October 25, 2020
“Increase is coming, so enlarge your tent and add extensions to your dwelling.
Hold nothing back! Make the tent ropes longer and the pegs stronger. You will increase and spread out in every direction. Your sons and daughters will conquer nations and revitalize desolate cities.” Isaiah 54:2-3 The Lord gave me these words earlier this week. It was a word I needed to hear since there are times I wonder if we are hearing clearly. I know we are listening but the enemy brings doubt. The words that really stuck out to me were “Your sons and daughters will conquer nations and revitalize desolate cities.” That’s exciting!
 
As I was thinking about this I thought about the different generations. I am now in an older generation and say things that sound like what my Grandpa used to say about my generation. I don’t believe there should be big gaps between people but that we can learn from each other and work together no matter what our ages. One thing I seem to see in the younger generations is that they don’t always want all their parents have or the stresses that come with it. My generation got caught up in making a living and trying to provide more for their families. We didn’t always spend the time with our children that the younger people are with their kids. Many appear to want simple, less complicated and less striving.
 
I’m not even sure the direction the Lord is leading me with this but my heart is that life can be so short and we need to be together as families. There is no generation that did it all right including any now. As we age we have a different value on life and as parents and grandparents our greatest joy is to be with family. Yet, so many younger people are pulling away from their parents. Right now the enemy’s greatest ploy is to divide families as we know it and how the Lord designed families to be. And in less than 8 months the enemies plan is working! Actually, the enemy has been working on the “new” family image and division for years and we let things slip by. But we can’t let it continue! Even if you don’t have children physically we all have some sort of family that needs to be together and strong. Many families are 3-5 generations and what an opportunity we have to be strong together.
 
“How joyous are those who love the Lord and bow low before God, ready to obey him! Your reward will be prosperity, happiness, and well-being. Your wife will bless your heart and home.  Your children will bring you joy as they gather around your table. Yes, this is God’s generous reward for those who love him. May the Lord bless you out of his Zion-glory!  May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem throughout your lifetime.  And may you be surrounded by your grandchildren. Happiness to you! And happiness to Israel!” Psalm 128
The Lord led me to this chapter in Psalm. It uses such words of promise for us. Joyous – reward – prosperity – happiness – well-being - children bring joy – children around your table – surrounded by grandchildren.
 
I’m going to say this even though I don’t know how many adult children that are doing this will even read this. Young people, don’t shut out your parents right now. During this time in history the younger generations and older generations are divided politically like never before. And we know that politically there’s more hate and division than in any years we can recall. Much of the reason is what the schools and higher educations have taught. The last couple generations have been taught that they don’t have to respect or care about anyone but themselves. It’s a “take care of me first” mentality and not what Christ taught.
 
One thing I don’t think we often consider in our decisions in life is that the law of reaping and sowing is real! I know, we are living it in our lives in some areas. The seed you sow will be your harvest. Those of any age that chose something else above family will someday be left out by their own children or others. Just something to mediate on.
 
I don’t even know the reason I am writing this except I know so many hurting parents who are being “punished” for not overacting in fear about the virus. They are not allowed to be with their family right now who are deceived into believing this is just something we have to do for what started as 2 weeks to now some leaders are saying will be many more months. The fear is ruining relationships. I have family that sat with their Mom the last 3 days watching her go and she passed away yesterday. They feel the value of life right now. Life is short sometimes. Family is invaluable always. We don’t know what the next year will bring in all this social distancing and isolation. What is this world’s youngest generation being taught? They are in formative years and what they see and are learning will be with them forever! The fear they are watching in the adults around them is effecting their future. It’s not a simple virus problem. It’s an evil plan of the enemy and he used a lie that worked so well for all of us.
 
Well, you can tell this is strong on my heart and I know I am writing it for someone. So where do we go from here? One of my favorite verses I pray for my children is Isaiah 54:13. “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.” I have prayed this over my children and now my grandchildren for 40 years. If you don’t have your own children there are children you know that this verse will be a life saver for. It’s a declaration. I declare it and speak the promise out loud. It doesn’t matter their age or their relationship with the Lord. The Word of the Lord brings life and light and slices through ALL darkness. Some of their misguided, confusing, or rebellious ideas can be changed as you speak this verse and declare other promises from the Word. Pray that they will have dreams and visions from the Lord that will change their hearts. He knows exactly how to reach your child or whoever you declare this verse over. He longs for them to be awakened to a life in Him. Pray He will change their way of thinking and that they will have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. Speak that your children and others you are praying for will walk in His peace, wisdom and
prosperity.
 
Last thing the Lord spoke loud and clear to be this week was “And don’t allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming!” Galatians 6:9 Passion Bible  
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9 NKJV
 
We must not grow weary in all this or disheartened. Our Lord and Savior has not changed or has He left us. I had a day this past week that I just cried. Just got discouraged over issues and the lies of the enemy and the virus have brought. I knew I had to quickly change my heart and mind. The Lord showed Himself mighty in just minutes. I will share the story though it may seem silly. I was struggling with stuff one morning and Ed was in Tulsa. As I shared my discouragement with him I was at the window and saw my mule, Smokey, acting like he had a stomach ache. Stomach aches in horses and mules can be serious because they try to roll on their backs to get relief and many times if they roll all the way over they can twist their guts which is very bad. So Smokey is pawing at the ground, throwing his head around, rolling (not all the way over), and bucking. He did this over and over for quite a while. Ed prayed with me, I cried and Ed called Adam. Within just minutes Smokey walked over to the hay and started to eat. His “pain” must have passed and he was fine. Adam came and looked at him and he was good. In the middle of my weary moments the Lord showed me He was still right there and cared.
 
That’s what He is doing for all of us in every situation of our lives. I’m so thankful for the Lord in my life and His faithfulness. He is faithful when I am faithless. I rejoice in Him always and pray you see all He is doing in your life too. Have a blessed week knowing He loves you and your family. Continue to speak life! Sorry this is so scattered, just what’s on my heart today.

​October 18, 2020
 
Dear Church Family,
2020 came is as usual. Some people had feelings it was going to be a different kind of year. The Lord told us it would be the best year ever! The first couple months were pretty normal as the last few years. Then one day in March life hit a bump, maybe a boulder in the road. Life as we knew it had come to a halt. Now in October, 7 months later, the Lord has a new word for us. He says it is a NEW SEASON!
 
How can it be a new season when this season doesn’t seem to have ended? How can it be a new season when we don’t know what the next couple weeks will hold? I heard Him say: “Prepare your heart. Guard your heart. Don’t hold on to old things – old seasons. They are a memory.” Those 7 months were a season of confusion, shock and disbelief. Now we must wake up – stand up – stay up and even grow up in the Lord. There will still be times of disbelief at what is happening but we must be on guard – watching – being watchmen and gatekeepers. This is a season we must protect our hearts above anything we do. No matter which way the votes go in a couple weeks life is going to change. There are going to be fighting, mad people either way who won’t lay down their agendas. Division will be even more evident and we need to be so close to the Father’s heart to so our heart will stay with Him.
 
“Then, as you unwrap my words, they will impart true life and radiant health into the very core of your being. 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. Avoid dishonest speech and pretentious words.
Be free from using perverse words no matter what!” Proverbs 4:22-24
 
“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23
 
This season we will need to know the Great I Am like never before. Intimacy with Him, worship and communion with Him will look different.  “And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you! God said also to Moses, This shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you! This is My name forever, and by this name I am to be remembered to all generations.” Exodus 3:14-15
 
It says that this is His name FOREVER to be remembered from generation to generation. I AM refers to His magnificence, His power, and His authority. Our Father is the same yesterday, day and forever. He is the great I AM Who is with us now as He was with the Israelites and every other Believer since the beginning of time. He sent His Son and in John 14:6 it says, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” We actually have more than the early Believers did before Jesus gave His life for the world. We now have Jesus living in us which give us the some power and authority through His life in us. What He has called us to do, we can do because He is the I AM.
 
A couple weeks ago I went to a conference and the speaker was talking to us about totally surrendering everything in us to the Lord. He was telling us we had to place those things holding us back on the altar and let them burn. As I was praying I thought of all this stuff I could place on the altar, all my shortcomings, fears, prideful thoughts, judgmental thoughts, and the list goes on. What He said to me was this, “Place on the altar, lay down and surrender the you - you see yourself as.” Wow! I needed to lay down “the me” I saw myself as. That encompassed all those other thoughts I was having. He was telling me to lay down the negative “I am”, myself in the flesh, and know who I am in the great I AM.  That rocked my boat. Every sentence that I say or every thought that I have that starts with “I am” needs to end with an attribute of God. Sometimes that is hard to do but I am J realizing how negative I saw myself and life’s situation from the perspective of my own fears, thoughts, wisdom and strengths. It’s a process of daily changing my mind to agree with the Word.
 
What I’ve noticed the last few months is that my mind didn’t stay always on His love and His ways when I would get caught up in the whirlwind of the season and time. It’s been a season of confusion, lies, and division and I was letting it wear me out physically because it was all so unexpected and demonic. Confusion, lies, sickness, division are attributes of the enemy not of Believers with the Son living in their hearts. But it caught me and most of us off guard at times. When we get tired, run down and exhausted we don’t see the battle the same as we do when we are awake and alert in Him. Even though I was spending time with the daily and seeking Him continuously I still had the times of being dismayed. I needed to cast off those attacks and wake up to what was really going on.
 
“Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” Ephesians 5:10-17 NLT
 
None us of knows exactly what is ahead in this worldly situation. Nobody does. There is no worldly way to prepare since nothing outside of His ways will work to sustain, protect or comfort us. If we aren’t trusting the Lord and all He is asking us to do then we will get caught in a horrible battle without any defenses.
 
This is a new season. Starting NOW this moment. I was thinking about it this morning and I started to cry. There was a momentary fear rise up inside me. The reality of what could really be ahead isn’t pleasant in the natural. Already the family is being torn apart. Families are not coming together for holidays because of the virus scare. Grandparents are kept away from their precious grandchildren and everyone thinks this will end in a couple weeks or after we get a vaccination. We were told it would end in May! In the natural it is a disaster but in Him we are victorious and overcomers!
 
So what are we to do?
#1 - Most important thing is to guard your heart. Have an intimate relationship with your heavenly Father.  So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention.
 
#2 – Know that He is the Great I AM in you! Study out His Word and know who He says you are and all that you have because He lives in you. Place on the altar, lay down and surrender the you - you see yourself as.
 
#3 – Wake up and see the new season that has come. Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.
 
#4 – Seek His direction for you right now, in this season. When fear comes, send it away. When hopeless comes, send it away. Come together with other like-minded Believers so that you can pray for and encourage one another. This will be vital during this season. So be careful how you live. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
 
“We come closer to God and approach him with an open heart, fully convinced by faith that nothing will keep us at a distance from him. For our hearts have been sprinkled with blood to remove impurity and we have been freed from an accusing conscience and now we are clean, unstained, and presentable to God inside and out!
 
So now we must cling tightly to the hope that lives within us, knowing that God always keeps his promises! Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing, because we need each other! In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.” Hebrews 10:22-25
 
We continue to pray and believe. We continue to stand together in heart even when we are not close in distance. We are always here and long to be together. We continue to be watchmen on the wall listening to His words and watching for what He wants us to do and to share. We love you all and are so thankful for you. We are one in Him!
 
 
 
 
 
 

October 11, 2020
 
A few weeks ago when I was at my sister-in-law’s father’s memorial service the Lord spoke a strong word to me. It wasn’t the usual word you would hear in that situation. He told me, “NOW is the time for joy! NOW is the time for strength! NOW is time! We can’t just sit here and wait to see what the near future will bring. NOW is the time to rejoice and be glad in Me!!” That woke me up. I even know it is the truth that we must rejoice in Him always and thank Him for each new day. The Psalms are full of praises we are to declare all the time and every day. We also have learned that His joy is the same no matter what is going on in our lives.
 
The last couple weeks the Lord has spoken a few things to me and taught me quite a lot. I want to share as much as I can. We were able to go to some of the Andrew Wommack Conference this past week and what an honor to just be able to soak in all the wisdom and knowledge that was there. One thing for sure is that the above word is a powerful word. ALL of us have had times and moments of a bit of fear, discouragement and Andrew shared about being dismayed. That’s a good description of some of my days. There was no need for any of us to go to that place but we did and NOW is the time for joy!!
This past week I have heard this verse in my heart many times, So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6  So I decided I had better go to my heart to see what I was doing by my might and power instead of the Spirit. I saw many places I thought I was depending on Him but I hadn’t totally given the situation to Him so my might and power were definitely involved. How easy it is to have joy NOW when we are walking in His Spirit. We have all authority in Him when we are in the Spirit.
I had a dream a couple weeks ago. It was right after we returned from DC and it had rained out there a few times so there was puddles. But I saw people, Believers, in wheelchairs that wanted pushed around by others. A few people were trying to push all these wheelchairs that had somewhat bossy people in them. Then they didn’t want pushed through the mud puddles which were unavoidable. Then I saw that’s how much of the world is right now. People, Believers, are stuck in their chairs, in their fears and discouragement waiting for those who have chosen to stand up to push them. They don’t want to be in the muddy mess but want others to keep them clean. When I had the dream I saw myself pushing people and getting frustrated. These people could stand up and walk but they didn’t want to. I wanted to say, “Stand up!” Then this week the Lord told me at times I am one of those in the wheelchair! Whoa! I don’t want to be that. But when I try to do things in my own strength and power I am no different than those sitting in the chair waiting for something to change and having no joy.
 
“Rise up in splendor and be radiant, for your light has dawned, and Yahweh’s glory now streams from you! Look carefully! Darkness blankets the earth, and thick gloom covers the nations, but Yahweh arises upon you and the brightness of his glory appears over you! Nations will be attracted to your radiant light and kings to the sunrise-glory of your new day. Lift up your eyes higher! Look all around you and believe, for your sons are returning from far away and your daughters are being tenderly carried home. Watch as they all gather together, eager to come back to you!”
Isaiah 60:1-4
 
I’ve shared these verses lately but I love them. They are my declaration. Darkness does cover the earth and nations but we have Him in us and we are radiantly shining. The brilliance of all Believers should shine so bright over this earth that darkness could never be present. But there are times we hide our light under a bushel and don’t shine. IT’S TIME NOW TO SHINE AND BE IN JOY!! It’s definitely time to stand up from the wheelchair we have sat down in. It’s not just a chair we are sitting in but we as Believers are sitting in wheelchairs waiting for someone else to take care of us and we want to avoid the muddy stuff. The wheelchair represents being an invalid. We have convinced ourselves there’s nothing we can do. The wheelchair is a protection from having to go forth, a reason not to stand. It’s a false protection but represents all the sickness and fear the enemy has lied to us about. I don’t want to be in a wheelchair! I want to stand in Him and go forth!
“Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:9-10
The Lord has given us everything we need to walk in victory right NOW! We are the light and hope this world is looking for. We are not fighting people, flesh and blood, but it’s a battle against the darkness that our Spirit repels. The last few months have been exhausting for most of us. Just dealing with the darkness of the government overreach is a battle and not to be done in our own strength. I’m sure most of us have tried that but He says ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.”  When I try to do this in my own understanding and strength I am physically exhausted. You sometimes don’t even notice the effects of the isolation, control and fear until it’s gotten you down, discouraged and full of dismay.
Yet, He is always there with us. He knows exactly what we are going through and He never leaves us. We don’t have to do this alone and He instructs not to do it alone! This is what Paul says: “But he answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. So I’m not defeated by my weakness, but delighted! For when I feel my weakness and endure mistreatment—when I’m surrounded with troubles on every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ—I am made yet stronger. For my weakness becomes a portal to God’s power.”  2 Corinthians 12:9-11 Passion
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”   NKJV   
Through the situations of the past few months the Lord has really helped me define what He has called me to do. I wasn’t always exactly sure but since the time He spoke to me loud and clear on March 16, 2020 I know that I know He is telling me to share with others what I hear Him saying. You can do what you want with my words but I am following the strong pull of my heart to share with you how important these times are. There have been none like them in most of our days and they are a preparation for what is ahead of us. My heart is for you to hear His voice for you and to stand in your radiant light and proclaim Him to the world. Let His light shine through you and you will see how you can have joy, peace and hope in such a time as this!
I’m hoping next week I can share about another word He gave me last week that is changing my life. For NOW, let’s go forth is joy and let the world see His light shining brightly!!