Wednesday, July 29, 2015

GOD PROVIDES BODYGUARDS FOR THE JOURNEY

Mario told me he drives 23 hours straight through when he takes his family to visit his relatives down in Mexico. I asked him why. He replied, “There are many banditos along the way and I am protecting my family.” It reminded me of Genesis 24, one of my favorite Bible records where Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac.

The servant had some doubts about the trip but Abraham told him, “The Lord will send his angel before thee and with thee, and prosper thy way.” What exactly did this mean?

The servant had to travel about 450 miles through rough lands carrying a dowry for the prospective bride. So, like with my friend Mario, there were bandits along the way ready to rob the servant of his many precious treasures. Part of the angel’s job was to go ahead of the servant and make sure the bandits were not going to be around to attack and steal the goods. Abraham was extremely rich, so he would have had many camels with loads of gold, silver, beautiful clothing, and other wonderful thing.

The other part of “prospering thy way” was to make sure the servant actually acquired the treasure (the wife) he came for. And, indeed it did happen.

How do these scriptures relate to us? If you consider that our lives are a journey, then these verses from Genesis 24 relate to us in many ways and can be applied in many circumstances. We all have possessions; consider them treasures. We’d like them to last and not be lost or stolen along the way.

Jesus spoke, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt 18:18). We can use these scriptures to loose angels to protect our treasures—our homes, our cars, our businesses, our livestock, our many precious possessions.

Considering all the servant took with him, he most likely had other people with him also and the angel protected them too. We could use these verses when we’re asking protection for our loved ones, as well as our personal safety and the protection of our goods.

Part of the angel’s mission was to prosper the servant by making sure he got what he went for. In this case it was the right woman. Whatever things God has given you permission to go after, you could send angels on these verses to prosper your way by making sure you get what you are after too.

It’s also something to note that the angel was sent out to prosper the way of a servant. This guy wasn’t a king or a corporate giant. He was a servant. Every single born again person has access to angels, like it says in Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” Galatians 3:29 says we are those heir: “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Today I am praying for you, that you will read this record in Genesis 24 in light of your own journey and think about how you can loose angels to prosper your way.

Love, Carolyn

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Sunday, July 26, 2015

RESPONDING TO THOSE HOLY HUNCHES


I woke up one night picturing a bat with big ears. Bats respond to vibrations much like we are to respond to the vibrations from the Holy Spirit. They’re in the realm of the unseen but we all have them. Those times when you “just feel like” you should wear a certain shirt, talk to a certain person, show up at different time—these nudges happen to all of us, all the time.

I was very inspired by Adrienne’s response to one of my posts. She said: “God is ever present. Being mindful of this by actively listening for Him, is the key to walking by the spirit. Even minor changes in schedule—that show of humility—keeps our connection with God strong. We may never see the results of our obedience; like the car accident that doesn’t happen because of your obedience to be elsewhere. You may wonder how to tell if you are on the right track. The only way is to play it through and see what you get. Rejoice in the victories and when it doesn’t go so well, ask God how to do better.”

I think of soldiers, firefighters, undercover agents, 911 operators; they are trained to listen to their hunches and respond quickly. People’s lives depend on it.

God gives us Holy Hunches. He can’t make us listen and can’t force us to obey. We train ourselves on this one. “The only way is to play it through and see what you get. Rejoice in the victories and when it doesn’t go so well, ask God how to do better.”

In Luke 11:11 Jesus says if a child asks his father for bread, the father won’t give him a stone. When we’re asking for a more spiritual walk, He’s not going to give us a stone to trip over, but rather bread to nourish us and make us stronger disciples.

Love, Carolyn

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Wednesday, July 22, 2015

WISDOM IN DEALING WITH PEOPLE


At about 7:30 in the evening I was writing at my local coffee shop when I overheard a customer ask, “Any double chocolate brownies left?” The cashier said, “No, they’re all gone.” I wanted to jump right up and shout, “No they’re not! I saw you put them in the back room almost an hour ago.” I knew it was wrong for him to put all the goodies away so early but really it wasn’t any of my business.

We sometimes think we are the hall monitors of the world and we stick our nose in where it doesn’t belong. Proverbs 9:7-8 tells us, “If you correct conceited people, you will only be insulted. If you reprimand evil people, you will only get hurt.” How often have we made that mistake? There’s a time a place for everything and only the Lord knows the time and place. That’s why it’s so important to walk by the spirit and not by the flesh when we deal with people, especially when it comes to correcting something we think is an error.

It’s not really our personal business to be worrying about what other people are doing or not doing, unless of course we’ve been given that authority in a work place or in a family situation dealing with children or another situation where we’ve been assigned specific authority over people.

With strangers and even with friends we need to wait until they ask or unless the Lord pushes us in that direction to help. We need to be busy doing what we’re supposed to be doing and let the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God guide us concerning other people. The Lord wasn’t instructing me to say anything about the brownies. It was just me wanting to scold the guy because I thought he was wrong for not offering to go get the brownies for the lady.

If the Holy Spirit had told me to say something, I would have, but He didn’t, so I needed to just keep quiet (and quit grumbling under my breath about it too!) We do a lot of murmuring and grumbling about people instead of praying for them. We need to remember God loves them just as much as He does us.

Philippians 2:14-16 tells us, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That we may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.”

When it comes to reproving or correcting, it’s essential to be led by the Spirit of Christ from within. The motivation has to be the love of God, not the self-righteous scolding of a know-it-all. If love isn’t our motivation we need to start making it our motivation, always and in everything.

If the Lord’s not telling us to correct a person then the best thing we can do is pray for them. Matthew 9:38 tells us to pray for laborers to help with the harvest and that’s talking about the harvest of souls for God’s glory. Everyone needs help when it comes to truly living the best life God’s called us to.

I didn’t know the whole story of the brownies going into the back room before their time and my butting in was not God’s will.

Even when we have so much to share, and good advice and great wisdom, the Bible also says, “Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you (tear you in pieces).” Is that what we want? Of course not! And the Lord doesn’t want that for us either. He’ll let us know when to give advice and when not to.

Instead of jumping into situations where the Spirit hasn’t led us, we can pray. That way we don’t get hurt and people who want to hear the truth and want to live a more holy life will have the opportunity.

Love, Carolyn

My WINGS books are all available on Amazon. Each week I offer one for FREE. But if you can’t download it free from Amazon, I can send you a word doc or a pdf file so you can read it FREE on your computer. Let me know at: carolynmolica@yahoo.com

Monday, July 20, 2015

LIGHT SHINES AND DARKNESS CAN'T EXTINGUISH IT


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. But the words of a friend changed my focus.

My roommate, Jane, 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 Jane reminded me, “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. It’s a matter of where we put our focus. It’s not a bad thing to take notice of the bad things then pray against them and do what we can, but it can get way overboard and cloud the vision the Lord wants us to see.

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. The Lord is tagging our neighborhood for good!

Love, Carolyn

My books are all available on Amazon. Each week I offer one for FREE. But if you can’t download it free from Amazon, I can send you a word doc or a pdf file so you can read it FREE on your computer. Let me know at: carolynmolica@yahoo.com

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

"A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE"


Jesus went to the mountains when he needed a break from ministering. I go to the movies. I sit in the dark and let myself go. Nothing gets to me there. It’s too dark to write; I can’t read; there are no animals to feed, no housework or watering to do and I can’t even text on my cell phone! I love it.

Sometimes we tend to overdo it, being so intense, serious and religious; we don’t make time for fun and relaxation. It’s just not healthy and it’s not God’s will. He wants us to enjoy what He’s given us. That means we get to experience our God-given emotions of happiness, mirth, and pleasure.

I know we’re not to base all of our decisions on what makes us feel good. But we’re not to deny ourselves either. Balance is a good thing.

In Old Testament times there were feasts throughout the year. Ecclesiastes 10:16 tells us “a feast is made for laughter,” so God must want us to have some good times. Proverbs 15:15 says, “He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.”

The original word for “merry” means playful, cheerful, joyful, pleasant and beautiful. The word for “heart” means feelings and intellect. To have playful, pleasant and beautiful feelings or thinking, we need to include some laughter, fun and relaxation in our busy schedules. God has a reason for wanting us to employ our emotional side.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” The definition for the word “merry” includes “brightness.” Frieda, an older friend of ours tripped on some steps, took a bad fall and was at home recovering. She was spending a lot of time alone and was getting absent-minded and dull in her thinking.

Jane picked up on this and remembered that Frieda always seemed to really enjoy watching baseball. Jane got out the baseball schedule and started calling every day to get Frieda hooked up on a game. The happy emotions kicked in and she looked forward to getting her daily call about a game to watch. Her mind grew sharper and clearer. She’s happy and it’s changed her whole outlook.

Find something you love and do it. King David danced and played music. Peter went fishing. Jesus went up to the mountains. And I go to the movies.

Whether it’s the movies, a trip to the mountains, watching your favorite sport or any other “time out” activity, let’s not deny ourselves the opportunity to refresh our souls and get healthier as we enjoy what God’s given to us.

Love, Carolyn

My WINGS books are all available on Amazon. Each week I offer one for FREE. But if you can’t download it free from Amazon, I can send you a word doc or a pdf file so you can read it FREE on your computer. Let me know at: carolynmolica@yahoo.com

Sunday, July 12, 2015

GETTING TO KNOW JESUS


Several years ago I realized I really didn’t know Jesus very well. I’d been taught a lot about relating to and praying to God, but Jesus somehow got bypassed. I’d been taught that it was Christ IN us but not how to relate to Him as a real person. I couldn’t help questioning, “If He is our brother, shouldn’t we be able to talk to Him? We don’t have to go through our parents to talk to our human brothers, so why should it be different with Jesus?”
In Acts 2:36 we’re told that God Himself “made the same Jesus, both Lord and Christ.” We read in the Gospels that when people came to Jesus they called Him “Lord.” When the disciples talked to Him both before and after the resurrection (John 20:26-21:25), they also called Him “Lord.” Should we do any less?
According to Romans 10:9, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
When we got born again we gave up lordship of our lives and confessed Jesus as Lord instead, from that point on. But I wonder if we’ve been slipping up a little in that category. Are we only talking to God our Father and bypassing a talking relationship with His son, who God said He made Lord?
God showed me an amazing thing the other day in the scriptures about this. I was reading Acts 7 about Stephen. “And they stoned Stephen calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (vs 59). In the King James Version of the Bible whenever a word is in italics it means that it was added by the translators. The word “God” in verse 59 was added, so in this incident Stephen spoke directly to Jesus saying, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.” And guess who was standing right there? Saul of Tarsus!
“And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul” (vs.58). Saul heard Stephen speak to Jesus.
Later when Saul was on his way to Damascus “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1), a light from heaven shone and Saul fell to the earth and everyone there heard a voice. When Saul asked who was speaking, “Who art thou? The Lord said, “I am Jesus” (vs. 5). This didn’t really surprise Saul because he had been there when Stephen talked with Jesus.
When Saul got to Damascus, Ananias was instructed to go to him. “And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightiest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (vs. 17).
Isn’t that awesome?! There are many more verses in the Epistles that document a personal real relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul tells the Corinthians, “Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” (1 Cor 9:1). Peter writes, “Even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me” (2 Pet 1:4).
I’m not trying to direct anyone away from God Almighty and the kind of relationship we have with Him. I’m just trying to show you that our relationship with our personal Lord Jesus can be increased as well. You may be like I was and haven’t really developed your walking, talking relationship with Jesus Christ yet.
1 Thessalonians 3:11 shows us that both God and our Lord Jesus guide us, “Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.” And 2 Thess 2:16-17, “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”
My secular work is directed and orchestrated by Jesus. It didn’t happen in a miracle overnight. It didn’t come in a dream or audible revelation or anything flashy. I prayed about it, then one day I just knew it in my heart that Jesus was the one in charge of my work. I knew secularly He would supply the jobs and the money I needed to live and pay the bills and do what I needed to do. Every time I’m out of work I consciously go to Jesus for what’s next and thank Him for what He’s arranging. In this category of my life I know that God wants me to trust in the directions of His son Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 1:12, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.”
I believe that there is a wonderful balance in our spiritual lives, things that God handles with us and things that our Lord Jesus handles and things that the Holy Spirit handles. And we just keep learning.
Love, Carolyn
My WINGS books are all available on Amazon. Each week I offer one for FREE. But if you can’t download it free from Amazon, I can send you a word doc or a pdf file so you can read it FREE on your computer. Let me know at: carolynmolica@yahoo.com

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

PUTTING DISOBEDIENT DEMONS INTO CHAINS OF DARKNESS


Psalm 149 gives us insight into one of the greatest and longest lasting weapons we have against forces of evil. Verse 6 tells us we have a two-edged sword in our hand to bind people’s “kings with chains, their nobles with fetters of iron.” That’s not referring to human kings and nobles but to those principalities and powers in high places, i.e. devil spirits, demons. We are to “execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord” (vs. 9). When I show you the written judgment you have a right to proclaim upon demons that disobey, you will be praising the Lord too.

The written judgment comes directly from the word of God. It says that if demons do not keep their first estate (Jude1:6) but are disobedient (1 Peter 3:19-20) and if they sin (2 Peter 2:4) they are to be put in hell, into chains of darkness, in prison (1 Peter 3:19) everlasting chains (Jude 1:6) under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. That’s a lot to meditate on, and vital revelation.

So how do we know when demons are disobedient?

There are laws of God, lines that cannot be crossed. Two that I know of are 1) The power when we use the name of Jesus Christ, and 2) the power of the blood of Jesus. Devil spirits legally must bow to these two very strong commands.

If you’ve spiritually poured, applied or prayed the blood of Jesus for its protection over your children for instance, and a demon is trying to hurt them, that demon has crossed the line. The demon isn’t regarding the legality of the blood of Jesus. The blood applied to the doorposts and lintels in Exodus even kept the angel of death from having access to the believers. If you have by revelation and believing applied the blood of Jesus to any situation and an evil spirit has not backed down, you have the legal right to send that spirit to outer darkness to be imprisoned in “everlasting chains” until the final judgment day.

That means you’ve taken that demon or demons out of the world until the final judgment. Those particular ones are locked in prison with the ones Jesus showed himself to when he went to hell and triumphed over them all. They are locked into everlasting darkness and unable to roam the earth and hurt anyone else. This is an awesomely good thing and as Psalm 149:9 says, “This honour have all his saints. Praise the Lord.”

Can you imagine how much better the world will be as God’s family begins to exercise this privilege and right to chain up thousands of these demons that are so arrogant to think they can defy the laws of Almighty God?!

Another case of demon disobedience is one Jane and I just experienced recently with a house on our neighborhood corner. This may sound like one of the wildest stories you’ve ever heard, but believe it or not, it’s true.

The people were gone from the house but the demons weren’t. We had been using the name of Jesus Christ against the cluster of demons that remained in the back part of the house. We looked directly at the house and spoke Philippians 2:10 which says, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.” I absolutely believe that verse and when it didn’t work, I was baffled. I know some of you have experienced something like this, where you use the scripture and for some reason it isn’t working. This true story is really going to help you.

I looked over at the house and I could see by revelation that the devils were trying to hide in that back corner, at the farthest point away from us.

The house is now unoccupied. I prayed no one would move in until we got totally rid of the demons. But the house had a bad history. First there was “Papa.” We found out he was illegally growing marijuana in the back area of the house. He was extremely arrogant and unfriendly. He was one of the hefe’s at a local landscape company and often had his guys come over with plants for his yard. They worked in the hot sun while he sat in the shade, swore at them and barked directions. The other neighbors would hear loud vicious arguments he’d have with his wife. Whenever we saw his young children, which wasn’t very often, they seemed terrified. His wife was a prisoner in the house. They lived there for many years but I wouldn’t recognize her at the store if I saw her. Finally they left and another couple moved in.

The new couple eventually invited friends. I rarely saw the friends but one day I was out watering and a girl arrogantly marched out the front door to the edge of the sidewalk and was calling on her cell phone. A guy ran out after her with a metal pipe held up in his hand threatening her. It scared me so I started to call 911 but then the girl went back inside and it quieted down. About a month later they all got evicted.

The demons were still there. I knew I had to do more, like with the Pink Portal (see CLOSING DOWN PORNOGRAPHIC PORTALS posted 1.4.14).

July 2, 2015. This was the morning I knew it was time to take the final action and the Holy Spirit confirmed it in a big way. I’d first heard about believers putting demons in chains of darkness from Dr. Dale Sides. Then I heard more about it from Dr. Paul Norcross. This morning, after not hearing from Paul since January, I had a message from him which reminded me of what to do in these kinds of situations. Also I’d just the day before listened to a teaching about taking situations to the courtroom of God.

When I got ready to confront those demons across the street, I knew the courtroom of God would be the appropriate venue to picture in my spirit. In this particular situation we had a legal case against these devil spirits.

I felt led to just drive the car over and park in front of the house where we had the best view of the back corner where they were gathered. I started off by reading Ezekiel 21:14-17 out loud, and pounding my fists together a couple times like in the scripture.

Then I prayed and told the demons, “You have no right to be here. We’ve poured the blood of Jesus on this house and demanded you to leave in the name of Jesus Christ according to Philippians 2:10 but you haven’t obeyed. You’ve broken and stood against the law of Almighty God. But God is the one who made you in the first place and He is greater than you. The Bible says we can bind you in chains and send you to outer darkness for your disobedience. You get out of here. We’ll give you until we get back from our errands and if you’re not gone, you’re going to chains of darkness until the final judgment. If you think you can arrogantly stand against God, you’re wrong.”

We prayed for God’s angels to carry out the job. We came back from our errands and it felt like several of the larger demons had taken off. Four were still there. Two whined and tried to make themselves look small and pitiful, “We’re going. We’re going. Just a little more time.” But I could see right through their deception. These were the arrogant ones and they rose up large, angry and viscous the minute I said, “NO! No more time. You’re going now!” Then there were only two more, less viscous and hiding as if we couldn’t see them.

Spiritually I knew that they were thinking that they should be safe as long as they were tagging along with the bigger demons.

None wanted to go but God’s angels were there to arrest, chain and lead them off.

The house is now just a house. God’s angels took the demons and paraded them across the expanse, like a victorious leader in battle marches his prisoners in chains down the main street for all to see.

No person will ever have to be abused or lured by those four demons ever again. They will be held in chains, in a prison, in outer darkness until the final judgment.

My reaction surprised me. I was sad that they had chosen this fate. They had the choice. But still I was so glad they’re gone now. We prayed for good wonderful people to move into the newly cleansed house.

We as the body of believers are the spiritual watchmen in the world today. What an awesome honor, blessing and responsibility we have.

I hope you will take the time to look up the scriptures I’ve shared about what we can do when demons don’t obey. Let’s join together to get as many devils out of here as we can. You want to make the world a better place? This is a rock solid way to be a part of making that happen. And don’t give up until they’re gone.

Love, Carolyn

My WINGS books are all available on Amazon. Each week I offer one for FREE. But f you don’t have Kindle Unlimited or Prime, I can send you a word document or a pdf file so you can read it FREE on your computer. Let me know at: carolynmolica@yahoo.com

Sunday, July 5, 2015

PEANUT TRIES SOMETHING NEW


Peanut is our chihuahua/terrier mix rescue dog. He has a few issues, including being a little intimidated by Snickers the cat and Jane who we call the Big Cat. Sometimes when the Big Cat makes a sudden move, Peanut runs for it. I was relaxing in the bath when I heard some commotion down the hallway. “What’s going on out there?” I asked. I barely got the words out when here he came around the corner.

Peanut scurried across the floor, nails clicking on the tiles into the bathroom, jumped right up onto the edge of the tub, into my arms and into the water! That was a first! He was running from Jane.

I gently clutched the little guy in my arms, letting his feet down into the warm water. I took my shampoo in one hand, held Peanut in the other, and gave him a short massage, then rinsed him off. I figured I’d take advantage of the situation and go for the conditioner too. I rinsed him again then lightly lifted him out of the tub and onto the bath mat. Off he ran, shaking water off his slick little body as he went out the door and into the hall.

I was finishing up, and there he came bouncing back again, jumped up on the side of the tub and into the water. Maybe he thinks he’s a retriever? He even started to paddle a little! What a character. Who knew our little Peanut would love the water? He wasn’t a bit afraid and he actually liked it. I was so surprised.

(The picture I’ve included here is a few days after the incident with Peanut in an empty bathtub. What a good boy!)

This incident with Peanut can teach the rest of us a good lesson. Sometimes we find the things we really like in the most unexpected places and under the most unexpected circumstances.

If you follow Jesus you can be assured you’ll find new things along your journey that you’ll really enjoy, even if they come in the most unusual situations.

There are lots of examples from the Bible. Ruth found an awesome husband in a foreign country (Ruth 4:13-15). Peter found out he could walk on water in the middle of a storm (Matt 14: 26-32). Paul and Silas sang praises in prison and ended up out of prison, at the prison keeper’s house having lunch (Acts 16:23-40). There’s a quote from Joyce Meyer I like, “Do it afraid.”

We need to try to be more like Peanut and these people from the Bible: Jump into the new things that God shows us even if we think we’re afraid. We’ll probably enjoy them more than we know.

Love, Carolyn

If you don’t have Kindle Unlimited or Prime, I can send you a word document or a pdf file so you can read my books FREE on your computer. Let me know at: carolynmolica@yahoo.com

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

RESCUE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY



It was a beautiful warm spring day. I threw my air mattress in the back of my VW bug and took off for an adventure. I drove to an abandoned beach several miles north of Sausalito, on the San Francisco Bay. Looking out over the water I saw a small island about a mile or so away. Being a good swimmer I figured I could get there and back pretty easily. I blew up the air mattress and off I went. The water was cool and refreshing and I got there with no trouble. The swim back was a different story.

After taking a leisurely nap on what I felt was my very own island, I got back in the water and headed for shore. I paddled and kicked, fully expecting to have an easy time at it. Quite the contrary.

I kept at it much longer than I should have. I didn’t realize I wasn’t making progress. In fact, I was being pushed by the current further and further from my destination. I was also getting really tired from the kicking and paddling. I had the fleeting fear of sharks, but I had no time to think about that right now. I was thinking more about what I saw in the distance and I started to panic.

The shore line took a sharp turn and I could see it. I knew if I didn’t make shore before that turn, I’d be swept by the strong current out under the Golden Gate Bridge. My chances of getting back to shore would be lost. Fear rose up in my throat and I started to hyperventilate.

Then just as quickly, a supernatural calm came over me and I knew what to do. I quit trying to swim against the current, but started to go with the current and swim diagonally toward the shore and do my best to make it before that turn. I had known this key before, but when I was panicking it was totally obscured from my mind. I was still scared, but now I had a renewed determination and I sensed the Lord was really with me.

I made it. Just barely. I flopped down on the shore and just stayed there panting till my heart stopped pounding and my breathing calmed back down to normal. It was a long walk at sunset back to my car. I had time to reflect and thank God for rescuing me. I’d unwisely gotten myself into real danger and He saved me.

“He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me” (Ps 18:16 and 19).

I wonder how many times He’s rescued us. Can you think of times when you’ve been rescued from danger? Reflecting on those times makes us realize our lives are very important to God. We have jobs to do for Him, small and large and nothing is insignificant when we do it for the Lord. He notices us no matter where we are and He’s with us to watch over us every day.

Love, Carolyn

You can get any of my books on kindle or the entire book of 60 stories in print on Amazon. Or if you prefer, I’ll send you a pdf of any of my sample books. Just let me know at carolynmolica@yahoo.com