I didn’t feel frightened but did turn around to see who was there. Although there was no one there, I still felt a warmth around me. So I started back to the office continuing to talk to God about everything that was going on in my life. It was then I heard the angel speak to me. He said, “Walk by faith, not by sight.”

I think it was an audible voice but I am not sure because I felt like I was in a holy place. I was enveloped in warmth. It sounded like an angelic voice speaking heavenly truths. That incident has been engraved on my heart and mind. I knew, that I knew, that I knew, God was taking care of me and He would continue to take care of me. I believe the Lord was preparing me for future events. Not long after that, I lost all my worldly possessions, my home, my car, my furniture, appliances-a complete upheaval of my life. My dear Christian Aunt & Uncle took me and my family in with nothing more than our clothes.

At first I mourned the change in my life but I kept coming back to the angelic voice that instructed me to “Walk by faith, and not by sight.” My attitude changed, my heart lifted, I looked heavenward and not on the situation. I started enjoying my time with my family and the Christian fellowship we were having. One of my cousins marveled later that I could act like I was on vacation when I had lost everything after years of work and saving.  I told her it was God’s grace, mercy, and love that put me in a better place.

God has since given me great restoration in my life in all areas of my life. I can’t prove that it was an angelic voice but I truly believe that it was and I thank God that He encouraged me and keeps me until I truly see Him face-to-face and say with those in Heaven, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come.” Rev. 4:8

If you heard the word, held onto it, applied it to your life and let it change your mind, heart and situation, then it is an eternal word! I want to share with you a few that have really changed me.

Years ago, I was going through the one roughest time in my life that I had ever experienced. I felt so hurt and almost hopeless. One morning I was before the Lord, praying and reading my Bible and this word spoke to my heart so deeply. It was Jeremiah 33:3. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (NIV Bible). Right then God filled my heart with hope. I knew He heard my prayers, knew my heartbreak, my longings, and He was taking care of me. That afternoon, I received a letter from a good friend of mine from Nebraska, (I was in Oklahoma at the time) who said that while she was praying for me, God told her to give me that scripture. It was confirmation to me. My situation did not change or get miraculously better anytime soon but I changed. From hopeless to hope, from woe is me attitude to God is for me! For the next few years anytime my faith level seemed low, I would quote that scripture. Sometimes it was daily. That quickened word changed my life. I could have let it slip by and continued on defeated and sad but I didn’t. I wrote it down, memorized it, quoted it, believed in the truth of the Word of God.

Another time when I was in bad financial need, had two little children to take care of, no help from anyone, lost my job, no car. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I asked the church and my pastor to pray for me. My pastor gave me a Word from God, she said, “The Lord is always just in time!” What a faith word!!! I wrote that word down, put it on my refrigerator, bathroom mirror, each door so I could see it, trusedt in the Lord, believd that He would see to my needs. I knew that I had been faithful to him financially and I also knew the Lord would take care of me but when faced with the all the bills coming in and not much food, money, it was overwhelming. That word, “The Lord is always just in time”, helped me see beyond the situation and have great hope and faith. This particular financial situation continued for a while but I saw the Lord work miraculously on my behalf. Bills were paid, a car was given to me, things were worked out beyond my hopes or expectations. Praise God! Even today, that word is quickened to me, my faith is built and my eyes turned from the situation to our ever faithful Father!

The last word I want to talk about at this time is one that I received at the beginning of this year. Haggai 2:9 says, “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” As I have gotten older I have wondered about my usefulness in life and to the Kingdom of God. I get concerned about my health, finances, other things that plague older cititzens. Job went through many trials and tests but God said in Job 42:12, “The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.” His latter end was greater than the former. God told me that same thing—My latter end would be greater than my former! I am going to hold onto that Word, apply it to my life, believe it and hold to that truth.

In Mark 4 Jesus spoke about the parable of the seed. Sometimes the birdie of the air (Satan) takes the word from us, or the word is not allowed to take root in our hearts because we let the deceitfulness, lies of the world take precedence in our live, or the word just gets choked out by other things. Yet, sometimes the word comes into our hearts, we nurture it, we memorize it, quote it, write it down, keep our minds and hearts focused on it rather than our lives and situations. We grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The disciples heard this word preached all day yet, when the evening came, they were in the boat with Jesus. Jesus was sleeping and a storm came up and they got all upset, looked at the situation, forgot about the word and woke Jesus up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” They let the word slip away from them.

Matthew 8:5-13 spoke about the centurion who asked the Lord to heal his suffering paralyzed servant. The Jesus said he would come and heal him. The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Verse 10 tells us Jesus’ thoughts about the centurion, ^“When Jesus heard this, He was astonished and said to those following Him, I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” The centurion believed, took Jesus’ word to heart, acted on it. Jesus said that man had great faith!

Beloved, when God quickens a word to us that will build our faith, look beyond ourselves, our bodies, our situations, let us take that word and let it be nurtured and grow in our hearts. Let it be an eternal word and work in our lives. I encourage you to write it down, memorize it, quote it many times a day. Put it where you can see it. Do not let go of it. That eternal word will change your life!

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” Philippians 3:13

The part that seems to get my attention is forgetting what is behind. Paul wrote this scripture and we know that he was a mighty man of God, an Apostle, a man who wrote a lot of the New Testament and loved our Lord and Savior Jesus with all his heart. He had been caught up into the third heaven and experienced many miracles. Yet, we cannot forget that Paul had been a notorious sinner who persecuted Christians and only God knows what else before he repented of his sins.

I find it interesting that Paul said this ONE THING. In other words, we put a great emphasis on it and it was in two parts. Let’s look at the first part: One thing – forget what is behind.

Sometimes forgetting is hard to do. Things plague our mind whether it is our past sin, someone else’s sin, slights, hurts, our childhood, embarrassments, failures—a myriad of incidents, obsessions, fixations, issues.

One thing we do know—if we don’t forget those things then we are being robbed of our joy, victory in Jesus, our calling, even our health. Our eyes and hearts are pulled backwards instead of forwards to Him. Just ask Lot’s wife how dangerous that can be—she was turned to a pillar of salt when she looked back, didn’t forget.

How do we forget? It is not in our nature to forget but with God’s help we can be more than we are and can supernaturally forget. I am not going to say it is easy but it is paramount to our well-being and Victory as a Christian.

We cannot say, “I am just not going to think about those things anymore!” It might work for a little while but that is not God’s way. We need to recognize that God doesn’t want us dwelling on the past! It is all right to mention the past or reminisce but it is not all right to let the past rule our minds and emotions.

To Supernaturally Forget:

First, if you need to repent of your sins, go before God and ask forgiveness. Believe His word when He says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Do not let the enemy of our soul (the devil) plague you with former sins. You cannot go back but you can go forward.  God has forgiven you and forgotten your sin, you forgive yourself and put it in the past, cast it in the sea of forgetfulness. (Micah 7:19) Believe Him!

If you have hurt someone else then maybe you need to ask them to forgive you. Sometimes we have to make restitution before we can move on.

Root out any old bitterness, hurts, sin. Search your heart and memories to see if there is any old thing in there then with God’s help pull it out. Ask our Lord Jesus Christ to pour his cleansing blood into your heart and fill you up with right thinking and a right heart.

Secondly, fight the enemy with the correct thinking and speaking. Don’t just think it, say it! Speak the scripture. If you are plagued by past sin, say, “I am forgiven, I am a new person in Christ!” If you are plagued by past hurts done to you, say, “I forgive, I will put it in the past. I will not hold on to their past actions!” Do you get the idea?

2 Cor. 10:4 & 5, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Third, consciously make a strong, daily even hourly effort to bring your mind in line with God’s Word.

Remember Philippians 4:8, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

How do we take every thought and make it obedient to Christ? We get the Word of God in us, we read our Bible, pray, speak the scriptures out loud.

Three ways to supernaturally forget and go forward in your life is to repent, think and speak aloud scripture appropriate to your situation, and finally, make your main #1 desire in life to forget what is behind and then go forward in Christ.

Beloved, say with Paul and me, “I supernaturally forget what is behind and I will press and reach forward by the power of Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus Christ, to what great things our Savior has for us this year! Hallelujah!!!”

In Exodus 3 Moses was in the desert tending the sheep. Moses had a good life, great family, making a good living but he wasn’t in the ministry-something was missing, he wasn’t fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. Then he had a miraculous encounter with God. God spoke to him from the burning bush and told Moses’ to return to Egypt do the work of the Lord.

I have had a face-to-face encounter with God in the last couple of weeks. God has put a great desire and a burning in my heart to go deeper in Him. He has lifted burdens off my heart that have been there for years. I go to bed with Him on my mind and wake up with a song in my heart-a burning desire for His Word. I know that I know that I know, my life will never be the same!

Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

God “fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!” (Psalm 103:5)

I am renewed, I am refreshed, I walk in Great Joy. I am Intensely Alive in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Beloved, I pray that whoever reads this message, receives what I have from the Lord and that you have a Face-To-Face Encounter with God!!!

Haggai 2:9—

The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

Amen!

I did this morning.

I got up for work, a little tired, not really wanting to be at work but to just stay at home in my pajamas – resting. The morning had been blah and dull and I felt very unspiritual, even troubled.  So finally decided to take a break and read some scripture.

I read Luke 2:10 & 11— “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

I could not get past the words great joy. Over and over I read the words great joy and kept asking myself, “What does it mean—great joy? What is the Lord trying to say to me—GREAT JOY? I almost felt a desperation to understand these words. Have you ever felt in your heart, that you had to figure something out for your own well-being?

Sometimes we, as Christians, go through life suffering disappointments, broken hearts, failures, day-to-day weariness, physical ailments, stress of life that bring us down. Often this goes on for years and little by little we are worn down without realizing what it is happening. Song of Solomon 2:15 says, “the little foxes, that spoil the vine.” These things sap us of our vitality, the spring in our step, the sparkle in our eye and the great joy. Oh, not purposely, but we focus on life and not rest of Luke 2:10 & 11—the Good News, a Savior has been born, our Messiah, the Lord!

The word joy can be a noun or a verb but in this portion of scripture it is a noun that means the experience of gladness, happiness, lightness, relief, pressure taken off, a look upward. Couple that with the word great and you have an intense, powerful, life-changing indescribable occurrence and knowledge of change in your life.

I think I am beginning to have an inkling to what the Lord was speaking to me this morning. Most of our lives do have a routine, are fairly mundane and simple but that is NOT what we focus on. Let us look beyond the troubles of this life. “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

By the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit quickening, the Lord is giving me revelation on how to change my thinking, recognize I may be in a rut, not to let life get me down but soar above these “little foxes”

My prayer and desire today is to live in Great Joy, to walk in the Great Joy. I want to be intensely glad, intensely alive. I don’t want to down one day and up the next but to be consistently joyful!

I pray with David in Psalm 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

I went on vacation to KS and God used some mighty people of God to pray for me, encourage me, speak to me.

I read Luke 5:1-11. What a word! I was amazed at the depth of it and how the Lord encouraged me through portion of scripture. Just like in Luke, Jesus knows where I am, how to reach me, how to speak to me, and what to say.

^“1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. ² He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

⁶ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”

Here Jesus was preaching and he saw two boats. Those weren’t the only two boats but God had a purpose in choosing that particular site and those very special boats. Here, these men had worked hard all night with nothing seemingly to show for it and they were even cleaning up their equipment. Yet, Jesus told Peter to go ahead to put their nets out again. I think Peter did out of deference but I wonder if he had any great faith that anything would happen. As we read, they caught an overabundance of fish. Peter realized that God was worked a mighty miracle.

That was a short synopsis of the scripture but I felt little like Peter. I was tired, worn, a little hopeless feeling, maybe God has passed me by–getting older thinking maybe God didn’t want to use me for the ministry–maybe I didn’t have a ministry. Yet, through the mighty working of the Holy Spirit, faithful people praying and ministering, the living and life-changing Word of God, I have new hope, a vision for 2012 and beyond, renewal in body, mind, and spirit.

Resurrection, Restoration, Renewal!!!

Haggai 2:9 “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

Job 42:12 “The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.”

Just like Peter, I have fallen on my knees and am overwhelmed with the Goodness of the Lord. I have repented and followed the word of the Lord but really not truly believing that He was working on my behalf.

Whoever, reads this post, I pray that you have that miracle of hope, that you are valuable to the Lord, repent of any unbelief and say yes Lord!

Verse 5:11 says they “ left everything and followed him.” That just means you put God first in your life. See Matthew 22:37!

Beloved, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect).”