May 28, 2023
What a beautiful week it has been. The leaves are popping out at our place, I have some flowers planted, there have been some nice rain showers and everything is so green. These are the perfect setting for enjoying my time with my Lord on the front porch. I treasure my God, Jesus and Holy Ghost time. In this season of my life, I cannot afford to skip one morning of intimate time in His presence. There are too many distractions in life and I must guard my heart of confusing thoughts.
 
This is Memorial Day weekend. The children have been learning about the Armor of God and I thought it was something important to look at today. Just as those serving our country have been trained in battle and were taught the right equipment to protect their lives, the Lord has given us a plan that protects us against the wiles of our enemy, the devil. In the last couple years, the Lord has enlightened my eyes to see these verses different than I ever did before. They are about my identity and knowing who I am in Him. I am sharing these verses in Ephesians 6: 10-20 from the Passion Translation… You can also look them up in other translations. These verses are so vital right now as the enemy is doing his best to destroy but how awesome that our Father gave us a plan 2000 years ago!
 
“Now my beloved ones, I have saved these most important truths for last: Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you.
Just these verses alone can change your whole life!
 
Put on God’s complete set of armor provided for us, so that you will be protected as you fight against the evil strategies of the accuser!  Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms.  For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage. Because of this, you must wear all the armor that God provides so you’re protected as you confront the slanderer, for you are destined for all things and will rise victorious.
 
Put on truth as a belt to strengthen you to stand in triumph. Put on holiness as the protective armor that covers your heart. Stand on your feet alert, then you’ll always be ready to share the blessings of peace.
 
In every battle, take faith as your wrap-around shield, for it is able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming at you from the evil one!  Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies. And take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-sword of the spoken Word of God.”
 
Pray passionately in the Spirit, (vitally important part that gets ignored a lot) as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times. Pray the blessings of God upon all his believers. And pray also that God’s revelation would be released through me every time I preach the wonderful mystery of the hope-filled gospel. Yes, pray that I may preach the wonderful news of God’s kingdom with bold freedom at every opportunity. Even though I am chained as a prisoner, I am his ambassador.”
 
The belt of truth isn’t as much about not being a liar and not being truthful even though that is vital, it’s about speaking the truth of who I am in Him. Speaking words of life and not choosing to speak words of death, hopelessness, condemnation, quitting, discouraged, depressed and being useless. What has He said about me – you? These are the words I am to speak. “Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life..” Proverbs 18:21 – Passion
 
The Breastplate of Righteousness protects my heart from those words and feelings of condemnation, pain, confusion that I speak, think and own at times. When I know I am righteous in Him I can do all things in Him and be who He has called me to be. I don’t have to protect my own heart with a wall that shuts His Life out but I can guard my heart and minister His love. “So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23
 
Then there is having your feet shod with the Gospel of peace. When I walk in conflict and stress in my life, in my mind and heart there is no peace. His peace is not ruling my life. I have chosen to choose peace over stress. It’s a daily choice and sometimes minute by minute but the greatest choice I can make every day. I can share His love with others going through hard times and they don’t know He is the answer. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:15
 
The Shield of Faith saves our lives. I can get exhausted from trying to fight through deception, lies, offenses, hurts and cares of this world on my own. When I let down my shield of faith things can seem almost impossible. Walking in His faith protects my heart from the lies of the evil one and I go forward knowing who I am in Him and knowing in His faith I am “able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming at you from the evil one! “ 
 
Put on the Helmet of salvation. This isn’t just receiving the Lord as your Savior but we have to protect our thoughts and remember who we became when He became our Lord and Savior. “So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.” Philippians 4:8
 
The Sword of the Spirit is His Word. My intimate time with Him and in His Word is one of the most powerful times of my day. His Word is alive and Truth. As I hide His Word in my heart, I am able to go forward in what He has called me to do knowing I am everything He says I am.
 
I don’t have time to drop my guard. There are too many lives that need to know Him and His love. I am thankful He never leaves me but keeps whispering, keeps loving, keeps showing me the way. I’m praying the Lord will show us ways to minister to other hurting people that are sometimes harder to reach. The time is crucial to go forward preaching His Love and Good News. The enemy wants to keep us disillusioned and wavering. There is no time for that! 
 
Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you. AMEN

May 14, 2023
Happy Mother’s Day!! What a wonderful day to celebrate! I’ve been thinking a lot about Moms, Mothers, Mommys this past week. I’m so thankful we have a special day to celebrate the women in our lives. The first woman came out of man but every man came out of a woman, a mother,  (and of course, other woman did too). I feel so blessed to be a woman and mom. There are the challenges that come with life no matter what gender we are but in Him we are overcomers, victorious and more than conquerors. Today I want to share some promises and wisdom from God’s Word to encourage all women, even if you are not a physical mom, but we all had a mom that gave us birth and life. For that we should all be thankful.
 
Being a woman or mom is difficult especially in the culture of today. Without Biblical guidance and wisdom there are no real definitions that describe a woman. We’ve seen people not even know how to define a woman. That sounds silly but if you don’t know the truth of God’s Word how would you really know anymore. When I was growing up a woman or mom was the keeper of the home. She was the nurturer, the comforter, the one who could kiss away the boo-boo. She did laundry, even knew what an iron was for😊, packed our lunches and cooked meals. She prayed for you at bedtime, prayed before you went to school, had a Bible beside her chair and you knew she was praying many more times a day. Now with time a woman or mom has changed to some point. I think most women have nurturing tendencies in one area or another. Women now have careers and work hard outside the home as well as in keeping a home. If we looked deep inside, we usually know the truth about who God created us to be, but then the world, men and others try to tell us different. Motherhood is the same. Deep down a mommy usually has a God-given instinct that helps her know what is best for her child, because she hears it from Him, but then again, the world and others get involved and make the role of a woman and mom look so insignificant and ever changing. The woman God created that came out of man is not ever changing and invaluable. Times change but our identity as a woman built and put together by God does not change. He knew what He was doing and created a beautiful creation.
 
Some like myself, grew up with a wonderful, God loving Mom. Some didn’t and just like those who didn’t have a great father influence we must learn to move past that and only see our identity in our Creator. We can not base who we are today by our past. There are situations, hurts and abuses that we could blame our identity on or judge that parent who wasn’t all we needed or what God had meant for us to have. However, our faithful Father has already taken care of our every need and given us every thing we need for a glorious life in Him. We all have something we could blame on someone from our past but we have no right to hold on to that because Jesus went to the cross and died for it already. He knew there would be hurts and abuses so He took it upon Himself to rid those situations once and for all. If we know Him then He lives in us and we are in Him. There is no room for hurts, offenses and judgements. Now, we can find a way to work the hurts into our hearts and push His ways aside. We all find ourselves doing that once in a while. It’s not that we push Him aside with our attitudes but it is when we believe the lies and keep Him away that destroys our lives. We will have the thoughts but we must always take that thought captive and just focus on Him. Not sure why I wrote all that, but I believe it was for someone.
 
Our children usually come into our lives as tiny, helpless babies. We give our all to take care of them until they can do a little on their own. As toddlers they are still pretty dependent on us but as they grow, they become more independent. For myself, one the greatest challenges of motherhood was knowing when to let go. One day I realized that these little ones were just like every other person that has ever lived, they were created by Him and were His. God created each of us in our mother’s wombs. We were not accidents according to His plan. “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Psalm 139:13-14
His workmanship is marvelous! Now comes the hard part, each child is created by Him. We must give our children back to Him and let Him guide us as we train and love them. The only Book that gives you the complete instructions on motherhood from conception throughout their whole lives is God’s Word. Other books have some information, some from God’s plan and so much from man’s ideas apart from God. We think we know life better than the Maker. Look at our world. Man has taken into his own hands the process of raising up a child that was made in the image of God and made, built by God. How do we think we can take someone else’s creation and have success with doing with it what we want? That never works.
 
At the same time that this child is being knit together inside a woman, He is creating a mother. Those little ones that live next to a mother’s heart will always be on a mother’s heart no matter their age. I don’t see my 5 children as others see them, I see them created by God inside me and always a part of me. A mother’s heart knows when her children are hurting without hearing a word. She knows when they are struggling when she hasn’t seen them maybe for years. Like God, He created us and always knows our hearts even when we don’t acknowledge Him. The desire of a mother longs to protect, nurture, guide, sometimes control their child. These are all great things in the natural but we soon find out that we can’t do it in ourselves. It doesn’t work with our own agendas and desires. The only way to influence and guide a child is through the instruction manual given by the Creator. It is not easy. It hurts our hearts to see what our children are doing and what they are thinking. Young moms with toddlers do not believe me when I say that this is one of the easiest times of motherhood. This is the time you are still training them up and have more say so in their lives. As they grow, we pray that what we have instilled in them they will heed. Then someday they are adults and on their own. A mom’s heart is still just as close as ever and it is so hard to watch them make mistakes, hopefully learn from their mistakes, and always with a heart of prayer you are believing they will give and trust their lives to Jesus.
 
If we are not staying close to our Savior, we will let fear get in our hearts and fear leads to nothing good or God. That fear we have for our child will cause us to do things that push them away. The cure for fear is faith. Motherhood is a walk of faith like nothing else we do. The greatest way to know your child and what your child needs is for you, as a mother, to know – in an intimate way – the love and ways of our Lord. We can never know His will when our will is most important to us. That happens a lot when it comes to raising and influencing our children. As our children grow, we must have a hands-off approach. We must be willing for things to be out of our control and in His hands. As long as we are holding on too tight, our children cannot not hold on to Him. We must submit our will, our plans, our attitudes, and need for things to be as we want them to Him and then trust Him. We must be able to let go and say, “Take over, Lord, I can do nothing without You!” “Everyone who knows Your wonderful name keeps putting their trust in You. They can count on You for help no matter what. O Lord, You will never, no never, neglect those who come to You.” Psalm 9:10
 
What have I learned from the last 49 years of mothering? I have learned that I cannot love anyone without Him, Who is love. I cannot not take credit for the love I have for my children, it’s His love that He has given me and I steward that love with tender care and great thankfulness. I have given myself to a lifetime of knowing Him. ”For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers.” Philippians 3:10 The greatest thing any woman can do is take time for the Lord, to give her all to Him and not her family. When He has your all, He is your all and it will work out for all. “For all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
 
No matter where you are today in your walk of motherhood know He cares for you more than anything you can imagine. Many will have a difficult Mother’s Day. He knows your hurts, your losses, your griefs, your sorrows. Trust Him with all your heart. Don’t lean on your own understanding. It’s His love in you that will bring comfort. He knows your heart because He created you and cares. They can count on You for help no matter what. All women need to pray for one another. I say blessings and love to all you women on this special day. What a joy to be a woman! “For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your[ own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Acts 17:28

April 30, 2023
Lately, the Lord has been bringing this song to my mind almost daily. We first learned this song in the mid 1990’s. We would be in a group of worshippers and sing this with every part of our being. Whose people will you believe? I WILL BELIEVE THE REPORT OF THE LORD!!!!!
 
Whose report will you believe
(We shall believe the report of the Lord)
Whose report will you believe
(We shall believe the report of the Lord)
Whose report will you believe
(We shall believe the report of the Lord)
Whose report will you believe
(We shall believe the report of the Lord)

His report says I am healed
His report says I am filled
His report says I am free
His report says victory

Are you healed (Yes)
Are you filled (Yes)
Have you got the victory (Yes)
Are you healed (Yes)
Are you filled (Yes)
Have you got the victory (Yes)


There’s a lot more to those words than just a joyful song. I WILL BELIEVE HIS REPORT! The next question is what is His report? “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4 His Word is the report we believe. All of us know the thousands of words and promises that are in the Bible. We believe in His Word. We love to read His Word, especially the verses that are full of His promises. The part many miss is KNOWING His Word in our hearts to the point that we always know what is His report. Many places in the Word talk about to know, this is to know intimately. To know His report, His Word, His Truth without a shadow of a doubt, we must spend some intimate time in His presence and in His Word.
 
As a child we were taught to memorize many things; poems, Bible verses, pledges, creeds. We memorized what was important to have hidden in our hearts. “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11 People say that they can not memorize but you can know, in an intimate way, His word so well that it is hidden in your heart. When the time arises and you need to know whose report is truth, God’s or the Doctors?  God’s or man’s understanding? God’s or the world’s system? You will not know His report unless you spend time knowing Him.
 
“You see, every child of God overcomes the world, for our faith is the victorious power that triumphs over the world. So who are the world conquerors, defeating its power? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:4-5 TPT
 
This past week I have been focusing on the victory we have in Him. We are overcomers, more than conquerors in Him. There should be no doubt in our hearts, or minds concerning His Truth about any situation. Yet, it is easy, at times, to get caught up in doubt and unbelief because we have been focusing on our own understanding. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him (know Him intimately) and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
 
“You’re my place of quiet retreat, and your wraparound presence becomes my shield as I wrap myself in your Word!” Psalm 119:114
 
This week the Lord took me to Psalm 23. This is a comforting chapter in His word that most people know or have heard of. As I read it from the perspective of His report for me, I was so blessed to see all He promises. Sometimes we recite it so fast we are not knowing it in our hearts.  When the enemy tries to lie about who I am and Who my Lord is in my life I just compare the report of the Lord with the lies of the enemy and I know I have victory in every situation.
 
“Yahweh is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough.
 
He offers a resting place for me in His luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace near the quiet brook of bliss.
 
That’s where he restores and revives my life. He opens before me in the right path and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness so that I can bring honor to his name.
 
Even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conqueror me, for you already have. Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear, I’ll never be lonely, for you are near.
 
You become my delicious feast even when my enemies dare to fight. You anoint me with the fragrance of your Holy Spirit; you give me all I can drink of you until my cup overflows.
 
So why would I fear the future? Only goodness and tender love pursue me all the days of my life. Then afterward, when my life is through, I’ll return to your glorious presence to be forever with you.” Psalm 23 TPT
 
Take time to start putting His report, His promises, His Truths in your heart. It will save you many times when you are a situation and need to know His report to stand on. I pray you enjoy these verses and promise as much as I have.
 
Whose report will you believe?
His report says I am healed!
His report says I am filled!
His report says I am free!
His report says victory!
 
AMEN!!!
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