We Are All Different

On my way to teach Bible study this evening, I was determined to make the most of this one no matter how many came to the study.  And true to my sense, there was just 3 of us. I had prayed, "Lord, You died for the many, but You also died for the 1."  We were just going over homework tonight, so I figured I wouldn't have many.  Toward the end of the Beth Moore series, her homework take quite a bit of time, so we devote a lesson time for that.  It was also Valentine's Day so I figured the numbers would be down.  

The 2 I  had tonight are the 2 that always do their homework ahead of time & they are my regulars.  And because we were a smaller group tonight, my quiet one once again felt  that she could speak.  She asked a question that lead to a discussion about the idea of going to church.  She has a hard time feeling like she fits in in the churches she's been to.  She is quiet so I think she has a harder time allowing herself to be comfortable in a church setting if there is no one else her age there.

I think it's so important as the body of Christ to make a person feel welcomed when they step into the doors of our churches, get to know their names, & check up on them once they go out the door.  A lot of churches do well with the welcoming part, but then quickly forget them once it's over.  And sometimes it takes time for them to acclimate to their new surroundings, others have no problem just fitting right in.   You want to make them feel like they matter & that you care.

I was so glad she spoke up about her true feelings.  We have decided to check out some new churches for her to see if she will feel comfortable in the ones close by.  Since she is looking for young adults her age, that will weigh heavy on that decision.  I have come to learn that not everyone worships the Lord the same way.  I love that Lord makes us all different, & worship Him differently!  I can't wait to see what God brings of this!

TMI - Too Much Information!

The radio talk show hosts were discussing the recent presidential primary.  The comment was made that the more the candidates talk the more mistakes they will be making.  That is true of anybody not just the candidates.   The Scriptures are full of passages warning that for the one who talks too much it will become their undoing.   Proverbs 10:8b says, “. . . and a chattering fool comes to ruin.”  And verse 19 says, “When words are many, sin is not absent, . . .”   

The latest craze on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter is to be completely open about what you are doing at any given moment, to be real about your feelings.  As Christians we are to be honest before others.  But it’s one thing to be honest and another thing to be bare.  It seems discretion is a foreign idea on these sites.  As Christians we are to be witnesses 24/7.  The more open you are, the more that is revealed about the true nature of your heart.  Jesus chastised the Pharisees when He said, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34. 

Many believe that because their settings are private that what they say will stay where it’s posted.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  People know people.  Bosses do gain access.  Colleges do find out one way or another the information they seek.  Friends talk to friends.  Not only that, what has been posted cannot be undone whether you delete it or forget it.  Don’t be quick to post or send a rash statement into cyber-space, then regret what has been said later.   The second half of verse 19 says, “ . . . but he who holds his tongue is wise.”

“But I tell you that men will have to give account

on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

For by your words you will be acquitted, 

and by your words you will be condemned.”

Matthew 12:36-37

One of the Hardest Things

Tonight I suspended my Facebook account. It was harder than I thought it would be.  I inbox-messaged most of my family & friends to tell them that I was going to be doing this & why.  I then started receiving messages in return: "why would you do that?" "you have blessed me greatly!" "I love your pictures!" "I will miss you!"  When I finally got around to doing it, I cried.  This was a place that I connected with them.  As my cousin said this was a place for her to connect with us.

You see, God has been convicting me for quite awhile about the amount of time I spend on Facebook.  I still had my time with Him, wonderful times with many blessings & answered prayers.  But I would check Facebook often during a day & I was feeling convicted.  What would start out as just checking in, would end up being hours lost.  Because I am such a people person, I couldn't just get right off.  I had been praying a long time for even more of God, but He kept telling me that I was hindering Him.

Yesterday's services were so good, so convicting!  The hand of God was upon me & I knew it.  In the morning service, Pastor Bill talked about being intentional with your walk with God.  He said that if we were to stand before God's throne, how would we rate our relationship to Him?  He spoke from I Cor. 9:24-27 about running the race in such a way as to get the prize.  Paul was saying to be intentional, not willy-nilly like a boxer beating the air.  When I read that passage, my eyes fell on verse 27 where Paul talks about making your body your slave & not the other way around - another point to add to making your life intentional - so as to win as many as possible (v:19).  I have not been intentional enough.  My heart was convicted to the core!

Then in the evening service, Pastor Mike spoke out of I Peter 3:3-4.  We are not to be adorned on the outside, be a shallow Christian, but be real to the core of your being.  Is the Lord saying to us, "But your heart is not mine."  He told us that the enemy comes in subtle compromises. I think that's where I have gotten to.  God sees great potential in us, but we don't live up to that potential.  The hand of God was upon me one more time.  I went to the altar, got down on my face before Him & cried in repentance.  I knew what I had to do.

I have gone through this before with the TV.  When I was a young mother, I got caught up in watching it most my waking hours.  I felt so far from God, so numb.  But I wanted a closer relationship with him.  He said then that TV was my god.  I spent way more time at its feet than His.  Ouch!  Finally one evening while doing the dishes, again I cried out to Him. I clearly heard Him in an audible voice say, "Then get rid of that TV." Period, end of story.  It just so happened to be trash night, soooo . . .  yes, I threw it out. In the garbage. That was being picked up the very next day. And I did not get it back out.  I told my husband & he said that it was about time!

Once I did that, I took that time in the evenings & spent it in worship with Him.  It seemed like those few hours flew by.  God began to open doors, yes doors, to ministry.  My time with Him became sweeter & more powerful.  His anointing flowed like never before.  I wouldn't give that up for the world!  So here I am again. I know what is ahead.  There is such a fight, but it's worth it.  The rewards out weigh it all!

The Fight is On

It is interesting how the Lord brings us through seasons.  God uses these seasons to grow us in ways we wouldn't flourish any other way.  As time goes on I am astounded by the mercy and wisdom of God! Why? I'm not really sure because He is God.  Maybe it's more my discovery of Who He is.

God had brought me, quite a few years ago, through a season of fasting and spiritual warfare.  I felt called to prayer, but most especially spiritual warfare.  The battles were in tense.  During that time we lost my husband's brother, then a year later my own mother.  God taught me much in those years of great trial.  But I got so weary in the battles. I rarely had joy. I felt heavy laden with the burdens I was carrying.

Soon I began to question whether doing spiritual warfare was the most effective way to deal with the enemy. In my turmoil, I had asked the Lord if worship wouldn't be the better way to go.  And He began to take me down that road of learning.  That was a wonderful season of sitting at His feet.  I began to study all the worshipers of the Bible.  The Holy Spirit was gracious in teaching me.  I learned not only to use music to re-center my focus, but also learned to express worship without using other people's words. Now there was an exercise in growth! Oh my! I was becoming a David of the Bible. This was a tough lesson for me because I am NOT one who can articulate well.  I default to phrases that I already knew, but God insisted I be heart-felt. Not only did this take me to a deeper level in Him, but the words I spoke began to increase my faith so much more than before. I remembered the words from Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."  I was being built up, as well as, being given tools for the fight.

Now I'm beginning to see that God is calling me back into the ring again.  As we have been ministering in Clairton, our eyes are quickly opened to the warfare ensuing all around us.  There isn't a week or a day that goes by that it doesn't smack us right in the face. In doing this Beth Moore Bible study, I am brought right back to the fact that we are in a war for the lives and souls of men, women, and children all around us.  Satan want's the victory, but as Beth reminds us, he can't wear the crown of victory!  

Now I've been given the tools of worship and warfare in the ministry of intercession.  As I go out onto the battle front, I go prepared in prayer and worship.  Then we engage in the warfare.  The Holy Spirit has also helped me to understand the importance of speaking blessings over the area.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for Clairton "the City of Prayer"!

Where 2 or 3 are Gathered . . .

The ladies at the Bible study and I took a break for Christmas. Then we had snow which caused me to cancel our 1st time back. It felt sooo good to get back with these ladies in our study of Revelation with Beth Moore this week!

I have learned with these ladies not to presume what will take place at these meetings, because each and every week is different.  When I arrived there was just 2 joining me and one was sick, but she wanted to listen while we went over the homework.  I am also learning that God sets up each and every situation.  Because I only had a young lady and her mother, she was able to open up.  An on-going exercise that we are to do each week is to share what God has done in your previous week. Since it was prayer week in many churches, I was able to attend many of the services.  I shared how I loved feeling the Presence of God at these meetings.  This young lady, who is one of my hungrier ones, said to me that she had never had that experience and desired it so.  My heart just broke, but I encouraged her that as she desires more of Him and spends time with Him, she will indeed experience Him!

Not long after that, 2 other ladies showed up just in time for the DVD lesson. It surprises me that they can engage so quickly into the lessons, but Beth is that good and wonderfully anointed to reach these ladies.  

During the lesson, Pastor Brent, along with a couple of other people, came in from a city council meeting to share the progress of our ministry acquiring the apartments across the way. So far so good.  These were the apartments that they would in no way give to us, now they are gladly going through the process of letting us have them.  We will be able to tear down walls for a place for the kids to gather and have lessons and to feed them.  When it's done, my ladies will be able to meet for Bible study upstairs.  This will be good because I have young mothers who can't come because their little ones are too young to go to the kids class, but too active to sit during our Bible study.  God never ceases to amaze me!

Would you pray with me:

~ that this young lady is able to feel the Presence of God in her life

~ that the building project meets all the requirements for city council's approval and that renovation goes quickly

~ also that we successfully get a prayer time with these ladies to agree in prayer for their community and that they themselves will pray too

Consuming Revelation

What a funny title for a post! But that has been for me lately.  I am reading, reading, & re-reading the Book of Revelation, & any other related books of the Bible.  

I started the study of this book at the request of the ladies in my Bible study.  To tell you the truth I haven't been in Revelation for quite some time, so I had to re-familiarize myself with it again - the whole thing not just bits & pieces of it.  I find myself getting side tracked a lot, going on a tangent hunt.  But I'm loving it!  The problem though is that it's Christmas time & I haven't done any decorating because I'm consumed with this study.

I had a very difficult time finding a relevant study of this book.  Everything I found either discussed just the first 5 chapters & the last 2, or it was written in the last century.  I know the last century was only 12 years ago, but soooo much has happened on the political scene since then.  Those that really dug into the book, set the stage in Europe for the events to unfold. That's what they knew then.  But the Lord has revealed so much more to us today.  As a recent writer of this subject wrote in his book, Israel & the Middle East is & always has been the center stage for all Biblical prophecies.   I had a good dose of correction in reading Joel Richardson's book, The Islamic Anti-Christ, last Spring.  Reading that book really opened my eyes.  The book was published in 2009 & like Joel Rosenberg's books, so many things he predicted have come to pass.

I am just amazed at what Beth Moore has taught us in this series.  Really the book of Revelation is the story of redemption.  God wants desperately to redeem a people out of sin's grip, Satan's grip, death's grip.  But men are too stubborn sometimes to be rescued.  What shocks me is that there are those who rail their fists at Him instead of begging for mercy.  That blows my mind!

But none-the-less I am thoroughly enjoying this study.  I hope my ladies are, I know some of them have.  Please pray that they understand it, & that they attend.  Even though they requested the study, many haven't come because roadblocks have come in the way.  Just like the enemy to keep them from learning the truth.

The First Love Experience

I have come to learn not to despise a small group when I teach Bible study.  Because usually those who don't generally open up, will when there is a smaller group. A more intimate group tends to give that quiet one a chance to get in there and say something.  I don't know if they feel safer or that less voices give them an opportunity to share.  Well that was the case Tuesday night. 

We've been watching Beth Moore's DVD Bible study on the book of Revelation.  That particular night we were on the 7 churches listed in chapters 2 and 3. When we begin, we review our homework, watch the DVD lesson, and then I will ask was there anything that stood out to anyone. After some silence, one of the ladies shared that when Beth talked about returning to your first love, she had never understood it.  But now that she explained it the way she did, she wants it badly.  She said it with tears.  She had been coming from a worldly perspective. 

I love how Beth Moore explains things.  When she began with the concept forgiveness, this lady now had a scriptural basis from which to build upon.  Beth showed that you can't hang on to unforgiveness and your first love with the same set of hands.  Then, in a Beth Moore fashion, she shared what first love with Jesus is.  Realizing this, she challenges us, something has to go.  Beth speaks from an experience that gives her a voice where some of us cannot speak from.  She also speaks from such love.

Once Beth Moore had explained it, my friend knew that this was what she wanted.  She never really had a first love experience. When we all had shared and were ready for prayer, she asked that she would be able to have that experience for herself.  Most of these ladies that I teach grew up in the church, but they had wandered far from it once they were on their own.  I ask that you join with us in prayer that these ladies would all have that first love experience and have that desire to maintain that relationship as well.