PRAYING FOR LABORERS WHEN WE CAN'T DO IT ALONE

PRAYING FOR LABORERS WHEN WE CAN’T DO IT ALONE

We see family members and friends who are hurting. We try to help the best we can, but sometimes it seems people just can’t receive it from us. It happened to Jesus too. He went to Nazareth where He grew up, but “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matt. 13:58). They only knew Him as the carpenter’s son, not the spiritually empowered guy He was now! Same with us. God in His foreknowledge already anticipated this scenario and provided a solution. There is always something we can do when we see hurting people, whether family, friends or people we don’t even know.

Jesus explains it in Matthew 9:33-10:5. In verse 33 we see Jesus casting out a demon. In verse 35 we’re told He was “healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” Verse 36 tells us when He saw the multitudes, His heart went out to them. We all have these feelings of compassion and love toward friends and relatives, and others too. We want to do something but we don’t know exactly what to do.

Jesus said: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (v.37-38).

Jesus said: “Pray for laborers.” He wasn’t being wishy-washy when He said this. It was a direct assignment. He was stating the facts: There are hurting people who need help and you can’t do it all, so pray to our God that He would send others too, to help His children!

It’s not like God doesn’t already know the problems and couldn’t fix them all on His own, but it’s not His way. He wants us, as His children, to be involved; to see our part as belonging to a bigger family on earth. It’s the best brotherhood and sisterhood there’s ever been. First Corinthians 3:9 tells us: “For we are labourers together with God.”

We are on assignment with God, to reach out to God’s children all over the world.

We know that we can’t all be in Kenya; we can’t all be in Pakistan or even New Jersey, but by prayer, we are involved in the way Jesus told us we must be, but specifically asking God to send laborers to those places we are not. In that way, we reach out to God’s children everywhere.

Jesus showed them how it works: “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. These twelve Jesus sent forth” (Matt 10:1 and 5). He is still sending forth laborers.

Jesus didn’t say: “Schedule more meetings for me.” He didn’t say: “I have to do it myself.” The Savior of the world, when He was here on earth, in the flesh, didn’t rely on Himself to deliver and heal everyone.

Luke 10 tells us Jesus sent out 70 others to help minister as well: “The Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.” Jesus gave them the same command to pray for more laborers: “He said unto them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. And heal the sick that are there” (Luke 10:1-2, 9).

There were even other laborers who believed and acted on the words of Jesus. The disciples didn’t even know them: “And John answered him, saying, ‘Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us; and we forbade him, because he followeth not us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part’” (Mark 9:38-40).

As wonderful and powerful as He was, when Jesus was looking with love and compassion on the hurting people right there in front of Him, He couldn’t help them all. When we see the people close to us hurting, and others around the world, our hearts go out to them too. But we can’t help everyone and there’s no need to feel bad about not being able to help someone close to us. If Jesus couldn’t heal everyone close to Him, why do we think we have to?

But Jesus showed us a way to help them anyway.  

He showed us we are to pray for another Christ-inspired person to step in. What a wonderful and powerful thing to know and what a sense of assurance it gives us. There’s never any guilt when it comes to love. We can always help in some way.

We don’t respond to everyone in the same way and neither do our loved ones. Sometimes they’ll listen to someone who says the same thing we say, but when it comes from someone else it just works. But to get mad or disappointed is not the right way for us to react.

We can pray and expect the Lord to send someone who our friends and loved ones will listen to. We can also pray for angels to intervene in the situation or even the Lord Himself. And we can also pray 2 Timothy 2:24 that says pray for someone to “awake themselves out of the snare of the devil.”

So don’t be discouraged if you feel somewhat helpless at times. You are always important to God and to the rest of us in His family. We are commissioned by Jesus Himself to pray for God to send other laborers in to help. Jesus commands that we see ourselves as part of a bigger body of God’s children. When we can’t do it, God will see to it.

Be encouraged; there’s power in prayer.

Love, Carolyn

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. Do you ever feel like you’ve been treated like Jesus when He went to His hometown, Nazareth?

2. Did Jesus rely solely on Himself to heal people? Cite at least one scripture showing that He gave that privilege to others.

3. When you can’t do the ministering yourself, what type of prayer can you pray? Back that up with scripture.

4. Did Jesus suggest we pray for laborers, or did he give it as a command? Why?

CLOSING DOWN EVIL PORTALS

CLOSING DOWN EVIL PORTALS

I didn’t want it in my neighborhood, but the ads were up: “Webcam models wanted,” with a photo of a young girl dressed in bra and panties, in a compromising position. Here in Vegas that translates: Come in here so we can make you a porn star and more. These vicious portals are like manholes: you don’t want to fall in; they’re way too dangerous!

The building where they were advertising for “models” was painted pink, so we called it the “Pink Portal.” Portals are openings. This one opened to hell. In Dr. Sides’ book Closing Gates of Hell, I read and studied how God instructed his people to be able to close those doors that have made room for Satan and his minions to trap innocent people into a world of trouble.

I’d been able to close one of these places down before, but it took two years and consistent unrelenting prayer. Now I was learning a new way, and honestly I was a little timid. I had to be more involved this time, and I was unsure about it. But I was so determined to see the place shut down that I decided to do whatever it would take. I concentrated my believing on a section of scripture in Ezekiel 21:14-17:

“You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, the sword that slays the great men, that enters their private chambers.

“I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; it is grasped for slaughter: ‘Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left—Wherever your edge is ordered! I also will beat My fists together, and I will cause My fury to rest; I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

The context of this scripture is that God told Ezekiel to prophesy against Israel because they let evil men influence them to do things against God. God wanted the devilish portals closed down. Verse 15 says: “I have set the point of the sword against all their gates.”

To get current true meaning out of this section, we need to understand “the sword of the spirit is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). But it’s not just any word. It has to be the exact sharp words the Holy Spirit gives in the situation, a rhema (inspired) word.

I was doubtful about the striking of hands together; it was something I wasn’t accustomed to. But I found out it’s an Eastern custom, the way that a master would communicate to a servant to immediately carry out an order. Hand signals are found in many other places in the Bible too.

God says it’s the sword that slays. These powerful words of God come from the Holy Spirit working in us “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). And as we speak the words, angels go to carry them out, angels that “excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word” (Ps. 103:20).

“Swords at ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left—wherever your edge is ordered!” (v. 16). Thrusting is speaking: thrusting right is to bless; thrusting left is to curse. Do it wherever the Holy Spirit says. Then, as it says in verse 17, the Lord will have rest.

It took a couple of weeks for me to go through Dr. Sides’ book along with the Bible scriptures to glean what I needed. Then the right day presented itself, and I took courage. I asked my best friend Jane to go with me. We parked in the front of the Pink Portal, and I prayed for guidance as I began to speak as the Holy Spirit guided. When I got to the end, I felt led to pound my right fist into my left palm, and then I spiritually applied the blood of Jesus to the place to keep it shut and remove any sin that might want to linger there.

In less than a week, we drove by and saw the place had been re-painted a light neutral gray—no longer the pink portal. The advertisements were abolished: no cars, no people. The building was physically and spiritually totally empty of any evil! Praise God!

God’s will is that we all can live in His grace and peace. Sometimes we are going to have to fight to make that available to those who are being entrapped by the pink portals designed by God’s enemies. There are many types of gateways, not just pornography and human trafficking enticements. A portal can be anything that presents itself as a tasteful, acceptable, or attractive way to keep from carrying out and receiving God’s perfect will for our lives. A portal is an opening, a gate that invites a person into itself. It could be sexual enticement; it could be that third drink that once taken, leads to stupid drunk; it could be irrational fear stopping a person from doing what would be good clean fun; it could be hopelessness or any number of other things that become open doors to sadness and failure.

We can do something to close those hell gates. I know I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to learn and grow in this area and have courage to act, and so do you. When we want something badly enough, God gets us to the solutions. Using the keys we learn from the book of Ezekiel is one way to close evil portals for ourselves and others.

Love, Carolyn

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. Have you felt spiritually enraged by a devilish portal in your area of influence? A brothel? A meth lab? A house that brings in lots of drug dealers or buyers? A child molester’s dwelling?

2. Name some portals that trap you at times and pull you in?

3. Would you consider doing what I described in this article, even though you may have never done it before?

4. Cite a passage of scripture where God talks about closing spiritual portals or gates.

5. What is the “sword” of the spirit? Cite a couple of scriptures where this word “sword” is used in this sense.

6. What does God tell us the angels hearken to? Where is that found?

7. What causes God to rest? Cite the scripture backup for this.

8. Why do you think Christians don’t ask the Lord for angelic help? What is one little thing you could do to remedy that?

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WHEN GOD SAYS IT ISN'T GOING TO WORK OUT HOW WE WANT

WHEN GOD SAYS IT ISN’T GOING TO WORK OUT HOW WE WANT IT

It was December, and the rules of the contest were that if you completed your year-long goal, you had a chance at winning the money. I got an e-mail the night before, and I was a little nervous: “Were you able to complete your goal?” (They remembered me. That’s a good sign, right?) I shot back: “Yes, I did.” The next day was the meeting, and when they came to the contest part I was piqued.

But as hard as I had tried to see a positive picture of me winning, it just wasn’t happening. As the negative thoughts kept popping up, I’d force them away, and I quoted victory scriptures instead. The announcer walked up to the microphone, “Okay, we have two people who completed the challenge. The winner gets $40 and free meetings all year long.” It wasn’t so much about the money as it was about winning something for my hard work and achievement. “Oh good, only two of us,” I thought. But when she drew the name out, it wasn’t mine! “OH NOOO! What happened?!”

All that positive praying and I just couldn’t make the outcome be what I wanted. The truth is, I really knew it in my heart, but I didn’t want to believe it. In this minor experience I was reminded of a much larger truth.

Sometimes the Lord’s messages to us are going to seem negative and not what we want to hear. Instead of trying to force the positive result with scriptures, if they aren’t doing anything, then we need to stop pushing and just ask the Lord: “What’s going on?” He expects us to have that kind of relationship with Him. I was trying to muscle through with my own will, but it wasn’t to be. Next time this happens I’m going to be more sensitive to the situation and just ask, and save myself some grief.

My incident was small, but Ezekiel tells of a much graver situation. The prophets didn’t like the messages God was giving about war coming. They decided to enforce their own will and preached peace instead. God said: “I will destroy you for these visions and lies. My hand shall be against you, and you shall be cut off from among the leaders of Israel; I will blot out your names, and you will never see your own country again. And you shall know I am the Lord.  For these evil men deceive my people by saying, ‘God will send peace,’ when that is not my plan at all!” (Ezek. 13:8-10)

When we pray about anything or anyone, we go for the best, and that’s a good thing. But if in our Spirit we sense it’s honestly not to be, let’s remember to stop and ask the Lord what’s up. He’ll let us know. Honest raw truth from God is better than even the slightest bit of “positive thinking” that is not true. The sooner we accept the “negative” message from the Lord, the sooner we can deal with it and move through it.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies” (Ps. 23:4-5a). If God needs to tell us negative things, He will do it, but He also leads us through it, no matter what, and we “will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” (Ps. 23:6).

Love, Carolyn

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. Have you ever felt God was giving you a negative answer you didn’t like? Explain.

2. Did you ever feel like something was going to turn out negative, and you asked the Lord: “What’s going on?” If you didn’t ask, why do you think you didn’t? If you did, what did He tell you? After reading this story, do you think you might engage the Lord in a more extended conversation next time? Is there anything you can think of doing that would help you remember to ask?

3. What is one good thing about admitting to a negative result, or going through a hard situation? Document this with scripture.

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GOD'S WAY OF STOPPING THE PERFECT STORM

 

GOD’S WAY OF STOPPING THE PERFECT STORM
I congratulated Shelley: “Wow, you’ve lost 90 pounds, and you look awesome!” She didn’t even smile, “I don’t feel like it. I just can’t see any difference.” Ninety pounds and she couldn’t see any difference? Everyone could see it, but she couldn’t. She told me that she was having problems in her family and wasn’t allowed to see her grandson. And there were issues with work that were exasperating. She was spiraling downhill and attacked from all sides. This chain of events is what I call the perfect storm.

“The perfect storm” is a term meteorologists use to describe a storm of astronomical power and devastation. It’s caused by several separate events mobilizing to drastically aggravate the circumstances and produce a storm of extreme magnitude.

Sometimes we feel like our lives are thrown into that kind of storm—no way out, nowhere to turn for safety, no rest, no escape. Swirling in the perfect storm makes us feel like we’re drowning and we can hardly breathe.

In Psalm 18:5 David says: “The sorrows of hell compassed me about.” The original Hebrew for “sorrows” translates “a noose tied together twisting around so that there is no escape.” And the Hebrew for “compasses” means “whirl around on every side, surround, besiege, and enclose.” When we’ve felt attacked, hurt from every side and spiraling uncontrollably down, this is what David is describing here in Psalm 18.

David didn’t mind telling God that the enemy was too strong for him. Like in the movie titled “The Perfect Storm,” even the strongest and the smartest guy found that there was no escape. Like that guy, sometimes we have to admit that we honestly can’t handle it, and that’s okay with God.

What happens when this overwhelming storm of attacks surrounds a person? They can get swallowed up like Jonah, or nearly drowned in a hurricane like Paul (Acts 27) or pulled down in agony and terror like David. I’ve seen people end up in the hospital, or in my case one time, I fell into a long and miserable suicidal depression.

This kind of intense spiraling spiritual attack is no small matter. The oppressiveness mounts up like floods, and the pot gets stirred around and around by Satan himself. We have to remember that it’s not the people who are attacking us, but the demons that are behind the very thoughts and actions of the evil that comes against us.

But our God is much more powerful than anything Satan can manipulate. I’ve seen from studying different records in the Bible that God has a specific remedy for the perfect storm.

When David called on God to help him, God got up off His throne, and He roared:

The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils” (Ps. 18:13-15).

God said He “discomfited” them, which in Hebrew means He made an uproar; He agitated them and destroyed them.  In verse 15, we’re told that God discomfited them with a loud “rebuke at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.” The Bible also says in that verse that the roots of the attacks on David were “discovered.” The Hebrew for “discovered” means the demons were “exposed, shamelessly revealed, stripped and exiled.” I love that.

At the blast of God’s breath, David was sprung out from Saul’s attempts to destroy him. A blast from God and Jonah was thrown safely onto the beach. By the loud, strong words of Paul, the broken-up ship was hurled to shore, but all lives were saved, including his.

When I saw the perfect storm of spiritual attack on my friend Shelley, God gave me strong, loud words of deliverance to shout out, in the name of Jesus Christ. I didn’t have to be there in her presence for Satan and his devils to hear God’s rebuke. The demons were exposed and defeated!

In just a couple hours I got confirmation of her deliverance: She posted a new picture of herself in her skinny jeans and a great big smile, and another photo showing a current snapshot of her with her grandson. I found out later that the work issues also turned out to her benefit.

When confronted with this kind of perfect storm situation, we need to shout or speak with a strong word, not a polite asking. Think about yelling at a sports event. Even the quietest and meekest can get up a good yell.

Clear your lungs and your life with a good shout! It has to be from the standpoint of believing in what you’re doing and believing in the power of our God to rescue. The Lord will give the words. We just have to start. No devil, not Satan himself, can stand up against the mighty roar of our God! Believe and receive.

Our God is greater than any storm.

Love, Carolyn

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. Have you ever brushed off a compliment? Why do you think you did that?

2. How do meteorologists describe a perfect storm? How would you describe a perfect storm in someone’s life? Give a few examples – real or hypothetical.

3. Is there shame in admitting to not being able to handle something? Give two examples of people in the Bible who admitted weakness or failure.

4. How does God handle a perfect storm? Give an example from the Bible. Give an example from your life if you can recall one.

5. Have you ever shouted at demons like you shout at a sports event? Do you think you might try it?

FORGIVENESS IN THE MIDDLE OF MY ROAD RAGE?

FORGIVENESS 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 release 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 the right 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

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. What annoys you the most about how people drive?

2. What’s your reaction most often when someone cuts you off while you’re driving or does some other annoying thing on the road?

3. What takes more courage: to get angry or to forgive?

4. If you have trouble forgiving someone can you at least see yourself giving them over to God?

SOMETHING ABOUT ANGELS

SOMETHING ABOUT ANGELS

Jesus confronted the attacks of Satan in the wilderness. Afterward: “Angels came and ministered unto him” (Matt. 4:11). Luke 22:43 describes the same incident: “There appeared an angel, strengthening him.” If Jesus needed the ministering of angels and the strengthening they could offer, don’t you think we do? Of course we do.

Jesus asked Peter: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). That’s 72,000 angels!. Colossians 1:27 tells us it’s “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” God is willing and able to do the same for the Christ in us as He did for Jesus Christ in the flesh. Jesus said He could pray for angels, and so can we.

Jesus gave this instruction: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12). Praying for angelic help is one of the works. Two verses later He adds: “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” Asking for angels is an “anything.”

Jesus reiterates this truth, saying: “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (John 16:23). Angelic help is a “whatsoever.” Jesus could pray for angels, and He expects us to do the same.

Philippians 4:13 tells us we “can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.” It doesn’t say all things except asking for angelic help. It says “all things,” and the understanding is they are all good things because Philippians 2:13 tells us: “It is God which worketh [is working] in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Sometimes we need angels to help us do those good things God’s called us to do.

There’s nothing in God’s Word that says we have to get angelic help. But when we get born again, we make Jesus our Lord. We become willing to follow His example, right?

What’s our excuse? If we say we’re unworthy of angels, Jesus says we are worthy. If we say we don’t need them, Jesus did, so why wouldn’t we? Are we more equipped than Him? Of course not.

In this crazy world, do we really think we can get along by ourselves just fine, without their help? Or maybe we think it’s up to God to send them when He wants to. But He gave us the power to look at a situation or circumstance and discern whether or not we need additional help. It’s really not that complicated. Jesus said all we need to do is ask for help, believe and receive: “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).

Do we refrain from utilizing angels’ help because we don’t understand them? God’s Word is for the simplest of us. Sometimes we get too intellectual and think we have to understand everything first, but that’s not God’s way. Jesus teaches us to believe first, then act; the understanding comes later.

I am not in any way trying to belittle the magnificent power of using the name and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor am I denying the wonderful effectiveness of prayer or any of the other ways the Lord helps us. I am pointing out the additional value of angels to a believer.

God is way more variegated and majestic than we have yet to discover. He has provided us with many tools and weapons for living victoriously in this world. Why not employ more of what the Lord Jesus Christ showed us and made available to us?  

Psalm 103:20 tells us angels are strong: “Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength.” Angels can strengthen us, and sometimes we just need that. We can believe and ask the Lord for their help.

Love, Carolyn

(painting by Titian 1522 the banner says “full of grace”)

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. Have you ever experienced the presence of an angel or angels?

2. Name three characteristics of angels and cite scripture references to back this up.

3. Have you tried praying for angels to help you or someone you love? What are some scriptures showing us that we can pray for angels’ help?

4. Do you ever feel that you need help in carrying out something the Lord’s inspired you to do? Did you ask for angels’ help? What happened?

LIGHT IN THE GARAGE

LIGHT IN THE GARAGE

The fluorescent lights in my garage started flickering a while ago. I was afraid it would be a complicated fix, so we put off getting an electrician. Finally, we did it. Jane made the call. The electrician came, took one look at the lights, and told us it was just that the ballasts were old. He checked with our house insurance, and they paid for all the new parts. It only cost $55.00 for the whole job, including parts.

We are afraid of the things we don’t understand, in the physical as well as the spiritual. But so often the fix is not nearly as difficult as we anticipate.

There was a good side and a bad side to getting the lights repaired. The good side was that we could see everything. The bad side was that we could see everything! WOW, so much dust and disarray had collected in my garage when the lights were flickering and low! It’s the same with us spiritually.

I have been working so hard on so many projects, that my time in just reading the Bible was like the garage lights—flickering. Then yesterday, I took several hours away from home just to sit and study the Word of God. I did a word study on the word “sleep.” In the process, I ended up reading many exciting chapters of the Bible and got all kinds of new light on some current world situations as well as things in my own life. It was thrilling.

Even in the very first verses of the Bible, God talks about light: “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness” (Gen.1:4).

The thing about light is that it exposes any darkness. So when I had new bright lights in my garage, I could see that I had work to do. I can now see the mess! Time to clean up.

Psalm 18:28 says: “For thou wilt light my candle: The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” If we want the dark places of our lives to be lightened, we need to get that light of God turned on. First Corinthians 4:5 tells us: “Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”

The supposition here is that every man will have praise from God because he or she has sought light from the Lord; the light has revealed the darkness and the person has received the exchange of light for the former darkness. Then God is super happy because light, and clarity, and peace is prevailing. Confusion, filth, and fear have been removed. Isn’t that what we all want?

We get lazy sometimes and make excuses for ourselves. I know I was lazy about getting someone to fix my garage lights. Then because I couldn’t see out there very well, I didn’t bother sweeping the floor. I didn’t see that some of my supplies had tipped over and that I needed an all over general clean up. I asked myself, “What happened? It used to be clean and organized out here!” But without proper light, something awful happened. Yikes!

God is light, and His “word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps.18:28).

If our time in reading the Bible has been flickering like my lights, it’s time to get back to it. Let’s not be apathetic in our Christian walk and think that it’s okay to expect the Lord always just to give us revelation, rather than us having to actually sit down with the Bible and read His Word.  

When I started my study on “sleep” yesterday, I went to BibleGateway.com and printed out the scripture references. Then when I began to look them up, specific stories caught my interest, and I had such a great time reading the context. By doing this, the Lord was able to direct me and give me new insight on sections of scripture that directly related to current events in my life as well as in the world at large. It was awesome.

Jesus came in the flesh to help people. His mission was and still is: “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18).

Let’s let the Word of God, and the revelation of Jesus Christ, open our eyes and let the light shine in.

Love, Carolyn

THIS WEEKEND THRU TUES:     I’M OFFERING MY SAMPLE BOOK:   COMMITMENT

This is a sample book with 6 of the 61 chapters from the complete book. These chapters are true life stories about the tremendous and varied benefits you can receive from making a commitment to the Lord. 

COMMITMENT https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Faith-Sample-Commitment-ebook/dp/B00KBAKRZ2/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1546194534&sr=8-15&keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH

MAKING A DELIGHT LIST

   

MAKING A DELIGHT LIST

A couple of months ago, my roommate, Jane, started a “Delight List,” and every day, by the end of the day, she’d have something to put on the list. Sometimes it seemed small, like not being put in Facebook jail, but with her posting every day, believe me, not having to go through the Facebook jail thing is a BIG delight!

Just a few minutes ago, the Lord reminded me of her insistence on having at least one “delight” to put on that list every day. So I began to go through some of my recent photos, and now I’m smiling again and not tense like I was before.

I was reminded that on Sunday, I was wanting some sweet treat but not too sweet and didn’t find anything in the kitchen. I got a knock on the door, peeked out the window, and it was my Cuban neighbor in her nightgown. I quickly opened the door, thinking she may be in trouble and needed our help. Nope. She came over to bring us a box of pastries from her favorite Cuban bakery in LA!

Then I remembered that on Sunday, I also found $10 on the ground and no one around claiming it. Then my list got longer. I took pictures yesterday after work of my newly planted Cape Myrtle and Redbud trees. My friend Judith had given them to me five years ago, and they were only 4-inch twigs at the time. I babied them all these years and finally this past Fall I planted them in the back yard. Last year the Cape Myrtle had only two flowers. But this year I stopped counting at 27. The flowers are an unusual color, kind of lilac and I love them. Since it’s so hot here, I go out every day after work to water those two pals.

I also looked at the photos of the new cement rocks that Hector carved, and I got to paint. I like the way they turned out. I really enjoy making things look as real as possible.

The four other things that are making me smile right now are 1. The adoration of our old cat, Snickers, 2. The love and playfulness of our little dog Peanut, 3. The kindness of my best friend Jane, and 4.The blessing of the Lord to remind me of things to be delighted about.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Today I was delighted that the Lord reminded me of Jane’s Delight List. The results made my day!

Love, Carolyn

HOLY HUNCHES FROM A LOVING GOD

HOLY HUNCHES FROM A LOVING GOD

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 God Almighty. These vibrations, or “holy hunches,” come from the realm of the unseen, but all Christians have access to them. There are times when we “just feel like” we should talk to a particular person, show up at a different time, take a different route—these nudges will come more often when we learn how to recognize and respond to them. They are communications to us from our Father God, beyond the things we perceive with our natural five senses.

Our loving God gave us spiritual five senses so that He could communicate with us. We can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch the unseen. We are God’s sons and daughters when we believe in Him and take Jesus Christ as our Lord. John 4:24 tells us: “God is a spirit.” So when we believe what God told Paul to write in Romans 10:9 “That 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,” God miraculously puts of His spirit into us, so we are forever connected to Him. Spirit communicates with spirit.

My friend Adrienne wrote: “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 our obedience to be elsewhere. We all wonder at times how to tell if we 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, vibrations, ideas, feelings, or nudges. Since these communications are in the spirit realm, it’s a little hard to explain them in our human terms. People use different words for how God works with them in spiritual communications. Jesus says of the shepherd in John 10:4: “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.”

We want to know His voice. Like Adrienne said, “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. “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?”

Our Father God is a loving God. When we’re asking Him for a more spiritual walk, He’s going to give us what we ask for. “Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11: 12-13).

With the gift of the holy spirit, we get the forever access to our creator, and the communication for a successful life here on earth before we go to join Him, and Jesus Christ, and all the believers forever in heaven.

Love, Carolyn

THIS WEEKEND THRU TUES:     I’M OFFERING MY SAMPLE BOOK:    COMFORT 

These chapters show the various ways God provides comfort for His people amid 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

If you can’t get it on Amazon, let me know, and I’ll send a pdf or word doc to your email. cjmolica@hotmail.com