Freedom in Christ

admin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:56:54 +0000

In previous blogs I have shared a number of topics I have addressed in my new book, Unshackled. The last chapter deals with no shame, no chains, free to know God in which I have written about the freedom to be found in our relationship with Christ as we embrace and live out His guidelines.

It is so good to experience the safety and provision of our good shepherd as we come to Him early in the day, lay our burdens down, and experience the peace that comes as we trust Him to work out the troubling situations we may be facing.

I give keys that we can use to help us. They are obedience, praise, prayer, the name of Jesus, and proclaiming the blood of Jesus.

Prayer

admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:55:14 +0000

The story is told of a man in a foreign country who kept a heavy suitcase on his lap thorough out a long train trip. When he got off the conductor asked why he had not put it down to which he replied, “I did not know those was a place to put it.” We, as Christians, know we have a place to put our burdens we just have to remember to do so.

The chapter on release the burden in my new book, Unshackled, has some thoughts on how to put our burdens down and leave them down. It can be quite a challenge to disciple ourselves to roll our burdens over onto the Lord and leave them there. In the book I share some true stories of those who have successfully left various burdens with the Lord.

Forgiving

admin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:53:36 +0000

I have written about forgiveness in my new book, Unshackled. The most distressing story I have heard of unforgivenss was the account of a lady who said her mother hated her and left her a note when she died telling her how much she hated her.

Her brother intercepted the letter so his sister did not read it.

Forgiveness is not an option for the believer who wants to seriously follow Christ. He does not give us the choice to forgive or not to forgive. In fact our forgiveness hinges on our forgiving those who have wronged us. It is included in the Lord’s prayer; forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

When we forgive we release God to do his restoring work with the other person involved. We step from between God and the person. Forgiveness frees God to act on our behalf. We put the situation in God’s hands, and when we forgive in this way, we feel the release of a heavy burden, which brings us peace.

See the brochure on my web site for further thoughts on forgiveness.

Words

admin — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:52:23 +0000

Another topic I have addressed in my new book, Unshackled, is the power words have over us. Words, once spoken, never go out of existence and may linger in our minds for years. They may also resurface at the most inconvenient time and cause us great pain.

Words can encourage us or discourage us. They can have the same effect on those we talk to in our daily life. We will do well to stop and consider before we speak on impulse or in irritation or anger. The brochure on my web site has some helpful thoughts on this subject as well as the chapter in my book. Let us be careful in the words we choose.

Healthy Relationships

admin — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:52:02 +0000

Another topic I have included in my new book, Unshackled, is the importance of healthy relationships. This can be a real challenge as we are all needy in some area and may be inclined to try to get our friends or family to meet those needs. I am not talking about the basic consideration we should extend to each other. I am talking about trying to “draw” out of others to meet our need for self-esteem and affirmation.

True friends will not reinforce each other in wrong attitudes and thinking. They will guard against taking up offenses against anyone who has mistreated their friend and will encourage the friend in healthy and Godly ways to deal with opportunities to take offense. The brochure on my web site dealing with offense has some suggestions I have found helpful for resisting offense. In addition the book has tips that I have discovered in my struggles in this area.

Offense

Peggy — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:49:02 +0000

“Great peace have they who love Your law; nothing shall offend them or make them stumble.” Psalm 119:165 AMPLIFIED Bible

Our enemy Satan, is very busy inside and outside the church tempting us to take offense. It is a trap we must resist if we are to live in the favor of God. Nothing will block His blessings more than the issue of offense.

It helps me to tell myself I am allowing the person I am temped to be offended with control over me if I give into the temptation. It also helps to remember each of us has our own set of wounds and immaturity. We are all “walking wounded in some area.

Let us extend grace and mercy to each other just as we are recipients of these.

This definitely requires calling on the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Then we can walk away in victory without taking offense.

Sun Stand Still Audacious Prayers

admin — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:15:00 +0000

“Oh son stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the valley of Aijalon.” Joshua 10:12b

The Lord had promised Joshua that He would deliver his enemies into his hands, and not one of them would be able to withstand him (Joshua 10:8). As the sun was setting, the battle had gone well with the Amorites starting to flee into the valley, but the victory was not complete. Joshua knew that when it got dark, the enemy would slip away under a cover of darkness. He wanted total victory. Joshua remembered God’s word to him. He spoke out a very bold, completely unscientific request. He had the audacity to ask God to make the sun stop in the sky-to freeze time, and that is exactly what God did. “The sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge upon their enemies.” (Joshua 10:13a).

While reading the book, Sun, Stand Still by Steven Furtick, I was really challenged to ask myself, “Am I praying faith filled, audacious prayers based on God’s word?” I know I must have Scriptural promises to back up those prayers, but I also know there are many promises I have failed to appropriate. I am inspired by this account of a bold, audacious prayer in line with a promise God made to Joshua. This has challenged me to search out promises for my specific needs and pray bolder prayers. As I have struggled with delays in answers to prayers I noticed that I had not been bold when asking. Now I revolve to send those audacious prayers up (in line with God’s promises in His word) and see answers that will defy logic.
Thank you Lord of this insight.

Let’s Pray Now

admin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:37:50 +0000

Galatians 6:2 “Bear each other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” NKJV

Have you ever had someone ask you to remember them in prayer and weeks later you saw them and were embarrassed that you had forgotten the request? You had not approached the throne of God on their behalf. A wise lady suggested to me that I ask to pray on the spot for the need with the words, “Can we pray now?”

We may be thinking what will those around us think? I am too timid to do this out in public. Will the person making the request think I view myself as a “super spiritual” person if I offer to pray with them?

I use to be a “sit down”, in a private worshipful atmosphere to pray one-on-one with another person for their need. I still like this approach, but God is not limited to my preferences. We are living in very critical times. It seems more and more people are being hit with challenging situations. Requests for pray seem to be increasing.

We need the boldness to just say, Let’s pray now?” We can pull aside in the market place and pray over the need with the person. In addition to meeting the person’s need for intercession it is a witness to anyone who may see you doing this.

One day while getting my hair cut the stylist was very upset over his eye problem which had just manifested the day before. The Dr. had told him if it did not clear up he would have to have surgery for the stopped up lymph duct. As I stood up to leave I said, “May I pray for your eye now?” He consented and I reached out, put my hand on his eye, and prayed a short prayer asking the Lord to open the duct. I requested this as a sign of His power to this young man who professed to being a Christian. John hugged me and thanked me. The next time I went it he reported that his eye was clear when he woke up the morning after we prayed. This has opened up further witnessing and spiritual conversation to John.

God is waiting to manifest himself and His power in our world. I am not suggesting every request will have such a dramatic, immediate answer, but we can be assured that once offered our prayers are before the throne. Let us determine to be alert to the nudges of the Holy Spirit within us as well as the requests others make and be quick to say, “Let’s pray now?”

Prayer: Lord, help me to be bold for you in the marketplace or wherever I find someone who presents a need. In the name of Jesus, Amen

Two Dwellings For Faith

Peggy — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:41:11 +0000

“The just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in Him.” Hebrews 10:38

Recently I have been restudying faith since I have experienced disappointments in unanswered prayers – prayers that I prayed in what I thought was great faith. This presents challenges in fully believing some of the promises God makes in the Bible especially when we pray and pray and then we WAIT for the manifestation to show up. In my situation, it was issues of physical healing for myself and others.

I sure do not want to draw back in any way or get into pouting with the Father so this led to rethinking my understanding of faith. E.B. Kenyon, in his book Two Kinds of Faith, gave this clarity for me. He describes “sense” faith and “revelation” faith. The sense faith is what we believe in our minds based on what we see, feel, or hear and our study of Scripture. Then that knowledge has to go down into our hearts (spirits) to become revelation knowledge. This will cause us to grab hold of the promises we need whether it be for healing or other promises. Just knowing a truth in our head is not enough. It has to get down into our spirits and then come out of our mouths as we claim the promise aloud.Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the hall of faith. Reading of the great faith examples of the many listed is very inspiring and causes me to pray for more faith and to position myself to hear the Word more. Faith is a gift. We can pray for more faith, but faith also comes by hearing (Romans 10:17).

I aspire to be a believer who lives more and more in the realm of faith by revelation where the promises are written on my heart, come back up in my declarations, and I see the manifestations. I will still need to be patient. “Through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12).

Pray with me: Lord, help me to get a tight grip on the concept of revelation faith, to walk in that faith and not try to reason everything out. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Mailing Our Prayers

Peggy — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:40:54 +0000

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 nkjv

Recently I was struggling with a prayer concern which I could not seem to release and leave it with the Lord. My husband shared a devotion out of Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman which really spoke to me. To quote, “Genuine faith puts its letter in the mailbox and lets go. Distrust, however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the answer never arrives.” This caused me to examine my heart and see if this was the case with me. I had to admit that yes, it was. I was hanging onto the envelope rather than mailing it.

Zillions of words have addressed every aspect of prayer and I do not have a firm grip on releasing as opposed to the often taught, knock and keep on knocking. I did ask the Lord’s forgiveness, prayed the prayer I was concerned over and in my mind’s eye I mailed it to the Lord and let go of the envelope. Now when it comes to the forefront of my thinking I just thank the Lord He has heard me and is working on my request.

We are told to “Cast all your anxiety on the Lord.” I Peter 5:7 and “Do not be anxious about anything.” Phil. 4:6.

I read a story about a man on a train in a foreign country who held his heavy suitcase on his lap for the entire long train trip. As he was getting off the train the conductor asked, “Why didn’t you put that heavy suitcase down?” The man replied, “I didn’t know there was a place to put it.”

We, as followers of Jesus, know we have a place to leave our heavy burdens. We do not have to carry them. We just have to disciple ourselves to put them in the place provided for us. That is at the feet of Jesus.

Pray with me: Lord, help me to learn this valuable lesson of putting my burdens over onto You and leaving them there remembering to praise You for working in the situation.