Posts Tagged ‘Faith’

Posted on April 22, 2010 - by Mary

Faith of a Mustard Seed Moves Mountains

I must say the last week has been truly amazing! If you read my last post, you know that God brought me to a crisis of belief and He hasn’t stopped there. It was last Wednesday, and the following Friday we received the remaining part of our federal tax refund. I had to file an amendment to our return because I found another form and needed to file it, resulting in another $1000 refund. We knew it was coming, but the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Then to top it off, last Tuesday I entered Karlie in a contest for an entire prom package. A couple days prior to this, Jeff and I were talking about how we didn’t know how we were going to be able to afford for Karlie to go to prom this year. It’s her Senior year and neither of us wanted her to miss out. A day or two later I saw this post on She Scribes, so I emailed the company with our story.

A couple of days later, I got an email from them saying Karlie was chosen as a finalist in the contest! I was ecstatic. I kept receiving emails from the company having the giveaway telling us to have Karlie pick out some dresses and shoes from this site and asking about her prom details. Yesterday, I received a phone call and it was the gal from Kymaro. She needed to know what Karlie was going to say if she was to be interviewed by the news media and so on, so I gave Karlie my phone. We were at church waiting for youth group to start at the time, so Karlie went to the kitchen so she could hear. A few minutes later she came running down the hall shouting, “I won!!! I won!!!!” I was shocked!!! Literally!!! And everyone at youth group was asking “What’d ya win???” and “You won what???” It was so much fun and so exciting!!!

I know it’s totally God’s way of providing for us and her. Not only does she get a dress, shoes, and jewelry, she also gets a makeover with hair color cut and style, manicure, pedicure, prom tickets paid for and limo ride to and from prom for her and her boyfriend! How cool is that! The hair color is alone is a huge blessing to us because Karlie and I need our hair done and I was wondering where we were going to get the money for that.

God is so awesome and Jeff and I know it’s just the beginning of His amazing provision. We’ve both felt it in our spirits that things were going to turn around for us financially, for His glory!

If you have faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. (Matt. 17:20) My faith is growing and growing and becoming stronger and stronger. God is always at work around us. I have faith and am ready to adjust my life and to be obedient to His calling.

How have you sensed or seen God moving in your life?

Posted on April 14, 2010 - by Mary

Truly Experiencing God

Today has been an emotionally crazy day for me. I tried starting it out with my quiet time with God and though I did get in a little time with God, it was quickly interrupted by kids. My adult grown kids mind you. Then of course I got more distracted by email and facebook. Then my hubby woke up (he’s on midnights) and started talking about bills and stuff, and I just became completely overwhelmed and I started to cry. And to top it off, tonight is youth group and I just could see myself being a big mess there when I’m supposed to be a leader, so I decided not to go. I know we’re not expected to be strong all the time, but our youth Pastor is out of town, so the other leaders have to fill in and I didn’t want to burden them with my issues which would distract them from ministering to the youth. Plus I really felt like God wasn’t done with me yet and that He wanted me to stay home so He could finish what he was trying to show me this morning…no, the last few days actually.

We’ve been going through the Experiencing God bible study in small groups at church. And, wow is it ever an amazing study. I get more and more blown away with each unit. Not this past Monday but the Monday before we have what’s called “The Throne Zone” at church. It’s a praise and prayer service the first Monday of every month. We’ve been attending that service since the beginning of the year and God has been revealing some pretty awesome stuff to me personally and to my family. At this last service, God once again came through for me. I was standing alone praying and saying to God, if you’re there, if you’re the real God and if you hear my prayer, please send someone over to pray with me. I just needed to know He was there and that he was listening. Within a minute or two, the wives of one of the elders was at my side. She said she didn’t know why she was there, she was just being obedient. Tears streamed from my eyes and we just stood and worshiped. Then God began to use her to speak to me. He said he wanted to use me and take me places, but I needed to spend some time with Him first because there were some things in me He needed to remove and deal with. No surprise there. I’ve been dealing with some stuff and I was so ready to receive and to allow God to do what needed to be done so I could be free to worship and be free to be used by Him. My friend explained that I might start to feel overwhelmed, but that it would be okay, that it was just God removing those things so I could be free.

Well today must have been the day because all day long I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to be alone with God. I tried doing other things but that feeling just wouldn’t go away. So, finally, after Jeff and Karlie left for youth group, I laid face down on the couch. I actually felt like I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. But, I didn’t go to sleep. As I laid there, God began to speak to me and show me something. He began to reveal to me that the god Jehovah’s Witnesses worship is a FALSE god. It’s not the same god we worship.

If you’ve been following my blog at all, you know I was raised a JW and have been struggling with doubt for a couple of years. I’ve been trying to dismiss the thoughts of doubt as my own thoughts, but at the first Throne Zone we attended in January it was revealed I had a lying spirit tormenting me with lies and putting those doubts, fears and thoughts into my head. I rebuked that spirit and a couple of other ones, and felt complete freedom and a renewed confidence. However, every once in a while little thoughts of doubt would still creep in, making me question my faith again. I’ve learned to rebuke those thoughts as well.

Over the last few weeks or so, I’ve been hearing the name “Elijah” come up over and over again in various conversations. I kind of know the story of Elijah but not really, so I thought (ha!) I should read the story again in the bible. One day, right in the middle of doing my Experiencing God lesson, I felt this strong urge to read Elijah right then. So I put down my EG book and opened the bible to 1 Kings chapter 18. I read how God used the prophet Elijah to reveal Himself as the one and only true God to Ahab. Ahab’s people worshiped Baal, a false God. God told Elijah to build to build an altar, and place a bull on it, and have Ahab do the same. Then Elijah told Ahab to call upon his false god Baal and he (Elijah) would call upon the Lord to bring fire down and burn up the offering. Ahab and his people called and cried out and cut themselves for hours and hours and Baal was silent. Baal didn’t show up. Baal didn’t answer. Then Elijah had water poured over the altar he built 3 times. Then he called upon the Lord to come and received the offering. Fire came down and immediately the altar was consumed by fire, even the water in the trenches was burned up by the fire. Ahab knew that his god was dead and the Lord was the true Lord, the God of heaven and earth, the Maker of the Universe.

When I first read this story a few days ago, I didn’t know what God was trying to show me through it. I continued reading and thought he was showing me how He is in the whisper (1 Kings 19:12-13). But, deep down, I knew that that wasn’t it.

This morning as I re-read the story, I began to see that God was trying to show me something else. I thought He was trying to get me to call out to Him and out to the god of Jehovah’s Witnesses, to prove and see which one is the true God. In all honesty, I was afraid. You see, there is a part of me that still doubts, that still hears that voice saying JW’s teach the truth, they have the truth. So, I was afraid to do that because I didn’t want them to come to my door. I didn’t want them to have the truth. I didn’t want to ever have to go back to one of their Kingdom Halls again. As I  type this, I realize how crazy this all sounds. And most of you are probably thinking…I don’t know what…but I know this must sound crazy to you all. Anyway, this afternoon as I laid face down on the couch with my eyes closed, God started to speak to me. He said the reason he showed me that scripture is because I needed to know and to see that the god the JW’s teach is a FALSE god. It’s not the God of the Universe, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is a FALSE god and HE is the only true God.

Do you know how blown away I am by that right now??? I am blown away because I NEVER looked at it like that. It’s kind of hard to explain how I looked at it I guess. Kind of like the Muslims look at Ala, I suppose. They think he created the universe and claim he is the same God we worship. That is a lie from the pit of Hell. The god the JW’s teach about is a FALSE god just like Baal and Ala. “Jehovah” (the Jehovah they teach about) is not the same Jehovah the same God I worship. It’s almost like an incomplete god because they don’t believe Jesus is God, nor that the Holy Spirit is God.

Anyway, I truly had an experience with God today. I feel so much better than I did earlier today. It’s amazing what happens when you lay yourself down and allow God to speak to you. I know there’s more stuff He wants to reveal to me, and I hope I don’t have to get to the point I did today in order to hear Him.

Posted on April 4, 2010 - by Mary

God works through our Circumstances

Our entire church has been studying the Experiencing God bible study for the past 6 or 7 weeks. It’s a twelve week study and every week it gets better and better. I’ve already seen God move in our lives in many ways and I’m learning how see where God is working and then go there, instead of me making my own plan and asking God to bless it. It’s amazing. God is amazing.

This week I’ve been learning about how God works through our circumstances. And boy do we have some circumstances! Just the other night, Thursday I think it was, Karlie, my 17 year old was on her way home from Petoskey with one of her friends, who is about 4 or 5 months pregnant. As they rounded a curve the car in front of them suddenly came to a skreetching halt because of an accident that just happened, and so did Karlie and her friend. As soon as they stopped, Karlie looked in her rearview mirror only to see the vehicle behind her racing toward them, smashing into them. Karlie and her friend were okay, Praise God, but the van is not. We’re pretty certain the frame is bent because the two sliding side doors are sprung open at the top. The tow truck that came to tow the vehicle that hit them, used their wench to pull the side panel away from the tire so we could drive it home, but the bumper is dragging, not to mention most of it’s missing, and the backend is smashed in.

We still owe about $4000 on it and if they total it we will be lucky to get that amount out of it. When we hit the deer a couple of months ago, the body shop estimated it’s worth at about that amount or somewhere around there. If they do total it out, we may or may not have enough to pay it off, but we definitely won’t have enough money to buy another vehicle. We’ve learned through Crown Financial that we’re supposed to save enough cash to buy a vehicle outright, but we haven’t been able to do that either. We have to have 2 cars with Jeff working in Gaylord, and Karlie still in school. And I need a vehicle on Wednesday’s but we can manage to work around that with two cars….but not one.

Our truck is out of commission right now due to a blown tire, and we haven’t had the cash to buy new tires for it yet. It also needs frontend work, not to mention the body work, but that’s not a necessity to get it on the road. Our car runs pretty good but the hood needs a new latch. It’s pretty ghetto looking but like I said, it runs, so that’s what we’re using now to get around. Thank God Karlie is on spring break right now and Jeff is on vacation this week to give us time to work something out…for God to work something out.

So, I guess I’m writing this so you can pray for us. I’m praying for a financial miracle. I know God will provide all our needs, so I’m not worried. I definitely want to see how God is going to work through this! It’s going to be exciting and I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Posted on October 4, 2009 - by Mary

When You’re feeling the Squeeze, God has room to Move

Today as I was listening to the message at church, I “heard” God say something along these lines: “When things are tight, tough and even very difficult, it just means it’s an opportunity for Me to move in your life.” I got really excited when God laid that on my heart! It made me stop and look at life’s struggles in a whole new light.

When life gets tough, and believe me, life gets tough, instead of looking at it in a negative way, like “poor me” or “why does this happen to me all the time” or “why can’t I ever make ends meet”, God laid it on my heart to look at each struggle in life as an opportunity for Him to move in my life.  That’s right, an opportunity for Him to move in my life. That means there’s an opportunity for a miracle in my life! I got so excited when I thought about that!!! Think about it! How many of you would like to see an actual miracle in your life? I know I would!!! And I’m not saying I’ve never experienced God’s miraculous healing power or his miraculous provision in my life, because I have, many many times. But there are also those times when times were tough or I was struggling with something, and instead of thinking of it as an opportunity for God to move, I got down about it, frustrated or even mad and upset.

Right now, things are pretty tight, really tight for Jeff and I financially, really tight! To the point where we don’t know where we’re going to get the money for gas for him to get back and forth to work and for Karlie to get to school and back. But, as I was writing out my tithe check this morning, and believing in faith that God will provide all our needs, God began to speak to my heart. The bible says we are to “be a cheerful giver”…that scripture has a whole new meaning to me now. Sure, we could have chosen not to tithe this morning or even worse, given reluctantly, but this morning I got excited to give our tithe…I just gave God room to move in our lives and our finances! In the past as I wrote out our tithe check, I would say a quick prayer, kind of along the lines of “okay I’m being obedient, so now You’re going to have to provide God”, because I knew that while we’re supposed to tithe, we sure could use that money to pay some bills with or even just buy gas and groceries with. And I need to add that God did provide and continues to, although I wasn’t exactly being a “cheerful giver”. But, now I get it! When we faithfully tithe, especially when things seem impossible, God has room to move! We just opened the door for Him to be able to provide our needs. If we didn’t tithe, sure we’d have that extra money for gas and groceries, but we would also have closed that door to God’s loving provision.

Please don’t think I’m trying to brag or be boastful about tithing. I’m excited about God being able to move in our lives and that I finally realize why God wants us to give 10% of our increase to Him first! He wants us to make room in our hearts for Him and have faith that He will do as He has promised in His word.

Sometimes, often times, when we are going through struggles or tight financial times, our flesh gets the best of us and we forget that God wants us to depend on Him. God wants us to depend on Him.  And when we get our flesh out of the way, God can move in our lives, and does.

If you’re going through tough times, no matter how difficult, pray to God and ask Him to help you not see your circumstances through your fleshly eyes. Pray to be able to see the wide open opportunity that God now has to move in your life. And then let Him.

What are you going through right now where God has room to move in your life? What struggles are you dealing with that God wants to carry you through or release you from? Health, finances, relationships? I pray that God will remove the blinders from your eyes, get your flesh out of the way, and the see the awesome miracles God is going to do in your life. If you’d like prayer for a situation you’re going through, please leave a comment and I’ll be glad to pray for you. And I encourage other readers to pray for one another as well. Be blessed my friends!

photo credit: Michell Zappa

Posted on September 3, 2009 - by Mary

God Answers Prayers

If you’ve been following my blog at all, you know I’ve been struggling a bit in my walk. Mostly due to the fact that I’ve not been spending time in the Word and in prayer like I should, need and want.

Well, as of late, I have been spending time in the Word each day and have been seeking God through prayer and let me tell you, what a difference I feel already. I must say, “I’ve missed God”. I’ve missed feeling His presence in my life and I’ve missed just walking with Him.

There were times I felt like not even going to church because I thought it was pointless and I questioned whether I should continue in the youth ministry because of where I was at in my faith. However, I did not stop going to church because I knew God was there and I knew the issue was with me, not church and definitely not God.

I’m glad I persevered through this attack from the enemy I was under, and now I’m getting back on track with my personal prayer and bible reading. Yes, I read the bible online and I even receive my daily devotions in my email. But, there are still times when I do get alone with God and pull away from the distractions of the Internet.

My prayers have been those of seeking God and His presence, as well as for our finances. And He has answered both! (Oh God you are so faithful.) I am feeling His awesome presence in my life again, like a block has been removed, or a wall has been lifted. It’s amazing the difference I feel in my spirit.
photo credit: constantly_Jair

As for our finances, I’ve been praying for more clients and more work for my business and God has answered those as well. In the last 24 hours, I’ve been contacted by 3 new clients who want to use my VA services! Plus, my current clients are continually giving me more work.

God is amazing, faithful and awesome. If you’re not feeling His presence in your life, seek Him out. He is there, just waiting for you. He loves you!

If you have questions, or want more information about God, the bible, Jesus, faith, or whatever, feel free to leave a comment. Also, check out the prayer page right here.

God loves you and wants relationship with you, but it’s your choice. He’s given us freewill and will never force himself upon you. Seek Him and you will find Him. (Matt. 7:7-12)

Posted on August 23, 2009 - by Mary

ASNF and RISK

The two acronyms above were the topic of today’s message at church. One of our associate pastors delivered the message because our Pastor is out of town taking his youngest daughter to college.

Anyway, I know I won’t be able to deliver the message here on my blog the way he did at church, but I will do my best to get the gist of it across. It was a very empowering message, for me at least, because as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I’ve been struggling in my walk with the Lord lately, just feeling dry and not feeling God’s presence in my life. I mean, I KNOW He is there and I know the issue lies with me, but there seems to be some sort of block there.

Well, today’s message sort of nailed it. The Pastor’s message started out on the topic of memories: we all have them, good or bad, we have various means of preserving our memories and studies have shown that if we could somehow extract all of our memories, we would be able to remember every single thing from our pasts, all the way back to the womb. I personally think it would be creepy to remember being in the womb, even more so being born. Could you imagine remembering being born??? I know how awesome and amazing it is to give birth, but I also know how traumatic it must be for the baby. But I digress.

So, after he talked about memories and how they affect us, the Pastor started talking to and about fathers. Many of us have grown up with no father or a bad father, while there are some amazing fathers out there. The way we view our earthly father is often the way we view our Heavenly Father. Coming from a very dysfunctional home and sexually molested by my step father, I did have a warped view of my Heavenly Father. I didn’t understand a father’s love and that he could love me unconditionally. Part of this also comes from being raised Jehovah’s Witness. Without going into all that detail, I’ve written a post about my past here.

After speaking to the fathers in the room, the Pastor then spoke to and about the ladies. Using Romans 8:14, Pastor pointed out that we are all “Sons of God” if we are led by the Spirit; both men and women. He also gave reference to the scriptures that talk about Christians as being the “Bride of Christ”; both male and female. It’s hard for us girls to wrap our heads around being called “sons” as it is for guys to be called “brides”. With that in mind, Pastor began to explain what ASNF is: A Son Never Forgets.

The Pastor also tied in the story of a teenage girl whose parents were noticing that she was more distant and withdrawn recently. As they searched her room time and again, they found evidence that she was involved in witchcraft, drugs and alcohol. They took drastic measures and began to intervene in their daughter’s life by limiting which friends she was allowed to associate with, setting boundaries such as time limits and locations, etc. Their daughter began to respond positively to the limits and boundaries her parents were setting and they began to notice her grades and attitude improving. Their daughter ended up attending a Christian retreat and at that retreat she gave her life to the Lord. Afterward, her mother reported that she stated to them on one occasion that she wasn’t afraid to die and knew where she was going. She really loved the Lord. A couple of days later, I believe, Cassie Bernall confessed her faith in God and was shot in the massacre at Columbine High School. It was later reported that her parents confessed in an interview that they weren’t sure how they would have answered. Cassie’s father, it is reported, is to have said something along the lines of “I think I would have begged for my life”.

RISK: Right view of God, Identity is settled, Sacrifice and Kingdom Building. Our lives should be about and involve RISK. And to be able to do this we should never forget our Father; who He is, what He is, and everything He is about. This can only be done though if we truly KNOW Him and the only way to do that is to dig into His word and speak to Him through prayer.

Pastor then had us all pray together and really repent if we have not been doing this, and of course the opportunity to accept Jesus into our heart if we have not done so yet. My prayer was that of repentance for not getting into the word like I need, want to and should and for not getting alone with God like I need, want and should. I felt like the message today was meant for me. And though I’ve let go and have forgiven my step father for what he did to me several years ago, it was good to do it again.
photo credit: jimwolffman