Hearing from the Lord and a word about words

Happy dreary day to my girls!  I just want to get a blanket, make hot chocolate and take a nap!  But that will come later. I want to get these notes out to ya'll and especially to Jessica who missed yesterday! Hope Sally Caroline is feeling much better!

Yesterday was a great day in our group. I really felt the presence of the Lord in our discussions.  This group has been so precious because you all love the Lord and are so vulnerable and open with each other.  I always look forward to Mondays.

We finished our talk on prayer yesterday.  We learned that God is personally committed to revealing Himself to you.  As we spend time in His presence, our questions about life and our circumstances grow dim in His glorious light.  We are changed when we stay there in the light. Our circumstances may not ever change, but our perspectives will because of time spent with the Lord.  Your solitude with the Lord directly affects the ministry and service that you are able to do.  If you have not met with the Lord, your ministry will be full of your flesh.  We need to be filled up with the Holy Spirit so that we will overflow into the lives of others.

Solitude qualified several heroes of the faith for service.  Moses was in Midian for 40 years before he encountered the burning bush. Joseph was is Pharoah's prison for years before he was called up to interpret a dream.  David was annointed to be King as a shepherd boy and was not appointed king until he was 40.  In their times of solitude, they learned that they were to be led by the Lord and not by their own agendas.  Their calling (just like yours) was too great to be left to their own agendas.  Solitary time with the Lord readies us for all the chaos of life.

Here are some verses on solitude in scripture:

Prov. 8:34-35
Ps. 25:9
Ps. 73:24
Ps. 32:8
Ps. 46:10
Is. 30:15 (one of my faves)

As you meet with the Lord, He is committed to counseling you, Spirit to spirit, based on the following verses:

Jer. 6:16
Ps. 91:1
Matt. 11:28
Mark 6:31
Is. 50:4
Jer. 1:12
Ps. 23:2-3 (A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller is a great book!)

The key to hearing from the Lord is to quiet your heart, be still and listen. Read gently with no agenda.  Clear your mind and don't be anxious.  Just listen with your spirit.  Ask the Lord to show you and He will. Write down what he says.

John 16:14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the teacher in the lives of Christians. Under his guidance, the words of biblical revelation become a living word for each of us. As we study the scriptures, the Spirit gives us insight into their meanings. The Holy Spirit is with you every time you study the Word leading you into all truth.

We had a really thorough discussion of spiritual warfare prayer based on Eph. 6:10-18.  It is crucial to make much of our Lord and little of our enemy.  Satan is real and his m. o.  is to kill, steal and destroy, but everything that he brings against us MUST bow to the name of Jesus, Phil. 2: 9-11.  Here are some good books on spiritual warfare:

Prayers that Outwit the Enemy   Chuck D. Pierce This book is very good
Prayer and Spiritual Warfare  E. M. Bounds  Every book by Bounds is outstanding

So, over the last few weeks, we have learned that a true disciple of Christ:
*enforces the victory he has on a consistent basis
*lives in the presence of God through the Holy Spirit, and
*prays intentionally

Next, we shifted over to a quick study on our words!

You create your world with the words that you speak.  2 Cor. 5:20 tells us that we are Christ's ambassadors.  That is a very huge deal. We speak for the King of Heaven...we let Him speak through us.

God SPOKE creation into being.  Jesus changed lives with just a few words: "Lazarus, come out!", "Be clean", "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk" just to name a few!

Our words are of utmost importance because we either speak life or death every single time we open our mouths.  We can change lives with our words, just like Jesus did.  He said in Jn. 14:12 that we are going to do even greater things than he did because we have the power of the Holy Spirit. Here are a few scriptures on the power of words:

Prov. 18:21
Rom 4:17
Matt. 12:34
Prov. 4:23
Prov. 12:18
Prov. 31:26
Eph. 4:29
Matt. 12: 36-37
James 3: 9-10

Words and conversation reflect the spiritual condition of the speaker. A sin-dominated person will utter evil; the good person devoted to and saved by God will utter good. On judgment day our words spoken in our lifetime will truly reflect who we are.  Nothing should escape our mouth that is not praise to God in some way. Once a word is spoken and heard, it cannot be retrieved. Its effect will run its often destructive course.  I highly recommend The Power of Your Words by Robert Morris.

Next week, we welcome Rachel Stafford of Hands Free Mama as our speaker.  Her blog can be found here.  She is going to bring us a great word! If any of you want to stay for prayer ministry after any of our meetings, Connie and I would love that.

In closing, I want to bless you with victory over the enemy, from Sylvia Gunter's Blessing your Spirit book.....

Sweet girls of mine, I bless you with the joy of regularly seeing Satan's plans to destroy people turned upside down and God bringing good out of painful circumstances. I bless you with seeing the problems Satan brings into the world used by God to reveal new wisdom, grace, strength, and freedom , as God makes a public spectacle of his enemy and yours. I bless you with God's perspective on pain and suffering. I bless you with partnering with God for his purposes, using problems as a platform to see him work in ways that are unmistakably God. I bless you in the name of the One who triumphed on the cross.

Have a wonderful week! J

Our Daily Walk with Christ....abiding in the Father's love for us

Today was a great day in the small group but we missed Catherine, Meredith and Karen! Just read this blog post to catch up and hopefully, all the sickness will be gone and we will be back together next week.

We started off today with a quick you tube video by Graham Cooke.  It is called The Missing Piece, Part 1. It is only four or five minutes long, so watch it if you can. Graham Cooke is one of my favorite pastors and teachers.   John 15:5-8 was our basic text for today.  God intends for us to bear fruit and this is possible only by living in constant, prayerful relation to Christ.  We need to understand what is important to Him and that must be the foundation of the relationship. Don't bring your religious "to do" list to Jesus and ask Him to bless it.  Anything done without abiding in Christ does not count towards the fruit. It will be thrown out like wood, hay and straw and it will not last for eternity.  Fruit-bearing depends on remaining in Christ and drawing from His sustaining grace.  We must let the Father, the Master Gardener cut wrong practices and habits out of our lives so we can bear much fruit. Branches not in Christ die and are placed in the fire to burn.  God is refining us so that we will be transformed into the image of Christ.

                     


 The foundation of the abiding relationship is God's love for us. Not our love for God.  Christ's message, death and resurrection is founded on His love for us.  Our love for God is often undependable and changes in intensity.  We don't have to strive in our flesh to abide in Him.  All we have to do is to live intentionally in His love for us! It is all about Him...not us. It is all about who He is.   1 John 4:16-18 says that to be in Christ is to be in God and by being in Christ, we will live a lifestyle that is characterized by divine love.  Pray to know and experience more and more of the depths of His love.  His love will change us from the inside out.  Eph. 3:18 tells us that Jesus loves us more than we can begin to understand.  Ask the Lord to give you a heart that longs to be one with Him.  You can rest and rejoice that this abiding relationship is founded on God's love for us . The only thing you need to do is intentionally stay, remain and rest there.  Living in this posture should change your perspective on life.  Circumstances may still be bad, but you see them through the lens of His love.

We talked a lot about how to enter into this relationship.  It does not happen just because you get up early and read the one-year-Bible and a devotional reading.  It is a very intentional act of proclaiming who God is, committing your day to Him, confessing your sin to Him and enjoying His presence.  It is resting in Him and receiving His love. It is being very still and quiet and listening to what He has to say to you.  To enter into this relationship should not cause a lot of stress for you.  It is fine to get up, make your coffee, put on the praise music and just be still before the Lord.  As you start to wake up and pray some of these verses, do so very gently and let the Lord lead you in the direction He wants to take you for the morning.  Some days will be filled with tears. Some will be filled with exhuberant joy. Some days He will just hold you close.  It won't always look the same. The Holy Spirit knows what you need for the day and He does a great job of guiding us.  When you start your day, be sure and call your Spirit to the fore front and tell your soul and your body to sit down,  and that the Spirit man will be in charge today!

In the morning, I like to start the day by declaring and proclaiming who He is and by blessing His name.  Some verses that help me with this are listed below: I have all of these verses on a spiral flip notebook.
Ps. 92:1-2
Ps 118:24
Ps 89:1-2
Lam 3: 21-23
Ps 33:22
Ps 32:10
Ps 84:11
Ps 147:11
Prov 9:10

I commit my day to Him by declaring these verses....be sure to say all of these out loud!
Jn 15:7-8
Ps 32:8
Col 3:2 Col 3:17 Col 3:23-24
1 Cor 10:31
Prov 16:3
Gal 2:20
Gal 5:16

Next move on to a time of confession. Ask God to reveal each and every sin so that you may confess it to Him.
Ps 139:23-24
1 Jn 1:9
Prov 28:13
This is also a great time for positive confession. Confess out loud who you are in Christ.
Read Song of Solomon 2:15.  The little foxes are weeds.  Ask yourself "what is the fastest growing weed in my life?"  If you continue to confess the same sin over and over, that just might be a weed that needs to go!

Next, it is time to move into intercession.  Pray for the things that are on God's heart.  Pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done . Ask God for an open heaven over certain situations, relationships, cities, nations, the lost, etc. Pray God's Word and insert a name in the verse!  As I pray for my family everyday, I use several different resources.  I love Prayer Portions by Sylvia Gunter and have used it for years. I also pray the Prayer of Jabez (1 Chron. 4:10) from a prayer book by Sylvia. She has written 31 different prayers based on that verse. One for each day of the month. It is also very important to put on the full armor of God for the day.  It can be found in Eph. 6:10-18.

I enjoy praying from Stormie Omartian's books, too.  I highly recommend the Power of a Praying Wife and the Power of a Praying Parent.   It was suggested today that we buy the Power of a Praying Husband for our husbands for Valentine's Day! I also pray from Praying the Scriptures for your Children and Praying the Scriptures for your Teenagers by Jodie Berndt. There are so many great prayer books out there. The main thing is to pray the Word.  I pray Psalm 91 over my family every day.  Some other devotion books that really challenge me and bless me are My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (updated version) and Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.  Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowan is an awesome little book, too.  Come Away My Beloved by Frances Roberts (today's language) is another favorite of mine.  Blessing your Spirit by Sylvia Gunter has probably changed my life more than any other book I have ever read.  It is simply amazing.  Sylvia is very annointed.

Liz also mentioned the CD "Home" by Laura Woodley for soaking in His presence.  I use Pandora and sometimes I use www.soaking.net  Connie shared the website for the personal promise Bible. This company actually prints a Bible for you with your name inserted into the verses! So cool!

When you finish praying, it is very important to thank God for the complete confidence that we have in Him based on 1 Jn 5:14-15  All believers have the guidance of the Holy Spirit when they pray. God will answer when the Christian asks according to His will.

I know how tired we are when it is bed time and it is hard to have a meaningful prayer time when you are bone tired and sleepy.  No matter how tired you are, be sure to thank God at the end of the day for His protection, His provision and His faithfulness in your family that day. It is so important to be thankful and to tell him how grateful you are for His presence in your life.

Next week , we will finish up prayer and watch a Graham Cooke DVD.  I pray that the Lord will bless your marriage through the marriage conference this weekend.

Every blessing,
JoAnne

Continuation of our life as a Disciple of Christ

Hey girls!  Today was just awesome for me.  Welcome to Kristen, Karen, Tarayn, Holli and Meredith!  You are such wonderful additions to the group and Connie and I are so glad you have joined us!

We started off with the verse from Is. 40:11.  This is a great reminder for you when your enemy is trying to beat you up or when you slip back into being legalistic and not free!  God tenderly leads you. He understands that you were up all night with a sick baby and have not bathed or eaten a full meal in ten days.  He knows, He cares and He is not keeping a tally.  Be free!

Jesus said in Jn. 4:34: "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work."  Jesus was focused on God's purpose and calling for his life.  Liz pointed out 1 Cor. 3: 8-15 which discusses what types of things will last for eternity. The works of the believer will be tested according to the quality of the work-NOT THE QUANTITY! Reward is promised those whose service is of enduring quality. Matt. 25:14-30 shows a direct relationship between faithfulness on earth and serving God in eternity. We are judged according to what we did with what we are given. DO NOT compare yourself with others-this is just an insult to God.  The only things that last forever are the Word of God and the souls of men.  So, I guess all that smocking, volunteer work, committees, clubs, shopping, self-imposed minutia, retweets,  etc really will not stand the test of fire. With every decision we make, we are either spending our lives or investing our lives for eternity! Swimming upstream in this culture will not be easy but with God's help, you can do it! So, girls, just say "no" to all the keeping up with the Joneses and once again, be free!

Jesus says that we must completely relinquish three areas of our lives to Him:

People-Luke 14:26-27, Gal. 1:10 and Matt. 10:37-39  We are to be devoted to no human relationship above our love and devotion to the Lord.

Pursuits-Luke 9:23-24, Phil. 1:21 Your ambition is listening to and obeying Christ.

Possessions-1 Tim. 6:6-10, Matt. 6:24, Mark 4:18-19

So how do I balance everything with so many different things vying for my attention and my time?  You scan everything that comes up through this filter:

Your activities should fit the following 4 criteria:
1) Your first priority is to further the kingdom of heaven
2)You should be in step with the season of your life.
3)Answer to the important and not the urgent.  (Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles Hummel)
4)Speak to your passions-the things that God put inside of you that you were meant to do!

Only do what only you can do!!!!!

I think that every disciple's number one priority should be time alone with God...to worship Him, to bless Him, to hear from Him and to just sit with Him.  St. Augustine prayed: "Lord, let me know you and let me understand myself."  Don't you think the best way to understand yourself is by listening to your Creator?

Christ is our example as He often withdrew from the crowds to pray and spent time with His Father while it was still dark.  His promises are found in solitude. Your life, who you are in God and your destiny is at stake.  You need to have a world to one's own for the sake of others.  If you are not filled to overflow, you are not going to bless the people you are around and call forth the song that is inside of them!  Daniel 11:32 says : " the people who know their God shall be strong and do exploits. "

Disciplining ourselves in such a way to make this a reality in our lives can be done based on Heb. 11:6. It is our faith in who God is that enables us to forfeit control of our lives and be led by the Holy Spirit.  Life is so sweet and so beautiful when we do it God's way and not our way. Our way is wood, hay and straw.  God knows best.  I know so many of you enjoyed the fast and the intimacy you felt with the Lord during that time. Guess what? Just because the fast is over does not mean that your intimacy and growth in the Lord has to stop!  Be disciplined and keep up the same pace.  Every month for the rest of our lives can be like January at Highlands! Connie mentioned the classic book, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.  He covers meditation, prayer, fasting , study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance and celebration. It is not a long book and well worth your attention.

We moved next into the Father's love for us!  Be sure to go to www.thefathersloveletter.com and just let that bless you.  Then read Psalm 103 as your response back to the Lord. " Who is God to you? " is the single most important question of your life. I recommended Hallowed be Thy Names by David Wilkerson and there are several handouts from today with the many names of God.  His name is "I am" and He can meet any and every need you will ever have!  I forgot to mention one outstanding book to you.  It is The Good and Beautiful God by James Smith.  I led a small group with that book one time and it is amazing . He has also written The Good and Beautiful Life (based on the Sermon on the Mount) and The Good and Beautiful Community.  I highly recommend all of these.  I buy all of my books at 2nd and Charles in Hoover (great used Christian section in the back) and Amazon, fyi.

We agreed that we are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus based on 2 Cor. 5:21.

As you have some free time, try to watch Craig Groeshel's sermon, "God is Father" from 6/21/09 and "Who is He" from February or March of 2005.  Read your handouts and commit some of these verses to memory!  Next week , we are going to talk about our daily walk with Christ.

Have a joyful week!  JoAnne