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Sending you big hugs and best
wishes. Here is my latest message, including a very personal and
proud announcement. I hope you are well and I bless you in Jesus'
name!
My son Matt told us tonight that he and Tina are expecting their third
child in January.
It was a complete surprise all
the way around.
I remember when my babies were being born, and we were not financially
prepared, often I'd see a reaction on someone's face of "Oh No!"
instead of "Congratulations".
I pondered that a lot, and I have come to the conclusion that all life
comes from the Father and that no life can begin without His approval and
blessing. I know the Bible says He forms us each in His hands and
chooses our features and colorings.
Even our skin color, and our nationality, and where on earth we'll be
planted. He said of His creation "It is good." Far
be it from me to declare God a liar and say that His precious children are
not good!
Instead, I wish we could be instant in our praise of God and instant in
lending our energies and well wishes to new babies and rally around the
family to offer aid and support.
Now that grandparents are not "in" the home with children
usually, there is a greater need to show each other that everyone belongs.
Everyone has a place and a purpose, and is wanted, needed and blessed.
There is a lack of a sense of family and heritage, and what they lead to -
a feeling of continuity that life goes on and we're all part of something
so much larger.
Also lack of a feeling that we're being watched and we're responsible and
accountable for our actions. In these days, we have cried out that
we want to do it ourselves and be alone, and reap all the rewards of our
labors for ourselves.
But what we've really reaped is the consequences of not honoring God, or
ourselves, or our fellow man. Again we've fooled only ourselves.
In our little town of Cordele, two brothers and their cousin were out
driving around one Sunday night. They were drinking and had a gun.
One of the brothers was handicapped, evidently physically disabled, but
not mentally so.
As they played and stretched the boundaries of their freedoms, the gun
went off, and one boy had shot his handicapped brother in the face and
killed him. Instantly.
The boy was overwhelmed with what he had done, and tried to take his own
life, but he was not successful. He's in jail now as the police
attempt to pick out what charges to level against him.
Have you ever heard of the small world theory? (Check out Wikipedia
on that.) It's something like, everyone knows everyone else on earth
separated by just 6 people.
Evidently it's true. My sister Mary called and asked me to pray for
a man who's son had been killed (The father of these boys.)
The father was the boyfriend of the daughter of the sister of the friend
of my sister. Counting me, that's 6. Or counting the sons,
that's 6.
In a perfect world, the boys wouldn't have been out drinking and driving,
or playing with a stolen gun. In a perfect world, we'd all go to the
family and to the boy who is in jail, and comfort them and see what is
needed to be done to help them. Why couldn't we have found something
that could have been done before tragedy happened?
Like in Columbine. If only. Our diaries are filled with
"if onlies".
Please pray with me for the forgiveness and comfort of this family, and
for God to turn this tragedy into a miracle of redemption and new life.
The deceased boy's name was Shannon Key, and his brother is Ramie Key.
Please pray with me that Matt and Tina's new baby will be blessed and
protected and have a wonderful purpose on earth. That they will
always have all that they need and that they'll mature to a point where
stress will roll off their backs and joy will be forever planted in their
hearts.
This weekend my niece Abbie and her husband Jay came to visit, and are
making plans to move here to work their ministry, and help me with mine.
We have a lot in common and it will be very interesting to see where God
leads us.
The dentist Chris was going to in Augusta called this week and said he
won't be able to treat Chris, according to the instructions given him by
the ear nose and throat doctor. (God closes a door, to open another
- a better one.)
Today Mary told me the name and phone number of a dentist in Oglethorpe
who sedates children to work on them. I'm hoping and praying he'll
treat Chris too, and be a good dentist, or that another will come into our
path. I'd rather his teeth were repaired (healed) in his mouth, but
will be grateful however He chooses to heal Chris.
We have a huge number of people on the prayer list, some are not posted
yet. Please pray for those in our awareness who need help, even if
they're not listed or their problem not described.
This week we watched a television show about Mr. Ranier in the north west
US and how the volcano could erupt at any time and kill thousands of
people in several big cities. The graphics arts of movies these days
show everything in glorious and frightening detail. It takes your
breath away to realize how much power and energy the earth has beneath our
feet.
But the real message we should be
getting and focusing on, is that it's not so much that this could happen
at any moment, but that this has NOT happened.
All of this is possible, and catastrophe lies at every turn if God were
not here to lead and protect us. What an awesome thing it is to
realize He holds back the tremors and the lava, and He holds back the seas
that would so easily swallow us up and all of our technology we've created
to "save ourselves". We aren't even fully aware of how
much He is doing or how pitiful our own efforts are.
Let this be the day that we thank Him, and realize His awesome strength
and His authority and sovereignty to hold our fate in His hands.
Did you hear the thunder storm this morning that came in while we slept?
How many times have you experienced a very near collision in your car, but
just missed it by inches? Those times are easy to give God credit
for.
There were arrows and attacks that came against you today that God
thwarted, that you couldn't see, and didn't expect to come in.
There were spirits in people who sought to do you harm, but were prevented
by powerful angels who stand guard over each one of us. Allowing
only what God allows to happen in your life, for your very best interest.
"All things work to the good of those who love Him."
What things? ALL things!!
What do they do? Work to our good!!
How do we know it's happening to us? It does this in the lives of
all people who love God and seek His face. Who seek to hear His Word
and obey His commandments.
Even an IRS audit. Even the broken transmission of your car.
Even the death of someone you love dearly.
Is all of this just a "feel good", "goody two shoes",
Christian myth that is parroted around the world by well meaning zealots
who seek to evangelize the world?
The answer to that depends on where you stand. Are you saved?
Are you still living in your sins, dead in the spirit and a lost cause -
fit for destruction in the lake of fire?
Are you still violating the ten commandments? Are you unrepentant
and so very sure that you know more than God, or the millions of people
who have lived before you who have written of their experiences with this
wonderful Being who created all that there is?
It is Biblical. It is more than a myth for those who have been
washed clean and adopted into the Father's family - it's a statement of
fact proven out over and over in our lives. It is said that God's
plan is simple, for babies to understand, but that it confounds the
learned and the self declared wise.
The world cannot see Him or His ways because it knew Him not.
If you are tired of living without purpose or meaning, tired of doing the
same thing day after day without ever getting ahead or realizing your
dreams? Then you are blessed! You are one of the lucky few who
will be able to find God, because you recognize there is a lack in your
life and want more than just this.
What does God have for you? Jesus showed me in a dream that I should
tell the world my "vision" of Him and what He's prepared for
each of us, and draw the world to Him so that He could give them gifts.
He gives the things you need and the things your heart desires and longs
for. He gives them freely, without strings attached and without
having to beg. It's His delight to prove Himself strong on your
behalf and to heal you, enrich you, pay your bills and show you a better,
easier way to live.
Not because you are worthy, or that there is any quality in you or me that
would convince God to help us, because we are filthy and faulty and have
failed at every attempt to glorify God as His creation.
It is only because He is a loving, merciful God who had a dream of what we
could each become. He dreamed it before He made us, and He
recognizes in us that lovely piece of Himself that He planted here, and
He's waiting for it to grow.
It's the backwards kingdom principle. Everything you've learned on
earth up to this point is worthless because it's built on a lie. The
law of commerce, and money and idols. It's built on the lie that
there is only so much of what you need and you have to compete with
everyone else for your little piece of living.
The truth is, God created everything we need, and stands ready to create
more if it were possible to think of something that God has not already
provided.
You're asking, "yes, but how do I get it? Someone else has it
and I have to buy it."
Lie number two, (both 1 and 2 were part of the sin of the apple in the
garden). Satan said, "You can't talk to God and just ask for
what you want, God wants you to work hard and earn it all."
What a joke. Do we think God is stupid? Mankind couldn't work
hard enough to put one morsel of food in his mouth. God knew that.
Jesus said we don't have to worry about what we eat or what we wear
because God has provided these things for us as He has for the animals and
plants.
The way it's supposed to work is to spend time with God, know Him, talk to
Him, and communicate our requests and needs to Him. At the same time
we have to have faith that He hears us and will grant these desires.
Our enemy cannot afford to let us realize the true meaning of this,
because his money system and all the systems of the world would collapse
if we all woke up one morning and said "Enough, I don't want to play
this game anymore."
How many times have I said that myself or something similar. I'm at
the end of my rope, stop the world and let me off!
Have you ever been the lonely joker left holding a Monopoly game piece
when everyone else who had been playing got tired and went away?
All the paper money and the deeds to the railroads and the hotels you've
worked so hard to put on your property return to just paper, and just ink.
They have no value and no lasting meaning. One day, as the game
becomes scuffed and torn, it will be thrown into the fire or the landfill,
and will be indistinguishable from the other trash.
This will happen to our dreams and our hard work too. Someone in the
chain above us will declare our land deeds void or our bank accounts empty
and the value of our money will be outdated, as they print new systems and
convince the world it has to play along with the new game.
The Bible says "lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where
thieves cannot break in to steal, or where it cannot turn to rust or be
eaten by moths."
What in the world does that mean?
Examine your "riches". Examine your heart. Identify
the things that are truly trash and let go of them. Identify the
things you have that could be a blessing to someone who is in need, or
sell the items and give the money to the poor. (Notice I didn't say
give it to churches.)
Identify the lies you have fallen for and re-affirm your commitment to
following Jesus and seeking God with all your heart.
A whole new way of living and new things to be amazed with and grateful
for will suddenly appear before your eyes. These things will be your
heavenly treasure, and the hope you hold onto of living in God's presence,
able to enter into His throne room without fear or guilt, because of the
blood shed for us by Jesus.
You will have respect for yourself and for nature, reverence for God and a
desire to please Him.
Suddenly your emotions will make sense and you'll shed the depression that
comes from living a lie. Your spirit inside knows who you are and
who you're trying to be.
Yes, you'll be different. You'll look funny to the world and to your
friends and family. They may want to disown you. But maybe
your new life can save them too. Show them the way.
Regardless of what anyone thinks of you, even me. The only thing
that matters is what God says about you. Are you in or are you out?
Do you want real freedom from the guilt and burdens that have been causing
your diseases and your bankruptcy?
What you need is the office and the blood of the Christ and the
proclamation statement of His eternal sacrifice.
"Whosoever believeth on me (Jesus) shall not die but have everlasting
life."
"He who the Son sets free is free indeed."
All men were given a death sentence by their disobedience to God.
All men's spirits died and the joy left them when they reached the age of
accountability and knew their sin. Mankind gave up control of their
lives and their planet to the enemy because they believed him instead of
God.
Jesus came to suffer the punishment of that death sentence once and for
all, for all mankind and womankind, and for the blacks and for the whites.
For the Jews and the Gentiles, and the Muslims too.
Whosoever repents of their sin and asks Jesus to forgive them, who is
baptized in water for the remission of their sins, and who walks
thereafter in the Spirit, fulfilling the needs of the spirit not the lusts
of the flesh, is saved.
No man can do this on his own, without the Holy Spirit indwelling in His
Spirit. No man can do this without God's help. It is
impossible to deny the flesh without a quickening of the Spirit.
If you seek to know God, to know who Jesus IS, simply call out to Him and
say Save me Lord!
If you need help, call me or write to me, or seek a church or spirit
filled Christian in your area.
There are as many doctrines of men under the Christian name as there are
Christians, so beware of their extra burdens that they add to rob you of
your joy.
Once you are forgiven, you are no longer in sin, and when you commit a
"sin" simply humble yourself and ask for forgiveness.
There is no need to beat yourself or think of yourself as unworthy.
The highest God and Being of the entire universe has found you worthy of
the love of the Son. And whomever the Son names to the Father, is
accepted by the Father. So claim Jesus to someone, so He'll claim
you!
But you are not saved to party, or to pursue your goals and fulfill your
lusts. You are saved to worship God and to honor Him and be His
eyes, ears and hands to the rest of the world. You must esteem
others as highly as yourself, and seek the highest good of everyone you
meet, at the same time respecting their freedom to make their own choices.
If you don't allow them to make their own choices, you are hindering their
process of salvation.
You cannot turn towards God until you turn away from something else.
(Repentance) But you cannot turn away from the "else"
until you've learned the difference.
Encourage, warn and coax, but love everyone and don't overshadow them with
your "goodness", lest they resent and despise you and the God
you represent.
I know this has been a long letter. I am so passionate about sharing
my vision of Jesus that I could write until my physical body fell out of
this chair.
I know many of my friends are suffering. I know that many of us are
living in fear and abuse. Many of us feel lack and don't see this
wonderful God that I've painted a picture of. Even those of us who
are Christians haven't seen what I've been blessed to see.
That's why I must speak it out and tell you. God DOES love you and He IS
for you not against you. He LONGS to give you all that you ask and
more, because His love reaches beyond anything you or I can imagine.
There is no circumstance in your life that He didn't know was going to
happen already and have something prepared to answer it or fix it.
All that is missing to get your results is having your faith stirred and
to join with other like minded believers in one accord and speak the words
of your need, as a claim not a lament.
We need to pray together, humbly, and in Spirit filled reverence of God,
wherever we are today. At the job, or the house, over the dishpan or
on the phone. As often as we can find someone else to pray with, to
agree on something in the name of Jesus with us, then we shall have what
we ask. More and more the results will manifest in your life and
you'll be AMAZED at the blessings God has waiting for you.
He is so incredibly awesome and so immediate and approachable. I
pray that you find Him today, His strength, His will and His mercy.
In the name of Jesus, I bless you with His peace.
Lisa
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