Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says The Lord.//Keeping heavenly thoughts in an 'ISIS filled news' world

For it is written, "Vengeance is Mine. I will repay." says the Lord. Romans 12:19b

The Lord is a Man of War: The Lord is His name! -Exodus 15:3

At this point in time, it is safe to say that no one in America has not heard about the rise of ISIS. Thoughts about how we should be handling this particular extreme degree of evil, what action we should take, etc. may vary amongst people, but one thing is for sure, everyone is aware that they do in fact exist and that they are persecuting our brothers and sisters in the Middle East and some from the West as well at an alarming rate.

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night. Nor by the arrow that flies by day. -Psalms 91:5

While it is easy to let our thoughts go towards all the awful things we would like to repay them with and how much we want to obliterate them, what is Heaven calling us to do?

**To be clear, I'm not saying we shouldn't stand up for ourselves and I am very pro "our military going over there and taking them out". I just don't think that alone is the answer. Our world has so many problems and they have been getting increasingly worse over time. We treat the symptoms, not the disease.**

America's problem is we have become numb to reality, numb to the world, and very self absorbed. The phrase, "first world probs", made me laugh at first, but now my husband and I talk about how true and sad it is! We worry about such little and meaningless things, while our fellow sisters and brothers overseas are losing their lives. We take our freedom for granted and whether we are aware of it or not, we do nothing about it.

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. -Romans 8:34

As Christians, we need to be bombarding heaven's gates right now with prayers. God wants us to intercede on behalf of the Middle East! Jesus LIVES to make intercession for us; why won't we intercede like we should for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted day by day? For an evil like ISIS to fall on their face before a Holy God and turn from their wicked ways? For our government to stop trying to be politically correct and get spiritually correct?

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. -Hebrews 7:25

Billy Graham's wife once said, "If God doesn't punish America, then he'll have to apologize to Sodom & Gomarrah." As much as I don't want to see His wrath poured out on us, what choice are we leaving Him? It's easy to think, "I'm living my life the way I should; there's nothing else I can do." That is a lie from the pits of hell.

...For we are not naive to Satan's schemes. -2 Corinthians 2:11b

We can always do more. We can always pray more. Every last one of us. Even the most fervent prayer warriors can always increase in Him. Satan wants us to believe that there is nothing we can do. He wants us to keep our heads buried in the sand. But again, we are not ignorant of his devices. We need to be flooding heaven with prayers. 

I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing. -1 Timothy 2:8

What should we be praying for specifically you ask? How do we pray for such evil? As hard as it may be, pray for ISIS. Pray that they will have such a revelation and encounter with The One true God, The Holy One of Israel. Pray that they will fall on their face before Him, the holiest of holiest, and will repent and turn from their wicked ways. This isn't always an easy thing to pray for, but even ISIS isn't beyond redemption or saving. 

Bless them that curse you and pray for them that persecute you. -Luke 6:28

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:32

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. -1 Timothy 1:15b

Pray for our government. Pray for our pastors and our churches. Change has to come from the inside out. 

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. -1 Timothy 2:1-4

Pray for the Holy Spirit to fall on the Middle East! Pray for our brothers and sisters: for peace that can only come from The Prince of Peace, for comfort that can only come from The Holy Spirit, for endurance and strength to keep fighting the fight that can only come from our Redeemer, and for a shield of protection that can only come from The Lord Almighty.

My Redeemer, THE LORD ALMIGHTY is His name, is The Holy One of Israel. -Isaiah 47:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. -Matthew 5:4

Pray the blood of the Lamb over your family by name and over your house. Satan and his demons cannot go where the blood of the Lamb is!

For they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. -Revelation 12:11

Pray, pray, pray! He desires this of us! He WILL answer us! We must pray with confidence that He will be faithful and answer us when we ask in the name of Jesus!

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. -James 1:6-7

I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. -John 14:13-14

For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. -Isaiah 56:7b

This awful state of our world doesn't mean we just give up and throw in the towel. We keep the fight until Jesus comes back for us! In the meantime, we pray for as many souls to be saved, as many hearts to come to know Him as possible.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self controlled, so that you can pray. -1 Peter 4:7

The Lord your God is in your midst, The Mighty One WILL save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. -Zephaniah 3:17

There is coming a day very soon where they will be no more war, no more sadness, no more pain. Regardless whether they acknowledge His deity now, one thing is for sure, they WILL bow then. Let us pray for them to recognize Jesus' deity here, so their souls can be saved. 

For it is written, as I live, says The Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue will confess to God. -Revelation 14:11

That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth. -Philippians 2:10

He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. -Isaiah 2:4

Put your faith in the God who has always been! It is by His will that we were created, that everyone on this earth was created, and He is in control. Let us do our part now!

Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of The Lord has risen upon you. Deep darkness covers the peoples. -Isaiah 60:1-2a

And they do not rest day or night saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" -Revelation 4:8b

You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created. -Revelation 4:11

"To Our God" by Bethel

Up from the ashes Your love has brought us
Out of the darkness into the light
Lifting our sorrows
Bearing our burdens healing our hearts

To our God we lift up one voice
To our God we lift up one song
To our God we lift up one voice
Singing Hallelujah

Chains have been broken eyes have been opened
An army of dry bones is starting to rise
Death is defeated
We are victorious for You are alive
Hallelujah Hallelujah

We'll make His praise glorious glorious, glorious
For His name is glorious, glorious, glorious
Make His praise glorious, glorious, glorious
Shout His name Glorious, Glorious, Glorious

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzZmE5Ngeqo

I was not called to be Lukewarm // My First Encounter with The HolySpirit

The past two blog posts, I have touched on my personal first time experience with The Holy Spirit after my Mam-ma died. To not take away from the things I wanted to share with everyone in those posts (my husband's first encounter with The Holy Spirit and the then announcement of our move to PA), I just briefly touched on it, but I wanted to now write a post documenting the whole story for those who would like to read about it.

All my life I have grown up in the church. I went to AWANAS, I went to a Christian school elementary through high school, I was around all Christian people and friends, and I was raised by a Christian family. I grew up with extensive knowledge of the Bible and memorized much of it as well. I went on to a Christian college also. It is probably safe to say that I had a lot more head knowledge about God and The Bible than many people I know. However, that's just it; I had head knowledge. Like many Christians today, I was just lukewarm. Everything I did was virtually just acts of going through the motions and that is not real. I never thought much of it, however. I believed in God and that was all that mattered, right? Wrong. James 2:19 tells us that even the demons believe and they TREMBLE at Jesus' name. Last time I checked, the demons weren't going to be in Heaven.

It was after my Mam-ma died that I was in such a dark, lonely place that I realized  something was indeed missing out of my life. I was in her church and encountered the presence of The Holy Spirit for the very first time and was forever changed. The pastor was preaching how many church members will die and go to hell and be 14 inches from Heaven, because that's the distance from your head to your heart. Billy Graham too has preached how 70% of church members are not really saved. I'd heard this statistic before, but of course didn't think it applied to me. However, being so lost after my Mam-ma died, I realized I had used her as my spiritual rock and funneled all of my spirituality through her in a sense via our daily several hour long phone conversations, etc. Now that she was gone, I felt so alone. That is, until I truly encountered the Holy Spirit's presence. When I felt Him for the first time and He consumed me, it was like nothing I've ever experienced before. It literally broke me down in the best possible way when I felt His love. It was so overwhelming and again, in the best of ways. The verse in Psalms 34:8, "taste and see that The Lord is good." had an entire new meaning for me.

All I know, is I was never the same after that. Nothing felt like going through the motions to me any more, but rather I had this intense hunger and thirst for more of Him!

It was then that I really fully realized His gift of salvation and His gift of The Holy Spirit. It broke me down to realize the depth of His love for me and for everyone.

Psalms 3:8, "Salvation belongs to The Lord; Your blessing is upon your people!"

Bethel has a song that I love, called "What would I have done"

I will not forget the cross, the pain that You endured for us

Where You carried brokenness and shame

Never to forget the day Your love broke through to make a way

For hope to rise within my heart again

Overwhelming sacrifice, You freely paid the highest price

Suffering You traded blood for me

My heart will sing the deepest praise, my lips rejoice, my hands will raise

For the death that brought me into life

All for love

My Jesus, You gave all for love

I am standing in the wonder of

Your great love

What would I have done if it wasn't for Your love

The love that tore the veil inside my heart

What would I have become if it wasn't for Your blood

The blood You gave for all on the cross

I'm still growing each and every day. I'm still learning constantly. A book that changed my prayer life and just my outlook on every day life and how it relates to my relationship with God is Glimpes of Grace. It helped me realize that if you just set aside 20 minutes over coffee every morning for devotions, you're doing something wrong. That's not a "real" relationship. Your relationship with Jesus should be greater than that with your spouse. I talk to my husband all throughout the day, even if it's just 2-3 minutes here and there, not just over coffee every morning. That's how I've learned to talk to The Holy Spirit too! All throughout the day, about the mundane, and the big things... In order to have a real relationship with Him, we cannot settle to be lukewarm. We have to be all in, on fire for Him, just as He is for us! 

Since encountering The Holy Spirit for the first time, I'm so much more aware of Him and now make a point to welcome Him into me, my house, into my family. I ask Him to fall on us all each and every day. We can never have enough of Him and we always need to invite Him in. He is after all, a person.

This journey has been amazing for me and now it's even sweeter than I'm on it with husband too. I look forward to all the amazing things yet to come through the power of The Holy Spirit and His great love.

"Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed! Hallelujah! You open blinded eyes to see! And we will praise You! You are the Everlasting Light! Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed!" -Bethel

Morning Scripture Reading

Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. (Proverbs 28:14 KJV)

While reading my Bible this morning (I am currently finishing up the book of Proverbs), I came across this verse. It spoke volumes to me. You may read it and think, "oh I don't have a hard heart", thinking it's meaning having a hardened heart towards God. However, in context, it is actually referring to hardening your heart against people or even certain people.

It spoke to me, because I have a tendency to get so annoyed with a particular person or a couple of people over time that I begin to just think badly of everything they do or say. I know this is not right and is letting the devil get in my thoughts and lead me down that negative path. I never would have considered myself as having my heart hardened toward them necessarily though; that is, until I came across this piece of Scripture.

I know that for these select people in my life, I am going to have to daily fight this battle and make a conscious effort to not let my mind think negatively towards them. I need to distance myself from them the majority of the time and when our paths do inevitably meet for select circumstances, I need to be as cordial and loving as ever. Matthew also has a specific piece of Scripture pertaining to this that my Mam-ma used to remind me of.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? (Matthew 5:44-46 KJV)

She used to refer to it as, "loving the lovely" and "loving the unlovely". Anyone can love the lovely; that is easy. This doesn't just mean literally, the lovely. It means anyone who is like you or favorable to you or lovely to you. However, it is not so easy to love the unlovely or those who are unlovely to you. I have always struggled with this. 

While I can easily love the outcast at church or in school, back when I was in school, and I can easily befriend the person that seemingly has little to no friends, I have a hard time showing Christ's love to someone who I'm around a lot, just simply because of these traits about them that overwhelm me or annoy me. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I began my drive home with my family yesterday with a mindset to be different and to be like my Mam-ma was and would have wanted me to be, to be like Jesus. I know I am imperfect and flawed, but I also know that with His love and guidance, it is possible. So here we are on December 2nd, 2013, and I am making a commitment to love the unlovely people in my life, no matter how difficult it may be at times.

Dorcas

I always so greatly enjoy going to my grandparents' church when I am home visiting. They go to Cornerstone Baptist Church in Allen, TX. It is truly a wonderful church. If you are in the DFW area, I highly recommend it. See cbclucas.org for more information.

I literally always feel as though God is speaking directly to me when I am at this church and I leave feeling convicted, renewed, and purposeful. I can honestly say I do not feel this way when I go to other churches and often leave feeling unchanged and untouched (as bad as that may sound). Cornerstone is one of the few churches left that truly preaches the Word, even the parts we do not want to hear, and does not sugar coat anything. Pastor Jim's goal is not that you leave feeling good about yourself and has even said multiple times that you should not leave church feeling good about yourself, but rather you should leave feeling convicted and ready to change something about yourself. As Christians, we should all always be changing. There is always ways we can make ourselves better. Benjamin Franklin said, "when you are finished changing, you are finished." These are such true words!

This past Sunday, Brother Jim spoke about Dorcas. If you are like me, you had never heard of Dorcas before now. Dorcas can be found in Acts 9:36-42. It is crazy to think that such an amazing woman is only talked about one time in the Bible and in just a few verses. Nonetheless, the verses that talk about Dorcas are very powerful and speak volumes as to who she was.

Dorcas was actually from Joppa, which is where Jonah was from. Dorcas is unique in the area of her identity. She had two names given to her: Tabitha and Dorcas. Her name meant gazelle. She was known for one thing primarily and that was a needle. She sewed coats and blankets for the widows and the poor. She was truly a selfless woman, known for her charity.

Pastor Jim said that if he could give Dorcas a life verse, it would be Jude 1:22. "And of some have compassion, making a difference…" Read this a second and even a third time if you need to! I know that I sure did!

Another thing that Pastor Jim said that really stuck out to me and I have been repeating over and over in my head since then is, "Compassion not only has a heart, it also has feet. Talk is cheap." He went on to elaborate that it does not mean anything if all you do is just pray for people or say you are praying for someone, but do not actually ever do anything to help them. If you pray for the poor, but let them starve, you are a hypocrite. Now, this is not to say that we should not pray for people or even that when we are unable to help someone that it is pointless to pray for them. Obviously, we should be praying for people and I for one am a firm believer in the power of prayer. However, too often as Christians we loosely throw out the words, "I'll pray for you" or "I am praying for you", when in reality we could do so much more to help that person. I have tried to make a conscious effort, in fact, of NOT saying I am praying for someone unless I know for one hundred percent that I will go home and be consistently praying for them. This may strike some as odd, but if you think about it, it really is not good to say we are praying for someone if we are not really going to… Even if we have good intentions and think we are going to, if we go home and just get back to our daily grind and forget about them, we should have never said we were going to in the first place. I know for me personally, by making a conscious effort to not say that unless I really mean it, I am finding myself praying more for those few people who I do go ahead and say that to, because I am holding myself accountable to keep my word and follow through and pray fervently for that person.

Back on track to Dorcas…

One of the last things Pastor Jim said was noteworthy of Dorcas in those few verses was her adversity. Verse 37 says that she got sick and died. Why would the story of such an amazing, selfless, Proverbs 31 woman end in sickness and death? Shouldn't she surely have been exempt from sickness in her final days? Was she not worthy of more in the end? The answer is sickness is not a punishment; God does not only allow the evil people in the world to get sick and the good and righteous people get to avoid sickness. In fact, God does not even cause sickness to begin with. It is so easy to get mad at God and blame Him when a loved one gets sick and that sickness takes them from us, but the reality is that God is not to blame. After Adam and Eve sinned and the fall of man occurred, we all lost any immunity we had to sickness.

Verses 37 and 42 explain that Dorcas' sickness was permitted and profitable. I want to share verse 42 specifically with you. "And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord." Yes, you read that right; many came to believe in the Lord as a result of Dorcas' death. She did not only glorify God in her life, but also in her death as well. Brother Jim brought up my grandmother at this point in the sermon, as she was a lot like Dorcas. She did good all the days of her life and led hundreds of people to the Lord. Even in her final days here on Earth at the hospital, she led a couple of nurses to the Lord. At her funeral, over 15 people were saved. One of the last things she said to Brother Jim at the hospital too was that she wanted her funeral to be centered around leading people to the Lord. She would have been so happy and pleased to know that her death saved at least fifteen souls from an eternity in hell.

Dorcas brought God glory and honor all throughout her life. She did not do things for herself, but rather dedicated her life to serving others. She left this world still honoring God and bringing people to Him. What an amazing woman! What are all of us doing for God on a daily basis? Are we living for ourselves or are we serving others? If we died today, would souls be won for Christ as a result of our death? Would our eulogy be so powerful that lost souls would see the light of Christ when hearing it? These are some of the things that I left church Sunday thinking about.

The truth is, most of us can not say these same things about ourselves, but that's the beauty of God's grace- it is not too late to change that! We can start right here, right now, making these changes. When you are cooking dinner tonight, make a little extra and take a plate or a bowl to an older couple or a widow or widower on your street. It is the simple things like that that make a difference! It is so easy to think that you are not able or you are too busy to really make a difference like Dorcas did, but the truth is, it really isn't! The enemy wants you to think that and wants to keep you from glorifying God in your everyday life, but every single one of us can do small things every day to bring Him Glory! The sooner we make it a habit, the easier it will be to stay consistent.

Philippians 1:12 says, "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;".