Welcome to Traces Space. While having my quiet time this morning, I had just finished reading a post on Facebook about the state of our country. The person who wrote the post was right on with what he said. He wrote about God being removed from many things, but the one thought that got me was that we have allowed God to be removed from "us".
Who is the authority that you allow into your life? Who rules over your home, your job, your spouse, your children? Who do you consult with when making choices?
So usually in my prayer/quiet time, God usually has me revisit something. This morning it was a visit to a very painful time that our family went through, when we were under the authority of someone who we believed heard from God ( I believe that this time was not all wasted, before I continue, God used this time to introduce salvation, and the fullness of who He is; beauty for ashes). At first the charismatic personality of this person was enough. He made us feel wanted and needed, and for me that was enough. We bought into some very strange doctrines, and also tried to suck others into it as well. He was able to convince people that he was constantly under attack from the enemy and that well the enemy was out to destroy him. In some warped sense, he was kind of right. But he abused his authority, caused heartache, and perhaps turned a few folks away from God.
So this brings me to the point...and the point is this...God will speak to you until you hear Him...or get it...It has been 16 years and I think this morning I finally get what happened, or what God wants me to get from it. While under this authority we were constantly ministered using the "fear" technique ( which is not God) , I am not advocating no discussion of Hell, no actually I am saying we need to recognize that Hell is real and Satan is real, and he is trying to steal, kill and destroy...and he is doing a great job. Our country is self destructing, and the church is so busy judging the hearts of everyone else, they are missing what God is speaking to us, He is saying wake up, you need to look at yourselves!
Examine you hearts...humble yourselves, pray, and take real authority, and let God restore what the enemy has stolen from you.
So this morning I prayed, and I let the enemy know that he has no authority, over my husband, my children, my grandchild, my family, what ever...As for me and my house, We serve the Lord. Satan is not welcome here...plain and simple.
Guard carefully the things that people speak over you...Open the word and see if it measures up...see if it is "truth". Do not buy into everything that looks like its good, because sometimes its not. The Holy Spirit will let you know...Trust Him, discern.
I know it seems like I am all over the place here but the message is clear, and the message is two fold.
God has not left America yet. We need to allow Him to take it back. To stop the Authority that is infiltrating that which He has blessed us with, a land of Freedom, that has made a lot of mistakes, we can fix it by owning it and allowing Him to reveal to each of us our contribution to it and helping us make it right. And making it right starts in the House of the Lord, and in our own homes. Owning our sin and repenting...
Lord today I pray that any authority other than that from You God be removed from my heart and the heart of others. That we change our way of thinking and get into communion with you and do what is right, what is holy. That we reach out and admit to the things that we have done to hurt others. To see that we too have sinned and fall short of the Glory of Who You are. Heal our hearts, heal our land...Amen...
See you next time
Saturday, September 24, 2016
I Fought Authority, Authority Always Wins, When its the Right One
Welcome to Traces Space. While having my quiet time this morning, I had just finished reading a post on Facebook about the state of our country. The person who wrote the post was right on with what he said. He wrote about God being removed from many things, but the one thought that got me was that we have allowed God to be removed from "us".
Who is the authority that you allow into your life? Who rules over your home, your job, your spouse, your children? Who do you consult with when making choices?
So usually in my prayer/quiet time, God usually has me revisit something. This morning it was a visit to a very painful time that our family went through, when we were under the authority of someone who we believed heard from God ( I believe that this time was not all wasted, before I continue, God used this time to introduce salvation, and the fullness of who He is; beauty for ashes). At first the charismatic personality of this person was enough. He made us feel wanted and needed, and for me that was enough. We bought into some very strange doctrines, and also tried to suck others into it as well. He was able to convince people that he was constantly under attack from the enemy and that well the enemy was out to destroy him. In some warped sense, he was kind of right. But he abused his authority, caused heartache, and perhaps turned a few folks away from God.
So this brings me to the point...and the point is this...God will speak to you until you hear Him...or get it...It has been 16 years and I think this morning I finally get what happened, or what God wants me to get from it. While under this authority we were constantly ministered using the "fear" technique ( which is not God) , I am not advocating no discussion of Hell, no actually I am saying we need to recognize that Hell is real and Satan is real, and he is trying to steal, kill and destroy...and he is doing a great job. Our country is self destructing, and the church is so busy judging the hearts of everyone else, they are missing what God is speaking to us, He is saying wake up, you need to look at yourselves!
Examine you hearts...humble yourselves, pray, and take real authority, and let God restore what the enemy has stolen from you.
So this morning I prayed, and I let the enemy know that he has no authority, over my husband, my children, my grandchild, my family, what ever...As for me and my house, We serve the Lord. Satan is not welcome here...plain and simple.
Guard carefully the things that people speak over you...Open the word and see if it measures up...see if it is "truth". Do not buy into everything that looks like its good, because sometimes its not. The Holy Spirit will let you know...Trust Him, discern.
I know it seems like I am all over the place here but the message is clear, and the message is two fold.
God has not left America yet. We need to allow Him to take it back. To stop the Authority that is infiltrating that which He has blessed us with, a land of Freedom, that has made a lot of mistakes, we can fix it by owning it and allowing Him to reveal to each of us our contribution to it and helping us make it right. And making it right starts in the House of the Lord, and in our own homes. Owning our sin and repenting...
Lord today I pray that any authority other than that from You God be removed from my heart and the heart of others. That we change our way of thinking and get into communion with you and do what is right, what is holy. That we reach out and admit to the things that we have done to hurt others. To see that we too have sinned and fall short of the Glory of Who You are. Heal our hearts, heal our land...Amen...
See you next time
Who is the authority that you allow into your life? Who rules over your home, your job, your spouse, your children? Who do you consult with when making choices?
So usually in my prayer/quiet time, God usually has me revisit something. This morning it was a visit to a very painful time that our family went through, when we were under the authority of someone who we believed heard from God ( I believe that this time was not all wasted, before I continue, God used this time to introduce salvation, and the fullness of who He is; beauty for ashes). At first the charismatic personality of this person was enough. He made us feel wanted and needed, and for me that was enough. We bought into some very strange doctrines, and also tried to suck others into it as well. He was able to convince people that he was constantly under attack from the enemy and that well the enemy was out to destroy him. In some warped sense, he was kind of right. But he abused his authority, caused heartache, and perhaps turned a few folks away from God.
So this brings me to the point...and the point is this...God will speak to you until you hear Him...or get it...It has been 16 years and I think this morning I finally get what happened, or what God wants me to get from it. While under this authority we were constantly ministered using the "fear" technique ( which is not God) , I am not advocating no discussion of Hell, no actually I am saying we need to recognize that Hell is real and Satan is real, and he is trying to steal, kill and destroy...and he is doing a great job. Our country is self destructing, and the church is so busy judging the hearts of everyone else, they are missing what God is speaking to us, He is saying wake up, you need to look at yourselves!
Examine you hearts...humble yourselves, pray, and take real authority, and let God restore what the enemy has stolen from you.
So this morning I prayed, and I let the enemy know that he has no authority, over my husband, my children, my grandchild, my family, what ever...As for me and my house, We serve the Lord. Satan is not welcome here...plain and simple.
Guard carefully the things that people speak over you...Open the word and see if it measures up...see if it is "truth". Do not buy into everything that looks like its good, because sometimes its not. The Holy Spirit will let you know...Trust Him, discern.
I know it seems like I am all over the place here but the message is clear, and the message is two fold.
God has not left America yet. We need to allow Him to take it back. To stop the Authority that is infiltrating that which He has blessed us with, a land of Freedom, that has made a lot of mistakes, we can fix it by owning it and allowing Him to reveal to each of us our contribution to it and helping us make it right. And making it right starts in the House of the Lord, and in our own homes. Owning our sin and repenting...
Lord today I pray that any authority other than that from You God be removed from my heart and the heart of others. That we change our way of thinking and get into communion with you and do what is right, what is holy. That we reach out and admit to the things that we have done to hurt others. To see that we too have sinned and fall short of the Glory of Who You are. Heal our hearts, heal our land...Amen...
See you next time
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
How Proud Are You
Welcome to Traces Space...When faced with adversity, how proud are you?
I recently heard a sermon on the Good Samaritan, while most of us focus on the person who lent the hand, we seem to kind of forget the man who received help. The speaker focused on this guy for a few minutes and made a very valid point, he could have refused help.
Have you been there?
It really has been hitting home this particular message. It seems to be everywhere, folks filled with pride or lack there of.
What causes us to be so prideful? Is it the enemy, or is it simply the idea that we can handle it ourselves and don't want others to know that we are going through a tough time. Have we so long tried to do things on our own that the thought of reaching out to others or having others reach out to us, seems well, really, really uncomfortable?
So flash back, Veterans day. I was in Giant Eagle picking up a few items, and behind me in line was an elderly gentleman on one of those motorized grocery carts. He was proudly wearing a hat from some battleship, and seemed extremely pleasant. He however was really struggling with getting his items up onto counter in order to pay. So I say to him "Sir, let me help you"... He said no...I then said, "Sir you served this country and today I want to serve you, please let me help you." I thought he was going to cry. He was very grateful, but I am pretty sure the last thing he wanted was for some strange lady at the grocery store to help him out. I am certain that in his mind he was thinking of a time when he was able to really do most easy tasks on his own and never imagined a time when he might have to have someone help him with something as simple as paying for his groceries.
Pride is a funny thing...It can be quite endearing, or it can be quite disturbing.
Disturbing, yes I said that. While the world may be full of folks who are self indulgent, thinking that their problems are the only issues happening today, there is a flip side. The person who because they are "proud" will not allow anyone to offer a hand, let a lone let others know they are involved in a struggle. There are many factors that cause people to enter into this disturbing area of pride, maybe they have always been able to physically or monetarily care for themselves. Maybe a family rift, or even a family member in the home who would shame them for reaching out. Maybe just maybe its someone who has always given the impression that God is their strength, and when the struggle became real, they began to doubt, lose trust. Hey is this any of us? Maybe.
Jesus specifically said He would never leave us or forsake us, in other words He won't turn a blind eye to our issues. But also He has given us folks in our lives to help.
We recently went through a very tough season at our house. Without going into details, it really took a toll on all of us. There were people who were very much aware of what was happening, and a lot of praying was going on, but there were folks who had no idea because we had decided that this was deeply personal. But had we not had outside support, you know those people who offered an ear to our issue, I think that maybe we would not have weathered the storm as well. See we could have completely shut down, blamed God and well become even more disheartened. Pride could have entered in and well, controlled it, and destroyed us.
Trust issues control our pride levels. When you can not trust anyone, anything, or God, you set your self up for unnecessary heart ache.
God created Eve so Adam wouldn't be alone...He created us so we wouldn't be alone.
The battle is not ours at the end of the day, even though our prideful nature wants us to own it.
So, which part do you play? are you the sick man on the side of the road who willingly accepts help, or because the help that came wasn't the exact help you wanted, you tell it to buzz off?
See think about it the man on the side of the road could have denied the Samaritans offer simply because of who he was? They weren't allowed to even talk to each other...Hmmmm?
That's another message...
Anyway...Again, who are you? How much do you allow pride to enter in...Food for thought?
Yep...
See ya next time
I recently heard a sermon on the Good Samaritan, while most of us focus on the person who lent the hand, we seem to kind of forget the man who received help. The speaker focused on this guy for a few minutes and made a very valid point, he could have refused help.
Have you been there?
It really has been hitting home this particular message. It seems to be everywhere, folks filled with pride or lack there of.
What causes us to be so prideful? Is it the enemy, or is it simply the idea that we can handle it ourselves and don't want others to know that we are going through a tough time. Have we so long tried to do things on our own that the thought of reaching out to others or having others reach out to us, seems well, really, really uncomfortable?
So flash back, Veterans day. I was in Giant Eagle picking up a few items, and behind me in line was an elderly gentleman on one of those motorized grocery carts. He was proudly wearing a hat from some battleship, and seemed extremely pleasant. He however was really struggling with getting his items up onto counter in order to pay. So I say to him "Sir, let me help you"... He said no...I then said, "Sir you served this country and today I want to serve you, please let me help you." I thought he was going to cry. He was very grateful, but I am pretty sure the last thing he wanted was for some strange lady at the grocery store to help him out. I am certain that in his mind he was thinking of a time when he was able to really do most easy tasks on his own and never imagined a time when he might have to have someone help him with something as simple as paying for his groceries.
Pride is a funny thing...It can be quite endearing, or it can be quite disturbing.
Disturbing, yes I said that. While the world may be full of folks who are self indulgent, thinking that their problems are the only issues happening today, there is a flip side. The person who because they are "proud" will not allow anyone to offer a hand, let a lone let others know they are involved in a struggle. There are many factors that cause people to enter into this disturbing area of pride, maybe they have always been able to physically or monetarily care for themselves. Maybe a family rift, or even a family member in the home who would shame them for reaching out. Maybe just maybe its someone who has always given the impression that God is their strength, and when the struggle became real, they began to doubt, lose trust. Hey is this any of us? Maybe.
Jesus specifically said He would never leave us or forsake us, in other words He won't turn a blind eye to our issues. But also He has given us folks in our lives to help.
We recently went through a very tough season at our house. Without going into details, it really took a toll on all of us. There were people who were very much aware of what was happening, and a lot of praying was going on, but there were folks who had no idea because we had decided that this was deeply personal. But had we not had outside support, you know those people who offered an ear to our issue, I think that maybe we would not have weathered the storm as well. See we could have completely shut down, blamed God and well become even more disheartened. Pride could have entered in and well, controlled it, and destroyed us.
Trust issues control our pride levels. When you can not trust anyone, anything, or God, you set your self up for unnecessary heart ache.
God created Eve so Adam wouldn't be alone...He created us so we wouldn't be alone.
The battle is not ours at the end of the day, even though our prideful nature wants us to own it.
So, which part do you play? are you the sick man on the side of the road who willingly accepts help, or because the help that came wasn't the exact help you wanted, you tell it to buzz off?
See think about it the man on the side of the road could have denied the Samaritans offer simply because of who he was? They weren't allowed to even talk to each other...Hmmmm?
That's another message...
Anyway...Again, who are you? How much do you allow pride to enter in...Food for thought?
Yep...
See ya next time
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