Grace is the Free Power!!

Are you plugged in????
Have you acknowledged to God that you can't do it on your own or are you striving and struggling to do it yourself?  For several years I have tried so hard to change myself and stop doing the things I didn't want to do.  Before I knew it, there I would go again.  "Why do I keep doing that?" I would ask myself.  Within the last few years I have been acknowledging, "I can't do it without you Lord." Looking back I can honestly see the changes that have slowly occurred, but it is a process. 
Today I heard a message by Joyce Meyer. She went through the same struggles until she started getting serious about knowing the word of God. It was then that she learned that Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit.  We do not just get grace to be saved it continually goes with us by the Power of the Holy Spirit in us.  Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world.
The day after I wrote this God gave me an acronym for process, I love it when he inspires me.

Pursuing

Righteousness

Over

Changes

Encountered

Solely through the

Spirit of God.

Galatians 3:3 [Amplified] Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?

Grace is upon us: And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.  Acts 4:33 ESV

Grace is seen in us: When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,  Acts 11:23 ESV

We can continue in grace: And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. Acts 13:43 ESV

Even Christ depended on grace: But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9 ESV

                                 For he prayed: if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. Luke 22:42 ESV. May we follow in his footsteps by the grace of God.

Here are some other scriptures that jumped out at me that you are free to study on your own and let God speak to you personally.  You can even do so at BibleGateway.com
Romans 5:2; 5:20; 6:15 | 1 Corinthians 15:10 | 2 Corinthians 9:8; 12:9 | Ephesians 4:29  | Colossians 3:16 | 2 Thessalonians 1:12 | 1 Timothy 1:14 | 2 Timothy 2:1 | Hebrews 4:16 | James 4:6  | 1 Peter 4:10; 5:10

[[[[May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ go with you.]]]]

Buckets of Grace!!!!

Since my last post I have been listening to every one of Joyce Meyers pod-casts. You "have got" to subscribe and start applying the principles that took her 30 years to develop into herself, and now is able to share with us.  The great thing is it won't take us 30 years to get there...well, IF we apply them to our own lives that is.


I have been applying them, and sure enough God does walk along-side me every day--slowly I see the changes arriving.  God really does love me, and I am falling madly in love with him too.  Oh how I want that for YOU!!!  I have just prayed to God and asked him that for everyone reading this entry: he would shower YOU with buckets of grace!!!!  Grace to have the want to!!!  Grace to believe and see the changes!!! Grace to grasp how much he loves YOU!!!  Grace to have unfailing hope to hang on to, even if it is for dear life!!!!  Grace to see hope beyond your pain!!!!  Grace to see that nothing is impossible with Him!!!!  Grace to decide to believe!!!
One of the newest things that I have added to my life is a life quote that I have chosen.  "I would rather sacrifice Praise to God than to sacrifice my JOY to Satan."  Sacrificing our joy comes so natural....it comes way too easy, but takes so much more away from our lives.  It steals a portion of energy, faith, hope, life goals and dreams.  Lack of joy produces depression, more negative thoughts, destroys our lives if it continues. Praise on the other hand should come easy, but in the natural realm it takes sacrifice-we have to do it even when we don't feel like it.  As Christians we must strive to walk in the Spirit-with His strength it becomes easier, but a choice still has to be made to do it no matter how we feel.  As Joyce has said in many of her videos, we can't make decisions based on how we feel.  Don't make it complicated just start by saying "Praise you Lord" over and over again until your joy begins to flourish.  From there you can gravitate to deeper praise, however you feel drawn.  The point is to keep it simple--then you are more likely to actually do it.  Go give God praise my beloved friends in Christ!!!

Will you "Set your mind"?

I listened to a recording of Joyce Meyer this morning.  She hit the hammer "right on the nail"-- with regard to the reason for my outbursts when frustrated.  I have known for some time now its an area where I need to change.  It fits right in with being careful with what we fill our minds with.  I have taken good precautions at guarding myself from certain books and TV shows.  The step I have failed to take, is purposely filling my mind with God's word and "setting" my mind on the goal to bring glory to God in everything.  I mean really setting my mind with perseverance, I half heartedly worked on it "mind" you.  I need to do it everyday because otherwise all too soon I forget what I am supposed to be doing again--ugh.  This is the goal that I am going to focus on until the whole process comes into my heart with complete understanding and I am "living it out", to the glory of God.  Joyce also stated something to the effect that so often we go from book to book, video to video, concept to concept, without spending quality time on just the one idea until it is embedded into our hearts.  There was a challenge given to go through the Proverbs and find anything about the words from our mouths.  I took up the challenge and typed up some scripture and thoughts from her message, recording while reading it, and added some background music.  There is a "Right Speaking" recording for you to the right of the page.  You can apply this same concept of setting your mind-- with regards to anything you struggle with.  Have you been trying to lose weight and get healthy.  Maybe you just want to build up your faith and become a person that trusts God no matter what.  She has more recordings on speaking and our minds that I plan to view throughout the rest of this week into the next.  You can do so too right here.  If you are successful in setting your mind on an issue I find victory in that area through Christ.  Please share your story in the comments.
I am going to share with you how I made these recordings-- in case you would like to do this for yourself, making them custom to fit your needs.  It is really quite simple if you know your way around the computer.
1. First, I start with the sound recorder that came with my computer and I have a headset and microphone hooked up. This makes a wma file| save it where you know you will find it.
2. Next I convert the recording to a mp3 file using  NCH's Switch Audio Converter and its free as you only need the basic.  Just click add file and browse to find your wma file.  Below that is save to folder: click the browse button to save the file where you want it.   Set the output format: to Mp3 and click convert button to the right.
3. Now its time to add the background music if you would like....otherwise if just the sound recording will suffice you are good to go.  I use another free program called Audacity .  When I first open the program I go to file/open and I find the mp3 file I created and open it.  Then I go to project|import audio and find a music file I want to use.Below is a picture of the settings that I use:

  Once all is set and sounds good I click file| export as mp3 and save it with a different name of my recording by itself.
4.  I find the file and save it so my desktop so whenever I want to listen to it I just double click and Windows Media (or whatever program you set as default) opens up and plays the file.
Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or are confused with the instructions.

God's Expectations of our Conversations with Him.

In my previous post about my troubles with giving Satan a foothold, I wrote that it began when I started questioning my own prayers. I didn't feel that I measured up to those around me when praying at my ladies bible study group.  Their prayers were beautiful and heartfelt.  When I take the time to write and ponder on my thoughts, I can come up with beautiful words and express myself.  When I am on the spot with others watching and hearing me- my brain shuts down.  Does this happen to you too?  As my prayer progresses I begin to forget what I already prayed, suddenly I will just stop, never knowing if I even complete a thought process.  My prayers just seems to fall short of everyone else.  I know that I am supposed to be talking to God-the one whom I love so much.  I shouldn't be concerned about what others think.  This is a topic that has been talked about many times in various circles I have been in, so I know I am not the only one who struggles with it.  
Now that I know that I need to keep my routine of praying, which as I have designed it, are specific written out scripture prayers.  I asked God to show and teach me what He expects during my prayer time.  The first thing I heard was, "I know the intentions of your heart--just love me with "all of it" and focus on that love." God knows my heart and that I believe with all of it- the power of praying scripture.  He honors and welcomes those prayers as much as any of the others.  When I pray in public from now on, I plan to say a prayer between Him and myself declaring my love for Him and ask that He helps me to keep my focus on that love.  He is there, fully present when two or more are gathered together in His Name.  Keeping in mind too that we all love God and our focus is truly on Him.  When words come from our heart for God and those we are praying for they "ALL" are beautiful.
The other thing I plan to do in addition to reading my scripture prayer, is praying out loud for 10-15 minutes a day.  Knowing how I work- I believe that hearing myself praying out loud will help me to get over my voice and myself.  This will get me into a habit of praying out loud from my heart--Lord willing I will do the same in public.  
I have always wanted to be a prayer warrior, praying on behalf of everyone I come into contact with.  Writing about prayer has renewed a desire to pursue it with determination and to strengthen my skills throughout the rest of my life.  Some people have called me a prayer warrior already, but I want to pursue it from a stand point that God would consider me as one.  I am home all the time and praying for others will take my mind off myself, drawing my heart closer to those within the reach of my life.  I have had bouts in the past with depression and I know full well that focusing on God and others help to defeat the stronghold of depression.  
May you and I both, "today" move into the love of talking to God from our hearts to the point that it doesn't matter what others think of our words, but instead draws them into wanting that love relationship with God for themselves too.  Maybe you don't have that love relationship yet?  God is calling you?  He will take you a simple step at a time.
I love the diversity of learning from others and getting different perspectives.  If you have read this and have anything to add or a different experience that enlightened you to further your Spiritual Growth in regards to prayer, please feel free to post a comment and share. 

I gave the devil a foothold....Oh my!

A couple months ago I completed my book on InnerPeace.  Per a suggestion with Zondervan.com I created an account with authonomy.com.  While there  I discovered some other books for myself to read and one of them was on spiritual warfare. After completing it I was in conversations with God over what I had read.  The thing that stood out the most to me was his emphasis on being sure to say "In the name of Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God."- when you sense, what he called, unclean spirits.  As Christians we are covered by the blood of the Lamb-God protects us daily from our enemy.

Revelation 12:11 says,

They triumphed over him [satan]
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.

Following my folder of things that help me to stay in the midst of peace with God.  I have a prayer where I ask Him everyday to hasten me if I need to pray against any unclean spirits.  I hadn't had any days so far, but I believe we are protected by God--but be warned--only when we follow His commands.  Last week I had a couple days I didn't do my routine.  I started to hear the eloquent prayers of the woman at Bible study--felt that I should be able to do the same.  Rather than reading my scripture prayers, I started to attempt eloquent prayers on my own.  My attention span and praying began to fall apart.  Now- I know I should have prayed from my heart additional prayers, while still continuing with the powerful scripture prayers-as this would have kept me in my routine.  Getting out of the routine led to other bad choices, causing many things to escalate by Saturday.

My shoulder and back have been hurting me-the plan was to take a couple easy days-letting it rest.  We have Netflix and for some crazy reason I chose to have a marathon day of "Heroes."  Kat and I also went to the library to pick up a couple books the next day.  In this time I started to feel I was in a "dark place".  That is the only way I can describe it.  Saturday morning I began reading one of the books I picked up the day before.  I like Sci-Fy | Fantasy, but you have to be cautious- as I was reminded that day- because this book had some pure evil-real like witchcraft stuff in it.  By the time I got to the third chapter, I put the book down and said to my husband, "I am not reading that book any longer, we have to take it back today."

That day, from the get go, was off to a bad start.  The spirit within me acknowledged that God was worthy of praise and my faith in Him didn't waiver, but I was clearly in a "dark place" and had no ability of anything positive on the outside.  The negativity began even before I started reading the book, continuing for 3-4 hours that day. I was not very nice to my family, unusually worse, than what any of us have done.  Finally it was time for me to take a shower, where I was convicted by the Holy Spirit, to claim the blood of the Lamb, against evil spirits.  I felt freed from being bound, but still in a dark place and quieted to ponder throughout the rest of the day.  We had community group that night,where I only spoke when spoken to and asked a question.  Throughout the evening things gradually became lighter, but it wasn't until we were getting ready to sleep that Owen looked at me and said, "Now that is beautiful."  I had no idea what he was talking about, but I didn't even realize that I had a big smile on my face for the first time that day.  He said, "You are smiling."
From that moment, I was able to talk about what I was experiencing that day.  I said to my husband, "God tells us to think of things excellent and praiseworthy, pure, lovely and put it into practice--for a good reason.  Today I believe its a command, in fact, that is what God convicted me of first thing when I woke the next morning.

I experienced first hand, loud, and clear about the foothold which the dictionary states: "is a firm or secure position that provides a base for further advancement."-boy did satan advance on me for a couple days.  This hard lesson taught me to be very choosy of what I am going to watch and read.  I think back to many times in my past, where I felt in a dark place, but I couldn't explain it.  I know now--the answer is that I was filling my mind with the things that God has warned us not to ponder on.  The horrible show that I watched, was  for Nine hours, yes NINE.  I believe that is why- I had such a strong bond keeping me in darkness.

I care about everyone who reads this entry.  Please take to heart God's command to be careful of what you are filling your mind with.  Ask God to convict you, to stop watching the TV show or reading a certain book, if its needed.  Ask Him to show you excellent and praiseworthy things to replace it with-He will.  Don't give satan a foothold to run havoc in your life.  Today's bible study was on satan's lies and I believe one of his lies is about various TV shows, many of us all watch.  He can convince us that they are not that bad, but they ARE.
The other statement that stood out to me when re-reading the devotion by Proverbs 31 was:

 "God never meant for us to be in control, strong in and of ourselves. We were meant to show His strength in our weakness as He provides for our needs. We were created to live like little children, dependent on the care of our heavenly Father."

Don't rely on your own strength to overcome your desires for TV shows that don't line up with the Word of God, surrender to Him, Who will give you strength.  The same applies to every area of your life.

Go in Christ's strength today!!

What does "God's Names" mean for you?

I came across an online bible study with Suzie Eller, while browsing through utube songs....that was no accident.  I haven't purchased the book yet, that it coincides with, but the title of this series intrigued me so much.  I decided to move forward and listen to the series, then I will get the book later after I finish my current book which is Heaven is for Real.  This title series is called Push Past your Past. I have known for sometime now that I have things that I still hold onto that keep me a victim, because I use them as an excuse or to explain my sinful behavior.  Are you like me and ready to move into victory today and stop holding on to the pain from the past?  One of her exercises included a few names of God and what that means for you and me? The example she used was If God is the healer then I am healed.  Then she left two more blank ones to fill in.
1. If God is my refuge  , then I am safe, protected from danger, I have a helper.
2.If God is my banner  , then I am led by Him.
I decided to take it further and deeper, by adding some more, as there are so many names for God.  I encourage you to come up with some of your own, as well.  Feel free to leave a comment with additional ones you come up with. Learning what I have about afformations, I believe reading some of these with music would be a fantastic idea to imprint them in our hearts-another project coming soon - I am certain.





If God is  My Abba Father: then I am in a complete loving relationship with Him.
If God is Author of my life: then my life had already been written and determined.
If God is Author of my Faith: then I have faith because he wrote it for me as a free gift.
If God is my Branch: then I do bear good fruit.
If God is my Comforter: then I am comforted when I hurt, so that I can comfort others.
If God is my Counselor: then I am given advice and direction when I need it.
If God is my Creator: then all that I am was determined and known by Him.
If God is my Deliverer: then I am delivered from my enemies and trouble.
If God is Faithful: then I can always count on Him and He will never leave me.
If God is the Gentle Whisperer: then I can hear His loving voice when I am still, peaceful, and quiet.
If God is my Guide: then I am always led in the best way to go.
If God is my Hope: then I never have to lose heart. 
If God is Love: then I am complete and He covers all my wrongs.
If God is LORD of my Righteousness: then I have a King that rules over me and works Righteousness into my every day.
If God is Merciful: then I am shown mercy every day.
If God is my Peace: then I have peace.
If God is my Potter: then I am molded and shaped, broken and re-shaped until I am made into exactly what He wants me to be.
If God is my Purifier: then I am pure.
If God is my Redeemer: then I am paid for and forgiven of my sins.
If God is my Shield: then I am protected from the fiery darts of the enemy.
If God is my Teacher: then I am taught by perfection and can learn to be more like Him every day.
If God is the True Light: then I am never in total darkness again.
If God is Truth: then nothing God has said, to and about me, is a lie.

Challenge to all my Facebook Friends!!

Hello I am delighted you decided to look closer at my challenge for you today! It is a great new principle that is moving my life in ways "unimaginable".  Are you ready? I would like to see this happen for you too.  I have created a new MP3 that I listen to everyday.  It is using a concept that I have been talking about in my last few posts, called Afformations. It comes from the book The Secret Code of Success by Noah St. John. He shows people how to make more money by not working as hard as you do today, but the same principals can be applied to everything in your life.  Living a life of success in God's eyes is my goal, how about you?  My challenge is for you to do the same for one full week, it takes less than 4 minutes.  Then come back here and comment on this post on how it has changed your life.  I look forward to hearing the praises!!  This is only a small portion of afformations that I came up with that I figure most people could use.  If it does for you what it has done for me, I am certain you will be running out for Noah's book ASAP. 
p.s It probably would help if I point out to you, where the MP3 is?   Its on the right of my blog and its titled "Who am I" it plays right on my blog for you with no need to download anything.  Bookmark my blog to come in every day....maybe even set aside the same time every day as that is how I remember things better.  Why am I doing this for free? Because its a program that was designed by Noah and I don't have rights to it.  I made the mp3 for myself and now would just love to share it with you.
p.s.s. Could you also do me another favor and comment to let me know that you are up to the challenge so that I can pray for you.