The Good Gardener
I was reading Matthew 13 to my daughter the other night. After a while, a friend who was staying over sat down and joined us. As she read, she identified a couple of verses that described the seed that fell in the rocky soil and the seed that fell among the thorns as, “Right where I have been.” She asked a good question, “How does that change?” I found myself answering with words I had not considered before, you know, the kind the Holy Spirit puts in your mouth.
I said something to the effect that, “a good gardener amends the soil by adding the things the seed needs to grow.” As I said that, I realized I had never considered that possibility within that verse. I considered it a one and only chance for that particular seed, and it is, but it is not the last time seed will…
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From the Inside Out
Give the Holy Spirit control. What?! Willingly give up control??!! Yes, He is trustworthy, I promise. Ask Him to control your mind, to make your heart like His own and to help you to see people and situations the same way He does.
If you’re anything like me, you will expect to see these changes immediately and be disappointed or frustrated or both. I really haven’t caught on to that patience thing…😁. But if you will ask and keep on asking, one day you will find yourself loving someone you thought you could not love. Or caring about something that was far from your heart. Or acting in a way you never would have before! Probably the biggest change you will notice will be in noticing the things you took for granted as normal.
As He renews your mind, and helps you to understand the depth of His love for…
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A Moment of Revelation
The other night I was privileged to go to “Founder’s Week” at Moody Church in Chicago. A band called “Shane and Shane” was there and sang many hymns. It was an endearing atmosphere to see, a group of young and old singing out to the One true King.
During the song “Jesus Paid it All”, my heart was gripped as I looked down from where I was sitting and saw a woman around 80 years old passionately raising her hands and crying to the Lord. Though I can’t say for sure the reason her tears were falling, I knew they were a sign of complete gratitude and surrender. It was as if this woman had a revelation that because “Jesus paid it all” then “all to Him she owed,” which she expressed so exhaustively in that moment.
Before I thought any further, tears began to burst from my own eyes as I too understood this God truly is worth living for. Much was happening within that span of time, I was seeing what a laid-down-lover looked like even late in life and was also seeing the unity we both had because we were worshipping the same God. I also thought, if this woman who was 80 years old, who has more wisdom than me, has gone through much more than me, can show her affections to this king in such a raw way, then surely He is that amazing.
Watching that woman grasp the understanding of God’s goodness, allowed me to see Him work in her life and in mine. It was fun to witness such an intimate moment with someone who had no idea they were even impacting me. Our Father is sweet and knows what will speak to us. In the midst of God’s goodness lies a heart ready to do anything He asks.
Transitions
I recently moved back home with my husband after being away for school for almost three years and can honestly say I was struggling with the changes. I felt as if “the world” would flood my mind as soon as I opened my eyes every morning. I had been so used to my quiet time with Jesus in the mornings and now it was everything else; putting my house in some kind of order, bills, family, friends and the list could just go on making me feel overwhelmed with what to do. This morning as the confusion was going on in my head I could hear a song playing “Grace Wins Every Time” by Matthew West, so I begin to listen.
Words can’t describe the way it feels
When mercy floods a thirsty soul
A broken side begins to heal
And grace returns what guilt has stole
And, in the shadow of that shame
Beat down by all the blame
I hear you call my name sayin it’s not over
And my heart starts to beat
So loud now, drowning out the doubt
I’m down but I’m not out
There’s a war between guilt and grace
And they’re fighting for a sacred space
But I’m living proof
Grace wins every time
As I am listening the Lord said, now get up, clean, do what you need to do With ME!
I had been feeling afraid that I would get lost in the shuffle. He showed me that I don’t have to fear because although my environment has changed He never will. He will never leave me or forsake me, instead He will go with me while I do all of the things I need to do, I only need to invite Him. He is so good and loving knowing everything we struggle with and is always there to help us!
Thanksgiving
The oven setting says, “Perfect Turkey”. Wow, what a concept – perfection! But with family (read in-laws) coming and reputation on the line, its use wasn’t without hesitation and doubt. Wanting to believe, to fully trust those words but I just couldn’t bring myself to go all in – so I had the ham on standby, defrosting in the fridge. Plan but always have a backup plan. That’s my usual process.
Then it hit me, this analogy of the perfecting of my faith as I want to rely on Him and His Words directing me to plan A. But I head into the plan, the talk, the situation, the world, already looking past His plan A to the possible need for my plan B. My reliance on His promise of perfect gets overshadowed by doubt and fear. I am hesitant to place all my hopes in Him. Why? Isn’t Calvary proof enough? Isn’t resurrection evidence enough? Weren’t His words calling me back to life promise enough? Yes! Grow faith – heat up!
And then the timer, the moment of truth in a taste. (Not really, the comment after my mother-in-law’s first bite was really the moment of truth.) And those little words on the oven were right. The turkey was pronounced – perfect! My plan B wasn’t needed. My worries were unfounded and my hesitancy now seemed silly.
When I stop and think about the plans He has worked for me, the good He has given to me and the forever love He has for me, my doubts and worries, my fear and hesitation all seem so silly. Taking lessons where I find them and striving to no longer see any need for my plan B.
Baring it All Before Him
What does it mean to have intimacy with God?
Intimacy is the very thing I’d been longing for my whole life, for someone to know the depths of me, but little did I know the vulnerability it would take on my part. I thought I could be intimate with someone by just coming close to them, by learning about them, by spending time with them. And yes while I think those are necessary means, if you’re not willing to let that person see your heart or expose your own thoughts, then it’s really a one-sided relationship.
I knew there was junk in my heart that I didn’t want anyone to see, gross things, the nastiest of nasty. Perhaps I was too ashamed to approach my Father thinking He couldn’t stand to see the mess of me. Perhaps I was too self-righteous saying, “I can deal with this on my own God I don’t need you.” Sometimes I’d fight submitting to my Healer by running to food or the gym, or I’d stuff my head full of sermons so that my heart wouldn’t hear God speaking to me. However, all the running and filling was never a match for the surpassing love of the “lover of your soul”. You can’t outrun God. When I finally said “Here, you can have my junk; I’ll let you see into my hurts (as if He couldn’t already see),” I was undone by the the overwhelming tenderness my Father carried. He said, “I show you these things so I can take what was never meant to be yours and restore you to the person I see you to be–whole, complete, lacking nothing in Me. I need your permission; I don’t force myself into those areas of your heart, though I want so desperately to help you. You must not see me through the eyes of someone wounded by an abusive earthly father or through the eyes of a non-committed boyfriend. I am forever with You and won’t ever leave. This relationship is built on trust. The more you see my goodness, the more you can trust me and the deeper we will go.”
When I come to understand that God knows the junk inside even before I’m willing to deal with it, it helps. It helps knowing God isn’t pointing out sin or shortcomings to demean you or show you how much you’re falling short; He exposes those things to show us how much we need him. He’s the only one who has the power over sin, to bind up the wounds of the broken hearted. That very person lives inside of us! How exciting! He’s not going anywhere!
We are all on our own journey with Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Or maybe you’re not and long to know Him (Please ask to know Him if that’s you). One of my favorite things I’m learning to do on my journey is lie naked before the most trustworthy person that ever existed so that His strength, might, love, and power can be seen through me. Let God wreck you in a wonderful way, so that he may reveal the beautiful you He already sees.
Veteran’s Day
This morning the Lord showed me a vivid image of my Dad on the submarine he served on in World War II. He was on deck watch at night alone. It was extremely dark out across the sea and he felt small and alone. Yet he knew very strongly that the Lord was with him. He looked at the brilliance and the vast number of the stars and knew he was not alone. Father God said that at that time my Dad was like Jonah, a prophet that he took to his destiny by traveling beneath the waves. He took Dad from the desert of Texas to the seas and transported him back and forth across the Pacific until he arrived in Los Angeles so he would meet Mom and fulfill his destiny.
Like Abraham my Dad became a father to many. A stepfather/Daddy to my two sister’s, a father to my brothers and me, a grandfather, great-grandfather and now, at 87, a great-great-grandfather. In addition to all of us, he has been a father figure and strong support to many who were family by choice.
The image was so clear and so unexpected, like a movie playing in my head. The really neat thing is that I didn’t even remember that it was Veteran’s Day, but the Lord honored my Pop’s service before my very eyes. How much better salute can a man get?
The Dreamer in You! (Updated)
By Diana Hoyle
Do you believe in your dreams? After all you did dream them. Could your Eternal God possibly be trying to communicate with you? Believe it or not, it was the “Holy Imagination” of our All-Knowing God that thought of us and then created us.
God uses dreams to speak to us, and then through us, shows and tells us the amazing things about us. As we populate Heaven with the abundance of letters addressed to Him and Him only, dreams are one way of God answering the outcries of our praying soul and spirit for Him to please show some sign.
Our dreams are coded answers to our questions of; What do I do now? Where do I go? And, how on earth do I get there? This information should not be a surprise, after all God did speak to Abimelech, Jacob, King Solomon, Job, Daniel and Joseph “husband of Mary” the mother of Jesus through dreams just to name a few. Why on earth wouldn’t God talk specifically to you?
I want to share with you my passion and measure of knowledge of dreams and dream interpretation using the Holy Bible. I feel every believer should begin to understand and acknowledge, even in some way, the tremendous value of our dreams. Dreams originate from God, our soul, and the enemy. Therefore, we must learn the difference between the three, because dreams from God are filled with divine purpose and guidance.
Always allow biblical symbolism and concepts contained within your dreams to be your guide. It is the Bible which contains the answers for our everyday life. Dreams from God come to encourage and enlighten us; to promote and train us; to warn us and correct us; to commission and validate us; to heal, comfort and transform us.
These nighttime parables are personal letters which bring completion to God’s endless circle of communication from Him to you and you to Him, on and on, over and over again. God-originated dreams promote the awareness of His consciousness of each and every one of us by validating; He does indeed hear us! He wants this frequency locked in place and the signal to never be broken.
Dreams are answers to intercessory prayers which benefit us personally, our families, friends, unknown persons, nations, and the world! Oftentimes, dreams are unedited documents and clues, fragmented puzzles and enigmas sent by God to us to be eagerly sought out and gleefully opened by us, His children.
Our dreams contain clues to important unknown inherited secrets from our past and important building blocks to our future. They teach us depths about true and often hidden aspects of who we are and who we are purposed to be.
Our dreams reveal our present state in the natural and in the spirit, or better stated; how God sees us through His amazing eyes. They reveal our faith and fears, and our strength and struggles. These are helpful aids from our Creator who shows us His truths, while exposing the devil’s lies and false accusations.
This vehicle of dreams is one way our Heavenly Father rebukes, reproves, chastises, and transforms us layer by layer, healing us through this process.
If we embrace our dreams and seek answers to the clues and visions from them we choose a path igniting our life’s journey to become richer with God’s presence and supernatural experiences that align with God’s Word. If we embrace our dreams we discover new realms and depths of authority and power we never knew could exist.
The greater purposes of our dreams is to further the Kingdom of God down here on earth through you, His ambassador! My prayer is that you take a closer look at the dreamer in you.
Children of GOD & Saints in Christ JESUS
by Ingrid Irwin
How We See Ourselves as Believers
Who are we as Christ’s children and Representatives here on earth? Do we really know who we are?
Lately, it seems like we don’t know who we are. I keep hearing many people say, “I am a sinner saved by grace” I have even heard it from the pulpit. But what does Paul say about who we are?
In Galatians 3:26, he said, – “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
When we say we are “sinners saved by grace” do we realize that we are again aligning ourselves with our OLD self… not as the Sons of GOD that Paul says we are. Repeatedly when Paul writes he opens by calling the believers “Saints”. So shouldn’t we rather say,
‘We are Saints; who sometimes stumble’, instead of ‘Sinners; saved by Grace’.
Because before we were saved, we WERE sinners, and then saved by grace; but now after we chose to make JESUS Lord of our lives, we ARE ‘Saints’. Do we see ourselves and the other believers we know as ‘Saints; who sometimes stumble’?
If we made that change in how we speak of ourselves and others, to calling ourselves ‘Saints’, as Paul calls us, how would that effect how we see ourselves? And not only how we see ourselves, but also how we see our fellow believers?
And then in turn how we treat those around us. And even how we talk about the body of Christ… Would it affect our behavior?
Would we begin to realize that we are representatives of Heaven, that we are HIS ambassadors here on earth, bringing Heaven to earth? Do we live like we believe what JESUS said, “…Your Kingdom come. Your will be done, ON earth as it IS in Heaven”.
Do we see that we are HIS representatives here on earth, to participate with HIM, living our lives with the intent to do HIS will on EARTH as it IS in Heaven?
Would this mental shift affect our behavior?
Would we live like sin is no longer a norm of who we are, to be excused but rather that we should die to self and renew our minds unto Christ and the word of GOD? Might we begin to see our selves and LIVE like we are ‘Saints’ as Paul refers to us.
I believe that if we began to live as Saints, we would focus more on goodness and how to participate with GOD’s goodness in the earth towards all those around us. Because it is the GOODNESS of GOD that leads men to repentance… (Romans 2:4)
We would live like we KNOW we are HIS Children and our lives would reflect HIS light into the earth.
Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB)
“Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your Kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day [our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from [evil for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
May HIS Grace be revealed to you all in NEW ways each day!
What Life is About
Every person and every relationship that we have with another here on this earth, is given to us to help develop and mature Christ’s character within us. This whole process of life is to prepare us to stand before HIM.
HOW do I love and care for those that I have been given the privileged to steward, even if I don’t know how much time I will have them? When we look at reality, we all know that we will not live forever here on earth and neither will the ones we love.
As much as we want to have the perfect life with the perfect story that has the perfect ending, we know that will only happen one day as we all live FOREVER with our King, Lord, Savior, and Bridegroom for all eternity. He is only one that truly knows us, puts up with us, loves us in spite of who we are, died on the cross to show us just how much He loves us and goes to make a place for us to live with Him forever. He is truly amazing and worth our lives; to be sold out, to honor and give Him Glory. This is my intention!!!! May we NEVER live with regrets about what we do with what we have been given. LIVE fully, LIVE joyfully, LIVE extravagantly. Make all of life count for EVERYTHING!!!!
—I still have 1/2 my life to live. It was difficult after losing my husband to think that God has something for me as good as the life I have had, but He has promised to give EACH of us all good gifts, a hope and a future.(Jer. 29:11) I trust that He knows what is best and knows just what I need. Only He knows what my future looks like and what I am in need of to fulfill His plans and purpose for my life. As He is opening up my future, I am full of excitement and anticipation. I will continue to LIVE a life of No regrets as I vow to give my all, my best and embrace life to the fullest, that one day I will stand before Him and hear Him say….WELL DONE GOOD & FAITHFUL SERVANT!!! That will be my reward for giving my all to HIM and to those He gives me to serve and love.
He is our Bridegroom preparing us in HIS image. He is turning our ashes into beauty to make us the most Glorious of Brides!! If you do not know Him or need to re-evaluate the life you are living, please do not delay. Life is much too short and none of us know the time, day or hour that He will come or we will go. Let’s be prepared for Eternity’s Ultimate LOVE STORY–He loves you more than you could EVER know!!! ❤️
Wholehearted Women 
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