Green is the New Black

How to know if you are living in Freedom in your life…go to your closet…how much of your wardrobe is black?

There was a time in my life when almost every thing I wore had some black in it.  There was a season of my life when almost ever piece of clothing I owned was black…it was what I reached for first.  In hind sight, I may have been a little depressed.  No, seriously, a little depressed…willing to fade into the background.  I also may have been under the misconception that black makes you look thinner….

The other day I was taking the kids to get their pictures taken and I wanted to wear a black shirt. My thinking was, “just in case” I need to hold the baby for her picture, black would be a nice background.  I could not find a short sleeved black shirt (except one with a huge colorful mickey mouse printed on it) anywhere in my closet.  I have several very cute green tops.  Yes, green seems to be my new black.  I’m good with that because to me, green represents life.  In the spring, everything turns green and lush.  The good news is God has healed/delivered me of the depression!

I decided that at least one black top would be a good idea.  Black sure is easy to match with.  Plus, The Hubs bought me some cute shoes (and a necklace and a ring) for Mother’s Day and on one of the pairs is red.  Everyone knows that red and black “go together”.  I happen to find this very cute black top at Target.

 A few days later, I wore it.  My friend, Kimberly commented on it’s cuteness.  And before I could tell her about not having any black tops in my closet, she said, “I don’t have any solid black shirts.”  You go girl!

If you look in your closet and find that you are lacking in black….it’s okay.  It’s a good sign.  Let’s put on some green or some orange and celebrate that the beauty of all the colors in our life.

BTW, Clinton and Stacy from “What Not to Wear” says that black is not “slimming”  it is all about the shape of the clothes you are wearing.  (My black top…great cut with the elastic waist).

 

Confession

James 5:16

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

We made it to Dallas to the Kairos Conference at Gateway Church.  EVERYONE needs to attend at least one Kairos Event. Yes, that seems like a all inclusive statement…it is.  No matter if you are in ministry or if you just started your journey, it would minister to you.  Gateway has been incredible.  They provide this conference free of charge and they still provide excellent worship, Word and even snacks.  They are truly blessing the Kingdom.

Click here for more information.  While you are there, check out all the free online classes.  They are worth watching.  Our Life Group actually watched them over three months in preparation for this trip.  Over half of our Life Group attended.  Wow, I cannot wait to see what God does with these people!

In any case, the Kairos experience is a two-day conference of sorts.  There are no name tags or titles, so all of you pastor types, yes, you can attend in anonymity.  A variety of different people speak throughout the conference and they are not “introduced”.  Which means the audience doesn’t really know what they are going to speak about, although there is an order.   The speakers were excellent.  Each one of them had a clear message and were good speakers…no weird distracting habits in the bunch.  They did provide us with workbooks.  After almost every session they had a activity of some sort.  At the beginning of the conference they asked that attendees refrain from ministering to each other.  They explained that we were there to receive and reminded us they had a large ministry team available to minister to us.

One of the first activities was “Confession”.  They spoke about the importance of confessing our sin.  The ministry team assembled at the front and they asked that anyone who would like to confess, to get in one of four lines and wait for someone to come available on the ministry team.  They said that some people would not have anything to confess.

I sat in my seat thinking, “Do I have anything to confess?”  One word came to my mind.  It was something simple.  I thought, “I’ll just talk to my friend about this…”  God said, “They said not to minister to one another.  The Word says, confess…that you may be healed.  You want to be healed, right?  That’s what you are here for.  You are here and you need to follow their directions and the order here.”  That was enough for me.  I picked a line.  It turned out to be the longest line.  Some people ahead of me must have had a lot of things to confess.  Several people lined up behind me and then went and get into another line because the line was moving so slowly.  As I waited, some other thoughts began to flow into my mind.  We have been through the ringer the past few years, from church conflict to being foster parents, we have had some heart breaks.  By the time, I arrived at the front of the line, in addition to the one word I wanted to confess, I had a whole other list of things.

Even before we went, while our Life Group was watching the videos I realized that back when we were fostering the newborn twins and after loving them for 7 months and basically nursing them back to life (according to the authorities) I had become distant with God and my prayer life had (please excuse my language) gone into the crapper.  The truth is, at that time I asked God to work it out for us to keep the babies.  That didn’t happen.  And I was heart broken and angry.  I did not, at any time ask God what He wanted me to pray for the babies or the situation.  I wanted what I wanted.

As I confessed, the tears flowed.

After confessing, the minister prayed with me and made some declarations.  Then he simply said, “You are forgiven.”  While I know that we confess our sins to Jesus and we are forgiven, there are times when we need to hear, “You are forgiven.”  It is freeing. 

The two-day conference set so many things in order.  One of the main things that happened was, I was healed of the pain of losing babies; God’s babies.

Over the past year, we only fostered one other little girl.  We have been contacted several times to foster babies but every time, the situation was not the criteria we wanted.  We were very interested in fostering to adopt a Hispanic or Hispanic-Caucasian baby as that would reflect our family.  In one year, we were offered at least 3 Caucasian babies.  We were even offered a set of twins.  When a Hispanic baby did come available, we would put our name in and each time, someone else was chosen to take the baby.  It was strange because we have experience with newborns, premature babies, babies exposed to drugs, special needs children.  One of our caseworkers told us it can take years to get an adoptable  newborn.  We have even had some issues within our family that should have placed a baby with us.  We were pretty settled on completing our current adoption and not fostering any more.

I’ll have to write another blog about the section on Soul Ties.

On Friday, the conference was to wrap up on Friday at 5 p.m. A little after 4 p.m. our agencies placement person called.  I had my phone on silent and when I saw it buzzing, I declined the call.  She left a message.  Which I am a little ashamed to admit, I listened to it in the sanctuary.  The message was they had a two-day-old, Hispanic baby girl they were looking to place and would we be interested.  I went outside and called her back.  I was so sad.  We were over 4 hours from home.  The way the system works, especially with babies, is you have to be ready when they call and be able to drop everything to pick a baby up from the hospital.  I told her, “We are in Dallas”.  She asked if we could head back to town right away.  I explained that we had a group with us…it would have been a mess…we were all sitting apart and there were somewhere around 600 people at the conference.   Our plan was to drive home on Saturday.  She asked if I could jump on a plane.  (yes, for $200 I could have done that).   She then told me, “Let me make some calls”.  I told her we would be in a meeting until 5 p.m.    I went back into the meeting.  As I went, I was praying, “God, I pray that Your will be done in this situation.”  My desire was that it would not be me making something happen.  A few minutes later, I received a text saying, “I haven’t heard back yet but that might be a good thing.”.  Then another text saying, “Pray”.  This coming from a person who I have never heard talk about faith, religion, spirituality or even  in general about God.  The conference wrapped up and we met up with our group.  I was excited but not worrying about it.  Around 5:40 p.m. the phone rings and it is the placement person, she says, “Are you at a prayer meeting?”  I told her, “No but we are at church.”   She said, “You must have been praying because you got her.”.  Wow!

We were able to stay another night, have dinner with friends and head back on Saturday to meet our baby girl.  In addition, a friend of ours from church came over with a load of diapers, formula, wipes and baby cloths.  It felt like God was saying to me, “Blessing with blessing.”  He is blessing and He is providing for the blessing.  It was one of those “my cup runs over” moments.  

Confession brought healing and it seems that healing has unleash a damn of blessing.  We have so many more testimonies of what God healed and what God is doing in our lives.  

Confess and be healed.  

 

 

Momlog 2013: I’ll give you a hint

Four is a fun age.  Right?  (Just say “yes” so I don’t have to think about the fact that The Boy lied to me again about brushing his teeth). The Boy has gotten into playing “I Spy” as we drive down the road.  My niece has been playing this game for a year but he has really gotten into it recently.  It’s funny for several reasons.  First of all, our subdivision is kind of in the middle of a bunch of cow pastures.  Have you ever played “I spy” on a road with nothing but trees, grass, maybe a pond and/or a water tower?  There isn’t very much to “spy”.

The “spier’s” turn always starts with, “I spy with my little eyes…”  (That’s all my sister, Judy and my niece, Ellie).  Since he is still young and doesn’t always get the hint, I have incorporated saying things like, “I spy something tall” or “I spy something with stripes” or if he doesn’t guess right the first time I will give him hints.  Yes, we allow multiple guesses in our version…that’s all over when he turns 6 then it’s one guess only.  For example, if “I spy something” outside of the vehicle, I will say “I’ll give you a hint…it is outside”.  Or I will tell him which side it is on or if it is tall or short or wet or moving, etc.

When the boy is the “spier” he sometimes forgets what he “spied” and will just throw something out there when you guess.  One thing is certain, he hasn’t quiet figured out what a “hint” is.  If I don’t guess on the first try, he says, “I’ll give you a hint…” and then he tells me what he spied.  Ever time.  We have explained that a hint should only give a little more information but every time he reveals.

It is adorable because of the way he drawls out , “I’ll give you a hint…”  And the Hubs and I both say, “Don’t tell me yet” but he always does.  He thinks he is giving a hint but really he is giving away the game.

Having explained the game…

I spy with my little eyes something tiny and pink and five days old….

I’ll give you hint…it’s a girl.

 

 

Eventually…

It is so easy sometimes to get into a groove in life and begin to think things “are what they are” and nothing is ever going to change. (what a permanent all encompassing statement).

When the Hubs and I were dating, he was working for a church, managing a coffee shop.  I am trying to think of a proper way to say this…  Well, he wasn’t making much money.  He had made more money in the past working in “secular” position.  The situation was not good.  The church had employed two previous managers at a much higher rate of pay, but because the Hubs was already working there, they gave him a minimal raise and a whole lot more responsibility.  While he did speak to them about it (don’t complain about things you haven’t addressed with the person responsible), they used some very cliche’ words to excuse what was going on.  (“Well, if you are called to do this job, then the $$ shouldn’t matter.” “We’re a church, we just don’t have any $$” )  The thing was, he was barely making ends meet.   In addition to working a full 40 hours at the coffee shop, he was the youth pastor (non-paying position) and on the worship team (non-paying position) for the church.  He also did odd jobs for people to earn a little extra income.  We wanted to get married.  The idea of purchasing a ring was overwhelming.  It all seemed impossible.

We know that God was looking out for him.  God always pays well even if your employer doesn’t.  He would get odd jobs, help me with catering, or play at a wedding, etc.

It all finally started to get to us.  The circumstances were pitiful.  It seemed like things would never change.  My mantra became, “It’s not always going to be like this eventually…” and I began to speak out positive things for our lives.  One day, Dennis told me, “I am tired of hearing ‘eventually’.  When??”  The waiting part was so difficult.

Our lives look totally different today than they did those many years ago.  Eventually has turned into reality.

Isaiah 64:4
For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

The Word says that when we wait on God, He acts for us.  He does things on our behalf.  He opens the doors.  He takes care of us.  He heals.

Lately, I’ve been anticipating change.  This change it different.  I don’t think it’s a move across Texas or even a move across town.  It’s more of a spiritual change.  It is time to start listening more closely for His voice.  It is time to begin following Him more closely.  Psalm 91 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”  Walking in someone’s shadow requires you to walk pretty close to the individual.  That shadow can be a very calm and refreshing place to be; it’s shielded from the wind and the scorching sun.  You have to stay near the person.  It is time for us to start dwelling in that secret place with God.

While I am anticipating this change, I feel myself saying “Eventually, we are going to feel God in a new, fresh way”.  Waiting for “Eventually” is the hardest part.

As it says in Galatians, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”  Your new season is just around the corner.  Don’t let all of these earthly things defeat you.  I know it is hard to keep your eyes on the prize when you see those around you “suffering” (do we really know “suffering here in America??) or missing out.  This too shall pass.  Be faithful and don’t lose heart.  This isn’t going to last forever.  God has an “eventually” for you.

Prayer

For those of you interested, I have been posting on prayer at http://www.ezekielregiment.com.

Momlog 2013: I cannot tell a lie

This is going to be a quick post so hopefully my writing will be up to par.

Last week I went to visit my sister out in west Texas.  (Not the city, the region).  One day for lunch we took the kids out to eat.  My son has speed issues…as in he is (as we say down here in Texas) “as slow as molasses” (which means, he’s really slow).  He’s slow at everything.  I believe God placed him in my life to slow me down because I have one speed and that is fast forward.  When it comes to eating, I expect him to eat his food, whatever I give him.  I believe in good food.  I don’t eat food that I don’t like and I don’t make him eat food that I don’t like.  As far as eating different kinds of food, he is good. He likes salad, veggies, spicy foods…he is a pretty adventurous eater.  But he is slow.  We had taken the kids and met up with my brother-in-law for lunch.  He had chicken strips…a standard “kid friendly” food.  They were good.  I tasted them.  Long after everyone else had finished eating he was still just plugging along and it slow pace.  I was trying to speed him up.  I told my sister I was going to the bathroom and then I told him he needed to finish up by the time I returned.

I took my time.

When I came out of the ladies room, my 7 year old nephew, Sam was standing right outside the bathroom door.  He immediately told me, “My mom asked the Boy if he was full and he said yes so she took his chicken strip and put it in the trash pile.”

I was a little confused by this little confession.

I walked back over and asked my sister, who was shocked that her son would tattle on her.  She said she was bonding with my son by allowing him to “get away” with something she wouldn’t allow.

It was funny.

Sam cannot keep a secret and he cannot tell a lie.

He will rat you out to your big sister every time.  I’m thankful to be in a family that raises truth speakers!  Now if only our Boy will learn to tell the truth.

Do not Conform

Last week I went to visit my sister, Jenny (her blog is http://jbryans.wordpress.com/).  We grew up in a conservative home.  We often did not have a television (although we would watch at our friend’s houses).  We went to public school for a few years, then private school for 5 years and then back to public school.  Our lives revolved around church and church activities.  If the boys in our church wanted to play baseball then the church started two teams so they could play every week against each other.  And everyone attended the games whether you had a kid playing or not because it was a church activity.  We didn’t just show up on church nights, we attended prayer meetings and fellowship nights too.  It was our way of life. It was a nice size church with between 200 and 400 people…I’m totally guessing.

The ladies at our church wore their hair in up hairdos that very likely involved some “hair” padding (mom would keep the wads of hair she cleaned off her hairbrush and stuff it into her updo to get that beehive look).  They didn’t cut their hair.  They wore dresses well below their knees because everyone knows that ladies knees are not that attractive but a man might see them and lust anyway.  They only wore skirts or dresses, not blue jeans or slacks or shorts for our ladies.  They could wear colates (sp??  it’s not showing up in my spell check) or “split skirts” or gauchos…whatever you choose to call them.  The men didn’t wear shorts either.  And they didn’t have beards and they didn’t swear or smoke or drink beer.

I remember when I went to kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grade at public school that I wore shorts under my dresses at P.E. time so as not to flash my class.

All of that was our norm.

As we got older, we attended a church that was less strict on physical appearance.  Our lives still revolved around church.

I can remember a time in my life when I thought to myself “I’m naive.” and “These friends are so sophisticated compared to me.”   Maybe I was a little naive but they weren’t so sophisticated.  The truth is, I had some friends who were worldly.  I can remember conversations in the bathroom on youth group night that shocked me, even made me blush.  I remember the first time I heard a girl really cuss.  Yes, I was shocked.  When I found out some of my high school friends were having sex.  I was completely blown away.  I thought everyone waited to get married to have sex (yes, at that time, that’s what I thought).  I’m glad.  I am so glad that these things were so shocking to me.  Some things should shock us.

My sister and I  were chatting about growing up and some of our old friends which led us to talking about friends who were married and now aren’t and how sad it was.  We thought about those teenage friends and how worldly some of them were and how naive we were.  We ended up thinking maybe what we thought was “sophisticated” was really just worldly and worldly doesn’t lead to abundant life.

We talked about how we could keep our kids innocent in the world today.  And how we hope they stay kids for a long while.

The Hubs and I have some friends who home school their kids.  Their kids are the kindest, most polite, and least worldly kids we know.  I’m not saying “home school kids” are less worldly than kids who go to public school.  I’ve watched these girls around other kids their ages and I’ve seen the other girls flirting and acting dramatic…you know things young girls do to get attention and the other girls seem so shallow and well, somewhat worldly. So much of it has to do with the sexualization of girls in the world today.  Seriously, when I was a 10 years old there were no “tweens” and I was out riding my bike not trying to get my mom to allow me to wear makeup (oh, yeah, the ladies in our church didn’t wear makeup either).   Does this mean my kids won’t go to public school?  Not necessarily.  Does it mean my kids will watch shows and movies I’ve previewed…yes.  Does it mean my kids will dress appropriately when going anywhere…yes (I DETEST miniskirts and bikinis…seriously, why are we sexualizing our young girls??).  Does it mean I will know who my kids friends are and will I guide them to friendships with kids that are less worldly….you bet.  Because I would rather have a kid who doesn’t quiet “fit” with this “world” than one who exposed too early to too much.

Growing up, I wanted to “fit in” and I wanted everyone to like me and I didn’t want to be “different” than the other kids.  I wanted to wear shorts to P.E.  You know what…maybe it wasn’t “comfortable” for me to be the girl in my class who didn’t have bangs because I wasn’t allowed to cut my hair but I learned that being different is okay.  I learned that I can be around worldly people and not be worldly.  I learned that it is okay if everyone doesn’t like me.  There are some people in life that I should not be best friends with…that’s okay.  My parents encouraged us to be social and have friends.  They encouraged us to get an education and do something with our lives.  We weren’t hiding up rocks and in a compound in the desert but we were a little different.

If you find that your kids isn’t quiet “fitting in” be okay with that.  Maybe your kid is the light in that worldly situation.  It’s okay to not “fit” with the world.  Teach them there is “right” and “wrong” and to stand up for “right” even if it isn’t the popular opinion.  Somewhere in the Bible it says, (and I looked for it…maybe my dad can help me out here) we are to be in the world but not of the world.  Allow them to learn that it is okay not to “fit” in some situations.  Not only is it okay to not conform to this world, we are commanded by God not to conform (Romans 12:2).  Teach them to be leaders not followers.   One day they will have to live in this world and you won’t be there to monitor what they watch and who they let into their lives.  When that day comes, they will choose not to conform.

I made decisions as a young woman that were completely worldly.  Even in my worldliness, there were moments when I felt so strongly, “I wasn’t made for this”, “This is not me”, and basically uncomfortable.  I felt more uncomfortable around worldly things and worldly people than I did around my family even thought I was doing the worldly things.

That’s the thing…if you raise a child to not be worldly, even if they stray they will not be comfortable in their worldliness.

Teach them now not to conform.

(and that’s my rant for today! )

 

 

Reblog of Harry Flemming

There are some wonderful people, The Flemmings who pastor (on staff) at Promiseland San Marcos.  They are probably the coolest people I’ve ever met…seriously.  You can check out his (Harry’s)  blog at designedbyharry.com.

The other day he posted this on his blog and it so captured my thoughts on my Pentecostal roots that I thought I would “reblog” it (which is super easy if we were both using WordPress but he’s using some other way cooler blogging site so I’m just going to copy and paste it).

Why I Like the Holiness People

by Rev. John B. Culpepper (Holiness Advocate, Fayetteville, N.C., Aug. 15, 1903)

I like their aim. They aim high. If they miss, nevertheless, they have scored one good point.
They are uncompromising.
They are against sin and wrong, including Sunday trains, secular newspapers, Sunday cooking, Sunday gossip, tobacco, and other uncleanness.
They are Prohibitionists, almost to a man.
They are agitators.
They make and distribute tracts.
They circulate books.
They have a catching sort of degree of spirituality.
They are in for everything that is good.
They say “amen” out loud.
They shout as I feel.
They [root] for a fellow while he is preaching.
If the load is heavy, they all jump out and push.
Wherever you meet one, he is already organized and ready for work.
If they are scared, they pray and shout, and work and move, so that it can’t be detected.
They always want to dig deeper, climb higher and know and do more.
They are long-winded in the closet, and nearly out of breath in a testimony service.
Every one of them will pray if you call on them, and if the fuse seems damp, they will pray, call or no call.
They are God’s globe-trotters.
They don’t ask how many are the enemy, but where are they?
They can shout in the cemetery.
They actually use the Bible in their work.
They will go to China or Africa as cheerfully as to the market.
It is not a money question with them.
They know the Holy Spirit.
They love you hard.
Their experience throws up a highway I’d like to die on.
They’ve come to stay.
They are unpopular with dirt, dignity, and the devil.
They are not in “ruts.”
They cry and run as if they had jumped the fox. That makes me spur on in the chase.
Whenever I meet or hear one of them, it makes me want to quit something, or do something, or go somewhere, or be somebody.
They are my kinsfolk.

I think I agree with Rev. John.

 

Live like this

We’ve been listening to Bob Hamp at our Life Group on Wednesday nights.  Check him out here.  The series we have been working on is Freedom.

Two of his stories I wanted to share so I won’t forget them and because they hit me hard…

The first story was one he told about a conference.  There was a speaker who rarely ever “called people out” over the platform but in one of his speaking engagements, He stops, looks over at a guy in the audience and says, “God says, ‘I want to call you Jeffery.’”  Sounds simple and the man was wearing a name tag that said, “Jeff” so stands to reason that’s his name.  The man began to weep.  Later that day, Bob saw the man and asked him about the Word.  Jeff told him that he works in the children’s ministry at his church and the night before, they had a rambunctious group and there was one little boy in particular who kept asking to call him “Jeffery”.  Finally, Jeff took the boy aside and the boy asked again if he could call him “Jeffery”.  Jeff told the boy, “I don’t know you that well and only people who love me call me Jeffery”.  Bob made the statement to the effect of “Isn’t it just like God to think of such a witty way to say, ‘I love you.’”

The second story he told was about him and a friend trying to exercise their spiritual gifts.  They were at his office talking and praying and asking God, “What do you want us to do?”  His friend had a picture in his head of this man and a little girl with pigtails at a burger joint not too far away.  They decided to go to the burger place.  If memory serves his friend’s wife joined them.  So they were there and no one was fitting the description of the man he saw.  Bob ordered his burger and was chatting up the cashier when someone tapped him on the shoulder.  It was a man he knew who fit the description.  He began telling Bob that his daughter was in trouble. There were more details to the story but that isn’t the point.  The talked to the man and prayed with him.  Bob’s friend who had the picture in his head, was so excited and his faith was stirred by what had happened that he called another friend of his and was excitedly telling him what had happened that evening.  He ended the call by telling his friend, “Dude, we have to LIVE like this.”

My thoughts…

As we journey through life it is easy to forget gifts we once worked to stir up and to strengthen.  It is easy to put things on like prayer on the back burner.  It is easy to forget who we really are because life has come along and defined us in so many other roles and through situations.

Today one of our friends from church was sharing his experiences of going on missions trips and how some things always go wrong but his faith is in God.  It was funny to me because my experience with God has been that when He tells me to do something, everything begins to fall into place perfectly.  When God told me to go to Alabama, I began to make the necessary changes in my life to go and everything began to fall into place perfectly.  When God put the Hubs and I together, everything began to fall into place…we moved 300 miles, both got jobs, places to live, everything just worked.  Things work so well in my life when it is “THE GOD thing”  that I barely remember the things that things that come against us  because they kind of faded into the background and weren’t big things in the long run.  When God told us to buy a house, everything worked out smoothly. I’m not saying each one of these things were easy…everyone one of them required risk and a lot of hard work.  Because God told us to do it, there was no stopping or turning back.  That’s my experience.  Everyone experiences God differently.

Saying all of that to say this, yes, I’ve had seasons in my life when I didn’t hear God tell me anything or lead me about anything.  I don’t like it but I still believe in Him.  Yes, I’ve had seasons in my life when God spoke to me strongly about some things and not at all about other things (usually the things I wanted him to tell me about).  I may have experienced some frustration (*this is possibly an understatement) but I still love Him.

I can say this for sure….I would rather “live like this” than live without Him.  I would rather have Him leading me to do things that might not be comfortable for me than to live without Him.

Dudes, we have to live like this.

We have to make listening to Him and following after Him and obeying Him our way of life. It is the great adventure.

We have to live this, we just have to.  I’m desperate to live this.

Lord,

The lyrics to a song run through my head tonight, “Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing.”  God, please awaken my soul to live; to truly live.  To live You.  To listen for Your voice and follow strong after You.  Please help me to live every day.  Help me to listen and tune in to You.  Please help me to be sensitive to your leading and follow even before You verbalize what You want.  God, like the Bible says in Jeremiah, take the stony places of my heart and massage out the hardness until my heart is once again a heart of flesh a soft beating place. Jesus, please awake my soul again.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Word

Prayer: Lord, please give us ears to hear and hearts to obey.  

For the Single Lady:

You have a friend who’s husband you admire.  You think he’s a great man.  You have even prayed that God would send you a man just like him.  God has a husband for you and he is nothing like the man you admire. You only see half of your friend’s situation.  What He has for you looks different but it is what He dreamed up especially for you and His Kingdom will be established and expanded as a result of the union.  Start praying for God’s plan. 

For the church:

The next wave of awakening will come as you (the church) are healed, delivered and walking in freedom.  In the past you have experienced frustration as you strived and labored to “move forward” in Me, to experience “more” of Me.  I’ve been with you all along.  This next wave of awakening will not be based on how much you pray, worship or fast it will be ME moving.  Be still.  Listen. Obey.  Let ME move.  Let ME do.  Let ME move you “forward”.  Let ME establish the next level of intimacy.