STANDARD SETTERS
I always tried to figure out the meaning of the scripture that says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, God will raise us a standard against him." In my human mind one time I figured out that that standard was a flag that God would spiritually put in front of us that told the enemy to stop right there.
That's logical and I banked on that for years. Yet, bad things happened to my family and me.
There were other things I reasoned in my human mind, like the practice of speaking God's written Word and the enemy can't touch the situation. It worked some times but not always.
Today I have a more meaningful revelation from the Holy Spirit for my husband and me.
Cancer was found in the entire left lower quadrant of Steve's abdomen. The doctors suspected cancer and had even removed a malignant testicle and sperm cord a month ago. Their intent in the present surgery was to remove a non-functioning kidney and the ureter tube and a small portion of his bladder. They didn't anticipate the extent of the cancer when they opened him up to do their job.
When we were in the pre-op room waiting for the time for him to go to the operating room, both doctors who were doing the surgery came in at the same time. My husband and I had discussed previously what we were going to say to them. He said he was going to tell them to operate on him like he was 30 years old instead of 74. I said I was going to tell them that they are going to operate on a man who is in the top ten rankings of swimmers in his age group in the U.S. and he wants to be the number one when he's 100. My husband frowned but I knew that, if given the opportunity, I would say that.
The opportunity presented itself when both doctors came into the pre-op room. My husband was prevented from saying anything because he was taking a pre-op breathing treatment and had the breathing pipe in his mouth puffing away. My opportunity was there, so I emphatically stated to the doctors that they have a man who is not like other men, that he is a champion swimmer and in the top ten in his age group in the U.S. I continued to profess to them that he wants to continue to swim and become the number one swimmer when he's 100.
They left the pre-op room and headed to the operating room, saying, "We'll do our best."
When they got into his left abdominal area they found that he had malignant tumors everywhere in the area from above the kidney all the way down to below his groin area. They were up to the job. What they thought would be an easy operation that would take an hour and a half actually took over five hours. They poked and probed and cut and sewed until they got all of the visible cancerous tumors out of his body which took many more hours than anticipated.
The doctors called him an amazing man and a marvel man because he won so many swimming gold medals while carrying around all that cancer in his body. They were amazed that he never had any pain, never had any blood in his urine. He was always the picture of health.
During the operation they took out many, many tumors successfully, along with some organs. His prognosis was excellent. The doctors said there was a possibility that he might have radiation that will target the cancerous areas and that he certainly would have chemotherapy, which provides the last clean sweep to rid his body of all the microscopic tumors that were impossible for them to see. He took the news as if it was no big deal.
While thanking God one morning it came to me, surely by the Holy Spirit who is the Teacher, that if we had not spoken his goals to the doctors before the surgery that they would have seen the extent of the cancer while operating, thought about his age, and they would have closed him back up and told him to have chemo and radiation and he probably would have died in a short time.
The fact that we set the standard for them, to treat him like his body is the body of a 30 year old, and to fix him so that he will be number one in swimming competition when he's 100 years old, those comments set the standard. We spoke them out verbally to the doctors and they aimed to please, determined to treat him like he is forty years younger than he is, and to fix him so that he can get back to competing in swimming and winning gold medals until he's 100 years old.
We spoke the standard and they performed the actions that would bring the standard into being. They could have closed him up without removing the large amount of cancer, but they didn't. They cleaned out the multitude of tumors, taking hours of their time to fix him, probably with other patients waiting for their services. The task didn't look too ominous to them when they were reminded of the standard we had set for them, to fix him so he can still win gold medals. They were up to the task and did their marvelous work, led by God's angels, I know.
We can set our standards low or we can set them high. In this situation we had set our standards really high and the surgeons brought it into being.
The scripture became real to me by this experience. The enemy had come in like a flood in the form of cancer. God impressed us to tell the doctors the standard that we expected. They did it according to our desire.
When we speak words revealed to us by the Holy Spirit we are proclaiming our standards every time, and God's working angels will bring the standard into being.
Knowing that a standard is really a goal or a desire or a wish or a prayer that is filled with faith, it will become a reality.
My standards are perfection in every area of my life. I'm not standing for anything else.
How about you?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Getting ready for surgery is more a mental exercise than it is an organizational one. Often the dread is overpowering and a black cloud hangs over the patient like a constant companion.
My husband Steve had been pretty upbeat about his upcoming surgery but I could tell that his emotions were varied, positive most the time but then a wave of fear would pass over his mind with thoughts of the possibility of a negative prognosis after the surgery. I will have to credit him with the fact that most of the time he was upbeat.
The day before the surgery I asked him a question I should not have introduced into our conversation. I knew better than to ask it. I asked as he came into the kitchen for breakfast, "Did you have a good night?" That elicited a report I didn't want to hear, "No, I didn't. I had a terrible night."
As we all know, once the day starts off with a negative mindset, very often the rest of the day follows the same vein of thought. I didn't relish that pall hanging over our heads the rest of the day, possibly lasting into the day of surgery, which would be hard to shake.
I began telling him about a testimony that our friend Diane wrote me in an email that very morning. The story was a follow-up conclusion to an ongoing problem that she had had for several summers. The past two summers swallows have taken up residence on her porch and they have been a real problem. They have dive bombed Diane, dive bombed her dog and cat, and have been a real nuisance. She has not been able to sit on the beautiful porch that she has decorated for a town contest. Enjoyment went out the window for her when the swallows decided her porch was the perfect place to nest. They were back again this year like vacationing relatives, making the summer unbearable again.
Some other birds decided to inhabit her porch this summer also. A finch built a nest in her hanging basket that was filled with flowers. They were welcome because they did not have the habit of attacking man and beast the way the swallows did.
Diane's son Chris and his girlfriend Babette came to visit and share some of the great wisdom they have gained in their many travels and meditation seminars. Diane told Babette about the swallows and told her about the finches and their nest.
Babette remarked that she had a book that she wanted to share with Diane about birds and how they are sent to us with messages that we need to learn. She shared an unusual insight, that the finches were there in the hanging basket to bring peace between Diane and the swallows. My friend decided to read the book about messenger birds with an open mind after hearing that interesting comment.
The next morning Diane prepared to take her dog for a morning stroll, a daily occurrence, and she was prepared to have to dodge the swallows and their dive bombing habits. However, as she gathered up the small dog in her arms and tiptoed onto the porch she was astonished. There were no swallows around. They were not there to torment her and her dog. As she walked further into the yard she was cautious but still noticed the absence of the swallows.
As she ventured out further into the yard she heard the sweet voice of Babette back at the house saying, "I told you so."
Surely she was right, the finches had come to bring peace between Diane and the swallows because now the swallows were not behaving like tormenters. In fact, they were absent completely.
God's messengers of truth take many forms. This time it came on the wings of birds for Diane and for us from the mouth of her son's girlfriend Babette.
My husband and I gleaned the overflow from the story. As I told it to him, suddenly his positive attitude was restored and his whole countenance changed. He began to speak positive things, which will continue into the day of surgery, I know.
Then my sister-in-law sent a wonderful story about a sandpiper. I knew the messages were sent to let us know that the birds in God's dimension, His angels, were already doing their jobs of giving wisdom to the doctors to bring perfect results to the surgery.
We expected the best because we knew that peace would be in the waiting room, the operating room and the entire hospital. Peace benefits everyone involved, just like peace was brought to my friend and the swallows by the little finches.
I love God's messages of faith.
Getting ready for surgery is more a mental exercise than it is an organizational one. Often the dread is overpowering and a black cloud hangs over the patient like a constant companion.
My husband Steve had been pretty upbeat about his upcoming surgery but I could tell that his emotions were varied, positive most the time but then a wave of fear would pass over his mind with thoughts of the possibility of a negative prognosis after the surgery. I will have to credit him with the fact that most of the time he was upbeat.
The day before the surgery I asked him a question I should not have introduced into our conversation. I knew better than to ask it. I asked as he came into the kitchen for breakfast, "Did you have a good night?" That elicited a report I didn't want to hear, "No, I didn't. I had a terrible night."
As we all know, once the day starts off with a negative mindset, very often the rest of the day follows the same vein of thought. I didn't relish that pall hanging over our heads the rest of the day, possibly lasting into the day of surgery, which would be hard to shake.
I began telling him about a testimony that our friend Diane wrote me in an email that very morning. The story was a follow-up conclusion to an ongoing problem that she had had for several summers. The past two summers swallows have taken up residence on her porch and they have been a real problem. They have dive bombed Diane, dive bombed her dog and cat, and have been a real nuisance. She has not been able to sit on the beautiful porch that she has decorated for a town contest. Enjoyment went out the window for her when the swallows decided her porch was the perfect place to nest. They were back again this year like vacationing relatives, making the summer unbearable again.
Some other birds decided to inhabit her porch this summer also. A finch built a nest in her hanging basket that was filled with flowers. They were welcome because they did not have the habit of attacking man and beast the way the swallows did.
Diane's son Chris and his girlfriend Babette came to visit and share some of the great wisdom they have gained in their many travels and meditation seminars. Diane told Babette about the swallows and told her about the finches and their nest.
Babette remarked that she had a book that she wanted to share with Diane about birds and how they are sent to us with messages that we need to learn. She shared an unusual insight, that the finches were there in the hanging basket to bring peace between Diane and the swallows. My friend decided to read the book about messenger birds with an open mind after hearing that interesting comment.
The next morning Diane prepared to take her dog for a morning stroll, a daily occurrence, and she was prepared to have to dodge the swallows and their dive bombing habits. However, as she gathered up the small dog in her arms and tiptoed onto the porch she was astonished. There were no swallows around. They were not there to torment her and her dog. As she walked further into the yard she was cautious but still noticed the absence of the swallows.
As she ventured out further into the yard she heard the sweet voice of Babette back at the house saying, "I told you so."
Surely she was right, the finches had come to bring peace between Diane and the swallows because now the swallows were not behaving like tormenters. In fact, they were absent completely.
God's messengers of truth take many forms. This time it came on the wings of birds for Diane and for us from the mouth of her son's girlfriend Babette.
My husband and I gleaned the overflow from the story. As I told it to him, suddenly his positive attitude was restored and his whole countenance changed. He began to speak positive things, which will continue into the day of surgery, I know.
Then my sister-in-law sent a wonderful story about a sandpiper. I knew the messages were sent to let us know that the birds in God's dimension, His angels, were already doing their jobs of giving wisdom to the doctors to bring perfect results to the surgery.
We expected the best because we knew that peace would be in the waiting room, the operating room and the entire hospital. Peace benefits everyone involved, just like peace was brought to my friend and the swallows by the little finches.
I love God's messages of faith.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
TRUTH DISGUISED AS MAXINE
TRUTH DISGUISED AS MAXINE
"Open my eyes that I might see visions of truth thou hast for me."
There she sat again in the doctor's office, a vision of truth sent for me. The interesting thing was that she was a replica of the greeting card character Maxine, an extraordinary looking woman with white frizzy hair, small in stature, wrinkled face and arms, and she was sitting in the most unladylike pose reading a red leather New Testament. She was a picture straight off of a greeting card or straight off of an internet email message.
"Open my eyes that I might see visions of truth thou hast for me."
There she sat again in the doctor's office, a vision of truth sent for me. The interesting thing was that she was a replica of the greeting card character Maxine, an extraordinary looking woman with white frizzy hair, small in stature, wrinkled face and arms, and she was sitting in the most unladylike pose reading a red leather New Testament. She was a picture straight off of a greeting card or straight off of an internet email message.
I had noticed her two weeks before, on another occasion, when she and her husband entered the same doctor's waiting room. She had on a bright red blouse with red and white seersucker pants and bright red shoes. The colors were unusually vibrant for a woman her age, which was probably late eighties, but my eyes were drawn to her because of the bright colors which contrasted with her white medium length frizzy hair. The combination just seemed to attract my admiring gaze. Maybe the attraction was because I love bright colors, too, and the older I get the brighter my choice of colors seems to get, so I felt a kinship with her.
On the second occasion I saw her when she entered the waiting room. She was adorned in more demure colors, varying shades of beige. However, I recognized her immediately because she wasn't easy to overlook. She and her husband returned to the same seats they had previously occupied on the first occasion, as if the seats were permanently reserved for them.
I began reading the morning paper, occasionally glancing at the woman out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to be worth watching.
I began reading the morning paper, occasionally glancing at the woman out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to be worth watching.
I became completely consumed with reading a particular editorial in the newspaper and for a full fifteen minutes didn't even glance at the real life replica of "Maxine". When I finished reading the article my attention immediately went to the woman. She was sitting in the most awkward position, skinny legs wide apart, purse nestled on the floor between her legs, and she was reading the New Testament with concentrated intent.
Suddenly I heard the real life "Maxine" profess these words to her husband, "We are so blessed." To which he replied, "Yes, we truly are."
As an observer of the pair and an eavesdropper to their conversation, I became blessed as a result. It was as if God had sent the woman to remind me that my husband and I are also blessed. We were eagerly waiting for a conference with the doctor to discuss the results of pathological tests which might require serious procedures.
My eyes were clearly opened to see the miracle of the situation, that God had orchestrated the chance meeting again so that I could see and admire the lady in her unusual sitting position reading the New Testament where God promises healing to his children, and then to verbally hear the proclamation of, "We are so blessed," to remind me of my own blessings.
Blinders fell from my eyes and I was again filled with faith because of the vision of truth that He had for me. He used an unusual vessel, one who certainly got my attention. She was the cutest thing I ever saw, wrinkles, frizzy hair and all. Maybe she was an angel in disguise. If so, that angel chose the right disguise, the one of a greeting card character that I love. She quickly opened my eyes and ears to the message that God wanted me to hear, reminding me that I'm blessed beyond belief.
Whomever you are and whatever your name is, you are "Maxine" to me, an angel in disguise sending a greeting to me.
Yes, I am blessed. I got the message loud and clear, the message which confirmed a truth I already knew, but it reaffirmed the reality of my many, many blessings.
Blinders fell from my eyes and I was again filled with faith because of the vision of truth that He had for me. He used an unusual vessel, one who certainly got my attention. She was the cutest thing I ever saw, wrinkles, frizzy hair and all. Maybe she was an angel in disguise. If so, that angel chose the right disguise, the one of a greeting card character that I love. She quickly opened my eyes and ears to the message that God wanted me to hear, reminding me that I'm blessed beyond belief.
Whomever you are and whatever your name is, you are "Maxine" to me, an angel in disguise sending a greeting to me.
Yes, I am blessed. I got the message loud and clear, the message which confirmed a truth I already knew, but it reaffirmed the reality of my many, many blessings.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
MORE HAND PRINTS OF GOD
MORE HAND PRINTS OF GOD
Don't you just love to see the footprints and hand prints of God in a situation! You know He's there, you know He's working hard to perfect a situation, and then He sends some confirming visual prints and we are so very, very grateful. We become even more solidly filled with faith because His prints are His visual evidence that the matter is firmly in His hands and He is able to perform His wonderful works in the circumstance.
Don't you just love to see the footprints and hand prints of God in a situation! You know He's there, you know He's working hard to perfect a situation, and then He sends some confirming visual prints and we are so very, very grateful. We become even more solidly filled with faith because His prints are His visual evidence that the matter is firmly in His hands and He is able to perform His wonderful works in the circumstance.
My husband had a serious operation that resulted in a report that was shocking to us. We know our Heavenly Father is well able to do what He has promised to do, which is restore completely, but the report sent our minds reeling for a few hours.
I began quoting a scripture, "The Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings," which is found in Malachi 4:2. The rest of that verse promises that we will go forth and grow up as calves in the stall, and we will tread down the wicked and they will be ashes under the soles of our feet in the day that God rises with healing in His wings.
On the second day after we went home from the hospital a dear friend named Dorothy, a faithful member of the Praying Posse prayer group, brought a rare begonia plant to us and a card for Steve. When Steve opened the card it was like the pain medicine he had been taking for his body, only this was pain medicine for our minds.
On the front of the card was the word "WINGS" in large, bold letters followed by a message that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Then the message on the inside of the card referred to faith being the wings that will lift us up.
Dorothy had no knowledge that I had been quoting the scripture about the Wings of the Son of Righteousness, yet she chose the perfect card.
Any little hints of doubt and fear in our minds flew out the window as the Wings of the Son of Righteousness renewed our strength and lifted us up.
Any little hints of doubt and fear in our minds flew out the window as the Wings of the Son of Righteousness renewed our strength and lifted us up.
The card continued to do its mighty work, strengthening us while those same Wings of the Son of Righteousness completed God's work of healing.
Another valuable hand print/footprint of God came the day before the operation. Marcia, another Praying Posse prayer warrior, brought to my house a banner she had purchased the prior weekend. The banner is by a new artist in town, a huge painting of two giant angels embracing each other. Their wings are prominent behind them. When I think about that banner it presents another visual representation of the Wings of the Son of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings to bring healing to God's children. Steve is a recipient of that powerful and loving healing.
God continued to cover all bases in the situation, like He always does. He confirmed His promises and put us on the solid Rock again thanks to loving friends who willingly put the final seal of approval on what God has already guaranteed.
Friday, June 11, 2010
GOD'S FOOTPRINTS AND HANDPRINTS
HAND PRINTS AND FOOTPRINTS OF GOD
When a doctor tells you his prognosis about a challenging medical problem that you're facing, his words stick in your mind, rolling over and over, even gaining more negativity every time they roll around. It's difficult to get your mind stopped from its spinning out of control, imagining every possible worse case scenario, even when the prognosis may have good possibilities. The negatives seems to take over, covering up the positives. Such it is with the human computer called a brain, one negative thing overrides all positive ones.
My husband Steve had had surgery in which was found a tumor that has markings of being malignant. Even though the results of the final testing had not been revealed to us, our minds were running amuck with negative thoughts spinning out of control.
I was reminded of the message that Jesus gave to people when he walked the earth. He told them to consider the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin, yet their Heavenly Father adorns them with beauty. I knew that He was saying that we shouldn't let our minds spin out of control with negative thoughts. Yet, I was having trouble girding My mind down. I was not controlling negative thoughts the way I wanted. I couldn't get my mind quiet so I could finally get some sleep. It was definitely spinning out of control, controling me with thoughts of dread and doom.
After laying in bed for an hour with no success in my effort to control the thoughts, I began to think a little prayer, okay, God, give me a scripture that I can play over and over again in my mind instead of dreadful thoughts playing over and over again. A scripture came to mind that I had only heard once, "Let God be true and every man a liar." That seemed remote from any relation to our situation, but the more I pondered it the more I saw that it related completely. It was telling me that I must let what God says about the situation be true and any negative prognosis we heard from humans be a lie. So the scripture really did relate to our situation because my husband and I both know that God said, "By His stripes you are healed," and no matter what any man says, what God says is the final word, the final proclamation.
That scripture from our Instruction Book, called the Bible, rolled over and over and over in my mind, replacing the negative words of the doctors. It began to give me faith. It did what I wanted it to do, calmed my mind. In a few minutes I fell asleep and slept for three hours. That was just what I needed, rest for my mind and body.
I woke with the scripture in my mind, "Let God be true and every man a liar." It still brought me mental comfort beyond belief, just like it did during the night.
After getting home from the hospital the next day, a card arrived from a friend who knew nothing about my experience the day before. It was addressed to my husband. Our friend Jane wanted to give my husband encouragement and faith that the final outcome of the medical situation would be positive and perfect.
In her own handwriting on the card, Jane very lovingly told my husband how much she cares for us, and then she ended the note with this scripture, "Let God be true and every man a liar," Romans 3:4.
We were filled with awe and wonder that God would give Jane the same scripture He gave to me about the situation, assuring us that God knows much more about it than any man or a team of men know. So we know what God says is true about it. And that truth is that the final outcome will be magnificent and perfect.
Men don't know the inner workings and the final outcome of a situation. Only God knows them. So the limited knowledge of men, even doctors, make them liars because they haven't come to a complete knowledge of the truth about it.
God confirmed though Jane that God's words are true and we can rely on them.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
CHRONICLES OF THE PRAYING POSSE
CHRONICLES OF THE PRAYING POSSE
My praying friends and I have currently been named The Praying Posse because we know how to pray by interceding in the Holy Spirit. When we commit to something we completely commit to it. Miracles have abounded in powerful ways.
This story will warm your heart and bring God bumps to your skin. I used to call them goose bumps, but "God bumps" are similar. The only difference is they come quickly on the skin inside and out, they give a rush to the mind and bring joy to the emotions when miracles are reported in answer to prayers.
Over twelve years ago Cathi, one of the Praying Posse, came to Bible Study and asked that we pray for a young girl whom she and her daughter had observed sitting on the porch of a nearby school. The girl was obviously crying and Cathi knew that prayers were needed. We didn't know the need, just knew there was a person in need. So we started praying for the girl. In fact, Cathi said the girl looked like Sara, the daughter of a prominent local man. We all knew the man and the daughter, so we agreed to pray for her together as well as separately. We prayed together every week for a while, naming her name. Then we stopped naming her name, but we all consciously prayed for her regularly.
It turned out that the need was great because Sara and a boyfriend had killed some people on a crime spree while high on drugs. We began to include Sara's family, too, because the burden was insurmountable for them. Sara went to prison, sentenced to thirty years.
Our prayers intensified for Sara and her family. Sara was incarcerated in one of the southern states where one of the murders occurred.
Sara's mother found a way to handle her grief. She began to minister love and encouragement to women in our local state prison. She counseled them and taught educational classes to them every week, accepting them as her own family, making a difference in their lives.
Sara also decided to handle her incarceration in a positive way. She began teaching Bible classes and educational classes while in prison. Her ministry has turned many lives around and has prepared the other imprisoned ladies for life after prison. Sara and her mom individually, in different states, have brought dignity and respect and love to other women, a wonderful way to handle their grief and burden of guilt.
Through an article in the newspaper last week we saw that Sara was being released from prison after ten years. We were all elated, but nonetheless knew that our prayers for her will not cease because she will have tough times learning to live outside of prison walls.
God let us all know that we are still connected and joined through a miraculous way. The following paragraphs chronicle a wonderful God Incident. We used to call them coincidences, but now we know they are instigated by God so they are God incidents.
Marcia is one of the Praying Posse members. Her husband came home this week with a letter that was "mistakenly" placed in his post office box. The letter was from Sara but it was addressed to Sally a friend who is a also prayer warrior and who has a prison ministry. Sally's name was clearly on the letter but no box number was added to the letter. Yet the letter ended up in the post office box of Marcia's husband who brought it home and asked her to deliver it to the proper person. Only an angel of God could do that to let us know that we are all still connected and one familly by the Spirit of God. Sara addressed the letter to Sally, the letter had no box number, and somehow it ended up in Marcia's husband's post office box.
Yes, we will never stop praying for Sara. Why would we? God originally led Cathi to observe Sara crying before she was even arrested for the horrendous crimes, then she asked us to pray for Sara, which we have done all these years.
Twelve years later, during the week that Sara was released from prison, Marcia's husband finds a lost letter in his post office box addressed to Sally, a friend who has probably counseled and ministered to Sara through the mail all these years. And now Marcia has delivered the letter to Sally.
Yes, we have been called to continue our prayers for Sara. That letter was a red letter message to us to continue praying.
God has magnificent things for Sara's future. Forgiveness is a certainty. That forgiveness was bought and paid for over two thousand years ago by Jesus. Now Sara has a glowing future.
Thank you, God, for loving Sara and for sending the angel to put the letter in the wrong box (actually the right box) to let us know to continue our praying in support of Sara. You're a Great Dad.
My praying friends and I have currently been named The Praying Posse because we know how to pray by interceding in the Holy Spirit. When we commit to something we completely commit to it. Miracles have abounded in powerful ways.
This story will warm your heart and bring God bumps to your skin. I used to call them goose bumps, but "God bumps" are similar. The only difference is they come quickly on the skin inside and out, they give a rush to the mind and bring joy to the emotions when miracles are reported in answer to prayers.
Over twelve years ago Cathi, one of the Praying Posse, came to Bible Study and asked that we pray for a young girl whom she and her daughter had observed sitting on the porch of a nearby school. The girl was obviously crying and Cathi knew that prayers were needed. We didn't know the need, just knew there was a person in need. So we started praying for the girl. In fact, Cathi said the girl looked like Sara, the daughter of a prominent local man. We all knew the man and the daughter, so we agreed to pray for her together as well as separately. We prayed together every week for a while, naming her name. Then we stopped naming her name, but we all consciously prayed for her regularly.
It turned out that the need was great because Sara and a boyfriend had killed some people on a crime spree while high on drugs. We began to include Sara's family, too, because the burden was insurmountable for them. Sara went to prison, sentenced to thirty years.
Our prayers intensified for Sara and her family. Sara was incarcerated in one of the southern states where one of the murders occurred.
Sara's mother found a way to handle her grief. She began to minister love and encouragement to women in our local state prison. She counseled them and taught educational classes to them every week, accepting them as her own family, making a difference in their lives.
Sara also decided to handle her incarceration in a positive way. She began teaching Bible classes and educational classes while in prison. Her ministry has turned many lives around and has prepared the other imprisoned ladies for life after prison. Sara and her mom individually, in different states, have brought dignity and respect and love to other women, a wonderful way to handle their grief and burden of guilt.
Through an article in the newspaper last week we saw that Sara was being released from prison after ten years. We were all elated, but nonetheless knew that our prayers for her will not cease because she will have tough times learning to live outside of prison walls.
God let us all know that we are still connected and joined through a miraculous way. The following paragraphs chronicle a wonderful God Incident. We used to call them coincidences, but now we know they are instigated by God so they are God incidents.
Marcia is one of the Praying Posse members. Her husband came home this week with a letter that was "mistakenly" placed in his post office box. The letter was from Sara but it was addressed to Sally a friend who is a also prayer warrior and who has a prison ministry. Sally's name was clearly on the letter but no box number was added to the letter. Yet the letter ended up in the post office box of Marcia's husband who brought it home and asked her to deliver it to the proper person. Only an angel of God could do that to let us know that we are all still connected and one familly by the Spirit of God. Sara addressed the letter to Sally, the letter had no box number, and somehow it ended up in Marcia's husband's post office box.
Yes, we will never stop praying for Sara. Why would we? God originally led Cathi to observe Sara crying before she was even arrested for the horrendous crimes, then she asked us to pray for Sara, which we have done all these years.
Twelve years later, during the week that Sara was released from prison, Marcia's husband finds a lost letter in his post office box addressed to Sally, a friend who has probably counseled and ministered to Sara through the mail all these years. And now Marcia has delivered the letter to Sally.
Yes, we have been called to continue our prayers for Sara. That letter was a red letter message to us to continue praying.
God has magnificent things for Sara's future. Forgiveness is a certainty. That forgiveness was bought and paid for over two thousand years ago by Jesus. Now Sara has a glowing future.
Thank you, God, for loving Sara and for sending the angel to put the letter in the wrong box (actually the right box) to let us know to continue our praying in support of Sara. You're a Great Dad.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
IS FORGIVENESS APPROVAL?
A loved one named Helen asked me this week to expand on the term "judgment" for her. She opened up the discussion after I told her a testimony about a friend whom I just found out had had a ten year long affair. I related to Helen that my reaction to the news about the affair was that I was very disappointed in the friend.
The point of my telling Helen the story was to tell her the insight that the Holy Spirit gave to me about how my disappointment in my friend had quickly turned into judgment. In fact, my disappointment had immediately made the left hand turn into judgment, judgment of him that he had disappointed me and had caused a breakup of a family that I had considered an ideal family.
I had stewed in the teapot of disappointment for a few days before I realized that it was affecting me emotionally. I knew that I needed to pray for the male friend and his wife, who are both local civic leaders.
It was during that evening of concentrated prayers for the two of them that the words of God came to my mind that released me from the judgment that had originated in thoughts of disappointment. God reminded me of the background of the friend, and God told me that because of the friend's background that the actions of his years long affair were normal in his mind. I had forgotten that his mom had done the same thing for years and that the situation had benefited her and her boys because the man involved with his mom had supplied many things that the mom could never have supplied. So that was the programming for my friend, that it was normal behavior.
With that insight from the past, I was able to immediately release my friend from the disappointment/judgment that I had for him. I was able to let him go from my disapproval which would have surely emanated from me had I seen him at some social or business affair. With God's insight into the matter, I could understand my friend and his motivation and I could love him with an understanding heart. I could offer my love and help to him instead of a disapproving attitude or even an attitude of indifference toward him, which both had been seated in my disappointment/ judgment of him. I was free, because of God's insight, to love him since the disappointment and judgment were gone.
When I was telling the story to Helen, her reaction was an interesting one. An instant opposition to what I was saying was apparent, although it was a loving one. She asked that I explain judgment to her, because she never understood what I meant in my writings when I wrote that God says not to judge, that he says to forgive everyone for their offenses.
I was taken aback, wondering how many other people were stuck in the same demonic blinding in their lack of understanding of the very things that Jesus taught so many times.
As Helen continued to speak, it became apparent that she thought that saying that we must not judge people meant that we approved of their sins, their wrong choices, their iniquities, their law breaking, etc. She fully understood the fact that we must separate the sin from the sinner, but she was under the mistaken impression that refusing to judge him meant that we approved of the very misdeeds that plunged him into the unpleasant situation in which he found himself.
Helen and I discussed the insight that refusing to judge someone means that we release them from our condemnation, our disgust, our disapproval, our disappointment so that we can love them like God loves them, unconditionally, regardless of their actions. It means that we understand temptations because we are faced with them every day, and we understand the hereditary or experiential motivation of the person; and because we understand we can extend love and acceptance and help to them when we are in their presence.
True and godly compassion means that we understand and we extend love rather than condemnation.
Unfortunately every one of our actions sow seeds and those seeds will return to us. So every action, good or evil, has it's own results. We don't need to add our punishment to it. My friend's affair has already returned plants to him from the seeds that he planted, judging him by them. His family is broken. His children oppose him. His reputation is tainted. His wife has left him. He has suffered loss in many areas.
Now I can be compassionate toward him because of his losses. How fleshly of me to have had thoughts of disappointment and judgment of him, adding to his losses of my wanting to withdraw my friendship from him. Now that God has given me understanding and insight into the situation I can shower everyone involved in the situation with love and understanding instead of disappointment and judgment.
Helen is musing and meditating on the truths that we discussed. By speaking the insights that she got from our discussion, she was able to understand that forgiveness and lack of judgment has nothing to do with approval of something we consider evil, but it has everything to do with understanding and loving unconditionally regardless of the actions of others.
God does the same towards us. He lives in us, so He extends the same grace to others through us that He does toward us, covering everyone with love which smothers out even a multitude of sins and trespasses. Yes, God's love for me by His explaining to me my friend's motivation for his affair covered my disappointment and judgment of my friend and set me free from condemnation of him. The results were freedom for me and freedom for my friend from my judgment of him. Now I'm free and I can pray for his freedom.
The point of my telling Helen the story was to tell her the insight that the Holy Spirit gave to me about how my disappointment in my friend had quickly turned into judgment. In fact, my disappointment had immediately made the left hand turn into judgment, judgment of him that he had disappointed me and had caused a breakup of a family that I had considered an ideal family.
I had stewed in the teapot of disappointment for a few days before I realized that it was affecting me emotionally. I knew that I needed to pray for the male friend and his wife, who are both local civic leaders.
It was during that evening of concentrated prayers for the two of them that the words of God came to my mind that released me from the judgment that had originated in thoughts of disappointment. God reminded me of the background of the friend, and God told me that because of the friend's background that the actions of his years long affair were normal in his mind. I had forgotten that his mom had done the same thing for years and that the situation had benefited her and her boys because the man involved with his mom had supplied many things that the mom could never have supplied. So that was the programming for my friend, that it was normal behavior.
With that insight from the past, I was able to immediately release my friend from the disappointment/judgment that I had for him. I was able to let him go from my disapproval which would have surely emanated from me had I seen him at some social or business affair. With God's insight into the matter, I could understand my friend and his motivation and I could love him with an understanding heart. I could offer my love and help to him instead of a disapproving attitude or even an attitude of indifference toward him, which both had been seated in my disappointment/ judgment of him. I was free, because of God's insight, to love him since the disappointment and judgment were gone.
When I was telling the story to Helen, her reaction was an interesting one. An instant opposition to what I was saying was apparent, although it was a loving one. She asked that I explain judgment to her, because she never understood what I meant in my writings when I wrote that God says not to judge, that he says to forgive everyone for their offenses.
I was taken aback, wondering how many other people were stuck in the same demonic blinding in their lack of understanding of the very things that Jesus taught so many times.
As Helen continued to speak, it became apparent that she thought that saying that we must not judge people meant that we approved of their sins, their wrong choices, their iniquities, their law breaking, etc. She fully understood the fact that we must separate the sin from the sinner, but she was under the mistaken impression that refusing to judge him meant that we approved of the very misdeeds that plunged him into the unpleasant situation in which he found himself.
Helen and I discussed the insight that refusing to judge someone means that we release them from our condemnation, our disgust, our disapproval, our disappointment so that we can love them like God loves them, unconditionally, regardless of their actions. It means that we understand temptations because we are faced with them every day, and we understand the hereditary or experiential motivation of the person; and because we understand we can extend love and acceptance and help to them when we are in their presence.
True and godly compassion means that we understand and we extend love rather than condemnation.
Unfortunately every one of our actions sow seeds and those seeds will return to us. So every action, good or evil, has it's own results. We don't need to add our punishment to it. My friend's affair has already returned plants to him from the seeds that he planted, judging him by them. His family is broken. His children oppose him. His reputation is tainted. His wife has left him. He has suffered loss in many areas.
Now I can be compassionate toward him because of his losses. How fleshly of me to have had thoughts of disappointment and judgment of him, adding to his losses of my wanting to withdraw my friendship from him. Now that God has given me understanding and insight into the situation I can shower everyone involved in the situation with love and understanding instead of disappointment and judgment.
Helen is musing and meditating on the truths that we discussed. By speaking the insights that she got from our discussion, she was able to understand that forgiveness and lack of judgment has nothing to do with approval of something we consider evil, but it has everything to do with understanding and loving unconditionally regardless of the actions of others.
God does the same towards us. He lives in us, so He extends the same grace to others through us that He does toward us, covering everyone with love which smothers out even a multitude of sins and trespasses. Yes, God's love for me by His explaining to me my friend's motivation for his affair covered my disappointment and judgment of my friend and set me free from condemnation of him. The results were freedom for me and freedom for my friend from my judgment of him. Now I'm free and I can pray for his freedom.
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