Created in His own image

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

Genesis 1:26 KJV

This month we have had plenty of adversity hurled at us and many blessings. A time when one of the most difficult mountains to climb financially is coming up and frankly, it's too big to climb alone. I have to believe in the unseen and in the midst of this trial is the unwaivering feeling that I couldn't do anything else but what I am doing now, what I was created to do. Years of doing many things that I have been successful with to a point and enjoyed mastering but never as natural as what I do now, everyday, every moment without regret. 

God has restored me. I grew up wondering how I survived my first three years of life and  because I was unwanted by my parents I also wondered why  God allowed me to live, what was the purpose. Of course it is hard to imagine a God that loves you and wants you when you have suffered rejection from a mother and a father.  Parents after all convey acceptance or rejection, relationship skills and bonding and we learn from our parents. I learned I was not wanted. From my adopted family I learned I was defective and should be grateful that they took me in the first place. God, according to most church teachings, drives home the point that myself and others are not worthy of God's grace or Jesus's sacrifice even though when we accept Jesus we are forgiven and born again with a new spirit. 

God has restored me. I'll admit it has taken years for me to rise above all the negative thoughts and feelings of rejection. I am happy to say I know why God blessed me with life and didn't allow the circumstances of my birth and childhood to steal that life or extinguish it. What's more God never abandoned me. The closer I press into Him the more I know He was there all along. 

My new life is one that moves and changes by the moment and every moment is in His presence. He is with me when I work in the barn with His creatures and shares in the joy of the simplicity of my stewardship over the farm and all it's inhabitance. He has raised a daughter with me. He has loved me for who I am and has revealed to me that I am good and worthy of His love. 

I can't imagine the path I am on not being what I was destined for and so I trust in Him to deliver, to overcome, and to provide. Whatever His will for me I know I was created in His image and have found the life He created me for. 

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=5/14/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=5/14/2011

Pray Isaiah 54: Be a blessing to others

Pray Isaiah 54: Be a blessing to others: "2 Corinthians 9:11 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity w..."

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/26/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/26/2011

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) - Chris Tomlin (with lyrics)

Temptation

Matthew 26:41  "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

I am learning things about myself that I am happy about and other things that I don't like so much. I lived years with excellent self control and a discipline and kept very focused. Now it's not so easy. 

I guess I've grown weary of being strong and I feel more vulnerable now. It's easy to give into temptation and loose focus when this happens. 

The Lord has blessed me so much and I need to cling more to him now and pray for wisdom. To love God more than things and people here on earth and to remember I'm never alone even though it's nice to have human arms to comfort me. To be obedient and not sin. Yes, temptation and thoughts will cause me to go a stray.   

Thankfulness

I don't have a picture or a bible verse today just a happy heart and I want to thank God for it. I don't want to forget to thank the Lord or to overlook His kindness. It is good to feel loved by God and it is good that He helps me learn to love myself.

I am experiencing growth and healing in my life and it is good. Peace is more precious than anything and family. How wonderful it is to be loved and to love. Kylie is so wonderful and she has such a good heart. I am surrounded by the people I love and who care for me. Friends and family. To be free to nestle into the love of the Lord and experience peace, it is a taste of heaven surely. 

What every believer needs to know

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/23/2011

Thanks be to God, the anger passes

<sup>Psalm 34


11</sup> Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
¹² What man is there who desires life
   and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good;
   seek peace and pursue it.

George MacDonald - Diary of an Old Soul

April 21.
To trust is gain and growth, not mere sown seed!
Faith heaves the world round to the heavenly dawn,
In whose great light the soul doth spell and read
Itself high-born, its being derived and drawn
From the eternal self-existent fire;
Then, mazed with joy of its own heavenly breed,
Exultant-humble falls before its awful sire.

George MacDonald - Diary of an Old Soul

April 20th


God, help me, dull of heart, to trust in thee.
Thou art the father of me--not any mood
Can part me from the One, the verily Good.
When fog and failure o'er my being brood.
When life looks but a glimmering marshy clod,
No fire out flashing from the living God--
Then, then, to rest in faith were worthy victory!

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/20/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/20/2011

Allowing anger to take root or not

I am fighting a powerful enemy and it's name is anger. I should be angry, very angry for being used, deceived and marginalized and my burden increased more than before. It all starts with love, the deeper the love the more potential for hurt. The deeper the love the more severe the wound and the intensity of the pain and disappointment.

When love cools it leaves a void which begins to fill with anger and then hate. The kind of hate that burns to the point that you don't even want to acknowledge a name. You never want to see the face or hear the voice again. Their is no point in revenge because a life lays in waste by the destruction of selfishness, in fact, several lives lay waste by the same actions repeated over again and again.

What then can I do? Nothing. I truly would be consumed in anger totally, I would have given up long ago and allowed myself to be completely destroyed by hate and bitterness as so many others before but I am fighting instead. I am fighting within myself and asking God to fill the void with something other than anger and hate. Sin is destructive and it has caused enough suffering already, I don't want to hand  my life over to more of the same.

That is why prayer and God are so important, to heal and to take something ugly and painful and make it beautiful in some way. Only God can transform and take something from nothing and make something so wonderful that it is glorious.

Advise for dad

Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Colossians 3:21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/16/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/16/2011

Pray Isaiah 54: The Fatherless

Pray Isaiah 54: The Fatherless: "Psalms 10:14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth ..."

The wilderness lessons

Psalm 107



³⁵He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
 ³⁶And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
 ³⁷And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
 ³⁸He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
 ³⁹Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
 ⁴⁰He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
 ⁴¹Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
 ⁴²The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
 ⁴³Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.



The Hebrews that came out of Egypt weren't the sames ones to enter into the promised land. Most know the story of 40 years in the wilderness, basically they all died and it was a new generation that crossed over to receive the fulfillment of God's promises.  


I know we all experience the wilderness years where we are tried and tested. We must learn the lesson of receiving manna each day. The manna comes each day and lasts only for that day and it cannot be used again. The next day the Lord provides new manna. What a faith builder but it also teaches us to let go of control and worry and let God provide for our needs. 


I always used to work hard to take care of us and have a regular income. I still struggled but I had a sense of security in my own ability to provide for us which only meant I needed God less. Now it is more God than me but in a sense I am freer now and happier just believing. Yes, I can also be gripped in fear sometimes but with each day that passes it gets easier as God just provides in the most interesting ways.


Part of the wilderness experience is experiencing death.  Parts of my inner self and heart have had to die in order for both to be pruned and made ready for something new. That is the way God works, a seed must die and be planted in order for it to germinate and grow into something beautiful. God is slowly turning me away from old things towards what He has planned for me. 


I must learn to trust God more, to allow myself to feel secure in His care, to love Him and to seek Him with my renewed heart. 

Intense, pause for thought

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/12/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/11/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/11/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/10/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/10/2011

Today, God reminds me again

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20)

The Lord reminded me today that I've been hurt deeply, unnecessarily, and without mercy. A blow that opened old wounds and as an arrow straight into my heart through wounding Kylie.  

The Lord's words were remember this scripture and don't give up praying. If I had not been hurt I would not have been compelled to change, I would not have been driven to prayer for a loved one, and closer to the Almighty. 

We have many personal challenges lying ahead of us to worry about and to pray about but the Lord has asked me to be faithful in my prayers and so I will be obedient, His will not mine.  

Kindred Acres Farm - The Journal: One who does not know love, questions love

Kindred Acres Farm - The Journal: One who does not know love, questions love: "The horse and the girl The horse no one had time for, the girl people said doesn't love horses. The horse loves the girl, he comes to her ..."

New mercies, days filled with tiny miracles

Lamentations 3:22-23 

 ²²It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

 ²³They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

The past few days have been filled with little miracles with our every need being met by someone who God has sent to us. Like stepping stones across a stream, each one placed just in the right spot. How wonderful to be in the hands of the Almighty, to feel safe and secure. Humans, although we try our best can't help but disappoint, to let down, to run away, but God is always near to help.

There was a time in my life where I lived in fear and anxiety every day but as I take each step closer in faith I am content to live with His provisions. All things belong to the Father and He generously shares them with us. 

Pray Isaiah 54: Praying the prayer of deliverance

Pray Isaiah 54: Praying the prayer of deliverance: "Isaiah 1:18 'Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though ..."

This is awesome!

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/8/2011

Rejoicing through trials

1 Peter 1:6 

 ^6(A)In this you greatly rejoice, even though now ^(B)for a little while, ^(C)if necessary, you have been distressed by ^(D)various trials,

This is a great passage to remember, I try to be positive most of the time. I do get tired and worn down and I can feel like I am losing the battle but of course it isn't the war. During those times I am usually just very tired and worried but I am a eternal optimist for the most part.  

Today had it's challenges for me because I had to face a particular thing that was very unjust but necessary. I know that God will cover the injustice as I am an honest person and took the initiative to face the issue head on even though it will make our situation more difficult financially. 


I fought off intense moments of anger and resentment because the world would have it that way but that is not God's way. I'd rather have God on my side than the world that's for sure. 


We are having trials now but I can see God working and He will provide for us and we will prosper. It is better to have prosperity through God than to snatch at whatever the world has to offer. 


I have to ask God to forgive me for my moments of anger and to forgive. 

Praying the prayer of deliverance

Isaiah 1:18


"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."


How can I step out in faith, praying and believing for the answer to a most precious prayer. What stone can I roll away, what step has He ordered, how may I rise and walk? To ask God in earnest and to believe it will be so.  

Be a blessing to others

2 Corinthians 9:11


11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

A word from God about idols

Romans 1:21 

 ²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The Lord is very specific about being a jealous God because He wants our whole heart. The bible which is God's word is filled with stories about men worshiping idols made with their own hands. Today we may not sacrifice to statues or images we have made with our own hands but we do have plenty of idols in our life. 


When you love something more than God you are putting it higher than He. When you love something more than your spouse or family you are putting it higher than them and when you love something more than your neighbor, well you get the point. 


Besides loving God more, we are commanded to love each other as ourselves. Living a life with idols prevents both from happening and as the verse says our hearts can become darkened. 


Idols in our lives can be caring more about prestige, material things, and pleasure. I have a nice barn, horses, and many things I love but if I love them more than God I am sinning against God. 


When someone seeks something so much that they are willing to hurt others or sacrifice them that is a sure sign of a life full of idols. Sadly, loving other things more than God is like holding on to a gold coin desperately when their is a gold bar laying on the table easily within reach. 


All things come from a loving and merciful God. There is nothing He is not able to do. He ask for your love and obedience in order that He may bless you beyond what you could ever imagine from within your heart. Idols never satisfy they demand much more than you think and the price is your life, God ask for little in return for what He offers. 

This is a great passage for men

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=4/5/2011

God teaches me about intimacy

Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Every woman wants to feel deeply loved by someone it's just how we are made. I think some people can be alone and are fine but the most need someone to share their life with because that is the way God designed us. Unfortunately, the fear of being alone or the desire to be loved can be so strong in a person that they accept a relationship that is harmful to them or is not genuine. 


I've lived alone for several years now and spent many years on and off being alone. I always thought it was okay to be alone and although I wanted an intimate relationship with a man I hadn't a clue exactly what that really meant. I've felt love and in many cases been loved by men I didn't love. I thought I had experienced the love of my life also but I did not receive love in return only what really was an empty shell. Many of the issues surrounding my experiences for most of my life were influenced by not understanding what love is, what intimacy is, and what God's expectations in these areas are all about. 


I've been in God's school "Intimacy 101" lately and I have learned that He did indeed make me to share my life intimately and fully with someone. I have an incredible amount of love and mercy to share and actively doings so would give me profound joy. God didn't give me these gifts just for fun, it is the way I am and I need to embrace this. 


What God did not make me for is to be viewed as just flesh to someone,  substandard, or to be used and discarded, or even just a standby. Many people treat their spouses or love interests this way and it's not what God had intended at all. Such acts devalue both people until there is nothing left but an empty shell with no real passion, desire or love. 


I am learning over again through God to enjoy a gentle look, a thoughtful act, and mutual appreciation of conversation and laughter. To accept attention and intentions that are not about lust but something much deeper. God is love and love is not sin, only what we choose to do in the name of love complicates things. Love shouldn't be complicated or painful but fulfilling and satisfying. 


God has pointed out to me that He didn't intend for anyone to settle for anything less than what He has to offer them when it's His will. I know a couple who's been married for fifty years and it isn't hard to see the excitement and joy they bring each other as if they had just started dating. They are in their seventies but are as playful as children with each other. I'm afraid I wouldn't accept anything less for myself. 


The beginning of real love is in our relationship with the Lord. If I cling to the Lord He will add all things to me. He's teaching me now about intimacy with Him and with myself with a few extra's thrown in for good measure. A random phone call, exchange of the days happenings, humor, and just because....

My strength is renewed He will answer my prayers

Psalm 50:15
Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

Proverbs 31:31 

Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

The picture and verse I chose for this entry is for my daughter. Kylie is strong willed and she has courage, the kind that makes her mature beyond her years in most ways. After all, she is only thirteen. 

We have more time together and a good place to live but it has come with a price. We have taken on a job to work on another horse farm to bring in more money. I say we because Kylie works along side of me so that we can keep going and keep the farm. 

Kylie is driven and able to do her home schooling mostly independently. She saves her money and spends it wisely. All these things build character and prepare her for an adult life. Kylie has a healthy idea of what is wrong and right and is courageous enough to tell the truth. Many people today will use others for material gain but Kylie stands on her principles. 


Words can not describe how proud I am of her right now. I can't buy her the things she would like to have at this moment or even take her any place special but I give her all my love and thank God for blessing me with her. She prays for her father every night and reads her Bible and is growing in her understanding of spiritual things. I'm truly rich. 

Ransomed Heart Ministries -- Daily Reading

Ransomed Heart Ministries -- Daily Reading

Maturing

1 Peter 2

 ¹ Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.


This is a tough one. I know God is working on me about this. Even when I try not to drag in thoughts about old feelings I still feel a tinge of malice. I guess that's why I need God. If I could overcome myself every moment it wouldn't be necessary to pray and work through things with Him. 


I have grown over the years emotionally which hasn't been easy since I didn't have really good role models but Jesus was the absolute best at loving and forgiving people who hurt Him or others. 


Each time I feel a negative feeling about someone I read a scripture or pray or just remember that God loves us all very much. Negative feelings not only hurt the people around me but they hurt me especially because bitterness and anger don't come from the Lord. I want Kylie to be free of hurt, resentment and the feelings of rejection. I know she watches me closely and how I express my feelings will influence her. 


I know Kylie loves me very much and I love her, I want her to have a better life than I did. When she is grown I want her to have faith, empathy, self esteem and walk closely with the Lord. If for no other reason I must master the spiritual maturity to lead her and guide her. 


Children have no choice in parents when they are born into this world and we as parents have an obligation to teach by example but to walk the path with them. I've sinned plenty in my life and I probably will again except repentance and forgiveness are there for me and I've shared this with Kylie. I do have an obligation to set the best example that I can for Kylie and it demands maturing spiritually. 


You can't mature spiritually if you harbor negative emotions towards others or yourself but only when you can take the responsibility for your actions and learn to forgive and pray for others. 

Praise and thankfulness

Psalm 105

 ¹ Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
   make known among the nations what he has done.
² Sing to him, sing praise to him;
   tell of all his wonderful acts.
³ Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength;
   seek his face always. ⁵ Remember the wonders he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
⁶ you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
   his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

I am thankful for the many blessings these past few months. Many good things have been provided to us and much help from others. From help with my truck and the tractor, to furnaces, and filling the hole beside the house. The groceries people have given us or bought for us. The prayers people have prayed.

The winter was a hard one but we survived. I am thankful to God for his blessings and believe He will be with us the rest of the way.

The Fatherless

Psalms 10:14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

More on love

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=3/31/2011

A word for me today - Counterfeit

1 Corinthians 13

 ¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.


My heart is very tender. Although most of the time I have great joy in what God is teaching me about a Godly relationship, there is a small part of me that still flinches from a recent hurt. Actually, if I allowed myself to think of the  severity of the blow dealt I am very sure I'd be deeply entrenched in sorrow. But, I am more confident in who I am now then I used to be and if the blow was meant to cripple me it hasn't. Neither the power of a spiritual enemy or the bitterness of a man's heart or both has prevented God from strengthening me even more.


God has allowed me to feel the value of who I am and revealed the importance of having a good and tender heart. My feelings are genuine and I refuse to hide them, deny them, or be ashamed of them. I'm emboldened actually because the Lord has filled me with His love and peace. 


The word counterfeit has played in my head today because I question my wisdom and ask for God's discernment in navigating my feelings. A great way to be deceived when you have a tender heart is to insist on looking past the fault or shortcomings of the person you think you love. What a person perceives as real gives them hope but when they seek the truth they sometimes find deception. Our spiritual enemy is a master at counterfeiting. We allow the enemy to use us to debase and devalue the act of loving or the counterfeit act which revealed is simply the spirit of lust. 


How sad and how it must grieve the Lord's heart to see his children misuse love and intimacy. I've never had a truly deep, Godly relationship with a man and I am sad for not knowing the unbridled joy God intended for me to have instead of a counterfeit of His intentions. 


God's love is real and I am thankful for the safety and shelter it has provided for me. I praise Him for His mercy and love and for my tender heart. 

Thinking about Lazarus

John 11:40

Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? 


I sometimes look at things from different angles when I work in the barn and I talk to God. Today while going about doing my various chores I thought about the changes in my heart recently that God has brought about. I thought about how He can change a person's heart and how we pray for a loved one's heart thinking it will take years or it may futile to pray for them at all.  


I had a picture come to mind and it was of Jesus bringing forth Lazarus from the grave. When we think of death in the physical sense it is of a decomposing body, rot, and odor (prior to the embalming). A dead body is something obviously you would want to avoid touching or coming into contact with at all. I kind of think that is what happens to a person when they are deep in sin. The person's spirit and soul begin to break down and decompose until it becomes very undesirable to the living persons around them. 


What I just described is really morbid and depressing to be sure but then the Lord reminded me of Lazarus. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and brought him forth. This particular story for me is very encouraging because the Lord can and will deliver hearts from sin. It isn't hopeless to pray for someone no matter how deeply they are entangled in sin. They may be spiritually dead and their heart may be like stone but I don't put my faith in the person but in the Lord and He can do all things. 

Despair? Look to God's goodness

Psalms 42:11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.


I've been touched very deeply in my heart recently by several things God is doing for us. He is working through people around us. It is interesting that when you feel like you haven't a friend in the world, when things seem really dark and you pray half hearted, you stay in that emotional place and sometimes the feelings get worse. I spent a few years in despair not really understanding how close God really is to me and how much He cares and wants to help. 


Things right now are awesome and at the same time difficult but I don't feel low or down in the depths of despair. I am able to rejoice in my heart because I am happy. I pray and talk to the Lord and try my best to lay the hard stuff on Him and just turn it over to Him (this takes practice). The rest of the time I am surrounded by His creation and the people He sends into my life. The strangest needs are being met like a neighbor who is moving dirt soon and has decided to fill the whole beside the house for me. I didn't ask him to do this and he knows I have no money but he sees the need and is determined to do it. The most interesting part about these random kindnesses is the people are genuine, they are not looking for something in return or to boast. 


One of the best parts about my job and jobs in the past is being able to be of service to others. My heart is made so that I am the happiest when I can do something to help out. I am a nurturer by nature. I don't have to have something in return for what I do. The Lord puts things in my heart and I try to do what He asks for someone. I am not perfect of course I still have to battle the negative feelings everyone else does so I'm not bragging here but I am at my best when I am trying to do something for a person or an animal. 


The point of all this writing is through believers and non-believers all things come from God. He gives prosperity  to us to do His work by sharing it and spreading it around. He speaks to people's hearts and softens them. I am thankful for neighbors, friends and caring family but I thank God for the goodness He instills in people and his creatures. All things come from Him and He so desires our love in return. 

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=3/29/2011

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=3/29/2011

This is special

http://www.fathersloveletter.com/video.html

The Crown of Creation? How about that...

http://www.ransomedheart.com/more_dailyreading.aspx?id=3/28/2011

God does speak

Isa 30:20-21 (NIV) Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Hearing from the Lord? Yes, hearing. I have had prayer or conversations with God since I was a child. I do this because my grandfather made me feel very comfortable about sharing my thoughts with God. I know he knows them but I tell Him anyway. My grandfather had a spiritual presence around him continually, he had retired from the ministry years before and was my caretaker in his 90's. He had a lot to share. 

I have always had prophetic dreams but I ignored them sometimes, I also didn't really understand the Holy Spirit or that God communicated in other ways besides scripture and my dreams. I first heard or had the feeling of knowing that God spoke to me when my mother was dying of cancer. It was a small little thing while I was driving to the hospital and it wasn't even connected to my mother's condition. Yet, I knew where it came from.

Since then, from time to time I have received feeling and thoughts that were from the Lord to guide me. Now I am not always open to these things or my mind may be to cluttered to really tune in on them. but this is a new time in my life. More and more I read about how God speaks and I realize that I can pray, talk, and hear more from God.

I am of course running the risk that people who don't believe that God speaks in different ways to His sheep are going to say that it is just crazy but that's too bad. Read the scriptures, there are many examples in both New and Old Testaments that reference God speaking, that His voice can be heard, and that He desires to have conversations with us.

Christ came so that we could speak and hear from the Lord personally, praying in the name of Jesus. No prophet or intercessor is necessary in order to stand before the Lord and know Him only when we pray, we need to ask forgiveness (I mean for everything known and unknown as far as sin), ask for help to forgive others (this can be a process), and pray in Jesus's name. We need to speak to the Lord and we need to listen and He will answer. It may take time to hear, we might not like the answer but He speaks to us.   

Adam? To good not to share.

1 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 


I never really hung onto the story of Adam and Eve because as a woman I have always felt that Eve really bore the brunt and the blame for the whole thing.


The Lord has revealed the importance of this story to me from many different sources. One thing that stands out is that Eve was deceived but Adam knew it was against the commandment of the Lord and willingly chose to disobey. That sounds like blame but really the serpent, Eve and Adam were all judged but for their own individual issues. 


The Lord has been teaching me through this whole new concept about men and spiritual leadership.  Adam should have said no and he should have led Eve and taken up his role of a spiritual leader who seeks out the will of God in his life and the life of his wife and later his children. 


Blaming others for your short comings, sins, mistakes or whatever is outside the will of God and never brings healing. Instead, it perpetuates the work of the serpent which is deliberate. Everyone makes mistakes but taking responsibility for our part is the right thing to do and the Bible says so!


I now know that my feelings of desire to be physically close to a man, to be loved, and protected is what God would have me feel as He created me that way. Why then has this part of my life been so difficult? Well, because I never asked God for the man that loves the Lord first and is a spiritual leader a man must be in order to fulfill his part of the relationship. 


The Lord is preparing me for just such a man now. I am a good lover, caregiver, and nurturer. I've lived my life mostly very independently and been passionate about the interests and jobs I've pursued. I have my daughter who I love very much. But (and there is always a but) my heart now longs for a companion and a protector, a spiritual leader who will share my life and my relationship with the Lord.  


Only when I am with the Adam the Lord will provide will their be true joy in a marriage relationship. Nothing will compare to the promise the Lord has made to men and women who love Him and each other as God would have had them do. I know God is preparing me for a Godly relationship and with each day my heart fills with more joy.


How do I know this is so? Because, my heart is filled with pure love, I do not feel bitter, I am not angry, and I know these things are from the Lord. I know that I love the Lord so much that I don't want a relationship with anyone that I can't share that with or that would cause me to separate from my walk with the Lord. I also know that my joy is from knowing that I will be able to have a partner that will share in my walk with the Lord. How awesome is that! 

I wish this for all of my loved ones

http://www.ransomedheart.com/assets/PDF/Newsletters/2005%20Jun%20Newsletter.pdf

For those who don't believe in the Spiritual Realm

A very well respected ministry seems to think differently,

http://www.ransomedheart.com/assets/PDF/Newsletters/2002%20Sep%20Newsletter.pdf

Ransomed Heart Ministries -- Daily Reading

Ransomed Heart Ministries -- Daily Reading

Righteous Anger

Ephesians 4


 ²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”^[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.


 ²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylie is my child and I love her very much and am sad to see her suffer from confusion and rejection. I do not wish her to become a pawn in this disgusting cycle of evil but I know the Lord has promised to see her through life safely and she is under His protection.


I believe that God can and will turn evil intent into something that will Glorify Him. Bring on the threats, carry them out. I choose to pray and in doing so releasing the power of the Almighty. Kylie is praying and embracing the Lord more and so there is already a blessing, I have a closer walk now with the Lord and that is another blessing. 


When I started this post I was angry and indignant and angry with the person, now I am angry with the sin and the destruction it has caused in so many peoples lives. The same people and the same sins and destruction now as it was when Kylie was a small child, it has been very costly for her.  Still, I pray.

Lord heal my broken heart

Isaiah 61

 ¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
 ²To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
 ³To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Something shared with me twice in one day from believers

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20)

Roman 6

I didn't understand this passage fully until recently. Many good friends have lent me books and prayed with me and I have a much greater appreciation for this particular chapter. Judgement and the curse of Eden was the reason for need for atonement. The devil was cursed in Eden and Adam and Eve were judged.

When we sin and are not saved we live under the curse and judgement according to the law which is really in the spiritual realm. The atonement to God was through the sacrifice of His son Jesus for all sins to remove the curse of the law. In the old testament an unblemished animal was sacrificed to cover the sins of the people temporarily.

When we walk with Jesus, we are no longer under the curse brought on by sin. When we follow the prince of this world and are wicked we are judged and share in the original curse that was pronounced on the devil in the garden of Eden.

¹⁴And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
 ¹⁵And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
 ¹⁶Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
 ¹⁷And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
 ¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
 ¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
 ²⁰And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.