Encouragement-10.29.09

Darryl N.: The only remedy for boredom: Awaken to your destiny!

A.J.: If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

C.J.: If we would focus less on ourselves and more on Christ we would see that our wounds are not near as significant as we make them.

Darryl R.:Even though there are specific resistances set against us, we overcome them through concentrated efforts of consistent and constant acts of faith. We can and shall be victorious! We do this through Christ Jesus who strengthens us.

Dottie: Aslan is on the move!!

Encouragement- 10.28.09

C.J.: Grateful (Status)
C.J.: Thank you Jesus for calling me into YOUR marvelous light!!! (Post)

Dew: He has not dealt with us according to our sins. Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving kindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalm 103: 10-13)

Rusty: Good morning Jesus and good morning Singapore! Time to let God be divine and lead me by His Spirit into a greater adventure!

The Heavenly Trainers’ Voice (Danny)

The Heavenly Trainers’ Voice


“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice
and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
John 5:28-29

A round is coming during the good fight when every fighter will hear the voice of the heavenly trainer. Many fighters are standing in the center of the cage of life fighting by their own efforts. They have blocked out the voice of their heavenly trainer calling from the corner. This will change. A round is coming when all voices will be tapped out except one, the voice of Jesus Christ!

Some fighters will not be familiar with this voice for they will be hearing it for the first time. However, they will have no problem understanding that the voice belongs to Jesus. These fighters will remember rounds when they heard this voice coming from the corner of the fighters that they had down inside the cage of life, pounding with their insults and persecution. They will hear it one last time and perhaps never again.

However, Anointed Fighters will be lifted off the mat and comforted by a familiar voice that has never left them during the difficult rounds of the good fight. For the first time, the will be able to put their arms around their champion and thank him for knocking out their sins. They will be able to hang up the gloves and enter into his rest. The good fight will be over! However, until then…

Remember, it is called a fight for a reason. However, we fight from victory not for victory. Keep Fighting!

Intellectual Black Hole

I think a lot of the details people wrestle with and try to understand will only drive us into a intellectual black hole that will lead us out of Gods presence and grace in our lives.These things have been argued to death since the beginning and will never be settled for good.I always try to leave my heart open to hear Gods truth in these matters ... Read More and God has shown me a tremendous amount of insight that I know are above me.Using ones intellect and reasoning can be dangerous for ones faith if its mixed with doubt,fear or bitterness or anything other than submission and trust in God. God says His ways are not our ways and that the gospel is foolish to those caught up in philosophy , intellectualism and trust in human reasoning. A point that we all need to understand and remember is that it's Gods plan that we cannot know him or find Him or understand Him by means of our wisdom.It comes from our heart and the change that takes place within us when we accept Christ into our life.Those changes and many other things He's done in me since I was saved 10 years ago are what has sustained my trust in God.My reasoning has yet to bring me closer to God.Maybe its good to use our intellect combined with faith but truth will never be found nor be understood by anyone ever using just our mind.I've walked out much of my Christian experience with a hard heart and utter darkness & emptiness around me(long story)those times are scary to look back on because when I have a hard heart its impossible for me to walk in faith and trust in God.I never would have survived those days had I not given my life to Christ 10 years ago.My mind during those times was my biggest enemy. Sorry so long I hope someone gets this cause I've made so many mistakes over the years, some intentional and many not,that I need to express to people I've had this fact beat into me( satans done the beating, not God!)that our thoughts and reasoning can be a easy path to destruction if our hearts aren't focused on Him,and they never are 100%.So be on guard always.Bless you guys!

Encouragement-10.27.09

Darrell: The quieter I am, the less trouble I get into. It's better to learn to listen

Michele: Today is a day to embrace and press in to the challenge that lies ahead. Today, I go to work again and hope to make things a little better than yesterday. We can only eat an elephant one bite at a time...not that I would really want to. What would an elephant taste like anyway...peanuty?

Daryll: God is a good God: He establishes our paths so that we don’t back slide or drift into trouble.

Dew: Praise can play a highly significant role in moving the mighty hand of God in our life, bringing not only deliverance but also enrichment for us and glory to His name. THE SONS OF JUDAH CONQUERED BECAUSE THEY TRUSTED IN THE LORD, THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS. (2 Chronicles 13:18)

Brain: I dare you to affirm someone today... just look them in the eyes and tell them that God created them as a special gift! Tell them this: Everything about you was made to bring God joy and pleasure! Watch them blink away tears... you can do it - I dare you!

Ramona:I don't need another meeting, I need to meet with Him. I don't need another church group, I need true fellowship in obedience to the Lord God and accountability to one another. I need God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I would die without Him.

David

A friend on facebook writes a blog 'Fire and Grace'. Below is an entry he wrote celebrating 29 years of Grace.

God Grant Me the Serenity - Some Things Change


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Carol

A facebook friend, well actually,  Carol is more of a facebook Mom, writes a blog "Flying High". Below is a link to a very awesome entry about her leading her estranged Dad to Jesus.

Two Fathers


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Misty

I'm not exactly sure where or how to start. I have only shared my testimony with a select few people. I am praying that after reading this that it may help at least one person that reads it. It's long and I'm sorry, I shortened it as much as I could.
So, here goes...
I was 19 when I met and married my first husband and 20 when my daughter was born. Threes years later my oldest son was born. We had moved to Minnesota because he had taken a job that would allow me to stay home with the kids. I was away from everyone that I knew including my entire family. He and I grew apart, probably more me from him, and I packed up the kids and moved back to Iowa. I was working, living by myself raising the kids. I had a few relationships here and there but nothing very meaningful and spent every other weekend, when the kids were with their dad, sitting in a bar somewhere drinking. I then met my second husband. We started dating, shortly after, we moved in together and I became pregnant with my third child.
During this time my family realized that my father was dying. We knew he had cancer for approximately a year. I loved my dad. I loved him but I didn't really trust him. I had watched him over the years get so drunk that he would scream, yell, throw stuff, break stuff, verbally abuse us (weather he meant to or not), even drive drunk with all of us in the car. I recall a few times that he called me some nasty names in a drunken stupor. How does one trust someone who says they love you, yet does hurtful things to them? That is why my children NEVER saw me drinking and I NEVER kept alcohol in my home. Still to this day I try and keep them away from it as much as I can. I remember several times begging my Mom to leave him but she never did.
So, I am three months pregnant with my third child when my Dad lives out his last days here with us. It was the day before my birthday, I sat beside him and held his hand. I told him that it was okay to go if he wanted to that my brothers and I would take care of mom when he was gone. I also forgave him for a lot of things and reassured him that I knew why he did them. That day was the last day I talked to my Dad, he died on July 2nd, the day after my birthday. I know my Dad loved us and he did it the only way he knew how.
A year after my third son was born my second husband and I married. It was an extremely unhealthy relationship. We fought a lot and within earshot of the kids. He was verbally abusive and somewhat controlling. I realized that he wasn't giving up drugs like he had promised so, I once again, pack up the kids and leave. I got my own place with the kids and worked to maintain things.
It had been a year since my Dad passed away and I just felt the emptiness inside of me even more than before. A friend of mine just kept talking about her church and how wonderful it was and invited me to go. I didn't have anything to loose. So, after a long night of partying I went to church for the first time. I will NEVER forget the feeling I got when I walked through those doors! It was an overwhelming sense of peace, acceptance and love. The night before was the last night that I would drink in four years.
My second husband started going to the same church, was saved,promised that he had given up drugs and that we were the most important thing to him. We reconciled, he moved back in and I became pregnant with my fourth child. He started to act strangely making me suspicious. Long story short, he was using again and I caught him. I then kicked him out and filed a no contact order. I finished the final three months of my pregnancy on my own and he was not able to be present at his birth.
I spent approximately the next year as a single mother, no boyfriends. Just me, my four children, church and my church family. I had NO desire to date or trust another man again! I was quite content with how my life was going. I was happy, no alcohol, no drugs, no fighting...life was good. Besides there wouldn't be anybody out there that would be interested in a single mother of four children that had been divorced twice by the age of 31. I had no idea that life was about to be wonderful.
I met CJ. Finally after all these years I had been blessed to find someone that will listen and hear me, love me for me, love my kids, comfort me when I need it, defend me if someone has something negative to say and be there for me, everything a partner should be. I didn't find him on my own though, God put us in each other's lives and I am so glad that he did! We have been blessed with a baby girl, we were recently married and we look forward to an amazing and blessed future together as a family. My kids and I are living proof that God is good!!!! God fills ALL voids in life, nothing else. There are lots of QUICK fixes out there, but God IS the one that will fix things long term.
I hope this hasn't bored anyone and I'm sorry it was so long. I'm kind of a long winded person. If you managed to read the entire thing, thanks! :-)

Nicole

I am thankful for; beating cancer, for being delivered from meth, for having wonderful, supportive friends and family who walk with me through the trials of life, for surviving 20 years of abuse, and most importantly for the relationship that I have with my Lord and savior Jesus Christ!!

Andy

I was drinking 18 beers a day and smoking a half a pack a day about 6 years ago when God delivered me from both. Beer was as important as the air I breathed back then. I believe it would've killed me within the next year if He hadn't intervened.It wasn't like a profound spectacle. He lead me in prayer for a little bit, I didn't feel any different but 6 years later I haven't come close to drinking , it takes no will power on my behalf whatsoever, the desire is just gone! I'm still as amazed as I was back then.

Tim

I was married shortly after my active military duties. 6 months after I was married my first son was born. I loved my wife and child but satan had a grip on me and my life! My wife gave birth to our second child 3 years later. I was a very distant husband and father. I spent the next several years partying and chasing my drug of choice-Chrystal meth. I still knew that I was loved by family and friends, but I only cared to get high. I took on odd jobs and they only lasted a short time as I was not reliable at all. My wife would tell me constantly that she was praying for me. I didn’t care! I only cared about me and my habit. I progressed from snorting to smoking crank. I spend days and days awake ‘gone’ and away from home. When I returned home I slept for days and days. Some times I would even stay home long enough to go to church, but I would often make excuses as to why I had to leave early. Over the next couple of years I went from bad to worse. I wrecked 5 cars in 3 years (falling asleep at the wheel). My wife and kids would still go to church and they walked everywhere. One evening my wife and I were fighting and she told me she was leaving me. She grabbed the kids and left the house. I was tired of being tired and even more tired of chasing my high and not my family. I was alone at home that evening and I got on my knees and prayed for God to forgive me as I was going to take my own life. I took an entire bottle of sleeping pills and I lay down to never wake up again. I was so sure that everyone would be better off with out me..how selfish! When I awoke early the next morning I knew that it could only have been the hand of God that saved me. Shortly after I awoke the phone rang, it was my wife; she had a feeling that I was going to try something dumb. I told her what I had TRIED to do and what had happened. I made a covenant with God and my wife that day; if God would restore my family I would never use drugs again. I am sitting here today as a living testimony that miracles happen and that we can all be restore by His grace. I have been clean and spirit filled since that day over 6 years ago. I will spend the rest of my life for His glory. I want everyone to know that no matter how low you think you may be, God will restore and return EVERYTHING that satan has stole from you, just ask and ye shall receive.

CJ

Once again I was headed for self destruction, but this time it looked like it might be all she wrote. I was driving a stolen car and was fully aware that the law was looking for me. You would think I would ditch the car, but no, I was riding this one out to the bitter end! I went to a friend's house and stole a old antique cap and ball gun. I knew how this one was gonna end so I thought. Little did I know someone else had other plans. Proverbs 19;21 says "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Totally unaware of anything else besides the scenario I had laid out I proceeded to get as high as I could on my way out of this world. The end was nearing. I ran into a little problem when I went to do my last load of meth ( IV user I was), I was out of water!!! So here I am driving a stolen car through Promise City, Ia (very small town) freaking out cuz I want to get higher. I stop the car by the little city park and start walking around houses looking for a water spicket, keep in mind that it's 11:00 at night. I bet I walked around 5 different houses and for the life of me could not find a spicket! Crazy, I know. So I jump back into the car and head for Seymour, frustrated and confused to put it mildly. I get into Seymour and I do the same thing, and of course no spickets! So I hop back in the car and off towards Centerville I go. I meet a car at a 4 way stop and guess who it is? Yep u guessed it Johnny Law. Then I realize I am driving without my headlights on, someone else realizes it too. He hits his cherries and I hit the gas pedal. The chase is on! With no regard to anyone or anything I had the gas pedal to the floor easily going over 95 miles per hour. I was headed towards another small town called Numa ( lived there when I was a kid) and I noticed I had cops coming toward me too. So since I was on a suicide mission anyway I swerved frantically and flashed my headlights to let them know I wasn't stopping. Then BOOM I ran over the stop sticks they had wisely put down and all 4 tires on the car were blown out. I lost control and spun into some one's front yard, no way was I gonna let em take me in alive!!! Not this time. So I crawled out the driver side window that had no window now and took off running(gun in hand of course). They were not far behind me and I could feel the end coming. So I stopped hugged up against the side of this garage and prepared for what was to come. This was it!!! My heart was racing uncontrollably and I was shaking like a leaf. I had the gun drawn upright in front of my face ready to point it at the first cop that spotted me. This was truly it!!! Then something happened that I will never forget for the rest of my life. 3-4 cops ran no more than 6 feet away and directly in front of me and THEY DID NOT SEE ME!!! I was dumbfounded. And something hit me at that moment, not sure exactly what, but something like fear or reality, probably a combination of the two. Anyways I laid in some weeds for the next 2 hours praying my foxhole prayers hearing radios and voices off and on. Then there was silence and vehicles spinning there tires in the gravel. They were driving away!!! So for the next day and a half I was on the lam and believe me it was not fun. To make a long story short they found me asleep at a friends house close to 36 hours after the chase. No gun, no nothing. Just a tired, wore out guy sound asleep. Once I come to my senses after a day or so of sleeping in the Wayne county jail the misery started to set in. I couldn't even kill myself successfully!!! Why??? Then as I was reflecting on all this, one of the deputies came in and told me I had a visitor. It wasn't even a visiting day. Who? I walked into that visiting room having no clue as to who it could be. Then in comes this little old lady. Elo??? Elo Reynolds was my baby sitter when I was a kid. She was a God fearing woman who shared her faith boldly. The thing I remembered most about going to Elo's was bible stories and bologna sandwiches and spaghettios. I had not seen her in close to 20 years. What was she doing here??? She only stayed about 5 minutes, but one thing she said to me changed my life forever. She said "C.J., I just want you to know Jesus loves you and HE will forgive you, all you have to do is turn to HIM." I have heard that all my life, but until that moment I didn't really buy it. I don't know why I didn't get it until then, but I trust that God knows. That was in 2004 and my conversion hasn't been quite like the apostle Paul's, but I am not the same man that I was either. That is all God!!! HE gets the glory!!! I truly believe that once you have tasted God's goodness and had your eyes open to HIS truths you will never be satisfied with anything less!!! Looking back on my life I can clearly see that God has been there all along, I was just blind. I am so thankful for those people HE placed in my life to invest in me and believe in me even when I was lost. And more importantly they never stopped praying for me. Today I am a long ways from perfect, but I am pressing forward in my walk with the Lord and doing my best to let my lifesong sing for the one who saved me from sin and death. I have been blessed beyond belief!!! I have 2 daughters of my own and Misty has 3 boys and 1 girl that I love as if they were my own( even though I will never try and take the place of there Fathers), and I have a beautiful fiance who is everything I could ever ask for. Thank You JESUS!!! I have many more stories of what God has done in my life, but hopefully this one gives you an idea of where I was and where I am now. I was lost, but now I'm found!!!