Resurrection Life

Now that spring has finally sprung here in the Northeast I thought this excerpt from When God Speaks would be appropriate reading, especially in light of recent events.

GOD’S WORD PROMISES US...

RESURRECTION LIFE

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11

Here in the Northeast where I live, spring is awaited like a bridegroom for the bride. After a long hard winter of battling freezing cold, snow and ice, the warmth of sunshine defrosts body and soul. Buds form on trees, flowers burst into life, and children are seen playing outside once again. The icy grip of winter is replaced with glorious life.

For the believer, this new life is available every day. The resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead is the same Spirit given to us. Think about that. Jesus suffered terrible physical and emotional pain that led to a torturous death. Yet, evil’s kiss of death could not stop God’s astonishing resurrection power. And we who are children of God have that same life in us!
Christian, lay down your burdens of sorrow and despair and do not look for the Holy One in the tomb. He is no longer there. Christ has conquered death so that you may “have it (life) more abundantly.”John 10:10.

Are there trials and sorrow in life? Surely so, as we can see by recent events in this country, but we do not need to be destroyed by them for Christ has given us the victory. “Yet in all these things (tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and sword), we are more than conquerors though Him who loved us” Romans 8:37.

As a young Christian I liked to think of myself as a conqueror, though I was riddled with envy, self-pity and pride. I didn’t even know I felt this way until I started facing difficulties, which brought all of these feelings to the surface. As I began to endure some fiery trials of loneliness, rejection and near poverty, I learned how to walk, step by step, in victory. During this time I buried myself in the Word of God and prayer. I learned about the true nature of God, not what others said about Him, and what He wants for me.

It is God’s love that brought me through. Like Paul, I became convinced that nothing “shall separate us (me) from the love of God” Romans 8:15. We cannot only endure our furnaces of affliction, but come out on the other side with pure gold. For these challenges are not intended to kill us, but to burn off the waste products or dross in our lives.

If we can have this view of trials, then bitterness, envy, malice, hatred and strife can be put to death, for these are the enemies of resurrection life. It is these among others, our sin nature, which nailed Christ to the cross. Yet God did not allow sin to keep His Son buried, neither does He want that for His other children. The power of God’s love is strong enough to reach down into our tomb where all our secret sins lay hidden and expose them. Sons and daughters put your sins on the cross where they belong, and allow God’s life to quicken your mortal bodies.

Arise and throw off the grave clothes of depression and despair. Spring has dawned upon the land, and new life will burst through the ground. Behold the first signs are already there. The seed has taken root, and it’s pushing through the earth. The first rays of sunshine can be felt.
Gather your strength Christian, aided by the Son of God, and pick up your head, seedling. A new world full of His Son-shine awaits you!

Prayer

Dear Father,
Help me to live life as You would want. Sometimes I get distracted by the things of the world or discouraged by the battles. Teach me how to live in Your presence and draw from Your Son’s life. I want to live an abundant life. Show me what that truly means. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Application

Has something been draining the life out of you lately? If so, ask Jesus to renew the resurrection power that should be in you. Focus on those promises that help you overcome depression and despair. Type them and hang them up on your mirror. Shake off those things of this earth that keep you down on the ground when your spirit belongs in the heavens.

Night Time Reflection


Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27 NIV

Christ living with in us? It’s astounding to think, but the Word of God promises it is true. What hope this produces for the spirit. Yet, it gets better than just living with the hope of life here and in eternity. It is a hope of glory—magnificence, splendor, and wonder beyond our imagination. We shall behold the glory of God. Moses only glimpsed God’s back for a few moments and the prophet glowed for days. We will live in His glory. Now that is hope beyond compare!

Inspired to Write--Interview with Author, Paula Mowery

1. What inspired you to write?

My mother worked for a Christian bookstore while I was growing up. She would bring me Christian fiction books to read as well as empty journals. I fell in love with those novels and wrote stories and poems in my journals.
As an adult, I continued to read and write. Then, God started making little statements from sermons stand out or bringing something to mind when I would go to bed. These turned into novels which I kept to myself for many years. Back in 2010, I shared one of my novels with a friend, and she challenged me to pursue publication.

2. What do you write and why?

My first two published works are considered women's fiction though I have written more Christian romance manuscripts. But, God led me to submit THE BLESSING SEER first, and it released in July of 2012.

3. What is your most inspirational story in your life?

Wow, that is a hard one because God has been so good to me. The story of how THE BLESSING SEER was published still inspires me today.
As many first time authors experience, I was scared spitless to submit my manuscript. God was very clear that this was the manuscript to submit and Pelican Book Group was the place. I remember my finger hovering over the send button. I prayed if this was the place for this book that the story would touch someone there. When I received the email from the editor, the first line read: "I was touched by this story." I cried and thanked God for such a clear answer.

4. Do you have a guiding verse for your life and /or writing?

One very important verse has been Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."
Because of my timidity and doubts, I have had to trust that God has His plan for me in my writing and my entire life. The next verse in Jeremiah says that if the people will seek the Lord, He will be found. For me that has meant I have to keep my focus on Him for every step in this journey.

5.Tell me about your latest published project

My latest project is a sequel to THE BLESSING SEER called BE THE BLESSING. My editor and I are in the final stages and a release date is soon approaching. This book continues the story of Addy, a pastor's wife struggling to follow what God has for her despite fear and doubt and even suffering.

6. What are you working on currently?

To quote my grandfather: "I have several irons in the fire." I am revising a romance for resubmission to my editor which I am really excited about. I am writing the first draft of another romance which deals with learning that the Bible can guide us. And, I have another romance I hope to revise and polish to submit to an agent.


7. Who inspired you to write?

Truly God has inspired each of my books. This is not to sound pious or hokey. I have said that I feel guilty having my name appear as sole author on my books because God should be listed as the main author. He seems to turn what He is teaching me into a story which I can pass along to hopefully encourage others. I am blessed and yet humbled that He would use a hillbilly pastor's wife like me to proclaim His message. To God be the glory!

The Power of Love

Here is an excerpt from When God Speaks. With Holy Week approaching us I thought it would be a good reminder of God's powerful Love.

Love, love, love… everybody sings about it, writes novels about it, watches movies about it, marries for it, and wants it, but what is true love? The Bible tells us, God is love and that He demonstrated His love by sending His Son into the world to die for us while we were still sinners John 3:16. Imagine that kind of love! A love that endured the pain of crucifixion for those who hated Him, denied Him, and spat on Him.

God’s love is so powerful that He reaches down while we’re still kicking and screaming, “I hate you” and touches us with compassion. When we stop long enough to listen, we can hear His whispers of love. In the Song of Solomon, an allegory representing Christ and the church, God calls us to “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away” (2:10). He calls us to emerge from the miry clay and join Him in heavenly places, to walk with Him in the Garden of Eden, and upon the highest mountaintops—far away from the dust and ash of this decaying world. He wants us to enjoy the sweet refreshment of His loving presence, as a husband with a wife. Yet, He bids us to go back into the world and declare His love.

As His children, we have the opportunity every day to hear the words of our Beloved and let Him reveal His plan. Although we cannot fully comprehend it, we can embrace that portion for which He gives us understanding or vision. It is like looking out at the constellations on a starry night. Although this is only one small galaxy in a vast universe, its beauty and complexity is enough to inspire us to reach heights we never before contemplated.

When we commune with the God of love, we can achieve the impossible for “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:6). Missionaries go beyond their human abilities on a regular basis. They venture into potentially dangerous situations and share the love of God. We too can be agents of love in our families, neighborhoods, and on our jobs. We can reach out in love and forgiveness, as Christ did, to a hateful, dying world.

Recently, my daughter’s high school had an assembly in which a former policeman spoke on the power of forgiveness. While on duty someone shot him, and he became disabled. The assailant was apprehended and sent to jail. The victim, who was a Christian, befriended his attacker. Even though the officer was confined to a wheelchair because of this incident, he reached out to the young man in love and forgiveness. The two became friends, transforming the whole situation. As a speaker, he addresses students throughout the country on this important subject, and he wrote a book. It’s an amazing story. God’s love empowered the situation, giving him the ability to forgive.
God’s love can transform the most destitute situations. A good friend of mine goes frequently on short-term mission trips to the Philippines. For years, the house where they stay outside of Manila floods in the rainy season. In spite of this, they continue to go and minister to the people and the children who live on the outskirts of the huge garbage cities. Their love was so powerful that his family decided to adopt a young Filipino girl. She has now grown up to be a beautiful, well-adjusted young lady. God’s love transformed her once fragile life because of the love of His children toward her. The Almighty Father’s love is the most powerful force on earth and in heaven too!

Walking out the Will of God

Here is a short excerpt from my latest Work In Progress. I thought it was apropos for the times we are facing.
Everything is progressing in the world as it should. My Word is reaching the unreached, teaching the ignorant and filling the hungry. My purposes are being accomplished. I invite you to enter into My will, to do as I instructed.
Walk though life with My Son beside you. Let Him surround you. Keep this image in your mind. When people encounter you, they will be touched by Jesus. Lives will be transformed; made fit for the kingdom of God. Rest assured that I am accomplishing My will in this way. Lives enveloped in Me, change others. This is the heart of My will.

A Call to Unity in the Church: Repair the Broken Walls

The last several Saturdays, when I can spend more time listening to the Lord, the Holy Spirit has been stirring me with divine messages to His people. I hesitate to call them prophecies because I don’t consider myself a prophet, though the Lord has given me many of these that have come true. This is the first time I’m making it public to those other then my family and those who were in the church I attended. You can make your judgment and tell me what you think.

Unity in the Body: Repair the Breaches

Stir up the gifts that are in you, placed there by Me and my Holy Spirit. Use these gifts to repair the broken walls of your churches. Call together the families of God, the brothers and the sisters, the sons and the daughters, the fathers and the mothers. Call the priests to work side by side with the goldsmiths. Repair the golden gates of praise.

Work together side by side, all who are in My family. Call together the Jew, the Greek the Gentile believers—those of the faith. All who are in my house need to repair the breaches. It is no longer time for division—those who are of one gifting or another. For a time I called you to be separate, to develop your individual gifts—musicians with musicians, goldsmiths with goldsmiths, dancers with dancers, evangelists with evangelists, priests with priests. But now the time is perilous and the work must progress more quickly.

The foundation is now complete, the old bricks taken away, broken up and ground into new bricks. It is no longer necessary for you to be divided into different camps. I am calling all My people—all of My family camps to gather together, shoulder to shoulder, to repair the wall. The protestants, the Catholic, the charismatics, the evangelicals, slave and free, rich and poor need to band together for this work of Mine. Put your hand to the task of repairing and rebuilding the wall, brick by brick, with the mortar of the Holy Spirit to bind you together in the bond of peace.

Repair the wall to the city of God, the New Jerusalem which I have birthed in your hearts. Repair the wall to keep out the enemy of your soul, who has come to kill and destroy. Repair the breaches to keep out the encroaching darkness that you too may not be swallowed up in it. But do not turn your backs on your brothers and sisters. I am fully aware of your differences, which has caused division in My church. I do not call you to agree on all things, but I call you now to work side by side to build up what the enemy has destroyed. Remember the enemy of your soul is Satan and his cohorts. Everyone who confesses Jesus Christ as My Son belongs to My family.

Repair the breaches so you might bring in those I have elected to know Me, so that you may harbor them from the evil to come. If the walls are broken down, how can you keep them safe? Understand this Word—call those to safety who would know Me, not those who already do. Those who know Me should be working on the walls.
Your work will attract attention from the outside world. For the broken walls are right in front of you—your neighborhoods, your cities, your churches, your schools, your communities, your mountains and your valleys. They are everywhere you turn. You are to build the walls to be a safe haven, to heal the brokenhearted and bind the wounds of the afflicted, to release those caught in bondage and slavery to an earthly master—whether the lusts of the flesh, money, power or addictions.

My work can only be made complete when the family of God unites against the enemies of God, not against each other. Pray for wisdom, listen to the Holy Spirit. Know and understand my Word, so you may discern truth.
There will always be tares among you, false brothers, but do not rip them out of your congregations. Even I allowed Judas to be part of My inner circle until My time was revealed and the Father used him for His plans. Do not exclude brothers and sisters because of earthly judgment, but let the times and circumstances judge them and determine their fate. Your job is to repair, not to judge the world, yet. Spend your energies on building My house and repairing the breaks in the wall.

This Word is based on Nehemiah Chapters 1-4 in the Bible. Nehemiah was called to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and received favor from the Persian king. I believe it has great relevance for us in the church today. I invite your comments.

New Year Solutions

January is half over and I'm still thinking about and struggling with my New Year's solutions.I didn't call them resolutions because as soon as I do I fall flat on my face, so I figured I'd call them solutions. Solution #1 to my overeating at Christmas--the Fat Flush plan, which I'm only in the forth day, but holding steady and loosing weight.

Solution #2 not to be stressed out, now that's a whole book in itself but here goes: Spend more time reading the Bible when I get home from work and before bed. I have a very entrenched habit of quiet time before going to work, but once I come home I've had difficulty refocusing on God, instead of everything that now needs to be done at home.I really am enjoying relaxing with a cup of tea when I get home and reading either my New Spirit-filled Bible or Gems of Wisdom, but how about all the in-between time when I'm at work.I needed another BIG solution because of my position.

Lately, teachers in New York are under a lot of pressure with the new evaluations upcoming, and I'm right up there with the stress level.I've been exhausted, grumpy, spending nights and weekends preparing lesson plans, documenting evidence of what I'm doing, filing papers, filling in forms and getting very irritable. The other day I was praying when I got the distinct impression about the next solution--go back to the original reason for teaching---and ENJOY the children, have FUN with them, use my creative talents, LOVE them and stop and enjoy time with my colleagues also.

Now when I say I'm a teacher, I don't mean to just one classroom. I'm an art teacher and have over 750 students! So how am I going to love all 750 of them, when I don't even know all their names? I really need to lean on the Lord for this one.Isn't it just like Him to put me in a situation beyond my capability.It's the BIGGEST SOLUTION I know, and one I'm learning to do it more and more each year, to lean on the Lord, draw on His grace and trust Him.So the other day I had so much fun with the third graders making up a story about The Baobab Tree that we're drawing. They loved it and I had a great time. God always has the right solutions!

Trust--it's basic Christianity, but having full confidence in God has a way of relieving a lot of stress. When you see that His grace is truly amazing and appropriate it to your own life, on a daily basis,it becomes easier to trust Him. Trust leads to friendship and a friendship with God makes you secure in His love. Knowing how much He loves you, makes it easier to love others. And with His love, I can love those 750+ children.There's just something about love that takes the edge off of things. It has the power to transforms the meanest and most defiant students and uplift the most depressing situations.

And so my final solution, or should I say God's solution, is to LOVE. Be in love with Him and show others His love. I need to focus on God, trust Him and allow Him to LOVE though me. Now that's a tall order, but I'm trusting the Lord for that one--my final New year's solution--to all my stress and problems.

New Christian Books » Overcoming Evil: Defeating Addiction Through Prayer

New Christian Books » Overcoming Evil: Defeating Addiction Through Prayer