A Person Cannot Receive EVEN ONE THING UNLESS It Is Given Him From Heaven

Counting 1000 gifts this year beginning January 1st 2016.  I have been a little down since Christmas has been over but I am starting to see the New Year coming and I am looking forward to it! I  wanted to mention 3 gifts of the Holy Spirit that I received Christmas Day and then a few days after. The first gift was dinner at Mc Donald’s for free! On Christmas Day my husband and daughter went to Mc Donalds for food cause I woke up sick that day.  Anyway, they left me home watching The Nativity towards the end of the movie and I was already feeling Jesus but they came in and said, ” Your not gonna believe what happened!” I said,”What?” They said, ” A lady paid for our food!” I said,” How?” with tears welling up in my eyes cause I knew I was getting ready to witness a miracle. They said that they let her go ahead of them in the drive thru line and when they got to the cashier to pay they were told that the  lady  in front of them paid the bill! That was thirty dollars we saved! Another gift is I think God has healed my stomach. I get stomach aches every time I eat and spend every night with severe stomach pains. I had been feeling a fluttering in my stomach for about 3 days and now for 3 days no stomach aches at all! That has been a tremendous relief! The next thing was on Christmas Eve we go to family’s house and exchange gifts only this year I ended up with a scarf. It was because the earrings I got won’t work for my ear and a sweater I got was too big. I was okay with it because I have Jesus and that’s  all that matters but something interesting happened. The day before yesterday I was drying dishes and I thought, all they had to get me would have been some towels and I would have been happy! Then my husband came home from his mom’s house and said his mom had been thinking that I didn’t really get enough for Christmas and wants to take me where ever I want to go to buy some towels! I knew in every one of these instances that the Holy Spirit was making Himself known.

I figured after Christmas this was why I was a little sad, I was full of experiences with God during Christmas and then boom I wasn’t experiencing anything. It made me sad. But I remembered Ann Voskamp’s 1000 gifts which I have tried before and quit several times. I quit because I found it hard to be thankful for the mundane things such as a cat laying in a chair but God has revealed something to me about this. If you truly are following Christ in every moment then your in God’s Will and everything you are experiencing is actually a gift from God. Now I know you might disagree because some things don’t look like gifts, they look like thorns. But I read in Ann’s The Greatest Gift that you don’t have a trial that doesn’t have a gift.  I listened to Steve Furtick recently and he was preaching about Paul’s thorn. THORN stands for: Temptation, Hardship, Opposition, Rejection, Need. He goes on to say the “thorn” is from Satan but the message is from God. He said to ask yourself, could I be getting  a gift from God wrapped in the package of the enemy right now in my life? The thorns Jesus wore brought pain but also brought God glory! So, what I am trying to say is, if we look closely and pay attention, God is giving us gifts continuously. The title to this post is a scripture from the Bible John 3:27. I have meditated on this scripture and had the revelation that this Earth is God’s. We are IN HIS creation. He is overlooking us like we would an ant farm. He GIVES us EVERYTHING we need to live. He MAINTAINS everything we need to live. When your in His plan for your life, He is in CONTROL.  So, suddenly I see everything around me as a gift directly from Him. I finally get how you can experience God in little things that may seem mundane to us, but it’s actually a gift from Him. How many times a day we fail to thank God for the little things because we don’t see them as coming from heaven. We take so much for granted. So much could be taken away and we don’t even give it a thought.

I want Christmas to keep going, not to end. I am thankful for my Holy Spirit gifts and pray to experience at least 3 every day this coming year. The way I have figured out how to do this is with this scripture, to be mindful that whatever I receive, any joy I feel is ultimately from heaven. And when something hard happens I will be looking for the gift cause I know God has a message for me in the hard moments. He is always growing us in the hard times. If you are reading this and don’t believe what I’m saying, it’s because you CHOOSE a different reality than me. My reality is with God, I choose to take His perspective on my life and therefore, I experience HIM. John 14:21, The person who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who[really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him [I will make Myself real to him].”

Follow Jesus and what He says for real and you experience Him for real.

I also enjoyed giving gifts this year to neighbors and family and plan to figure out ways to give to others at least three times a day. I felt God in giving to others. I remember in the movie Pay It Forward it was said that if your giving doesn’t give relief then it isn’t really giving. I pray to give some people some relief this year.  2 Thessalonians 2:17, comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts [keeping them steadfast and on course] in every good work and word.  Just as Jesus did, Acts 10:38,  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with great power; and He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. We are anointed  to bless like Jesus did.

A Time For Us

In my post about the dream I had with Jesus called “To Lie Down In Green Pastures”, I mentioned a Romeo and Juliet record that I had growing up. For my birthday this year my husband bought me a record player and I bought the Romeo and Juliet record in my dream. As I listened to it I couldn’t believe I was hearing Gregorian Chant at the end of side one! I researched to find what the chant is and the translation but couldn’t find it. Anyway, there has been another meaning that has come to me about this record and why it was in my dream with Jesus.

As I was reading my Advent devotional yesterday with Ann Voskamp she mentioned something that stuck out to me. She said we have to make space in our heart and in our time for Jesus. Then I remembered in the dream I felt like I had no time for Jesus and told Him if He had to go it was okay. Some one commented that maybe I actually think Jesus doesn’t have time for me. This brought it into a different perspective. Then a few weeks later I had an encounter with Jesus in my spirit where He revealed to me that I push love away. I don’t want to get hurt from loving others. I run away and He told me not to run away again. I felt a wall collapse inside of me, a dam really, cause I had a flood of tears come forth for about 5 or 6 hours.  Ever since this experience I have made myself more aware of love and giving to others. Ann goes on to say relationship is the only reality; there is nothing else. When grace conceives in you, you take hold of God. When you are a space to receive whatever the will of God is in this moment as grace, you take hold of God. I love how she said the will of God in this moment. Our lives are made of moments. like in the song These Small Hours. Rob Thomas says, our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twists and turns of fate. It’s our choice if we choose God in every moment. Will we chose fate or God?

So, with all this in mind my daughter came to me to sit in my lap yesterday and I said no initially because I felt hot from just getting out of the shower. But the Holy Spirit spoke to me right away and made me aware that this is the pushing away that God says not to do. In actuality I was pushing a gift from God away. So, I said for her to come back and I held her. After that I was drying my hair and the Holy Spirit came again and revealed, make time for love to be received instead of pushing it away. I realized that the theme song for Romeo and Juliet is ” A Time For Us!”  I felt Jesus telling me this song is for me and you. This is why the record was in my dream. He has been laying out the clues for me to figure this out. When you read the lyrics it’s awesome how they go with our relationship with Jesus. It wraps everything together in my dream into the perfect gift for Christmas.

A Time For US

A time for us some day there’ll be
When chains are torn by courage born of a love that’s free
A time when dreams so long denied
Can flourish as we unveil the love we now must hide

A time for us at last to see
A life worthwhile for you and me

And with our love through tears and thorns
We will endure as we pass surely through every storm
A time for us some day there’ll be a new world
A world of shining hope for you and me

For you and me

And with our love through tears and thorns
We will endure as we pass surely through every storm
A time for us some day there’ll be a new world
A world of shining hope for you and me

A world of shining hope for you and me

Ann also said, sometimes receiving is harder than giving.

Receiving means you have to open your hands, open your heart. When we do this, Jesus can come in. You will be able to experience Him like never before.

 

 

 

Progress

C.S. Lewis wrote: We all want progress but if you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about- turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

 If your on the wrong road, what you think is progress is really leading you to a dead end.  Kyle Idleman talked about roads that lead to nowhere on the Easter Experience.  Roads that lead to nowhere are ones that don’t include Jesus and ones that don’t put Him first. Only He knows the right road to take, only He knows the directions, only He knows the destination, so why not trust Him? Turn from wrong roads and begin making progress again. Progress in this pilgrimage of Christianity.

My Wonderwall, Jesus

Today I was drawn to a song called Wonderwall by Oasis

It has turned out to be really awesome! I looked up the meaning of the song and found this. According to Noel Gallagher, the song describes “an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself “. And since the only ‘you’ in the song goes on to become the ‘Wonderwall‘, it must refer to something/someone who will always be there for you, and well, save you.

This can only mean Jesus for me, so I felt like Jesus is communicating this to me through the song which is awesome!

The next thing that happened was I read my Advent devotional from The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp and it kinda ties in with the song and I wanted to share this and record my thoughts.

Ann wrote, The King from the beginning, back when we were young and the world was Edenic and the wonderland was us. She goes on to say,  joy beyond the walls of the world. It’s Jesus.

Jesus is my wonderwall. He is the joy that is my wall, to hold me in peace. He is joy beyond the walls of the world but He is also my wonderwall that saves me. His presence in my mind and heart save me from darkness and despair. The darkness that can fill my mind and heart to make me feel afraid and out of sorts. Jesus, just the thought of Him steers me back into the Light and into peace and love. He gives me strength and courage. In the song You Make Me Brave it says: No fear can hinder now the promises You have made. No fear can hinder now the love that made a way!

This video and song gave me goose bumps today!

Ann also said, “The King beyond this world has entered this world and the wonderland in Him we always hoped for is here and now and true. The King of the first and still coming second Advent, the King coming again to rule the earth and make all the sad things untrue. The wonderland is unfolding now, Kingdom coming, because His Word doesn’t return to Him void. Isaiah 55:11-12 . ¹ So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

I love how she put it, the wonderland is true and it’s here, now. And when Jesus comes again He will make all the bad headlines untrue, all the death will be but a myth!

I read somewhere yesterday that Jesus invites us into His Story [ History].  To be in His Story we have to surrender our lives to Him. To live in the safe parameters of His Wonderwall and dwell in Wonderland, we have to follow Him. We have to give up our ways and go God’s way.  My dad wrote this in a Bible he gave me when I was twenty: It truly can be a “Wonderful Life”.

The Changes In Me One Month Later

I am writing an update for the changes in me. I want to log what God is doing in my life, that is all. Since the last entry God showed me that He did in fact begin the sanctification process in me 5 years ago but I stopped it. I wrote about what He was doing in my journal. He was weeding out selfishness, addictions, and problems with my speech. Like I have said before I gave up on the process because I would fail and be hard on myself and quit. Now that I know this about myself, I can face the feeling of inadequacy head on and slay it down when it starts to creep up again. So far this hasn’t happened. The main thing I have been learning is God wants me to put His Word in my heart because when you have His Word memorized it dwells in your being, in your heart. As the Bible says, what is in your heart is what comes out of your mouth. Also, God wants me to be like Jesus. When I have God’s Word in my heart I have the tools to be able to be more like Jesus. The Bible says to bring every thought unto the obedience of Christ. This helps to become more like Him.  So, I am memorizing scripture not to flaunt it, not out of duty, but to become more like Jesus and this is what pleases God. I remember scripture to dwell on good thoughts and out of those thoughts come good words and out of that comes good deeds and a good life, like God intended.  This is how we live and do God’s Word. It has been surprising to me how situations come up and scripture comes to my mind as an answer or just as a guide line of which way to go. I had another significant dream, in the dream I said something that I believe came from God. The line was this: The hardest thing to learn about salvation is the grace.

I thought, how do you “learn” grace?  I was led to see that Jesus is grace and we know Jesus is referred to as The Word in the book of John. Just like in my other dream in heaven when I said Jesus was the Word in the beginning, and The Word was with God. The actual scripture is the first one I have memorized. It’s John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. So, Jesus is grace and the Word. I felt God saying that what I have to learn is to be more like Jesus. How do I do that? First I study His character, which I am doing a study on that with God Treks. The other meaning I got is to let God’s grace work through me to be able to be like Jesus. I can’t do it myself, it has to be through the Holy Spirit. The final message I got is this: Jesus is the Word, learn grace (Jesus) ( Word), learn Jesus’ words. I was then led to the scripture, Mark 9:7, ⁷ Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and ^[a]a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him and obey Him!” God is showing me the first step to sanctification. Putting His Word in my mind , heart and mouth will produce goodness.  Deuteronomy 32:47, They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” Romans 16:24, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (The Messiah) be with you all. Amen.

Mark 7:15 Jesus said,  there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him.

Hallelujah

Anyone who loves Jesus will love this song!

Merry Christmas!

I’ve heard about this baby boy
Who’s come to earth to bring us joy
And I just want to sing this song to you
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
With every breath I’m singing Hallelujah
HallelujahA couple came to Bethlehem
Expecting child, they searched the inn
To find a place for You were coming soon
There was no room for them to stay
So in a manger filled with hay
God’s only Son was born, oh Hallelujah
Hallelujah

The shepherds left their flocks by night
To see this baby wrapped in light
A host of angels led them all to You
It was just as the angels said
You’ll find Him in a manger bed
Immanuel and Savior, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

A star shown bright up in the east
To Bethlehem, the wisemen three
Came many miles and journeyed long for You
And to the place at which You were
Their frankincense and gold and myrrh
They gave to You and cried out Hallelujah
Hallelujah

I know You came to rescue me
This baby boy would grow to be
A man and one day die for me and you
My sins would drive the nails in You
That rugged cross was my cross, too
Still every breath You drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Advent Second Sunday- Peace

Yesterday I was cleaning my kitchen floor and felt myself start slipping into a feeling of perfectionism. I began to feel the weight of how dirty the floor was and how I didn’t feel like cleaning it to perfection. I finished and sat down before cleaning the bathroom. As I sat, I was drawn to this video and experienced God speaking to me through Ann. It brought tears to my eyes because I felt Him telling me to stop the perfectionism as Ann specifically points out. I couldn’t believe it! Hold on to peace this Christmas.

Jesus Is With Us

Higher by Creed

 

I can relate.

Satan is Real

We need to know the traps of Satan to defeat him.

 

Satan wants us materialistic and busy, so in this Christmas season stop and rest and think of Jesus and what Christmas really is about.