There Is Love In R-evol-ution

I so much appreciate that revolution is full of love. Love certainly has the power to bring about a successful revolution. Any revolution that has love as its primary ingredient would gather people together for a common purpose. Spreading love is a great theme for changing the world. Would you join a revolution of spreading love and light?

Compassion is so needed in the political arena these days with so many people shouting against love and caught in the fear of their own minds. Compassion is also needed in organized religion where the sacred heart has been replaced by judging and condemnation of others. Let’s all join together and grow a revolution of mindfulness, of compassion, of acceptance, of unity, of shared purpose, of growth, of freedom for all, of unconditional love, of inner peace, of happiness and of the highest consciousness we can nurture in each other.

Revolution is so needed because corporate rule, ego-domination, war, religious extremism, and the end of the middle class are not sustainable and will leave the future generations a great big mess if they continue. It is time we all find our hearts, grow our compassion, be accepting, seek to understand, tap into the collective consciousness, realize we are all connected, and find and focus on our shared hopes. Agree?

Peace, love and hope to you all.

My Vision of Crucified Christ

I saw myself standing before the crucified Christ.

I dipped my finger in the blood on His forehead and smeared it across my own.

I dipped my finger in the blood on His hands and rubbed it on my hands and arms.

I took some blood from his side, and rubbed it over my heart.

Tears were running down my cheeks as I thanked him for all that He suffered on my behalf.

I thanked him that the blood running from his wounds takes away my sins and heals all my diseases.

As I thanked Him for the blood that heals, I took more blood and rubbed it on my lower back where I had pain.

1 Peter 2:24
"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."

Mark 6:56
And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

FRIEND OF GOD

". . . and he was called the Friend of God" (James 2:23)

NO OTHER RELIGION BOASTS of friendship with its God. This is one of the many distinctives of the "great salvation" that is ours in Christ. Until Christ, there were few people of our race with whom the Lord could fellowship. That privilege was largely lost when sin entered into the very environment God had called "good." It is written that "Enoch walked with God" (Gen 5:22,24). Noah is also described as a "just man" that "walked with God" (Gen 6:9). Their "walk" however, was largely related to their revulsion with an iniquitous world in which they lived. Jude provides us with a prophecy of Enoch. It was one of impending judgement, to be fulfilled immediately in the Noahic flood, and ultimately in the coming of the Lord and the destruction of the wicked. "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14-15).

NOAH'S FAITH not only resulted in the saving of his house, but also in the condemnation of the world (Heb 11:7).

THE WALK WITH GOD enjoyed by Enoch and Noah was vital, but it was not fellowship at the level God desired. Being repulsed by evil is a requisite to fellowship with God, but it is not at the heart it. This is devastating to a legalistic view of spiritual life. In my judgement, Satan has perpetrated the notion that being against evil is sufficient to obtain divine approval. This is not the case! It is written of Jesus that He not only "hated iniquity," but that He also "loved righteousness" (Heb 1:9). It is clear from Scripture that true spirituality requires both traits. As it is written, "grace" teaches us not only to "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts," but to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world," all the while "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ" (Tit 2:11-12).

A DIFFERENT DIMENSION
Abraham stands unique among the sons of men. Because of that uniqueness, he is called the "father" of all that believe (Rom 4:11,12,16). When God promised Abraham "seed" as multitudinous as the stars of heaven and the sand of the seashore, he "believed God" (Gen 15:6; 22:17; Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6; James 2:23). That faith endeared him to God, provoking Him to call Abraham His "friend." The patriarch required no further evidence to substantiate the promise. God's word was sufficient!

LATER SCRIPTURE ASSESSES ABRAHAM: "Art not Thou our God, Who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham THY FRIEND for ever?" (2 Chron 20:7). "But thou, Israel, art My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of ABRAHAM MY FRIEND" (Isa 41:8). "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called THE FRIEND OF GOD" (James 2:23).

WHAT A MARVELOUS THING! – to be known as "the Friend of God!" Note! He does not say "A friend of God," but "THE friend of God." "Friend," in this case, means "associate" or confidant. It is someone in whom another confides. In the case of Abraham, God divulged His intention to bless the world through His offspring. Considering the times, and the sparse amount of communication between God and the human race, this is a wonderful thing! The Living God took a man into His confidence, divulging something that would not be comprehended for centuries to come. The remarkable word of the Lord on this matter challenges our mind. When sending angels to destroy Sodom and the cities of the plain, "the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do" (Gen 18:17). Furthermore, concerning the coming Messiah and the day of salvation, Abraham was so close to the Lord that God could not keep from revealing the plan of the ages to him. He had determined to bless the whole world, which He had previously destroyed by water, through the offspring of the woman – specifically, Abraham's Seed (Gen 12:1-3). This promise still challenges the minds of those dominated by the Spirit. How close Abraham must have been to the Lord for Him to reveal this secret in such spiritually primitive times!

WHAT IS A FRIEND?
This is a very strong word, denoting more than mere familiarity. There is nothing casual about the word. The word "friend" comes from a word meaning "dear, i.e. a friend; in action, fond, i.e. friendly (still as a noun, an associate, neighbor, etc.): – friend. In the Hebrew, it carries the idea of intimate involvement based upon affinity. Scripture uses the word more in the sense of an "associate," someone brought into an established purpose – a confidant – someone with whom personal matters are shared and to whom purposes are divulged.

ABRAHAM IS CALLED THE FRIEND OF GOD because he was dear to the Lord, and thus the Divine agenda was revealed to him. The friendship was not merely one of closeness, but one that moved the Lord to divulge His purpose to Abraham – a purpose involving the whole world. Even when He purposed to destroy Sodom, He was moved to tell Abraham of His intentions. Friendship with God is something to be desired by all of us.

Who wants to Be a Millionaire? Not Me!!

There are a lot of people out there who want wealth, power, and pleasure.  I mean the thought of it sounds great to me at first!

I could spend hours of time fantasizing about how I would spend a million

dollars. People ask each other all the time, "What would you do if you had a million dollars?"

In the Bible there was a rich young ruler who came to Jesus. Matthew 19:13-26 , Mark 10:17-29 and Luke 18:18-29


I mean this guy had it all. He is young, (good start) rich (very comfortable and happy) and a ruler (admired, important, esteemed, powerful). In the account, this man comes to Jesus with a big question, the biggest question. He wants eternal life, he wants a security that money and power cannot buy. He is looking to the good Rabbi, teacher, to help him in this quest. Yet Jesus first responds to him with a definition of "good", stating only God is good. He follows up with a partial list of the 10 commandments from the Mosaic Law. (Also referred to as the Decalogue)

If we can trust this young ruler`s own assesment of himself he is a pretty good guy. Though most of us and many scholars find it very hard to believe as such.

Yet he asks Jesus this amazingly profound question even though he has seemingly been very good all his life. He asks, "what am I still lacking?"
Good question!

I honestly believe this man wants to know the secret, it says in Mark that he fell to his knees before Jesus.

Yet, here Jesus crushes the young man with a harsh reality.  "Go and sell your posessions and give them to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me."

It sounds harsh at first but I hear the voice of Jesus in this passage kindly pleading with this ruler. Jesus basically told the man stop being fulfilled with your life of luxury. In fact you give it up now, there will be treasure in heaven waiting for you. You really won`t lose anything. He then extends the invitation to follow Him.

Yet the curse of wealth could not be undone.

"But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved because he had much wealth and owned much property." (combined accounts Luke and Matthew)

What is it about wealth and power that keeps us from following Christ?

Having our needs met, even unto excess can easily give us a fasle sense of righteousness.
This ruler has probably never wanted in his life, has never stolen a loaf of bread to feed his family. Perhaps whose virtue has never been tested can easily think of himself as a "good" person.

Being good is easy when you have everything you need. Morality can easily be afforded by those in positions of wealth and power, yet when their finances or power is threatened they will do great evil and sin much to keep it. Just look at what has happened with America and the Wall Street buy out. Perhaps this rich young ruler too had a dark side?

Following Jesus is how true righteousness is developed, that is why Jesus told the ruler to come and follow Him. It is not merely knowing the WHAT of the question, how do I get eternal life?, but the WHO!

Eternal life is found in development not achievement. We cannot achieve life, it is something that grows within us and the source is the Spirit of God and obedience to His word. We did not earn our right to be born and live physically it was bestowed upon us. In the same way knowing Jesus is the secret of eternal life which is a gift. Revelation 22:17

So what does Jesus comment about the situation of this ruler to His disciples?

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." So it is impossible!

The disciples were "astounded" it says in the Scripture!
This ruler was a really good guy (supposedly) and isn`t wealth a sign of God`s blessing?? (a concept widely common in Jewish tradition and supported by many verses from the Old Testament)

But Jesus quickly reinstates His disciples` hope by giving the classic Sunday School motivational verse, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Think about the many rich young rulers we see in our world today, those on Wall Street, in government, CEOs and the lottery winners and the like. The words of Christ give warning of the danger of riches.

"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul" Matthew 16:26

James writes some pretty harsh words to rich oppressors in Chapter 5 of his epistle

"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.^{[a] 6} You have condemned and murdered the innocent, who were not opposing you. "

There are many more verses in the Bible, especially the New Testament that speak against greed and the lure of riches.

So the question again is "Would you want to be a millionaire?" My answer is "Not if it meant the forfeiting of my soul and corruption of my heart." Which would probably be the case!

And without God in my life, I would be a big fat camel trying to squeeze into a very tiny hole.

How to OVERCOME Temptation

You can learn how to overcome ALL temptations by the Word of God and learning from Jesus… He was tempted in every area and never fell. So if we study HOW He lead His life we can learn some key ways to apply in our own lives.

You CAN NOT fight temptations on a flesh level because you will always loose. You must first fill yourself with God’s Word in that area of temptation and learn what God said and build your spiritual muscles, during that time you will probably fall again until your spirit becomes strong enough in that area to rule over your flesh. Then you have to keep your spirit strong to stay there otherwise you will fall again… I have been through it many, many times. You will never win if you are just trying to use your flesh to say “no”. You must build your spiritual muscles in that area.

Think of it like a body builder, when they first start lifting physical weights they can’t lift very much, but over time by consistent workouts, eating right, taking supplements and training they become stronger. If you approach your spiritual development in a similar way you will get stronger, except your workouts are reading and meditating on the Word of God to get it into you, to let Holy Spirit reveal the Truth about that temptation. Normally when you fall to temptation there is “a lie” you have or are believing in that situation. It might be something from your past that happened, it might be you don’t think you are “good enough” or “strong enough“. It could be you don’t think “you are loved“, or “people don’t care about you“, but normally there is “a lie” somewhere in there that you are believing. Once that lie is exposed and the truth of God’s Word is revealed you can start to become stronger. Rarely do you overcome temptation overnight, though sometimes people are delivered from it instantly, I have found this is not the normal process.

Understand our job is NOT to fight the devil and demons, ours is to “RESIST” them Jam 4:7. When you read about Jesus when the Holy Spirit took Him in the desert to be TEMPTED, Jesus always said “it is written” and I believe after He spoke He simply walked away from satan after that. He didn’t stand and debate or argue, He didn’t even have a theological discussion with him, He didn’t even rebuke him. He just said “it is written” and ignored satan! This is one of the key verses I stand on, it is a process… Submit to God first, then RESIST the devil (or temptation), and he will flee. It is when you don’t give temptation any thought by thinking about it that it will start to go away. The more you think and ponder about that temptation the more it will keep it’s stronghold over you, when you STOP giving thought to the temptation you are loosing the hold it has on you. This is not easy, it is a training process of your thought pattern and actions. I’ll be honest, at first it can be very difficult but if you don’t do it you will stay a slave to that temptation.

Next, don’t put yourself in a place that you can fall… hence if it is watching movies or tv then don’t watch any movies or tv until you can be strong enough to make the right decisions of ones you watch. If you sin late at night, don’t stay up late and go to bed early, if it is eating sweats then simply refuse to buy them or have them in your house, if it is shopping or debt then stay home and stop going to stores. The first thing is to figure out where, when, and why you are falling and just don’t put yourself in that position anymore. This will probably be a life long decision, if you are weak in an area you will probably never be able to be around that area again the rest of your life unless you develop strong disciple and spiritual muscles.

God does NOT temp us, we live in a cursed and fallen world and you will deal with temptations the rest of your life in many different forms. As a Christian you need to develop your spiritual muscles on HOW to overcome temptation… not just temptations! Once you learn the process of how to overcome ALL temptations then you will start to have victory. Learning how to control your flesh is much like a 16 yr. old driver trying to drive a Ferrari on a race track. You can ONLY do it with Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Give yourself time to learn the process and become strong.

You can do this, every Christian has the Holy Spirit as a Comforter and Helper, now we just need to get your spirit stronger to tell your flesh what it will and won’t do! It is possible, but it is a hard battle that you will feel like giving up many times. The flesh DOES NOT like to be trained… it likes to have it’s own way, but this battle is worth winning and paying the price to get there. It’s never over, but once you start to see the devils tactics at some point you will learn to laugh and say… not today! You have to learn how and when he will deceive you… it is when you are the weakest and not the strongest. Understand satan is NOT a lion… he impersonates a lion and he is SEEKING someone to devour! Lions always go after the weakest, youngest, or the one in the heard that has strayed back. They NEVER go after the strongest in the heard! Find some strong friends or mentors to surround you and encourage you, don’t hang around friends that keep sinning or they will keep you in that bondage. Sometimes the first thing you need to do is change your friends and the people you hang around!

Temptation is COMMON to man, and will never go away. It is your job to learn how to resist and say no! Jesus already OVERCAME the devil and defeated him, our job now is to bridle our thought patterns and direct them towards the Word of God. Over my life the faster I have learned to say “NO” the faster the thought has left me. I get weird thoughts like anyone else that are not mine or God’s and I refuse to ponder or think about them. I simply change my focus on what God’s Word said about that situation and start to meditate on that instead of the temptation thought. Whatever you focus on long enough in life is where you will end up, if it is God’s Word you will end up victorious, if it the temptation you will end up in sin and possibly death every time. That death could be your marriage, a relationship, your job, your family, or even your own life or that of a loved one! All sin leads to some kind of death in our life.

No human is strong enough to overcome sin and temptation in there own life without the Holy Spirit. You may be able to do it for a short time, but you will weaken and fall. Remember the very first thing to do is SUBMIT yourself to God, then RESIST the temptation and don’t think about it or put yourself in a place that you will fall, and you will overcome it. Please understand God is NOT beating you up over failing, He is there with OPEN arms calling you back saying “you can do this, I have already paved the way for you, come and follow Me.”

Satan’s number one tactic is to lead and trick you into sin, then after you follow him and do it then he starts beating you up and accusing you because you did it. He will even lie to you and tell you that God (or someone else) can not love you now because you did this. He does this to keep you in condemnation and guilt. The Holy Spirit never does that, the Word says God IS Love! No matter how many time you may fall, God is there calling you back. Never let a sin keep you from God, that is a lie from satan and not the truth!

Pray this prayer out loud after reading it first.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit I want delivered from ______, I am asking you in faith to reveal the lie I have believed about this temptation and sin and to reveal the Truth of God’s Word in this situation. I surrender and submit myself you Lord Jesus because You are my Deliverer and Savior. I choose now to renounce this sin in my life and change my thought patterns, friends, words, and actions to conform to the Word of God and not the world anymore. I want to be FREE and am asking you Jesus to lead me, to be a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path to show me the way to salvation. In Jesus Mighty and Power Name I Thank You for delivering me and setting me free! Amen

1 Cor 10:12-13 AMPTherefore let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin]. 13 For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His ompassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always]
also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

Jas 4:7 AMPSo be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

1 Pet 5:8 AMPBe well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

From Witch to Christian

Emily's Testimony:

Like everyone else (with one exception), I was born a sinner. My parents said we were Christian, but I did not grow up in the church.  I did not hear the Gospel until I was in my early twenties, the night I came to Christ.  As a child, I was obsessed with the supernatural, and by the time I was a teenager, I was practicing witchcraft.  Meanwhile, I did know that there was someone named Jesus but I didn't really know who he was, except that some people called him "God."

When I was fifteen, a boy from a neighboring school swept me off my feet.   But within eight months, I had fallen victim to his manipulative charms, and had ditched all of my friends and most of my activities, and had started to avoid my family.   Looking back now, I wonder how I didn't see it coming...
The first time he beat me, I had just turned sixteen.  For a year, I wrote off the intermittent abuse as a fluke. However, once it intensified, I felt too scared and alone to do anything about it.  It's very difficult to understand that, even now, having gone through it.  I was so deceived.

One night, during a particularly fierce beating, I spontaneously cried out to this mysterious "Jesus" to help me.  The boy pulled me close, spit on me, and told me there was no God to save me.  In that instant, I believed him-- if there was a Jesus, then I wanted nothing to do with Him, because He sure wasn't helping me just then.

As I neared my twenty-first birthday, I had enough of the abuse, and I left. I moved 1000 miles to get away.  I had continued and increased my involvement in witchcraft over the years, and it evolved even more once I was "free."   Over the next couple years, I grew exponentially more promiscuous (even stripping for a time), drank a lot, and had grown addicted to self-injuring.  I was branding and slicing my skin to find relief from the flashbacks, nightmares and anxiety due to the past abuse.  I had frequent bouts of nearly paralyzing depression.  None of my promiscuity or drinking or prayers to my gods seemed to assuage the emptiness and turmoil inside me.

In 2007, I met a man  who was a Christian, but I didn't know that right off the bat-- had I known, I probably would've wanted nothing to do with him.  I fell for him hard....  But I began to pick fights with him about religion. I tried to persuade him to give up this so-called Jesus.  The more I railed against him, the stronger this man's faith became.  It made me angry.

One day, I noticed something peculiar.  I couldn't seem to pray to my gods and goddesses anymore or say the words involved in my spells.  I was quite literally gagging on the words.  I nearly vomited.  This continued, and I was getting more and more frustrated.  The following week, I had the strangest urge:  I wanted to buy a Bible.  I fought the urge for days, until I finally bought three.   Reading them, I was intensely annoyed because I found I could not make sense of the words.  The next week, an even stranger and more disturbing urge surfaced:  I found I wanted to go to church.  I held it in for a few days, until I quietly broached the subject with that Christian man I was dating.  He chuckled and felt my forehead, asking if I was feeling okay, but then he arranged it so that we'd go with his mom to her church that weekend.

Walking into the church that Sunday, I was shaking.  I thought for sure everyone would know instantly that I didn't belong, that I wasn't one of them.  I felt dirty.  As we sat there, I began to cry.  I don't have a clue as to what the sermon was about, because I was completely wrapped up in the experience I was having in that seat.  Inside me, emotions boiled.  All of the things in my life seemed to converge on that one moment-- and it was overwhelming.  I cried in my head, over and over, "Why did you leave me? Why did you let that happen? Why did you leave me?!"

Suddenly, I felt a warm, comforting feeling.  Then, I heard (but in my heart, not my ears), "I never left you."

Those four words resonated in my soul.

That night, confused and shaken, I knew what I had to do, but I was scared.  I knew somehow that Jesus had reached out to me.   So I randomly opened one of my new Bibles.  I looked down, and a verse jumped off the page at me:

"I have wiped away your transgressions like a cloud; your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
--Isaiah 44:22

I was like, "Okay!"

Then I called  the mother of the man I was dating and told her that I wanted to know Jesus.  For the first time in my life, I heard the Gospel;  she explained everything to me, and I knew instantly that it was the truth:  that I was a sinner in need of a savior; that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day so that I would be washed clean and redeemed; that I would have new life in Him.

I was born (again) on September 23, 2007, at the age of 23.

Everything changed.  I was transformed.  Some things were instant, others gradual, some still going.  I went home that first night, and found myself repulsed by being in my room where my altar to my gods stood.  I set about quickly to dispose of or destroy all of it.  I began to thirst for the word, and I finally found that I could understand it.  I read through the Bible for the first time within nine months.

Since then, I've been deepening my relationship with Jesus, and daily find myself more and more dependent on Him.   I've stopped injuring myself; I've come off of depression/anxiety medication; I rarely have flashbacks and nightmares.  I've quit smoking, I don't drink (except a glass of wine at family functions, like, twice a year), and I've found I have new desires-- desires to serve Jesus, to love others, and to know God more fully.  I have started a kind-of Twitter "ministry" where I try to encourage recovering self-injurers and educate others on the subject.  I am now married to that Christian man I was dating, and he loves me just as I am, even knowing my horrid past, and encourages me to grow in Christ.

Think about it!  The former witch, who despised Christians, who nearly hissed at the name of Jesus, has been fully redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ!  I am new!  In no way am I perfect, but He who is working in me IS perfect.  And I know that the Lord will complete the good work He has begun in me.  Praise be to God!  The only ONE who is altogether lovely!

Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. "
-1 Timothy 1:15

Thanks Emily for your Amazing Testimony!  

Seeking His Kingdom and His Righteousness First

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

When I hear people talk about this scripture I hear it in a context that does not seem to fit.  It appears to me as if many people want the things that are mentioned and they seek God in order to get the things mentioned.   That is seeking His hand and not his face (2 Chronicles 7:14).

In context, if you actually look at the things being mentioned in the preceding verses Jesus is talking about food, drink, and clothing.  He is not talking about Hummers, mansions, or Lear jets.

I take from this scripture that if we look after the things of God then He will look after our needs.  In addition, if you think about it, being in the Kingdom of God, the Israelites received manna day after day whether they were good or bad.  God takes care of his children, it is part of kingdom living.

However, there is more to this seeking God first business.  When we meet the person Jesus, we develop a constant thirst to seek Him first!  The first thought in the morning is about Jesus. When I wake up, the very first thing I do is listen to the bible while I am letting the caffeine sink in.  A long time ago, seeking God first not only meant putting Him first in priority, but putting Him first upon waking.

I find that if I seek God and His ways of doing things right, that my day simply goes better.  I walk in more favor, I do not have as much confusion throughout the day, and I am overall at peace.

This has become so much of a habit that if I ever skip the prayer bible reading-hearing session I actually think to myself "I am not putting God first today" and that is a somber revelation.  If I actually put work, or anything or anyone else before Him then He is not first in my life.

If you are not seeking God first then you are not seeking God first.

Take the time to prayerfully meditate on the following verses. (Matthew 6:24-34)

God bless,

Conrad

Bringing Heaven To Earth

We believe in Heaven. With us it is not just a matter of faith either. We also believe in Heaven because of all the evidence we see here on Earth. We see this evidence not only in the glorious natural world all around us but also in the endless acts of love that come from the hearts of people as well. These are the people who bring a bit of Heaven to Earth everyday and they are the ones we wish to thank now.

To all the people then who pick up the trash off the ground and plant trees and flowers in its place, thank you. To every parent who spends the day hard at work and then goes home and makes the time to play with and read to their kids, thank you. To every kind heart who has ever taken in and loved a stray dog or cat, thank you. To every person who has ever opened their purse or wallet and given to a charity not out of duty but out of love, thank you.

To everyone who has ever offered a ride, opened a door, or shared a smile with a stranger, thank you. To every good Samaritan who has stopped along the way to help a person in need, thank you. To every gentle spirit who has shared their laughter, encouraged a friend, or inspired another soul, thank you. To every single person who has tried to make this world a little better through what they do, thank you. And to every soul who not only knows the words “Love your neighbor as yourself” but tries to live them as well, thank you.

God doesn’t just want each of us to one day reach Heaven, He also wants each of us to bring a little Heaven down here to Earth as well.

Do your best then to love and be loved, to care for others and the world around you, to create joy rather than sadness, and to help everyone you can every chance you can. Do your best to let God’s love live through you. Then you will be ready for Heaven, because you will carry a bit of Heaven with you wherever you go.

Cruisin' for a bruisin'

So Jacob was left alone, and a man (God) wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man (God) saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man (God). Then the man (God) said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." Gen 32:24 - 26

Every living soul belongs to God. (Ez 18:4). Man and animal, saint and sinner all belong to God.

My brief span on earth, is my God given opportunity to recognise this. I can choose to ignore this fact to my peril, or I can choose to honor it. I can choose to wrestle with God or walk with God.

It is commonplace to ignore God and His attempts to gain my attention.

Jacob had led a life well, but painfully without God. Finally on God's second supernatural attempt (Gen 32), He gains Jacob's attention. Unwillingly Jacob submits and will hold on to God no matter what! No pain would any more be a barrier or hindrance to him approaching God.

Pain had been the highway for God into Jacob's heart. This is how God enters the hearts of many.

In prayer I process pain. In prayer I wrestle with God. In prayer I do not let God go until He blesses. In prayer I simply no longer accept bruising but seek blessing.

Finally Jacob was persistent in his faith, he held on to God. He refused to release God despite the tremendous pain he was in.

God is looking for persistent faith. This is demonstrated on my knees, even when they are bruised. Then bruising will lead to blessing.

Don`t Waste Your Life

How much time do we really have? How many more sunrises or sunsets do we have left? Our life can be measured in numbers but I want to talk about something more than just that.

Today I woke up to the news that Apple`s  founder Steve Jobs, a man known all over the planet, passed away at 56 years old. I planned to write this post last night as I sat in a food court eating a donut and having a coffee. But I couldn`t imagine that it would come at such a time as this.

"Your time is limited, so don`t waste it living someone else`s life" - Steve Jobs

Now most of us dislike "waste", we hate it when we buy something and find it years later on a shelf unused, or when we order too much and have to throw away good food or give it to the dog.

But most of us don`t like the idea of pressure either. We don`t like living under a divine time table, stressing to squeeze the most out of our lives before we die.

I`m not necessarily suggesting that we "do more" unless you are spending your days on the couch in loathing or self comfort.  I`m suggesting that we get serious about what we are doing and we renew our minds in order to do that. Romans 12:2 Waste happens when we are not careful of what we ARE doing.

We waste time when we forget the "why" of the things we do: We forget why we fell in love with our spouse, why we took that job, why we made that choice to follow our passion. We forget to cherish the day, the hour, and the moment we find ourselves in.

A wasted life is a life on cruise control, when we have lost our focus or it has become blurred and before we know it a decade goes by!

If you are not facing challenges regularly you may be in danger of wasting your life. No challenge means no progress. Now I know there are seasons of rest and time needed to recharge your batteries, but we are fooling ourselves if we think God made us to watch TV and live in luxury while the fallen world is in real need of His anointed saints.

I do not want to condemn but prod! Examine yourself. Are you avoiding a calling or something in your daily life that God is speaking to you about? Maybe you are or aren`t. God has a way of showing us the truth of ourselves when we stop, drop, and pray. Don`t hesitate to come before Him and He will correct you and guide you.  Do not despise His chastening, because it will bring forth beautiful and wonderful things in your life and the world around you.

So I encourage you all,
Live for something! Live for someone! We were made for His workmanship to do so.
Ephesians 2:10

We are living in a day and age when comfort and pleasure are stealing the spotlight of life.

DON`T WASTE YOUR LIFE!

You have something to give, something to contribute, a voice to speak and hands to work, and a heart to love.

Give these gifts to the Master and like the young boy with the loaves and fish you will see what God will do with your offering the many who will be blessed because of your efforts. John 6:9

Let the Gospel of Christ motivate you and light you up today! Wherever you are...

I Corinthians 10:31
Whether you eat therefore or drink, or if you do anything, you shall do everything for the glory of God.

One Nation Under God? - What's Wrong With Our Nation

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

These are not my words. In fact, these words were first proclaimed over 140 years ago by President Abraham Lincoln.1 If he were alive today, Abraham Lincoln would be shocked about how worse the situation has become in the United States of America.

The mere mention of God by a public official can bring an onslaught of complaint and derision by the liberal press.

In a nation where the freedom to murder unborn persons is a cherished "right," the freedom to express one's religious views is politically incorrect. Christians must not bow to political pressure to be silenced, since acquiescence to this censure will eventually lead to our loss of freedom to express religious convictions altogether.

Lest we think that we are the first generation to abandon God, a previous generation had the same problem:

I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. They have acted corruptly toward him; to their shame they are no longer his children, but a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? (Deuteronomy 32:3-6)

Regardless of these transgressions, God is willing to forgive us. If we return to Him, He will return to us and be our God.

"From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 3:7)

God Bless America!

Nobody is Perfect

We are all familiar with this worn out excuse. "Nobody`s perfect."  People often use it to justify their own actions or avoid the consequences of their mistakes. But instead of that typical take on the phrase let`s meditate on it a little.

What is "perfection" really? Is perfection merely an ideal or is it attainable? Will perfection satisfy us? If everything we did was perfect would we be completely happy?

If we know we can never be perfect why try to be perfect? Can we even imagine what "perfect" looks like. Is it physical? Spiritual? Moral?

Jesus states in Matthew 5:48 that we ought to be perfect as the Father in heaven is. So He clearly ascribes perfection to God. God is not lacking or flawed in any area. He is the complete image and essence of perfection.

God`s actions, laws, and words are perfect.  Psalm 19:7, Deuteronomy 32:4

So when God gave his perfect Law to humanity through the people of Israel, He knew they would fail to follow it so He established a system of justification. So essentially God was not requiring perfection apart from Him but rather through the rituals and priesthood people would be brought to a place of remembrance and reverence of Him and His commandments. So that they would be a people like Him, perfect and holy.

God wants to give us perfection through this process called sanctification, holy living through failure and repentance. He wants us to be whole and complete, a perfect creation in His image.

Jesus being both God and man came to bring the ultimate fullness of God into our lives just as the Old Testament system of justification did in the past for Israel. Jesus gave up His own blood to reconcile the gap that sin created between man and God by taking the penalty of sin upon himself. This is the extent of God`s grace, though none of us are perfect, that He would give up everything so that we could be.

So in our attempt to improve, we need not look to our own strength but firmly grab hold of His grace. It is not something we deserve but it is the requirement on the path to perfection and completion of the human soul.

The Power of Your Testimony

"And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 12:11).

Your testimony is about what you have experienced - what you have seen and heard. A real Christian can talk about their experiences with God through Jesus Christ. We as Christians are called to a relationship of real communication with the Son of God. God comes to live inside us. Things change. God deals with every person in a different way. The more Christians that come forward and talk about how God has intervened in their life, the more people will begin to realise that God is for real, miracles do happen, and prayer works. This will inspire others to seek God and turn from their sins so that they too can know the peace and satisfaction that comes to a person who truly gives their life over to God.

Acts 1:8 says, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." To be a witness to Jesus is to speak and communicate the things that you have seen and heard in your life, that happened because of Jesus. Its the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus real to us, and makes Jesus real through us.

God's plan is for people to hear the good news that Jesus Christ payed for their sins, and conquered death for us through rising from the dead. After believing, people should go on to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and then testify to others what God has done for them.

One of the greatest testimonies was from a power pagan emperor who came to know that the God of Israel was indeed God over all. King Nebuchadnezzar actually said in an announcement that went across the whole known world:

"I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me." (Daniel 4:2).

Like Nebuchadnezzar, we should seek to glorify God all over the world. Now, with the advent of the internet, it is possible to do this all over the world with very modest resources. I want to encourage YOU to do your part in spreading the fame of our God by writing down your story and sharing it with us all through the medium of the internet. I have done this myself and my story, although not especially dramatic, has reached thousands of people around the world and continues to provoke responses from readers in the form of e-mail messages. I personally have collected scores of testimonies from all over the world, many of which can be read on my site here. Many people are getting challenged and uplifted by this. You too can share your story with the world through this site and others with a similar purpose. You can reach people that no one else can reach.

The Bible says, "Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!" (1 Chronicles 16:8). If you have been rescued by God from your sin and the consequences of it, one of the ways you can express thanks to God is by telling others of what happened. Writing your story down will equip you to share it verbally with others, and will enable you to reach at least one person per day for the rest of your life for the Lord.

Other Considerations on Sharing your Testimony

If you have really drawn near to God, you will be like Peter, who said, "For we cannot but speak of the things we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20) even when he was persecuted and threatened on account of his testimony, and the power of the name of Jesus that he was operating in. The most important thing to testify of, though, is not physical miracles, as wonderful as they are, but the way God has redeemed your soul - bought you out of the hand of the devil for himself. The Bibles says in Psalm 107:2, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy". Its a wonderful thing when we can honestly testify that we now know God has forgiven our sins. If God has redeemed you, then you should say so - publicly. And one of the best public forums today for this is the internet.

What if your testimony is not so great?

Your testimony does not have to be super dramatic or unusual to be effective. Not everyone can relate personally to a sensational testimony. If on the other hand your testimony is weak because you can't point to a change in your life, could it be that you have not really consecrated your life to God properly? Are you trying to living with one foot in God's Kingdom, and the other in Satan's?

The Bible says, "For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 5:5,6).

Is your heart still in love with this present age, this world system? If so, it would be a great time to decide to live for God and to get serious about it, because none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. Perhaps your testimony is weak because you have not given attention to the wonderful truths concerning the Holy Spirit and overcoming Satan that can be found in God's Word. I have begun to explain these things on my site elsewhere, for example, here. God wants your testimony to be strong, so you can live unashamed before God and men, and give honor and glory to God. He wants your life to show forth His power - what He can do. And God has done absolutely amazing things for people in all kinds of trouble, who were messed up and without natural hope. Some testimonies of how God helped such people can be found on this site.

If God has worked powerfully in your life, please share it so others can benefit. It will remind you of how God has worked and it will encourage others to believe in God. It may be the means by which another precious person comes to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. So do it. Begin to write down your story.

How to Organise your Testimony

If you read Acts 26:1-29 and Acts 22:1-21 you will see two examples of how the apostle Paul gave his testimony in the midst of great pressure, where his destiny hung in the balance. Paul talked about his early life, before meeting Christ - both the good and the bad points. Then he talked about how Christ revealed Himself to him and his response. In Acts 26 (where he was not interrupted) he is able to spend more time talking about his life since his conversion. Its good to devote about 40% to "Before Christ", about 20% to the conversion experience, and about 40% to "After Christ". People want to know what kind of a difference Christ made in your life. Be honest and authentic. Don't try to make it look better than it is, or to make your past sound worse than it really was. God will bless a testimony that is truthful. People are usually pretty good and spotting phony things. Don't be like the American politician who reputedly told voters how important religion was to him, and how his favorite verse was John 16:3 when he probably meant to have said John 3:16. You'll get a laugh if you read what John 16:3 actually says.

PRACTICAL POINTS

PLEASE DON'T WRITE YOUR TESTIMONY IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Use lower case, its much more attractive. Try to break up the main sections or thoughts into different paragraphs. Use short sentences and a simple, unaffected style. It makes it easier to understand. Aim to point out the effect that meeting the Lord had on your soul, after you surrendered to Him. Share how you felt. Don't use religious words and biblical phrases that people untrained in the Bible are not familiar with. Even a lot of church people don't understand a lot of the biblical phrases, or the meaning of words. Try to make your testimony clear for someone who has no knowledge of God or the Bible, and as you write it, put yourself in their shoes.

How to Publish your Testimony

I recommend that you register as a user on this site and then send it to me via email godsvoice831@yahoo.com

I encourage you to do this today. You can always upgrade and improve your writing but the main thing is to do it. You will then have something which God can take hold of and use for His glory.

I will publish most of the testimonies I receive. God bless you.

Rolling Away The Stone From Our Heart

One of the most astonishing miracles depicted in the Bible is the resurrection of Lazarus.

Astonishing because Lazarus was dead; and that too for four days! John chapter 11 verses 39-44 highlight the miracle vividly.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, four days had passed since his death.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone and Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him and let him go.”

The message that is conveyed in this miracle is that Jesus wants us to believe that the heavenly Father always hears Him. He wants us to believe this so that we can see the glory of God. Before raising Lazarus from the dead Jesus thanked the heavenly Father and believed that His prayers would be answered. We also have to thank the almighty and believe that our prayers will be answered.

Jesus asked the people around Lazarus to “unbind him and let him go” after raising him from the dead. We also have to unbind our ego, false pride and inability to forgive and accept other people in order to be free in spiritual life. When we thank God, believe in Jesus-believe that whatever he does for us is for our good and unbind ourselves, we see the glory of God.

Let us recall what the Lord tells us in Ezekiel 37: 12, “therefore prophesy, and say to them, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel.”

When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, he asked the stone to be taken away from the tomb. Why did He, the Almighty, ask the stone to be taken away? He could have commanded and Lazarus would have come out blasting the stones to bits. This incident highlights a very important fact that all of us need to accept – God is capable of working miracles in our life but, he expects our co-operation.

Only after the stone was rolled away did Jesus begin His work of resurrecting Lazarus. The stone here symbolizes the dead things that we indulge in. They are the negative feelings of our heart, feelings of hatred, lust, pride and vengeance. These feelings have wounded our soul. Martha the sister of Lazarus had this to say to Jesus, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”

Every person who is a slave to sin has a stench because he is dead. This is where the sacrament of confession helps us unbind. A person who is slave to the desire for accumulating wealth must have this to say to the Lord – “Lord my relationship with you has suffered because my heart is full of the stench of greed, greed for wealth. Many a time my desire for wealth has been the reason behind my inability to spend time with you.”

A person who is slave to alcohol should have this to say to the Lord – “Lord, already my body is full of the stench of liquor, I can no longer hold my hands together in prayer. I am a slave to this.” A person who is proud of his skills and achievements should have this to tell the Lord – “Lord my heart is so full of my self that I can hardly see you. I find it difficult to acknowledge you. This has been so since years.”

In other words when the person concerned acknowledges the hatred, lust, pride, vengeance etc. in his/her heart, he/she actually rolls away the stone from his/her heart. Once the stone is rolled away it paves the way for the spirit to enter our hearts. The Spirit of God resurrects us into new beings.

Jesus tells us to believe in the Word of God and exhorts us by saying, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” This is a promise. If we humble ourselves before God, admit our shortcomings, repent and believe in the word of God, Jesus promises miracles in our life. But, just as salt or sugar is an essential ingredient in every recipe however simple or complex, giving thanks to God is an important part of the recipe for a miracle. That is why Jesus says “Father, I thank you for having heard me.”

To Jesus thanking the Father was just an extension of his faith, faith that the Father will do everything for Him. Whereas, to us, thanking God is very often a ritual that comes much after a success in life. This is the crucial difference between the belief shown by Jesus and our belief.

Jesus chose to thank the Father before the miracle (belief followed by action i.e. faith) whereas we choose to thank the Father only after the miracle (belief). Sometimes I dare say we even manage to become thankless creatures in the thick of things. When we thank God for everything that He has done for us and for everything He is in the process of doing for us, the others around us get the message that we are God’s children and their faith in Jesus increases. This is why Jesus says, “I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”

After Lazarus was restored to life his hands and feet were unbound and he left behind the strips of cloth and went away. He did not carry the strips of cloth with him instead he left them behind and walked away from it. So also once we receive the gift of the spirit from God we have to abandon the old strips of cloth symbolizing our sinful life and the grave symbolizing our past and let the Holy Spirit lead us.

Testimony of a Supernatural God

I have no idea how to keep this brief but here goes.

I have experienced supernatural events as long as I could remember - enough to  write an entire book.  I saw and talked to angels.   I saw demons and some of them tried to kill me. I went out of my body on countless occasions. I had premonitions that would happen within a few days. I had all sorts of amazing supernatural things happen - like staring at metal and watching it snap in two!    I have been saved from certain death on many occasions - like slamming into a telephone pole at 60 mph, or spinning out of control at 120mph. Guns have been pointed at me and I thought,  “This is it” more than once!  I have had perils at sea.  Many wrecks and disasters that should have killed me - but I kept walking away unscathed.

I should have come to an ugly end many times but God kept saving me.  Moreover, I ALWAYS knew it was God - on the deepest level I could NOT deny this.

As a small child, I easily prayed to God in a conversational manner, but as I grew older, my intellect started getting in The Way.  My intellect began telling me there is something very wrong with religion.

 My family made me go to church and sing in the choir because that was the right thing to do.  During my trips to church, I saw how people would dress up and listen to a boring sermon while living like the devil the rest of the week.  I was getting mixed messages from Christianity.  I saw that many people only honored Jesus with their lips (Luke 6:46).

I was baptized as a teenager but fell into a backslidden state quickly.  Religion was not answering my questions.  I was not getting answers from the church about  the many supernatural experiences I was having.  I was mostly getting rejection.

Therefore, I went to Hollywood and did the music-acting-partying thing.

I was on a fast track to destruction.   I forgot all about my relationship with God on a conscious level, but somewhere deep down I knew God was real.  I knew God was out there - somewhere.  However, I could not reconcile the God I experienced as a child with the Christian religion that I saw in church.  I concluded that the Christians must have God wrong.

As my life progressed, I had a constant, gnawing hunger to know this supernatural God.    I refused to look at the Christian religion.  I simply crossed it off my list.  How could all these hypocrites be right?  They cannot even answer simple questions about the supernatural - and the bible is supposed to be about a supernatural God!

I studied Buddhism, Hinduism, and then I camped out for some time in Scientology.  My thirst for God was never quenched, but at least in scientology they were making some sense about supernatural phenomena.

From there I went heavily into the things of the New Age.  I saw psychics.  I practiced self-hypnosis and meditation.  Even after all of this I knew deep down that my search had to continue.  I kept searching for years and I kept running into dead ends.

After a series of partying too much, broken relationships, and financial roller coasters, I was brought to my knees in a moment of despair in September of 1995.  This was one of those defining moments that people have.  I was about to end things.   I prayed to the God that I had suppressed all these years.  The God whose voice I would constantly drown out when He was gently calling me to come home.

I got serious.  More serious than I think I have ever been.  I fell to my knees, and closed my eyes with my head bowed and said "God, if you are real, I need to know, and I need to know NOW"!

Then there was the familiar Voice (John 10:27).  It said, "Open your eyes".  I will never forget those words.  Those words have influenced the rest of my life.  I opened my eyes, and they landed on a Super Nintendo instruction booklet.  Then the voice said, "Read the instructions".

Of course, God did not want me to become a super Nintendo expert! I knew what He meant as He said it.  He wanted me to read the bible.  “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth” - BIBLE

From that moment on, I have been hungry about all things Jesus.  I read the bible. I listen to the bible. I pray. I fast. I worship.  I read books about the bible.  I go to churches that are filled with the Holy Spirit.  I seek people out who love to talk about Jesus.  I cannot get enough of Jesus in my life.

Now I know The Way - The Way of a Supernatural God.



In conclusion, I must point out that as a very small child my Dad would pray with me at my bedside before I went to sleep.  He would pray in the Name of Jesus.

Parents, pray with your children.

Proverbs 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Emma’s Testimony

Ever since I can remember I have always believed that there was a God. I called myself a Christian but I never practiced it. I was “Lukewarm” a little in a little out, a token prayer now and then, went church on Easter like all good Christians do.

However, my life changed forever back in the fall of 2007….

I met the man of my dreams! His name was Bryan, he was larger than life. 6’2 dark brown hair, green eyes, perfect white teeth and the body of an athlete. He swept me off my feet; we loved all the same things. We spent 3 months together having a blast! Vegas weekends, dinner dates, baseball games, weekend trips to the beach. I was falling in love fast!

We were invited to a 2008 New Year’s party by one of his friends. I was so excited, a party! I haven’t been to a real party for years. I bought a new dress, had my hair and nails done. I wanted to look my best. Bryan wore all black; he looked like a rock star. By the time we got to the party it was already in full swing. People were dancing and drinking and having fun.

Bryan headed straight for the bar and started drinking Jack Daniel shots, I had a diet coke, I would be the designated driver for the evening. There were over 50 people there. Bryan and I keep losing ourselves in the crowd. After a couple of hours Bryan was pretty drunk.

I was talking to a man I met there, he was telling me about a ski trip he took to Utah.

That was the last thing I remembered of that evening until I woke up in a hospital 10 days later.

This is what I’ve been told……
Bryan became so jealous to see me talking with this guy that he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out the front door. Everyone at the party followed to watch as Bryan beat me unconscious on the front lawn. Not one of them tried to stop him. He left me there as he sped off in his truck.

I was rushed straight into emergency surgery to stop a bleed on my brain. The doctor told my brother that 30 minutes into the surgery my heart stopped for 6 minutes. I was put on an induced coma for 10 days. Like a dream the only thing I remember is what I conceived to be an Angel, the most beautiful being. Surrounded by light. No words were spoken, just a warm love embrace.

It took me several months to fully recover.

Bryan was caught. He was given 6 years and was just denied parole earlier this year.

The only visible scar I carry is a small mark above my right eyebrow; however I carry deep emotional scars of fear and trust. I believe there is a reason God hasn’t healed me from my fear, I believe he will though in his time.

My life has been changed forever! I now have a close relationship with the Lord.

"Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." Psalm 107:8-9

"Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise?" Psalm 106:1-2

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18