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The Preceding & Succeeding Spirit
Anytime I read the red letters of Jesus, I realize there is a timeless message in every red lettered sentence. Each time I look at my life through what His Spirit is trying to say to me from His Word, I especially recognize the red parts as intense passion and love. His preceding and succeeding Spirit knows what it takes to win in the struggles I’m having. He is an unfailing Spirit that provides this unfailing love! He is the beginning and the end. The Holy Spirit of God has covered all my ground, showing up before me and following me all my days. Some people in my life may…
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Clothed Powerfully
Have you witnessed someone who appears to be dressed in bitterness, unhappiness, or meanness? When a person is not yet interested in being clothed in godliness, it is difficult for God to invest in them the way He wants to. The level that He desires to “clothe” us is top notch. Nothing missing. (Luke 24:49) These “power” clothes are our attire. Our cover. Our supply. We are dressed and endued with a more confident, stronger authority and freedom than we ever had on our own. We can be done with our old clothes! We can get rid of our old patterns. If we start to get dressed in the old…
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Blanket of Peace
Each part of love is like a piece of yarn that makes a blanket. Underneath that blanket, we are warm, we are comforted. We are held secure. The God of Love is with us as we do OUR PART to create a pattern of love that keeps out strife. Which piece does your string represent?” When I shared this message with my church, we had pieces of different colored yarn on all the chairs in the sanctuary. I told them “you have a piece because you are a piece of the fabric that’s being made! -Of the love pattern.” I felt strongly that God told me to tell them they…
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Pattern of Love
Let me ask you something. Could your family use some positivity? When strife springs up in your mind, inside your heart, or within your life, in your spirit, emotions, inside “here” where you live your life… at the work place. In family. In the life of your marriage- More negativity is not going to be the answer. A new pattern is needed to be put in place. The next time strife tries to weave its pattern through your family, I want you to do something that’s been proven. I want you to do 1 Cor. 13. YOU BECOME one of the pieces of love during every point of dissension. If…
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Defeating Strife
Do you want to experience the glory of God’s goodness? So many of us do, but strife comes in and it tries to override what we’re really wanting in life. It keeps popping up. It relentlessly continues to wear you down and eat away at your family. The devil will not tell you he plans on taking your peace by stirring up all kinds of strife- And working in a pattern of strife into the seams and fabrics of your personal life. But strife is a DIRECT threat to our peace. Spiritual peace is stolen by strife!! In talking with people in community who’ve got financial burdens and marital unrest……
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LEAD BY LIGHT -Part 2
After five funerals and another death within two weeks due to Covid, I was up throughout the night thinking about the families we grieved with. (Most of them had been a big part of our ministry through the years and great friends to Derek. Four of those amazing men are forever in our minds. Different ages and living in different places, we would have never expected them to pass within the same time frame. Curtis, Julian, Christian, and Keith! They were Light leaders. Unafraid of darkness. This was what they all had in common: Each of them were evangelistic in the most unique and effective ways. I can only believe…
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LEADERS OF LIGHT – Part 1
Me and Derek were sitting at a coffee house in Huntsville before going to our leadership conference classes. We noticed a poster on the wall with all the tags missing that said: Depression Study. He asked me what “De” pression means and I said that it means to be pressed down and not running over. I thought about how long it had been since I felt that dreaded, deep, and intolerable spirit. It made us think about the answers we have. It made us think of people specifically but also in general. It made us think about the heaviness in the world and recent deaths of some very special friends. In…
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You will be hurt in church /8th & final
Have you ever needed a re-do? Rededication? A restart? Having an on-fire spiritual life will bring reverence and reality to your being that will reciprocate holiness to God. The God-life brings flavor! It is sweet AND good for you. There is life through the Spirit. This kind of life sheds condemnation. It sets us free from the law of sin and death. When the law was powerless, Jesus was powerful. Where the law lets us down, Jesus lifts us up. There are essentially two kinds of church goers in the Bible that we’ll give as examples here. We can choose from Dio or Deme…a bad example and a good example.…
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You will be hurt in church /7
Do you know anyone who needs a ladder to start getting out of a place of pain? I often think of God’s Words as a ladder to come up higher. Over and over again, I can climb up. If we take the time to read em when they are in front of us, listen to them when they are spoken, and grab hold of His Words when they are given- we will rise once again. Our God wants the churches to get it right. He doesn’t want to condemn them. Through His smart words, He is telling them and us how to do better. So often, it’s not the denomination…
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You will be hurt in church /6
Misdiagnosed and undiagnosed problems and hurts can delay the healing process. Lying or being lied to can cause uneasy soul palpitations, hope decay, and unnecessary chaos. Being ignored or ignoring real feelings can make the heart grow sick and tired. I don’t care if anyone wants to challenge this next statement but it stands to reason…It is pure wisdom to pursue God. To quit pursuing God is to quit wanting the best relationships, the boldest dreams, and the biggest blessings one could ever have. It is a healthy pursuit. As a Pastor’s wife, I’ve had to learn this lesson…never close the door to God when relationships go wrong. Keep your…