Parental relationship restoration, even after the grave.

Oh, Glory to God!  Many tears today.  Tears of great worship earlier at church and now, tears of reconciliation. 

Here is a verse to get us started off:  Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

I have heard preaching on this commandment and many times, we leave off the part, "So that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

Do you see how important it is to do this?  Maybe to lengthen your life?  And how could that all be true?  Does God really kill people off like that? 

Well, unforgiveness will "kill" you and everything around you.  And yes, I believe our lives are shortened because of the stress of unforgiveness and bitterness, leading to cardiac issues and cancers. There is the very touchy subject of  bad health choices including over-eating as a tool to soothe our pain.  This kills a little more slowly, through type II diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypertension.   

Part of the Holy Spirit filling me 16 months ago, is that if you let the Spirit work in you, you will go through a process.  This is painful.  Many people don't let this process happen.  They end up born again, but wearing masks and miserable again.  The process begins when you feel the Spirit tug on your heart to open it up and let the past be healed, situation by situation.

Are you brave enough to let the Spirit clean your house?  Sweep out the garbage?  I am.  And I did.  And it is still happening. 

In my personal experience, I had other people barely let me finish my sentence when I would share that I was going backwards and dealing with my past.  So quickly they would say, "You know, you shouldn't have to go back to the past as Jesus has already forgiven you of that".  Or I have heard, "Don't look back too long on those items".  I heard this after only a few months of conversion!!!  Be on alert that if someone doesn't let you finish your sentence about a faith item, or they rush to give you an answer, they are not waiting on the Holy Spirit themselves.  They are talking out of their flesh.  Get your eyes on Jesus and keep them there.  Read the Word daily and keep it that way.  You are worth it. 

If I would have listened to that, I would not be where I am now.  The Lord works in His timing, not man's.  I want you to be aware that listening to "man" in many situations after you are living and walking in the Holy Spirit, is dangerous.  There are so very, very many born agains that stopped at their salvation.  They did not complete the process, which takes the rest of their natural life to do.  And there are many born agains that are not living and breathing the Holy Spirit Life.  It is a cheap version of Christianity.  This is a life lacking true, raw faith.  The kind of faith that raised Jesus from the dead. 

God has the ultimate best for you, and typically it will not be exactly clean and easy to continue to be sanctified.  Yes, it will be worth it.  Yes, you will glorify God for the tears and cleansing.  I am a witness to this!!

My day today included listening to my dad's Korean war stories tape.  I have not heard my dad's voice since the day he died in July 2000.  It was sweet to hear his voice.  It felt just like yesterday.  He taped this in approximately 1994.  What a step for me.  I was on the floor in my bedroom, at Jesus' feet, crying, as I was listening to this.  That is a wonderful place to be.  Don't stop at getting down on your knees.  If you are lead, drop all the way down to your face on the floor at His glorious feet.  How precious.  The late pastor Adrian Rogers, as a young boy, actually dug a hole in the ground and put his face in the dirt.  If you understand this act of humbleness to God,  as I do, I am very happy for your mature Christian journey. 


Also today, I listened for the first time to a cassette where my mom taped me playing the piano in 1995.  She and dad were talking and laughing and I could hear my voice as well.  It was incredible to finally listen to that tape for the first time, today, as well. 

What Satan means to destroy, we can reclaim.  If I would not have continued my journey to my painful past with my childhood, I would have bought Satan's version of the past. 

You see, when I grew up, I didn't feel things were right in many ways in our home.  But, it is all you know.  It was not very good at times.  It was really weird.  But, after leaving the house at age 18, that was my "normal".  And there you go.  You get married and you end up marrying people who also have strange family dynamics and you both just keep repeating another generation that did not deal with the problems.  And then comes items in our lives such as divorce, alcohol abuse, emotional abuse and neglect and inappropriate everything else. 

Are you a hypocrite to call this out in your home and stop it?  I used to think so.  That is a lie of Satan.  But, our Lord gets ahold of you, and if you decide to rewind to your childhood, you see that you can be honorable to your parents, at the same time you take a stand in your own home. 

Did I always honor my parents?  Unfortunately, no.  If you read my previous blogs, you will see that.  I rebelled.  Now, it is so refreshing to take off the mask and admit that I rebelled.  It is wrong to rebel.  Period.  I did not honor my parents by not listening to them. 

After I got "saved", I did the typical reactions that you do.  Just as when you grieve a death, I believe there are stages of painful growth after being born again.  I got mad.   I got mad at denominations of churches that I attended for not leading me to Christ.  I felt lied to.  Why didn't anyone tell me about this?  Why are not churches opening the Bible during service?  Why don't churches use the term "born again"?  Why didn't the church read all parts of the Bible in our weekly readings? 

Do I still have grave concern about many main denominations of churches because of these flaws?  Absolutely, yes.  Am I mad because of my situation?  Not any more.  You see, I had to find Jesus myself.  He was still knocking on my heart, through all of that dysfunction of the "church". 

Now, on to my parents.  Did I think they could have been a better example to me?  Yes.  Do I understand why they weren't.  Yes.  They were mirroring their parents!  They were just surviving most of the time due to their own problems. 

Do I want to live like my parents?  No.  But, I do want to take the good things they did and expand on them instead on magnifying the things I do not agree with. 

They are not here to defend themselves.  They are deceased.

I took out two letters my mom wrote me prior to her lung cancer death.  She died a horrific death, but luckily Morphine kept her painfree.  Her handwriting is very poor.  My mom suffered incredible anxiety during her last 7 months of life, fighting cancer.   That, in itself is a living nightmare to witness.  What Satan blinded me of, is that I read these letters and put them in a drawer for years.  I could only see snipits of negative from them.  How unfair!  You see, I took them out a few weeks ago and cried over them!! They were loving and lovely and complimentary.  They were intimate and fresh and touching.  Satan will blind you from the Scriptures, but he will also blind you from finding beauty in things.  Things that will cause you to advance in your faith.  He knows you well.  Demons have been studying humans since they were flung from heaven.  And they have been studying you since birth. 

Let me say this:  If you have been offended in any way:  Sexual abuse, spousal abuse, infidelity:  What many of us do is drop into a depression instead of anger.  And I understand that this is actually very unhealthy.  We get depressed instead of getting angry at a person that deserves to hear our appropriate anger.  I did this many times in my life.  I saw loved ones do this as well.  It didn't solve anything in the end and the abuser did not face the wrath of what they did. 

Our culture has us walking into the Halloween shop for another mask everytime we face a roadblock.  When we will start solving things?

My trips to the cemetary are so wonderful now.  I cry so hard at times, though.  I wail out to God at times. Not mad at God, just cry.   But, I am so in love with my mom and dad now.  Healthy love.  My mind of Christ now allows me to just drift into the good times and good ways they tried to protect us from the world.  Those daggers of pain don't come very much at all now.  The Lord keeps revealing the love they had for me in so many instances.  The tree house we made as a family, the way they loved me to play the piano for them, the way my mom loved me to do her hair and makeup and nails.  My dad having me help him chop firewood.  Small talk with dad.  Cleaning dad's barbershop for a quarter.

My rebellion has run its course.  I rebelled against God and my parents and if I could change both, I would.  But, I cannot.  What I can do is change my home, now.  To be a good example for my children.  Ask my adult children for forgiveness for my past mistakes.  Show them a woman in love with Jesus Christ.  A Bible reading, weeping, changed soul, who happens to be their mother.

Would you join me, brothers and sisters in Christ?  Will you clean out your closets for your generations to come?  Even if you will face resistance, tears and pain for a short time?  Will you be that kind of warrior?  And end up loving your childhood for what it was, for what it did for you to now have eternal life?  Our parents gave us life.  Let us just tweek the recipe of life for the next generation of Jesus Followers. 

God Bless you all. 

Ema McKinley-Miracle healing in the Midwest

I saw this woman speak last night.  I know her cousin Linda.  I have worked with her.  God is pouring out His Spirit to the earth in massive portions right now.  Are you ready?  Are you reading the entire book of Acts?


http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ema+mckinley&oq=ema+mckinley&gs_l=youtube.3..0.1050.4876.0.5165.12.6.0.1.1.0.154.721.1j5.6.0...0.0...1ac.5OjIZdxd8z8

Money Is Dirt....Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Glory to God on this Sunday.  I am excited to start up the blog again.  I am not sure how I will find time, but I will count on God to provide.  I once shared with some Christian friends that God does bend our time.  If we honor Him with an abundance of time, He will bend it further to provide.  Just as He bends our pocketbooks when we tithe, He will do the same with our 24 hour days.  I am living proof of that.   Praise and Glory!  He is so good, and I will not take my salvation for granted!  Lest you ever rest too much in your salvation.  Beg for an urgency in your heart to reach out to the lost.  We have plenty of work to do until He comes back.  It is the kind of work that is out of a response to grace, not the "works equals favor" thought process.  Fight that off, daily.  The simple equation is:

You asked Jesus into your heart.  It was a sincere plea, that you now understand you need a Savior, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Then, out of grace, you were saved, a sinner.  You repented, changed your ways.  The Holy Spirit now inhabits your being, and assists with continual conversion until your last day on earth.  You read your Bible daily and quiet your life down to hear what God has been trying to always say to you.  You respond by changing your life, shedding your sinful desires, habits and negative, destructive people.   You accept that you will receive opposition, most fiercely from family and close friends.  You have a joy in your heart that makes that rejection tolerable, because you are praying for them now, and in time, many of them will come to Christ.  Nothing can compare with having an eternal Father.  When we were lost, we didn't even know how lost we were!

Money is Dirt.  Does that make you uncomfortable?  I am currently reading Bonhoeffer.  It is a large book.  Do not at all be intimidated by that.  I am half way through.  It is not hard reading.  Don't you think that if you are in the season of your life that you are reading a Born Again's blog, that you also are at a level of maturity that this country (USA), cannot appreciate?  Do you really want to spend your time finding out about Tom Cruise's divorce?  Is that news?  How about the news story here below that the major networks declined to mention? 


http://global.christianpost.com/news/fifty-christians-burned-alive-in-pastors-home-in-nigeria-78303/#hZemZSAjdqlpPDwe.01

I know you are big, strong Spiritual Warriors for Christ.  I am certain you are out exploring the real news, and are using discernment in this evil world to find this through good Christian sources.   Glory to God, who expands our minds to the important things of life!  He increases our intelligence, burns away the cobwebs, and makes His interests, our interests.  We now cry for what He cries for!  On the the dirt....

I need to also tell you about another book.  It is called Enough.  It is by author, Will Davis, Jr.  It is a book about how we need to really get rid of our stuff, our too large of houses, our fancy SUV's, quit obtaining things for happiness and just say "enough".  We work too many hours, have too much debt, ignore our family for the sake of building our retirement.   Examples:

I don't have much, but what I have, I own.  This past few weeks, I had a garage door opener that I had to replace ($355.00) and my sunroof of my car is malfunctioning.  Due to the dry summer, I haven't had it pour in on me yet.  Trying to just get it to seal and leave it.   I heard a lady on TV (watched a little local news).  She was bitterly complaining that she had just put new sod down, and now she has to water it so much, her water bill went up!  Who cares!  If you can afford sod, you can afford water.  Why are we reporting such news?  Maybe, interview the farmers.  Stop with that.

The point being, is that I don't need a sunroof or garage door opener.  I never had either in my days of less.  I never had sod.  I can say, no one really needs any of these three items.

I remember saying many years ago, that the more toys you have, the more trouble.  You are constantly on the phone, internet or shopping to repair, replace and maintain these things.  Boats, travel-trailers, cabins, video cameras, etc.  They are causing you distress, as you are trying to make them new again.  It is taking time, keeping them at the level you bought them in.  They truly own you, to a point.

I was talking with some adults yesterday, women about 8 years younger than me.  We were talking about the "drought" and then about the drought around mid 1980's.  Our local area was hit hard then.  The farm economy took a huge hit, interest rates were high, unemployment was extremely high, and our two major factories shut down in our area.  Actually, it was sort of a ghost town here.  Many moved to Texas for work.  My parents moved to South Carolina, and stayed there for 11 years!

What was interesting is that many times, we miss details of trends in our environment.  I mentioned that back then, the banks and credit union parking lots were full of campers, boats and cars, that people had lost to the bank.  It was horrific!

What is more alarming, is that these two ladies could not recall this.  Tell me, readers that you are looking around, and taking notice of things.  Tell me you are not wasting His precious time.  Be alert.

The Good News is this:  If you ask your heavenly Father what He wants of you, and you are sincere with your prayer, He will assist you to know how much is too much.  I have decided in my heart, and expressed to a witness/friend, that if my income ever increases above $60,000, I do not need more.  I will give away the rest.  Why not come up with a plan like that?  Why not plan ahead for success, and a way out so that you will not be trying to walk that camel through the eye of a needle.  (Read Luke 18:25).  Actually, there are scholars that believe there was a narrow gate in the Jerusalem wall called the Needle.  It was designed for walking access only.  Travelers could not use this entrance if they were bogged down with goods and a beast (camel).  Don't get caught up on anything other than what Jesus is saying here.  If you have a lot of stuff and money, it makes it nearly impossible to enter heaven, because excess changes us.  It changes our hearts.  And as Satan works, he works slowly and methodically.  He and his demons have been studying humans for at least, thousands of years.  And if Satan knows how to get your goat, imagine how easy it is for him to get your goat if you are secure, rich, and surrounded by beautiful things.  You are just lulled to sleep in what you "Gained due to your hard work and blessing by God".  Watch out.  The most joyful Christians are those in 3rd World Countries, who live 15 to a 12' x 12' room.  They worship in the presence of missionary teams like we can never imagine here in the USA.  Praising God, dancing, speaking in tongues and shouting for hours.  They leave their makeshift worship center to walk back into their world of rape, hunger, drug and alcohol abuse.  We have so few missionaries, and so much need.  I am planning a missionary journey in the year 2013.  I can't put this off any longer.  My Heavenly Father said to me, "I have so much for you to see", in regards to a world of need.  A need for a Jesus Christ.  They are so open to hearing about Jesus.  Their childlike faith is something our "religious" lack.  They don't sit around and argue at Bible Studies like we do about divisive social issues, how loud the music is at service today, why the prayer team is talking about faith healing, etc.   They just try to figure out who is going to carry the water (if they even have a well), and ration out food.

Would you dare join me and get to the point of searching out deep and perplexing real issues?  This blog reflects the issue of how much is enough.  By the way, if you have an annual income of $20,000 in the United States, you are in the top 11% of the richest people in the world.

I started saying about 20 years ago that I did not want to win the lottery because it would change me and my entire life.  I was a young punk, living in sin.  Living religious with my once in awhile worship.  But, Glory to God, I had my head somewhat straight then, to keep me grounded for this time now.  When I said that then, I got objections like you would not believe!  Now, I don't say it, because I quit gambling of any kind.  It offends me, as they Roman officers gambled at the foot of the cross.  No need to talk about it, unless someone wants to open up that door.  That will be another blog.

Take time to reflect on this.

Luke 18: 22-25  When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then, come, follow me."  When he heard this he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.  Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God".

Birthing Pains of The Filling of The Holy Spirit---The Baby is Coming!

Glory to God!  Glory and Honor, only to our Father.  I am only a vessel.  Let His Spirit provide all of the provisions for me to create this entry, for His Glory. 

Part of the enjoyment of this blog for me, created last September, is to provide a living, breathing testimony of my journey with the Lord.  It is ever evolving.  Just as we are being sanctified daily, with every breath asking the Lord to change us into being more Christ-like, I am fulfilled being able to capture many key points in my life, going back to my first memories, so that I might show you that your journey, whether you feel you are filled with the Holy Spirit or not yet, is a journey toward Jesus Christ being your most intimate ally.  Please pray the Holy Spirit will fill you.  Find a church that talks of that.  Pray for believers to collide on your path, to help you open up to this. 

Let me begin with the Good News.  I will share details of my last few years with you.  I felt birth pains and didn't even realize it.  Now, I am here to reveal this to you, so that you might understand the Glory that is coming your way. Yes, if you are born again, you should continue to read.  A good minister of the Word tries to include in his/her message, a revelation for all who have ears to hear.  Don't get so heady that you skip messages, because you think you got it.  Beware, and become a child.  I truly say, beware, or the Word could become hidden.  Ephesians 1:17-18  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

I was not exactly surrounded by faith filled people most of my life.  I was surrounded by religious people who acted a way that I learned to emulate.  Religious people who confused me.  Then, the Gospel confused me.  I found it bitter.  Impossible to understand how anyone could read that and feel good.  How anyone could actually be able to follow all of those rules, etc.  But one of my strengths was that I could memorize phrases people said and moments in time.  I can truly go back to a snap shot of a situation with almost all of the reality that it held at the time it occurred.  Can this be painful?  Yes.  I have worked hard at not going back to places of pain.  If I do, I retreat quickly, and ask Jesus to take me out of there. 

But, I recall phrases and situations that even non-believers said to me over the years that were actually words of knowledge!  The "giver" didn't even know God was using them.  Take a moment to look back at phrases said to you, and be open to those being words of knowledge.  I wasn't born of the Spirit yet, but God wastes nothing.  Now that I am born of the Spirit, living and dwelling in the Spirit of God, I see how God utilized every crumb of my past, and mostly used people, some of them wicked, to provide insight to understand where I am now.

Here are some of my birth pains: 1) Within the three years prior to my supernatural knowing that I was a child of God and that my entire life was now changing (April 14, 2011), I was having increasing guilt about sexual relation outside of marriage.  I sought counsel on this from Priests and licensed social workers.  I got the WRONG answers!  Boy, the Devil is active.  They truly were not speaking from what the Word of God states, and they obviously were not Spirit led people.  I may someday posts their comments to me, which will blow you away.  But, I will cover that later.  The good news is that I kept seeking the answer.  That answer really only comes from God, through His Word and through revelation after being Born Again.

2) My "medical conditions" of asthma, allergies, and anxiety were increasing in intensity.  I was struggling with acute and chronic asthma and asthma attacks.  I was having palpitations and nightmares about my medical conditions. 

3) My ability to smoke and drink was changing.  I was having very severe asthma due to my occasional smokes.  Months of asthma conditions making me truly sick and scared.  An ER visit with oxygen hooked to me.  And more medicines.............Boy, watch out.   Those fancy Walgreens and CVS pharmacies are making a bundle off of you and your insurance company.  You drive thru a pharmacy as you get a BAG of medicine.  Not just one bottle.  A BAG.  A blog on that in the future. 

I was starting to see a sort of deception with alcohol.  The Friday after work drinks.  And guess what we did over our drinks?  Talk of nothing positive.  It is like God starts letting you look through a different lens as a gift.  And soon you see the deception of alcohol and the stumbling it causes.  I also started seeing through those lenses a sort of evil that occurs in these places of drinking.  Yes, that can mean hockey games and outdoor music festivals, not just restaurants or bars.  The way men feel they have a way to look at you, or talk to you.  Or worse, the vultures all of these years that thought they had a right to touch you.  Even if it is a brushing against.  Unfortunately, I have suffered much worse than a brush, a number of times.

Along with my attitudes toward alcohol, came a change in tolerance.  I found it more difficult to enjoy it in moderation.  I actually got surprised "drunk" once.  It was that I could not get away with drinking the amount I used to.  And then came the headaches and migraines over just one or two!  And then I noticed that someone would spill the only one I had in front of me.  And best yet---IT BEGAN TO TASTE LIKE GASOLINE!!!  HALLELUJAH.

Do I believe these are birthing pains?  Absolutely.  I had no idea what was happening, and if you are not yet born of the Spirit, you do not know what you are missing. 

The Bible talks so often about birth pains.  This has more to do with end times and the birth pains of Israel and her disobedience.  The beauty of the Bible, is that there is a running theme throughout.  And these themes actually link situations to each other.  Read Jeremiah and see how this all reads into end time prophesy of the book of Revelation, let alone Jesus words throughout the Gospels.   Also, let it link you to the occurrence of disobedience as a believer.  Back sliding believers.  Actually, there are many themes here. 

May you find comfort in my blog that a breakthrough is coming!   Any time you are tested and tried, there is a breakthrough coming.  Do you have any sin between you and God?  Get on your knees and ask Him how to truly repent.  Ask for revelation on how to do this.  I didn't truly repent of my sins, I just felt guilty, all of my life.  That is not enough.  If you have sin between you and the Father, it can be the reason why you are not moving forward.  That is not always the case.  He may be just burning off the dross!  Many of us were born again smack dab in the middle of our sinful lives, we just don't know how not to sin at that point.  We try to do "better", and fail and fail.  The message to capture here is that once you are born of the Spirit, you want to obey because it feels natural to obey a Father you know personally.  You have an ongoing communication with Him, and you ask, He reveals.  It will not feel so normal to sin.  You won't feel captive of sinful natures.  It you let Him work miracles in you, He will.  It may be sweetly painful, but the Lord wants to begin and continue to make you who He always intended you to be!  These words are true, and they are found in His Good Book!  Read it daily!  I beg you!!  Blessings...


Matthew 24:8  All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Jeremiah 4:31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child--the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, "Alas!  I am fainting............

Read the Book to understand these snippets of Scripture.  Read the Book to know how to live in this sinful world.  Read the Book to obtain a treasure called eternal life. 

Loading Women and Children First. All Aboard!!!

Blessing and Glory to our Father!  The Savior of Souls!  Iowa sunshine, a summer full of it!  Oh, the light.  Thank you for the glorious sunlight.  Yes, He will bring the rain.  He always takes care of us.

Much has happened since my last blog.  The Lord had me in an education mode, reading through His most wonderful Book, reading and learning also of great preachers, saturating myself in doctrine.

I got rid of most all of my cable last winter.  What was left was pure heaven.  Mostly religious channels, Discovery Channel, WGN (Go Cubs) and the typical networks.  And oh, have I devoured these religious channels.  Father Cedric, TD Jakes, Pastor Adrian Rogers, RW Schamach, just to name a few.  I find reason to put my hands in the air in my home and have Sunday worship every day of the week.  Thank you Lord Jesus for these anointed pastors, some have passed on to be with the Lord.

Are you changed since yesterday?  Since last month?  Pray for change.  For conversion with every step.  Live in the joy of the Holy Spirit.  Don't live in your circumstances of illness, death and relationship problems.    Pray for the revelation of Joy and Hope and Faith.

I stepped into a church Wednesday that I was invited to go to 15 years ago.  I have counseled with this pastor off and on for these 15 years.  A great faith preacher.  He is as misunderstood as I am in this religious world, which does not operate in the Spirit as it should.  As I stepped over the threshold of the door of the church, I said to him and those walking in at that time that, "I will be forever changed for stepping into this church".  Yes, I meant that.  Yes, as I read the Word of God daily, I am changed.

My blog today is for every one of you.  Don't let the title fool you.  It stems from my journey with the Lord these last 15 months especially.  Fast and intentional.  Heart changing.  And yes, I am a woman.  I also am a woman that has been married twice.  And I also am a woman who is being used by the Lord mightily.  Lest I ignore that due to society or what the Apostle Paul says about women's roles in the church, I cannot say what my Father would do about my ignoring His promptings to me.  So, I keep on truckin' toward the Light, with a power line to God that says to me, "Keep going.  Be careful listening to "mature" Christians.  Have loose lips for Me. I have a lot for you to see".

Yes, these are revelations from my Papa.  They are available to you.  Is there ingredients to get that power line to God like I have?  Well, I think so.  It obviously is the will of God for all of His children to turn to Him. But, He ultimately decides.  So, in faith we live and breathe and state His promises are true.  And in another blog I can go deeper into how I enjoy my relationship with Him.  Nothing short of reading the Word of God daily is sufficient.  That is the only way to survive the arrows of the Enemy, to keep out of loving this world, and to be productive for God's purpose.  That is what you should do now, today, and every day.  Pray that the Lord will make it food for you, like He has me.  I can't imagine not digging into His Word daily.  It truly is like eating a necessary meal.

Reading Matthew 26: 69-71:  Now Peter was sitting in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him.  "You also were with Jesus of Galilee," she said.  But he denied it before them all.  "I don't know what you are talking about," he said.  Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, "This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth."  He denied it again, with an oath: " I don't know the man!"


Now how do you like that?  Mr. Peter was outed by first a servant girl, and then another girl.  He, the most bold of the disciples, was outed by females, let alone "girls" and one is a servant girl.

Imagine in that society being a girl, after all we understand about women in those days.  Widows, too.  Wow, hate to be a widow back then.  And watch out for stone throwers, gals.

I am not a feminist.  I actually am a humble daughter of Christ.  I understand marriage now, and a woman's role in marriage, in partnership with her husband.  And yes, a Godly man who is accountable to God, is a leader in his home.  I am single.  But, if ever married again, Scripturally I understand how marriage works.  And I praise the day that I may be blessed with that!!

Ok, don't lose me here.  Here is another example of "children" of Christ that I love to find in this Holy Bible:

1 Timothy 4:12-16:  (Paul is writing to Timothy here)  Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.  Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.  Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.


Oh, Glory to God how the Word reveals things to those who are childlike, like me!  Pray for that innocence in Christ!

See, over and over and over again, God's Word shows that the "children"; the lame, the menstrual bleeders, the lepers, the widows, the beggars............they all get it and seek God!!  They are not on their mountaintop, looking down.  They are looking up, to God!  For help and guidance.  The elders, the religious, the leaders; they, unfortunately have pride issues that keep them from opening up their minds and hearts to continuous new levels.

But also, the children are wise, as in the example of Matthew.  They see right through.  They are not confused by the world, yet.  They are not afraid to speak the truth.  That is, until the mature stop them.  And most of us get "shut up" by the more mature when we were children or teens.  And our little light in us goes out for a while.

If you are a Jesus Follower, you need not shut up.  You seek counsel until you find counsel that does not try to limit you, tame you or trim your sails.  If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you through missions (does your heart ache when you are exposed to mission work?), through agony over the forgotten (does your heart ache when you see women and children who suffer even in your community?)----just a few examples here.........Then start your own mission field.  You are the church.  Be the church.  Take your temple out there and have some tracks on you.  Have some gift cards on you.  Be alert at the store to the woman trying to pay for her groceries.  Look for the shabby car behind you in the drive-through that could use free burgers, hug freely, touch those that look like they need prayed for.  Endless glory to be had on earth, while we wait for our Savior to come!!!

I urge you to pray to your Heavenly Father to start you on a journey to make a difference.  You can do this alone or with your church or a trusted brother or sister in Christ.  Get creative for Christ.  Turn off the bad news on TV and create some Good News.  You are commissioned!

Matthew 28:16-20.  Read it.  Quit ignoring this.  You are a new generation of Christians.  Pray on your knees how to possess a heart that wants to take this on.  Forget what other people may think.  Forget even what your family will think.  You are not a radical, crazy.  You are a child of God.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_c0cALUFH0