The Giver

11For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

 Dear Prayer Warriors,

 This week feeling discourage and feeding into the lies of the enemy, I started to think about the future and fear stared to enter my heart. Why was  I feeling this way? That morning the Lord answered, "Do you love the Giver more then the gifts?" You see, I realized that I was discourage because I so wanted my prayers to be answered by now. You see as a believer I know all things are possible with Him and when I didn't see them answered or things I had desired come to pass. I wonder" Why is God withholding this from me?" Then the Lord ask a question of me "Would you still love me with all your heart, if I never answered another prayer?" Loving the Giver is more important than gifts or prayers we want answered from Him. He's our Joy in hard times. Yes, He wants to bless us because He's a good,good father, but when all I can see is the mess and not Potter himself making something beautiful out of my mess, then I'm missing it. It's about the Giver and not on the gifts.

"Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up here."
Exodus 33:15

Moses was a great example of not wanting anything else but God's Presence in life. God had promised, a mighty angel would go with them and fight for them and they would win the battle. Moses didn't want an angel, he wanted God with them. Moses knew what it was to be in the Presence of God. He even glowed when he came down from the mountain being with his Savior.

Lord, I praise you and thank you for all your doing and all your going to do. Father, you withhold nothing good from me and the ones I love, so if it's not in my life it's not good for me. You know best for my family and for me. I'ts in your timing and you will do it  your way. You are my shield and lamp unto my feet, who shines the way of my path. Forgive me when I look forward more to the blessing than spending time with you. I need to feel your Presence in my life. Knowing your holding my family in your hands and you won't let go. Father, your faithfulness to your children is amazing. Amen

Blessings,
Christina

Let's Talk

Mark 1:35 (NKJV) 
³⁵  Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Dear Prayers Warriors,

I can picture Jesus getting up early to go talk to His father. He finds a little mountain top, as He sits, He looks to the heavens and talks to His Father. The intimacy between the two was amazing..... 

I think when the disciples saw

that, Thy asked ," Lord teach us how to pray". The love between the father and the son; they must have desired it. Your Father in heaven wants that with you and me. In this busy world of ours, we must take time and sit and talk to our Lord. The God who breathe the universe into existence wants to have a relationship with us. He has no need for nothing but yet pursues us everyday to come and talk to Him. He wants to hear about our fears,wants and desires. To Magnify His Name, to give Him Praise and Glory for all He's done and all He is going to do. Prayers for the people we love, friends and neighbors.Our plans for the future, and do they a line with His will. The deep things that we carry that only we know about. The struggles and heartaches that bring tears to our eyes. The things that we can't let go from our past. How about the Joy and Peace we fill because we know Hes here. You see, there's is a longing in our soul that only can be filled by Him and everyday that goes by and we don't get some alone time with Him, we miss out on the best part of the day. That's why the enemy created business, it keeps away from the one who loves us the most.      

Blessing,
Christina

IN AWE OF YOU

Psalm 33:6-8 (NKJV)
⁶  By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
⁷  He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses.
⁸  Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.




Dear Prayer Warriors,


What a sight that must have been to see our all Mighty God breath out the stars, planets and the universe.He didn't have to wave a wand, use His hands. That day all three were there, God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit creating the heavens and earth. Better then any firework show, ever!

It's been awhile since I've written in my blog. Heavy trails tend to do that, ones that can shake the core of your faith. When we go through long and heavy trails, whether we caused it or by another person.We know that it had to go through our father first before it gets to us. Then He has to allow it in our lives. If we're honest with ourselves it's hard to imagine our Lord would allow us to go through some of the hard trails of life.

Through this trial, I lost the wow factor in my God. My problem seem so much bigger then my God. I forgot truly who my God was. My fears, doubts had taken over my heart and mind. I felt a little like Job, lots of questions but no answers. Then my Lord started to speak and I was listening. God is always speaking truth into our lives but are we listening.

I remember one night He said, "You've forgotten who I am" and He was so right. I forgotten how MIGHTY and GREAT our God is, who created the heavens with one single breath. I have to put my fears, doubts and unbelief and the foot of the cross,daily and He replaces it with HOPE, FAITH and JOY. I may not know the future but aren't you glad He holds it all together.
May we always be in AWE of our AMAZING GOD!

                                   

Love and Blessings,
Christina
                                       

Worthy, Fulfilled and Powerful

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (NKJV)
¹¹  Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
¹²  that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer Warriors,

We can learn a lot from the Apostle Paul prayer to the Church of Thessalonians. I know in my prayer life, I’m needing more direction in how I should prayer for myself and the people around me. Especially, my children. My prayers feel repetitive at times. Then the Lord spoke to me about these verses, I felt refreshed in how to pray differently for the people around me. There are three things I want us to see…..

The first is (God would count you worthy of this calling) when he uses the word calling here, it is talking about salvation. When He called us into the kingdom. We have been called to Christ. That we may be worthy of this calling, He makes the unworthy, worthy. We become worthy because of the grace of Jesus Christ. Pray, that we and our love ones and the Church of Jesus Christ would walk in a manner that is pleasing to our Lord.

Ephesians 4:1 (NKJV)
¹  I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

Philippians 1:27 (NKJV)
²⁷  Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,

Colossians 1:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (NKJV)
¹⁰  You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe;
¹¹  as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children,
¹²  that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

The second thing is (fulfill all good pleasure of His goodness) that every good thing would be fulfilled in our lives and people around us. His goodness, not ours, not what we think is good but what He says is good. That the Lord desires would be our desires. Pray, we would long for the things that God longs for. What is on the heart of our Lord! What good pleasures does He want to fulfill in the lives of our children. Pray,  we would listen and know the heart and mind of God.

Psalm 21:2 (NKJV)
²  You have given him his heart's desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

Psalm 145:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶  You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

And third (the work of faith with power) we would in power in our service to Him. How do we live out our faith, what He has called us to do but with power of the Holy Spirit! Pray, we would walk in Spirit of God. Our Children would be filled with the power Holy Spirit to fulfill His purpose.

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 3:16-17 (NKJV)
¹⁶  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
¹⁷  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Paul wanted the people to be worthy, fulfilled, and powerful so that the Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified. That the God of the universe would want to be gloried in me, in you and our love ones. That we would bring glory to His name. Amazing!!!

TOUCH THE SKY WHEN MY KNEES HIT THE GROUND

Prayer Warriors,

There is nothing like being on your knees before the Lord. When you lay it at His feet and He's there to meet you. I've found myself there, a couple of times this week. I've needed to be there because of the hopelessness I feel at time. When I bow the knee something amazing happens a piece of heaven has come down and hope is restored.

Sometimes a song just says it all. 

Love and Blessings,

Christina    

What kind of soldier am I?

Ephesians 6:18-20 (NKJV) 

¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

The Christian soldier is to pray at all seasons, and under all circumstances. His praying must be arranged so as to cover his times of peace as well as his hours of active conflict. It must be available in his marching and his fighting. Prayer must diffuse all effort, impregnate all ventures, and decide all issues. The Christian soldier must be as intense in his praying as in his fighting, for his victories will depend very much more on his praying than on his fighting. Fervent supplication must be added to steady resolve, prayer and supplication must supplement the armor of God. The Holy Spirit must aid the supplication with His own strenuous plea. And the soldier must pray in the Spirit. In this, as in other forms of warfare, eternal vigilance is the price of victory; and thus, watchfulness and persistent perseverance, must mark the every activity of the Christian warrior.

The soldier-prayer must reflect its profound concern for the success and well-being of the whole army. The battle is not altogether a personal matter; victory cannot be achieved for self, alone. There is a sense, in which the entire army of Christ is involved. The cause of God, His saints, their woes and trials, their duties and crosses, all should find a voice and a leader in the Christian soldier, when he prays. He dare not limit his praying to himself. Nothing dries up spiritual secretions so certainly and completely; nothing poisons the fountain of spiritual life so effectively; nothing acts in such deadly fashion, as selfish praying.

The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds.

Prayer Warriors,

Reading this brought a question to my mind.

         What kind of soldier am I?

Oh, how I desire to be that one ready for battle, in or out of season, having the full armor of God. Fervently praying for the body of Christ, my neighbors, family member’s, our country….sometimes we have to ask ourselves, why don’t we pray more? There are lots of reasons but one is maybe if I really fought in battle (prayer) the enemy would come and rage war. You’re probably right. Fear cannot be a factor in how we live our lives as Christians. We may not say it out loud but if I"m not moving forward in obedience or I’ll just lay low, I’m still a Christian and I’m on my way to heaven but are the people around you, are they? So if we’re not moving forward in an area of our Christian walk, are we walking in fear or faith? This is very convicting for me! A good soldier is always prepared and is ready to defend those that are around him. They are not concern about their own lives but the lives of others. I’m not saying we won’t experience fear but if we let control our lives in way or another…….keeping us from experiencing everything Christ had intended for us to walk in. Enemy will put fear in our hearts, but we have a promise…..

   

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

          Hebrews 13:6 (NKJV) 
          ⁶ So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

Let’s be soldiers, full of faith, ready for battle in prayer for the people he has put in our path.

          Blessings,
          Christina 

Kissed by the Father

Psalm 85:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰ Mercy and truth have met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed.

Prayer Warriors,

When our Lord spake that parable of the prodigal son, and represented the Father as seeing his child afar off in his misery, and how he had compassion on him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him, one cannot but feel what a touching and tender illustration he has given of this most exquisite passage of his own word: Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

 Barton Bouchier.

The Treasury of David.

                                         

What a beautiful picture does he give us on God’s mercy, truth, righteousness and peace? The prodigal son came to His senses (Luke 15:17) because He finally wanted to live in God’s Truth and not his own. The truth of God is amazing because reality sets in, and I see what a mess I’ve been sitting in. Then there’s that choice of what will I choose? Do I keep living in the mess I made or do I receive the Mercy of God, which was given to the prodigal son, and for you and I. God will always meet us with mercy, they are new every morning. He covers us with Christ Righteousness, the cross, the Lamb that was slain. We need to be a people that forgive and receive forgiveness. Where there is forgiveness, there is peace. Christ died so that we can be forgiven and be at Peace with God.

We need to pray for the prodigals in our lives and for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for ourselves. We need to walk in mercy and truth, but there has to be that balance. We can speak the truth, but it has to be full of mercy. Jesus spoke the truth always, but His eyes were full of mercy. We cannot forget that the righteousness we have, has been given to us by Jesus Christ. I had a debt, I could not pay and He paid debt, he did not owe. It was paid on Calvary. And we can have the peace of God that passes all understanding in whatever we may be going through.

When the prodigal son came home to His father, He was met with a kiss, full of love and mercy. 

Just like our Heavenly Father does! 

Blessing,

Christina

Riding the Heavens

Deuteronomy 33:26-29 (NKJV)
²⁶  "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds.
²⁷  The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!'
²⁸  Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.
²⁹  Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places."

Prayer Warriors,

When I read these verses,  my heart began to melt.

Our Lord loves us so much, that He rides the heavens to save us. I remember watching the movie "Lord of the Rings" and in one of the scenes, there's is a battle going on between good and evil men. As the battle rages, it looks like the good guys are going to lose. Then a big bright light shines down from the heavens and there on the mountain sits Gandalf on a white horse with an army of men behind him. I don't to tell have you who wins the war.

Can you picture it...... 

You can tell that I really like this movie but there has been times in my life where I've had to physically look to the heavens and picture my Lord coming to my rescue.

There is no one like our Lord! We are to rejoice and be happy(Deuteronomy 33:29). 
He's our shield, our  Prince of Peace. He's saved our children and set a path before them.
He provides and His mercies are new every morning. He's given us eternal life.

Look up and see your Redeemer riding the heavens.

Blessings Ladies,
Christina