8 Cow Woman - No Greater Love A number of years ago i was meeting with a group of sisters after work at my office for Bible study and prayer. We had joined together because we were feeling unseen and unheard at that juncture in our lives. Our children were mostly grown, our future was secure and we needed the encouragement of others. Through our years together we forged a bond of love and caring that exists to this day. We had been trying to name our gathering of women when one sister shared a story she had heard or read. in this story, a betrothal was secured by the bridegrrom paying a bride-price for the hand of a maiden. The bride price could be a chicken, a goat or a cow. The bigger the animal and the number of animals, the greater the bride was valued. There was a young woman who had no great outward attributes and was overlooked by the men in her community. She was overlooked until one man looked past the outward appearance and offered her father the untold bridal price of eight cows. The villagers were shocked because never had such a grand amount been given for any bride, much less one deemed so unlovely. The story went on to tell how this young woman began to change and grow lovlier over time to become the most beautiful woman of the village. She was changed from the inside out because of the great price and love that was given for her. We loved the story and thought about calling ourselves The 8 Cow Women, but decided to call ourselves Women of Worth or the WOW's! This story fits in perfectly with a study i did in the past on the anciet Jewish wedding traditions. In the Jewish weddings of Israel around the time of Christ, a bride price was offered for the bride that reflected the wealth of the bridegroom as well as the inferred worth of the bride. Once the bride price was agreed upon by the father of the groom and the father of the bride as they broke bread and shared three cups of wine, the couple was betrothed to one another. Once that betrothal was entered into, it was secure and binding. It was not easily broken. That's why the Bible tells us in Matthew 1:19 that Joseph, betrothed to Mary, considered divorcing her when he found out that she was pregnant. The berothal was a binding covenant and held both the bride and bridegroom to purity and honor. Once the betrothal took place, the bridegrrom would work to prepare a home for them within his father's house. The bride had to be ready whenever the bridegroom decided to come for her after he finished prepaing their home. The bride's wedding garments and wedding jewels were given to her by the bridegroom's father. He was responsible for the wedding feast and for providing a place for the bride and bridegroom to dwell. What a beautiful illustration of our union with our Bridegroom, Yeshua. John 3:16 states, "For this is how much God loved the world - he gave his one and only unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but exerience everlasting life." (TPT) This was and is the ultimate bride price! Never has there been a greater price paid for a bride! We are currently in the binding betrothal period with our bridegroom Jesus! We've been bought with a sacrifical price and we're to keep ourselves pure and ready for when Our Beloved comes to make us His Bride. He is eternally bound to us and will not desert us for something better. In the ancient Jewish betrothal, the bride could break the betrothal, but the groom could only divorce the betrothed bride if she betrayed him. It is often stated that Christ would have willingly died for just one of us and I agree while believing His purpose was mightier than one. He became the bride price to claim His Bride. We, in all our unlovliness, become the beautiful and pure Bride in the security of His love and sacrifice. No greater love! No more lovely a Bridegroom! I believe the joy set before Christ that caused Him to endure the cross in Hebrews 12:2, was the joy of claiming His betrothed as His Bride! Think on these things as you remember Christ's willingness to be our sacrificial lamb, to take upon Himself all our sin and all our diseases, to confront satan and hell to be one with His Bride. Remembering the great bride price paid for us will cause us to see ourselves as He sees us, holy, pure and clothed in His righteousness. Holy, holy is He. Hosanna to the King of Kings!

A Woman of Great Worth

We met over coffee. It wasn’t the usual two cups and a table in a coffee house. We had just been introduced. I was holding my coffee cup and saucer in my hands when I started to gesture with my right hand which was holding my full coffee cup. I watched in horror as my coffee with cream collided with her lovely cream colored silk blouse. It was not a pretty sight! I profusely started to apologize for my clumsiness, assuring her that I would pay to have it cleaned or replaced. She started laughing and assured me that her blouse would be fine and that it was no big deal. She was wrong. It was a big deal because it was the start of an amazing friendship that was not bound by age, by location, or by background, but by the love and pursuit of God. As our friendship and love for one another grew over the years, she became my “iron-sharpening iron” friend and my biggest cheerleader. She was always eager to share with me what God was teaching her and just as eagerly listened to me share. There was never petty girl stuff between us. I knew she loved me unconditionally and she knew I loved her the same way. We could, and did, share our hopes and dreams, our visions for our futures, our struggles and defeats and our joys along the journey. She was one of the most giving, unselfish people I know. She gave even if it meant doing without for herself. She would buy a new purse for a friend or two and still continue to carry her old one. She cared for her mother and father when they were unable to care for themselves, as well as caring for her husband and three sons and the myriad of women with whom she maintained active contact. No one was too small or too great for her touch. She was one of the main protagonists for a women’s Bible study group, Women of Worth. She brought together a number of us who were feeling overlooked and unseen as we entered middle age. We started meeting together at a coffee shop to study until we outgrew that space and moved to meeting once a week in my office after work. This diverse group of women became more than friends, they truly became sisters as we prayed, shared and studied together. One woman shared an island tale of a very plain woman being wooed with an unheard of bride price of eight cows. That bride price was greater than any that had been paid for even the most beautiful bride. We all loved the story as the tale progressed to share how this woman became the most beautiful on the island because of the great price paid for her. What a kindred story of the redemptive love of Jesus! We, at first, called ourselves the “Eight Cow Women”, but then thought perhaps we should change it to Women of Worth. Not as colorful a moniker, but just as accurate. My friend, Lena Chaco Akindipe, passed from this present glory into the next after a short battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday evening. She had called to let me know the dignosis in September and that it was Stage IV. I didn’t cry. We were both praying and believing for a miraculous healing. She had so much she still wanted to see and do. She had more vision and purpose for her life that was yet to be experienced. She wanted to grow old and active in the Kingdom with her husband, Femi. She wanted to see her sons pursuing their purposes and visions with families of their own. She wanted to lay hands on the sick and dying and see them healed. She wanted to be about her Father’s Kingdom business. She wanted to love the unlovely, the lonely and the forgotten for a very long time. Her time was cut short. Even those of us who knew of her battle were not ready for the suddenness of her passing. She and I had been texting several times the week before as she let me know of her father’s passing on Tuesday. I was not ready for the call telling me that she had passed on Sunday. I felt cheated from more time with her and I have grieved. I’m not grieving for Lena because I firmly trust that she is more fully alive than she has ever been and that she is fulfilling everything that she was created to do and to be. She is completely enveloped in the love of the Father and that gives me peace in the midst of my grief. My grief is for Femi, Matthew, Johny, Andrew, her sister, Susan and family, and for all of us who loved her and were loved by her, and for those she never got to meet. I’m thankful that Jesus understands our grieving and that our tears will cease and we will have joy even in the midst of the grief as we trust Him. I miss you, Lena, my sister, my friend. You were and are a true gift from the Father to me. I will miss the random calls and your greeting, “Hey girl! What’s going on with you?”. I’ll miss laughing with you. I’ll miss our phone sessions of hours sharing what we’ve been studying in the Word. I’ll miss being able to call you with some new understanding or a new provision from the Lord. I miss you, my sister, my friend. You lived your life well and impacted all those you met with the unfailing love of God. Until we meet again, Lena...

Travesty Christianity

Travesty Christianity

My heart is heavy over the Church. I'm not writing about any specific congregation or denomination, but about the Church - the Bride of Christ. My heart is heavy for the Church in our nation. The word travesty means " a mocking imitation" and that seems to be where we dwell as the Church in America. A mocking imitation of what we are called to be and do. Our own plans and purposes mocking the very Christ we are supposed to be living. That applies to me, too. I am not writing this to point a finger, but to try to point us back to our purpose and place in today. I see very little difference in the Church and the world. I see us, the Church, living lives in pursuit of things, position and power as the world lives, instead of pursuing Christ. I see us caring more about how we look on the outside than what our hearts look like on the inside, even though our Father looks on the heart as primary. I see us scurrying to win favor from others while leaving very little place for the One Who favors us. I see us dressing to draw attention and admiration to ourselves rather than clothing ourselves in purity and holiness to draw attention to Him. I see us spending more time studying our TV screens and computer screens than studying the Word of the Living God. I see us giving more honor and homage to the Hollywood star and the athletic star than to our Morning Star, the Christ. I see us scurrying about trying to fulfill our image, or someone else's image, of what we should be doing or how we should be living rather than waiting on God's directives and resting in Him. I see us living lives full of activity and busyness, but with little purpose and destiny. I see a travesty of what the Church is meant to be. We are meant to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, the Bride of Christ. Nice words. Powerful words. What do they mean and how do they apply to us?

Post Election 2012...My Thoughts

Well, Ive been silent all these months. I've read. I've listened. I've mourned. I've prayed. I've sought answers and strategy and attempted to refute those answers and the strategy that I received. My prayer has been for Father's will to be accomplished here on this earth as it is in His Heaven. I sensed a check as to what to ask for, because I believe He has a bigger picture and a greater plan than I know. His plans always are bigger and greater than anything we can conceive or dream. Years ago, while sitting in church listening to a volunteer from the local crisis pregnancy center, Holy Spirit told me three times that abortion was not the worst thing that could happen to someone. I was shocked and asked what He meant. His answer, in my spirit, was that those little ones are instantly in His presence and are fully who they were created to be. The parents and abortion providers who are driven from seeking Him because of the venom and lack of love directed at them by those seeking to "save" the unborn, are much worse off if they spend eternity without Him. He wasn't giving me an endorsement for abortion, but a glimpse into His bigger picture. I shared some of that reasoning at a meeting months later for picketing abortion centers. I said that we were operating as the world does in our actions and attitudes and those were not winning strategies. We needed to be more concerned about reaching those involved in the abortion process through our love instead of our anger or judgment. I was thanked for my remarks and told that I didn't understand the situation. Thankfully, many years later, love appears to be the strategy that many followers of Christ are working from in the abortion arena. Father God has a bigger role for His Church and a greater plan for America than we can accomplish without our reliance on Him. I've observed our Christian populace relax in our nation when we have leaders that appear to be closely aligned with our creed. We don't seem to have much intensity in being the Light and Salt we are called to be. We have become so similiar to the world in which we live, that most observers would only know we are "christians" by our church attendance or the crosses we wear. We have become ready victims to the lure and seduction of the world in which we live until something or someone challenges a "right" that is perceived to be ours! Oh, Church, we were created and called for so much more! We weren't called to follow blindly behind the world's ways while we sing our religious dirges. We're called to be Light and Salt to a dying world! We're called to repair the broken fences in our nation and to shore up our walls! We're called to walk in love towards our brethren in Christ and to reach out in love to those outside the family of faith. The Word states that His love never fails and that when the world sees how we love each other, they will be drawn to Him. Anyone got a better plan than that? I don't think so! Psalm 20:7 states, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." This election, as all others I've observed, have had our "chariots" of Republican and Democrat. We had our "horses" named Obama and Romney this time. Our hope, our salvation cannot be in anything but the Lord Eternal, Jehovah! Regardless of whether your "horse" won or lost, we have a challenge and a call to be a source of life, love, hope and peace that reaches across party lines, religious beliefs and any other divisive thing. Will we heed the call this time, or will we decide to hunker down and just ride out the storm as many did last week when Sandy hit the northeast? Now is not the time to cease being the Church. Now is the time for the Church to manifest the person of Jesus Christ to our perishing nation. It is easier to just be religious, but that is not what we are to be. Stand and take up the mantle of salvation that we have been given and light the path for our nation to once again become, "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."!

Such Very Good News!

Well, my mind and heart are at it again, so I'll try to share them with you. I was taken to church as an infant and have spent most of my life in it since then. My desire is not to tear down, but to try to build up the Church of Jesus Christ...His Bride that He is coming back for! I was introduced to Holy Spirit in my 30's and didn't feel comfortable talking about Him until my 50's. No, I'm not a slow learner, I just wasn't hearing enough about Him to hear Him often and I had little knowledge of His power. His presence was real, but His power was not recognized or acknowledged and I thought the people who professed to walk in that power were a little weird, anyway. I often wondered why we, The Church, were not seeing and doing the same types of things that Jesus and the apostles did. Why weren't we seeing the transforming, healing power that sets others free in all areas? The more I studied the Word the more hungry I became to know Him and to follow after Him. During those years I had two very close friends die when I believed Jesus had healed them. In a gutsy, but desperate move for this Baptist-raised daughter, I even took one of them to a Benny Hinn meeting to get her healed. She died and less than a year later my other precious friend passed suddenly from a liver disease. Both of them left young children and husbands behind and one very discouraged and confused friend...me. I decided I wanted nothing more to do with His "supposed healing power" since it had not worked for my two friends. That's how I lived for awhile. Not seeing and recognizing the power of the risen Christ and seeing how the Church was filled with hurting, ill and dying people, I began a journey to try to find this Risen, Victorious Christ the Word conveys instead of settling for something less than He! That journey is ongoing and never-ending, but I am finding The One Whom I have sought! I am much less concerned about church activities than I am about learning to live as The Church! The early Church cared for one another and no one went without. They operated under a true understanding of Christ's resurrection and ascension that empowered them to go about doing good as Jesus did...healings, miracles and abounding in grace and love. His Spirit dwells in us. His heart is our new heart, therefore it's a good heart. My hands touching someone are filled with the same power and love as Christ's because He lives in me! WOW! The Church is not "like" family, it is family! We sure aren't taking great care of our family and yet, Jesus said that the world would know we are His because of the way we (the Church) love one another and that it would draw the world to Him because of that love. The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ - His death, burial, resurrection and ascension that leads to a life more abundant than anything we can think or imagine! Let's live that truth. Let's be the Church! Let's lay hands on the sick and see them healed. Let's offer love and grace wrapped in truth and see the lost, lonely, downcast and abused start living as the favored of their Abba, 'cause that's who they are! Let's start living and moving in the power of Holy Spirit who is breathing a fresh breath over the Church! Let's!

This Chick...Filet of Christ!

WOW! I am so impressed at the showing in support of Chick Fil A yesterday in the United States! I read so many reports of the large crowds of supporters and the small showing of protestors...it was all over the internet. I wasn't there. I couldn't go, even though I am in agreement with Cathay's statements and support his business as often as I can. If you went, this blog is no condemnation towards you...this is what my response was to this latest drama. As I shared in my last posting, this past year has been a year of a many-faceted changing of things I believed and followed. Not a changing of my Savior and my Father, but a changing from being a works driven and people-pleaser to a love and grace giving, God-pleasing warrior! Years ago as I was in a church meeting listening to a representative of the local Crisis Pregnancy Center share their vision and purpose, Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "There is something worse than the abortions that happen to these little ones". I was shocked and asked Him two more times what He said and I received the same words. Then, I asked Him to explain what He was saying so I could truly undertand. He replied that when these "little ones" lives are ended, they are immediately in His presence fully formed and fully grown to live out His purposes for all Eternity. Those that committed and submitted to those lives ending will spend that same Eternity without Him if they are never shown the gift of love and forgiveness of His heart towards them and are unable to believe it because of the lack of those same gifts in believers. Eternity with Him or Eternity without Him! Which is greater? He was not condoning abortion in any form, but was showing me His heart of love and compassion for those we (the Church) were condemning. I feel the same way about the same-sex marriage issue and any other issue that causes us to become bile erupting volcanoes instead of love erupting light! Yes, those are sin and sin is bad, but so is gossip a sin and gluttoney a sin (as well as a whole list of other things) and those sins are church embraced and often, church driven. What is really going on here? We are in a BATTLE! Not a battle against homosexuality, abortion or same-sex marriage, but a battle against the Church being the Light & Salt we are called to be! The enemy of our souls has devised a pretty slick plan to keep us out of the true battle. He gets us whipped up over something about our "rights" and others' "wrongs" till we're too whipped, too defeated, too angry and too judgmental to fight like the soldiers we're called to be. II Corinthians 10:4-6 tells us that our weapons of warfare are different than the world's and yet, we continue to fight the world's way. No wonder we haven't won very many battles! Can you think of any we've (the Righteous) won by battling as the world does? I remember the condemnation that arose over the church in America when Madeline Murray O'Hare was able to get prayer removed from public schools - the church hadn't done enough...and America has continued it's downward slide in spite of all of our boycotting and placards and Christian broadcasting! What's the answer then to a world of choas, sin and darkness if we don't fight the same way as the world system? Our God, The God of the Angel Armies, gave us His battle plan in II Chronicles 7:14. "If My people (we, the Church), who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from THEIR wicked ways, THEN will I hear from heaven and will forgive THEIR sin and heal their LAND." How effective of the enemy to convince us that prayer really doesn't change much and it certainly isn't quick enough, so let's fight his way and keep loosing battles. It makes us feel godly that we supported a "good" business and boycotted a "bad" one...after all, we are followers of Christ! Followers? Then let's start following! He ate with sinners, went to their homes, touched the unclean and loved the unloveable...are we truly followers just because we bear His name? He never loved the sin, but He ALWAYS loved the sinner! The only people he took issue with and chastised, were the religious ones who had a form of godliness, but no intimacy with Him. I know this is long and I know effectual, fervent prayer requires more of us than fighting the way we have been, but we were told that we have to die in order to live, we were told that God's ways are not our ways and we were told the battle plan. A filet is a generous piece of meat or fish with the bones removed, usually taken from the most tender selection of meat. We need to be choice filets of the King, tender in our love and compassion with all the dry bones removed so the meat we offer is desired by the ones in this world who are dying for lack of food!!! Think on these things...

Where Did the Year Go?

When I checked my Blog site this morning, I was shocked to realize I had not posted in a year! A year!!! Where did it go and where was I? I've been on a journey and it's been a good one. I had a serious heart condition as a result of illness when I was nine years old. That illness and the damage it caused my heart, had been progressing for the last 54 years. Last year, about this time, I started to get very tired and had little energy or ability to do much other than sit and read, which I did. My husband, the doctors and I decided it was time something needed to be done because my health was deteriorating rapidly. I won't bore you with the details, but I had open heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic at the end of January. They performed four procedures on my heart and my recovery has been exceptional. Miracles and God's hand were evident every step of the way from the dear ones who paid for the surgery, the complete peace I experienced, the believers who were part of my surgical care team, those who cared for us with meals and love, and the beautiful recovery of my heart! That's just a portion of what He's been doing in my life, though. He's taught me so much more about His Grace and His forgiveness than I ever knew before! My walk of faith has grown by leaps as I've experienced His love, forgiveness, grace and favor this year. I went into the surgical suite, for an operation I had feared, with absolutely no fear! I'm learning how to walk with the assurance that, Christ in me, is why I can boldly pray and expect Him to answer. The full power and glory of the risen Christ lives in me so when I lay hands on someone who is sick or hurting, it's Christ in me who does the heaing. It's my faith in the One Who Heals as the Healer, not my faith in whether I believe He heals or whether I can heal. It's Christ in me, My Provider, Who supplies everything that I need. That's not my job, my husband's job, or the government's job...He's my Provider! I'm also understanding more about the battle we are in as children of The Most High God! I'm seeing more clearly the enemy's attempts to "kill, steal, and destroy" those who belong to Yahweh, what a clever deceiver he is and how he has no right in our lives unless we give it to him in agreement. He "roars like a lion", but he is no match for my Lion of Judah! I despise the enemy for what he has done to the church and how we have followed him like sheep being led to slaughter. Our lives have become feeble attempts to make our own mixture of works and recognition rather than drinking deeply from the Well that will NEVER run dry or become polluted! We have pushed and published religious fervor until our nation has regurgitated our mixture and, by doing so, rejects God because that's all they know of Him! The Bride is dirty and tattered and no longer the sweet fragrance of salvation we are supposed to be. I certainly don't know all the answers and I'm still wading through some junk I've collected, but I'm going forward with the One Who has all the answers and wants to reveal them to those who will hear His voice. I'm listenting, expectantly, for the voice of my Shepherd...who will follow?

A Stinking, Old, Bloated, Dead Thing!

Well, The Word has done it again and cut to the very quick! Yesterday was the 62nd celebration of the day of my birth. As I started reading the comments that were coming in from friends and loved ones, I started to feel quite pleased with myself! Yep, I was agreeing that Yahweh was pretty happy to have me on His team for I was making a difference and my friends were acknowledging that! I found myself eager to read what the next person would write and my head just kept getting bigger and bigger as my heart started shrinking more and more away from Him. I didn't grow up with much affirmation or encouragement and as the day progressed, I regressed back to that little girl longing for love and affirmation! I was soaking it up like a sponge and bloating up like a puffer fish! Just now as I wrote 'puffer fish', I realized that I was bloating more like a dead animal left out in the heat, because that ugly stuff bloating up was already dead and stinky and not needing to be resurrected! Thank you, Jesus! The Father is so gentle with His tests to reveal our hearts. The comments coming from my dear people were all good and not meant for evil, but as Father looked on my heart, I believe He determined it was time for a test. I've never cared for tests and never did that great on tests and yet, I love His because they create life in me! His desire for me is to be pure of heart which means the impurities have to go. My response was impure and not worthy of His daughter!

Yesterday I had been reading in Proverbs 27 for my morning time with Yahweh and as I read I was drawn to verses 19 - 21. "Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart. Hell has a voracious appetite and lust just never quits. The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in fire; the purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little praise/fame." Just like Abba Father to give me the diagnosis as well as the cure! I'm so thankful that I'm still young enough to be corrected by my Father even at the age of 62! I'm thankful that He can teach 'old dogs' new ways and that we reap the benefits! I'm thankful for loved ones who share exhorting and encouraging words for they are salve and balm and life! I'm thankful for this life I've been given and for the blessing and responsibility of many friends who love Him and me. I give The Master, Jesus Christ all honor and glory for any good thing in me and any good thing that I have done! Without Him, I am just a stinking, old, bloated dead thing! Praise to Him from Whom all blessings flow!!!

"Mustard Seed" Faith

I've been thinking about faith a great deal the past few months. I've thought I understood what faith is, how it works and what it does. Remembering the "Walk of Faith" from one of the Indiana Jones movies and the Bible's explanation of faith, I was sure that I not only knew what faith is, but that I had it. Today, I'm not so sure.

Now, I know I have faith. I know that my relationship with Yahweh is based on faith - I can't see Him, but I know Him and I know He loves me. That's all faith and I'm grateful for it! I know I have faith to walk onto a second story floor and believe that the builders built it correctly to hold all it has to hold and not fall down. But, the "mustard seed" faith that Jesus spoke of in Mark 17 - that, I'm not so sure I have. In Mark 17, the aspotles asked Jesus to increase their faith. He told them, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy (mustard) seed, you could say to this sycamore tree; 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it." (MSB)

In Matthew 21, Jesus tells his disciples, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to the mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."(NIV) So, looking at those two chapters as well as many others in scripture, I've been thinking about faith a great deal this summer.

I think Jesus was quite clear when He stated that we don't need more faith. I believe we may have some fuzzy thinking when it comes to our own faith. That mustard seed that Jesus talked about, is one of the smallest of seeds and yet, grows a large six to eight food plant that is big enough and sturdy enough for birds to nest in. That's a very small start to a very big faith that is sturdy and safe - bird's only build their nests in protective, safe places! So, our small seed of faith needs to be coupled with our absolute trust in our Father, with no doubts, in order to become alive and useful in our lives and the lives of others. Doubts are faith destroyers that prevent our faith from being active! The best destoyer of our doubts is an intimate relationship with our Father. The more we understand His love and heart towards us and others, the more we can trust Him with the details of our lives without doubting whether He has our best in mind or whether He can bring good out of the circumstances.

It seems to me that the "bare kernel of faith" has to be an absolute, pure knowledge of Who He Is and who I am in Him. That "bare kernel" has nothing covering it; no fear, no doubt, no worry or fretting, no unbelief. Its just pure, undiluted, joyful and expectant faith! I don't think we're seeing too much of that "bare kernel faith" in the Church in America. We seem to have too many distractions, too many choices that start covering our kernels and prevent us from experiencing the Glory of Yahweh in our lives. So, my prayer today for me and my fellow believers;
is not for more faith, but for our faith to be pure and bare; not covered over with the circumstances and worries of our lives, but fully open to the touch and voice of our Master, Jesus the Christ! Then, I believe, we'll experience the active work of our faith and experience the Glory of God being visited on and in us. That's what I want and that's my prayer

Extravagant Dimensions!

Extravagant dimensions! That's what I'm talking about and that's what I'm experiencing more and more in the Father's love. Ephesians 3:16-19 in The Message Bible is God's heart for us and my heart for you.

"I ask Him to strengthen you by His Spirit - not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength - that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. And I ask that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us."

Experience the breadth, test its length, plumb its depths and rise to the heights of the extravagant love of Abba Father for each one of us! What a wonderful place to be in this new year of life we've been given. I feel as if I'm really just starting to experience those extravagant dimensions, so my future is very bright because there is so much more to know, experience and understand in this wonderful relationship with my extraordinary Father! Take the journey of exploration for yourself, because its for you as well. Receive and experience the amazing grace and love of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves. (Phil. 4:23) I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you!

Grateful Thanks!

Today as I look back over the past year with its challenges and changes, I am so grateful to know that our God has been in control of our goings and our comings! Nothing was a surprise to Him and He orchestrated a few surprises for us that have all been for our good!

I am so thankful for the love of my wonderful husband, who continues to love me unconditionally and unselfishly! With 40 years of marriage under our belts this year, I have another gratitude to our Father for that fete - we could not have made it without His guidance, forgiveness and mercy! I'm thankful for the love of my three children, their spouses and my eight grandchildren! God is so good and He has blessed me with many blessings through them this past year. I thank God for my siblings and my mother who help keep me grounded and appreciative of all the opportunities and help their love has provided. I'm thankful for my Christian family that is spread throughout the world. The love of Abba Father that binds us together and makes us one is the most powerful force in the universe! I'm grateful for the friends from my past that have been brought back into my present and, hopefully, my future! I'm excited and thankful for the plans that Abba Father has for me in this next year and for the health to be able to participate in all His plans.

Oh, He is so good and He's so loving! I'm very grateful to be called His daughter, to hear His voice and to know His love! There is nothing to top it in this world or the next! I love each of you and pray that you will find much to be grateful for as you reflect back on this year. God bless you in His love! Happy Day of Giving Thanks, dear ones.

Prime Your Pumps! or Thanksgiving Blog

Growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania, we had no running water or bathrooms in the house. We did have a wondeful, old, red-handled pump right outside the kitchen door where we could get the coldest, sweetest water on earth! The water came from the flowing creek at the bottom of the pasture and was pumped up to the house from a pump house down by the creek. Frequently, after not being used for awhile, we would have to prime the pump by pouring some water down it to get the water to come out. Once it started coming, we could pump as long as we wanted and the water would keep pouring out!

I've said all that to prime my Thanksgiving Blog! When My husband and I started our family and celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our home, we decided to start doing "Thankfulness Rounds" around the table. Everyone was expected to participate by sharing something for which they were thankful. At first, as young children, they were excited about thanking God for their sister, dog or new toy. As they entered the teenage years they became less excited about our traditional rounds. Each year our children would start off complaining about having to participate in the rounds, so each year we would have to prime the pump and start sharing our own thanks and then passing the turn around the table. Some years we only managed three or four rounds before we stopped and other years we would go about ten rounds. Each year there were tears and laughter by the time we finished and there was the determination by Allen and me that we were doing the right thing. Whenever we had guests join us for Thanksgiving, we always shared our tradition with them and welcomed them to join us in the rounds if they so desired. I don't recall that anyone ever refused the invitation even if they were a mite apprehensive. We have had some wonderful thanks given around our dining room table, thanks expressed by friends of old, friends we met that day, people of other faiths and nationalities and our own dear children as adults! Tears have flowed and laughter has been shared. How enriched and blessed we've been as we've been entrusted with thankful hearts. There is a vulnerability in being thankful. It denotes our dependence on our God and His access into our lives. It relates our interdependency on others. Ephesians 5:20 tells us to give thanks IN everything for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus. Being thankful keeps our eyes on our Father and what He is about rather than our circumstances. Being thankful is certainly a God thing and because of that, it's a good thing!

Our three children are married with children of their own and all of them now do the Thankfulness Rounds as part of their celebration. Now they're hearing some of the same types of things we did and are also experiencing the joy of thanks given and thanks received. There are now tears at numerous tables and family gatherings. Guests and family members who shared those times with us in the past have also incorporated it into their holiday traditions. So, if you haven't already done so, prime the pump in your own family or gathering and get those thankful hearts going in grateful praise to Almighty God! Start small if necessary, but start & don't quit because if you prime long enough the cool, sweet, water of thankful hearts will come pouring out and will keep coming long after the day of Thanksgiving has passed!

Please, Please, Don't Drink the Poison!

To forgive or not to forgive is one of life's more challeging situations. I'm sure each of you has had many times when you had to choose between forgiving or not, just as I have. The decision to forgive is easier for me than it used to be, but there are still situations where I struggle with that decision. I've discovered when I'm confronted with a second-person offense, when someone I care about has been wronged, it is harder for me to reach that forgiveness decision than when it is only directed at me. I think its that "mother-bear syndrome" even when I'm not their mother!
Some time ago, I read the most dynamic definition of unforgiveness I had ever seen. The author, I regret I don't remember who it was, stated that unforgiveness is when: "We drink the poison expecting the other person to die!" What a perfect picture of such a vile thing as unforgiveness! That's a visual that has spurred me to forgive when my emotions didn't want me to. I hurt only myself when I choose to not forgive. Steve Saint wrote that "Hating someone and holding onto bitterness builds a prison around us. Forgiving others frees us." Forgiveness is first a choice and then an action. To forgive doesn't mean that person deserves forgiveness or that we forget his/her actions, it means we CHOOSE to forgive and then we do so! I choose to not die from poison I've ingested in a prison I've constructed! What a waste of our time, energy and position in Christ. The Bible states that if we don't forgive, we will not be forgiven and I need to be forgiven, hence I need to forgive because the price is too great if I don't! Our extraordinary God prepared an amazing way for our own undeserved forgiveness - Jesus the Christ! How can we do less?

Holding Tightly With My Eyes Closed!

When I was a child we moved twice a year to another state. The journey would entail a couple of nights in little roadside motels, meals at picnic tables and an occasional Yoo Hoo to drink when we stopped for gas. I don't recall ever asking my daddy, the driver, if he knew the way to go, if he had enough money to get us there or if our car was safe for the journey. I often asked him how long it would be till we got to our destination and "are we almost there?". As I have been thinking about my relationship to Abba Father and His directive that we need to come to Him as little children, the memory of my childhood days has helped me to understand more clearly what Abba means. Thankfully, I had a good daddy I could trust. He wasn't perfect like heavenly Father, but he was a good man and I knew he loved me. It's been easy for me to draw comparisons from my childhood because of that. I know many of you had fathers that you couldn't say that about or no father figure at all. It may be more difficult for you to come to Abba Father with childlike faith, but it is not impossible. Father God is constantly at work in our lives to reveal His great love to us and His desire to have a deep relationship with each of us. Maybe you've received a gift that you had no reason to expect, a job promotion or position offered when you had almost given up, new friends and old that truly care about you, a good report from the doctor regarding a condition you have or had, or anything good in your life. I believe all those are gifts from God to show us His love-heart and to draw us into a relationship with Him. Okay, most of us can accept that, but what about the times when people and things are not so good in our lives? Those times when our home is being foreclosed, our jobs are gone, our friends seem to have abandoned us or our health is attacked can be earthquakes in our relationship with Abba Father unless we have come to experience His love for us and to trust Him as a little child. That trust as a child where we simply have to hold on tight to our Daddy and let Him get us through the mess. Picture with me a raging river, a stormy night, a single log across that raging river to the other peaceful side and Father God on your side of the river. Childlike faith is when Abba Father holds us and tells us to put our arms around His neck and hold on tightly - He will walk us across to the other side. He instructs us to keep our eyes tightly shut and trust Him to get us safely over. What a wonderful position to be in - in His arms with our arms tightly around His neck and our eyes closed! That, my friend, is childlike faith! We're fine in that position unless we open our eyes and look at the narrowness of that single log or the raging waters below. Those are faith destroyers and cause us to start squirming in fear and trying to get out of Abba's embrace because we're not sure He can get us across. Nothing has changed in that picture except we opened our eyes and became focused on the circumstances rather than our faith in Him! How many times I've done that and you probably have as well. I don't want to live like that anymore, so I am determined to keep these baby blues closed as Abba Father walks me safely over! Join me, won't you?

"Use The Oil You Have"

Last week I wanted to bless a couple of my friends. These women and I meet on a regular basis and have shared our hearts, hurts, joys and hopes with one another. The three of us are walking some new, uncharted paths and I just wanted to show them, in a tangible way, that I love them and care about them. As I shared that desire with Holy Spirit, I related that I had no money to buy anything for them. Of course, He knew my situation and had put the desire in my heart to bless them! He also had the answer - "Use the oil you have"! Remembering the stories from I Kings 17 and II Kings 4 of the prophets, Elijah and Elisha, being fed by the widows with their last little bit of oil and flour, I knew what I was to do. Going through my pantry and freezer I was able to make them some goodies. I believe they were blessed - I sure know I was!

I have mused over Holy Spirit's statement this week because I believe there is a deeper lesson to be learned. Many times I have not done something to help someone, not been available because I didn't think I had "what it took" to meet that need. Oil is symbolic of anointing in Scripture, so the statement could be interpreted to mean, "Use the anointing you have." When we operate in the anointing of Holy Spirit we have whatever it takes to meet the needs of others. The oil flowing from Holy Spirit's bottle doesn't run out as we stay connected to Him. We are supernaturally enabled to meet the needs of others when we use His oil! Flowing from His anointing oil is healing, teaching, mercy, love, grace, forgiveness, preaching, helps, and joy! Wow! What a difference we can make if we start using the anointing oil we have, rather than focusing on what we don't have! We have everything we need to make a shining (oil is greasy, remember) difference in our world - everything! So... are we willing to use what we have and let our extraordinary Father turn our "little" into much for His glory? I say, "YES"!

"Use The Oil You Have"

Last week I was wanting to bless some friends of mine. I love to give gifts, that's my strongest love language, and I had no money to buy anything for them. I shared my desire with the Father, of course, He's the One who put the desire there in the first place. I told Him that I wanted to do something for them and didn't know what to do. Holy Spirit simply said, "Use the oil you have"! I remembered

"Why, Oh Why?"

This was the title of a dear friend's email to me earlier this week. She wanted to know why our faith in the Father is so tested and stretched. Knowing some of the trials I've gone through and some I'm currently going through, she was asking for some wisdom and prayer support. I can only give what I have, so this was my answer. Any wisdom I've gained has come through my journey with Abba Father and my relationship with Him

"We are tested and stretched because He has more in store for us than just "easy" faith! Remember, if we can see it in the natural, it isn't faith, its just walking in the natural. His desire is for us to know Him so intimately and to trust Him so completely that our lives won't become topsy-turvey if we don't "see" what we want or are expecting. I know you know this, but He is working to establish a knowing in your spirit that supercedes your circumstances! That's where true faith and true peace reside - in the knowing of Abba Father. I can relate to your cry and so can He. We have had no income for over a year and our home is in foreclosure. We have visions and plans that we believe the Father has given us, and yet, no concrete visualization of His provision. We haven't gone hungry, we have kept our utilities on and gas in our cars. At any point, the homes and properties we owned could have sold and rescued us from this place - it didn't happen. We are continuing to walk each day in faith, knowing that He has promised He won't ever abandon us or leave us defenseless. He hasn't! We don't see the way out yet, but we know its there and that it will be revealed as we wait on Him. I don't know all we'll have to walk through to get there, but I am convinced by His love and care over us, that we will get where we are to be to serve Him more completely than ever before. I can say, with that same assurance, that you will get through this place if you continue to seek hard after Him. He will take you and your family through, not around, but through, circumstances that cause you to cling to Him and learn to know Him more intimately as your Daddy Provider - Your More Than Enough! The journey through isn't to hurt or alarm, but to prove His love and character to His sons and daughters. Trust Him and let Him carry you through in His arms because they are there for you. Get excited about what He is forming in you, because He is excited and delighted about you!"

Just about everyone I talk with is going "through" something in their life that requires faith in order to make it through victoriously. I encourage you to meditate on Psalm 37 and meditate on Abba's love for you, His child! Be blessed by our extraordinary Daddy!

FREEDOM!

Freedom! We all want to be free. Free to do what we believe we were created to do. Free to love. Free to be unique. Free to soar. Free...

This week a beautiful dove entered our screened porch and couldn't find her way out. We opened the door so she could fly out at her leisure to no avail. After two days of trying to get out of the corner she was in, she was exhausted and weak. I tried to shew her out and she kept going back into the corner. Her feathers were all battered and torn from her stuggle and her strength was waning. The morning of the third day, (that sounds so biblical!) I enlisted my husband's help and gave him my recommendations for helping her. He tried my way one time and then took matters into his own hands - literally. He walked over to the dove, captured her in his hands and began to stroke her head and talk to her as he walked with her to the door. As he released her into her freedom, she left behind a bunch of battered tail feathers, and soared.

What a beautiful example of what often happens in our lives. We know we were meant to "fly" and yet we feel trapped in whatever "cage" we're in. It could be the cage of discouragement, the cage of fear, the cage of jealousy, the cage of inadequacy, or the cage of the unknown. We get stuck in that cage, whichever one it is, and can't find our way out because we keep battering against the area of the cage with no opening. There is a way out, a door, a window, an opening, but we're so accustomed to our "corner" we don't want to leave. We finally get so worn out, so battered trying to do it our way, our dream about to die, we go to the Father for His help. Even then, we try to give Him our formula for success in setting us free. He may let us have a go doing it our way and when that fails again, He takes matters into His hands! He picks us up in His hands, gently soothes our head and heart with His caress, speaks peace to our soul and releases us into our promise! What an extraordinary Daddy!

As I watched my husband soothe and quiet the dove with his hand and his voice, it was such a visual for me of Abba Father's care over you and me. Just like the dove, you and I have a way out of our "cages". I don't believe the dove would have been as easily caught the first or second day. It was only after she had exhausted her strength and schemes that she was ready to be picked up and helped by the master. Then and only then did she achieve freedom and begin to soar. I am learning to trust the Master's hand so I don't have to wait until my strength is gone to go to Him for help and comfort. I'm learning that His soothing touch and calming voice bring peace to my spirit and life to my dreams and purpose. I no longer want to live my life beating myself up by trying to make my own doors and windows. I want to live free to be all I am called to be by trusting Abba Father in all areas of my life. I am planning on soaring! So, make way - you hear my wings flapping?

The Heart of a Gardener

I am a gardener and I love to plant things and watch them grow and produce. Unfortunately, I did not inherit my mother's "green thumb" and some of my planted things end up in the trash heap. I love to plant and I love to water, but I don't like to weed and yet I have to do it (or my husband does!) in order to keep the plants growing strong and my gardens looking good.

I just recently planted some new herbs and tomatoes and was musing about my delight over their progress and how it reminds me of Abba Father and His care over me. I go out first thing every morning to see if the plants have grown or if new ones have sprouted up. I check my mature tomatoes and fruit trees to see if they have started to put on fruit. I get so excited to see fruit forming and new sprouts starting and growing. I carefully tend the "babies" and shelter them out of harm's way. The more mature plants can take the full sun and elements and need it in order to grow bigger and stronger and more able to produce fruit. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this.

Our Father, or husbandman, watches over us with a similar type of anticipation and joy. He delights to see us growing and is constantly providing what we need in order to grow strong in Him and to produce the fruit of His Spirit in our lives. He carefully tends us, shelters us & teaches us how to remove the "weeds' that can stunt our growth and prevent fruit from setting. His joy in seeing us grow strong and healthy and bearing fruit is much deeper that what I experience with my plants, but I think He allows me a glimpse of His heart with my garden. I love showing off my plants to others and talking about what they're doing and how great their harvest. I love sharing the fruits of their growing with others and seeing them enjoy those fruits as well. I even love talking to those plants and praising them for a job well done at the different seasons - don't laugh, it works! What a picture of our Father and His joy in us, His plantings! I could go on and on with analogies, but I'll stop here and let you share some of your own with me. I'm so thankful for the extraordinary love of Abba Father for me!