When an adult child who always seems to have things under control comes to your home and you immediately discern a weight is bearing down on his or her emotional health to the place where it is apparent to every casual observer, a parent always becomes duly concerned. I experienced this to a large degree with our daughter Pam several years ago.
Pam loved her job, was in a loving relationship with a nice guy, was in a city that she dearly loved. What could be wrong, I wondered when I noticed that she was in a depressed mood when she came 1500 miles home to visit?
I knew that she would share her burden with me, if need be, but I also knew that she needed to initiate the conversation because parents instinctively know whether or not to probe with the, "Are you all right," question that usually gets the, "Yes. Why? I'm all right," answer.
We did the usual things on her visit, ate at her favorite restaurants, fixed her favorite meals, went shopping. She visited with local friends, but still she wasn't her usual joyful, confident self.
The day before she left while we were watching a TV program I asked her how work was going. The emotional volcano erupted. She began to tell me about her supervisor at work, a woman who had become petty, domineering and abrasive to everyone in the office. Pam went on and on describing the negative atmosphere in the office and the abusive daily activities of her supervisor, who was making the lives of everyone in the office miserable.
I knew to let her go on and on, pouring out the frustration and helplessness she felt in the business situation, confessing that she dreaded going to work every morning, telling about her coworkers and their identical feelings toward the woman. It was apparent from Pam's description of the woman that she was controlling and bullying her staff.
As I listened to Pam talk, the word "forgiveness" kept coming to my mind. My logical, fleshly mind kept wanting to say that Pam should complain to the big boss, but my spiritual mind keep saying, "Forgive." How was I going to minister the truth of forgiveness to my precious daughter without sounding religious? Sometimes to religious people forgiveness means to suffer in silence, being taken as a wimp who lacks a good self image, suffering in silence. Yet I knew the truth behind the act of forgiveness, that it is not a weak thing but it is a powerfully strong activity that brings many benefits to the one who forgives.
I waited for an opening. After Pam ran out of her legitimate complaints I told her that there was a way out of the situation for her. She asked what I meant. I let the spiritual wisdom that can only come from God explain to her that she was so burdened and heavy hearted because she had been carrying around a 150 pound woman for months and months by letting thoughts of the woman's pettiness and cruelty and bullying occupy 100 percent of her own thought life. Pam admitted that the woman was all she could think about.
Then it was time to explain the Biblical principle of forgiveness, which is an act of releasing the person who has wronged you from your mind, thus releasing their hold upon you. I explained that God wants us to forgive other people because He loves us so much that he doesn't want us to obsess about being wronged to the point where our health, both mental and physical, are affected. He wants us to forgive petty people for our benefit, not for the benefit of the other person who had been cruel. He knows that holding a grudge will burn deep into our psyches and cause us to attract other depressing thoughts until we become ill, depressed and vengeful. Since forgiveness means to give forth, to release someone from our thought life, then we know that forgiveness is meant to lighten our load.
Pam was totally accepting of the spiritual truth about the power of forgiveness. We prayed a simple little prayer, allowing Pam to speak forgiveness for the supervisor and asking God to change the woman and the situation because it was no longer Pam's burden. Amen.
When we finished the short, simple prayer, Pam looked like a 10,000 pound weight had been lifted off of her. She was visibly changed, free from the weight of the 150 pound woman who had become a constant, heavy burden.
Pam gently wept with relief, saying that she was going to tell the other people at work about what we had discussed so they could be relieved of the depressing burden that they also had.
We never had to discuss the woman again after Pam went back, free as a bird, to her home. However, in a matter of a few months she called and said the woman had been transferred out of the department. Forgiveness (giving forth) in the act of releasing the supervisor left the woman free to be transferred. She was no longer bound to that department by the mental distress of her coworkers.
What a joy to know that everything in the instruction book, the Bible, is God's effort to help each one of us in our daily lives so that we can have a happy, joyful existence in the earth.
"Forgive and let go," is one of the greatest principles taught by Jesus. He was right on in his lesson on forgiveness. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw forgiveness lift a burden right off of my daughter and put it on God, who doesn't mind because he says He's a Big Guy and He can handle it.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
LIGHTNING POWER
When our son De was in college in a town not far from us, we had the usual parental mind-set, worrying about his safety. Teenagers are not yet blessed with the maturity of the area of the brain that discerns right from wrong. That area of the brain that considers the consequences of actions is just beginning to develop at age 15 and never completes its maturation until around 25 to 28 years old. That is a new discovery in psychology, proven by pathological tests. Even before that recent discovery, parents have instinctively known the biological truth that their teens would always take unnecessary risks without realizing there are consequences to the risks.
We rarely had to worry about De. He was pretty street smart and mature in most of his judgments. However, there was always the concern and worry of something happening over which he had no control.
One night during De's freshman year in college in another town, my husband Steve woke from a deep sleep, sat up in bed, said, "De needs prayer." Steve bounded out of bed, went into the den and began praying in the Holy Spirit language very energetically and very authoritatively. He persisted in praying for quite a long time, not stopping until he knew that the prayers had been answered. Then he went back to bed, immediately slipping back into a peaceful sleep.
Several days later we were visiting the college campus and went to visit our son at his apartment. He related an amazing story to us, saying that there had been a very violent storm several nights before our visit. He said that he was in his apartment alone and a bolt of lightning came into his apartment and the room lit up with electricity. He said that people came running out of adjacent apartments to his apartment wanting to know if he was okay, because the force of the lightning was so powerful that they were amazed that he was alive and that the room was in its normal state.
When we compared days and times with De, the bolt of lightning striking his window and its energy entering his apartment were at the identical time that Steve had awakened from his sleep and immediately began praying until he knew the danger had passed.
We were reminded of the scriptures that say that God will save us and our households. God was true to his promise, like he always is. He saved our son De from injury and loss.
We were filled with thankfulness at that time and continue to be thankful for God's protection of our family, knowing that He loves them even more than we do.
We rarely had to worry about De. He was pretty street smart and mature in most of his judgments. However, there was always the concern and worry of something happening over which he had no control.
One night during De's freshman year in college in another town, my husband Steve woke from a deep sleep, sat up in bed, said, "De needs prayer." Steve bounded out of bed, went into the den and began praying in the Holy Spirit language very energetically and very authoritatively. He persisted in praying for quite a long time, not stopping until he knew that the prayers had been answered. Then he went back to bed, immediately slipping back into a peaceful sleep.
Several days later we were visiting the college campus and went to visit our son at his apartment. He related an amazing story to us, saying that there had been a very violent storm several nights before our visit. He said that he was in his apartment alone and a bolt of lightning came into his apartment and the room lit up with electricity. He said that people came running out of adjacent apartments to his apartment wanting to know if he was okay, because the force of the lightning was so powerful that they were amazed that he was alive and that the room was in its normal state.
When we compared days and times with De, the bolt of lightning striking his window and its energy entering his apartment were at the identical time that Steve had awakened from his sleep and immediately began praying until he knew the danger had passed.
We were reminded of the scriptures that say that God will save us and our households. God was true to his promise, like he always is. He saved our son De from injury and loss.
We were filled with thankfulness at that time and continue to be thankful for God's protection of our family, knowing that He loves them even more than we do.
Monday, August 31, 2009
TRUE EVOLUTION
Faith is always an evolving belief system. Every revelation we receive enlightens us, causing our belief system to evolve even more. Things I put on the shelf years ago because I thought they were outlandish are things I believe in now because of scratching more and more into the vast things of God, which he has never hid from any of us. It was all blinded by a veil from the devil.
Like the former blind guy in the gospels said when questioned by people about what happened to him, "All I know is that once I was blind and now I see," once I was confused, turbulent, frustrated, dominated, abused -- in other words blind -- and now I know peace, joy, happiness, hope and excitement and only because of God through the Holy Spirit.
I told God from the very beginning that I didn't want something that would fail me like all the other weirdo stuff I had studied that lasted a while and then failed. I told Him that if He wasn't real and that if He really was like what all the religious people said He was like, that I didn't want to know Him.
Tearing out of my mind what all the religious teachings taught me was the hardest thing I ever did. I had a mountain full of garbage from religion and that was hard for the Holy Spirit to tunnel through. But when the "real thing for me" came, it was like heaven on earth, like going after a tiny gold nugget and finding instead a mountain made of gold and silver and rubies and diamonds.. Notice that I said, "FOR ME" when the real thing "for me" came it was like tasting the sweetest honey a person can taste and drinking the most delicious, invigorating water a person can drink. For me it was and still is paradise. None of it came from any man's teaching. That's why it's so precious. It was tailor made tutoring from the Holy Spirit, tailor made for me so that I could understand it with my peculiar family background, generational heritage, terrible life experiences and unhappy, abusive marriage looming in the background.
That's what is so fantastic about the Holy Spirit. He teaches people from the inside, a private tutor who knows how to phrase revelations individually for every single person who was ever alive in the past, is alive today and those who will be alive in the future. He's Daddy on the inside of us, equipped to tunnel through the crap and the garbage and show us what He is really like. Then when we are established in Him, like a castle built on a solid rock mountain, then He begins to teach each one of us individually, in words and images that only we alone can understand, how to live the abundant life that he created us to live. When He starts teaching us to love our enemies, to do good to those who spitefully use us, then we understand because we see the working of the spiritual dimensions and know that it all works because it is so insightful and wise and brilliant and exciting.
Like the former blind guy in the gospels said when questioned by people about what happened to him, "All I know is that once I was blind and now I see," once I was confused, turbulent, frustrated, dominated, abused -- in other words blind -- and now I know peace, joy, happiness, hope and excitement and only because of God through the Holy Spirit.
I told God from the very beginning that I didn't want something that would fail me like all the other weirdo stuff I had studied that lasted a while and then failed. I told Him that if He wasn't real and that if He really was like what all the religious people said He was like, that I didn't want to know Him.
Tearing out of my mind what all the religious teachings taught me was the hardest thing I ever did. I had a mountain full of garbage from religion and that was hard for the Holy Spirit to tunnel through. But when the "real thing for me" came, it was like heaven on earth, like going after a tiny gold nugget and finding instead a mountain made of gold and silver and rubies and diamonds.. Notice that I said, "FOR ME" when the real thing "for me" came it was like tasting the sweetest honey a person can taste and drinking the most delicious, invigorating water a person can drink. For me it was and still is paradise. None of it came from any man's teaching. That's why it's so precious. It was tailor made tutoring from the Holy Spirit, tailor made for me so that I could understand it with my peculiar family background, generational heritage, terrible life experiences and unhappy, abusive marriage looming in the background.
That's what is so fantastic about the Holy Spirit. He teaches people from the inside, a private tutor who knows how to phrase revelations individually for every single person who was ever alive in the past, is alive today and those who will be alive in the future. He's Daddy on the inside of us, equipped to tunnel through the crap and the garbage and show us what He is really like. Then when we are established in Him, like a castle built on a solid rock mountain, then He begins to teach each one of us individually, in words and images that only we alone can understand, how to live the abundant life that he created us to live. When He starts teaching us to love our enemies, to do good to those who spitefully use us, then we understand because we see the working of the spiritual dimensions and know that it all works because it is so insightful and wise and brilliant and exciting.
That's why it is so wonderful, because He is so wonderful.
This relationship with Him has never been something that I've had to emotionally work up by singing or praising or any other means. That's not my style. It only involved spending time with Him and getting to know him better than anyone else I know. Emotional singing and praising may be another person's right way. It's just not mine. The only song I used to sing when I would sit in my rocking chair rocking away studying about him was,"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you, getting to like you, getting to hope you like me." That wasn't very religious; was it? I had to have Him in my life or I would have perished in my current abusive situation. There was no other way. He was the last resort. I had tried every other religion, philosophy and doctrine.
I never dreamed then that knowing Him like I know Him now would be such a treat that I would double over in laughter at something He says to me, even in a loving rebuff, but more often in His comical, loving explanations of things. I never dreamed that just two kind words from Him would allow me to see the inside of a person and see the true person there. I never dreamed that death would only be an easy transition from one dimension to another like I observed in my mom, and then this week when I saw the spirit of a friend who was dying of cancer. When we were praying for other people last week I saw in my mind the friend just slowly and peacefully slip from earth into heaven and the words came to me, "He is having a transition already into eternity and there will be no river to cross or valley to go through, he will slip into heaven so easily he won't even know there has been a change." Then in the paper in two days I saw that he had died peacefully with his family praying at his side. What an absolute joy to have been privileged to see that prophetically while it was happening but before the actual final event.
My songs of praise to Him are, "There ain't no mountain high enough, there ain't no valley low enough, there ain't no river wide enough, to keep me away from you, Dad." I've never been a traditional person, no traditional religious songs for me. They make me cry. That one brings
joy to me!
Can you imagine my arrogance in telling Him before I knew Him that He better be real because if He wasn't I didn't want anything to do with Him? But, He understood because he knew how fragmented my journey had been and how broken my heart was from abuse, and how genuine my desire was to be a good mother in the middle of a crappy life. He understood and He met me where I was at the time. Now that is a good Dad! An earthly dad would have slapped a mouthy kid who was that arrogant, but He didn't. He just opened His loving arms and gathered me up into them and began to lead someone to me who told me about how to allow His Life, His Holy Spirit, into my life so He could become my hero and my comforter and my guide and my lover and my teacher and my protector and on and on.
It has been a ride and it will be more of a ride in the future. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Again I reiterate, this has been the way "for me". If anyone wants to know about my journey I love to tell them and introduce them to Him. But, the arrogance is gone and I know there may be other ways for other people. We'll all end up at the same place. It's the journey there that is so fantastically exciting.
For me, there ain't no mountain high enough to keep me away from Him!
This relationship with Him has never been something that I've had to emotionally work up by singing or praising or any other means. That's not my style. It only involved spending time with Him and getting to know him better than anyone else I know. Emotional singing and praising may be another person's right way. It's just not mine. The only song I used to sing when I would sit in my rocking chair rocking away studying about him was,"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you, getting to like you, getting to hope you like me." That wasn't very religious; was it? I had to have Him in my life or I would have perished in my current abusive situation. There was no other way. He was the last resort. I had tried every other religion, philosophy and doctrine.
I never dreamed then that knowing Him like I know Him now would be such a treat that I would double over in laughter at something He says to me, even in a loving rebuff, but more often in His comical, loving explanations of things. I never dreamed that just two kind words from Him would allow me to see the inside of a person and see the true person there. I never dreamed that death would only be an easy transition from one dimension to another like I observed in my mom, and then this week when I saw the spirit of a friend who was dying of cancer. When we were praying for other people last week I saw in my mind the friend just slowly and peacefully slip from earth into heaven and the words came to me, "He is having a transition already into eternity and there will be no river to cross or valley to go through, he will slip into heaven so easily he won't even know there has been a change." Then in the paper in two days I saw that he had died peacefully with his family praying at his side. What an absolute joy to have been privileged to see that prophetically while it was happening but before the actual final event.
My songs of praise to Him are, "There ain't no mountain high enough, there ain't no valley low enough, there ain't no river wide enough, to keep me away from you, Dad." I've never been a traditional person, no traditional religious songs for me. They make me cry. That one brings
joy to me!Can you imagine my arrogance in telling Him before I knew Him that He better be real because if He wasn't I didn't want anything to do with Him? But, He understood because he knew how fragmented my journey had been and how broken my heart was from abuse, and how genuine my desire was to be a good mother in the middle of a crappy life. He understood and He met me where I was at the time. Now that is a good Dad! An earthly dad would have slapped a mouthy kid who was that arrogant, but He didn't. He just opened His loving arms and gathered me up into them and began to lead someone to me who told me about how to allow His Life, His Holy Spirit, into my life so He could become my hero and my comforter and my guide and my lover and my teacher and my protector and on and on.
It has been a ride and it will be more of a ride in the future. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Again I reiterate, this has been the way "for me". If anyone wants to know about my journey I love to tell them and introduce them to Him. But, the arrogance is gone and I know there may be other ways for other people. We'll all end up at the same place. It's the journey there that is so fantastically exciting.
For me, there ain't no mountain high enough to keep me away from Him!
Friday, June 5, 2009
THE PLAY DATE
I was reminded today of some official court testimony I had the privilege of transcribing many years ago in the '80s when the AIDS scare was new in America. People who had full blown AIDS were treated like lepers, as if they had asked to be the recipients of that dreaded disease.
The testimony was by a man who had AIDS and had experienced the prejudice of people that comes from the lower nature of men and is dealt out to those who are different.
The man had a family friend whose little daughter also had AIDS, the result of a tainted blood transfusion given to her when she was a preemie. Even though the disease was certainly no fault of hers, nor her parents, just a result of sloppy blood testing by the blood supplier, the girl experienced the same prejudice as the male family friend. Word just seemed to travel fast in those days about AIDS. Because of fear and ignorance anyone who even had the HIV virus was ostracized by the rest of humanity.
The gentleman and the little girl in this case formed a tight friendship. They shared something common to both of them, not only the disease but also the prejudice of most people with whom they came in contact.
One of the questions that was asked of the man in the court case was if he feared death. He told the interviewer that, no, he didn't fear death.
The answer amazed the interviewer who had to know the reason behind the bold statement by this carrier of AIDS. He asked, "Do you welcome death as an escape from this life and this disease?"
The man answered, "No. I know that I will go to a wonderful place."
The interviewer asked, "Then you must be a very religious man."
"No, not really. I just know someone who has been there," the gentleman replied.
Again the interviewer probed for an answer but he got one that he never expected.
The gentleman continued, "See, I have a friend, a little girl who is seven years old who has the same disease that I have, and she, like me, won't live very many more months. I asked her one day if she was afraid to die and she replied, 'Oh, no. And I know you're not afraid to die either. Weren't you with me the other day when I went to heaven and played with Jesus and all them other kids? It was so much fun.'"
The gentleman concluded his testimony by saying that he trusted the experience of his little friend and was looking forward to a face to face meeting with Jesus who took his little friend to heaven for a play date with "Jesus and all them other kids" so that when the time came for her to permanently be taken there that she wouldn't be afraid.
This is a true story from a court case which I transcribed, the story of a courageous man and a privileged little girl who were very lucky to have experienced the Perfect Love that casts out fear.
The testimony was by a man who had AIDS and had experienced the prejudice of people that comes from the lower nature of men and is dealt out to those who are different.
The man had a family friend whose little daughter also had AIDS, the result of a tainted blood transfusion given to her when she was a preemie. Even though the disease was certainly no fault of hers, nor her parents, just a result of sloppy blood testing by the blood supplier, the girl experienced the same prejudice as the male family friend. Word just seemed to travel fast in those days about AIDS. Because of fear and ignorance anyone who even had the HIV virus was ostracized by the rest of humanity.
The gentleman and the little girl in this case formed a tight friendship. They shared something common to both of them, not only the disease but also the prejudice of most people with whom they came in contact.
One of the questions that was asked of the man in the court case was if he feared death. He told the interviewer that, no, he didn't fear death.
The answer amazed the interviewer who had to know the reason behind the bold statement by this carrier of AIDS. He asked, "Do you welcome death as an escape from this life and this disease?"
The man answered, "No. I know that I will go to a wonderful place."
The interviewer asked, "Then you must be a very religious man."
"No, not really. I just know someone who has been there," the gentleman replied.
Again the interviewer probed for an answer but he got one that he never expected.
The gentleman continued, "See, I have a friend, a little girl who is seven years old who has the same disease that I have, and she, like me, won't live very many more months. I asked her one day if she was afraid to die and she replied, 'Oh, no. And I know you're not afraid to die either. Weren't you with me the other day when I went to heaven and played with Jesus and all them other kids? It was so much fun.'"
The gentleman concluded his testimony by saying that he trusted the experience of his little friend and was looking forward to a face to face meeting with Jesus who took his little friend to heaven for a play date with "Jesus and all them other kids" so that when the time came for her to permanently be taken there that she wouldn't be afraid.
This is a true story from a court case which I transcribed, the story of a courageous man and a privileged little girl who were very lucky to have experienced the Perfect Love that casts out fear.
Friday, April 10, 2009
DAVID'S TRANSFORMATION
Several years ago, right after my husband Steve was totally transformed by the power of God through the Holy Spirit, we received a visit from a dear friend and business associate. His name is David and he had lived in the Hawaiian Islands for a while. David was back in the states and he called to say hello and that he wanted to come to see us. Of course we invited him to our home.
David arrived with a distant look in his eyes, which we later found out was caused by smoking some "funny weed". However, we were both glad to see him and invited him to spend the evening with us. He began to tell us about his new religious discovery. He said that he had discovered that he had a spirit guide from another spiritual world and it was leading him and talking to him through guided handwriting.
I was familiar with the same experience, though I had never embraced it, even though I had encountered the teaching in some books which I had initially read while I was on my quest for some power that would help me with problems in my life. Somehow I knew that the "spiritual guide" experiences were not my path to happiness. David had embraced it, though, believing that it would help him.
Since I knew that it would bring confusion to his life because it had done that to my life, I was eager for Steve to tell David that his "spirit guide" would only lead him to more confusion. Steve sat quietly listening to David tell us things that his "spirit guide" had told him, things that seemed to have no real relevance to successful living and problem solving. Steve continued to listen without throwing cold water on David's theories and experiences. I sat quietly seething because I thought that Steve should correct David and warn him about the dangers in listening to his false "spirit guide".
When David ran out of breath, Steve finally said to him, "I have a Spirit guide, too."
To which David said, "You do?"
Steve said, "Yes, I do, and His name is Jesus Christ."
Steve began to tell David his powerful testimony, how I had prayed in the Holy Spirit for hours every day for two years for him. Steve told David how he had unknowingly told another friend that he had turned his life over to Jesus, even though Steve didn't know he had. Steve told David that he had never heard that phrase before but he had used it in conversation and then started crying when he realized that that confession had come from his own mouth.
Then he told David about being instantaneously healed of alcoholism, cursing and tobacco smoking. Steve told him the supernatural orchestration that God had performed in order to get Steve to a place where he could eventually hear testimonies about God's power and His ability to change lives.
David had listened intently to Steve's testimony. Then David admitted that his "spirit guide" had not been supernaturally beneficial to his life, that his pursuit had been an intellectual pursuit with no real life changing power..
We asked David if he wanted to replace his ineffective spirit guide with Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
David couldn't get his, "Yes, " out of his mouth fast enough.
David left our house that night a new creature and transformed by the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead made David a totally new person, one who didn't need an inefficient intellectual spirit guide because David has God's powerful Holy Spirit inside of him now. David went to his home in another city totally changed, joyful and completely sober with no remnants of the drugs in his body.
David had such a complete personality change that his wife noticed immediately and she decided that she wanted the same life changing experience that he had. God obliged her, because He is true to his children, and God led David and his wife to a place where she could hear the same truths that David had embraced. His wife became transformed and Holy Spirit filled just like David.
When David had first come to our house Steve had used great wisdom by not opposing what David said about his "spirit guide" but Steve simply told him what the true Spirit guide, God's Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, would change David from a life of sadness to a life of joy. God did it, and He is still doing it.
David's entire life changed into a productive, joyful, blessed life thanks to the true "spirit guide", who is God's Holy Spirit.
People want to hear what we have experienced that has changed us and our lives. Our testimonies are more powerful than any philosopy, theology or doctrine.
David arrived with a distant look in his eyes, which we later found out was caused by smoking some "funny weed". However, we were both glad to see him and invited him to spend the evening with us. He began to tell us about his new religious discovery. He said that he had discovered that he had a spirit guide from another spiritual world and it was leading him and talking to him through guided handwriting.
I was familiar with the same experience, though I had never embraced it, even though I had encountered the teaching in some books which I had initially read while I was on my quest for some power that would help me with problems in my life. Somehow I knew that the "spiritual guide" experiences were not my path to happiness. David had embraced it, though, believing that it would help him.
Since I knew that it would bring confusion to his life because it had done that to my life, I was eager for Steve to tell David that his "spirit guide" would only lead him to more confusion. Steve sat quietly listening to David tell us things that his "spirit guide" had told him, things that seemed to have no real relevance to successful living and problem solving. Steve continued to listen without throwing cold water on David's theories and experiences. I sat quietly seething because I thought that Steve should correct David and warn him about the dangers in listening to his false "spirit guide".
When David ran out of breath, Steve finally said to him, "I have a Spirit guide, too."
To which David said, "You do?"
Steve said, "Yes, I do, and His name is Jesus Christ."
Steve began to tell David his powerful testimony, how I had prayed in the Holy Spirit for hours every day for two years for him. Steve told David how he had unknowingly told another friend that he had turned his life over to Jesus, even though Steve didn't know he had. Steve told David that he had never heard that phrase before but he had used it in conversation and then started crying when he realized that that confession had come from his own mouth.
Then he told David about being instantaneously healed of alcoholism, cursing and tobacco smoking. Steve told him the supernatural orchestration that God had performed in order to get Steve to a place where he could eventually hear testimonies about God's power and His ability to change lives.
David had listened intently to Steve's testimony. Then David admitted that his "spirit guide" had not been supernaturally beneficial to his life, that his pursuit had been an intellectual pursuit with no real life changing power..
We asked David if he wanted to replace his ineffective spirit guide with Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
David couldn't get his, "Yes, " out of his mouth fast enough.
David left our house that night a new creature and transformed by the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead made David a totally new person, one who didn't need an inefficient intellectual spirit guide because David has God's powerful Holy Spirit inside of him now. David went to his home in another city totally changed, joyful and completely sober with no remnants of the drugs in his body.
David had such a complete personality change that his wife noticed immediately and she decided that she wanted the same life changing experience that he had. God obliged her, because He is true to his children, and God led David and his wife to a place where she could hear the same truths that David had embraced. His wife became transformed and Holy Spirit filled just like David.
When David had first come to our house Steve had used great wisdom by not opposing what David said about his "spirit guide" but Steve simply told him what the true Spirit guide, God's Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, would change David from a life of sadness to a life of joy. God did it, and He is still doing it.
David's entire life changed into a productive, joyful, blessed life thanks to the true "spirit guide", who is God's Holy Spirit.
People want to hear what we have experienced that has changed us and our lives. Our testimonies are more powerful than any philosopy, theology or doctrine.
Friday, September 26, 2008
MILTON'S MENTOR
There are people who are just born kind and loving. My cousin Milton, who was called Junior by family members, was one of those rare individuals. He was always gentle and sweet and kind to everyone.
Junior was quite a few years older than me, so because we weren’t close in age he wasn’t what I would call a kissing cousin, meaning we didn’t hang out together as young kids or anything. He was more of a hero image to me because he was a handsome young man in his Army uniform and so very, very kind.
Junior had what psychiatrists call a melancholy temperament, which brings occasional dark moods to the mind along with the kindness and gentleness that he exhibited.
Prison eventually became Junior’s home for ten years. I won’t go into the details of how his dark moods led him there but suffice it to say it was a crime of passion. Years later he became an alcoholic, but he always kept a job and he had a family.
My mother was one of his mother-confessors, his emotional support. As an adult I remember her talking to him on the phone for long periods of time giving him the love and encouragement he had always needed. I had always suspected that Junior had been an abused child and my mother confirmed it to me, telling me that my great aunt had attempted to “beat the devil out of him” on many occasions.
About twenty years ago my phone rang one day in the morning at 7:00 a.m. and I was afraid that it was a “bad news” call that early in the morning. When I answered the phone, it was a long distance call, and Junior identified himself and told me that he had talked to my mother the previous night and she had told him to call me, that maybe I could help him. He began to tell me about his bouts with alcoholism and the effects on himself and his family and his body. It was a heart wrenching story and my heart ached for Junior, still the sweet, gentle person he had always been.
I had nothing to give him, but I had seen many people totally transformed by God’s power. I told him about the miracle of the new birth that my husband had experienced. He told me that that was what he needed, a new life. I had nothing myself to help him, but I knew that God could and would.
We prayed a prayer on the phone and Junior asked God for the new life that he had heard about.
After we prayed together, I suddenly knew that Junior needed a mentor, someone who could be the loving father image that he had never had, someone who would teach him about God and His love and His mercy. He lived many miles away from us but I knew that he needed a regularly scheduled Bible study group or a Bible course that would give him a firm foundation in God’s love. So we prayed together about that also, as I told him that if a name came to him, to contact that person and see what developed.
I didn’t hear from Junior for a year or more and neither did my mother, except she had heard from several of her sisters that he was doing fine.
Finally Junior called me. He sounded like a different person, full of humble confidence.
When he told me about how God answered his prayer I was flabbergasted. He said that the name Winfred Moore came to his mind. He looked the name up in the phone book and made an appointment with Dr. Moore to discuss God. and had been meeting with him regularly
My amazement was because Dr. Moore had been my pastor for a while when I was a very young girl in a totally different town. Dr. Moore was an elegant speaker and a sophisticated Southerner with a delightful Mississippi drawl. He was not one that I would have chosen for Junior, who was an ex-con and alcoholic. When I got to thinking about it, Dr. Moore was perfect for Junior, because his acceptance of Junior and his willingness to mentor him gave Junior a sense of stability and acceptance which he had always needed. I know that Dr. Moore called him Milton, his real name, and that gave him a sense of self respect.
Junior died several years later and when he died he was still free from alcohol and was a regular attendee of church.
When I was telling a dear friend in Oklahoma Junior’s story, she gasped. She remarked that she had heard Dr. Moore preach in Mississippi years ago and that her mother had always adored Dr. Moore .
We’re all connected in some way, Milton, Dr. Moore, my friend Jane, her mother, my mother and me. I know the connection is God’s Spirit and it’s mind boggling.
The first gift that God gave to Junior was a perfect mentor who would show him God’s love. I’m still in awe of God. It seems like I stay that way all the time.
Junior was quite a few years older than me, so because we weren’t close in age he wasn’t what I would call a kissing cousin, meaning we didn’t hang out together as young kids or anything. He was more of a hero image to me because he was a handsome young man in his Army uniform and so very, very kind.
Junior had what psychiatrists call a melancholy temperament, which brings occasional dark moods to the mind along with the kindness and gentleness that he exhibited.
Prison eventually became Junior’s home for ten years. I won’t go into the details of how his dark moods led him there but suffice it to say it was a crime of passion. Years later he became an alcoholic, but he always kept a job and he had a family.
My mother was one of his mother-confessors, his emotional support. As an adult I remember her talking to him on the phone for long periods of time giving him the love and encouragement he had always needed. I had always suspected that Junior had been an abused child and my mother confirmed it to me, telling me that my great aunt had attempted to “beat the devil out of him” on many occasions.
About twenty years ago my phone rang one day in the morning at 7:00 a.m. and I was afraid that it was a “bad news” call that early in the morning. When I answered the phone, it was a long distance call, and Junior identified himself and told me that he had talked to my mother the previous night and she had told him to call me, that maybe I could help him. He began to tell me about his bouts with alcoholism and the effects on himself and his family and his body. It was a heart wrenching story and my heart ached for Junior, still the sweet, gentle person he had always been.
I had nothing to give him, but I had seen many people totally transformed by God’s power. I told him about the miracle of the new birth that my husband had experienced. He told me that that was what he needed, a new life. I had nothing myself to help him, but I knew that God could and would.
We prayed a prayer on the phone and Junior asked God for the new life that he had heard about.
After we prayed together, I suddenly knew that Junior needed a mentor, someone who could be the loving father image that he had never had, someone who would teach him about God and His love and His mercy. He lived many miles away from us but I knew that he needed a regularly scheduled Bible study group or a Bible course that would give him a firm foundation in God’s love. So we prayed together about that also, as I told him that if a name came to him, to contact that person and see what developed.
I didn’t hear from Junior for a year or more and neither did my mother, except she had heard from several of her sisters that he was doing fine.
Finally Junior called me. He sounded like a different person, full of humble confidence.
When he told me about how God answered his prayer I was flabbergasted. He said that the name Winfred Moore came to his mind. He looked the name up in the phone book and made an appointment with Dr. Moore to discuss God. and had been meeting with him regularly
My amazement was because Dr. Moore had been my pastor for a while when I was a very young girl in a totally different town. Dr. Moore was an elegant speaker and a sophisticated Southerner with a delightful Mississippi drawl. He was not one that I would have chosen for Junior, who was an ex-con and alcoholic. When I got to thinking about it, Dr. Moore was perfect for Junior, because his acceptance of Junior and his willingness to mentor him gave Junior a sense of stability and acceptance which he had always needed. I know that Dr. Moore called him Milton, his real name, and that gave him a sense of self respect.
Junior died several years later and when he died he was still free from alcohol and was a regular attendee of church.
When I was telling a dear friend in Oklahoma Junior’s story, she gasped. She remarked that she had heard Dr. Moore preach in Mississippi years ago and that her mother had always adored Dr. Moore .
We’re all connected in some way, Milton, Dr. Moore, my friend Jane, her mother, my mother and me. I know the connection is God’s Spirit and it’s mind boggling.
The first gift that God gave to Junior was a perfect mentor who would show him God’s love. I’m still in awe of God. It seems like I stay that way all the time.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
WOW WOW WOW
Sometimes that's all I can do is say, "WOW," to the things that God does. This story is a real wower, if there is such a word.
A bit of history in relation to this Wow experience. Over twenty-five years ago a friend named Jacquie called me and asked me to teach her about God. I am always willing to do that because He is one of the subjects of which I love to talk.
I told her yes, I would love to teach her what I know about God and told her to ask several other people who were interested in learning and we would have a Bible study group. She did, and I did, and that was the beginning of a wonderful group of women who still meet once a week to study about God and to engage in intercessory prayer. Some of the ladies have moved away but still keep in contact by email to join us in prayer and to read the words of encouragement that God gives us.
Jacquie is one of those women who moved out of town. In fact, she now lives in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
These loyal women have prayed me out of two bouts of cancer and we have experienced many other healings and miracles that still astound us. We all regularly have testimonies of God's goodness and mercy toward all men. Jacquie has needed fervent intercessory prayer lately because she has had to have chemotherapy and radiation after having had surgery for brain cancer. We pray for her every day, but we especially pray for her every time the Tuesday Girls meet, which is the name of our group. She is the founder of our group and we love her so much for her organizing the group many years ago.
On one of the days that I was to have the Tuesday Girls at my home for lunch and for prayer and study, I wanted to make the lunch easy because of pressures from work, so I had the idea to have panini sandwiches. I wanted to make them myself, using my panini iron which is similar to a waffle iron.
Time became really a problem the last few days, so I wondered if Sam's Club had prepared panini sandwiches in their frozen food department. My husband and I were going to Sam's anyway so I decided to peruse the frozen food department to see if any food manufacturers made frozen paninis. We looked kind of casually and could not find any. However, I felt like maybe I needed to be more persistent than usual in looking. Sure enough, there were packages of paninis in a remote freezer area. I was elated to buy them and serve them to make the lunch menu easy for me when the Tuesday Girls came to my house.
I took out enough paninis to serve, checked on the back of the package for the baking instructions and my eyes unintentionally gazed at the location of the manufacturing plant. That's when I had said, "Wow, Wow, Wow." The plant is in St. Simons Island, Georgia, where Jacquie lives.
We have come to recognize those coincidences as God Incidences, knowing that He is especially involved in the current situation with us. He impressed me to buy the paninis and led me where to buy them for a purpose. I know that Jacquie can expect a remarkable miracle as a result of our prayers uniting with her prayers for her healing.
Again I comment about God and His abilities with my usual Wow, Wow, Wow.
A bit of history in relation to this Wow experience. Over twenty-five years ago a friend named Jacquie called me and asked me to teach her about God. I am always willing to do that because He is one of the subjects of which I love to talk.
I told her yes, I would love to teach her what I know about God and told her to ask several other people who were interested in learning and we would have a Bible study group. She did, and I did, and that was the beginning of a wonderful group of women who still meet once a week to study about God and to engage in intercessory prayer. Some of the ladies have moved away but still keep in contact by email to join us in prayer and to read the words of encouragement that God gives us.
Jacquie is one of those women who moved out of town. In fact, she now lives in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
These loyal women have prayed me out of two bouts of cancer and we have experienced many other healings and miracles that still astound us. We all regularly have testimonies of God's goodness and mercy toward all men. Jacquie has needed fervent intercessory prayer lately because she has had to have chemotherapy and radiation after having had surgery for brain cancer. We pray for her every day, but we especially pray for her every time the Tuesday Girls meet, which is the name of our group. She is the founder of our group and we love her so much for her organizing the group many years ago.
On one of the days that I was to have the Tuesday Girls at my home for lunch and for prayer and study, I wanted to make the lunch easy because of pressures from work, so I had the idea to have panini sandwiches. I wanted to make them myself, using my panini iron which is similar to a waffle iron.
Time became really a problem the last few days, so I wondered if Sam's Club had prepared panini sandwiches in their frozen food department. My husband and I were going to Sam's anyway so I decided to peruse the frozen food department to see if any food manufacturers made frozen paninis. We looked kind of casually and could not find any. However, I felt like maybe I needed to be more persistent than usual in looking. Sure enough, there were packages of paninis in a remote freezer area. I was elated to buy them and serve them to make the lunch menu easy for me when the Tuesday Girls came to my house.
I took out enough paninis to serve, checked on the back of the package for the baking instructions and my eyes unintentionally gazed at the location of the manufacturing plant. That's when I had said, "Wow, Wow, Wow." The plant is in St. Simons Island, Georgia, where Jacquie lives.
We have come to recognize those coincidences as God Incidences, knowing that He is especially involved in the current situation with us. He impressed me to buy the paninis and led me where to buy them for a purpose. I know that Jacquie can expect a remarkable miracle as a result of our prayers uniting with her prayers for her healing.
Again I comment about God and His abilities with my usual Wow, Wow, Wow.
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