Love

More excerpts from my journey to Joy

Matthew 17:20 (NIV) Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
I have Faith, Lord! Move my mountains so I can serve you!

10/5
"Every piece of your identity carries with it its own favor, its own permission, its own provision, its own anointing. Identity is who you are in God regardless of circumstances. It doesn’t matter what is against you. It only matters who is for you."

1 Corinthians 13

10/6

Today I'm still fighting the wrong battle...ruminating about happenings of the other day...stressing about whether or not I'm doing the right thing. I need to make sure...

I got this message on Facebook...Graham Cooke

"Faith is action. It is stepping out towards what God has shown you is yours in the invisible realm. If we believe, then we must make an action consistent with that belief. So faith is an external action based upon an internal belief."

I'm stepping out, Lord!

10/7

Still dealing with the after affects of the storm that pounded down on me on Sunday...but getting more used to my new found freedom, I prayed, "Lord, I give this to you. Fight my battles so I can fight the right ones."

I reminded myself, it takes 3 weeks to change a habit and loudly decreed...

"THIS IS NOT MY BATTLE!"

"Stay in the moment!"

My first message today:

THIS IS JUST A TEST! THE GREATER THE TEST THE GREATER THE CALLING.

A test? Hmmm..

Then I got Kenton's message

Problems are just preparations for God to show off in your life. Thank YOU JESUS CHRIST !!!

Does the seed that God plants grow smaller or better? Does God become faithless or is He always faithful? Did God choose human experience to be truth or is His Word (spoken and written) the truth? Does the message of the Kingdom that Jesus preached start when we die or did Jesus establish His Kingdom? Does salvation come when you die or when you receive Jesus? Does Jesus nod His head towards your actions or do you nod your head towards His? Can Jesus be Savior without being Lord? Do you seek a ministry title or is son/daughter all you need? Are you sitting back waiting for the great escape or are you preparing the next generation to bring transformation? 

Jesus is Lord. He is preparing the next generation for Kingdom transformation as it may be thousands of years before He returns. He is spreading His Kingdom throughout the earth. Life is getting better. The world can not overcome us. Revival has been increasing since Jesus rose from the dead. Our experience is the lie and never can be depended on when contrary to God's truth. Let man be a liar and God be true! 

Jesus loves you deeply. He hugs you without letting go. Heaven's kisses smack you on the lips.

You are an incredible and valuable son/daughter of God. Nothing is impossible for you. Your age makes no difference, Jesus has much for you to experience. You have such great value. When you love without condition heaven's joy floods your life. You are kind and gentle. You are pleasing to your loving Father God. He is nothing like most earthly fathers. There is no backslide in God. He has your backside. Who can defeat Him? 

Sin? No worries Jesus has you covered! Grace? Yes, more than enough! Too much grace gives a license to sin. LIE!!!! Don't believe self speakers. Grace is the conduit of holiness. TRUTH!

Smile today, you are in a good place.

Than I read this....

Mark 4:39 – And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

My Dearest Friends – May these words of encouragement speak to your heart today and reveal God’s unconditional love to you. May these words of inspiration open your eyes to the greatness that is our God. May you be lifted up in whatever area of  life you may be having a struggle by feeling the presence of Jesus in the very midst of the storm with you, and hearing His words echo ,”Peace, be still”.

I so love this passage of scripture in its entirety. Jesus had entered a ship with His disciples at evening time and they were going to the other side of that sea into the country of the Gadarenes, and other smaller ships accompanied them. Jesus, having had a long day of ministering and teaching the people, entered the ship and had fallen asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship. Now the hinder part of the ship is the part of the ship that contains the rudder, an aspect of the steering mechanism.  I mention this to reiterate that Jesus was in control of the ship as soon as He was on board even though He was sleeping. And yet when a storm comes up suddenly, the disciples had to run and awaken Jesus to ask Him if He cared that they were all about to perish. Isn’t that just like our human nature? Don’t we respond to sudden storms in our lives just like the disciples did? After all, when the journey began, Jesus had said to them, “Let us pass over unto the other side” (Mark 4:35b).

So where in the events of storms in our lives do we forget Jesus’ words to us that He will be with us from one side to the other, in any and every circumstance? The first thing that will trip us up and cause us to lose focus is fear. Once fear has gotten a foothold, we begin to lose faith that Jesus can and will take care of us. And yes, I have even asked Him personally, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 5:38), at those times when I begin to focus on the raging of the storm and not on the anchor of my soul.

But, dear ones, He is faithful when we’re not. Just as He arose and rebuked the winds and waves and there was a great calm, so He comes to us in the most fearful, trying times with His, “Peace, be still”. We are at these times humbled by His presence, thankful for His faithfulness when ours has failed, and strengthened to continue our spiritual journey, hand in hand with Jesus. Once you look into the beautiful face of our Savior, fear is no longer an issue. You might have felt your life was pretty much over, perhaps you felt that God had somehow forgotten you, and for some reason He wasn’t going to show up this time. I’m sure somewhere in your spiritual experience you’ve heard the expression - He’s never there when you need Him, but He’s always on time. Well that’s our God and our humanness all wrapped  up in one little catch phrase – God shows up in His time and gets the glory, and we get the help.

So know today He’s a much bigger God than we can even wrap our little minds around. But if you will wrap your heart around His, He’ll do things in your life you never dreamed possible.  His love covers everything we may come up against or that may come against us in our human experience. He will be an anchor for your soul, and if you invite Him into your heart, you will hear His whisper, “Peace, be still”, in the midst of your every storm.

Knowing it was a test, I found peace.

Mad at God

I was mad at God and told Him so...many times. I was mad because he didn't save me from being abused and neglected. I felt like a ugly, unwanted step child.

My Christian counselor invited me to a Christian Sexual Abuse weekend retreat. When I got there, I started unpacking when someone came to the door and invited me to a praise service in the chapel. When I got there, the service had already started. Everyone had their hands raised praising God. I tried!! I even tried to prop my hand up with my other hand but stopped remembering my childhood declaration that I would never fake it. I left the service, heading back to my room when I noticed two ladies sitting in the dining room. I went in and we started talking. I ended up telling them what happened. They told me to go tell my counselor so I got up and went back to the chapel.

When I opened the doors, I saw Jerry standing in the back of the chapel. The service had just ended. I told him what happened. He smiled and said "Come with me." I followed him to the front of the chapel. Jerry got the two couples leading the group and a retired minister to pray for me.

As they prayed the Minister started talking. He said "I see a little girl. She's being badly wounded. Jesus wants her to know He was there. He saw her tears and was crying with her. Jesus said He couldn't stop what was being done to her because He gave freewill but He PROMISED to deal with her abusers and Promises to ALWAYS take care of that little girl."

Tears were running down my face. After the prayer, I saw a video going off in my head of all the times, Jesus had protected and provided for me even when I didn't deserve it!

I've NEVER BEEN MAD AT GOD SINCE and He still takes care of me!! ~Joy

Daughter of God

More excerpts...
9/28
I'm on my honeymoon with Jesus!! My guard is down and I can smile! I want joy back in my life!

Daddy God,
As we walk the path to You give us:
Joy in the morning
Eyes focused on you
Ears tuned to your voice
Hands to praise
Hearts of love
Compassion for souls
Strength for the Journey
Endurance for the race
Might in battle
Faith to move mountains
Courage to stand
Wisdom to know 
Patience to wait
Forgiveness when we stumble
Mercy instead of judgement
Rest in your peace.
Amen
-Joy

9/30
To be a Christian, Forgive the inexcuseable. because God forgives the inexcuable in you.
What an appropriate Word for the day! 

Mark 11:22-24
King James Version (KJV)
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them

 Perfect timing..as God's word always is. I had my first exercise in staying in the moment getting smacked in the face with a mountain yesterday. I struggled with old thoughts and patterns but I made a decision to focus on love and my eyes on Jesus. This is God's battle and I stepped back! I have faith this mountain will be removed!! I'm at peace!

Psalms 103
With all of my heart I bless your Name
With all of me I praise 
I sing your glorious ways
O Holy Lamb of God.

You forgive my sin
You heal my land
You ransomed me from Hell
I bless you, Holy Lamb.

Surrounded by your loving kindness
Your tender mercies ever new
You fill my life with good things
You restored my youth.

Your hand of justice gives fairness
to those where none's been shown
You're merciful and tender
to those undeserving on their own.

You reveal your will to us
It's seen in all you do
To your children everywhere
Your nature's revealed in truth.

With all of my heart I bless your Name
With all of me I praise 
I sing your glorious ways
O Holy Lamb of God.

In His
Joy

PRAYER COVERING FOR YOUR LIFE AND FAMILY

PRAYER COVERING FOR YOUR LIFE AND FAMILY

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray this prayer in the power or the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, I bind, rebuke and bring to no effect, all division, discord, disunity, strife, anger, wrath, ......murder, criticism, condemnation, pride, envy, jealousy, gossip, slander, evil speaking, complaining, lying, false teaching, false gifts, false manifestations, lying signs and wonders, poverty, fear of lack, fear spirits, murmuring spirits, hindering spirits, retaliatory spirits, deceiving spirits, religious spirits, occult spirits, witchcraft spirits (including Jezebel, Delilah and Apollyon) and spirits of antichrist. 

I bind all curses that have been spoken against me. I bless those who curse me, and pray blessings on those who despiteful use me. 

I bind all spoken judgment made against me and judgments I have made against others. I bind the power of negative words from others, and I bind and render useless all prayers not inspired by the Holy Spirit; whether psychic, soul force, witchcraft or counterfeit tongues that have been prayed against me. 

I am God's child. I resist the devil. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. I put on the whole armor of God. I take authority over this day, in Jesus' name. Let it be prosperous for me, let me walk in your love, Lord. The Holy Spirit leads and guides me today, I discern between the righteous and the wicked. 

I take authority over Satan and all his demons, and those people who are influenced by them. I declare Satan is under my feet and remain there all day. I am the righteous of God in Christ Jesus. I am God's property. Satan you are bound from my family, my mind, my body, my home and my finances. 

I confess that I am healed and whole. I flourish, I am long lived, stable, durable, incorruptible, fruitful, virtuous, full of peace, patience and love. Whatsoever I set my hand to do shall prosper, for God supplies all my needs. I have all authority over Satan, all demons, and beasts of the field. God, I pray for the ministry that you have for me. Anoint me, God, for all you have called me to do for you. 

I call forth divine appointments, open doors of opportunity, God ordained encounters and ministry positions. I claim a hedge of protection around myself, spouse and children throughout this day and night. 

I ask you God, in the name of Jesus to dispatch angels to surround me, my spouse and my children today, and to put them throughout my house and around our cars, souls and bodies. I ask angels to protect my house from any intrusion and to protect me and my family from any harmful demonic or other physical or mental attacks.

I ask this prayer in the name of Jesus AMEN.

Only in true repentance is there true change

Only in true repentance is there true change

7 signs of true repentance 
by Wisdomforlife

HOW DO YOU move toward reconciliation when you’ve been deeply or repeatedly hurt by someone? HOW CAN YOU rebuild trust?
The first and most important step is to confirm the GENUINENESS of the apology or the repentance of the one who hurt you.

I am not suggesting that CHANGES to deeply ingrained patterns occur overnight or that we can easily erase consequences. But GENUINErestoration cannot begin apart from the essential attitudes that point to true repentance. We simply must know what true repentance looks like.

Seven signs of genuine confession and repentance

The offender…

Accepts full responsibility for his/her actions (instead of saying, “Since you think I’ve done something wrong…” or “If have done anything to offend you…”).
Accepts accountability from others.
Does not continue in the behavior or anything associated with it.
Does not have a defensive attitude about being wrong.
Does not have a light attitude toward the hurtful behavior.
Does not resent doubts about sincerity or the need to demonstrate sincerity (especially FOR repeated offenses).
MAKES restitution wherever necessary.
Restitution gives the offender an opportunity to demonstrate by actions that he or she wishes to be restored to the injured PERSON and to society in general. The harder you work to make restitution and repair any damage you have caused, the easier it will be for others to believe your CONFESSION and be reconciled to you. Forgiveness does not necessarily release an offender from responsibility to repair the damages caused by his or her actions. An injured party may exercise mercy and choose to waive the right to restitution, but in many cases making restitution is beneficial even for the offender. Doing so demonstrates remorse, sincerity, and a new attitude, which can strengthen reconciliation. At the same time, it serves to establish lessons that will help the offender avoid similar wrongdoing in the future.

Move FORWARD with caution

An unrepentant offender will resent your desire to confirm the genuineness of his or her CONFESSION and repentance. He or she might resort to lines of manipulation.

“I guess you can’t find it in yourself to be forgiving.”
“You just want to rub it in my face.”
“I guess I should EXPECT that you want your revenge.”
“Some Christian you are, I thought Christians believed in LOVE AND compassion.”
These lines reveal an unrepentant attitude. Don’t let yourself fall for such lines. Don’t be manipulated into avoiding the STEP of confirming the authenticity of your offender’s confession and repentance.

Use these signs carefully and with prayer. In difficult cases, seek a wise counselor. For genuine reconciliation to occur, you must be as certain as you can of your offender’s repentance—especially in cases involving repeated offenses. It is hard to restore a broken relationship when the offender is unclear about his confession and repentance.

Even God will not grant forgiveness to one who is insincere about his confession and repentance. The PERSON who is unwilling to forsake his sin will not find forgiveness with God (Proverbs 28:13).

I realize that only God can read hearts but we must evaluate actions. JESUS said, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16a). We must not be deceived by superficial appearances of repentance. Clear changes in attitude and behavior are the fruit of true repentance.

Steve Cornell

"MY SECRET PLACE"

I love to be in that secret place

Where only You and I can go;

I tell You all my secrets--

Things You already know.

You know my every desire--

Each and every thought;

You know me inside and out

All my sin You bought.

I cry to You with all my needs;

You listen to every word.

You hold me close and guide me,

Knowing my eyes are blurred.

You are so gentle,

So sweet, and so kind;

You whisper so lovingly,

"My child, you are mine."

I lift my arms and open my heart 

As I whisper, “Show me Your desire;

I want to see; I want to hear;

Set my heart on fire."

I leave my burdens at Your feet,

As I praise Your Holy Name;

I thank You for Your precious love;

It always remains the same.

Staying in Your presence,

Being filled with Your power,

Giving You all the glory,

With Your strength, I need not cower.

I am never alone;

You are always there.

I want to worship only You,

That is my earnest prayer.

Thank You for this special place

Where You and I can go;

I want to stay in Your presence

Where peace and love and blessings flow.

In His 

Joy

Prayer

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

Colossians 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

I knew you before

1 Peter 4:8

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love makes up for many of your faults.

 We exist in this time and place for a purpose and Satan knows the Mark of God on us. He tries to lie to many but tries hardest with those who are called for a higher purpose, Many are angry at God. God wants to heal us and restore us and first he needs to teach us who Hw is to us personally so we can reject the lies. It's then, we can hear and receive Restoration, Healing and Victory He wants us to have.

 Walk hand in hand with Jesus everyday, Keep the Armor of God on and an attitude of praise and keep walking We know the blood of Jesus covers us and the Name of Jesus destroys Satan so that when we get attacked, we're prepared and ready for battle! Jesus will always protect us in an attack We will always win!

Look at the beauty of what He created! We lift our hands in praise to our Maker! You're so good to us Jesus! We thank you for everything you are and everything you do for us! There's no one like you, Sweet Jesus! We worship you! We love you with all our hearts! We adore you, Holy Father! .....I feel Jesus around us praising Him here! He loves to hear it. He doesn't hear it from us enough!

I Believe

Excerpts from my journey...
9/26 
Today God revealed that bitterness had been affecting a lot of my life. I always thought it was strength and endurance and was a good thing. I had never seen it for what it was! I'm blown away at the truth of it all! It's gone now and all I can say is that in itself is a miracle!!...but I don't know how to act now! lol 
Where a heavy weight used to be is now free and feeling strangely good...although it feels unnatural. It affected so much of my everyday life that not having it there is weird. I know I want to be here. It's like I was a blind person seeing for the first time. I no longer need my cane...but now what do I do with that hand? I feel ackward! Having only ever seen darkness being able to see the light, is overwhelming.  I can't believe how darkness lied. There's so much to take in and I'm not sure how to act. I don't even know else to describe it. It's humbling! 
Through my moments of guilt for being bitter, I heard "There is no condemnation..." I finally told God I was sorry for being a slow learner, deaf and bull headed. 
I was reminded of all I'd learned all those years and heard my spiritual mother say "Live with no regret!".
I just know it's all good and I'm gonna stand right here quietly and take in the new sights and feeling His love til I know what to do with myself.
Doing these Bible studies helped me see truth...

Bitterness is not a symptom it's the cause!
Unforgiveness is the single most popular poison that the enemy uses against God's people, and it is one of the deadliest poisons a person can take spiritually. It causes everything from mental depression, to health problems such as cancer and arthritis. I'm not saying that in every single case of cancer, it is due to unforgiveness, but I am saying that it can cause cancer. Cancer comes from the devil, scientist can't explain it, doctors don't understand where it comes from; it's the symptoms of a curse. God allowed the Israelites to face diseases and sickness when they disobeyed Him (Deut 28:58-61), and when they would turn back to Him, He would heal their land and take sickness from their midst (Exodus 23:25, Deut 7:15). In the New Testament, Jesus gave us two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40), and if we break those, we can be opened up to curses, just as the people in the Old Testament were. Jesus never came to abolish the law (Matthew 5:17), but He did come to set us free from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13), meaning, Jesus paid the price so we can be set free from any curses we may have come under.
http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/unforgiveness_poison.php
http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/bitterness.php
http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/sws_unforgiveness.php
http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/sws_unforgiveness_part2.php
Later, a friend of mine emailed me saying He was trying to be supportive but I'd pushed him away. In replying, I realized how much I'd hurt people...especially those I love! THEN, I realized I'd been fighting the wrong battle for most of my life! 
How humbling! All those years of fighting "my" battle thinking how strong I'd become standing with only a few standing with me...and it was the wrong one!!!

I saw what looked like cloud matter formed like a circle within me spirit. it slowly turned from the right to the left....putting me in balance...wowowow!


I will always stand behind what I've said. I'm eternally grateful for those who believed me...but I'm so very sorry about how I said things. I never wanted to hurt anyone. 

I praise you in this moment
You are all I need.
Every thought held captive
as I worship at your feet.

I lay my burdens down
I give you all of me
You said you'd move my mountain
and, Lord, I believe.

I sing to you, O Mighty God
You're everything to me
Fill me with your presence
as I stand in awe of thee.

You called me by my name
You fill me with your peace
You bring me through to victory...
And, Lord, I believe.

No tongue can judge
No weapon succeed
This is my heritage
My righteousness is of Thee.

I give you all my praise
with every breath I breathe
In your presence there is Joy
And Lord, I believe!

In His
Joy

Philippians 4:6-9 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.