THREE FRIENDS PRAYED

THREE FRIENDS PRAYED

This Preach Letter is very late today because the Lord wanted me to go on a hike this morning.

 

It all started a few days ago when my niece and I talked on the phone about her coming down to help me buy a new car. I’m short and fairly small, so salesmen tend to think they can take advantage of me. I always had my roommate Jane to deal with all the car stuff, and she didn’t mind it, and was great at it. But she passed away, so the idea of going to buy a car by myself was basically terrifying me. My niece offered cheerfully to come down and help. She is brilliant in business, likes car stuff, and has no fear when it comes to those kinds of business deals. So, I thought “Great!! I feel so relieved.” Then she called and said something like:

 

“Well, how about you go online and look at available cars in your price range and then go to a dealership and sit in the cars and drive them to see which ones you like? “OHHHHH, NOOOOO!!! And panic grabbed me!!

 

I’m usually brave in most things, but I cratered! I was basically terrified! So…… I texted my niece and two other friends and told them how scared I felt, and would they please pray for me. All of them said yes, and all of them told me I could surely do it.

 

Then the new church I started attending was having a hike on Mount Charleston today. I thought that would be good for me, so I thought about it, and it seemed like the Lord also wanted me to go. But when I came home yesterday and started really thinking about it, I started to panic again. I hadn’t driven that far by myself in years. The hike was an hour’s drive out of Vegas and up a mountain. Then the “what ifs” started: “What if I have a flat tire, what if I get caught out on the highway and some creep comes along, what if my car breaks down up on the mountain,” all kinds of negative thoughts flooding in.

 

I repeatedly asked Jesus: “Am I really supposed to be doing this?” And every time I asked, the answer was “YES, I want you to do this!” I even “forgot” to set my alarm last night when I went to bed, and HE woke me up about an hour into my sleep, and I knew I was supposed to get up and set the alarms on my phone and on my clock! I did it, but when I got up at 5:00, I still considered not going.

 

But something happened inside me. I felt an odd kind of new bravery that came from the prayers and belief of the three friends who prayed for me. Their faith and prayer lifted me into a courage I didn’t have before, and I just kept moving.

 

As I was driving on a practically empty highway, getting closer and closer to the turnoff up the mountain, I felt better and better. I wasn’t even a quarter of a mile up the mountain road, and I had to pull over to take some photos. It was so beautiful!! I was so early that I had the luxury to pull over three times! As the sun was coming up and shining on the mountains, there were wonderful white cloud formations in a brilliant sky! The Lord was showing off, and it was spectacular!

 

Then the Lord did a wonderful personal miracle for me up there. When I got near the top, I went past the dirt road leading to the trailhead. I got about a half a mile up the road and realized I needed to turn around, so I did, and right next to the road when I turned, was the most beautiful painted horse, a wild Mustang!! Anyone who knows me knows I love horses, and especially the wild Mustangs, so this was amazing, and I had the time to just stay there and watch her. Then I drove back down the road to the trailhead parking lot. I got out of the car, and who do you think I saw trotting down the path on the other side of the road, and toward me? The Mustang!! She passed close by and went over the edge and down into a flat area below. As she was just getting out of my sight, she let out a very loud neighing, as if she was saying, “Bye for now, come again.”

 

No one could ever convince me it was a coincidence. NO, that was my God adding to the gifts He wanted to pour on me, His child. And then He had more! He picked out the perfect people to go on a hike with, and I had a really super time. I got to know some new Christians, and we had some really great conversations.

 

The longest hike I was able to do recently was about three miles on flat terrain. This one was on an incline, six miles at an elevation of 8,600 feet. I was surprised that I had no trouble whatsoever and, in fact, was energized and felt even better at the end of the hike. The Lord had strengthened me, and my praying friends had a big part in that, too!

 

When my three friends specifically prayed for me to be brave, they set off the domino effect—I was brave enough to drive myself an hour away and up to the top of a mountain, do a six-mile hike, and feel great afterward, and be perfectly comfortable talking with new people that I don’t really know. If I could do all that, I now believe that I can definitely handle the car dealership as well! NO FEAR!

 

It’s funny in life how different things come up over the years, odd things that all of a sudden petrify you, or cause you to act in a way you don’t want to act. But it’s a journey, and the Lord will always have a way to help us, rescue us, and get us through victoriously. And then He puts the cherry on top and gives me one of my favorites, a beautiful painted Mustang girl 😊.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

LAST 2 DAYS TO GET MY FREE BOOK ON COMFORT :-)

 

Tomorrow, Saturday, is the last day to get the FREE booklet on COMFORT. There are some really good messages here that I think will really bless you. Get your copy today :-) Love in Christ, Carolyn

 

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FREE BOOKLET Tuesday June 30th through July 4th - SAMPLE BOOK D: COMFORT

My booklet, WINGS: Sample D: COMFORT, is this week from Tuesday, June 30^th through Saturday, July 4^th. .

 

This booklet contains 7 of the 61 chapters from the complete book. These chapters are true-life stories about the various ways God provides comfort to His people in the midst of chaos. Chapters include 1. RISE LIKE THE EAGLE  2. DO WE HAVE TO WAIT TIL WE DIE TO GET SOME HEAVEN? 3. HOLDING YOUR GROUND 4. LEARN FROM THE CICADA 5. WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG 6. NO NAGGING NECESSARY 7. WHAT DOES JESUS WANT FOR HIS BIRTHDAY?

 

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IF WE SHOW UP, HE SHOWS UP

IF WE SHOW UP, HE SHOWS UP

I was telling my friend that I get a little nervous every time I go to write one of these preach letters, and sometimes have no idea what’s going to come out. I told her: “I do know this much, if I just show up, He shows up.” Later, I got to thinking about that statement. We all have certain places we can go where the Lord meets us, a certain chair we like, a bench out in the yard, a path in the woods, or behind the wheel of the car on a favorite roadway. For me, it’s in my chair where I sit and pray every morning. If we show up, He will be there every time.

 

Our Lord Jesus had His favorite places to go, where He could talk to God alone. One of those places was a mountain. “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone” (Matt. 14:23). And John 6:14: “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.”

 

John 7:53 to John 8:1 tells us that after a long day of preaching and ministering to the people, “every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.”

 

Just think about it a few minutes. When you're facing a really tough situation, where do you go to calm down or clear your head? Jesus had his favorite locations. You do too. You may not have recognized it as such, but let’s start paying attention to what touches our souls. Intimacy with the Lord has to look like something in our natural realm.

 

Jesus went to a mountain, and sometimes He went to a garden. “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples” (John 18:1). “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, ‘Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder’” (Matt. 26:36).

 

Where is it that you feel the closest to God? Sitting in your bed in the middle of the afternoon, when there’s no one else around? Or is it on a brisk walk around the block in your neighborhood? Or is it sitting quietly in your church on a day and time when hardly any people are around?

 

Inside of you, you already know where one of your special places is, a physical place where the Lord has met you before. If you are really trying to think of where it is, and you don’t really think you have one, that’s okay; this will be a new adventure for you to find it.

 

Prayerfully ask the Lord to show you, and then do the first thing that comes to mind. Often when we’re learning to hear the voice of the Lord, we practice by asking a simple question and then just doing the first thing that comes to mind. 99% of the time, it will be the Lord. You can even just walk around your house or be in a place that makes you feel comfortable and ask a simple yes-or-no question: “Is this the place?”

 

The Lord wants you to hear His voice even more than you do! Don’t second-guess yourself. Take the first thought and go for it. Don’t be afraid. If you just show up, He’ll be there the first time and every time after.

 

Our real-life intimate locations already exist. They are within easy reach of where we are. Recognize and report for duty. The Lord is waiting for you.

 

God is everywhere, but intimacy with Him needs to look like something. The relationship needs to be real to us. 

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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IS IT ENOUGH? GIDEON

S26 IS IT ENOUGH? GIDEON

Sometimes I’ve wondered if I was doing enough for God. Was I doing enough for the world? I told the Lord, “What I do is put out weekly Preach Letters, and I pray a particular prayer every day to rid the world of the spiritual “rulers of the darkness of this world” (Eph.6:12). But being a 60s child, I sometimes got tempted to think maybe what I’m doing now is too small. Should I be out there protesting or going to rallies like I did in the 60s and 70s?

 

But the Lord’s answer was always the same: “No, you are doing exactly what I want you to do, and you are changing the world from right where you are, and I’ll show you if there’s more.” I was satisfied with His answer, even though I can’t tell you how often I asked Him to repeat it! I’m sure some of you have asked the same questions: Am I doing enough? What else can I do? Lord, what is it you want me to do?

 

There are just some things we’ll not be able to get fully answered until we go through them. We’ve heard the phrase: “There’s a reason for everything.” But the second half of that should be: “But we don’t get to know all the reasons ahead of time.” That’s where trust and pure obedience come in. The story of Gideon and his small band of Bible heroes teaches us about trusting God, doing what He says, and seeing the great results we never knew would be our destiny.

 

The story of Gideon's life begins with God allowing the Israelites to be dominated for seven years by the Midianites. Why? Because “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judg. 6:1), The Midianites were a wandering band of nomads who, with help from the Amalekites and others, would make regular attacks on the Israelites. 

 

“They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it” (Judg. 6:4-5).

 

The Israelites were hiding in caves, and they were in poverty. So God sent an angel to a young man named Gideon, who was threshing wheat near a winepress to avoid detection at the time of the angel’s visit. The angel came to him and said: “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour” (Judg. 6:12). Gideon was only a young man, definitely not a man of valour. But God saw him differently from how he saw himself. And that’s an excellent lesson for us. We must see ourselves through the eyes of the Lord only.

 

Then Gideon questioned: “Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites” (v.13).

 

But the angel didn’t bother to explain why it was happening. He just told Gideon what to do next and said: “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?” (v.14)

 

“And he [Gideon] said unto him, ‘Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.’ And the Lord said unto him, ‘Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man’” (vv.15-16).

 

Judges 8:10 tells us that the enemy had 135,000 fighting men! (Judg. 8:10). Gideon only had 32,000.

“The Lord said unto Gideon, ‘The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, ‘Mine own hand hath saved me.’

 

“Now, therefore, go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead’. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand” (Judg. 7:2-3).

 

So, out of 32,000 men, 22,000 turned back! Now Gideon only had 10,000 to fight the 135,000 enemy soldiers. But God knew something more about those men who remained. Though they may have thought they were ready to fight, God knew better. So the Lord instructed Gideon to give the 10,000 men a simple test.

 

“And the Lord said unto Gideon, ‘The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.’

 

“So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, ‘Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.”

 

“And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.”

 

“And the Lord said unto Gideon, ‘By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place” (vv.4-7). 

 

I never understood the big deal about two different ways of drinking water. But a Christian friend explained it to me. If a person goes down to drink water and brings it up to his mouth, he can still be on guard with his eyes looking out for the enemy. But if a person gets down on his knees and slurps the water, his eyes would not look out, but down! So out of the 10,000 men, only 300 were truly battle-ready!

 

Gideon may have been apprehensive, to say the least, about going against a multitude of blood-thirsty enemies with such a small number of men, but God knew what He was doing. So Gideon trusted and obeyed, and he saved the whole nation of Israel.

 

“Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon” (Judg. 8:28).

 

With God, it’s never about the numbers; it’s about a person’s heart. So we have to get used to doing spiritual things without always having to know why. And if we sometimes feel we are less than able, remember this story of Gideon. It’s not about the big numbers; it’s about each of us doing our small part to stay alert, trust, and obey. That’s how the world becomes a better place. Because of that young man’s heart and willingness to trust and obey, the whole nation of Israel had true peace in the land for 40 years.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

If you have mature children, family members, or friends who might like to receive my Preach Letters via email, let me know. carolynmolica@hotmail.com

 

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TRUST AND OBEY

TRUST AND OBEY

It was a rough day. I could feel it in the air. I was fine, but I could feel it all around me: People weren’t happy. It was hot; their favorite team didn’t win; and it just felt out of whack. I had my errands to do, but even driving was difficult: traffic jams, people going through red lights, very chaotic. I’m sure you have had similar experiences and similar situations.

 

My errands took me to varied parts of the city, and the Lord led me just fine, but the streets he had me go on were different from my usual routes, so I knew something was off.

 

I finished my errands and, on the way home, a couple of miles from the house, I was in another line of traffic coming up to the intersection. Then I saw it: A very big car crash on the corner. One car facing out into the road had its front and both sides smashed in several places. Then another car had jumped a 3-foot cinderblock-and-metal fence and landed upside down in a mess of broken fence and scattered piles of bricks, cinder blocks, and debris. I could see all that because the traffic was moving so slowly as it got through the intersection.

 

The Lord whispered: “That’s why I had to take you on the route I did—to keep you from being in this accident, and there were others along the way earlier that you didn’t see, because I got you away from them.”

 

I know many of you have had similar experiences to mine.

 

The Lord’s way is not always smooth for us, but he keeps us out of trouble when we trust and obey!

 

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).

 

Don’t fight him; yield and trust. He sees what we don’t.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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HEAVEN

HEAVEN

For those of us who are fighters, what’s more thrilling than winning a battle against the enemy of God’s people? Not much, right? And yet Jesus tells us in Luke 10 that there is something even greater.

 

“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, Behold, I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Lk 10:17-20).

 

What does that mean? Well, for one thing, there will be no more battles to fight in heaven! Everyone who’s born again has true peace and joy to look forward to forever.

 

Revelation 21:4 tells us, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

 

And Isaiah 65:25 paints a beautiful picture for those of us who are animal lovers: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock.” In the Bible, there was a donkey who talked to a prophet, so many of us believe that in heaven, animals will be able to talk too, and what stories they will tell!  

 

According to our Lord, heaven is something we as Christians need to focus on at least as much as we focus on fighting those battles.  

 

It’s dangerous to be a warrior without taking time to revel in the hope of heaven.

 

If we spend most of our time getting all hyped up over the battles, what about when there are no more battles? If we’ve not practiced just being happy in the Lord’s presence, we might not know what to do with all the free time.

 

King David of the Bible was a warrior, and yet his psalms are salted with verses in which he basks in the visions of heaven. Look at Psalm 16:8-9, “I have set the Lord always before me: Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.”

 

The concept of going to heaven is not a new one. David, way back in Old Testament times, knew from God and His written Word that he would be with the Lord forever. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psalm 23:6).

 

And in Psalm 21: 4, David refers to himself when he says: “He [I, David] asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days forever and ever.”  David knew he had forever with the Lord, and we need to be equally at peace, knowing it too.

And lastly, “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Psa. 146:5).

 

It’s no secret that the world’s in a mess, and we are the ones letting God work in us to fight against Satan for the health, deliverance, and blessing of God’s people. But let’s take at least as much time to be happy in the Lord, focusing on the great reality of being with the Lord forever in heaven. It’s what Jesus said we should do.

 

In fact, it wouldn’t even be a bad idea for us to memorize some of those verses about heaven and about being with the Lord forever. We can put one or two in our list of scriptures we pray every day, or we can write them out and put them up in the bathroom. With all the negatives that bombard us each week, we might benefit from having some heaven to focus on!

 

Love, Carolyn

 

Discover how the principles of the Bible still apply to our lives today. The short, true stories in my books address current issues in a Biblical way.

 

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