release them.  My favorite thing about the prayer journal is that every time I come into God's presence, He speaks to me and I just write down what He is saying.  The words literally come from my innermost being (where God resides) and just pour out onto the paper.  These words mean so much to me.  They are my life instructions.  I often go back and reread them.  Many times God will have me share them with somebody who may need that word as well.  This is something we can all do!  God will speak to anyone who asks!
   Every prayer time is different, because my relationship with God is alive and real.  Sometimes, I will just sit in silence and allow His presence to surround me.  Sometimes, I praise Him the whole time.  More often, it's praise and then writing, more praise and petitioning Him.  I write down all the people that I am interceding for and ask God to work in their lives.
   Because I am baptized in the Holy Spirit I pray a lot in tongues.  This allows God to pray through me things that I would not know to pray on my own.  I hear from Him so much more clearly when I am praying in tongues.
    The book of Acts talks a lot about praying in tongues and how once people were saved they then sought after the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Yes, at salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us but the Word of God shows that there is a second and subsequent experience to seek after.  When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we receive power to witness, to speak in tongues, and even to understand the things of God more clearly.  When I got baptized in the Holy Spirit I was so surprised and amazed.  I felt God's presence so much more, I understood more, I had so much joy, the world seemed brighter, the grass greener etc.  I know it may sound corny but I am only telling the truth.  It's awesome for God to be able to pray through me in tongues, I always have a way to pray. It's very simple to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, it's only a matter of asking for it.
   Many times, I also read the Bible during my prayer time.  I love the revelation God gives me during these times.  So, you see, prayer is not just us talking to God, prayer is a conversation.  It's us talking but also, letting God talk and us listening.  And God will speak, if you want to hear from Him, He will speak to you!  It's so important, though, when seeking to hear from God, that we stay grounded in the Word of God.  We have to be reading the Word, hearing the Word, and meditating on the Word for us to hear accurately from God.  Otherwise, satan will just use our ignorance for an excuse and we will get flaky, thinking that God has said things to us that He really didn't and that are not even Biblical.

    Spend some time with God today!  You can start out by just putting on a praise song that really ministers to you and telling God how much you love Him.  It's not always easy to press in, to lay aside our cares, but it's always worth it!

A Life or Death Matter

Matthew 6:33 says to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and THEN all these things will be added unto you.
In other words, when we put God first everything else falls into place.  I can't think of anything more important in living a victorious Christian life than putting God first.
Daily time with God is essential.
Do you ever wonder why you are having a hard time getting answered prayer or walking in peace, love, and joy?  Do you wonder why you are constantly battling?  There is a rest for the people of God and this rest is found in His presence.
We don't spend time with God to "earn" his blessings or our salvation or anything else.  We spend time with God to be shaped into His image.  We spend time with God to be healed, restored, renewed, empowered.  We spend time with God because we love Him and we want to be with Him.
All our answers are found in His presence.  All of them.  All of them.  Everything that pertains to life and Godliness is found in Him.
In John chapter 15 Jesus describes how He is the vine and we are the branches.  In order to live, in order to produce fruit, we must remain in the vine!  Apart from Him we can do no good works!
I've always been a "need to know exactly "how" to do it" kind of person.  When I am learning the things of God, I always want to know exactly how to do it.  For example, people would say, "you must remain in the vine."  Ok, I would think, HOW do you remain in the vine?  I like concrete specific examples (thanks to my high school English teacher).
We remain in the vine by spending time with God everyday, by making time with Him our priority.  We don't schedule our time with God around our day, we schedule our day around our time with God.
Throughout the day, we remain in the vine by continually being aware of His presence.  We meditate scripture, we listen to worship music, we walk in joy and love.  The Bible says that when we walk in love, we are walking in Him!
Do I ever mess up?  Yes!  I get distracted, I lose my way sometimes.  When I notice things are not right in my heart, I realize, I've been neglecting my FIRST priority and God so graciously and lovingly reminds me to come back to Him, to put Him first once again.
If there is any lesson I've learned of life or death importance, it is this one.  Where there is God, there is life!  Time with God is a life or death matter... literally!

I Dare You!

The church in America today, with all it's "good intentions" has done much to destroy the basic principles of Christianity, to create a wimpy church, a church without power.  The simple but powerful principle of faith has been destroyed.  No longer are we taught to believe and act on the promises of God.  Instead we are taught that God has us like puppets on a string, micromanaging every detail of life on this planet, and that He is arbitrarily handing out or withdrawing His blessings based on His whims.  When in fact, God's promises are meant for "whosoever" will believe and receive them! 
The true gospel is a gospel of power!  We, as God's representatives on this earth, have been given authority to change circumstances on this earth through our prayers and our faith.
Much of the church does not want to accept the full truth of the gospel... Why, I wonder?  Could it be that the true gospel requires too much of us?  We may have to give up the American dream in order to live God's dream?  We may have to sacrifice, to live a life apart, to give up our own hopes and desires and be fully consumed by God's desires.
The true gospel, requires a laying down of our own lives, a dying to ourselves, so to speak.  But the glorious truth is that once we do this, and it is not easy, we gain back so much more than we lost.  His desires become our desires, His will becomes our will.
America's wimpy gospel says, it is a blessing to be poor.  It says, sometimes it is God's will for us to be sick to teach us something.  Though we believe it is God's will for a person to be sick we still pray and pray for God to heal them while seeking all help possible from doctors.  If it's God's will why not let them stay sick?  The church in America says that all that is happening around us must be God's will, all the while thinking if we get enough education we can fix everything.  We pursue the American dream.  We teach our children, that they must educate themselves so they can get high paying jobs and own lots of stuff and then they are successful.
The true gospel of Jesus Christ says that God desires above all things that we prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers.  If we are healthy and prosperous, we then can reach out to a dying world.  We can be helpful and relevant to the hurting.  The true gospel says that, "By Jesus's stripes we were healed!"  This means we received our healing at the cross!  We just have to walk in what God has already given us.
Sometimes people ask me, What good is praying when God will just do whatever He wants anyway?  With this kind of view, it is true, there is no use in praying.  If we don't believe God heals today, that it is His will to heal, then why pray for healing?  It's a waste of our time and God's.  If we believe it is God's will to keep us sick to teach us something then why waste our time praying for healing?
It is so exciting when we get the revelation that God's Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The Word of God was not just written for "back then", the Word is written for such a day as TODAY!  It is relevant today.  His promises are as fresh and good now as they ever were. 
If the gospel was only preached for salvation, it would be worth it.  Avoiding hell, spending eternity in Heaven, is the greatest treasure that God gave us in the gospel.  Much of the church in America really only sees the gospel as a means to avoid hell.  And if that was all it was, that would be OK.  Still completely worth being Christians.  But the gospel is so so much more.  God is so big.  He is so powerful.  He is EXCITING, not boring!  In the gospel God offers us so much more than we know, so much more than we are willing to receive...  Personally, I think the God so many people serve is just plain wimpy and boring...  He is in a little tiny box that they create.
I DARE you today, take God out of the box.  Read the Word, believe the Word, let your life and your beliefs be established on the Word.  Put the Word above the World. Find out what God promises you and take Him up on it.  Come to the banqueting table.  It has been laid out for you.  Take and eat of all that is good.  God will never force you to come.  He will never force you to partake.  If you choose not to believe or receive what He offers, He will be sad, but He will not shove it down your throat.  God is a gentleman!
There are lots of good Christians out there who are on their way to Heaven, they are dearly loved by God, yet their prayers go unanswered.  Why, you ask?  It's not a matter of God loving them any less.  It's not a matter of Him arbitrarily choosing to answer some and not others... it's a matter of FAITH!  The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God.  It says, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  The Bible says that he who doubts is like a boat tossed about on the waves!  He is a rewarder of those who believe and who diligently seek Him!
Dear Lord, reveal yourself to us!  Give us revelation of your promises and help us to increase our faith by using it.  Give us revelation each and everyday of our lives, for every situation that we have!