The Decree

                                          

He delivered me, he delivered me            
from my enemies.
He delivered me, he delivered me                              
from my every foe.

The Lord of Lords, and King of Kings
Ruler of every thing.
With his mighty hand he saved me from them all.

He delivered me, he delivered me
from my sin and shame.
He delivered me, he delivered me
and lifted all my pain.

They all had come around me
seeking to destroy.
But the Lord strong in battle
brought them all down low.

He delivered me, God delivered me
from my fear and guilt.
He delivered me, he delivered me
and set my spirit free.

He is called the Holy One of Israel,
who came to save us all.
Born in a manger, died upon the cross,
rose the third day, victorious, mighty and strong.

He delivered me, he delivered me
always in his hand.
He delivered me, he delivered me
I will praise him all life long.

The Eternal Father, Son, and Spirit,
who gives us his all.
Purchased us by his precious blood,
redeemed and rescued by his love.

Revelation 19:16 (NIV)

16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
                 Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Something wicked come this way

Today when I woke up, I jumped out of bed thinking that today would be like every other day.  I would be my chipper self, appreciating the day and all that God has created.  But when my feet hit the floor I felt as if I had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Not only that but in the wrong universe and in a different body with someone else's mind. I'm telling you, I was not feeling like myself. As the day progressed, I felt like there was this dark cloud of evil perched just outside of my conscious mind waiting to come in and take over. So I stopped what I was doing and asked God what was going on. I needed to define and understand what was happening within my spirit, soul, and body. I asked for God to help me process what I was experiencing. I thought about all the events that were unfolding within my life, some of them unpleasant and out of my realm of control. The Holy Spirit began to work within me, and He impressed upon me that I need to take the time and evaluate myself.  So I started by asking God to identify and show to me what emotions were stirring deep within me. What was revealed to me was anger, hurt, deep disappointment, frustration, fear, and anxiousness. As these emotions surfaced and emerged my first reaction was to hide them from God.  After all, they were negative emotions. I felt shame because in my mind as a Christian, those emotions belonged to the unbeliever, not the believer. As a follower of Christ, were we suppose to be above that, someone who has overcome in the strength of Jesus Christ. As the Spirit of God dealt with me, he showed me how damaging it is to cover these areas in my life. That when I am injured and remain so without proper healing from God, there would be long term ungodly effects occurring repeatedly in my life. That these unhealed wounds would allow the Devil an opening in which he can comes and set up strongholds within my spirit. These strongholds would set out to destroy my inner man.  This process of disclosure was a very uncomfortable experience to me. My standard mode of operation is to minimize things that have harmed me and put the experience and feelings quickly behind me, but God wanted me to sit there in this uncomfortable place, expose myself to him, and handle it the way he desired. To be covered by his grace and cleansed and healed through the power of his love. God in his  loving way is teaching me that unhealed wounds create cracks and holes in the armor he has given me. God gives us armor for our protection and defense against the Devil and sin. These holes, if left alone or unhealed are openings into my spirit, soul and body. I am learning that the Devil, my enemy, is looking for any opening where he can come in, create and secure a stronghold in any areas of my life where I allow him. Once this stronghold is formed it is used so that he can manifest his corruption in my spirit and body and destroy my soul. The Devil will take our weakness and pain and use them against us. These areas of spiritual strongholds are then an advantage point for him, a place of strength, a means by which he destroys our lives and our effectiveness in the kingdom of God. Let me see if I can make this picture clearer in your mind..
     All of us have experienced some event that has really hurt us to the core. It can be a single event such as  a trauma or accident. It can be unkind and unloving words spoken to us in anger, or lies told to us that damage our self esteem. It can be a personal failure, loss of a job, death of a child or family member.  It can be a short term or long term occurrence. Having a failed relationship. Spousal rejection, Failure of a parent to cover, protect, love and support us. Living in an abusive environment or being the victim of verbal, emotional, physical or sexual abuse.  Hatred of self, or negative thoughts about who we are as an individual. It is a memory that still brings great pain or deep shame when it is recalled.  It often causes us to feel rejected and unworthy. These types of things happen to us all to frequently and we are not at fault.  But the reality is that they cannot be ignored there is to much at risk. When we deny the truth the only thing that is left is a lie. An untruth. The Bible tell us that the Devil is the author and father of lies, so this give him unspoken permission to set up shop in your heart and mind, to rule and operate from an inside vantage point in our lives. Do not be fooled, the Devil is real and he is not a friend of man. If given the opportunity he will make you his slave. He will bind you with the chains of fear, rejection and hopelessness. He will oppose and block your relationship to God our loving father. He will keep you from reaching your full potential. The Devil will destroy all your dreams and have you believing his lies are true. The Bible says that he rebelled against God and God has judged him and found him guilty. His punishment is that he will be cast into Hell, a place created for him not man. He will be eternally separated from God.  The fact is the Devil's desire is to take you with him. With all this said, Our Father God has made available to us a way out through his limitless love. God is our creator, he is a friend to man. He gave us a means whereby we can be healed.
   Medically we know that when an  injury occurs to our skin that breach allows germs and bacteria an entry point into our bodies. If that wound is left untreated it can lead to an infection. If that infection gains the better of us and goes without treatment, it could in turn could threaten our very lives. It is the same with our spirit. Proper cleaning and healing must take place. God tells us to turn to him, to expose our injuries to him so he can cleanse us and heal us. Show him your broken heart and spirits, don't be afraid he will not reject you or turn away in disgust.  He is already aware of all our problems, he has seen us each and every time when we have been hurt. God wants us to turn to him so he can  heal us. God is a gentle spirit, he will not force himself upon us, all we need to do is ask for cleansing and healing and he will provide.   God's love for us, yes you and me, is greater and stronger than anything we can experience, because it is founded on his character and not ours. God gave us his one and only Son, his Son Jesus shed his holy blood and gave us his life, so that our sins could be forgiven and we could be restored and brought back into right relationship with God. There is nothing that can separate us from His divine love. He has given us his all.
     God our father and creator wants to pour his love into any situation that you are facing. He has seen all the sins of mankind and he still loves us. There is nothing you can do, nor is there any great travesty that has been done to you that could make God stop loving you.  Please don't hide from God. He is waiting for you to come to him so that he can pour his love into those areas of hurt and pain. Just ask, God wants to heal you and set you free so that you can live the life he has given you. A life that is free, and not in bondage to effects of sin.

Psalm 4:1 "Answer me when I call, God, who vindicate me. You freed me from all of my affliction; be gracious to me and hear my prayer." 
Psalm 6:2-4 "Be gracious to me, Lord for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for me bones are shaking; my whole being is shaken with terror. And you, Lord-how long? Turn, Lord! Rescue me; save me because of your faithful love."

Deadly vines

Slowly, silently, skillfully these killers move in, and before you realize what is happening it is almost to late.  Your strength is gone and your will is subdued. You've been taken out of the game by a subtle opponent. Even now you can remember how it started. How innocent it all seemed.  Small and obscure, not demanding; having the ability to survive on the remnants it was given. Then it started growing, requesting,and demanding more. More time, more attention, more energy, more resources. and being feed its every desires. As it grew, it weaved around into every available space and crevice. With its enormous strength it compressed and fractured you. It's appetite grew along with its size. Difficult to conceal. Merging with all aspects of life. Developing its own identity it now wants a name. It seeks all your attention. Some how the dynamics have changed. It is large and full of life- your life- and you are small and frail.Your survival is now dependent on the scraps it gives you. You were once magnificent, tall like a great oak tree. But now life is ebbing from your soul. Empty. You discover that you have been cut off from the source of your strength. You call to this baleful vine for help, but none is found. You are alone, life has been choked out by a deadly vine of sin. Looking up at it,you yearn for the power and strength it seems to be endowed with.You fear you cannot stand alone. After all, you created it with your idolatrous ways. It has now become a part of you, the essence of you. Why doesn't it answer? After all, you feed it. Why doesn't it give back? It was given all your attention. You worshiped it. Can it not hear your cries or feel your agony? What have you created ? What have you done? Weariness begins to take over and you no longer struggle. Sin was allowed to grow and grow into a deadly vine of idolatry.
   Jeremiah, an old testament prophet we can read about in the Holy Bible, tells about a people group who were chosen by God to be his light in this dark and sinful world. But over the course of time they forgot about God, his faithfulness,his everlasting love, his provisions, his protection, his promises, and his justice. They turned their backs on his words and his commands. They turn their back on God! They scoffed at him and worshiped other gods. They became corrupt.

Jeremiah 2:9-"I planted you, a choice vine from the very best seed. How then could you turn into a degenerate, foreign vine?"

As in the days of Jeremiah God is sending out a plea....

Jeremiah 4:1-"...if you return to Me, if you remove your detestable idols from my presence and do not weaver, if you swear. As the LORD lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by HIM and will pride themselves in Him."

Deposits Only

    
We have all come to a point in life were we have reached the bottom of our own resources, whether in finances, the end of a career path, emotional distress, physical and spiritual sickness, or any number of curses that befall mankind. Sometime we are standing, lying down, huddled in a corner, or even or our knees when the realization hit us that we are in desperate need of assistance: we are at the end of ourselves and have nothing left to give, our strength has been depleted, we are running on empty and our senses tell us that we are in danger. Many people share this unpleasant experience. For some the duration  lasts only a matter of minutes and for others days, years, or even decades. This dark place in our lives is not where we desire to spend our time or energy, but we are helpless to move forward on our own, hopelessly locked in a nightmare of despair. Now just imagine waking up one morning filled with dread, unable to face the events of the day. On autopilot, you have your coffee, get dressed and, as you are heading for the door, the doorbell rings. You say to yourself  "What now! If it is another problem, I'll just die. I cannot take another thing."  You open the door and a person is standing there with a certified letter in his hand.  He ask you your name, confirms your identity and hands you an envelope. You accept the letter and close the door as fear overtakes you. Your hands start to shake and your stomach churns. You look at the letter and debate within your self whether or not you should open the letter now or put it aside for later. After all, it probably only contains more bad news. Several minutes pass and you gather your courage and open the letter that is now in your hand. As you read, the tears pool in your eyes and you begin to cry. You are overwhelmed, your knees are weak and you sink to the floor. Dazed and bewildered you continue to read. The letter is not what you expected,  relief  floods your soul. Open-mouthed you read it again and then clutch the letter close to you chest. You cannot believe someone is aware of your situation and they actually cares about you and loves you. Help has arrived, a deposit has just been made into your life. The news contained in this letter will change the events of your life. Someone has empathized with your pain and has given of himself a gift that meets your immediate needs. Your resources and strength has been restored, there is now a new hope for tomorrow. The little things that you do each day can either be a deposit or debit. Your actions and small acts of kindness can change the day of people around you. Being a positive light to those around you, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, could be a life changer or saver for others. Now, your deposits into others are not the only important thing that changes the balance of a person's days. God made the greatest deposit into the checking account of your life through his son, Jesus Christ. His plan to save your soul has already been added to the account of your life. All that needs to be done is for you to cash the check. Once you accept his plan and gift, your whole life will change. You carry around this golden ticket, a bill that can be used anywhere,anytime,and anyplace. Through the use and telling of the name of the Lord Jesus, lives can be restored and days renewed. So start today ask God to show you today someone who is in need of a little kindness, seek out a way in which  you can deposit hope, strength, or aid into someone else life. You never know it could be just what they need to continue their journey in life.

^" Heal the sick, raise the dead to life, heal people who have leprosy,^[a] and force out demons. You received without paying, now give without being paid." (CVE)

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 Dedicated to my good friend Sue B.  

*****

"THE MONK"

The encounter happen most unexpectedly, I was just following my normal routine of walking in the morning along this wooded trail I frequent regularly. I had walked about two miles alone, praying and singing unto the Lord. I was having a glorious time, my spirit within me was joyous, lifted from the cares of this world. I had walked to the point of where I normally turn around. Ahead of me I saw the tunnel that was created by a section of highway that the trail passed under. I stopped and contemplated whether or not I should turn around or continue walking a little further.  Frankly, the tunnel always creeps me out because it is cold and dark. As I stood there my spirit said "just go to the end of the tunnel". I started walking, I was looking ahead, I noticed the sunlight streaming up through the darkness, what a contrast.  Cold, dark, warmth and light. And then I noticed him. The man in the frock. He was silhouetted by the light. I was startled, I stopped. I questioned what I was seeing. Was he real? or was it just a figment of my over active imagination. In that moment a small still voice spoke to me and said "stand aside and see". So I gathered up my courage and I started walking towards the figure at the mouth of the tunnel. As I approached him I began to hear the music wafting on the air. A sweet and beautiful sound, amplified and carried by the structure of the tunnel. I could feel my excitement building, I stood in front of him, he dropped his flute and I spoke first.  I asked a straight forward question. " What God do you serve?" See in my mind this was a very important question. I had just been praising the Great I AM" and I really wasn't sure if this guy was physical or not, and he was dressed like a monk. He looked at me and spoke with out hesitation "Jesus Christ". Now I  knew where we stood, there are many types of monks from many different religions serving many different gods. He explained why he was dressed the way he was and how he had come to this spot to worship God through music by playing his hand crafted Native American flute. As our conversation unfolded in an exchange of information. I learn about this fellow believer and how he was walking out his faith. How he was living his belief statement to the fullest level of commitment. He spoke of three disciplines; prayer, fasting, and service. We shared stories and life strategies surrounding our individual needs and faith walk. I began to see that this was an appointed meeting by God's design. As our conversation quieted, and our focus was redirected back to worship. The reason for our creation.  Two individuals, previously unknown to the other, drawn together through the blood of Jesus Christ, worshiping God on this intersecting point in time. He started to play his flute and I started to sing. A melodious sound, caught on the breeze, floating out and up to God.  The praise flowed through us, awareness of time and surroundings vanished. A new song was born, presented to the Lord on the alters of our hearts.  I walked away that day, blessed beyond measure.  I challenge you to stand aside and see what great things God has for you today.

Matthew 18:20

King James Version (KJV)

²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Choose Life Not Death

  It is very freeing to be able to trust in God so completely that worry and fear are not constant companions in our hearts. It is a freedom that comes from walking with God on a daily basis, continually being in his presence through his word and through prayer. There is a rest that is given to us when the Holy Spirit is allowed  to transform our thoughts and our hearts to reflect the image of Jesus Christ. We can experience relief from the stress and cares of this world by abiding in the presence of God. We can  live a life that is full of the blessing and promises of God. When the Holy Spirit of God is given the permission to flow freely in our lives he creates within us a new spirit full of hope and promise. A spirit that is alive to the things of God and is dead to the stress and cares of this world. 

          While reading the Bible one day I came across this scripture and the words just leaped off the page and caught my attention. I would live to share this with you.

          "Deuteronomy 30:15  "Now I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster." When I read this I said to myself  "Wow!" God is giving me a choice.  I can choose to have life and prosperity or death and disaster.  It seemed like a no-brain-er to me. I was very quick to respond in saying that I choose life and prosperity. But, I continued to read in  Deuteronomy 30:16-18 KJV where it said, "For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to occupy.  But if your heart turns away and refuses to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy."
  So wait a minute, "life and prosperity" are conditional. Let's take a look at this a little closer. Simply put, God expects us to do something. What is it that he is expecting for us to do? God is expecting us to choose life, to choose him.  To choose to love God.  You see when we truly love God it becomes easier for us to obey God. There is a flow of the spirit of God that brings us abundant life and life eternal.
          Let me explain. First God love us. He flows to us, he calls to us to come into his presence, he prompts us to invite him into our hearts. When we respond to God's call we in turn,  have invited his spirit to become active in our lives. The activation of Holy Spirit in our lives make us aware of God's goodness. We become aware of who God truly is, we experience his character, we experience his love.  We then can see ourselves as sinners, separated from God and in the need of a savior. Through God's love we can accept his plan of salvation he has for us. We can see his son Jesus Christ and accept the gift of the cross. This put us in a place where God's love can flows in us. We are in a "right relationship" with God. As we respond to the Holy Spirit within us, God's love to flow through us, back to God and out to others. We become transmitters of God 's goodness which when is expressed as obedience and  service to the Lord. When we allow the spirit of God flows through us he transforms us into the image of Christ and our actions reflect the actions of Christ. We become like Christ. With our minds and hearts transformed into the image of Christ we are then able to keep God's commands, decrees, and regulations. We can walk in his ways, we can live a life that is prosperous. A life where God's blessing are present and continually flowing.

 So, what choice do you make, death and disaster or life and prosperity?

Oh that men would praise God!

 

Thank you Father God! Your mercy to me is never failing. Your love is never changing. You care for me at all times. You supply all my needs. You grant me my hearts desires. You give good gifts. You are my protector and  my guide. You carry me through this life's journey. You bring the light of you love to my darkest places, you illuminate my way. You have set the stars in the sky for your glory and my enjoyment. You are the calm eye, when I am experiencing a hurricane. You oh Lord, dry my eyes and you lift me head. Glory to your name! You are Holy, Holy, Holy! you alone are worthy. You are creator God. You are the Lord the hears me when I call. You speak life into my soul. You are my hope.  You Lord are my all in all.  My father, teacher, my husband, my friend. Thank you for being my constant companion.  You alone comfort my soul.  You Lord Jesus are my redeemer, you have restore soul back to fellowship. Your love reaches across generations. Thank you that you shed your holy blood for me. You Lord Jesus alone are worthy. You have set me a captive free. You alone have purchases my liberty. Your strips have healed me. You have broken  the chains of my bondage. You give me hope for the future.  Thank you have exchanged my sorrow for joy.  You have restored my happy heart. Oh that I should praise you! You have given me an eternity with you. Thank You Holy Spirit for you are moving and are alive within my heart. Thank you that your presence is in my home. Thank you for reviving and restoring our lands, for healing our nations. Thank you that you have poured out your Spirit on us.Thank you for your many blessings. Thank you for enabling me to continue in the walk of faith. Thank you Holy Spirit for the power to overcome the tricks of the adversary. Thank You for the shield of faith. I bless you Lord God of Heaven and Earth, I praise your name.  Oh, That men would praise me...


Psalm 107:8 "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" KJV