Lately, I haven't felt like writing. I have actually sat at the computer a few times and tried to write...I felt as if I had too much to say...so therefore, I said nothing. I listened to the lies that I would have to please others with painted words and feel good doctrine. I listened to the lies that it doesn't really matter what I do one way or the other.
Lies.
the reason why we spread the Truth is to drown out all of the lies. Jesus said, I am the Truth, the Life, and The Way...
we walk by faith and not by feelings......We spread the Truth by allowing ourselves to be molded into the image of Christ...The image of Truth....
So today, I write anyway.
I have much to say.
Do you ever feel as if all you do is fight? Do you ever feel that as soon as one mountain comes down..another one more massive just seems to rise up? Do you ever wonder when the path will straighten and you can walk with ease?
I do. I feel as if I am in a continual struggle.
Sometimes I cry out to God...God, when will the paths be made straight?
I ask Him why I feel as if I am continually fighting...
Before He can even answer, I already know what He will say...
"Rachelle, the things of Heaven are worth fighting for.."
And yes, they are....
The things of God are worth the struggle.
those moments of divine clarity....are worth it...those moments of seeing the miraculous hand of God in what others consider ordinary...is worth it..
the hope, the promise ...it's all worth it....
The sweet moments of rest and prayer and feeling the loving hand of mercy wrapped around you...it's worth it...
The moments of solitude, indescribeable peace, ...the realization that you are a part of something much larger than yourself..
Getting to know Him and discovering the powerful, loving person that is God...
It's worth it...
There are some Christians out there who paint the walk as easy. There is even a book for Christians called, "Make every day a Friday.." meaning that the Christian life is characterized by a life without trouble, without tribulation, without turmoil...I'm not critcizing the author....but...
Jesus tells us to expect trouble..expect hardships, expect to be Hated because of Him....The only Friday we are supposed to be living is Good Friday..the day we take up the Cross and march to Calvary to die. Not the day when school lets out and we are free to relax for the rest of our lives...
It's not always easy and to paint a picture of easy street is a lie.
The path is narrow.......and few will ever find it...
Are you being tested and tried?
If you are working for God, then chances are that you are....
I want to share something that God showed me last night.....
Do you remember the movie, The Karate Kid?
For part of the movie, "Daniel son" is angry.
Mr. Miyagi is having him wax on..wax off...paint the fence, do this...do that...
Daniel is angry because he doesn't understand why he is being asked to do these things...
But he does them anyway...
The whole time, Mr. Miyagi knew what he was doing. He was preparing Daniel. He was molding him into a fighter. Daniel didn't understand, but without the instruction, he would have failed miserably.
Instead, he fought his way to victory and became a champion. Mr. Miyagi had a plan the entire time...a plan to mold Daniel into a warrior..
....
As Christians, we are like Daniel.....We are being trained for something greater than ourselves.
We are called to be warriors in the greatest Army ever known....
and the training part is never easy...
God longs to strip away our dead parts to mold us into the image of His Son.....
And it often hurts...
It is not easy..
It is not a Friday type of thing.
The other day I spoke to a lady that I deeply respect. I was sharing some things with her that I have gone through and things that I still struggle with...
She responded with something beautiful...and I would like to share it with you...because I think we can all relate..I think we have all been there...
She said, "Rachelle, you are walking through the desert." She said..struggling is like Noah sending out the dove....we are waiting and waiting for it to return. everything seems uncertain. We grow impatint. We long to walk amongst the rainbows....
She then said the most amazing thing... Rachelle, your branch will come.
Friends, readers, whoever you are..sitting at your computer..reading these words ....across this screen......Your branch will come, too."
The branch that tells us that the waters have receded and that it is safe to walk upon the dry land.
The branch will come....
Wait upon the Lord...you shall renew your strength and rise up with with wings as eagles.....
God showed me something else....
Does anyone know what deliverance is?
It's a term that isn't used much......
I've recently come to understand deliverance as being free from the powers of darkness....
The other day God showed me what deliverance is...
My son Brendan..dropped one of his little toy soilers in my bath water....I looked at this plastic man in the water...It looked as if he was drowning. Brendan kept saying, Mama, mama,...get my man out of the water....Get him out...
Even a two year old boy recognized the danger...the peril..the choking, deading effect of water in the lungs...
So I pulled the man out of the water and , at the moment, God spoke to me and said, "Rachelle, that is deliverance."
It is Me pulling the drowning soldier out of the water. It is me giving Him his life back...It is Me, becoking Him to breathe and removing the water from his tired lungs. It is Me providing the relief and the much needed rest...
Rachelle, That is deliverance....
The truth is...and this will sound strange...but we live in a world of spirits. We live in a world of the unseen.
This is a truth that I am faced with on a daily basis. I have seen the supernatural in very real ways....(anyone who would ever like to talk about your experiences with me, message me or would like to hear my experiences...)
Demonic forces are real. And as Christians, we fight against them...We are solidiers..
Sometimes, I think the term "enemy" is overused.
I know that to an unbeliever, it must seem very strange to hear people talk about darkness and evil...I know that to some, it must sound strange....The term has almost become cliche, in a sense.
And it is sad to say..but things of a spiritual nature are largely mocked by society. People often embrace parts of the Bible and toss out others like yesterday's trash.
Many of the people that ask for prayers are the same ones spewing out gossip, creating strife with words....cutting others in half with thier tongue. It's not right! If this is you..you are better than that :)
Many people are running after a feel good doctrine, but what people need is the Truth......
Hear me out on this....
I have truly seen how the enemy creates strife in people's lives. My own life was nearly destroyed.
I've seen how the forces of darkess can affect moods and even come against the physical body.....
They create feelings of chaos, lonliness, torment, despair, depression, anger, hostility, lust....
I know that this goes against the argument of science...I know that scientific journals will tell you that depression is caused by low levels of seratonin in the brain..I know that science has an explanation for almost everything...I'm not against science...
Many people think that science is a way of refuting the things of God.....but to me, science only reveals the complexity of our world. To me, science is a way of explaining the physical universe.
Science falls short because it doesn't recognize the spiritual world....because to live according to spirit is to live a life of faith.
Today I will breathe in 1100 liters of air...(yes, I got that fact from Anne Voskamps book)....
Today, my heart will pump blood through my veins a tenth of a million times...
Have you ever seen a grain of sand up close?. Neither had I until yesterday...
Look closely...
Even the sand is structured. All is ordered....all is designed by a loving God...
Look at these grains of sand...magnified 250 times... I am thankful for science...because without science...I would never have seen this type of organized beauty up close....
I could sit here and spit out mathematical numbers about how the possiblity of our world forming by chance are near remote...or I could tell you simply to have faith...to take God at His word...because He is real.
And His love for you is unfailing.
Even the most educated scientists agree on one thing...something can not come from nothing...We are not accidents...We were created for a purpose...
.....I digress....
I've seen how darkness, in its working ways, can bring a person to the brink of despair and helplessness.
I"ve been in the center of the vortex.
It feels like emptiness.
But one thing that God taught me how to do....is to fight the lie with the truth.
The very nature of demons and darkness is lies. Lies are the bitter poisoned fruit of this life...but we are not of this world... we fight
We fight the lies with the truth..
Read these lies...I'm sure you will all recognize them..they have all crept into our lives at some point in time...
( Insert your name here)...you are a failure. You will never amount to anything. -THE LIE
You are more than an overcomer through Christ Jesus who strengthens you - THE TRUTH
I, (insert your name here ) am too afraid of God. I am afraid of the Christian walk.-THE LIE
I have not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind -
In all of your ways, acknowledge me, and I will direct your paths -THE TRUTH
No one loves me -THE LIE
The very hairs of your heard are numbered...
My banner over you is love
For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son ...that whosever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life -THE TRUTH
God will never forgive me. I have done too many things. God is not for me. -THE LIE
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west -THE TRUTH
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die -THE TRUTH
I accept this depression for my life-THE LIE
The enemy comes to steal, to kill and to destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it in abundance ...
This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it..
I give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified - TRUTH...beauty for ashes is a promise I want to hold on to...
I am too shy to reach out to anyone -THE LIE
I have not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind -THE TRUTH
Heaven won't be that great, anyway -THE LIE
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"--
I have all the time in the world. I can accept Christ into my life tomorrow. He's not going anywhere. I like the way I'm living. -THE LIE
Well, this one is pretty obvious...this could very well be our last five minutes on earth. Every day, thousands of people die..are we listening to the lie that we have time?
I will never beat this addiction. -THE LIE
A friend of mine and I were talking today. He is my coworker at the plastic plant. We were talking about working overtime. He said that working overtime is like shoveling a pile of plastic pellets. You don't think about it..you just do it...He said that sometimes you don't look up..you just keep working and working until eventually, you look up and notice that the pile has seemingly melted away...
Life and the Christian walk is almost like shoveling...You work..and work......you see a huge pile in front of you..the troubles of life...but you keep shoveling...because you know that when you look up...you will see order...the mess will be gone.. you keep pushing forward..you move....you dig..you dig deep...with bended knees..and a head bowed low...you dig deep into the very Word of God... you keep your head down.....you dig deep and you find roots.
Roots. He is the vine and we are the branches.....when we dig deep..He gives us roots...and there is pure light flowing in our veins...
Finally, we look up from the shoveling and we can see beauty...the oil of joy for mourning...He calls us oaks of righteousness. He longs to make us strong. And any fighter knows that in order to be strong, you have to work......
You fight..and you keep fighting...
Lately, Jesus has been pouring insight into my spirit...He has given me countless thoughts and ideas. I can hardly keep up, and for that, I am grateful..
In the Bible, God tells us that we are in a race... " Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? "Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24
Does anyone remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise and the hare were involved in a race. The tortoise pushed forward. He was slow, but his pursuit of the goal was steady. He had keen focus. He saw the finish line in his mind, and he pursued it relentlessly. He did not waver. He just simply kept going. Everyone laughed and thought he would fail, but he kept on....He didn't give up despite the jeers..the taunts....He didn't give up even though it reason deemed it impossibe for him to win...
Then there was the hare...The hare is a natural born runner. The hare has legs equipped for running. His entire body is designed for speed. Running is the hare's purpose....But the hare became overconfident. He alluded himself that he had all the time in the world to reach the goal...he became preoccupied with other things..He set his eyes on frivolous things and, in the process, nearly forgot about the race, altogether... In the end, the hare never made it to the finish line. .....The hare alluded himself that he had time........
If we look at this story from a spiritual perspective, we can clearly see that this story resembles the Christain walk. Of course, if God had written the story we would have seen the tortoise trying to help the hare finish the race. We would see that, in fact, the two were not competing...the tortoise would have done all he could to make sure that the hare finished right alongside of him....When will we realize that life is not a competition? When will we realize that the prize goes to the ones who set aside thier differences and simply trust God and help others along the path?
Who are we in this race? Are we the tortoise...are we keen and sharply focused on our Creator? Are our eyes truly set on the goal..on the things above and not on things below..? Is the arrow of our hearts pointed towards heaven? Are we willing to overcome obstacles and not give up...even when the walk seems impossible..even when our legs are tired? Even when we listen to the lies that we will lose? Will we realize that even if reason spits out the lie that we will fail....that "all things are possible with God"?
Or..
Are we the hare? We have the tools before us..We have the living, breathing Word of God..We have His spirit longing to get close to us... we have all the weapons we need to fight...but we decide that we have all the time in the world to pursue the things of God...
Are we the hare? Losing focus.....stopping along the path to smell the roses, but in the meantime forgetting that we are even in a race.... Are we losing time? The sands of our lives will one day run out...our hourglass will reach the last grain of sand..and we will see that time has shut the window of our days...will we stand before our Maker..as one who made the most of our time?..or will we be the hare in the story?
We need to quit looking at race, religion, and things we percieve as differences and just start helping people in this race. It's time to leave our comforts, get on our knees, and seek the face of God....We start the race on our knees. We put on the boots of peace, (they are our running shoes)... and we fight...
Last night I had a dream about a kitten. A very small, helpless kitten. It was looking up at me with sad and desperate eyes. I could see that the small creature had been abused and neglected. She was broken and beaten down by life. I took her in...I gave her food and love. I gave her warmth and comfort.
The kitten left for a while. But later, she came back.
God showed me something...He showed me the reason for the fighting. This world is full of world weary, tired, neglected people. Many have been abused. Many are desperate, searching..looking for answers with helpless eyes...Many look at the lives of Christians...hoping to see the image of Christ.....It is our duty to feed them, care for them, love them....They may go back into vain pursuits, but, in the end, many will recognize the taste of love and crave the spiritual milk. As Christians, we are to provide spiritual milk for the lost "kittens" of this world.
We become the hands of Christ as submit our lives to Him, in humilty...We humbly hold the bowls of milk.
____________
Tonight, a family member was breaking a bag of ice. I was watching him from the corner of my eye, but not really paying much attention. Suddenly, I heard a very loud bang as the ice cracked against the floor. For a split second, my spirit filled with fear. I could see big hands coming down forcefully cracking the ice against the floor....
It scared me for a moment, becasue it was as if, for a brief moment, I felt the fear of abuse victims... I could feel the fear as hands slowly crushing hope and dignity....
The other night, I was at work and a coworker showed me a video...I didn't want to see it, but he started playing it on his cell phone. It was some sort of morbid real underground video. The video took place in Africa. It was captured on video by a cell phone or video camera....It showed a man running through the streets. I asked my coworker why they were chasing him. He said that the man had gotten caught stealing a necklace. The men in the video are relentlessly pursing another man...Finally, they catch him. They begin to beat the man with tire irons. The man struggles to get away. They pour gasoline on him. The man desperately tries to escape.....by now, the pursuit is taking place in the middle of the streets. Cars are going by...no one has stopped to help the man getting vicously beaten....Before long, the man is down..He is lying helpless in the middle of the street. By now, a crowd has gathered round. Still, no intervention. The next part of the video, gave me chills that I still cannot forget. The men light the man on fire. Cars are still going about thier daily business. People are watching as if they are cheering on the brutalilty of it all....The man burns to death right there in the middle of the street.
After I watched that video, I became sick to my stomach. Hell made complete sense after watching that video.
The truth of the matter is that we live in a very dark world. We live in a world where many children do not have the security of loving parents. We live in a world where men are burned and left to die in the middle of the street. We live in a world where children are brutally beaten. Many atrocities are not even an afterthought....
People need Light. That is why we fight. The only way we can ever overcome the darkness is to spread the loving Light of God...People need love......People need to begin to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit, the voice of overwhelming rightness sent by God..that leads us into love and Truth
The other day, I was at work and I was speaking to a coworker about a disciple group, in which he participates. I asked him what they were learning about. He told me that they were working on a question. "What question," I asked. He replied, "Why is it important for God's children to hear His voice?"
Immediately, I knew the answer. There are several reasons actually. but I will only touch upon a few...
It is important that we learn to hear the voice of God....When we hear His voice, we will find that it leads us into humilty. His voice, when heeded, causes us to strip away our self... Heeding His voice ultimately carves us into the image of His only son. Heeding the voice of God leads us into love. God said that there is no greater love than someone who is willing to lay down his life for his friends.
We need to hear the voice of God because this world needs THAT kind of love. This world needs Jesus. Heeding his voice could have implications that go further than we know or even realize.
Once I was driving through the Wal mart parking lot...I saw a man sitting in the break area...Immediately, I heard the voice of God, His sweet Holy Spirit beckoned me...Rachelle, this man needs to hear of my great love.
"Tell him that I am real. Give him something..."
So, I did....I stopped my car... I beckoned the man to come to my window...With tears in my eyes I told him...how much God loved him...It's all real, I told him...I handed him some money that I had nearby. The man began to cry..... It was as if years of torment just fell away from this man....and it was all because I heeded the voice of God.....God heals us....God heals.
The truth is...I don't know what sort of implication this had...What if this man had children that he abused and because of that encounter, his actions stopped? What if he had died that night after accepting Christ?
The truth is that we often try to silence the voice the God....But it is important that we seek His Voice now more than ever....
"MY sheep know my voice"
And that is another reason why we fight....To hear the voice of God...To fight the darkness with the goodness and the love of God..
There are days when I am thankful to Hear His voice.....
A few nights ago, I had a dream about my grandmother. It took place at a grocery store I haven't been to in years. I walked into the produce aisle and there she was.......At first, I thought...That can't be you gran...You are gone....But there she was..shopping for fruits and vegetables. In the dream, I walked up to her without saying anything. I wrapped my arms around her very tightly. I held on.....Immediately, the scene changed. I was holding on to her very tightly but we were no longer in the store.... We were reuniting for the first time in Heaven...
God spoke to me and said, "Rachelle, this is what is like to reunite with someone in Heaven."
I haven't stopped crying since. God's voice, although it often leads us into the hard places of sacrifice, will lead us into beauty. Life altering beauty, hope giving beauty...the reality of knowing that when this life ends, the real life begins...the life with no pain, no sickness, no death, and no disease.
Today, my mom ironically directed me to go to the store in my dream. I didn't tell her where the dream took place, but apparently the grocery store in my dream is one of the only ones in town that sells cashew butter.
I walked in the grocery store. I was sad because I half expected to see my grandmother standing in the produce aisle. I found the cashew butter aisle and I began to cry because I was standing dreadfully close to the produce and I knew that gran would not be there....but then, I remembered the next part of my dream....I recalled the voice of God...and I became thankful....thankful for the hope that He gives....thankful that I fight for something worth fighting for....thankful for the reward that he gives when the battle is over..when the day of death comes and the crown of glory is won. Thankful that death is not the end of life for those who lived a life of fighting.
The other day I went to the health food store. I often like to purchase natural oils. I love things that smell good. I love things that are natural. I often use lavendar oil because I love the smell...
But one of my favorite scents is the scent of the rose. The other day, I inquired about rose oil. I learned that pure rose oil is very expensive. It costs a couple hundered dollars for a single ounce of pure rose oil. I asked why it was so expensive. I learned that it takes thousands of roses to make a single ounce of oil. Thousands. It takes nearly thirty roses to make a single drop. I also learned that there are many dishonest dealers of rose oil often who try to cheat customers by mixing the product with other additives and chemicals in order to save money. The result is an impure product that they try to pass off as something pure.
Jesus spoke to me about the rose oil. The rose oil is so pure and so valuable because of the immense sacrifice. It takes thousands of roses to make a single ounce. The result is something very valuable, very real, and very pure. The beauty of Christ and the Christian walk is in the sacrifice...because without it, something would be deeply compromised....
The rose is a symbol of love. What greater love is there than sacrifice?" What greater love is there than a man lay down his life for his friends"?
As I read about the rose oil, I learned that dishonest dealers often try to cheat and swindle thier customers by mixing the product with additives. They use trickery and try to pass off the rose oil as pure, when in fact...people are often left with a product that smells like the real thing, but, in fact, is not.
Jesus showed me something about that too. Many false religions attempt to offer peace and beauty and all of those wonderful things....but they are in fact, impure. False relgions are not the real thing. They use trickery, but speak nothing of the pure love of sacrifice. Christ is the only one who died for our sins...He laid down His life for us. Christ is love in the purest form.
As warriors in the greatest army ever known, our fighting often seems like sacrifice. But it is a step towards purity. It is embracing the very likeness of Christ. It is walking the narrow path, the path paved with thorns..but we keep walking because we have seen a Great Light, and we have learned that the path into Truth is to follow in His footsteps.
Fighter, don't give up! Fight with all you have. You have the tools that you need. Pray. Seek. Fight.
The reward is too valuable to lose. ..and it is certain that many will never achieve it...
Good things are always hard to come by...Good things are worth the effort, the strife, and the "I'm so tired Lord, I can't take it anymore"..fight!
You are more than a conqueror through Christ who strenghens you -THE TRUTH
God is real no matter what this world says. If and when you truly begin your pursuit of Him, you will know it too...
The goal of the enemy is to destroy us..to render us useless to the Kingdom of God...the goal of the enemy is for each of us to fall into the trap of worry, fear, and desperation.. ..or to cause us to have our hearts and mind on anything other than the Kingdom of God...
He uses trickery..deciet....He is nasty and underhanded and will use anything to cause us to fall.
But we fight.
The Bible tells us to put on the whole armor of God so that we may stand against the tactics of the enemy. We have the helmet of salvation...we must be believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths....
We have the belt of Truth...We pursue Truth, we turn our backs against darkness and lies..
We have the boots of peace...Part of our warfare involves brining peace to us wherever we go...
We have the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, ..we fight the lies with the Truth...
We have the shield of faith...so that whenever the wind does blow our way,..we have confidence in the One who calms the storms...we aren't shaken..we have faith.
We have the breastplate of righteousness....the armor that protects our hearts..we wear it with pride. We seek the purity of Christ, overcome evil with good, and seek Truth and purity at all costs.
We are warriors in the greatest Army ever known. We fight. ...We wrestle not against the world but against the unseen....
We must realize that in order to have victory in our lives, we must fight battles.
Without the war, there is no victory.
One final thing that I would like to speak is fasting and prayer. I have fasted quite a bit in the past, but I never really understood. I have come to realize that when I fasted in the past, I didn't spend much time in prayer. The two go hand in hand....
A few weeks ago, I felt God was calling me to fast and pray...I was reluctant. I didn't want to do it. But I prayed, "dear God, if you really want me to fast, please show me.."
The next day, I click on to my favorite blog and there is a post about fasting and prayer...It was a nice post, but I still didn't think it applied to me...
A few days later I spoke with a friend...I told her that I needed guidance in a specific area of my life..She began to tell me about the fasting and prayer...She explained that fasting is a way of killing the flesh so that our Spirits can be in complete tune to the Father....She told me about a three day fast that she does regularly.
She said, "Rachelle, I believe that God is really wanting you to fast and pray.." ...
After I hung up the phone, I thought..wow..that's pretty amazing God...but I still wasn't ready to fast..
That night I went to church and our preacher preached about Ester Chapter 4. Truthfully, in my entire 35 years I don't think I have ever heard anyone preach from the book of Ester.. Ever...
Guess what Ester Chapter 4 mentions? Can you guess?
A 3 day fast...
After the service, I was convinced...Ok, Lord...I will fast and pray..diligently seeking guidance for these three days..... All I can say is that during those three days, I truly felt as if I had reached a new plane in my spiritual life. Even now, I feel more confident in my faith. I feel closer to God. I am at a point where I know that He hears me.
I often experience very strange supernatual things. Very disturbing things...but during these three days...It was as if God was holding me..It was as if, by sacrificing my flesh, the enemy could not touch me.
Those three days of fasting made me stronger.
And that is what He is calling us toward...
Being stronger. God is not calling for a weak Army...God is calling for us to be strong...
This week I have tried some fasting and I have failed..I have failed time and time again...But, we pick ourselves up..we dust ourselves off...and the next time we don't fail..We just do it..
We don't think about...We just do it...It's like shoveling... You keep at it and when the pile is clean. and the mess is gone..
You look up and you see a Hand...pulling you out of the water..
And you say...
Oh yes. Lord..this is deliverance!
The darkness is deafeted and I walk amongst the rainbows...
I believe in the God of miracles. The other day He whispered into my spirit..."Rachelle, read the book of Acts...So I did... I noticed that before the disciples went out into the world..they fasted and prayed..
And I wondered....Is the reason we don't see many miracles simply because there are so few disciples?
Few people really give God much of anything..and yet we expect everything from Him...
He is looking to raise up and Army of disciples.... and miracles will follow. My God has not changed.
Dear Reader,
God longs to draw you out of your darkness, out of your depression, out of your despair. He longs to heal your addiction and the hurts that have plauged you for your entire life. He longs for you to become a warrior...He longs for you to come to Him as you are..broken and weary and weak..
And then He longs to take those things...all that brokenness and heal you. He longs to make you beautiful. He longs to make you strong.
He longs to pull you up out the water and give you your lungs back...
Breathe, friends...Breathe Him in.....
He loves you, Now seek Him...
Cry out for your deliverance and know that your branch will surely come.
One night God gave me a dream that He would use me in deliverance. He used my hands to help others remove the darkness from others lives. Two people who knew nothing about this dream came up to me and said, "Rachelle, God is telling me that He is going to use you in deliverance."
Uncanny? Strange?
No, to me,, it only confirms what God showed me. He is very real. If we open ourselves up to Him, our lives will look anything but ordinary.
I have come to a place where I realize that I am powerless. But I have seen the power of the name of Jesus. He is so real to me now...I have seen darkness leave at the very mention of His name...
We live in a world of spirits and the most beautiful, the most real, the most powerful,,,is the Spirit of the Lord...Once you come into the prescence of His Spirit..nothing else will matter...You will see Truth..you will look into the face of beauty and, through faith...
see that the branch was in your hand all along.....
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:25
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. "
Lies.
the reason why we spread the Truth is to drown out all of the lies. Jesus said, I am the Truth, the Life, and The Way...
we walk by faith and not by feelings......We spread the Truth by allowing ourselves to be molded into the image of Christ...The image of Truth....
So today, I write anyway.
I have much to say.
Do you ever feel as if all you do is fight? Do you ever feel that as soon as one mountain comes down..another one more massive just seems to rise up? Do you ever wonder when the path will straighten and you can walk with ease?
I do. I feel as if I am in a continual struggle.
Sometimes I cry out to God...God, when will the paths be made straight?
I ask Him why I feel as if I am continually fighting...
Before He can even answer, I already know what He will say...
"Rachelle, the things of Heaven are worth fighting for.."
And yes, they are....
The things of God are worth the struggle.
those moments of divine clarity....are worth it...those moments of seeing the miraculous hand of God in what others consider ordinary...is worth it..
the hope, the promise ...it's all worth it....
The sweet moments of rest and prayer and feeling the loving hand of mercy wrapped around you...it's worth it...
The moments of solitude, indescribeable peace, ...the realization that you are a part of something much larger than yourself..
Getting to know Him and discovering the powerful, loving person that is God...
It's worth it...
There are some Christians out there who paint the walk as easy. There is even a book for Christians called, "Make every day a Friday.." meaning that the Christian life is characterized by a life without trouble, without tribulation, without turmoil...I'm not critcizing the author....but...
Jesus tells us to expect trouble..expect hardships, expect to be Hated because of Him....The only Friday we are supposed to be living is Good Friday..the day we take up the Cross and march to Calvary to die. Not the day when school lets out and we are free to relax for the rest of our lives...
It's not always easy and to paint a picture of easy street is a lie.
The path is narrow.......and few will ever find it...
Are you being tested and tried?
If you are working for God, then chances are that you are....
I want to share something that God showed me last night.....
Do you remember the movie, The Karate Kid?
For part of the movie, "Daniel son" is angry.
Mr. Miyagi is having him wax on..wax off...paint the fence, do this...do that...
Daniel is angry because he doesn't understand why he is being asked to do these things...
But he does them anyway...
The whole time, Mr. Miyagi knew what he was doing. He was preparing Daniel. He was molding him into a fighter. Daniel didn't understand, but without the instruction, he would have failed miserably.
Instead, he fought his way to victory and became a champion. Mr. Miyagi had a plan the entire time...a plan to mold Daniel into a warrior..
....
As Christians, we are like Daniel.....We are being trained for something greater than ourselves.
We are called to be warriors in the greatest Army ever known....
and the training part is never easy...
God longs to strip away our dead parts to mold us into the image of His Son.....
And it often hurts...
It is not easy..
It is not a Friday type of thing.
The other day I spoke to a lady that I deeply respect. I was sharing some things with her that I have gone through and things that I still struggle with...
She responded with something beautiful...and I would like to share it with you...because I think we can all relate..I think we have all been there...
She said, "Rachelle, you are walking through the desert." She said..struggling is like Noah sending out the dove....we are waiting and waiting for it to return. everything seems uncertain. We grow impatint. We long to walk amongst the rainbows....
She then said the most amazing thing... Rachelle, your branch will come.
Friends, readers, whoever you are..sitting at your computer..reading these words ....across this screen......Your branch will come, too."
The branch that tells us that the waters have receded and that it is safe to walk upon the dry land.
The branch will come....
Wait upon the Lord...you shall renew your strength and rise up with with wings as eagles.....
God showed me something else....
Does anyone know what deliverance is?
It's a term that isn't used much......
I've recently come to understand deliverance as being free from the powers of darkness....
The other day God showed me what deliverance is...
My son Brendan..dropped one of his little toy soilers in my bath water....I looked at this plastic man in the water...It looked as if he was drowning. Brendan kept saying, Mama, mama,...get my man out of the water....Get him out...
Even a two year old boy recognized the danger...the peril..the choking, deading effect of water in the lungs...
So I pulled the man out of the water and , at the moment, God spoke to me and said, "Rachelle, that is deliverance."
It is Me pulling the drowning soldier out of the water. It is me giving Him his life back...It is Me, becoking Him to breathe and removing the water from his tired lungs. It is Me providing the relief and the much needed rest...
Rachelle, That is deliverance....
The truth is...and this will sound strange...but we live in a world of spirits. We live in a world of the unseen.
This is a truth that I am faced with on a daily basis. I have seen the supernatural in very real ways....(anyone who would ever like to talk about your experiences with me, message me or would like to hear my experiences...)
Demonic forces are real. And as Christians, we fight against them...We are solidiers..
Sometimes, I think the term "enemy" is overused.
I know that to an unbeliever, it must seem very strange to hear people talk about darkness and evil...I know that to some, it must sound strange....The term has almost become cliche, in a sense.
And it is sad to say..but things of a spiritual nature are largely mocked by society. People often embrace parts of the Bible and toss out others like yesterday's trash.
Many of the people that ask for prayers are the same ones spewing out gossip, creating strife with words....cutting others in half with thier tongue. It's not right! If this is you..you are better than that :)
Many people are running after a feel good doctrine, but what people need is the Truth......
Hear me out on this....
I have truly seen how the enemy creates strife in people's lives. My own life was nearly destroyed.
I've seen how the forces of darkess can affect moods and even come against the physical body.....
They create feelings of chaos, lonliness, torment, despair, depression, anger, hostility, lust....
I know that this goes against the argument of science...I know that scientific journals will tell you that depression is caused by low levels of seratonin in the brain..I know that science has an explanation for almost everything...I'm not against science...
Many people think that science is a way of refuting the things of God.....but to me, science only reveals the complexity of our world. To me, science is a way of explaining the physical universe.
Science falls short because it doesn't recognize the spiritual world....because to live according to spirit is to live a life of faith.
Today I will breathe in 1100 liters of air...(yes, I got that fact from Anne Voskamps book)....
Today, my heart will pump blood through my veins a tenth of a million times...
Have you ever seen a grain of sand up close?. Neither had I until yesterday...
Look closely...
Even the sand is structured. All is ordered....all is designed by a loving God...
Look at these grains of sand...magnified 250 times... I am thankful for science...because without science...I would never have seen this type of organized beauty up close....
I could sit here and spit out mathematical numbers about how the possiblity of our world forming by chance are near remote...or I could tell you simply to have faith...to take God at His word...because He is real.
And His love for you is unfailing.
Even the most educated scientists agree on one thing...something can not come from nothing...We are not accidents...We were created for a purpose...
.....I digress....
I've seen how darkness, in its working ways, can bring a person to the brink of despair and helplessness.
I"ve been in the center of the vortex.
It feels like emptiness.
But one thing that God taught me how to do....is to fight the lie with the truth.
The very nature of demons and darkness is lies. Lies are the bitter poisoned fruit of this life...but we are not of this world... we fight
We fight the lies with the truth..
Read these lies...I'm sure you will all recognize them..they have all crept into our lives at some point in time...
( Insert your name here)...you are a failure. You will never amount to anything. -THE LIE
You are more than an overcomer through Christ Jesus who strengthens you - THE TRUTH
I, (insert your name here ) am too afraid of God. I am afraid of the Christian walk.-THE LIE
I have not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind -
In all of your ways, acknowledge me, and I will direct your paths -THE TRUTH
No one loves me -THE LIE
The very hairs of your heard are numbered...
My banner over you is love
For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son ...that whosever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life -THE TRUTH
God will never forgive me. I have done too many things. God is not for me. -THE LIE
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west -THE TRUTH
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die -THE TRUTH
I accept this depression for my life-THE LIE
The enemy comes to steal, to kill and to destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it in abundance ...
This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it..
I give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified - TRUTH...beauty for ashes is a promise I want to hold on to...
I am too shy to reach out to anyone -THE LIE
I have not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind -THE TRUTH
Heaven won't be that great, anyway -THE LIE
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"--
I have all the time in the world. I can accept Christ into my life tomorrow. He's not going anywhere. I like the way I'm living. -THE LIE
Well, this one is pretty obvious...this could very well be our last five minutes on earth. Every day, thousands of people die..are we listening to the lie that we have time?
I will never beat this addiction. -THE LIE
A friend of mine and I were talking today. He is my coworker at the plastic plant. We were talking about working overtime. He said that working overtime is like shoveling a pile of plastic pellets. You don't think about it..you just do it...He said that sometimes you don't look up..you just keep working and working until eventually, you look up and notice that the pile has seemingly melted away...
Life and the Christian walk is almost like shoveling...You work..and work......you see a huge pile in front of you..the troubles of life...but you keep shoveling...because you know that when you look up...you will see order...the mess will be gone.. you keep pushing forward..you move....you dig..you dig deep...with bended knees..and a head bowed low...you dig deep into the very Word of God... you keep your head down.....you dig deep and you find roots.
Roots. He is the vine and we are the branches.....when we dig deep..He gives us roots...and there is pure light flowing in our veins...
Finally, we look up from the shoveling and we can see beauty...the oil of joy for mourning...He calls us oaks of righteousness. He longs to make us strong. And any fighter knows that in order to be strong, you have to work......
You fight..and you keep fighting...
Lately, Jesus has been pouring insight into my spirit...He has given me countless thoughts and ideas. I can hardly keep up, and for that, I am grateful..
In the Bible, God tells us that we are in a race... " Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? "Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24
Does anyone remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise and the hare were involved in a race. The tortoise pushed forward. He was slow, but his pursuit of the goal was steady. He had keen focus. He saw the finish line in his mind, and he pursued it relentlessly. He did not waver. He just simply kept going. Everyone laughed and thought he would fail, but he kept on....He didn't give up despite the jeers..the taunts....He didn't give up even though it reason deemed it impossibe for him to win...
Then there was the hare...The hare is a natural born runner. The hare has legs equipped for running. His entire body is designed for speed. Running is the hare's purpose....But the hare became overconfident. He alluded himself that he had all the time in the world to reach the goal...he became preoccupied with other things..He set his eyes on frivolous things and, in the process, nearly forgot about the race, altogether... In the end, the hare never made it to the finish line. .....The hare alluded himself that he had time........
If we look at this story from a spiritual perspective, we can clearly see that this story resembles the Christain walk. Of course, if God had written the story we would have seen the tortoise trying to help the hare finish the race. We would see that, in fact, the two were not competing...the tortoise would have done all he could to make sure that the hare finished right alongside of him....When will we realize that life is not a competition? When will we realize that the prize goes to the ones who set aside thier differences and simply trust God and help others along the path?
Who are we in this race? Are we the tortoise...are we keen and sharply focused on our Creator? Are our eyes truly set on the goal..on the things above and not on things below..? Is the arrow of our hearts pointed towards heaven? Are we willing to overcome obstacles and not give up...even when the walk seems impossible..even when our legs are tired? Even when we listen to the lies that we will lose? Will we realize that even if reason spits out the lie that we will fail....that "all things are possible with God"?
Or..
Are we the hare? We have the tools before us..We have the living, breathing Word of God..We have His spirit longing to get close to us... we have all the weapons we need to fight...but we decide that we have all the time in the world to pursue the things of God...
Are we the hare? Losing focus.....stopping along the path to smell the roses, but in the meantime forgetting that we are even in a race.... Are we losing time? The sands of our lives will one day run out...our hourglass will reach the last grain of sand..and we will see that time has shut the window of our days...will we stand before our Maker..as one who made the most of our time?..or will we be the hare in the story?
We need to quit looking at race, religion, and things we percieve as differences and just start helping people in this race. It's time to leave our comforts, get on our knees, and seek the face of God....We start the race on our knees. We put on the boots of peace, (they are our running shoes)... and we fight...
Last night I had a dream about a kitten. A very small, helpless kitten. It was looking up at me with sad and desperate eyes. I could see that the small creature had been abused and neglected. She was broken and beaten down by life. I took her in...I gave her food and love. I gave her warmth and comfort.
The kitten left for a while. But later, she came back.
God showed me something...He showed me the reason for the fighting. This world is full of world weary, tired, neglected people. Many have been abused. Many are desperate, searching..looking for answers with helpless eyes...Many look at the lives of Christians...hoping to see the image of Christ.....It is our duty to feed them, care for them, love them....They may go back into vain pursuits, but, in the end, many will recognize the taste of love and crave the spiritual milk. As Christians, we are to provide spiritual milk for the lost "kittens" of this world.
We become the hands of Christ as submit our lives to Him, in humilty...We humbly hold the bowls of milk.
____________
Tonight, a family member was breaking a bag of ice. I was watching him from the corner of my eye, but not really paying much attention. Suddenly, I heard a very loud bang as the ice cracked against the floor. For a split second, my spirit filled with fear. I could see big hands coming down forcefully cracking the ice against the floor....
It scared me for a moment, becasue it was as if, for a brief moment, I felt the fear of abuse victims... I could feel the fear as hands slowly crushing hope and dignity....
The other night, I was at work and a coworker showed me a video...I didn't want to see it, but he started playing it on his cell phone. It was some sort of morbid real underground video. The video took place in Africa. It was captured on video by a cell phone or video camera....It showed a man running through the streets. I asked my coworker why they were chasing him. He said that the man had gotten caught stealing a necklace. The men in the video are relentlessly pursing another man...Finally, they catch him. They begin to beat the man with tire irons. The man struggles to get away. They pour gasoline on him. The man desperately tries to escape.....by now, the pursuit is taking place in the middle of the streets. Cars are going by...no one has stopped to help the man getting vicously beaten....Before long, the man is down..He is lying helpless in the middle of the street. By now, a crowd has gathered round. Still, no intervention. The next part of the video, gave me chills that I still cannot forget. The men light the man on fire. Cars are still going about thier daily business. People are watching as if they are cheering on the brutalilty of it all....The man burns to death right there in the middle of the street.
After I watched that video, I became sick to my stomach. Hell made complete sense after watching that video.
The truth of the matter is that we live in a very dark world. We live in a world where many children do not have the security of loving parents. We live in a world where men are burned and left to die in the middle of the street. We live in a world where children are brutally beaten. Many atrocities are not even an afterthought....
People need Light. That is why we fight. The only way we can ever overcome the darkness is to spread the loving Light of God...People need love......People need to begin to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit, the voice of overwhelming rightness sent by God..that leads us into love and Truth
The other day, I was at work and I was speaking to a coworker about a disciple group, in which he participates. I asked him what they were learning about. He told me that they were working on a question. "What question," I asked. He replied, "Why is it important for God's children to hear His voice?"
Immediately, I knew the answer. There are several reasons actually. but I will only touch upon a few...
It is important that we learn to hear the voice of God....When we hear His voice, we will find that it leads us into humilty. His voice, when heeded, causes us to strip away our self... Heeding His voice ultimately carves us into the image of His only son. Heeding the voice of God leads us into love. God said that there is no greater love than someone who is willing to lay down his life for his friends.
We need to hear the voice of God because this world needs THAT kind of love. This world needs Jesus. Heeding his voice could have implications that go further than we know or even realize.
Once I was driving through the Wal mart parking lot...I saw a man sitting in the break area...Immediately, I heard the voice of God, His sweet Holy Spirit beckoned me...Rachelle, this man needs to hear of my great love.
"Tell him that I am real. Give him something..."
So, I did....I stopped my car... I beckoned the man to come to my window...With tears in my eyes I told him...how much God loved him...It's all real, I told him...I handed him some money that I had nearby. The man began to cry..... It was as if years of torment just fell away from this man....and it was all because I heeded the voice of God.....God heals us....God heals.
The truth is...I don't know what sort of implication this had...What if this man had children that he abused and because of that encounter, his actions stopped? What if he had died that night after accepting Christ?
The truth is that we often try to silence the voice the God....But it is important that we seek His Voice now more than ever....
"MY sheep know my voice"
And that is another reason why we fight....To hear the voice of God...To fight the darkness with the goodness and the love of God..
There are days when I am thankful to Hear His voice.....
A few nights ago, I had a dream about my grandmother. It took place at a grocery store I haven't been to in years. I walked into the produce aisle and there she was.......At first, I thought...That can't be you gran...You are gone....But there she was..shopping for fruits and vegetables. In the dream, I walked up to her without saying anything. I wrapped my arms around her very tightly. I held on.....Immediately, the scene changed. I was holding on to her very tightly but we were no longer in the store.... We were reuniting for the first time in Heaven...
God spoke to me and said, "Rachelle, this is what is like to reunite with someone in Heaven."
I haven't stopped crying since. God's voice, although it often leads us into the hard places of sacrifice, will lead us into beauty. Life altering beauty, hope giving beauty...the reality of knowing that when this life ends, the real life begins...the life with no pain, no sickness, no death, and no disease.
Today, my mom ironically directed me to go to the store in my dream. I didn't tell her where the dream took place, but apparently the grocery store in my dream is one of the only ones in town that sells cashew butter.
I walked in the grocery store. I was sad because I half expected to see my grandmother standing in the produce aisle. I found the cashew butter aisle and I began to cry because I was standing dreadfully close to the produce and I knew that gran would not be there....but then, I remembered the next part of my dream....I recalled the voice of God...and I became thankful....thankful for the hope that He gives....thankful that I fight for something worth fighting for....thankful for the reward that he gives when the battle is over..when the day of death comes and the crown of glory is won. Thankful that death is not the end of life for those who lived a life of fighting.
The other day I went to the health food store. I often like to purchase natural oils. I love things that smell good. I love things that are natural. I often use lavendar oil because I love the smell...
But one of my favorite scents is the scent of the rose. The other day, I inquired about rose oil. I learned that pure rose oil is very expensive. It costs a couple hundered dollars for a single ounce of pure rose oil. I asked why it was so expensive. I learned that it takes thousands of roses to make a single ounce of oil. Thousands. It takes nearly thirty roses to make a single drop. I also learned that there are many dishonest dealers of rose oil often who try to cheat customers by mixing the product with other additives and chemicals in order to save money. The result is an impure product that they try to pass off as something pure.
Jesus spoke to me about the rose oil. The rose oil is so pure and so valuable because of the immense sacrifice. It takes thousands of roses to make a single ounce. The result is something very valuable, very real, and very pure. The beauty of Christ and the Christian walk is in the sacrifice...because without it, something would be deeply compromised....
The rose is a symbol of love. What greater love is there than sacrifice?" What greater love is there than a man lay down his life for his friends"?
As I read about the rose oil, I learned that dishonest dealers often try to cheat and swindle thier customers by mixing the product with additives. They use trickery and try to pass off the rose oil as pure, when in fact...people are often left with a product that smells like the real thing, but, in fact, is not.
Jesus showed me something about that too. Many false religions attempt to offer peace and beauty and all of those wonderful things....but they are in fact, impure. False relgions are not the real thing. They use trickery, but speak nothing of the pure love of sacrifice. Christ is the only one who died for our sins...He laid down His life for us. Christ is love in the purest form.
As warriors in the greatest army ever known, our fighting often seems like sacrifice. But it is a step towards purity. It is embracing the very likeness of Christ. It is walking the narrow path, the path paved with thorns..but we keep walking because we have seen a Great Light, and we have learned that the path into Truth is to follow in His footsteps.
Fighter, don't give up! Fight with all you have. You have the tools that you need. Pray. Seek. Fight.
The reward is too valuable to lose. ..and it is certain that many will never achieve it...
Good things are always hard to come by...Good things are worth the effort, the strife, and the "I'm so tired Lord, I can't take it anymore"..fight!
You are more than a conqueror through Christ who strenghens you -THE TRUTH
God is real no matter what this world says. If and when you truly begin your pursuit of Him, you will know it too...
The goal of the enemy is to destroy us..to render us useless to the Kingdom of God...the goal of the enemy is for each of us to fall into the trap of worry, fear, and desperation.. ..or to cause us to have our hearts and mind on anything other than the Kingdom of God...
He uses trickery..deciet....He is nasty and underhanded and will use anything to cause us to fall.
But we fight.
The Bible tells us to put on the whole armor of God so that we may stand against the tactics of the enemy. We have the helmet of salvation...we must be believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths....
We have the belt of Truth...We pursue Truth, we turn our backs against darkness and lies..
We have the boots of peace...Part of our warfare involves brining peace to us wherever we go...
We have the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, ..we fight the lies with the Truth...
We have the shield of faith...so that whenever the wind does blow our way,..we have confidence in the One who calms the storms...we aren't shaken..we have faith.
We have the breastplate of righteousness....the armor that protects our hearts..we wear it with pride. We seek the purity of Christ, overcome evil with good, and seek Truth and purity at all costs.
We are warriors in the greatest Army ever known. We fight. ...We wrestle not against the world but against the unseen....
We must realize that in order to have victory in our lives, we must fight battles.
Without the war, there is no victory.
One final thing that I would like to speak is fasting and prayer. I have fasted quite a bit in the past, but I never really understood. I have come to realize that when I fasted in the past, I didn't spend much time in prayer. The two go hand in hand....
A few weeks ago, I felt God was calling me to fast and pray...I was reluctant. I didn't want to do it. But I prayed, "dear God, if you really want me to fast, please show me.."
The next day, I click on to my favorite blog and there is a post about fasting and prayer...It was a nice post, but I still didn't think it applied to me...
A few days later I spoke with a friend...I told her that I needed guidance in a specific area of my life..She began to tell me about the fasting and prayer...She explained that fasting is a way of killing the flesh so that our Spirits can be in complete tune to the Father....She told me about a three day fast that she does regularly.
She said, "Rachelle, I believe that God is really wanting you to fast and pray.." ...
After I hung up the phone, I thought..wow..that's pretty amazing God...but I still wasn't ready to fast..
That night I went to church and our preacher preached about Ester Chapter 4. Truthfully, in my entire 35 years I don't think I have ever heard anyone preach from the book of Ester.. Ever...
Guess what Ester Chapter 4 mentions? Can you guess?
A 3 day fast...
After the service, I was convinced...Ok, Lord...I will fast and pray..diligently seeking guidance for these three days..... All I can say is that during those three days, I truly felt as if I had reached a new plane in my spiritual life. Even now, I feel more confident in my faith. I feel closer to God. I am at a point where I know that He hears me.
I often experience very strange supernatual things. Very disturbing things...but during these three days...It was as if God was holding me..It was as if, by sacrificing my flesh, the enemy could not touch me.
Those three days of fasting made me stronger.
And that is what He is calling us toward...
Being stronger. God is not calling for a weak Army...God is calling for us to be strong...
This week I have tried some fasting and I have failed..I have failed time and time again...But, we pick ourselves up..we dust ourselves off...and the next time we don't fail..We just do it..
We don't think about...We just do it...It's like shoveling... You keep at it and when the pile is clean. and the mess is gone..
You look up and you see a Hand...pulling you out of the water..
And you say...
Oh yes. Lord..this is deliverance!
The darkness is deafeted and I walk amongst the rainbows...
I believe in the God of miracles. The other day He whispered into my spirit..."Rachelle, read the book of Acts...So I did... I noticed that before the disciples went out into the world..they fasted and prayed..
And I wondered....Is the reason we don't see many miracles simply because there are so few disciples?
Few people really give God much of anything..and yet we expect everything from Him...
He is looking to raise up and Army of disciples.... and miracles will follow. My God has not changed.
Dear Reader,
God longs to draw you out of your darkness, out of your depression, out of your despair. He longs to heal your addiction and the hurts that have plauged you for your entire life. He longs for you to become a warrior...He longs for you to come to Him as you are..broken and weary and weak..
And then He longs to take those things...all that brokenness and heal you. He longs to make you beautiful. He longs to make you strong.
He longs to pull you up out the water and give you your lungs back...
Breathe, friends...Breathe Him in.....
He loves you, Now seek Him...
Cry out for your deliverance and know that your branch will surely come.
One night God gave me a dream that He would use me in deliverance. He used my hands to help others remove the darkness from others lives. Two people who knew nothing about this dream came up to me and said, "Rachelle, God is telling me that He is going to use you in deliverance."
Uncanny? Strange?
No, to me,, it only confirms what God showed me. He is very real. If we open ourselves up to Him, our lives will look anything but ordinary.
I have come to a place where I realize that I am powerless. But I have seen the power of the name of Jesus. He is so real to me now...I have seen darkness leave at the very mention of His name...
We live in a world of spirits and the most beautiful, the most real, the most powerful,,,is the Spirit of the Lord...Once you come into the prescence of His Spirit..nothing else will matter...You will see Truth..you will look into the face of beauty and, through faith...
see that the branch was in your hand all along.....
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:25
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. "
An excellent and interesting read, there's food for thought there for myself. :)
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