Attitude Adjustment

      Today in my journaling, I thought I heard the Lord say He wanted to talk to me about my attitude.  I almost didn't begin writing because I thought my attitude was fine.  As I wrote, though, thoughts began to come about things I do because I know they are the right things to do and need to be done, or even because I want to bless someone, but then I begin to get resentful and to dread doing them because it takes so much time.  Sometimes I realize I'm looking for response and I don't see it, or I am selfishly wanting the time to myself.  Sometimes I am overextending my ability to do everything that needs to be done.  As I began to think along these lines, I realized I really do need an attitude adjustment.
      The realization came (was that the Lord helping me to see?) that I usually start things with the right motivation, but often end up with the wrong attitude about doing them.  I know in my head that everything I do can be an opportunity to show God's love to others, but I wonder if doing those things, or helping others with a resentful, selfish attitude even though I start out with the attitude of blessing the person, is actually furthering God's kingdom.  He says He looks on the heart.  Could it be that doing good things with a wrong attitude in my heart is even less productive for the Kingdom than not doing them at all?  Selfishness, resentment, irritation, moodiness, criticism, etc. are not attributes of God's Kingdom, but of Satan's.  Am I furthering the devil's agenda by allowing bad thoughts to control my attitude as I try to go about doing good?
     Forgive me, Jesus, for not seeing this.  Thank you for showing me that I truly have been needing an attitude adjustment.  Help me to see that every little thing I do in love can be an offering to You to help further your kingdom--ironing clothes for Country Guy, pulling weeds and mulching my garden to make it more beautiful for all who visit to enjoy, baking cookies for the grandchildren, taking someone to lunch--all can be used for your honor and glory if I don't allow negative thoughts to spoil the offering.   Thank you for allowing me to participate with You in spreading Your love to others.  Help me to reject the negative, selfish thoughts and to replace them with Your thoughts.  Let Philippians 4:8 be my testimony:  "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."
    Thank you, Lord, for not letting me continue on my merry way thinking my bad attitude was all right because my intentions were to do good.

Doing the seemingly impossible

     As you may have noticed I have been rather busy and have not had time to post on my blog.  A friend sent me the link to this wonderful video, so I thought I would add it here as a little inspiration until I have time to sit down and write.  I pray you are having a blessed Memorial Day weekend.
     Click on this link to see and hear an inspiring performance:  http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9CC1M1NU

Sanctus Real - The Redeemer live on 94.9 KLTY

      Watch this video to see and hear Sanctus Real talking about--and performing--their new song, "The Redeemer."

      Don't miss them at Elevate 2011 on June 25th at the Martinsville (IL) fairgrounds.   See http://www.elevatemartinsville.com/ for more information and schedules.

Prayer Changes Everything

      One of my favorite verses has always been Jeremiah 33:3, ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’  I guess you might even say it is my life verse because I return to it often and believe it as a promise for me. (I even have a cross stitched picture with this verse hanging on one of my walls to remind myself.)  Many times when I am alone with God in my quiet time, He will show me great and mighty things I didn't know.  These things may come from an impression as I pray, or something I write in my journal as I am waiting on Him, or a scripture that seems to stand out with meaning for the situation I am praying about, and always I have a sense of joy that He is fulfilling the promise of Jeremiah 33:3.
     I love to see answers to specific prayers such as we have seen in the past few days with our daughter-in-law, who is alive and home after a terrible automobile accident with only the loss of a finger!  My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude!  But what really gives me great joy is when God shows me the greater picture--not just the answer, but how He sees the situation--sometimes even how it all fits together in His plans and purposes, and how He will use it for good.  I see these as "the great and mighty things" that I didn't know.      
       Even though prayer has always been a major focus in my life--I have read many books on prayer, gone to conferences and camps with a focus on prayer, and been in many prayer groups--I seem to continue to need encouragement and reminders of how important it is to pray.  That's why I'm posting John Paul Jackson's monthly email newsletter.  I thought you might find it as encouraging as I do.

Prayer Changes Everything

May 2011
by John Paul Jackson

      My relationship with God changed dramatically in 1978. That was the year I started praying every day. I did so because my marriage was in trouble, my little business was in trouble, my job at a major corporation was in trouble and everything was going downhill. 

      You know what? I thought. If I'm going to get fired, I might as well get fired because I'm a raving Christian and not because I’m being a bum, like they think I am. So I started praying — not because I was passionate about prayer but because I really, really wanted to keep my head above water!

It is time to pray
      Prayer is so important. If you have read my partner letters or heard me speak recently, you know that I am concerned for the well-being of the United States. For three years, I have prophesied a “perfect storm” of dramatic events that will affect every nation on Earth. We have already seen many of these events take place, and unfortunately, this storm is far from over.

      Some of you have felt the effects of this storm, and others of you, by God’s grace, have not. But no matter the current state of your circumstances, I urge you to pray. Don’t wait until you have to pray, as I did. Don’t put off strengthening your dependency on God until your life is going downhill and you are desperate. Now is the time.

God the All-Sufficient One
       Something substantial happens in the spiritual realm when we acknowledge God as the All-Sufficient One who is capable of taking care of our every need. When we pray, we promote the spirit and make the mind subservient to the spirit. In other words, prayer helps us come into proper alignment.

       God is Spirit, and He is our Father. We can’t take a single breath without Him (Psalm 104:29), and everything we have comes from Him (1 Chronicles 29:14). As we begin to truly understand this, our prayer lives will transform radically because we will realize our dependence on Him. We pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests (Ephesians 6:18). We cast our cares upon Him, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

      Most of us have a head knowledge of these truths, but we are still caught off guard when we realize that our Father genuinely does intend us to live care-free lives. He is the All-Sufficient One, and we are the ones He is all sufficient for.

God our Father
       As God’s children, we have the full, legitimate right to speak to Him as our Father, to make “all kinds” of requests. If we don't personalize prayer, we won’t get very far. After a while, we will just give up because we won't have the passion for it. It is very difficult to delight in something we don't long for. It is very difficult to desire something that doesn’t seem splendorous to us. We have to personalize prayer in order to have the passion.

       When we call upon His name and we understand the position that He has in our lives, our faith will increase, as well as our understanding that whatever we ask of Him, He will do. We can be confident of that: “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).

       However, the reverse of that is also true. We will not see God answering prayer if we do not pray.

      So I want to urge each of you to pray. It is time to pull out the stops and become passionate about prayer. Speak to God on behalf of your people. Speak to God on behalf of the world. What burden has He put on your heart? Take it seriously, and pour it out in prayer before Him, remembering always that He is your Father and your words do not fall on deaf ears.

Home

      Amy came home from the hospital about 6:00 tonight.  We are grateful!
      Right now we are awaiting the severe storms that are forecast for most of the midwest tonight.  Pray for the safety of so many people who may be affected.

A Word from Chuck Pierce

This word seems to be speaking to me directly and is encouraging me much, so I thought I would post it because it might speak to some of you, too.

Dear Triumphing Saints:

Sunday's services were not "easy" services, but were filled with revelation. This seemed to be"the Day of the Plumbline!" Before we reach Pentecost, this is a key time to allow the Lord to cleanse us of anything that should not come into our next season. As I shared Sunday, I am giving each of us an assignment to: find a time of communion with the Lord each day this week. Make it a point to get quiet and listen to what He will reveal the "more" that is required of you. Choose to agree with His voice and submit to His plans. Also make a point to call or fellowship with someone else and encourage them to align with God's best.

Angels Are in Our Midst

Most likely, we would not think of "stillness" as one of the greatest warfare weapons available. Stillness occurs when we become one with the King who rules us. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and you become perfectly aligned. At that point, no weapon formed against you can prosper!

Psalm 46:7-11 says, "Adonai-Tzva'ot is with us, our fortress, the God of Ya'akov. (Selah) Come and see the works of Adonai, the astounding deeds He has done on the earth. To the ends of the earth He makes wars cease - He breaks the bow, snaps the spear, burns the shields in the fire. 'Be still! Desist, and learn that I am God, supreme over the nations, supreme over the earth. Adonai-Tzva'ot is with us, our fortress, the God of Ya'akov. (Selah)'" (CJB)

In this season where the Angelic Highway is becoming so prevalent between Heaven and earth, the Lord is calling us to get still and know that angels are in our midst, working on our behalf! If we get our spirit still and in one with the Lord, we can recognize His help around us!

This is a time where the Jericho which stands in front of you and seems invincible must fall. Once you quiet your soul over the next seven days, you will move into the next level of strength to unlock the best that God has for you. The time is now for you to go into your next war but the enemy would love to hold you in the warfare that has created conflict in your soul in the last season.

Tell My People to Be Still

The Lord says, "Be still and watch Me seat you in a place to laugh at the enemies that have been in your path. I am preparing a release of joy for My people. They will laugh at their last failures and blockages. This release of joy from you becoming still in your spirit will get you across and to the other side of your storm. I will give you a strength to overtake the enemies that you have been battling.

"My people are filled with dangerous emotions. I want to settle their emotions so that their minds will think the same way that I think. Unless they allow Me to deal with their dangerous emotions, they will miss many blessings that I have for the future. Many will end up striking the rock as Moses did out of a dangerous emotion instead of speaking to the rock, causing them to miss their door of entry for this season.

"Tell My people to be still. I am calling for a Jericho stillness. This warfare call is important for the future of My people. If they will come before Me for seven straight days and allow Me to still their hearts and quiet their spirits, that which has been invincible in their past and has kept them from moving into their future will fall before them. Tell My people to still their hearts before Me."

I want to encourage you to find a daily place of communion over these next 7 days. We each must find a new personal communion with the Lord. Pulling aside to commune with the Lord over the next 7 days will be a sanctification process like was described in the service yesterday morning. This is very key for moving forward.

Blessings,

Chuck Pierce
Glory of Zion International Ministries
Email: chuckp@glory-of-zion.org

Coming Home

    It sounds as if they are going to release our daughter-in-law to come home from the hospital tomorrow.  We so appreciate all your prayers!  If she comes to mind, please continue to pray for her and the whole family.

God's War On Terror

    I am currently reading, God's War On Terror:  Islam, Prophecy and the Bible, by Walid Shoebat with Joel Richardson.  I have been surprised at how interesting and compelling I have found this book because Islam and prophecy are not topics to which I am usually attracted.  It is a book I believe everybody should read because it shines a bright light on the very evil Islamic religion.  Before you get upset with me and brand me a racist, Islamaphobe, or whatever other name is currently politically correct when someone points out the truth, I recommend you read this book.  It will open your eyes to a very great deception that is being perpetrated on the world and particularly on the West.  If you need more convincing, read these reviews of the book on Amazon.
    Walid Shoebat was born and raised in Bethlehem, Israel.  His mother, an American Christian, was held captive by his father, an Arab, who never allowed her to return home.  She spent 35 years in a Muslim society trying to escape to America.  Walid grew up a terrorist, but when he married a Christian he began to read the Bible and the Koran side by side in an attempt to convert his wife to Islam.  Instead, he was converted to Christianity.  He said he began to see that the Muslim's "good guys" were the Bible's "bad guys", and the Bible's "good guys" were Islam's "bad guys".
    The cover of the book says that Walid's "life mission and driving passion is to bring the truth about the Bible, and the persecution of Israel and Christianity by Islam."
     When I googled his name, as I expected, there were some negative things said about him.  With a book like this, I'm surprised he doesn't have a bounty on his life--maybe he does.  I recently saw an article on World Net Daily in support of him which refuted some of the rumors that have been circulated.  Here is the article if you want to read it.
       I must say this book is the most convincing expose of Islam I have seen, but what is even more interesting is that it has an entirely different perspective on Bible prophecy than I have ever heard.
      If you decide to read it--and I hope you will--let me know what you think.  I would love to discuss your thoughts and opinions.

Please Pray

      Please pray for our daughter-in-law who was involved in a head-on collision yesterday evening.  She was sent to Union Hospital in Terre Haute and then helicoptered to Methodist in Indianapolis, where they performed surgery on her hand.  She lost the index finger of her left hand, and has a large cut on her neck, probably from the seat belt.
    She is doing well, but the doctors are still concerned about infection.  She was moved from critical care to a private room this morning.
    Please pray for our son and their children, and everything involved with the accident--her healing, the insurance and any other issues that present themselves.
   We are all grateful for your prayers!  Thanks so much!

Friends

     I love meeting new people from all walks of life and I also love making new friends.  It is so interesting to learn about different cultures and traditions and to taste new foods--some I had never heard of.  That is one reason I enjoy traveling so much!
      When our children were younger I wanted to invite foreign exchange students to live with us, but because we travelled much between Illinois and Nebraska to visit family and for business, it didn't seem possible.  Now that we live in Illinois my dream of meeting people from all over the world is being realized.  As I was looking at our guest book the other day I was amazed at the number of places our guests have come from.  We have had the opportunity to host new (and old) friends from many different cities and states in the U.S., plus Australia, Hungary, Kenya, Belgium, the U.K, Norway, Uganda, and the Caribbean.  What a blessing to now have friends all over the world!  I guess I'm never satisfied though, because I am always eager to meet someone new.
     Several people have visited this blog which not only makes me curious to know who they are, but where they live and also how they discovered the blog.  If you are reading this, but don't know me personally, I would love to get to know you, too.  I feel almost as if we are friends already because you know much about me, but I want to know you, too.  I would love to hear from you, either from comments left on the blog, or through email.  I would find it so interesting to know what your life is like, how you found this blog, and what you enjoy reading on it.  (Of course, I'm always eager to hear from old friends, too.)     
      I guess I am just a naturally curious person, but you must be, also, to have found this blog.  That means we already have one thing in common that I know about.
      I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Cruising in the Woods

     Our daughter and her boys are here for a few days.  We love it when they are able to come for a visit.  Not only do we enjoy spending time with them, but it seems we get to see our other kids and grandkids more often when they're here.  It's always great to have a reason to bring the whole family together!
     I have gotten lots of exercise following the boys as they cruise on the driveway, and in the yard, and through the woods, and over the bridge while riding the "over-the-road trike" and driving the "F150."  What a great excuse to get outside and enjoy the beauty of nature!

Fortunately, they each have a cruising mode preference, so there haven't been too many arguments about who rides what.

      Aren't grandchildren a blessing?  They help us slow down and see the world through children's eyes at an age when we can appreciate it!  I always seemed to be too busy to 'let things go' when I was younger, but I love having a reason to do that now!

Additional horses

       A couple of weeks ago Country Guy and our oldest son went to Nebraska to pick up two additional horses from a feedlot out there.  I have been trying to get a good picture of them, but they have been somewhat camera shy.  Also, it has been raining so much that I just haven't found a good time.

      Here's the best I could do.  Their names are Mango and Dan.

  
     The horses in the picture to the right are our original horses.  Their names from left to right are, Jeremiah, Smoke, JoBee, who is now 33 years old, and Nick.

    We've learned a little about horses' pecking order from watching them relate to one another.  Country Guy tried to put the new ones in with the other four, but Smoke--the gray mare--was determined she would no longer be at the bottom of the pecking order.  We were told that at the feed lot, Dan, the buckskin, was the dominant horse, but here he just ignores them all and lets Jeremiah and Nick, the two who have been dominate here, continue.   Smoke picked on, and aggravated the new ones till they had to be separated.  We have decided that seniority plays an important part in the pecking order.  The longer they have been here, the more seniority they have until they get too old--like JoBee--and then they move to the bottom.  Sounds a little like humans, doesn't it?

Do I Spend More Time Reading the Bad News Than the Good News?

       This is such a good reminder, so I am posting it to help me remember.  I spend entirely too much time hearing the news of the world, discussing the news of the world and being concerned about what is happening--and not nearly enough time reading the "Good News" in God's Word.  My goal is to hear, and to meditate on the Good News, not the bad.

Read The Good News Today?  from Joseph Prince's Devotional Today Matthew 6:33 33… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.         God doesn’t want you grabbing the newspaper first thing in the morning and reading all the bad news in the world. He knows that if you do that, your heart will be full of cares, anxieties and even fears.       This happened to a mother who read in the newspaper that children from China studying in our local schools were becoming top students. She wrote to the press, voicing her concerns about the stiff competition her child would face from these students, even for the top jobs in Singapore in the future.        When you are reading the newspapers, magazines, medical journals, economic reports, watching movies or surfing the Internet all the time, then you are getting your “nourishment” from these sources instead of God’s Word. Now, I am not against these things. But if you constantly feed only on earthly things which cannot satisfy, you will fill your heart and mind with cares and worries.        Jesus doesn’t want you to end up worrying about your life — what you will eat, drink or wear — as these are the things that the Gentiles (people of the world) seek. He says that your heavenly Father knows very well that you need these things. (Matthew 6:31–32)        That is why He promises you that if you would seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things that the world seeks after will be added to you. It will not just be given but added, which means greater in quantity and quality!        If you are broke, don’t pursue money. Pursue God your prosperity. If you are faced with lack, don’t pursue material goods. Pursue God your provider. If you are sick, don’t pursue the “cure”. Pursue God your healer.       My friend, don’t grab the newspaper or call your friend first thing in the morning to talk about the latest bad news. Instead, grab your Bible and read all the good news God has for you for the day. And as you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the things that the world is running after will be added to you!

What is happening with the weather?

    The sun is shining this morning after 3 days of rain.  Please, Lord, let it continue to shine until the farmers have their crops planted.
    The weather this year has been extreme in every part of the world, hasn't it?  Tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, droughts and fires!  The swings in temperature in our area have been amazing!  This morning it is 42 degrees, with 36 degrees forecast for tonight.  Wednesday or Thursday of last week it was nearly 90!
     It seems that nature is conspiring to bring us all to the realization that only God can help us.  We cannot help ourselves when faced with such overwhelming power.  Sometimes it seems as if God is mocking the global warming enthusiasts, who try to convince themselves they can make a difference in the weather patterns of the world by drinking organic tea.
     The temperature today seems more like we are in global cooling, but whatever the weather pattern, it seems to me there is a much greater Power at work who set laws and principles in motion long before we were on the earth, and the sooner we acknowledge Him the better off we will be.

Amazing! Kids playing guitar

Have you seen this video?  These kids are amazing!