PureMotives

Mixing It Up

2011-09-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

As I pull up my blog, I am completely shocked to find that I haven't posted anything since April??? I don't know what to say....so sorry!!! Lately, I've gotten kinda stuck all because I've always heard that in order to do something really well - you need to focus more completely on that one thing. So because I have about a zillion different interests....I just stood at a stand still because I couldn't seem to choose which thing God wanted me to do. But ya know what? I just realized that because we are all unique, maybe I'm just different in that I can do many things well. So I'm gonna just give it a go & talk about it as well. You in for the ride?
So lately - God's been putting this statement in my mind over & over, "mix it up." I am passionate about many things, first & foremost Jesus & my relationship with Him. Then through all the things He's had me walk through - there's our health & preventing cancer as well as other troublesome ailments. Then there's my passion for music, learning more about that & being a better vocalist is at the forefront as well. Then there's writing & talking about it in a blog or youtube video - so many things to learn about in order to do it with excellence! In the middle of all this, I'm looking for a job as well! Kinda overwhelming when ya think about trying to juggle all of that - but He's shown me His anointing is more than enough to help me through it. So I'm gonna trust in His power to work through me - it's my resolution. Choices are so much easier than they appear.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him & He will direct Your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear & worship the Lord & turn away from evil." " Proverbs 3:5-6

Jim Caviezel's Passion

2011-04-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Recently, Jim Caviezel who played Jesus in the 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ came to our church as our guest speaker. As Pastor Hayes interviewed him he started off seemingly unsure of what to say or how to answer the questions given. But throughout the entire interview a boldness would come over him and he would speak passionately about the profound truths he believed in. These moments that came at various intervals were truly anointed moments from God. His words had so much power they shook me to my core.
This man was destined to play the role of Jesus in this hugely successful Mel Gibson production. However, neither Mel nor Jim knew what kind of vicious demonic attacks would come against them as they accepted their part in producing the movie that would change millions of lives and their eternal salvation.
After leaving the service I contacted a close friend of mine to make sure she wouldn't miss this interview. Her reaction was surprising. She said she figured, "Oh it's just a dumb actor who happened to play Jesus, no biggie." Although she was in too much pain to sit in a pew at the time and was trying to rationalize why it would be okay to miss it - I still wondered how many other people possibly take this assumption about this particular actor.God chose him to go through the things he went through and play this part knowing he wouldn't give up. Jim was struck by lightening during the production of the film, went through double pneumonia and suffered a dislocated shoulder. Then after the film was finished he had to endure a heart surgery as well to repair the damage incurred from the lightening strike.
It must be noted that this particular movie was and is - by far the closest any movie has ever come to accurately showing the sufferings of Christ just before during and after the resurrection. Isaiah 52:14 talks about Jesus prophetically saying that he was so marred he was unrecognizable as a man. Even in Pilate's writings he records that he had never seen any one's face more marred than Jesus'.
Just the other day I watch a documentary on the History channel about the shroud of Turin. No doubt, there's a lot of convincing evidence in the Shroud of Turin that it is indeed the grave clothes of Jesus - they have technology today that shows huge evidence of the beatings Jesus endured throughout his entire body. In addition, they even have proof of the explosion of light that happened when the resurrection occurred. This is news that is both exciting and hugely intriguing!
Back to the impact that Jim Caviezel made on us. He blessed us with interesting stories and he both corrected and encouraged us greatly. Some of his profound statements were:

"Freedom exists not to do what you like but to have the right to do what you ought."
We are not called to a mediocre Christianity - just good enough to get into heaven, this is "fence riding," but be the best Christian you can be.
The prosperity of gaining souls is everything to Jesus. Launch out into the deep and get ready for a catch.
Love is important - indeed the most important of all things. Learn about true genuine love.
Marital love is a constant merging of one will to another, that calls for sacrifice and compromise. You must continue to give, give and give to experience the sacrament of marriage. You communicate with Jesus through your spouse.
Jesus wants you to pray from your heart not your head.
He says that God let him know that the more popular words for today are "liberty, freedom & choice" but people need to decide who is it that they want freedom from - is it God?
"You were not made to fit in, you were born to stand out."

With Hands Upraised

2011-04-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, many denominations have taught against lifting our hands to the Lord, saying that it's just an emotional trip people get into. But according to the Bible, hands are an EXTREMELY POWERFUL weapon in spiritual warfare, in addition to worship and praise unto the Lord. There are literally hundreds of scriptures that teach us the importance of our hands and the different ways to use them in our spiritual exercises. Currently though, we will focus on the lifting of our hands up or outward in praise, worship, adoration, and prayer to the Lord.

One scripture I did not list, but is really more of a biblical story to read found in Exodus17:8-13, is the time when Moses had to lift his hand (& staff, the staff represents the Holy Spirit) until the Israelites enemies were defeated, but Moses was getting tired, and when his hand would fall downward, the Israelites would begin to get defeated, so Aaron & Hur came and helped Moses by holding his hand (w/his staff in it), higher up into the air, as a result, Joshua and his troops were able to crush the army of Amalek.

I have heard it explained that when we lift our hands to the Lord, it can be an act of surrender to Him and His will for our lives. When the police arrest someone, right when they first catch them, what do they tell them to do? “Put your hands up! Higher!” Granted, that is for them to make sure they are free from weapons in their hands, but when you lift your hands, you are signaling to them that you are not going to fight them, you are surrendering to be in their captivity. This totally relates so well to our relationship to this holy God that is worth all that we can possibly give. This is an act of humility, showing that we are giving up our prideful ways that cause us to fight against God, instead of allowing Him to be Lord of our lives and show us His WAY.

Next, the lifting of our hands has been related to the fact that God is our Daddy, scripture has called Him our “Abba”—which is a Greek term that is slang for “Father” but meaning a more endearing type of word than that, which relates to our English word, “Daddy”. Jesus said that we are to have the faith of a child, concerning our relationship to Him. So when you were a small child, how do you think you showed your daddy when you needed him, & your desire for him to hold you in his arms? You most likely raised up your hands high for him to pick you up! Likewise, we NEED God, we need His protection, His grace, His love, His peace, His healing, His intervention in our lives, His vision, His wisdom, His patience and understanding, His strength, and His discipline and correction. Let’s face it, we NEED Him BIG TIME! Let’s worship Him w/ ALL of our heart, soul, mind, body and strength, and demonstrate how much we want and need His help and love in our lives.

The last one I will mention, though there are many more examples, is that when we are lifting our hands are to heaven. We are physically demonstrating our stretching forth our hands to touch the throne of God and receive His love, power and grace into our spirits. Like a car needs gas refilled regularly to keep going, we need to be filled with His Word, His power and all that He knows we need often. Or we will get spiritually pooped and give up the fight against the enemy of our souls.

Since the Word of God is our instruction book for life, let’s now look at the verses below to support the belief that it IS indeed God’s will for us to lift our hands toward Him in our times of praise & worship.

Psalm 134:2~ Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.

1^st Timothy 2:8~ I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

1^st Kings 8:22, 38:54~ (basically a repeat of 2^nd Chronicles below)

2^nd Chronicles 6:12,13,29~ Then Solomon stood with his hands spread out before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of

Israel

. 13 He had made a bronze platform 7 & half feet long, 7 & half feet wide, and 4 & half feet high and had placed it at the center of the Temple’s outer courtyard. He stood on the platform before the entire assembly and then he knelt down and lifted his hands toward heaven. 29 ……and if your people offer a prayer concerning their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple,…..

Habakkuk 3:10~ The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands to the Lord.

Luke 24:50~ Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting His hands to heaven, He blessed them.

Psalm 28:2~ Listen to my prayer for mercy as I cry out to You for help, as I lift my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

Psalm 63:4~ I will honor You as long as I live, lifting up my hands to You in prayer.

Psalm 88:9~ My eyes are blinded by my tears.

Each day I call upon You, I lift up my hands to You for Your mercy.

Psalm 119:48~ My hands also will I lift up unto Your commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate on Your principles.

Psalm 141:2~ Accept my prayer as incense offered to You, and my upraised hands as an evening sacrifice.

Psalm 143: 6~ I stretch forth my hands unto You; my soul thirsts after You, as a dry and thirsty land. Selah.

His Amazing Grace Still Rescues Today

2011-04-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is my testimony presented to you with the intention of encouraging anyone who is in the middle of life’s difficulties. Ultimately, for the purpose and plan of Almighty God, to draw all men & women to Jesus~ our source of all we need. This story of God’s grace has been shortened for your benefit. Also, to show love and respect to my family members I have chosen to leave out portions of the horrid fire I came through.

Shortly after I was conceived out of wedlock, I was almost aborted. Thank God, my mom backed out on the day of her appointment for fear of the risks involved. Since it was illegal then, abortions were a very risky procedure. By the time I was eight years old, I had been almost aborted, almost murdered, abused physically, emotionally, mentally and sexually by various members of my family. Up to that time, I had never attended a church on any regular basis, only periodically. Whenever I went to church it was with various friends that God put in my life. I never met my biological father, he committed suicide when I was two before he even got to see me. When I was four, I found out the guy I had been calling “Daddy” was not my dad. Little by little, it began to soak in though. My “daddy” was a violent alcoholic. He was only violent when he drank, but that was most of the time. My mom married and divorced him twice. We had moved fourteen times by the time I was fourteen years of age. I remember choosing to receive salvation and getting baptized at the age of twelve, which was the only time my mother and I actually went to church regularly for two years. Yet around that time I had already begun believing that I couldn’t be happy until I had a steady boyfriend. So the dreams began and the motives behind all I did. My mind was headed in its own direction and receiving Jesus and getting baptized wasn’t going to stop it, YET anyway.

As my mother began to get distracted in her commitment to Christ, she married a man who actually turned out to be an alcoholic and a liar. I was about thirteen at this time. Mom thought this guy could take care of us well, because appeared to be wealthy, which apparently was all a deception.

Things got a little better for me when I made cheerleader at age 15. I began to feel a little more accepted and confident about myself. But my achievements would not keep me for long. After making some very naive decisions, I was date-raped by a guy whom I wanted to be my boyfriend. I had previously agreed to go all the way with him because he made promises that I believed he would keep. When the time came to keep my part of the deal, I backed out for fear of the pain and the unknown. I really didn’t even know the guy, but I wanted to know and love him. Though I made myself clear, he forcefully proceeded on. Afterwards, I assumed it was my entire fault and my choice, so I decided to go on with the previous plan as usual. I began my search for true love through promiscuity, just wanting SOMEONE to love and want me. But I was willing to exchange the physical part for the closeness and affection I so desired. Although the physical part was quite painful because I never enjoyed it in a sexual way, I was still willing to endure the pain for the little closeness I felt. I eventually tried to commit suicide at sixteen because of my self-hatred.

At around age seventeen, I meet the man who is my husband today. Our meeting, dating and all was probably the best experience I had ever had, especially compared to the other guys I had encountered by this time. He treated me much better. Yet both of us were serving ourselves – living our lives according to what seemed right to us. He also had deep wounds of rejection that hadn’t healed. I was pregnant after about three months of dating him. I was a senior in high school and education was very important to him for me. So we both decided on an abortion. Yet just four months later, the protection failed and I was pregnant again. This time we chose to have this baby, I just couldn’t even contemplate the turmoil of terminating another baby.

We moved into together while I was pregnant and all the resentments towards each other began, blaming each other for the situation we were in. I was nineteen when I had Brittany and she had so many problems, a heart defect and Down’s syndrome. She was extremely hard to feed and tube feeding her caused her to vomit up most of the food she had just received. I became very frustrated and began to believe that she didn’t like me, because I wasn’t able to meet her needs properly. I felt I wasn’t a good mom since she was always crying and hungry. Right after she was born and had to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks, the doctors constantly told me that she would die at anytime and they didn’t expect her to live. So I began to also expect her to die and wanted the process to hurry up and relieve us all of the pain. I began seeing visions of her dying and was tempted to hurt her in the midst of my frustration and anger. Eventually, I accidentally got myself turned in to the child protective services. But I did fear truly harming her and strongly desired to be rescued from that temptation. Brittany was placed in foster care for seven months. This did not help our relationship, it greatly hurt Brittany’s daddy. Just know that he wasn’t too fond of me. I eventually left and moved a hundred miles away.

I had begun working a job I enjoyed before I had left, and then transferred to the big city to live with my mom who had previously come through another divorce. I stayed with her until I found a roommate. I got Brittany back and our relationship began to flourish. She had gotten fat, healthy and was as cute as a button. I basically lived the party life, drinking, going to clubs and so forth. Once again, I began looking for someone who would love me no matter how messed up I was. I can’t tell you how many people would approach me and ask me if I knew Jesus. My answer was always yes. But I only knew Him as someone I would cry out and complain to about my life. Yet if things were going fine, I could have cared less about Him. I didn’t see all He had done for me and was doing, nor did I even care to understand anything about Him, though I did ask Him a lot what I was supposed to do with my life.

My husband (today) and I were separated from living together for about one year. Without going into all the details, we got back together and I moved back in with him. During this time, the arguments and fights began again, and I tried again to commit suicide trying to make him acknowledge my cry for help. Shortly afterward, we finally got married, thinking that maybe the Lord would bless our relationship if we stopped living in sin and did the right thing. Let’s just say, it was going to take more than that. Several months after getting married, I was pregnant with our first son. My husband got laid off and had to look for a job in the big city. After the job was supplied there, we moved there.

My husband and I continued to live with the problem of selfish, conditional love. He wasn’t treating me right, so I wouldn’t treat him right. Therefore, we thought we had the right to disrespect and hurt each other deeply. Still the Lord continued to put people in my path that would invite me to church or just talk to me about the Lord. I wasn’t interested really. There was one man in particular, he was a courtesy clerk at the local grocery story I visited regularly. He was an older Hispanic man who began talking to me about Jesus. He was say things that were just unfathomable to me, literally impossible. He had told me that someday people would ask me why my life was so great and I was so happy and I would tell them about Jesus. Seriously, I looked at him like he was out of his mind, wondering if maybe he was nuts. I thought, “Didn’t you hear ANYTHING I just said? My life is JACKED up!” I would tell him all the horrid details and about all the misery I was in. He would tell me how to pray and sometimes he would pray with me and have me repeat what he said. At the time, I really didn’t consider myself to be listening nor did I really want to hear it, but something inside me knew he was right in all he was doing and saying, so I never blew him off. I let him speak to me, over and over for more than two years. At that time, I had continually believed that the grass was actually greener on the other side.

So I finally reached ultimate emptiness, I had nothing left to give to my family I was numb and was going through the motions. I had no “care” left in me. I decided to leave my husband and children. He had already warned me that he would sue me for the kids if I ever left. So I rationalized that he was a better dad than I was a mom- they’d be better off without me. I noticed something very different this time about myself, I didn’t even feel sad about the decision I was about to carry out. It wasn’t even bothering me to leave my children, yet I was about to do the exact same thing that had hurt me so deeply and had literally ruined my start in life. Divorce…. leaving your children without their natural parent and putting a huge hindrance on their lives before they could really even get a good start, how could I get to this place?

The man from the grocery store, his name is Manuel. Thank God he was still praying for me. And from time to time I would pray something he taught me. So I came to God in prayer, and I basically gave Him an ultimatum telling him how my husband despised me and I despised him, and if God wanted me to stay with him then he would have to work a miracle Himself, otherwise, I was leaving.

Easter came around and for some strange reason I wanted to go to this church that a friend of mine was a member of, a church I had visited once but had decided that it was a good church IF I was ready for that lifestyle. I knew then I had a lot of plans that didn’t include God or His ways. This church was multi-cultural and inter-denominational; the name of this church is Covenant Church in Carrollton, TX. So I decided to go for Easter and told my husband that I was going with the children and he was welcome to go with me. He refused, because he expected a fashion show. Since I had always been a follower, the fact that I went to church anyway without him was miraculous.

In March of 95 at the old church building, I watched a dramatization of Jesus enduring the beatings, mocking, blood dripping, obvious turmoil he felt from being rejected, then the cross itself and of course, the resurrection. Then Pastor Hayes came up and gave an awesome message of God’s love for me. Before Pastor Hayes even came up there to speak, I was already in awe of what Jesus endured for me. All the years of seeing it before never made any sense. For the first time, I was getting it and I began to feel so sorry for the selfish life I lived. I am not sure when in the service I decided this, but I decided that no matter what it took I was going to lay down my life for Him and live the way He commands. Compared to what He had done for me, the idea of staying and working on our marriage and living for Jesus was extremely easy to do. For the first time, I actually did what we should ALL do, I compared myself to Jesus.

I decided that even if I had to miserable for the rest of my life serving Him (which I originally thought I would be) ~ that it would be nothing compared to all He endured for me. So at the very moment of that decision, I felt Him release me from all the guilt and shame, the need for a physical man to love me and all the sin I committed in trying to get what I wanted. I felt truly alive for the first time in my life, I felt joy in a way I never knew existed and finally knew that I had found the place I belonged and it was with Him. That empty numb feeling left me like a flash. I felt like I was floating on air and I could’ve screamed at the top of my lungs, “Thank YOU Jesus!” I discovered that this was the Man I had been looking for all along- Jesus was the only ONE that could give me the love I desperately needed.

All of my years growing up, I never fit in any group, people my age rarely accepted me. There were some that acted like they accepted me but they weren’t being real, they were just using me for convenience sake, and I knew it. I finally found the One Who loved and accepted me completely, even with all my awful flaws. I was delivered in such a mighty way; I knew that God had truly shown up in my life~ there was NO mistake about it. Suddenly, I could see and understand things about Him and the Bible that had never made sense to me before. The next Sunday, my husband went to church with me and Pastor Hayes (it seemed) read his mind. He spoke exactly about the very issues that he had been contemplating and wondering. Within a week or two, I remember my husband saying while we were sitting in the pew, “we’re home.” Within that year, we became members.

God changed us forever from that day forward and is still changing us to this day, from faith to faith, strength to strength and glory to glory. Jesus and I had a wonderful and miraculous courtship, marriage and honeymoon—blessing me with so many miracles, love, acceptance, continual forgiveness (all needs met) and overflow of revelation knowledge. That all began in March of 1995. Had the Lord not intervened, I know I would’ve ended up in a horrid place of destruction, possibly homeless and addicted to drugs. Over the past decade we have been learning that love is a commitment and a choice, not a feeling. The feelings will wear off and we eventually have to grow and learn to walk by faith in His Word and not sight (or feelings). It hasn’t always been easy. But I know as long as I continue to return to Him and receive His love, forgiveness and acceptance. He will accomplish His will in me. I KNOW I belong to Him now and there is nothing better than having that assurance that I am safe in His arms and He will never leave or forsake me. Even when I don’t feel like I’ve changed a bit, I can rest in His Word that never returns void that He will complete the work He has begun in me. I can definitely testify that if the Son sets you free, then you ARE free indeed. All glory to Jesus for this testimony and any good I will ever do, I can never take the glory for what GOD has done in my life.

God bless all who read this with a deeply softened heart towards the Holy Spirit, His Way and His love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen~ so be it. THANKS BE TO THE LORD!!!

Bless the Lord, OH my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy Name. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. For He is great and His mercy endures forever. Hallelujah!!!

Jesus is the solution to every problem.

And He never wastes a hurt. Make Him Your Shepherd and Lord today. The Lord is your Shepherd, to feed guide and shield you, you shall not lack.

Faith or Foolishness?

2011-04-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

For thousands of years, the people of God have experienced times of putting on a facade that brought about the appearance of godliness. Today is no different, matter of fact it’s quite the epidemic among the body of Christ, yet there are many that are not even aware of their inconsistent behavior. However, the true people of God will begin (at some point) to notice themselves behaving inconsistently with what they SAY they believe. What happens when what people think of us becomes more important than what God thinks of us? Or when our times of prayer and reading the word of God have become a mere check off of our “to do” list? We must often ask ourselves and God some important questions if we are going to endure to the end by faith. It is imperative that we ask God to search our hearts and reveal His Truth, for according to His will we are to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Now you may be thinking, “I believe in Jesus for my salvation, He definitely lives in me. I am definitely not the same since He changed me. Oh yes, my faith is strong!” But let’s go a bit deeper. You may already know that no one is above deception, meaning that we all can be deceived, even the elect according to scripture. The Lord says in Jeremiah17:9(AMP) that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?” In verse 10, the Lord says that He searches the mind and tries our hearts. From this and other areas in the Word we could discern that without knowing the still, small voice of God through time spent in His presence, communing with Him in His Word and prayer, we truly couldn’t say that we know or understand what our true motives are.

As we grow closer and closer to Jesus, all of us will begin to find many areas of our behavior that is in disagreement with the will of God. Therefore, our relationship with Him must be so solid and intimate that we admit it and bring this behavior to Him, asking Him to change our hearts and show us our responsibility in the cleansing process. Not all behaviors come out of us just because we decided to receive God’s forgiveness and the blood of Jesus for that area. God has given us a responsibility and we must seek His guidance to know what that is. Otherwise, we’re walking in foolishness and presumption. God will not do our part, He will simply stand back and wait until we call on Him repenting, asking Him to show us our part.

I have experienced this in my own walk with God and it was very hard to accept and admit that I had merely pretended my faith-walk for many years. Yet it was extremely freeing and the ONLY alternative outside of being like a Pharisee or Sadducee, which you may remember that Jesus made it well known how He felt about their works. I came to a desperate place a few years ago where I realized that I was a “people pleaser”. I battled this often by speaking right confessions saying, “I’m a God pleaser not a man pleaser.” I gathered a couple verses and committed them to memory and spoke them off and on, but it was not from the heart. I never asked God how to go about it, I assumed this was how all problems were to be handled, just declare and pray the Word of God. Many times I felt God tugging at me to spend time studying, meditating on the Word and just listening for Him. But I was in a hurry! I had things to do! Very important things! Because if I didn’t get them done, God forbid someone might get mad at me!

Around this time, I began to find so many inconsistencies in my behavior that I could no longer bear it. I had become a sorry example of a Christian from my perspective. I didn’t pray or read my Bible very much anymore. I didn’t care when people shared their problems, nor did I want to pray for them. Everything became a duty, something I HAD to do in order to be “walking by faith.” I also became very frustrated with others and began to blame people and situations for my failures. I felt as though I was stuck and had no power over my situation. I had fallen into depression, which took me 7 months before I would even consider the possibility of depression or even admit it. After all, I had to keep a “right confession”. God began dealing with me to temporarily forget about keeping a right confession so much and just focus on the “Truth” about where I was- to just be honest with Him and others, instead of acting as though I was still “sold out for Jesus,” when I knew I wasn’t.

Jesus said in John 18:37(AMP) that “Everyone who is of the Truth [who is a friend of the Truth, who belongs to the Truth] hears and listens to My voice.” But what we have to constantly check ourselves about is “are we really taking the time to wait and listen to His voice?” I have been learning more and more that God is not on my schedule and I can’t rush or control Him. It’s like saying to Him, “you’ll have to hurry up today God, I only got about 15 minutes so come on, speak to me, show me Your will and prepare me for this day.” Some of you may barely get that much time in the morning. And I understand everyone is in their different season, just make sure you are letting God show you other opportunities to spend time with Him throughout your day. He’ll increase your time later on as your seasons change. But please know that 5 years down the road there should be some changes that have occurred in you and how you spend your time with God. We just need to be careful that we don’t fall into the practice of ritualistic formulas in prayer. That leads us no where fast! I have finally begun to realize that what truly matters is that we’re led by His Spirit and since we definitely need His help, we should push through our feelings to do it His way and not ours!

If you also have been noticing inconsistencies in your behavior, rejoice! God is showing you the Truth that can make you free. That’s step one though, now here’s your part. Admit it! Despise the sin! Throw it off of you like a dirty rag and run to His mercy seat. Now, receive, receive, and receive the grace of God! Ask God to create within you a clean heart and renew a right [persevering & steadfast] spirit within you. (Psalm 51:6AMP) This verse of prayer must be a continual cry from your heart to God as you often identify with your need for Him to change you and make His truth known within you. Ask Him to strengthen you in your inner man and give you the holy determination to keep your word. Ask Him to restore the power to make decisions and keep them! Now you must decide to believe that all things are possible with Him. Put all your trust in Him and His Word. He will do what you can’t. He can and will turn your messes around. Now, last but definitely not least practice being quiet and listening for His voice everyday, it may be difficult at first but just tell your flesh to calm down and HUSH. Because those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to the cross and crucified them there! (Galatians 5:24NLT)

2011©DRFARMER

Resting in His Grace

2011-04-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Take rest: a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.

~Ovid

This beautiful and very wise quote above causes me to reflect first of all upon a few verses from the

Bible in the book of Hebrews.

So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who enter into God’s rest will find

rest from their labors, just as God rested from creating the world. Let us do our best to enter that place

of rest. For anyone who disobeys God, as the people of Israel did, will fall.

Hebrews 4:9-11(NLT)

Our Need for Rest

As a mother of four children, one of which is an eighteen year old special needs daughter, I find a constant ongoing need for resting in Jesus. The more frustrated I become in trying to communicate with her, the more I realize how much I need to take time reflecting and meditating in God’s holy word. It is comforting to remember that God’s word brings life to my spirit, the very life of God. I receive strength and encouragement to face all the daily challenges that a wife and mother of teenagers can face. When I take a moment and open my heart to Him, He’s always there to refresh me. His faithfulness will show up in your life when you open up to Him.

All over the world people are hungering for true rest. Some of us try to take vacations every year from our

usual work schedules only to end up exhausted from the vacation. Others try to abuse physical rest by

sleeping all their time away, just another of many forms of running away from it all. Some people use

busyness as a means of forgetting their deep, emotional wounds. Many times, our minds are often busy trying to figure things out, while we long to find a switch in the back of our heads that we can turn off. For goodness sake,

we need some peace and quiet in here! We keep looking for physical ways to take care of a spiritual problem. This makes for a very conflicting battle in our will.

When we don’t get the rest we need for our mind, soul and body, we are irritable and very well may end

up damaging the important relationships that God has blessed us with. But if we will search long and

hard enough, we will discover that agitating feeling is stemming from center of our beings; if we pay the proper attention to it, we find a pain deep inside that is crying out for relief. We mustn’t ignore it.

Receiving the Rest We Need

All the while, there is a place of rest that God has prepared for us. And God so yearns for us to reach out

and receive it from Him. For Jesus said Himself,

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke

upon you. Let Me teach you, for I am humble and gentle and you will find rest for your souls. For My

yoke is easy and My burden is light”. (Matthew 11:28-30)

So according to Jesus, there is a place of ease that we will find when we decide to walk with Jesus. He

makes it so easy to obey Him, even in our thoughts, words and deeds. He takes the heavy load of work

(trying to do/be right in our own strength) off our shoulders and instead gives us His light. With the

warm light of the Son on my shoulders I can now stand tall and face tomorrow with a brand new hope.

The most freeing realization is to find that you can’t be right in God’s eyes on your own, quite frankly,

it’s impossible! Jesus did say in John15:5, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Finally, when we give

up all our exhausting efforts to “measure up”, we ask Jesus to carry on for us. And He ALWAYS does.

Jesus did all the work for us that we could never do. In our gratefulness, we must receive and rest in the

hard labor that Jesus endured for us so that we can experience the joyous fulfillment of life Jesus desired

to bring us.

Yielding the Abundant Harvest

The more we choose to trust in God and His Word, the more we will experience His rest. Therefore, our

life will yield a bountiful crop of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility

and self-control(Galatians 5:22). We will find that we actually have more than we need; so we are then

able to share our bountiful harvest with those around us. God doesn’t bless us just for us to turn around and

keep it all to ourselves. Not at all, those who allow His love to flow through them will be a blessing

to others in one way or another at every turn. As we continue to examine this quote from a

spiritual perspective, let us observe that the field in our hearts must receive the rest that only God can

give, so that our lives can be overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit that the world needs today.

So take it, it’s yours!

2011(c)DRFARMER

The Danger of Distractions

2011-04-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

Distractions and interruptions today are an extremely common occurrence, especially if you have children or a high-pressure job. In my experience, having children increases the distraction so much that you think your brain has turned to butter by the end of the day. I have four wonderful children and love them dearly. But I now understand why my mother used to plead to have “a little peace and quiet!” As we age and grow a little wiser, we all long for a more focused and peaceful mind. Yet I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into the kitchen and found myself asking, “What did I come in here for?” Can you relate? Think it’s harmless? Think again.

The hordes of hell are attacking God’s people today in the area of distractions, interruptions, hindrances and delays. Most of the time, it’s the enemy attempting to bring our minds into such a state of fragmentation that we end up being “ripped to shreds,” as I heard our lady pastor say one time. If we allow it, our minds will go in six different directions within a single moment! We must be alert in our times of multi-tasking; to be sure we’re not sowing towards this way of thinking. Satan’s goal is to have you switching quickly from one thought to another so often that your focus is obliterated (specifically in your spiritual responsibilities), as well as other areas. But he knows that if he can throw your focus off Jesus (the Word of God) and who God says you are, then you’ll soon be saying and doing things you never meant to. All too quickly, you can become double-minded and we know that a double-minded person is unstable in all their ways. (James 1:6-8)

Recently, I came through a 10-month battle with depression. Mine wasn’t as severe as some cases I’ve heard of, but it was nonetheless debilitating in many ways. I still made it to church, worshiped the Lord and even experienced His presence enough that it brought a smile to my face and a knowing that I’d make it through. Yet I longed for the constant closeness to the Lord I had once known. I asked the Lord what had happened and how I had allowed depression to come upon me. One of the key areas He showed me was this double-mindedness issue.

The enemy knows that if he can cause you to habitually be double-minded, he has brought you to a place of compromise and hypocrisy. If you’ve discovered any incongruence in your character, please don’t do what I did. Don’t get mad at yourself, walk around depressed and succumb to the guilt and shame for even one day! The devil will try to put an overwhelming feeling of “I can’t do it” on you. But you must keep reminding yourself that Jesus came to make you free. Even now He is revealing truth to set you free. I say to you according to Isaiah 60:1(AMP)-Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! The truth (that you know) shall make you free! Now that is something to rejoice about!

Here are some steps and scriptures to help you get back on the right track! When you look to God to give you His grace He WILL lead you through! You have this promise: “For those who look to Him for help shall be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces!” (Psalm 34:5)

· PRAY WITH HONESTY

Since God desires truth in our inner being (Psalm 51:6), ask God to reveal more truth to you

and give you the strength and courage to receive it. When He shows you, don’t ignore it and

don’t delay dealing with it. Instead, open up and be honest with yourself and God about everything.

Important scriptures to pray: Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 86:11, 2^nd Timothy 1:7 and Psalm 19:14

· POSITIVE FOCUS

Don’t think about all the things you think you can’t do; pay attention to the areas that you can do. Think about all He has done and who He is, and thank Him for it often. (Phil.4:8)

· REPENTANCE & FORGIVENESS

Remember that repentance is a decision. If you have been double-minded for very long you may have weakened your will in a particular area. If you want to repent, but feel you won’t mean it- then ask God to bring you into a godly sorrow and true repentance in the area you have been failing. Make sure you confess your sins to Him and claim His promise that He forgives you and cleanses you from all unrighteousness (1^st John 1:9). Practice this one often!
2011(c)DRFARMER

The Letter I Sent to AVON

2009-10-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Avon, 7-17-09

I first began selling your products in November 2008 and I enjoyed the products as well as selling them. Unfortunately, I am writing this to inform you why I cannot sell any of your skin care products any longer, as well as why I’m returning all (used and unused) of these products to you. My account hasn’t been active for about 3 months now.

I was diagnosed at the start of this year with breast cancer. At the start of February I had a radical double mastectomy to remove completely all breast tissue – in attempt to take away the chances of recurrence. Soon afterward, I was told that the tumor that was removed was 3.4cm and was estrogen receptive which meant a possibility of needing chemo and definitely hormone therapy. From the information I received from doctors, I discovered I had estrogen dominance in my body.

There is NO history of breast cancer in my family on either side of my family and I have had tests that prove that. Over 10 yrs ago I began taking measures to prevent cancer by what I put IN my body, what I avoid and how I take care of it physically. Our household has been eating organically for well over 7 years and I am an active (5ft3in and 123lbs) 40 yr old mother of 4 children, of whom ALL were breast-fed. I do not smoke and haven’t even attempted since I was a teen. I do not drink but maybe a glass or two of wine each year. I am unlike most people no doubt, by the grace of God I must say. But, I believe this was all for a reason. So I could narrow down what was obviously linked to causing breast cancer in me and thousands upon thousands of other women who have estrogen dominance in their bodies

It’s NO secret that parabens are an environmental estrogen that is in all your make-up and skin care products. All my life, I have used products that have parabens in them, all the while ignorant of their danger. Since I was fourteen, I have worn make-up almost everyday of my life. One of the controversies over parabens causing breast tumors is that companies only put a minute amount in the products so it would take many years of application to build in the body before it could bring any problems with estrogen receptive tumors. Here I am twenty –six years later and they found breast cancer in me! Will somebody stand up and take responsibility PLEASE!

If you do the proper research you will discover that there have been so many studies performed on human breast tumors. One in particular that I found, out of all twenty human breast tumors tested – parabens were found in every single one of them. Methylparabens were found at the highest concentration in all of them.

It is my understanding that Avon refused to sign the compact agreement that simply states that you will agree to begin taking measures to find a replacement preservative for the parabens. For greater insight and understanding, I am sending a link to a YOUTUBE video (about the breast cancer and parabens connection) and am also putting in with this letter one of the test results done on twenty human breast tumors.

The only thing I can see that would cause you to not agree to sign the compact agreement and change your products, is simply selfishness and corporate greed. Please reconsider today and change your products. Otherwise, I cannot reconsider selling or backing your products, and I will make sure others know the truth about Avon.

Sirs or ladies, I am a person of “getting a message out”, it’s just who I am. Yet I send out only worthy messages and I believe this is a worthy message to MANY women. I belong to a church of well over 10,000 active members. I have connections to people of all walks of life and I am spreading the word and passion to many women about parabens. This message about estrogen dominance and all that causes it will be spread throughout the world.

Enclosed in the boxes you will find, products unused and used that I bought to sell or I used them myself. Please understand that I feel betrayed because I trusted your company products and your company has failed to follow through being loyal to that trust that was given. If Avon claims to support breast cancer research, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.

Please show your TRUE support of the breast cancer research, as well as the victims and survivors by replacing the parabens in your products now.

Thanks for your time, consideration & understanding.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Dusti Renea Farmer/Account Number 08125762
214.471.3305 / http://puremotivesmin.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI2V3jHuiQs

Continual Journey of Physical Healing

2009-09-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Much has happened in the past 5 months that obviously needs to be documented & written. Research shows that if we will write things down, we'll remember so much more than if we don't. And the way my memory has been acting lately, I'd BETTER write things down!
First of all, I must mention that shortly after having the radical double mastectomy I was told by my breast surgeon that I need to avoid "soy" as much as possible because of it's weak estrogenic effect on our bodies. Since the breast tumor I had was found to be "estrogen receptive" (meaning I had an estrogen dominance issue), I then had to become one who seeks to be free of estrogen increasing foods and/or drinks in my daily diet.
In case you hadn't noticed or you just don't read ingredients in food very often, soy is in SO many products! I can't tell you how many times I've bought something and forgot to read the ingredients on it and then while eating it I decide suddenly to read the ingredients and my mouth drops when I find some type of soy listed there! Whether it's soy sauce, soy lecithin, soy protein or soybean oil you'll find soy in at least 90% of any boxed products we normally buy. Now I did find out that FERMENTED soy and sprouted soy are free from having the estrogenic effect on our bodies, so that's okay when you find that listed.
So after adjusting my shopping to being more soy-free, which really took a lot of time & focus, I discover that dairy was a big contributer to the estrogen dominance issue. This revelation occurred after finding out about a meningioma (benign) tumor in my head right between my brain & skull. Meningiomas are known to be estrogen receptive, therefore once again caused by this problem of estrogen dominance! Can I just tell you how ANGRY I was against anything that increased estrogen in me? EXTREMELY ANGRY! So when I discovered that dairy was a pretty big culprit to the problem - I was so sad I went in the bathroom and cried for at least 15 minutes I think. You see, I was in love with a drink made by Bolthouse Farms, it was a protein "Mocha Cappuccino" drink. Oh! It was SO YUMMY! I drank one almost everyday for at least two years!
But when I finally came to the obvious conclusion of the fact that it takes high estrogen levels in the cows to even produce the milk, I knew I had to let it go, even the organic "hormone & antibiotic free" dairy. That was May of this year and I've adapted pretty well to not getting to have dairy. I found some butter called "Earth Balance" that is specifially "SOY-FREE". Be CAREFUL though it's SO easy to pick up the wrong one, you MUST make sure it is free from soy.
Since I opted out of the "chemo & hormonal therapy" route, I had decided to clean up my diet the best way I knew and rely on God to show me how to eat and take the supplements He showed me to take. In June or so, a close friend recommended that I see her naturopathic doctor that she & many others were very pleased with his direction. I felt strongly that I should follow after that idea. Long story short, I ended up seeing this doctor.
That first day visiting this doctor I got to see a "Live Blood Analysis" of my blood on a color TV screen. This proved to be EXTREMELY enlightening for me! I saw all my healthy blood cells traveling around, the nurse even confirmed that they were very healthy. BUT what she pointed out to me I didn't expect. She asked me if I saw the clusters there, there & there. I did. Then she zoomed in closer to them. It was fungus - in particular - it was Candida/yeast. I actually already deep down had an inclination that I had an issue with it. Many years ago, I read a mini book by Dr. Don Colbert about Candida yeast issues and how to be free from the overgrowth of it. I knew I had some sort of issue with it and thought someday I would need to do the "Candida diet," but I knew at that point in my life- that diet looked IMPOSSIBLE for me. I couldn't even imagine restricting myself to that point, I just couldn't see it at all.
But there I was with a totally different perspective. I had let go of soy in February and then let go of dairy just two months earlier. Suddenly, I KNEW I could do this! I can see how gracious God was in preparing me with the baby steps of letting go of things I needed to. Now I was ready for the biggie! So far, I've been on this Candida diet for over two months now and still going strong! No breads, no sweets (even fruits & sweet veggies!), no sauces, condiments or dressings! Only two servings of grains per day and 3 meat servings.
This specially restricted diet for me will continue for at least one more month but thank God it won't last forever! Afterwards I will then enter Phase 2 of the diet. I will be slowly reintroducing certain pieces of fruit back into my diet and then wait for three days to see if any symptoms appear. I'll research more about that the closer I get to that day!
Also in my path to healing I've learned about the body's pH level and what an important role this plays in our health everyday. I found out that I was quite acidic. In order for cancer to grow and reproduce in our bodies, it needs two things- an acidic environment and fungus! Having an alkaline pH level in all areas of our body is essential to be cancer free! Now, of course, I do realize that all of us have cancer cells in our bodies. The point is that we don't want them joining together and growing out of control.

The End of a Shredded Mind

2009-09-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been a LONG time since I've written anything. So much has been going on - but I know there's really no point in making excuses because the truth is, I will end up doing whatever I put in a place of priority.

Right now in my life there is so much that needs to be done around the house and just taking care of daily tasks that just ends up getting put off. I really feel quite OVERburdened. I have pressured myself and stressed myself to no end for years to get the tasks on my list done. I'm finally realizing that I simply wasn't created to be running in a such a fast pace. Some people are quick thinkers and get things done quickly & easily. But the older I've gotten, the slower I seem to process tasks in my mind and carry things out.

The distractions and interruptions we incur with having a larger family seem to increase with every year our kids get older! I discovered that it gets my mind into the HABIT of jumping from one train of thought to another. Then before I know it, my mind is trying to go 5 different directions at one time, like those old typewriters when you hit too many keys at one time and the letter bars get clunked altogether & then you have to unclunk them! Just like the typewriter I've just gotten stuck, shredded & ineffective. And if you get in that situation over & over enough times - pretty soon - you may not realize it but you've subtly given up and then just procrastinated whatever it was you needed to do. Now I've procrastinated so much that I have unfinished projects all over the house and cannot seem to decide which one is the higher priority! So I basically just give up and move on to the "urgent" things that MUST get done (you know, the ones that SCREAM at you!).

Now I know most of my close friends would make excuses for me and say "well, you've been through so much this year - you have to give yourself a break." Well, I do! But I'm not gonna make excuses for the lack of focus going on in my mind. Jesus died to give me the mind of Christ and by golly I'm gonna fight to receive that mind!!! I know Jesus' mind was a focused mind. He was completely focused on God's will. He didn't let anything or anyone distract Him God's purpose for Him.

I'm just so tired of trying to tell one story to someone and going off into 3 bunny trails and then an hour later remember that I never got to the point of the story! Somebody tell me if this is what ADD is! Actually, I've been like this most of my life, but either it's got worse or maybe I'm just noticing it MORE than ever before. But it definitely has been affecting my daily life like never before. My productivity is at it's WORST than I've ever seen. And it's not just because I'm not saying no to different activities or doing things for people. For the most part, I don't do much except for handle home & family. But lately in the last 3 yrs, it's just been WAY too much for me. Thing is, I've handled SO much more than this with abundant grace.

With God's help I will get to bottom of this. But I really needed to get this written out and I haven't been doing well with journaling- I might write something once a month or less...... though that's not where I want to be. All in all, I choose to trust God and if I continue in this process, He'll lead me out. I am confident of that. Because He was, IS and always will be FAITHFUL!

I apologize if this has a more negative tone, but this is how repentance occurs. In order to change, first we must SEE the need for change to get fed up with the way things are. That's where I'm at! Oh God keep stirring me up! Don't stop convicting me and showing me the truth about myself! I need it! I need You to pull me up out of the pit of distraction, confusion & undecisiveness. Joel 2:12 "Therefore now," says the Lord, "Turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored]."

(Continue with Joel 2:13-14 for more good reading)

Parabens Contributes to Breast Tumors - I AM A WITNESS!

2009-04-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Some of you may or may not know that I just recently came through breast cancer. I had a radical double mastectomy in February of 2009 and I hope to complete my reconstructive surgery this August. Only thing was, I really had NO risks for getting it. There is NO family history of it on either side of my family. I don't smoke and haven't for almost twenty years and if I drink it's maybe one or two glasses a year. I was 39 when I first discovered the tumor. I have 4 children, ALL of them were breast-fed.

This past April, my oncologist informed me that at this point she was recommending chemo & hormonal therapy - even though a special test done on the tumor reported only a 7% chance of recurrence in the next 10 years. I believe the Lord led me to do some research while looking for another doctor (for a second opinion). I learned so much about chemo & hormonal therapy. I learned that I didn't want ANY part of it. The side effects for me were worse than the benefits.

Most of you who know me well- know that I began a journey of avoiding the foods and drinks that increase your chances of cancer 10 years ago and eating & drinking things that prevent it. The first few years I struggled with that choice & then I became more strongly committed.

I had asked the Lord where I missed it and how this got in. The first area I was convicted about was mishandling stress, so He's been helping me correct some things in that area. Then He led me to look up "Environmental Estrogens"-- which are pseudo-estrogens that are toxic to our body. You may or may not have heard of these. What I discovered is that it has been PROVEN time & time again that all the types of "parabens" in about 95% of beauty products today actually CAUSE cancerous breast tumors! Research shows that today women younger & younger are getting breast cancer and parabens is the biggest cause of the estrogen increase in these women. In my case, the pathology report showed that my tumor was "estrogen receptive". Meaning that I had "estrogen dominance." The causes of this are actually from the environmental estrogens. There are many other types of these estrogens besides JUST the parabens that I suggest you look up & find on your own. But I found studies that were done on human breast tumors and in one particular study done on 20 of them- in ALL 20 of the tumors- ALL the parabens were found. Methylparabens being the highest in every single tumor.

I immediately got off the computer and found item after item in my bathroom of foundations, lotions, creams, tanning lotions, shampoo & more products that had these "parabens" in them. I got dressed, went out and bought all organic paraben-free products right away. The Lord began reminding me of all the times He would suggest over the years that I buy those organic (paraben-free) products. Since I thought it was me the thought came from, I argued with myself saying we're already spending enough money on organic foods & supplements and plus I didn't think I'd be satisfied with them. Procrastination - just put it off for another day! "But maybe one day we'll have enough money to buy more organic & healthy hygiene products", I thought. I'm finding out breast cancer is really a lot MORE expensive!

Of course, I repented for not being careful enough in taking the time to listen attentively for His voice. I had seen "paraben-free" on some items before, but hadn't a CLUE what the problem was with them - I guess I should've looked that up! Duh! God's word DOES say that, " My people perish for lack of knowledge." Many women 45 & under are in the same situation, they simply don't know. I am wanting to get this information out and find out all I can do to help companies understand the need to find another preservative and stop giving women breast cancer. I guess they may think since there are other enviromental estrogens out there, that they are not the SOLE cause. I'm not sure, but one thing I want to know is - who really cares enough to change the products they use and tell others about these dangerous toxins as well? I sent this to message to all the women on my email list and posting it now on my blog, because I CARE about your life. And since nobody told me about the problem with parabens (that I remember) I figured I needed to post this information.

Thanks for taking the time to read this~ God bless you abundantly! ;)

Since I first posted this info ~ I have discovered other ways to lower our estrogen levels. Please, get your levels checked so you know where you stand! READ your labels - soy in all forms except fermented raises estrogen levels, as well as dairy. This does make grocery shopping a lot more difficult and the choice to change our eating habits can be also - but when you compare it to the horrid inconvenience of going through surgeries and (for some) chemo treatments and then all the financial stress of the MANY medical bills piling up - the decision can become quite easy!

Our Crown of Thorns

2009-04-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

After one tough day of feeling like I must be the only one to have SO many troubles and issues to deal with, I realize "there goes those fickle feelings again!" They lie so often. Then there's the enemy who tries to tell you, "you & your family's lives are just too jacked up to glorify God - you don't have the victory - look at ya - you're still screwing up and saying the wrong things over & over again." But I say, "wait a minute don't I already have the victory just BECAUSE I belong to Jesus and have the Holy Spirit living within me?" In 1st Corinthians 15:57, it says "thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ." First of all, I know that I know (by the "Knower" inside me) that I belong to Jesus. So I claim that victory through Christ Jesus my Lord, thanks be to God for that victory that I will find through Him.

As for the issues of our weaknesses and faults and those people in our lives who seem to bring out the worst in us: these could be called the thorns that are sent to buffet and harass us. It's important to realize who our true enemy is. It's not the people that we should be battling. We must bring the Lord into our situations through prayer. As our senior pastor taught yesterday, these thorns are there to keep us from getting puffed up and full of ourselves as well as drawing us closer to the feet of Jesus. The area of reference is found in 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10. How many of us have asked the Lord to remove from us the people or problems in our personalities that we face? Many times I have asked God if I should put my daughter, who has Down's syndrome and struggles with a mental illness, in a special home for people like her; sometimes I feel that she would be better off without me and I can't bear anymore of the communication breakdowns. But yet I know that God is using her to work a far greater work of glory within me and her for His purpose. So I stay the course, because He promised His grace is sufficient and His strength & power are made perfect in my weakness. How can this be? I don't really know all of the specifics as of yet. But I must take His word - believe, lean and rely on it. I must choose to trust Him regardless of what I see. And one day, I will see His word come to pass in me and others before my eyes.

So I will not be ashamed of the fiery trials before me, I will not be shocked or dismayed as they enflame against me. Instead, I will recall the words of King David in Psalm 23 - "You (Lord) prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me ALL the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!" As Paul says, "I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest upon me!" Therefore, I've decided to glorify God that I have been counted as one who is priviledged enough to wear a crown of thorns as Jesus did.

All of us at one time or another go through various temptations and trials, so we must continually make strong decisions by God's grace to allow God's strength to carry us through these trials triumphantly. My prayer is that we as God's people will grow up in this area of trusting God for the victory no matter how bad things look. So that your faith will not burn up in the fire and you will come out as pure gold, with purer motives than you ever had before!

Until we meet again~ God's grace be with you all ;) Hebrews 13:20-21
Dusti Renea

Just the Beginning!

2009-04-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

Behold, God is doing a new thing in this new beautiful season! I have been directed that I need to start a blog......and I'm finally heeding God's call. Currently, what's been on my mind is all that must be repented of and fasted from. When one lady pastor from my church told me to repent for three days I frankly just didn't get it, so I lifted it up to the Lord to reveal what that meant. Doesn't repenting for my ungrateful attitude only take a moment or two? Here I am many months later and now I'm beginning to see how the Lord is revealing the truth about repentance. How many of us repent on the surface about an issue, but the next day we're right back in the same ole' mess? How many of you are TRULY fed up with this madness? I believe we need to give God some quality time to reveal to us what true repentance is. The best scripture that comes to mind about repentance is James 4:8-10 Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. 9 [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins]. 10 Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

I have more to say but will cut this short for now.
Until next time..........be blessed w/His mercy & Truth. ;)