GOD TAGS NEIGHBORHOOD AND IT’S EASY TO MISS WHAT YOU’RE NOT LOOKING FOR

I prayed daily to get rid of the gangs in the neighborhood. I was seeing more graffiti and reading about the different crimes committed around us. I was only focusing on the negatives and praying against them. This week something happened to change my focus.

My roommate said, “Did you notice the rehab place down the street is now a church? Have you seen the other new church down there too?”  I replied, “Oh yea, and there’s that other big one around the corner. The parking lot is always full.” I remembered that a Hispanic man and his kids came around at Easter to invite people to the Baptist church a block away.  And my roommate said, “The synagogue just built a brand new Jewish school down there too.” All kinds of new believers were infiltrating my neighborhood and I didn’t even know it.

I started off praying AGAINST the negatives, but I ended up LOOKING FOR THEM!  Since I wasn’t looking for the good things, I was missing all of what was happening around me.

John 1:5 says: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Just one flashlight in a room and all the darkness can’t make it go away. The entrance of God’s light in my neighborhood is what is beginning to dispel the darkness.

Now I’m no longer looking at the negatives, but at the light, focusing and praying for all the good I see. God tagged our neighborhood!

Love, Carolyn

Beneath the Veil no.15 LAS VEGAS STRIP VANISHES

I was driving home and looked over toward the Las Vegas Strip. I couldn’t see a thing. The wind had stirred up so much sand that it wiped out the skyline.

Wind is a physical thing. We can’t see it but the force of it changes things.

Faith is like that on the spiritual level. It splits the veil between the natural and the spiritual.

We are the only creatures who stand in the natural and reach, by faith, into the unseen and change things like the wind does. All the great things we can reach for are told to us by God.

Love, Carolyn

IN THE MIDDLE OF MY ROAD RAGE?

I was in a long line of traffic coming home the other day, when I had a guy pull out of the line behind me, go up to the front of the line and cut back in. I was furious and was telling him what I thought of him, though of course he couldn’t hear a word of it. Then all of a sudden I stopped and I asked myself, “Why are you so angry? God clearly tells us to forgive. But how do I wrap my mind around it here? How do I apply forgiveness in the middle of my road rage?

I didn’t get it until the Lord told me to look up the word “forgive.” It’s made up of two words: “for” and “give.” We are to be for (in favor of) giving them to God. He can handle the people that we can’t. When we are in favor of giving the people who anger us over to God and the consequences of His Word, we get the negative influence of those people off of us. If we do not release them over to God, the negative thoughts and emotions stay attached to us. We need to completely release them to either God’s care or His vengeance.

I’ve often found myself thinking that a person isn’t going to change. Sometimes that’s right, but I still have to pray that the Lord sets up something where they have the opportunity to want to change. I know I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my life and still do, but I’m able to change with God’s help and others can too.

What about when we feel we have a right to be angry at someone? We still need to forgive. We have to give those people over to God. He knows just what to do. He’ll either love them into changing or if they refuse, Romans 12:19 says: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord.” God’s vengeance is going to have a lot heftier effect than anything you or I could muster up.

We may say, “I can’t forgive what they did; I just can’t let it go.” But you CAN because you have “Christ in you” (Col 1:27). The forgiver is already a true part of the real you. “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

Anger is a strong defense and can make us look and feel powerful. If we think we have to let it go, we may feel weak and vulnerable. But, in fact, it takes more guts to be a forgiver.

We have to be the stronger person to stand tall and say out loud, “I forgive; right now I give them to You, God. Lord, if they didn’t realize what they did, then I give them to You and I believe that You will get them to someone to teach them. If they did it on purpose, I still give them to You. Either way, I give them up, and I am free.”

We will start to see ourselves changing and see others changing around us too. Forgiving is empowering and it frees us up to receive from God. It is what any true believer does. Even on the roads, forgiveness can take the road rage away!

Love, Carolyn

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Beneath the Veil no.14 One Degree Turns the Funk Around

At 211’ water boils. At 212’ it turns to steam. Steam can power a train. One degree makes a difference.

Today was long and hard. A lot of stuff was going on with my family and I was having difficulty with the project at work. I was so discouraged by the time I got home I didn’t want to do much of anything but I’d made a commitment to go and write. I almost talked myself into staying home to do it, but I know myself better than that. I was on a downward spiral and staying home wouldn’t get me out of my funk. I asked my roommate to pray and I made the decision to go out to write.

Just making that one degree turn and here I am writing and my head is clear. The funk is gone and I feel great.

“Perseverance is not the long race, but many short races, one after another.”

                                                                               --Walter Elliot

OUT OF COSTUME AND EXPOSED!

First I want to say a special hello to my followers in Russia and Germany. I appreciate and pray for everyone who reads what God has inspired me to write, but I see you guys often and wanted to say hi and love you.

I usually post on Sunday, but going to work early tomorrow so thought I'd get this out today. Have a great day. Love, Carolyn

I walked into Trader Joe’s and there was Ellen, yes the real Ellen, perusing the frozen food aisle. She wasn’t in her “dressed for TV” outfit. Then yesterday I looked over at the guy in the car next to me:  one of the dancers from “Thunder from Down Under.” He wasn’t in his costume either. We see people all the time here in Vegas who are not in their performing costumes. Did you know that the devil and his devil spirits put on costumes too? If we’re smart we can see who they really are: characters putting on an act. It’s a convincing one, yes, but we have the authority to expose and deflate them.

Here’s a little history of the devil’s show:

The devil started off as an angel and was designed to do God’s will. The devil was originally supposed to help mankind. He was created as the angel of light. Light makes things grow. Things are made clear in the light. Lucifer was to illuminate things for mankind. But God is the Ultimate Authority: “In the beginning God” “the Most High over all the earth” (Gen 1:1 and Psa 83:18b). Next in authority is us: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion.” Then comes angels (both good ones and evil).

We’ve been taught wrongly about the authority of angels and devil spirits because of a mistranslation of Psalm 8:5:

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.

In verse 5 where it says man is “a little lower than angels,” the word “angels” is the word Elohim, God the Creator. This verse should read: “For thou [God] hast made him [man] a little lower than Himself.”

Lucifer didn’t like the idea of being subservient to anyone. He didn’t want to do what God created him for. He didn’t want to help mankind; he wanted to rule over them and be worshipped by them. Isaiah 14 takes a look back in the devil’s history and gives us the story:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Is 14: 12-14)

To “sit upon the mount of the congregation” means to sit at the top, above all beings and judge them. (See Psa 82:1 and Psa 75:2.) Lucifer liked that idea—to be the bully on the throne and judge as he pleased.

“The most High” in the preceding verses is the Hebrew El Elyon. E.W. Bullinger explains: “ El is Elohim [the Creator] in all His strength and power. Elyon is rendered ‘the most high, the possessor of heaven and earth.’ It is Elyon, as possessor in the earth Who divides the nations their inheritance.” Lucifer craved that position and the power to divvy up possessions however and to whoever he wanted.

The Message reads: “I'll climb to the top of the clouds. I'll take over as King of the Universe!" But he couldn’t do that because there’s only one God over all. Because of Lucifer’s transgression, he was tossed out of heaven:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev 12:9, 12)

Adam had dominion on the earth but he got tricked by the devil and ended up giving him the power he wanted. In the one area where Adam gave into the devil, Jesus stood against him. Jesus was able to take back dominion on the earth for anyone who would believe in what He did.

So where is the devil now? He would like us to believe that he is still running things; for those who let him, he’s glad to do anything he can to run and ruin their lives. But legally he has no authority over any Christian. He is a bully with no backup. He’s a doomed being who puts on a costume to look powerful.

We can’t let the devil or his cohorts trick us into thinking they are mightier than we are or that they have any legal authority to be involved in our lives. Isaiah tells us that in the end the devil will be totally exposed for who he really is. All the costumes will come off and everyone will realize that it was all an act. He and his devil spirits will be annihilated for ever:

Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.  (Is 14:9-19)

The devil and his devil spirits are legally under our feet now. We don’t have to wait till the end to expose and deflate. Every single time they come up in their costumes to threaten us, we need to strictly send them away. The name of Jesus Christ and the blood He shed are our weapons to use and they work. We need to put the bullies down, strip them of their costumes and deflate their pretend authority every time!

Love, Carolyn

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Beneath the Veil no. 13 A Pencil

I didn’t want to be an executive assistant for the rest of my life. After some deep soul searching I decided I wanted to do artwork. The first thing I needed was a pencil for drawing. It was Sunday afternoon and the streets downtown were empty but the Holy Spirit prompted us to take the drive anyway. We couldn’t find a place to get art supplies, when my friend spotted the sign: Clark Studio.  “Maybe you can get some pencils in there.” I went in for a pencil and came out with a job as a mold maker for a sculpture studio. Twenty-five years later and I am still working in the arts field. We never know which step of obedience to the Holy Spirit will change our lives forever.

Love, Carolyn

Be Kind to Yourself April Fool

My family was visiting and we were in a whirlwind of activities—after all this is Las Vegas! I wanted everyone to have the time of their life and do everything they wanted to do. I got so wrapped up in trying to make sure that everyone else was having a great time that I wasn’t having a great time and I wasn’t getting my daily fill of the Word of God.

I began to get down on myself for being so foolishly undisciplined. I shared that with my mom and she told me to not be so hard on myself. When I started to write this, I heard in my spirit, “How long are you going to pout over this? How long are you going to feel bad and beat yourself up over this? Get over it! You’ve got a human part and you’re going to make some mistakes!” I told the Lord I was sorry. He forgave me; I forgave myself too, and then I was okay again.

We all act like “April Fools” sometimes. We make mistakes and do dumb things and wonder why we don’t seem to have it all together more often. But more foolish than doing stupid things, is dwelling on them. We need to get over ourselves! It’s inevitable that we are going to make mistakes. Did you know that we have a relationship with ourselves as well as with others? So if we can forgive someone else (a child for instance) and think about what we’d say to him or her, then we can say it to ourselves too, and be kind to ourselves.

Dwelling on error just makes us more foolish. We need to give ourselves a break. God does. As it’s recorded by John: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins [say we’re sorry], he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

God says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:12). Think about that for a minute. If we start off going east and just keep going east we will continue going around and around the globe and never get west. That’s how far away, in God’s eyes, He’s put our sins from us.

Hebrews 8:12 records: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” So if God doesn’t remember, what business do we have dwelling on past foolishness, sin and error? Paul wrote: “All things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17b). Matthew reminds us to live each day, one day at a time. (See Matt 6:34.) In other words, we don’t drag all our guilty garbage around from day to day. We say we’re sorry, receive forgiveness and move on.

Continuing to feel guilty is foolish when we know we’ve been forgiven. Beating ourselves up over a mistake, error, or wrong judgment, and dwelling on it, is foolish once we know that God not only forgives, but also forgets. That’s such a great thing!

Every day is not April Fools’ Day, but a new day, thank God! We realize we’re going to do dumb things sometimes. We try not to, but besides having a spiritual side, we have a flesh side and we’re not going to do everything perfect in this life. So we need to smile, pick ourselves up, forgive ourselves, and keep living for God the best we can, one day at a time.

Love, Carolyn

Beneath the Veil no.12 The Resurrection and Moses the Pirate

Easter Sunday dinner with our friends: Five year old Jack sat at the head of the table. My roommate asked him, “So Jack, do you know who Jesus is?”

“Yes,” he replied, “they nailed his hands and feet to the cross and he died.” Jack hung his head down and closed his eyes to illustrate his point. Then he bolted upright in his chair, flung his arms out to the sides, opened his eyes wide and exclaimed, “God raised Him up and he was ALIVE! Okay, now you tell a Jesus story.” My roommate began. We both told a few and after each one Jack said, “Tell another one, please.” We told several stories and had a great time.

The conversation went from records of Jesus to stories from the Old Testament. Jack’s mom told about the DVD they watched about Moses getting God’s people away from the Egyptians and parting the Red Sea. After dinner this story became a rousing game of Moses the pirate fighting the Egyptians and the bad mermaids. Of course Moses and his crew (the rest of us) won the battle and a great Easter was had by all.

Love, Carolyn  

I posted a portion of "Moses the Pirate versus the Egyptians and the Bad Mermaids:"