God wants to change the face of His Church once again through a revelation of His goodness - God is 
in a good mood - do some experiential research and see for yourself!
Taste and see that the Lord is good - Psalm 34:8

AMONG THE STARS

When Abram gazed up at the stars for all those years waiting for his descendantS - one of those stars he was looking at represented me .... and maybe you...???

As I readied to attend "the gathering" Saturday night; God revealed that the testimony I was about to give, a Testimony of Jesus Christ,  was to be  prefaced with what He was about to give me on faith and joy.  

This would prepare those who hear to receive the reward thereby extending His Kingdom. 

These words are prophetic words that actually equip us to have our own heavenly experiences. The reward is to see and hear what the Spirit is doing and to receive the Joy of the Lord by sharing another's joy in the Lord.

The following is how God explained it to me.

"Faith is natural expression of the Believer - why we are called Believers

Faith is not from the mind.  It comes form the heart.

We just choose faith - it is the result of surrender to God.

There is no building effort - The Word of God produces faith -  (Hebrews 11:1)

When we get divided in our thinking that is when things get complicated

We must be careful what we entertain."

"So now, when one member shall suffer, all of them shall share the pain. And if one member rejoices, all the members shall rejoice."  1 Cor 12:26

"He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward." (Matthew 10:41) 

TESTIMONY to the Goodness of God

It will be two years ago come May since I asked God for more spiritual vision - to open my eyes to see things I have not seen. A couple weeks later I heard Him say, "I AM going to make me stronger than you ever thought you could be."  I said, "I didn't ask for strong I asked for spiritual vision." Then He repeated it and fright came over me and I said, "you know that scares me Lord because when I have to be strong it is because I have to go through something," and He repeated it one more time; "I AM going to make you stronger than you ever thought you could be." 

In July God used me to help a friend be delivered from persistent migraine headaches and 5 days later I lost my vision in my right eye.  It took a couple of weeks before I realized it was my vision as I kept cleaning my glasses thinking there was something on the lens.  When I finally realized it was my eye and went to the doctor I felt to get a second opinion.  Four doctors later I decided to go to St. Luke's and begin treatment for a Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion. Before I started treatment I felt God saying,  "your will be restored,  you will see again." 

By October I had another stroke and Thanksgiving Eve I had yet a third one. Each time not only lessened my vision but it also lessened my chance of recovery according to the eye specialists.  And now it wasn't just blurry vision I was legally blind in my right eye and my left eye was decreasing in vision. But, I heard God as He continued to say,  "I will make you stronger than you ever thought you could be" and I remembered His promise of sight.  

I received injections of Avastin and capsules of an anti-inflammatory every month to 6 weeks month after month there was marked progress.  My retina was regaining the original shape and my vision was less skewed. My vision acuity went from legally blind to  20/80 - I could actually read a little but now the differential between my left eye and my right eye was sufficient to cause double vision and for me to be off balance, especially in wide open spaces. After a couple weeks of being off balance Pastor Cindy prayed and I recovered, only to be troubled once in while in wide open spaces. 

Over the months the meds I was given to heal the retina and clear the edema caused cataracts to grow and I once again, I lost my vision.  The doctors all agreed it is too dangerous to do surgery because my eye was so unstable.   Finally,  my retina was healed, the cornea inflammation was gone, the edema in the macula was cleared, the branch vein was holding it's own, my optic nerve is very weak but I was told to have the cataracts removed.  The biggest concern was having another stroke again.  No medical guarantees as the optic nerve is very weak. The surgery was scheduled.

Once again I remembered the words of the Lord "your sight would be restored."  

After the surgery the previous problem from the differential  between my eyes returned and, halos and strobe lights. My gait was off, my balance is just as lacking and and my brain can't adjust the two images so I can't see out of either eye- my sight is blurry.

Mid morning Saturday after the surgery, Pastor Cindy sent a text  decreeing I would be cleared by noon.  I felt  God say me, "Praise Me" and as I did I felt I was to contact the optician, Aaron.  However, I knew  Aaron wasn't in on Saturday's so I dismissed the idea as mine not God's leading. After the third nudge I called the office only to learn he was in the office for a short time and I could get my lenses removed for the right eye to help reduce the complications of double lenses for my brain.  After having the lenses removed I slept and upon awakening my vision was greatly improved and my balance returned.  I could even read medium size letters.  

Even as I type now this size type is becoming legible -  there is still some swelling and edema that has to clear which will take the better part of month but, the Good News is, I know God will completely restore my sight!

Praise God who opens the eyes of the blind!

Battling the Giants   Word for 2013

On the news the other night they reported about an Arkansas family on vacation  in south Florida and while picnicking at a park they encountered a 17 foot python.  They located the park rangers who shot and killed the giant Burmese python and went on to say that next month there is an opportunity for "permit-holders" to see who can bag the most snakes and the longest snake in helping to eradicate this invasive species before taking over local environs.

The revelation with this is that the Body is going to encounter 'giants' that can be 'taken out' in cooperation with one another - don't try to do it alone - seek out reliable (permit-holders) people to join in this effort and do it before it takes over!

I am one of those people who just love Christmas and everything about it. From sending cards, and decorating to special foods and gift giving, I love it all!  But to produce all those special effects take lots of time and I begin to feel as if I have set aside the real meaning of the season in all the preparations.

This year as I decorated the tree wondering what a tree really had to do with the birth of my Lord Holy Spirit brought to my attention that in actuality I had decorated my house and tree with signs. Even my cookies were signs.  Like all signs they point to something; my decorations were signs that pointed to Jesus.  Some of the signs are displayed through colors. The Bible gives us the meaning of the colors.  Green is used in relevance to life, blue is symbolic to heaven. Gold of royalty and the glory of God, red is His Blood, silver redemption, each color speaking to a significance of Jesus. The tree itself being an evergreen is symbolic  of eternal life.  The angels decorating my shelves are singing of the Birth of a King and even Santa kneels at the manger. Now when I pass the tree or the decorations on the shelf my mind returns to where I want it to be - focused on Jesus and the promises He has for me.   Happy Birthday Jesus I'm so glad you came!

In refreshing my authority in prayer I came across this from Kenneth Hagin
"We’re to put God in remembrance of His Word! When it comes to having authority in prayer, we are to remind God of what He has said concerning prayer! Throughout church history, the mighty men and women of prayer have been those who reminded God of His promises.
Isaiah 43:26 says, “…Let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.” Let us plead together! Declare thou! Another translation says, “Put forth your cause that you may be justified.” 

"That’s a challenge from God for us to lay our case before Him. When you stand before the Throne of God, plead your case as a lawyer would. A lawyer is continually bringing law and precedence to bear. What are our law and precedent? The Word! We bring what God has said."

God is waiting for His people to plead our case and remind Him of His Promises!

This link is a  memorial chain being distributed around the world intended to reach 40 million via email....

It's an incredibly moving piece, all the more poignant in the wake of the meeting of Holocaust deniers in Iran (August 2012)  and the denial speeches in the UN. (Sept 2012)

This story was aired on CBS on "60 MINUTES" ** in 2007 about a long-secret German archive that houses a treasure trove of information on 17.5 million victims of the Holocaust. The archive, located in the German town of Bad Arolsen , is massive (there are 16 miles of shelving containing 50 million pages of documents) and until recently, was off-limits to the public. But after the German government agreed to open the archives, CBS News' Scott Pelley traveled there with three Jewish survivors who were able to see their own Holocaust records.

  It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This is being sent as a memorial in memory of the 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with many Germans and Russians looking the other way! Now more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be "a myth," it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.

 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2972691n&tag=mncol;lst;9

If you agree please pass this on - be it through facebook or email just keep it going ....