Happy Holidays to All...CELEBRATE!!!

Good morning to you. I am so happy, excited, and just plain overjoyed this morning, because we are one day away from the official start to the holiday season! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am so looking forward to celebrating it with family and friends. Although Thanksgiving is celebrated one day a year, I am so very thankful everyday. God is so good to us, everyday! I don't know about you, but I thank Him daily, most of the day! He is such an awesome God, and He is so worthy of all of our praise and gratitude! One day simply is not enough for me to say thank you to a Father like ours! I love, love, love the holidays. The fellowship, wonderful food, festivities of the season, the wonderful decorations...all of it! I have my seasonal fragrance smelling up the whole house, Christmas songs are already playing in the house, and of course the television is always tuned to the Hallmark channel...have to watch the Christmas movies over and over again!

Even in  my excitement, I do know that for many, this is not a very exciting time of the year. Many have encountered many challenges this year...the loss of a loved one, a job loss, economic issues, relationship issues, whatever the challenge is, I know that it may have affected you to the point that you don't even want to celebrate this year. I heard on television a couple of days ago, that a survey was recently taken, and about 27% of Americans, are skipping the holidays this year...not celebrating at all! Wow, this is so sad! I am in no way downplaying the seriousness of the challenges this season for those in that survey, but I still have to focus on the true reason of the season...JESUS! If you don't have a dime in your pocket, a job to go to, the loss of a loved one, JESUS is still the reason why we celebrate! We celebrate Thanksgiving because we celebrate Jesus and who He is, and how He has blessed us. We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came in human flesh, to dwell among us, and to save us, and to give us abundant life! It's all about Him!

I know what it's like to lose a loved one around the holidays. The enemy loves to cause you to remember them and get real sad. I sat in a funeral home, on Thanksgiving night, in 1987, looking at my mother laying in a casket. I stood in a cemetery the day after Thanksgiving, watching them bury her. Thanksgiving can really be a sad time for me, if I let it be, but I don't! I choose to focus on the wonderful times that she and I shared, and I rejoice that she is with the Lord, enjoying herself! Depression is a choice! We can choose to be depressed, or we can choose to be joyful. We certainly have much to be joyful about. If you are even able to read this post, that means that you are alive, you have a computer, electrical power to operate it, eyes to see it, and the capacity to read it. You are blessed!

Cheer up, get excited! I like what David said in the Bible, in Psalm 42: he is talking to himself. He asks himself a question: "self why are you down in the dumps, why are you crying the blues? Self, I am going to fix my eyes on God, I am going to be praising again! God puts a smile on my face, He's my God! When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse all that I know about you"! He starts off asking himself why is he down, but he ends up talking to himself about how good God has been to him, and he just rehearses all that God has done in his life! When depression tries to overtake you, stop and recall how good God has been in your life! That will make you smile again! God is good to us!

You may be saying, "I don't know this God". Well, I can't think of a better time to know Him, than now!
He knows YOU, and He loves YOU! He wants to be your Savior and Lord! Jesus came, bled, and died, just for YOU! He wants you to live a life of freedom from sin, He wants to live in you...to guide you, to give you wisdom, to teach you about loving others, He just wants to pour out an abundance of love and blessings upon YOU! He wants to have a relationship with YOU. His death was for YOU...to take away your sins, to put you right with God! He is always ready to receive YOU. He has forgiven your sins, and you are reconciled back to God. All you have to do is ask Him into your heart, and Receive Him as Savior and Lord. he is ready to move in!

Pray this prayer: Dear God, I know that without Jesus I am lost. I believe that Jesus died for me, and that you raised Him from the dead for me. Jesus, come into my heart. Be my Savior and Lord. I am sorry for my sins, and I thank You for saving me and for your forgiveness! Fill me with your Holy Spirit, so that I will have power to live for you. Thank you. Amen!

That's it! Congratulations to you! Please let me know that you prayed this prayer, so that I can celebrate your new freedom in Christ, with you!

Jesus, is how you can be happy and rejoice through the holiday season! The joy of the Lord is your strength!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas too!
Jesus Loves YOU, and I do too!

~Gayle

Enough is Enough!

Ever been in a place where you have just had enough? Tired of stuff, tired of things said, tired of things happening all around you? I must admit, I have arrived at that place, and I am absolutely tired of stuff. I guess that I might say that I have a " holy indignation"! I am really tired of watching satan just wreak havoc in this world, and so many people are joining his bandwagon. I have never witnessed so much division, meanness, hatred, as I am at this time. As we get closer to Election Day, the comments seem to be getting meaner as the day goes by. I can hardly enjoy Facebook, without some mean comments about the election. Watching television, even some Christian programs, have become equally as bad! I do know that we live in America, where freedom of speech exists, and I am in no way saying that a citizen has no right to say what he wants to. I am just so tired of seeing the "Real Enemy", get away with his tricks. satan is the one who is really behind all of the problems around us, that plague America! God told us in His Word that flesh and blood (people) are not who the battle is with. Our battle is with satan and all of his wicked spirits, yet we continue to fight each other! That is so crazy! God clearly tells to to not fight each other, He evens has it where we don't even have to "figure out" who our enemy is, He tells us who our enemy is, yet we just from day to day, continue to fight, insult, disrespect, devour, and murder (with words), one another, while all along, satan laughs! Wow!

Everyone who really knows me, knows that I am not a messy person, that I respect everyone's right to be who they choose to be, to believe what they choose to believe, to say what they choose to say. I have never tried to force my beliefs on anyone. I simply love peace, and I truly desire for all of us to be happy and to live the truly abundant life, that can only come through Christ Jesus! I am not a politician, in the natural world, but I am one in the spiritual world, because I am an Ambassador for Christ, representing His country. I know that His country is one guided by Love! I know that as a people, we will not always agree, will not always see things the same way, or even do things the same way. I get that, but can we do it in love? Can we stop devouring one another? Can we stop playing into the hands of the enemy, and carrying out his evil desires? I'm just sayin'!

I know from the Word of God, that as a believer, a kingdom citizen, that God has given me some rights and some power and authority. I have the right to not be a victim of satan's devices, I have the right to prosper, I have the right to live the abundant life. I have the authority to demolish satans strongholds that have stood through the years...strongholds of terrorism, racism, poverty, sickness and disease, division, hatred etc. I have watched these things increase more and more in recent years, and I declare with the power in me, that his kingdom is demolished! I speak to the demonic spirits behind racism, terrorism, poverty, infirmity, to go back to the pit of hell, where you came from! I lock up and bind up racism, hatred, terrorism, natural disasters, sickness and disease, poverty, and all of the other wickedness that satan has unleashed on this world! I unlock and loose LOVE, peace, joy, prosperity, protection, understanding, health and wholeness! Jesus told us in Matthew 16:19, that He gives us the keys to unlock heaven on earth. When we as believers stand and agree together concerning anything that we pray about, God goes into action, on our behalf! (Matthew 18:19) We have power! What we allow, Jesus will allow! If we continue to allow all of the things that have plagued our world, heaven will allow it too! Too many people have said that God "allowed such and such to happen" Did he really, or did we allow it? God allows, what we allow! He gave us power over the earth! (Genesis 1:26...I give them (mankind) power over the earth. Psalm 115:16-the heavens are the Lord's, but the earth, He has given to the sons of men (Us).

I am just saying everybody, that the real battle is NOT with each other, not one race against another. satan is the one who all of our battles are with. He is the one that we need to be resisting! We don't even have to fight him, just stand against all of his mess...he is already Defeated, don't let him defeat you!

Nothing Thrills Me More...

Wow, good morning. It has been a while since I have posted, but I just had to this morning. I do hope that everyone is well, and enjoying this wonderful day that God has blessed us to see and enjoy.

I am just getting up and out of bed this morning, after having just gone to bed a 4 am this morning! Yes I stayed up last night during what I like best...spending some good, quiet time with God and His Word. I love those wonderful hours when everyone in my house is asleep, no phones ringing, doorbells, or the sound of the TV...just quietness, stillness, and calm...my time! I cherish those moments...I love them so much! As I was up this morning, and enjoying my reading, I came across a couple of verses of scripture that I had not remembered ever reading before. Awesome scriptures that I shared on Facebook before I went to bed. I was just prompted to share them, and I did. I never post anything on this blog, or on Facebook, unless I know that God tells me to. I have come to realize that whatever He tells me to post, is going to minister to someone, so I did exactly what he instructed me to do!

A few months ago, during our time together, I asked God to let me do something. I asked God to let me minister to 5 people a day, every day! Ministry to me may mean, financially helping someone, speaking a word of encouragement to them, reassuring someone about a matter, a hug, a prayer for them, or whatever God specifically tells me to do! Nothing thrills me more than to know that God used me to help somebody, to encourage someone, help to ease pain, a stressful situation in someone's life, or even to confirm something that perhaps God has been talking to them about. At the time that I asked Him to do this, I was not a blogger, and I had just joined Facebook, and I only joined Facebook to reconnect with old friends, and to minister to, encourage, or to inspire someone, in some way.

Well, this morning as I awoke, I admit that I reached for my cell phone on the table by my bed, to look at Facebook...no I did not sin because I looked at Facebook first this morning, instead of praying ...LOL! Anyway, there was an inbox message from one of my FB friends that basically said, "you don't know how God has changed my life, through you, by your post this morning. They proceeded to say that I must never stop doing what I do, never question it, and never let people's judgment sway me, that I must continue to obey God, and that I am so loved!" Wow, you can imagine how wet my pillow was as I lay there reading that! The tears started flowing, big time! I hadn't even gotten out of the bed yet, feet hadn't even touched the floor, and I was so blessed by that message. What a way to begin a day! You know that I am smiling right now. All, that I want to do in life, is to be a blessing! At 4am, when I  added that post, little did I know how it would impact someone's life...and who that someone would be.

In the months since I asked God for that special favor, I have started blogging, and posting on FB more. God has sinced revealed to me, that I have far surpassed ministering to 5 people a day. He has told me that I will really never know just how many have been ministered to, by me simply commenting on my friend's FB post with words of encouragement or a prayer, by posting on my own page, and by my blog too! He said that many people will never even tell me that they are reading the posts or the blog, they will never post a comment, and that's alright! He said that they are being blessed just the same!

~Gayle

God's Economic Plan...

Well, everywhere that I am turning lately, or whether I am reading the newspaper, watching the television, or even on Facebook or surfing the web, everything is about the upcoming Presidential election. The TV commercials have begun, the mudslinging, the promises to the people of what the candidates promise to do if elected...it is all underway. I am watching and listening to it all...but believe me, if I actually sit and listen to or watch the news reports, it is usually stumbled upon. I certainly am not letting it consume my life! It is so sad that life for many can be defined by two words -The Economy. For many, Life=The Economy! Folks don't elect candidates today because they feel that the candidates are good examples, that they or men or women of character, that they are the best person for the job. Many have been elected because they have promised to "fix" the Economy! Folks are consumed by the state of the economy. Folks have put all of their trust in the Government to fix things. Last time that I looked, it ain't fixed! I am not saying that it is this person's fault or that person's fault...The Government just does not have the answer, AND it is not the answer! People have based their life on the economy, and on the government fixing it! We are living in a time where countless numbers of people are stressed, depressed, fearful, having all kinds of diseases bought on by stress, having heart attacks, discouraged, worried about losing jobs, losing homes, paying this bills, college tuition etc. Worry, worry, worry! No peace!

A few weeks ago, I begin a study of the Gospels again. I started with the book of Matthew and today I completed it. Before I moved on to Mark, I was led to go back and read Matthew 6:19-34, but God said to read it in the Message version. Here is what it said:

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or-worse!-stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moths and rust and burglars. It's obvious isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder, and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll you end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt of the other. You can't worship God and Money both.

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put into your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

"Has anyone by fussing in front of a mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion-do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers-most of which are never even seen-don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.   

Wow! The answer for America and any other country today!

God has always had the plan for our life. He wants us to know and trust Him, not the economy, not a job, not a banker, not an individual, not the Government...Him! He never intended for people to be poor, to stress, to fear, to worry. God really does KNOW about us and the things that we need. He knows about feeding our family, about he mortgage, about a son or daughter in college, about those bills, He really knows! He wants us to turn to Him, put our faith in Him...not in a politician!

Believers, certainly are not to worry, We have a Father who loves us and takes care of us. I looked up the word Father. Here's what I found:

Father (noun)
1.Source.
2.One who exercises paternal care over other persons
3.Paternal Protector
4.Paternal Provider

Father (verb)
1.To assume as one's own
2.To take responsibility of

Wow, sounds like God, to me! No need to fear, no need to worry, no need to stress!

I was just sharing what I was thinking of today, because I am seeing more and more how people are worried. Just want to encourage you. I just want to see people live good lives. Enjoying life, sleeping at night. Not worried about stuff, especially to the extent that stress is causing diseases in one's body. We have help! 
Turn everything over to God. Can you fix things? If you could, you would have. Can the government do it? If it could, it would have. Nobody can...but God can!

~Gayle

One Decree from a King, Can Change Everything!

God is so Amazing! He so loves His people. He loved us enough to write a book that leads us, that guides us, that tells us exactly Who God is...His character...His will...His plans and His desires for mankind. He did not want us to try to figure out what he is about, He did not leave us to depend upon what someone thinks that He is or Who He is, He actually wrote a personal letter to us, revealing Him! I love the Word of God. In it is everything that any of us needs. His Word really is a lamp, a light!

I have learned that the more of His Word that you get, I mean really get, the more of it that I desire, the more He will give me. If you seek understanding it, and you really seek to know more of it, it is so amazing how God will just flood you with truth and understanding. Glory!

Today, I was studying some more about God's Kingdom, and I was particularly studying about how a King rules. There are Scriptures that I have read many times, thinking that I really understood them. I am not saying that I didn't, but I see that God has so much more to say, in some instances, to me about those scriptures. I remember reading the account about Esther, about Daniel and the Hebrew boys, about how they found themselves in trouble because of a King's decree. John the Baptist was beheaded because the King decreed that he would give a dancer whatever she wanted. When she asked for the head of John the Baptist, the king was saddened, but he had to follow through. I knew that when a King made a decree, once he made it, he could not go back and change it! Once he made a decree, it became law, and even if someone in his kingdom may have violated the decree, but the king liked that person, or that person was a friend, the king was still obligated to carry out that decree, even if he wanted to make an exception, like in Daniel's case. What I am saying is that once a decree is made, it is permanent, forever, can't be changed!
A king has power in his mouth!

So, I have been studying the Kingdom of God... God is the King...and He has a Kingdom! He rules! But today in my study, it seems like lights just came on, and bells rang, and sirens went off, and it was a "WOW" moment! Ever had one of those "oh wow" moments...you have studied a particular passage of scripture for several days, a month, a year maybe, and suddenly, pow, it hits you..."I see it, I see it, and it eels like something in the pit of your stomach, I get it!" Today was definitely one of those days! (For those of you who already knew it, y-e-a!, now I got it.)

People decree things to us everyday, that many times they can't follow through on. Politicians get up and decree that they will get more jobs, make our cities better, no more taxes, spouses decree that they will love the other spouse forever and will always by the other's side, companies decree that you are a valuable employee and they will always be there for its workers, but many times, these decrees just don't happen... many times these same decrees are changed, politicians don't do what they said they would, spouses fall out of love and walk away, employees are suddenly not as valuable as they once were. But what I realized today is, God has made some awesome decrees to us, but He is not going to change what He decreed, and He is carrying out what He decreed!

Here are some of God's decrees to us:

Exodus 15:26-"I will put none of the diseases upon you that were on the Egyptians, I Am the Lord that heals thee"-Healing is a decree...it cannot be changed.

Exo. 33:14-"My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest"

Deut. 28:1-14-"If you give heed to God and His Word, blessings will overtaken you. Blessed going out and coming in, blessings in your body...children, blessings in your finances, He commands in the blessings in your storehouses...accounts, 

Psa. 91- No evil thing will happen to you and your home, no deadly disease will come upon you, God makes His angels to protect you, crazy things may happen all around you, but not to you, His Word will shield you.

Prov. 1:23-"I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make you to know My Words.

Eccl.8:4-"Where the word of a king is, there is power.

Isa. 41:10-"Fear not for I am with thee, don't be dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

Isa. 54:17- Nothing that the enemy are anyone who tries or plots evil against you, will succeed.

John 15:7-"If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.

1John 4:17- as He is, so are we in the world.

There are so many more decrees that God has made, these are only a few! But once a king makes a decree, he must keep it, he cannot change it! Wow, this is awesome. Even when God decrees something to you personally in your private prayer time, whether He decrees something to you in a public worship, He cannot change it. He swore that He would keep His Word!

I don't know about you, but this is awesome to me. Wow, I can get up every day smiling and already knowing that good things are going to happen to me. I know that my body is whole, that I can leave my house, go to the mall, to a movie theater and enjoy a movie, without fear, I don't have to worry about anything, because I have everything because of the decrees that God has made over my life, my home, my children, my marriage, my finances, everything. That sounds like total freedom to me!

Who Are You?

Just sitting down a few minutes ago, enjoying the presence of God and His Word, and just thinking about how awesome God is and how awesome His Word is. The Bible is God's personal Love letter to me. I look into it, and I see who I am. It is so good to know who I am, for myself. I am not who others may say that I am, or who they may think that I am. I can look into God's Word, as if it is a mirror, and I see me! I have found out by listening to others, that if you don't know who you are, others will tell you who they think you are...and what they say, may not necessarily be the truth!

Today, I have been just thinking about some things that God has said about me. I have been meditating with delight, on truths about me. I can help but smile each and every day...I am Somebody...I got it going on! No, I don't have an hourglass figure, not a "10" as the world would say, not a celebrity in the news, but I am somebody!

Just thinking about how much that God loves me. He absolutely wants to be with me, have a relationship with me, daily talk with me, He cares about me, about what I am concerned about, He likes laughing and talking with me, and I sure love being with Him too. He reminds me that I am loved. He reminds me that He wanted a family, someone just like Him, who He could love and laugh with, who He could shower with His love and blessings, that's why we're here! He had the angels, but they were not like Him, He wanted someone just like Him, so He made us! He had Jesus, but He wanted more sons/daughters.

Ever noticed in the Gospels that Jesus is referred to as the Only Begotten Son of God, but in the Epistles, Jesus is called the firstborn Son of God...the firstborn of many brothers? If He is the firstborn, this must indicate that there are others. Yes there are others, and we are the others!

He is my Father. He takes care of me. He made Himself responsible for me. I am an Heir of God! Wow, this is an amazing truth about me....I am an Heir of God, and a joint-heir with Jesus. That does not mean that Jesus gets 50% and I get 50%, it means that Jesus gets 100% and I do too! Glory! Sometimes I just have to sit down during the course of the day, and meditate upon these truths. I am an Heir of God. He loves me and always will. He is not now, and never will be mad at me, punish me, leave me, forsake me, let go of me! I don't know about you, but that is awesome to me. Man, what reason do I have to be down, depressed, fearful, doubtful about God. He loves me. Why would I worry about not having something...I have everything!

I enjoy being with God. I don't have to worry if He will accept me...He does! I am righteous. He made me righteous. I don't have to beg for blessings. I don't have to try to convince Him that I need Him to do something for me. He wants to do it more than I want it.

I just love Him! Just thinking out loud! So very blessed. So grateful, so glad that I KNOW WHO I am!

Fighting or Resisting?

A Happy and a good Monday to all! I do hope that you had a great weekend, and that you are enjoying a good Monday. As you can see, I am up blogging early today (it was a little after 9 am when I started this) I have enjoyed one of those early morning quite times with God, that I love so much...the time before the phone starts to ring, before the television comes on, before one of my sons asks me where something is...the time when all is at rest. The Keurig is silent, the microwave is too...just peace and quiet!

I always so enjoy the ways that God teaches me about something. I still laugh and refer back to the teaching on His "Blowpop" revelation. (I blogged about this in a November 2011 post...check the archives). He is always using some unique illustration to get His point across, and today was no different.

I often ask God what is the one thing that He is concerned about today? Most of the time, about 90% of the time, He tells me that He is concerned that many in the body of Christ, have no idea who they are. Of course we talk about other things, but most of the time, it is about many in the body not really knowing who they are in Christ, not knowing what they are capable of, and seeing themselves as God does! More and more I read about people dying, about people being stressed and depressed, fearful, and hopeless...people who say that they love God and are His child, but who are sad, tired, depressed, giving up!

God said to me this morning that so many of His people are exerting too much energy in all the wrong things. He said that they are crying, begging, and working, fighting...not living and enjoying life. He said that too many are working hard to get stuff, they are crying out of frustration of trying to please Me and earn my blessings, they are not enjoying a relationship and fellowship with Me, instead they are begging Me for things as if I don't want them to have them, and they spend so much time trying to convince Me of their problems, and why they need things. They spend time talking about and fighting someone who has no power, and who has already been defeated (satan)!

This morning He showed me a big boxing match. It was in a Las Vegas or a Madison Square Garden setting. I don't know which one, I only know that it was a large venue and packed with people. He showed one of the boxers just knock the other boxer completely out...there was NO fighting, the boxer hit him one time and he was laying there still, not moving, utterly knocked out! The referee/official whatever he is, ( I am not a boxing fan) declared the match over and the winner was declared! As all of this is played out in my mind, the trainers for the boxer who was knocked out, are steadily trying to revive the boxer on the floor. The boxer who was knocked out, comes to, and he gets up and wants to fight the winning boxer again. The ref tells him that the match is over, you lost! There will be no more fighting! God then speaks to me and says, "Why would the winner put on his boxing gloves again, to fight all over? All he has to do is turn and walk away. He has already won, he does not need to fight again". God said that too many Christians are trying to fight a defeated foe! He said that Jesus has already defeated satan, but folks are trying to get in a ring and fight with him...he already lost! God said, "I did not say to fight the devil, I said to resist him.!" He said that there is a difference in fighting and resisting! Folks are using too much energy fighting! "You resist him by standing on the truth of My Word, that Jesus has already defeated him, that YOU are his master (satan)." We master him because God has given us power over him, we stand in the truth that in Christ we can't be touched by satan, we stand in the knowledge that the fight is over, that Jesus won it, utterly knocked him out, and we get the victory! Now for many, this will probably sound too juvenile, but it is what God showed me nevertheless. He said..."know who you are according to who I said you are...know what you can do according to what I said you can do, know what is yours and what you are entitled to according to what I said, not what people say".

Anyway, I received more understanding!