The History of the Palestinians

A little lesson in history: The etymology of the word "Palestinian" in English is derived from the Old French word "Philistin," from Late Latin it is "Philistinus," and from Late Greek, "Philistinoi." They were not an Arab or a Semitic people, but were more closely related to the ancient Greeks and originated in the Aegean region of Asia Minor. Any student of the Bible knows that the Philistines were enemies of Israel.

In the history of the Philistines is also the story of the young Hebrew man, David, son of Jesse, who was incensed that a Philistine warrior was allowed to challenge the one true God. The enemy of Israel had advanced to the Valley of Elah and there challenged the Israelites. They produced a brobdingnagian (gigantic) champion, Goliath of Gath. David volunteered to fight the giant and went out to face him with his slingshot and five smooth stones he had retrieved from a dry river bed. He slipped one of the stones into his sling and smote the Philistine on the forehead. He used the giant's own sword to behead him. Jehovah God gave David the courage and skills not only to face Israel's enemy, but to kill the challenger. The Israelites pursued the Philistines all the way to the city of Ekron.

The Philistines were ultimately defeated, absorbed into the Babylonian/Persian Empire, and by the late fifth century BC, had disappeared.

In 135 BC, Simon bar Kokhba, a Jew, proclaimed himself Prince of Israel, Son of the Star, the Messiah, and led a revolt against the Romans. The Roman governor and two legions of soldiers were defeated. Bar Kokhba controlled the state of Israel from the Fort of Herodium just south of Jerusalem. His coins were inscribed, "Year one--the redemption of Israel."

The Roman emperor, Hadrian, in response razed 985 villages and killed almost 600,000 Jews. Hadrian wiped Jerusalem and Judea off the map and deliberately renamed the area Palaestinia after the Jews' ancient enemy, the Philistines.

So, spread the word. Wanted: Non-Arab Philistines. As soon as all these peace-loving nations can prove that Philistines are back, then let's persuade the Arab League to absorb them as refugees the way Israel did with the Jews and all nations have done. Let them then turn over the territories that have become a nightmare for the Jewish people to the Philistines. You can be certain of one thing: there will probably be some pretty large dudes in the bunch. Goliath was a Philistine, and from what I know about him, he was not what you would call a "happy camper." I expect life will not be too pleasant for mythological Palestinians when they meet the original Philistines.

To fulfill the reality of a Palestinian state, the world must demand that the vast majority of the land occupied by Arabs in Judea and Samaria be returned to Israel. The people that call themselves "Palestinians" must return to the Arab lands from which they came. Then true Palestinians, the proven descendants of the Philistines, could have their land. Since there are none to be found on this planet, perhaps the next Mars rover will find them.

Repost from Mike Evans of the Jerusalem Prayer Team

Seek the Lord Now!

Hosea 10:10-12

"When I please I will chastise them, and hostile peoples shall be gathered against them when I shall bind and yoke them for their two transgressions [revolt from the Lord their God and the worship of idols]. Ephraim indeed is a heifer broken in and loving to tread out the grain, but I have [heretofore] spared the beauty of her fair neck.  I will now set a rider upon Ephraim and make him to draw; Judah shall plow and Jacob shall break his clods.  Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness.  Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you."

The Lord has me reading in Hosea and Colossians lately and I realized they are very similar in nature and content.  Both seem to be a call to repentance and turning back to God.  When I read these Scriptures in Hosea the Lord unfolded before me a beautiful picture of how He turns our wrong choices into opportunities of discipline in order to bring us to a place of righteousness before Him.

The period of time in which Hosea was called to prophesy is when Israel had separated themselves from Judah and created their own nation with their own king.  This was not in God's plan for Israel and He was calling them on their sin.

The interesting thing is God says in verse 10 He will chastise them with hostile peoples that will gather against them and He will bind and yoke them for their sins which were rebellion from Him and worshiping idols.  When I read this what I realized was even though God was saying "He" was going to gather nations against them and bind and yoke them, in reality it was their choice that brought these things upon them.  They had stepped out from under God's will, protection, and authority over their lives and the result was the consequence of war and bondage.  Yes God allowed it, but only because they chose it.   We always have the choice to choose life or death.

Verse 11 reinforces this notion as God speaks of Israel being a "heifer broken in and loving to tread out the grain."  The picture the Lord showed me, as I read this portion, was of a work horse that only knows how to slave in the heat and sun breaking up the dirt through hard labor and is satisfied to be there, not realizing he was created for so much more.  Israel was satisfied in the slavery of their bondage and sin, even loving being there.  They were deceived into believing that this was the good life, that this was the best it was going to get.  They did not understand how much better it could be as a son with inheritance and authority, but God did.  In His mercy He "spared the beauty of her fair neck."  This statement stood out to me and the Lord showed me how the heat and sun that came and burned their neck stripped them of their identity and dignity as they worked plowing in the field of their sin.  During this time in history a person who worked in the field was a slave or of lower class and you could identify them from the sun burn or tan on the back of their necks.  So God is saying He is coming to spare them the humiliation of being known as a slave or servant and He will do this by setting a warrior on the work horse with a sword in his hand so that the work horse can now become  who he was created to be, a war horse with authority and power. "I will now set a rider upon Ephraim and make him to draw."  Even when we make wrong choices and find ourselves living in the bondage of our sin experiencing the resulting consequences, God says that is not who we were created to be and it is not our inheritance to stay there.  He comes and calls us into our inheritance of power and authority over the sin we have chosen and the consequences, giving us the grace to come out of the fields as a mighty warrior.

It is fascinating the next statement God makes appears to not fit at all, but if we understand the true identity of Judah and Jacob we will see clearly how well it does fit.  Judah means praise and Jacob represents intercession.  "Again she conceived and bore a son, and she said, now will I praise the Lord! So she called his name Judah [praise]; then [for a time] she ceased bearing." Genesis 29:35 (Amplified).  Jacob meant supplanter because as he was being born he held onto his brother's heel.  "Afterward his brother came forth, and his hand grasped Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob [supplanter]"....Genesis 25:26 (Amplified).  This is a perfect example of intercession because when we pray for someone or something we stand in the place or position of that person or situation to see it changed.  So what does praise and intercession have to do with a work horse becoming a war horse?  Everything!  It becomes that war horse through the tools of praise and intercession!  God is showing Israel how He will help them become who they were created to be through praise and intercession.  As we engage in prayer and intercession we become who God created us to be with power and authority.  We no longer have to sweat and labor to break up the clods of dirt in our lives because, "Judah shall plow and Jacob shall break his clods."  Our praise will plow through and intercession will break the hard clods of dirt.  These are the tools of God's grace and power that we have been given.

Once the ground has been plowed and the clods broken up in our lives then we can sow the seeds of righteousness and reap a harvest of mercy and loving-kindness.  "Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness."  Just as God showed His mercy and loving kindness toward Israel so will He show us the same.  The call to Israel comes forth in the last part of verse 12 when He says, "Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you."  Just as it was time for Israel to seek the Lord so I feel the Lord is speaking the same to us.  Through praise and intercession break up your uncultivated ground so He can teach you righteousness and give you the gift of righteousness, grace, mercy, loving kindness, and the fullness of His salvation for you to walk in.  We are His sons and daughters with an inheritance of power and authority so we do not have to live in the bondage of being a slave to our sin and the consequences of it.  Break up the uncultivated ground in your heart and minds and seek the Lord today!

Thank You God!

I am not sure how to start this post as I have so much to say and it all seems not adequate enough for what my heart is feeling. My journey with the Lord started in the womb as I was created to love Him. The expression of that love grew as I grew and began to understand this nearness and oneness with Him I thought was a normal part of life. My heart opened up to Him fully at age five and at age six through the act of baptism I solidified my relationship with Him to those around me. It was as natural as breathing for me to become one in heart and spirit with Him. At the age of 13, at a time when I began to grow into adulthood and felt the pressures of being a teenager I again solidified to those around me my relationship with Him. Throughout my teenage and young adult years I tried to do what I felt He was telling me to do and I consistently felt His leading and His heart for me. He was always there during the good times and the hard times to comfort me and pull me out of the pit I continued to find myself in. Although those times were special and His presence was very real I felt there was something missing. I would read my Bible and encounter men and women of God who were overcomers. Who consistently walked in miracles, healings, and encounters with God. Who had faith that moved mountains and brought peace and restoration to their lives. I did not see that happening in my life, even though I knew God’s love and His presence. The yearning in my heart for more grew and grew and I could not be satisfied with life as it was. It was then God gave me an understanding of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changed my life forever. He showed me that although I had the Holy Spirit living inside of me, He did not have all of me. If I gave Him control of all of me, then I would begin to live the life I wanted. The act of giving all of me to the Holy Spirit was an easy one; the act of living it out was another story. I had lived independently for so long, making all of my decisions out of places of the hurt and pain of my experiences. Although I used the principles I found within the Bible to place boundaries on my decisions, those decisions were still mine and not His. It was hard for me to go to Him first trusting He had my best interest in mind. However each time I did the results were amazing. I continued to fight Him on certain issues but He was always faithful to allow me to make mistakes and run back to Him to fix it, and He always did. I am not sure why He did, but it spoke to my heart and eventually I learned He was safe. My life has not been an easy one, I feel I have been through hell and back many times, but He has always been there going to hell and back with me, restoring me back to life and wholeness.

How do you say thank you to a God who has healed you, delivered you, restored you, protected you, defended you, comforted you, empowered you, put up with you, befriended you, parented you, unconditionally loved you, favored you, held you, gave life to you, and always believes in you.

Words are not enough!

I want to begin to blog about God’s goodness and all the things He has done for me over the years. My heart is over flowing with thankfulness and I want to express that thankfulness as best as I can. Feel free to add the ways in which you are thankful to the comments.

Hebrews 11 – The Faith Chapter

Hebrews 11 has been described as the Faith Hall of Fame or the Faith Chapter because it is filled with many who have believed God and stood on His promises no matter what they had to encounter. The verses talk of men and women “who by faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouth of lions, extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devouring of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts” (11:33-35a) It also talks of “women receiving again their dead by resurrection, and others tortured to death with clubs refusing to accept release offered on the terms of denying their faith. Of men and women who had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment, being stoned to death, tempted by offers to renounce their faith, sawn asunder, slaughtered by the sword, wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats destitute, oppressed, and cruelly treated roaming over the desolate places and the mountains living in caves, caverns, and holes in the earth” (11:35b-38). These were amazing individuals and yet there are those today who endure the same affliction and suffering as well as believe God’s promises to be true.

The author of Hebrews, a pastor encouraging his congregation not to give up and lose faith in God, appears to have revealed two types of faith in the list above. A faith that created activation and a faith that stood strong. In verses 33-35a, he talks of those who’s faith activated God to move on their behalf subduing kingdoms, administering justice, and closing the mouths of lions. While in verses 35b-38, he talks of those who had the faith to stand alongside of Jesus and suffer as He did for their belief in Him. As Christians it is important that we employ both types of faith, the kind that moves mountains and the kind that stands up for what is true.

This pastor saw his congregation wavering in the light of the suffering they were encountering and reminded them of those who had gone before them and the hope they found in believing God. Today, many things are happening in our country, our perfect and easy world appears to be crumbling around us. Life is getting harder and we all are feeling the effects. There is uneasiness in the world that is creating as sense of fear and anxiety. Our generation has not had to face the effects of war and devastation that other generations have had to endure. Life has been easy for us and we have been blessed. I feel most people wonder more about the unknown and whether they will be as strong as those who lived before them to endure whatever may occur.

I imagine this pastor’s congregation was experiencing some of the same fears. They had lived in relative peace for several years but things had begun to change and they were beginning to feel the effects of those changes. This sermon appears to have been written sometime around 64 A.D. during the rule of Nero in Rome. Nero was not a very popular ruler and the people of Rome were angry at him because they believed he was responsible for starting a fire that destroyed a large part of their city. Although he made a concerted effort to rebuild the city the people still believed he started the fire for his own political gain without any thought to their lives. So, Nero, in order to take the attention off himself, made scapegoats out of the Christians, spreading rumors that blamed them for the fire. Their friends, neighbors, and church members were being rounded up and taken before the magistrate in order to be tried and convicted. The Roman people who were already angry found it easy to take their anger out on the Christians who they already thought to be inferior. The pastor seems to have brought this message at just the right time as it wasn’t long before Christians were being tortured and killed by their neighbors and friends not for the fire but because it became the popular and accepted thing to do. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be a small house-church when all of Rome and its government were against those who called themselves Christian. The catacombs then became the Christians’ new homes and martyrdom became common place among the Christian population.

As we look at the list of men and women here it is hard not to admire them for their courage, boldness, and faith to stand and believe in the midst of so much hardship. We are a nation founded upon God and His Word and we have a hope that cannot be shaken. Haggai 2:6 -7 speaks of the shaking that is going to come to the nations in order that the Lord’s house will be filled with splendor. God wants the nations to come to Him and in order for that to happen things must be shaken. In Hebrews 13:26-27, the pastor reminds his congregation that this shaking must take place “in order that what cannot be shaken may remain and continue.” This is our hope, our faith to move the mountains in our lives, our faith in God to stand no matter what the hardship, and our belief that God is in control of the shaking in order to bring the fullness of His kingdom here on earth.

The Fear of the Lord

There have been many times as a single mom of three teenage daughters that I have felt overwhelmed by the circumstances of life. Loneliness is a constant when you are trying to provide for your family, make all the decisions and feel there is no one to turn to who can help or understand. I do go to God, because I know He is powerful and I want to live under the fear of the Lord; but there have been many times where I have wondered if He really heard me or if He really knew how I was feeling. When the car breaks down, the child support doesn’t get deposited causing checks to bounce, one of the kids comes home with a zero because she did not turn in her homework, there is no food in the pantry, and the toilet overflows all in one week, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and wonder if I can take one more thing.

I remember a particularly hard time when I was working part time at Kohl’s making $7 an hour. I had started school in order to get a degree where I could get a better job and was taking a full load of classes. For reasons beyond my control the child support I had been receiving was cut about $300 and I was trying to raise three children and having trouble making ends meet. The children had been provided with TennCare and so family and friends were encouraging me to file for food stamps also. This was hard for me because I was always taught that we should allow God to take care of us and that it was not the role of government to meet our needs. I felt if I went to the government for help I was not allowing God to take care of me. I felt I would not be living under the fear of the Lord. However, I got so desperate I went ahead and applied for the food stamps all the while wondering if God knew how desperate we really were. God seem to be ignoring my circumstance and it felt as if He really did not know what I was going through.

Do you ever feel that way? Are there times when there is not enough money to go around. Is peace something you use to have with your spouse? Does it seem the kids are always sick or coming down with something? Do you ever look to the ceiling and say, “Are you there? Do you know that I can’t pay my mortgage this month? Do you hear me?” Is the future a scary place for you to think about? Do you have trouble recognizing or feeling God’s presence in your life?

I’m reminded of the movie the Pursuit of Happiness that starred Will Smith. The movie was based on a true story, if anybody ever felt overwhelmed at the circumstances of their life this man must have. I want you to take a look at this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z95wF2Cdye4&feature=PlayList&p=2AFA59EA4F67E6F6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=35

Maybe your circumstances are not as overwhelming as his, or occurring to the same degree, but we all have those times when we do have to deal with life and all it brings and the questions bombard our minds as to whether God really cares.

What would you give to know there is a solution to your problems? To know that you don’t have to worry about the future or even five minutes down the road or to be able to help others find solutions and not worry about tomorrow. Would that make your life easier and happier? What if I told you I found the secret to living life in peace without worry or stress, would you like to know what it is?

If I could sum up Psalm 34 into one sentence it would be, the fear of the Lord creates hope. Hope is the very thing we need when we are feeling overwhelmed. Did you see the promises found in this chapter? God promises that He is always there for us, He knows what is going on with us, and He helps us when we are in trouble. Yea, you say those are good promises, but how can I really know He will do that for me, especially when I don’t see it happening or feel Him near me.

I think we can look at Psalm 34 as a type of recipe for us to follow to help us understand and benefit from the statement “the fear of the Lord creates hope”. This recipe gives us clear and concise instructions to follow and promises good results all along the way. It is one of those portions of Scripture that clearly says if we do this then God will do that. The focus of Psalm 34 seems to be the fear of the Lord.

So what is the fear of the Lord? For some the fear of the Lord can sound a little scary, giving the impression that God wants them to be afraid of Him; but that is not what it is at all. It actually has nothing to do with being afraid. Yes, it is a place of awe, reverence, and understanding that He is greater than us, but it is so much more than that. It is a place of intimacy and relationship with God. He wants to be near us, to be in close relationship with us.

With a closer look at the chapter we can see the first few verses are all about worshiping and praising God. David was a man after God’s own heart, he knew how to praise God and he did it with all his might. So for David to begin a Psalm that focuses on the fear of the Lord with worship tells me that praise is a large part of the fear of the Lord. As we go on down through this chapter we will see it is more about relationship and obedience than fear.

In verse 4, the amplified version states that David sought and required of the Lord, “out of necessity and on the authority of His Word.” David would not have been able to understand his place with God as a son and feel confident in approaching the Throne of God for his needs unless he had a close relationship with Him. David started this chapter with worship because it is out of worship and praises that relationship and obedience can grow. In Psalm 73:25, Asaph also talks about this relationship with God, when he says, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth besides you.” I believe Asaph was saying nothing makes him happy and can satisfy him here on earth like God, he had nothing else. Also in Matthew 7:7 it shows us how we as God’s children should approach His throne with our needs. “Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.” When you continue to ask of Him, seek Him, and knock on His door, which I equate to reminding Him of His promises, it builds relationship with Him. That is what He wants, because it is out of relationship that we come to know who He really is and want to obey Him, and it is out of obedience that we truly step into who we were created to be in the first place, imitators of Christ.

Starting in verse 11 and going through verse 22 of Psalm 34, David, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, teaches us what it means to live by the statement “the fear of the Lord creates hope”. Within these verses I found 10 different ingredients for our recipe that will help us produce hope in the midst of our circumstances. By applying these 10 things to our lives we can know hope and find ourselves living under the fear of the Lord. So let’s take a look at the 10 things I found.

1. In verse 13, we see our first ingredient. David instructs us not to speak evil and deceitful things. This is very self explanatory but did you know that it also includes not speaking evil about yourself? When we say things like I will never be good enough to do that, or I always fail, we are speaking evil of ourselves. Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it (for death or life).” Also Deut. 30:19 says “I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life that you and your descendants may live.” God gives us the choice to live or die, to have blessings or cursings invade our lives, and to impact the future lives of our descendants with the same. It is up to us to choose and the principalities of heaven both angelic and demonic are waiting for our choice. In the first part of Deut, it says “I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you”, it is your choice; do you want blessings or cursings? What will you choose?

2. The next ingredient is found in verse 14, as David says stay away from evil and do good. Another self explanatory passage. We all know the difference between good and evil and how to live morally within our community; but I think again this also has to do with ourselves. There are things we allow to creep into our lives and call good that in reality are evil. We have to be very vigilant in seeking God’s idea of good and rejecting everything else.

3. Verse 14, gives us another ingredient for our recipe. David says to pursue peace. This means to crave it, go after it! I like the way the amplified version spells it out in I Peter 3:11b – “…. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]”

4. In verse 15, we see David telling us not to compromise in doing right and what we believe is right. The amplified version states, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the (uncompromisingly) righteous.” When I think of the eyes of the Lord looking at me, I think of intimacy, you know like when a man and woman who love each other look into each other’s eyes and seem to be oblivious to everything else going on around them. I want Jesus to look at me that way, so that leads me to want to never compromise what I know to be right.

5. Also in verse 15, David says for us to “cry out to the Lord believing He will hear us”. Although this part of the verse also implies not compromising so that the Lord will hear us; I also believe an important underlying aspect is knowing, believing, and trusting that when we cry out to Him, He will hear us. Because He says He will hear, we can know He will hear. Sometimes just knowing He is there and hears my cry is all I need. I don’t always have to have an answer; there are times when just knowing someone is hearing me is enough.

6. The sixth ingredient is found in verse 17. David tells us to cry out to the Lord, but this time we cry to Him knowing He will deliver us. This is another place of trusting that no matter what our circumstances look like He is delivering us from ALL our troubles and distresses. Verse 12 of Psalm 34 gives the indication that living a long and good life comes from living under the fear of the Lord. In I Peter 3:10, this verse is repeated. In the amplified version the first part of the verse says, “him who wants to enjoy life and see good days (good – whether apparent or not).” This statement is very important in that Peter is saying we may not always see things as being good for us, but God knows they really are. We want to enjoy life and see good days, but sometimes our perception of what good is can be very different than God’s perception of good. This is where trusting Him to deliver us becomes the issue.

7. The next ingredient is found in verse 18. This scripture has a lot to say but I think the main point that David is trying to make is we need to be repentant over our sin. When we humbly recognize our sin and confess it, the Lord draws close to us. If you want to know the presence of the Lord in your life, you must be willing to come into agreement with God about the sin in your life and confess it. The closeness of His presence is an amazing thing to experience after doing some internal house cleaning.

8. Verse 19 tells us that if we are consistently doing what is right without wavering (amplified version) that any evil that comes against us the Lord will deliver us from them all. So the ingredient we can use from this verse is to be consistent in our walk.

9. The ninth ingredient comes out of verse 22, when David tells us to take refuge in the Lord. Verse 8 goes right along with this and the amplified version says “Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.” I think it is interesting that the amplified expounds on the word blessed using the term envied because as we can also see in Romans 11:11, Israel will come to God because they will be jealous of what we have. This is what it says, “So I ask, Have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their false step and transgression salvation [has come] to the Gentiles, so as to arouse Israel [to see and feel what they forfeited] and so to make them jealous.” So taking refuge in the Lord not only blesses our lives but can influence the lives of God’s chosen people as well. So there are purposes beyond just our life for our obedience and relationship with God.

10. The last ingredient that I found for our recipe is also in verse 22. David tells us to trust in the Lord. He says that if we trust, the Lord will redeem our lives and we will not be condemned or held guilty. When I think of redemption here, I feel it is talking about all the times we have messed up and walked away from our destiny. David is saying no matter how far away we find ourselves God won’t condemn us or cause us to feel guilty. As we trust in Him he will continue to redeem all those places and bring us back on track to what we were created for.

As we have seen, it is as if these verses provide for us an umbrella of protection from the evil in the world. Living under the fear of the Lord, and living in relationship and obedience to Him releases all the promises in His Word over our lives and brings us life. This is a simple yet profound chapter in that it specifically states for us how living under the fear of the Lord provides for every one of our needs, problems, or worries to be met within the promises of God. If we follow the recipe He has laid out for us we can be sure of the manifestation of His promises and a decrease in needs, problems, or worries we will face in life. Our recipe is laid out and we have all the ingredients we need. The next step will be to put all the ingredients together, and live our lives based on the belief that the fear of the Lord creates hope.

So, what does this mean for our daily life as we face fears, disappointment, sorrow, or frustration? Remember how I told you that I got so desperate that I applied for food stamps. Well let me tell you the rest of the story. I did not get the food stamps, but out of the blue the case worker ask me if I had any doctor bills that I had not told her about, because if I did I might qualify for TennCare for myself. I did not have insurance and really did not think I needed it, but I figured it was worth a try. So I told her I had an orthodontist bill for one of my children. When she figured it in, I was $5 over the amount needed to be able to receive TennCare. So, although I did not get food stamps that day I left with medical insurance coverage for myself for a year. The best part about that is within that year I had to be taken to the emergency room several times with pain in my stomach and eventually had to have my gallbladder taken out, all of which was paid for 100% by the insurance. I like to say it was paid for by God not the government because He knew it was coming and took care of it even before I knew I needed it. God also provided for my daughter and I to go to Africa later that year for which I needed insurance and it was again already available and covered before I ever knew I would need it. I think God is just waiting for us to cooperate with Him so He can bless us and so we won’t have to worry or be anxious over circumstances. So how are you going to cooperate with God?

If you look back at the 10 ingredients in our recipe there is always a promise that goes along with each ingredient that seems to take care of any problem we might have. Let’s look at a few of them. Verse 15 and 17 says when you cry to him His eyes see you, His ears hear you, and He will deliver you from all your distresses and troubles. Verse 18 speaks of His salvation when you are crushed down from sin and the circumstances of life. Again in verse 19 He delivers you from every place the enemy would try to come against you. Also, if you look at some of the other verses within the chapter you see His deliverance from all fear in verse 4; His protection for you in verse 7; and His provision for you in verses 9 and 10. So, by following these simple ingredients you can form your life based on the belief that “the fear of the Lord creates hope.”

Through worship, prayer, faith, relationship and obedience you can know the fear of the Lord and His provision, protection, and peace that come with it. The fear of the Lord is not just words that are vague and hard to understand. The fear of the Lord is practical, tangible love acted out between God and you. Are you ready to apply the recipe of God’s Word of your life? I challenge you to take these ingredients and put them to the test, and experience the peace that living by the belief that “the fear of the Lord creates hope” can bring.

If we were to live our lives based on the belief that “the fear of the Lord creates hope”, what would our lives look like? I Peter 3:11b tells us that it looks like peace which is harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts. What does peace look like to you? Is that something you would want for your life? What about for your city, region, or nation?

Can you imagine a world where every Christian lived with that kind of peace, fully trusting in the faithfulness of God and His promises, reverently and worshipfully fearing the Lord; living out their lives based on the belief that “the fear of the Lord creates hope?” It is hard to imagine what that would look like, but I think this next video gives us some idea. By the way the events in this video are actually taking place in the world right now. Take a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbddQNQ91SA

What you do within your own life today can have a lasting impact on the world in the future. It starts with you today, will you pick up the recipe of His Word and apply these ingredients to your life and experience the same change in your life that the world is experiencing today? It is your choice, will you live your life from the belief that “the fear of the Lord creates hope?”

Grace

The grace of the Lord is a mysterious thing. I feel as though it has been extended to me in abundance throughout my lifetime. I have seen it expressed as favor, restitution, redemption, and freedom, as well as many other things. For some reason beyond my comprehension God has pour out His grace on my life in ways I never dreamed He would or could do. It has taught me so much about His nature and His love. I do not know where I would be without Him. His grace IS sufficient!

God’s grace for me has been one of salvation, redemption, healing, restoration, and provision. Grace encompasses so much and has been a part of my life for so long that it has become a personal friend and help. I believe grace is not only given to us for salvation but is also a mantle we can wear no matter what we are facing. It has been my experience in life that “I can do all things through Christ….because His grace is sufficient” to me. I know for my own life it has always been there even from day one especially for healing and protection.

I have always been pretty stubborn, I know a portion of it comes from my Irish/Scottish/ Indian/German lineage, but also I feel it is from feeling the need to take care and look out for myself at a young age. Whether this need was just perceived or real is hard to say, but it was there and it felt very real. As an infant it became quickly apparent to my mother that I was not a healthy baby. I say mother because I don’t have very many memories of my father, as a child, he just was not there, and he left all together when I was four. According to her, as I have no memory of this, I almost died several times because my throat would begin to close up and I would just quit breathing. The doctors soon found out I had many allergies to the point that out of 80 foods I could only eat 8. I was also allergic to animals, dust, grass, and many other things.

Clearly, I was not born to live for very long in this world and have felt like a stranger from as early as I can remember. Many nights my mother would sit up with me all night elevating my head so I could breathe. She has told me that one night after being up with me every night for two weeks, she was so tired she could not stay awake and she kept waking up to me gasping for air. She was so desperate and exhausted she was sobbing and she told God she could not do it anymore and she thanked Him for giving me to her for the short time she had me. She said she knew I would not last through the night, as my breathing had gotten so bad and she knew she could not stay awake. She said right then she gave me back to God and expected me to die sometime during the night. Obviously I did not die, and the Lord graciously allowed me to live for a reason.

A few years ago Jesus was taking me through a time of healing and showed me eight other times in my lifetime where I came very close to death. Not only did I have severe allergies as an infant, but I fell out of a car when I was five. I had chronic bladder and kidney infections as a child, and I had an ovarian cyst to burst when I was 14 which led to a 2 ½ ounce pool of blood gathering behind my bladder. Unfortunately it was not found until it had gangrene in it and the doctors were amazed that it had not already poisoned my body. I was in a car accident when I was 16 where the car literally dropped, not rolled, down a 15 foot embankment. I had another car accident when I was 17 as another car pulled out in front of me and I slammed into them. After a failed marriage in my thirties I became so depressed that I came very close to killing myself. Then a few years ago after having severe pain and not being able to keep anything on my stomach for almost a month, I had surgery to take out my gallbladder. After removing it the doctor said my gallbladder was so bad it had already began to petrify and was as hard as a rock. It had also begun to poison my body and he could not believe I was not worse. Once God had reminded me of all these incidents He took me back to each one and showed me where I believed lies about Him. He wanted to show me that He was there at every incident and His grace was protecting me from the hand of the enemy.

I am not sure the enemy really knows my purpose here on earth but I think he has an idea. I figure as long as I don’t know the full extent of my purpose neither does he and that means if God, who knows everything, is on my side, I will always be one step ahead of the enemy, walking in whatever God has for me, and I will always be protected from anything the enemy wants to throw at my life until my purpose here on earth is complete and God calls me home to Him. I feel very thankful for the grace of God that has been very evident within my life.

Encounters With God - Part 2

So far this year I have had five significant encounters with God. Through worship, intercession, and soaking He has spoken to me, showed me His heart, and led me in intercession to help birth His purposes here on earth. The unusual thing about this is last year I probably only had about five significant encounters with God all year long. So why is this year different? Well, it could be many reasons and I won’t presume to know the thoughts of God, however, I can say I am pursuing Him more this year than I have in the past. He does say in James 4:8 that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. So maybe that has a little to do with it. All I know is I will continue to pursue Him and expect Him to do the same.

In the last post I talked about an encounter I had on January 23^rd where Jesus showed up with a flaming sword and cut me down the middle in order to divide between my soul and my spirit while Hebrews 11:6 was flashing before my eyes and pounding in my ears. After much thought and discussion with Him I feel I understand the correlation between the two verses He was trying to bring to light in my vision.

Hebrews 4:12 (amplified) says, “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.”

Hebrews 11:6 (amplified) says, “But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].”

These two verses at first glance seem to not be related at all, however, these were the two God gave me while in the midst of my vision. So further research must be in order to fully grasp what God was trying to convey to me.

Obviously the sword that penetrated and cut me in half was the Word of God not only symbolically in the form of a sword but also in the person of Jesus as the wielder of that sword. John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”; John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

As the sword cut through me I heard God say, “I am dividing between your soul and your spirit” and Hebrews 11:6. He “spoke” both references of Scripture at the same moment. Hebrews 4:12 says, “the Word that God speaks is alive….” As God was cutting me in two He was speaking both Hebrews 4:12 and Hebrews 11:6 over me. So it would appear that it was the Words of these verses that were dividing between my soul and spirit causing my flesh to be lowered enough for me to have a glimpse of God’s heart.

So what is it in Hebrews 11:6 that is alive and active and penetrates to the very thoughts and purposes of my heart? Is it faith in God, belief that He exists?

Remember I kept feeling my worship was not good enough, that it was somehow dirty, and all about me and not Him. I did not feel I was able to please Him or be satisfactory to Him in my worship. I never felt condemnation in this revelation, but it was more a matter of fact. That the truth that He is so big, so great, there was no way my worship could ever compare.

Jeff, my pastor, has said time and time again it takes God to get us to God. We can’t know Him or draw near to Him unless He comes to us first. This is what He was doing in me, giving me the faith I needed to be satisfactory to Him, so He could show me a glimpse of His heart. I had to have enough belief in who He is in order to draw near to Him, but in my own state of imperfection and unbelief I cannot do that and be as close as He wants me to be with Him. So in that moment He gave it to me.

As I seek Him out and discover who He is the more capacity I have to hold the amount of faith it takes to satisfy His holiness and the more He is drawn to me. Then one day He steps in front of me and says I love you so much that I am going to help you in your pursuit of me by giving you a little more faith so you can get a glimpse of my heart, and then you will seek me even more. The more I come to know God the more I realize there is so much more to know. I can’t help but continue my journey of discovery of Him because it satisfies the deepest places inside of me.

Encounters With God

At church on Sunday, January 23, 2011, during worship I had an encounter with God. I felt His presence very heavy and was trying to worship but I just could not seem to get the words out. It somehow felt as if the words of the songs weren’t good enough. The heaviness increased and I asked God what was going on and over and over again I heard Him say, “I am dividing between your soul and your spirit” and the Scripture reference of Hebrews 11:6 seemed to be flashing before my eyes and pounding in my ears. Just then the heaviness turned into a burning on the inside of me.

I thought Hebrews 11:6 might have been the Scripture that talks about the Word of God being a sword that divides between soul and spirit as I knew it was located in the book of Hebrews. So I reached for the closest Bible and looked it up. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes near to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” At the time putting together this Scripture with what God was saying was too difficult; however I have since gained revelation on what He was trying to say to me and I will write about that a little later.

All the while the burning continued and was increasing to the point that I was feeling very uncomfortable. So I ask God why it felt as though my insides were burning up. Just then I saw Jesus standing in front of me with a flaming sword in His hands. He then held the sword up in front of me and brought it down on me cutting me in half. At that moment I felt as if I were going to completely burn up from the inside out. I instantly received what seemed to be a five second glimpse of the spirit realm and God’s heart.

At this revelation my heart felt as if it was going to explode and I would die right there. I don’t know of any other way to explain it except in physical terms which doesn’t seem adequate enough. My heart felt as if it was going to burst, my whole body felt engulfed in flames, and at the same time I felt my worship of Him was not good enough and would never be good enough, almost dirty in comparison to Him. It did not feel condemning in any way, it just was. It was as if He was accepting it even though it paled in comparison to Him and would never truly be adequate. Somehow I knew it was because He loved that I was attempting it anyway.

As I got that small glimpse of God’s heart it seemed as though my worship was more about me than it was about Him; more about me getting a feeling or knowing that I had met with God; more about what I wanted to get from Him rather than what He wanted from me. So I asked Him how He wanted me to worship Him.

By this time I was visibly being touched, shaking and crying. A lady standing next to me must have noticed and she put her hand on my back so I naturally placed my hand on her back. As soon as I touched her she began crying and I could tell God was touching her as well. It seemed as though she was feeling the same thing I was so I knew He wanted me to worship Him by praying for her to experience Him in the same way I did.

I begin to pray (not out loud, so as to not pull her out of what God was doing in her) for the same sword to cut her in two dividing between soul and spirit so she could get a glimpse of God’s heart for her. As I stood there praying over her she was visibly being touched by God to the point of being overwhelmed. I then felt the Lord telling me to move on to another person, so I did. This continued to happen with person after person until I looked back and they were all so overwhelmed by His presence they were kneeling on the floor. I was amazed at how just one glimpse of His heart could impact lives so distinctly. The more I think I know who God is, the more I realize I don’t know Him at all. Since that morning I have felt a closeness to God that is noticeably different than before. There is also a feeling of awe that I cannot describe that continues to pull me toward Him wanting to know Him even more!