Acts 19:14 -16  Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”   Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.(NKJ)

Have you ever tried to do something for the Lord that you were not called to do and failed?  Perhaps you wanted to copy the way a person ministered or preached, and while doing so found yourself failing.

The seven sons of Sceva tried to operate, or copy the way Paul ministered.  As we know the results were not favorable.   They found themselves powerless to confront the evil spirits, and fled the house naked and wounded.

Many leaders fail because they do not recognize that God anoints people for specific spiritual offices, positions and callings.  We are not  to  imitate the ministries and callings of others.    God has a special purpose and plan for our  life, and we are unique!

For many years I admired certain preachers and ministries.   There is nothing wrong with looking up to certain ministries, but I wanted to be just like them.  I wanted to preach like them, pray like them, and this got me nowhere fast. 

I  realized that God has something special and unique for me.   I understood  that I had to ask the Lord just what He wanted me to do, and not look at the outside, but within my own desires.  It was then that I found my answer and distinct style for this ministry.

It is important to minister only in the position for which we are anointed by God, because if not, we will be ineffective and experience great difficulties.

Our goal is to increase His Kingdom, and with an army of exceptional  ministries and capabilities, we can accomplish much for Him.

Are you unsure of where the Lord is leading you?  Look within your own desires, and that is where you will find your  answer.

May you be richly blessed this day.

I would like to thank all of you  that prayed for us while we were on our missions trip to Nicaragua. We certainly felt His peace and His protection the entire time.

Following is an update of our adventure!

We flew from Costa Rica to Managua, Nicaragua then took a small 12 seater plane to Bluefields.  We began our women’s retreat on Tuesday, Oct 26.  

Our first adventure occurred on Friday of that week when a man holding a  gun ran through the church. He came in one door and out the other.  We later  found out he was running from the police .   I joke and say if he would have tried to come in 20 minutes later, he would have tripped and fell as the spirit showed up and women were lying on the ground!

Saturday we began our trip  to visit the different communities.  We took a commercial panga (dug out canoe with an outboard motor)  to Orinoco.  These communities do not have indoor plumbing, and electricity is sporadic, usually arriving in the afternoon and lasting until evening.

Following Orinoco we headed out to Tasbapauni.  We had planned to stay only two nights, but both evenings the church was to capacity, with people standing outside and looking through the windows to hear the word of the Lord.  The pastors had never seen the church this full, and we decided to stay an extra night.

Orinoco

What we did not know was tha hurricane Ida was headed towards us, and instead of having church in the building, church was held in the pastors home.  His home is made of concrete, and people, 112 total,  began showing up seeking shelter and safe place to ride out the storm.
We were able to sing and pray  and ask the Lord that  no lives would be lost.  The Lord answered our prayers.

We left the morning after the hurricane, but we still had winds and rain.    We had a very bumpy and hard panga ride back to Orinoco, but made it safe.

We spent one night in Orinoco, had evening service by candlelight then headed out to Pearl Lagoon, visiting several churches along the way  to see if they had any damage.  There was no real damage to homes,  some trees that had fallen  and because of the heavy rains  crops were lost.

In Pearl Lagoon, (we now have indoor plumbing and a bathroom) we had a wonderful service.  The Lord touched many lives, and His Spirit moved once again.

Our last adventure was  leaving Pearl Lagoon. Our panga hit two logs, turned and then a wave of water hit us,  and the panga began to sink.  Fortunately we were close to the mangroves where we could hang on until help arrived.  Everyone had on their life jackets, and we were all safe.

Panga ride to Pearl Lagoon

Our luggage  was retrieved, and we did not mind that our clothes and belonging were wet or damaged.  What did upset us was our Bibles  were ruined.

After help arrived, we arrived in Bluefields with our soggy suitcase.   We dried out, visited a missionary family then held youth service Saturday.

By Saturday evening, we had some dry clothes for both Sunday morning and evening service.

In all of these adventures, the Lord did tremendous things for his people.

Prophetic words went forth, words of knowledge and healings, the Lord restored souls and most of all, we had His peace through all these incidents.

We saw His hand in all these adventures.  I personally fell in love with the area, the people and the children.  Did I mention I loved the food!

Thank you again for your prayers and support.

May the Lord richly bless you.

Hello everyone,

I will be on a ministry trip for two weeks in Bluefields, Nicaragua.  Three other ladies and I will be holding a women´s conference from Oct 26 to Nov 9th.   We will also be traveling to other communities via panga (dug out canoe) to minister in the remote villages.  

Some of the villages we will be ministering in are:  Pearl Lagoon, Tasbapounie, Orinoco, Brown Bank and Ratipura.  This is my first time in Bluefields, and I am looking forward to it. 

We will in Bluefields the first week, and the second week we will be visiting the villages  I just mentioned.   From what I understand, some villages do not have electricity and this will be an adventure.  I have my mosquito repellent packed!

Because the area is in deep poverty, we have to provide our own transport and expenses.  We are blessed as we have a place to stay at while we are in Bluefields.  

If you are able to donate  any funds for this ministry trip, I certainly appreciate it very much.  If not, then your prayers are just as important.    To make a donation, please  enter your gift amount at the pay pal button located at the left margin.

Thank you for your prayers and your blessings while I am on this trip.  I will be sure to report back to you when I return.

Blessings to all.

Mar 5:40 And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.

In this passage above, Jarius  the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum had asked Jesus to see his daughter, as she is  to the point of death.    Jesus began to follow him, but then the woman with the issue of blood showed up on the scene.  As she had touched Jesus garment, she  was healed and  caused a delay in Jesus arriving to see the young girl.

I imagine that there may have been other distractions, as the word says that there was a  multitude thronging Him, which means that there was a crowd on all sides of Jesus, probably making it difficult to walk and get through.

During this time, Jarius receives word that his daughter has died, and not to trouble the teacher any further.

When Jesus arrived at the home, he found the people wailing and weeping loudly.  He then asked them why they are making all this commotion, that the girl is not dead, but only sleeping.

When Jesus said those words, that she was not dead but only sleeping, He was ridiculed.

How many times have you been ridiculed by what the Lord shows you? Have you been brave and bold to step up and declare, the Lord has shown me this?

When Jesus arrived at the wailing crowd, I noticed that he immediately took control.  He was able to put everyone outside, in other words he got them out of the house, he put out distraction and commotion from His midst.  He only allowed the childs parents, and the three that were with Jesus,  which were Peter, James and John inside the girls room. It was then that Jesus commanded the girl to rise, and she did, and all were in amazement.

There are those around us that will not believe what we hear and see in the spirit.  Jesus was ridiculed, and we can only expect the same.  As like with Jesus, the Lord proved Himself faithful, and the same will happen to us. 

Jesus stood firm on his conviction of who He was and all that the Father had put into Him.  He took control of the wailing crowd, and we will have to do that as well at some point in our lives.

May you be greatly blessed.

Mark 14:70 Surely you are one of them, for your speech shows it. 

Have you ever been in a party, and you decide to join a group joking and laughing around, only to find out  their speech would not be appropriate for Sunday morning?  

How about those that are negative, and everything around them is doom and gloom.  For me, those are the most difficult type of people to be around.  

A few weeks ago we sold an article that was posted in the classifieds.  When the couple and their friends arrived to look at it, it did not take long for  us to realize that they were   believers.  They did not wear crosses or Jesus T-shirts, nor did they carry a Bible in their hands.  Their car had no christian bumber stickers either. 

What gave them away was their speech. 

In the passage above, Peter was denying Jesus.   The servant gir recognized that he was follower of Christ because his speech showed it.

While this passage is talking about Peter´s  dialect, I would  liken it to the way we conduct ourselves speaking.    

As followers, we are to reflect Christ in all we do.  It may be visiting a friend, a phone call, cooking a meal or something as simple as an encouraging and uplifting conversation.

So my question to you is, what does your speech reflect?    Does it show Jesus or a party?  Can perfect strangers say that you are one of them, because your speech shows it?

For me, that would be the best complement ever.

 May you be richly blessed this day.

Mark 10:50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.(NKJ)

This passage of Mark tells the story of blind Bartimaeus who sat by the road begging.  When Jesus passed through town, Bartimaeus heard of it and began to cry out for Jesus to have mercy on him.

Those around him told him to be quiet, but hearing this he began to cry out all the more.

Then something happened.  Jesus took notice of him.  The word says that Jesus stood still, stopped what He was doing and commanded for Bartimaeus to be called.

Once Bartimaeus found out that Jesus heard him, he did three things.

• He threw aside his garment

• He rose

• He came to Jesus

There will be a time in our life when a simple prayer will not do.  Our prayer request will not be answered in an appropriate time frame that we desire, and we will need to cry out all the more to Jesus.  Perhaps we need to get on our knees, or lie on the ground, but whatever we need to do, we need to do it.

When Bartimaeus found out that Jesus heard him, he threw off his garment, his cares, his problems, his blindness. Everything that was put on him was now being removed by the Son of God.

Bartimaeus then took action.  He rose.  He got up and went to Jesus. He did not hesitate.  He heard the call and came to his feet.  How many times do we hear the Lords plan upon our life? Many of us stop, listen and stay there.

Bartimaeus then exercised faith.  He took that first step towards Jesus and the moment he threw off his garment he knew that he would receive his sight, his miracle.

I dare say that many of us may not even cry out to Jesus.  We prefer to listen to the voice that says be quiet, your too loud, Jesus will never pay attention to you.  When we hear the enemy say that, that is when we increase our prayer time to the Lord.  Also when the enemy begins to tell us to be quiet, our answer draws near.

When Bartimaeus was with Jesus face to face, Jesus did not even lay hands on him. His request was already answered before he arrived because of his prayers, faith, perserverance and action.  Bartimaeus  immediately received his sight.

Are you believing for your prayers to be answered?  Jesus answers every prayer,  sometimes we just need to get  louder, pray longer and when the enemy tells you to be quiet,  get louder and drown out his voice until the only voice you hear will be Jesus declaring to you that your faith has made you well.

May you be richly blessed this day.

Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

In reading about the life of Stephen, I asked myself this question.  How would I like to be full of faith and power, and do great  wonders and signs among the people?  (Acts 6:8)  Do you know that this is possible, even today, especially today?

I have some good news for you.  Flowing in the power that Stephen did is available to us right now.   To  understand  about the faith that Stephen operated in,  listed  are  types of faith described in Scripture.

Saving Faith  – Romans 5:1

Saving faith involves true repentance from sin.  We must hear, believe and personally accept the message of the Gospel.   Faith is a gift of God to man to enable us to be saved.

Sanctifying Faith – Galatians 2:20

Sanctifying faith enables us to live a holy life after receiving Jesus as Savior.  We must experience saving faith in order to receive sanctifying faith.

The Gift of Faith  1 Corinthians 12:8-9

The spiritual gift of faith has the special ability to believe God.  We know that God is going to do the impossible.  We can exercise the type of faith when others around us do not believe.

The Fruit of Faith  Galations 5:22

The fruit of faith is not something you can develop yourself.  It is a spiritual fruit developed in your life by the Holy Spirit.

Faith as a fruit is a character. It is an attitude of faith towards God.  It is developed through the process of His  life within you bringing you spiritual growth.

How to increase faith

We can increase our faith through hearing the Word of God.  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.   Romans 10:17

Stephen was a man who kept company with the apostles and disciples.  He was probably with them when they told the stories of Jesus and his miracles.  I can imagine that these stories never ceased.  Stephen was  hearing the word of God, because Jesus is the word.

By hearing the word, Stephen´s  faith began to increase.   The word became so much a part of him that he probably began to envision himself doing the works that Jesus did.  He got to the point that he had no limits when it came to faith and working miracles,  just like Jesus.

Let´s get into the word. Let it be so much a part of who we are that we too will have no limits to what God can do through us.  It´s  a  promise from God, so let´s appropriate what is ours and begin to flow in great power, wonders and signs among the people.

May you be richly blessed this day.

The Apostolic walk is a difficult walk, and one that not many can bare.

There are those that I appoint as Apostles in secret, and refuse the call.  There are those that claim to be Apostles for their own gain  that I have not anointed, and there are those Apostles that are still hidden and will make their appearance in the world and in my church.

These are the true men and women that I have called Apostles, those who do not seek titles or desire  to be called Apostles, but have a burden for my church and desire to see it flow in all that I have for them.

These true Apostles build structures and work side by side with others in ministry, never seeking fame for their own name but to exalt My name.

Look closely, for they are among you, hidden, not making any announcements but announcing one name only;  That of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

My Apostles are rising even now, they are being birthed in pain, it testing, in refinement and in my fire.  They are the ones that have passed the test and are ready to fulfill my great commission, to make disciples of all nations says the Lord.

I see Jesus placing crowns on those whom He has called Apostles and anointing them for the work that lies ahead.

I am anointing you now, rise and take the scepter and walk in the authority that lies before you says the Lord.