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Stop the Fear

“There is no more devastating blow against evil then when a human being choose God in the Face of suffering, disappointment, unbelief, chronic pain, frustration, abandonment… before the circumstances change, to get up and proclaim that GOD IS GOOD is a devastating blow to evil.” -John Eldredge

Surrender to Him

Trust in Him

On our knees

Praying to Him.

The chaos ensues and we have forgotten who, what and where we are.  All sense of “common sense” is gone. We have lost all of our own way of being. We lost the sense of it being okay to be an individual; after all, who would want to deal with everyone being the same?

My mind, heart and soul cries for the family and friends of George Floyd. My place has and never will be a place of judgement but a place of respect- I found myself in the very recesses of placing judgement, making threats of anger for the injustice that was done to this man. Then I realized I was wrong-I am human with flaws but the true change comes when we take time to look at our own selves and realize; what can I change? How do I make a difference when there is so many injustices in the world going on?

We were all created with magnificent characteristics. There is a plan however, when we close our eyes to the injustice of the world and don’t want to give to respect and understand each other because the enemy of this world tells it’s not okay for us to be different because he is counting on us to be afraid. Having fear of what we don’t know.

Fight each other

Eliminate each other

Adversaries to each other

Rebuke each other

Fear=Lies

What do we need to recognize is that cooler heads need to prevail. The things we are seeing around our country is the result of the enemy telling us time and time again we need to fight in order to have true justice.

God is allowing our free choice to influence the decisions we make-So when it comes right down to it do we STOP or FEAR? The choice is for each one of us to make. Me personally, I’m choosing to STOP. I want my relationship to grow in Christ so I can wipe away the fear.

I do not and will never pretend to always have the answers,  I do know I need to first turn my fears into surrendering, trusting and going to my knees to pray for God to be in control then ask him to guide and direct me to break free of the fear. So with his strength I will have peace, understanding and courage to get to know and understand who the person is to the left or the right of me regardless of race, politics or religion. This will allow me to grow and have respect for them. I’m not the judge, there is only One and I believe that when He gave His only begotten son He encouraged us to “love our neighbor” not to stir up more injustices or lack of respect for one another.

So when facing fear, I focus on HIS word.

Psalm 61:2-3 (NIV) 2) From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3) For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.

Count on God to help us pull ourselves from whatever fear it is we have.

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Don’t be discouraged, He is always with us. When we surrender and trust; we gain strength from him.

Isaiah 58:9a  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I

Turning to him for the HELP! we need HIS help in ALL things!!

Lord,

At this time I surrender to you, give you praise glory and honor upon you; you are my savior and redeemer. You are the king of kings; the alpha and the omega! You are everything because I know in my heart without you I am nothing.

Lord, this unsettling and unrest in our country is tearing us apart. Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ I ask for you to heal us, heal our heart, help us to right the injustices of this world. Anoint the spiritual leaders to become your vessel to make the wrongs; right again. Lord, In your hands I place the family and friends of George Floyd even through the uncertainty because of the riots going on I ask that you please Lord help them to heal! Place your shroud of protection upon them and comfort them.  Please stop the riots from happening so the healing can begin. We ask for your spiritual protection upon our country Lord.

Please Lord!! You are the great God of redemption, healing, the great physician; make these wrongs right! We lift our hearts you for the healing to begin! Through your Son’s holy and precious name Christ Jesus-Amen.

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Find the light; to Make Our Burdens Light

John 8:12 (NIV) When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

The darkness consumes my mind; it reminds of those times of feeling worthless. The pictures in my head of the past; the feeling of terror the thought of wanting to yell “STOP” but being paralyzed by the pain nothing comes out.

Then comes the loss of time and the feeling of not wanting to wake up again begging and pleading for the pain, the voices and the suffering to just stop please take it away from me. Nothing.

Happiness eludes me; why me? The idea of peace enters my mind then goes away again in an instant. Peace no more. Then I awaken not knowing how much more of this darkness I am able to take. I just want it to end.

Then in the moment of desperation and wanting to regain control of my life while being exhausted from not sleeping for days. I see where this is coming from. I crawl out of bed; pointing directly straight out of the house. Then I proclaim loudly, “Satan, I rebuke you from this home, from my heart and from my mind! My salvation is with my Savior Jesus Christ! I am saved for His glory; not yours! I rebuke you!”

Sheer exhaustion consumes me however there is still a battle to be fought in my mind; it just won’t shut off I decide to make it my purpose to regain what has been lost.
Time to go back to bed but again the continuation of my mind racing won’t stop. I have been fighting all day and I just want to sleep. I feel a hand on my arm; it is my husband desperately trying to keep me in bed quite aware of my exhaustion he just wants me to sleep. Then all of a sudden the break through moment begins; I am seeing the clouds of darkness shifting and the ray of light peeking through the clouds. Then begins the conversation with Jesus which should have taken place days ago begins;  I begin to pray giving Him the highest glory and honor. I am not worthy of His mercy and grace however I still receive it.

The exhaustion still consumes me in this moment of desperation I give Him praises for all of his blessings He has bestowed on me, both good and bad. Yes, the bad things in life because He continues to show me his redemption time and time again.

Then all of a sudden the feeling of my heart literally breaking in two. I don’t understand completely the circumstances of the situation I was praying for only there would be a new journey for those people I was praying for. I prayed so hard so hard for them and in the end all I could ask for was HIS WILL TO BE DONE. There is the bigger picture. His WILL be done. Then all of a sudden a peace falls upon me. The feeling of the Holy Spirit has me wrapped up and I hear His voice, “I am in control.” “I have you.” “Just sleep” my sobs were so hard it woke my husband; I reassured him I was okay. By this time I am saying aloud, “Thank you Jesus” “Thank you-“ I tell my husband to just lay here, can you feel Him, He is here with us; He is always with us; He is always faithful, He is in control; our Lord and Savior is in control. He is in control….”

Then the sleep finally came upon me finally my burden was light; I could feel the work of the Holy Spirit putting my heart back together making me stronger than I was before. Would this be the last time I encounter the darkness hard telling but, I knew in my heart Jesus had a message for me.

During this period of darkness it was scary, times of begging for peace to come upon me. But the peace came when I was completely exhausted. He allowed the darkness to remind me I need to continue to place my faith and trust in Jesus. Have the relationship with Him to allow him to be in control. This message was so resounding; I woke the next morning so full of the Holy Spirit I didn’t want to miss out on worship service. The message begins, Who is in control? You or Jesus? Wait? What? Is this really happening right now? Everything I had discussed with Jesus his message was being repeated at Sunday morning service. Jesus knows my heart He knows how I need to hear his message so, why not remind her, “She is not in control I am.”

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29) Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30) For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
There is a lot of people who face pain, uncertainty, sorrow and those who have great joys to celebrate.
In Matthew Jesus promises there will be rest for the weary. He wants for us to place our burdens on Him and allow him to be in control.
With the pain we feel at times there is no light in the forefront; then I remember the one light I can always count on is the Light of Christ. We must realize through the storm clouds, rain and valleys there is hope with our faith in Christ.
All too often we want to handle the situation on our own. We don’t need help from anyone. But Jesus tells us in verse 29, when we take His yoke upon us and learn from Him our burdens will be light and then we will have rest for our souls. By doing this we will grow spiritually in our relationship with Jesus. He wants that relationship to be at the center of our lives when we do this the burdens, sorrow pain and celebrations in life are shared with Him. Then we praise him in all things good and bad.
Praise Him in the storm; watch the storm clouds clear and see His light; He is always there faithful and true.

Darkness_Light

 

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She Woke Up

Psalms 147: 3 He heals the broken hearted and binds their wounds.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Depression: (Noun) The fear of despondency and dejection

PTSD (Noun) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The feeling was exhilarating and scary at the same time. The fog lifted; she could see again but what was she seeing for the first time?

A mess left in the quake of her depression. Seeing her children again for the first time in years. What did she miss?

Graduations, weddings, celebrations and births but how could this be? She sees a glimpse of her daughter, the last time she saw her daughter she was about 5 graduating from pre-school. She is wearing the same dress, red, white checkered dress, with the letters A B C across the top. A proud moment; her oldest was going onto kindergarten. Now, her daughter has graduated from high school, married a young Marine; moved away and started a family.. This was only one child; they were three affected by this quake before she knew it the precious eight year old already had his future Military career in the works, she remembers the Lego planes in his bedroom; his dream of being in Air Force and before she knew he was gone. Graduated college and now a striking young officer proudly serving his country. Then the youngest was home; he was thinking what in the world did they do; the left me with her! He had a plan, he found his love at a church event but he heard the call to serve. He wanted to be like those others in our family he wanted to serve so, he joined the Marine Corp and short time later married the love of his life. Sure she was there for the picture moments, the smiles, the congratulations and the “oh how proud you must be” comment from those attending the social events of the year.

She also believed during her darkness she was maintained by a special relationship with Christ. She looks back and sees how He carried her. He held her close in His arms and when the smiled needed to be turned on it was there. He was showing her the way out of the darkness.

The day she woke up and the days to follow it was difficult for her to face. HOW?! WHY?! What in the world happened? The anger to follow “How could you allow this to happen?” Everything was a complete mess; what was she going to do next.

Facing each child and her husband who saw her at her worse yet stood solid as an oak frustrated at times but reassuring her they were not going anywhere.

The fear and anger has her running, the anxiety which pulsated through her body gave her the feeling of fight or flight so she decided she needed to stay strong and fight, the only way she would defeat the demon of depression was to face it. She wouldn’t face it alone but, it would be a challenge. She needed to WAKE UP and face the MESS!

Praying on her knees she asked God to please forgive her; asking for his grace and mercy to bring her comfort. She knows He is her redeemer and savior; He is with her at all times. Even knowing this comes the next part of this battle the anxiety she battles with PTSD, the trauma was real and but the memories are even more haunting; the trauma plays over and over in her mind. She finds at times, her mind has so much control she feels like she is walking around with a mark on her forward or more like a statement that says, “I’m Broke” waiting for repairs” Then the people will come around and pick at her, they pick at the broken parts, she feels uncomfortable when someone compliments her because she believes they have an ulterior motive and not a good one either.

The battle is just beginning for her; she won’t miss another moment of those things that are important to her but, the scars are still there. Not just the emotional scars but the physical scars of her trauma.  But she is not alone, she still has her husband; the standing oak in her corner that no matter how hard she tried to push him away he stood still on shaky ground. She has Christ; when she woke up the fire was reignited in her heart and soul.  Her children, the conversations with her children were the beginning of new memories and them reminding her of the ones she missed; the love and forgiveness which followed. The transformation  was so powerful for the first 5 days she was talking non stop; acquainting herself with those important in her life.

She looks for the signs of Christ in her life. She found them He will place on her heart a scripture one that reminders her that HE is with her. He reminds her the path to healing is also forgiving. What does this mean for her next path; going one by one to those closest to her and asking for forgiveness.  Working through hard work with therapy and identifying who she is for the first time. Not being defined by one tragic moment or several moments in history. But, by shedding the anger, bitterness and learning to combat the negative with the good.

She will walk with the diagnosis of Depression, Social Anxiety and PTSD however she will not allow it to define who she is as a person! She takes the courage and face each day with love and joy in her life. Not taking another moment for granted.

 

 

 

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Sing Praise to the Lord

It has been way too long since I last blogged.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about trials, storms, desert and just feeling alone.

My latest Facebook post was about who are we to questions the trials we come face to face with. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul when he was imprisoned the first time because he freed the slave girl Lydia of her demons. What did Paul and Silas do? They would sing Praises to the Lord.

Doing this is easier said than done. I am human after all. When faced with difficult situations I need to remember; don’t become emotional. Listen intently, find the lesson or opportunity I need to learn and always, give the praise and glory to the Lord because he has a message for me. By allowing these things to happen we are putting faith and trust in the Lord. We allow him to help us through any situation we may be faced with. I believe the Lord will carry me through the valley. He is going to find the way for us.

He knows of all our needs. This is why we need to learn and have more trust and faith in the Lord. Sure, we are going to fall but it is an opportunity to grow.

Phillipians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Rely on him and remember give ALL THINGS to the Lord good and bad. Seek out the glorious gifts of life lessons the Lord has in store for each of us.

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Salvation

For some reason this topic has been on my mind a lot lately; I have also been reading a lot from the book of Psalms especially from Psalms 51. (David wrote Psalms 51) This is one of the critical points when king David has realized everything he had done was for his own selfish need. He sinned by having an affair with Bathsheba and then he also had her husband murdered and covered it up.

King David did horrible things but here is where he begins to ask for forgiveness:

 Psalms 51:2 “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from sin.”

We are familiar with the story of King David and his short comings yet the Lord still used him for His purpose.  How? by showing us his mercy and love by forgiving King David for his sins.

So, thinking about ourselves; we have days we are just on top of the world; we don’t miss a step and keep on walking forward with the plan to please the Lord. Reminding ourselves of our true purpose. Then one day we will sin, sin is a little word with a huge impact, it means the same as doing something wrong which is against anything you believe to be righteous and true. I know I fall short on a daily basis; falling short could be as simple thinking a thought which is inappropriate or wishfully thinking harm would fall upon someone.

When we were born; we were born with sin. Our natural tendencies are for our own selfish ways rather than to please the Lord. When Jesus died on the cross he took on all our sin for our own salvation. King David didn’t have this at the time; he had to turn to the Lord himself. I can imagine him on his knees praying these words to the Lord.

Psalms 51: 10-12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a stead fast spirit within me

11) Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12) Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

With our salvation; we ask for forgiveness by praying through “His son Jesus Christ.” We can become free of sin once we ask for forgiveness and truly want this forgiveness. God wants to have a close relationship with us and the only way to prevent the crushing wave of guilt is to ask for his forgiveness. By doing this we are also building our relationship with Christ and this is where the foundation for salvation begins.

So when we find ourselves distant from the Lord this is the time we want to remember:

  1. We turned away from Him (Through sin)
  2. God has proven time and again he will mercifully forgive us
  3. Salvation comes through accepting Christ as our savior
  4. Ask for repentance

Remember Jesus’ words

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only So, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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Waiting at the Well

Scripture: John 4: 1-26

I enjoy reading the conversation between the Samaritan woman and Jesus. It is a real eye opener for me, in some retrospect it demonstrates how  a single encounter with Jesus can change a life. This in part is why I chose to call my blog “Waiting at the Well.”

Who doesn’t have a past that is less than perfect? Who doesn’t have  luggage which has a tendency to bring us down. Sure, in a perfect world we would raise this up to Jesus and turn it over to him 100% of the time; however we are human and we want control.

Let’s take a look at the story of the Lady at the well. Here is what we know:

1) She is a Samaritan Woman and Jesus was a Jew

2) She was drawing water from the well of Jacob and Jesus was talking about living water

What is the living water?

  • This is when you desire to have a relationship with the Lord as if you were thirsting for water.  Jesus tells her that anyone who drinks of the water from the well will continue to be thirsty but, whoever drinks from the water he gives them will never be thirsty again. I would like to think Jesus is talking about the relationship we can have with him. The comfort and peace which is found in this relationship of unconditional love from the Lord.

3) She was a woman who lived in sin; She stated that she had no husband, then Jesus replied to her “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

  • Wow, what a jolt of reality. If it were me, I would have hidden myself, instead her encounter had a calming effect on her. She was more than willing to listen to the words of Jesus; she identified him as a prophet. I love to read His response to her..

John 4: 21-24 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22) You Samaritans worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23) Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24) God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

  • If I am understanding this correctly it’s not about the location of where we worship God; it is about our attitude; he wants us to be “in spirit and in truth”

4) Her eyes are opened to whom she is speaking with. I like how she ‘knows the Messiah is coming’

John 4:25-26 The woman said, “I know the Messiah” (Called Christ) “is coming. when he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26) Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

I know in my heart, God knows me better than I know myself; what he wants from us is to come to him on our knees, raising our arms to praise him and to develop a  relationship with him no matter how broken we may feel. I believe our past is part of God’s plan to mold us from the inside out to carry His message forward.

Where are you? Are you waiting at the well for Jesus or have you moved beyond this point?

As for  myself, I have moved from the well; I have found my peace and comfort  from the Lord when I decided to surrender myself to him on November 11, 2006.

Romans 8:26-27 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27) And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hello Family and Friends!! I am Here blogging!!

Today I was able to spend time with my oldest son. While I was with him I had the opportunity to discuss my first blog. So here it is a brief introduction:

I am a daughter, sister, wife and mother along with many other titles. First and foremost I am a child of God. On November 11, 2006 I accepted Jesus as my savior. This was my Easter. I remember the days leading up to this night; I was sprawled on the floor in front of the cross asking for Lord to change me from the inside out. The changes he has made and continues to make have been challenging and comforting. It has also brought me to have a closer understanding of my relationship with Christ and my relationship with my husband.

I am not an expert in theology however I feel with life experiences I’ve grown to have an understanding of my relationship with the Lord. This has allowed me to deliver a message of hope, inspiration, faith and trust.

I am so looking forward to sharing and being a vessel for the Lord’s message.

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

My next blog will be about why I choose “Waiting at the Well” for my page. Read John chapter 4 “Jesus talks to a woman at the well”