If you really want to know how to be happy and live a life of wholeness where you are satisfied right now and not looking for the joy that you believe you will finally have in seven years when the debt is paid off or you find a husband and have a family, or you have that perfect job and success. Those things are extras, but alone they will never be enough to satisfy your soul and give you that feeling of joy on a daily basis.
There is only One way to find completeness, and it doesn’t cost you a penny, but it is more valuable than all the gold and jewels in the world. Until we find the perfect love that comes from God, we will always have an unfulfilled desire in our hearts, and we will never find anything to satisfy that desire in this earth. The reason is simple. He made us and when He did that, He gave us a desire that makes us need Him.
I see people working so hard to find that joy through everything from jobs, relationships, materialistic things, family, social status, but they refuse to believe that there could be a God that is able to become their most intimate best friend that not only wants to share your joys with us, but wants to cause that joy to be constantly increasing through the awesome gifts and love that He shares with those that really know Him and live in His constant presence.
I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for what I found when I found this perfect love, and I would even give away all that I have to follow Him anywhere He asked me to go in the world. That is how awesome this One is! There is NOTHING that compares to this awesome God of mine! He is not just for me, He is ready to make your life beautiful and complete also, and He only wants to help us have a better life. He has no strict laws as the man made religions have tried to convince the people for way too long, but He seeks mercy and love from us and that is it!
Wow a God that asks us to love each other and to forgive one another and to love Him above anything else doesn’t really seem that tough to me. I have walked through the fire and felt the heat of this world as it tried to melt my flesh, but then I discovered a God that promised to keep me safe and guide my every step to make sure I never fell into that scorching heat of this world again. He told me that if I could remove all of the negative from my eyes, than I would soon look up and discover that all of that evil was gone. He promised to fight my battles for me, and to lead me in joyous victories every single time!
Who is willing to give up the control and finally be a winner every single time they do something?
I know most of us think we are all good and that this fairytale life is just not possible, but I have a different set of beliefs that I received from God Himself and they not only promise me better tomorrow, but they give me a better today!
Anyone that really knew me a year or two ago, can tell you that I was a mess! Always late, and stressed out beyond belief, up too late, working so hard to save the world or at least the children in it from abuse and neglect, sickness and poverty, and that is still my passion, but now instead of losing every battle that I used to fight to help these little ones, I step out of the way and go straight to my King! I share my love to help and He shows me how to help in ways that cost me no wasted time and worry, but have an Impact far greater than anything that I could ever do on my own! He is the One that gave me this passion, so of course He knows what I desire to see and He is eager to give me all of the desires of my heart.
I just wanted to share this because a few people have asked me how I can be so confident that I am believing the right way or the correct God. I know for a fact that there is only One creator of the universe and all that is in it, and I have read His “how to guide” which is that wonderful book covered in dust in many homes called the Bible.
Do we have to read it to be a Christian? You don’t have to do anything but believe that Jesus is who he said and that his blood was enough to break every chain and give you freedom.
So if you don’t choose to read the Bible, you will miss out on an amazing gift that never stops giving, and you will never have all that Jesus paid for you to have in this life and you will probably die too young and be sick in your body, but it’s up to you how you want to live or die. I chose to live and so I read the words of life and I read them daily for encouragement and to keep my faith strong in the Truth.
When the world seems like hatred and division are bigger than Jesus and the Church, we need to pray for God to give more grace and mercy to the people, so they can walk out of the blame game, and begin healing and growing in the right direction.
The news stories thrive on negativity and they manipulate reality to cause the people to live in constant turmoil and strife. If there was really a need for people to know most of the things that the media bombards the public with, there would be a reason to watch the news, but the Truth is that most stories reported are nothing of value to anyone that takes them in. In fact, most of the hatred and evil comes from the twisted version of the so called “News”.
From personal experience of being married to a political leader in Arizona, I have watched time and again as the media works to push an agenda that is absolutely opposed to what is really happening. When I was a volunteer and advocate for the children in state foster care, I saw how every negative story that came out against the workers at the Department of Child Safety was pitted to cause the public to hate and blame. The news would tear down every good thing that was happening and they would use slanderous attacks of the people to try and build a story to keep the kids in foster care even further oppressed.
When I was asked by a reporter how the crisis of so many kids in state care could ever be solved, I smiled and told her it would not be solved by man, but God would provide the needed solutions. The reporter looked at me like I was insane and wanted to know what that meant. She immediately wanted to take it to mean that there was no hope and no one would be able to change the current situation from destruction to hopeful and healed outcomes.
It was less than a year later when the news stories changed from blame and shame to declaring “Nothing short of a miracle” had occurred with the AZ Foster Care System. Did they begin to praise God for what He did? No, they still looked for everything they could highlight that was not perfect. When they couldn’t find anything to accuse the department of child safety and the leaders of, they turned the stories to start blaming the parents and people. When that didn’t work, they took up a huge research project to focus on and sift through everything they could get ahold of from the requests made to the people for help, so they could build more cases against anyone that would give them some sort of glory for bringing out the “News” that the people need to hear!
With that being said, I ask you to think about the stories you hear and see on the news and consider how they impact your perspective of the world everyday. If they leave you feeling worried, annoyed, angry, or any other toxic emotion that has no peace with it, why would you continue to allow the media to poison your thoughts and pollute your heart with all that is destruction and demonic?
We don’t have to live in the filth and mire of misery and her messages. We can live in the light of Christ and walk in the peace of God which brings hope, faith and love that leads us to be grateful and blessed.
What is freedom? Are we really understanding what it means to be the home of the free and the brave? We pledge and declare to be “…one nation under God indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” but the people all seem to be blind and without God’s Truth abiding in them.
Are we a nation locked up in fear of catching a virus? I understand that many have suffered greatly from the evil of this sickness, but we can see this virus completely removed from our nation and the nations of the world if we choose to believe in God’s Word.
We simply ask in prayer that our loving Heavenly Father step in and help us by breaking the stronghold of fear and sickness off the people right now. We ask in faith that our wonderful Jesus be glorified and honored by making his name and power known to the lost and to the afflicted lives suffering so terribly across the world right now.
There is a solution and it doesn’t require years to see it working. It is the Lord Jesus our righteousness and our mighty deliverer and savior of the world. Jesus is the solution to every problem and his free gift to us is himself. We are able to receive healing in our bodies and minds, as well as in our relationships, finances, and families. God is a restorer who already gave us the antidote for all of the evils of this world. Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
He has received the highest honor and glory for laying down his own life and taking upon his own body all the sins of the world. He was whipped and put to death on a cross while the Father turned away for that brief moment and Jesus was left completely alone and abandoned by all his friends, family and the Father. Jesus went to hell for three days so that no one would ever have to go there, but those who reject the love and mercy of God’s salvation will be eternally separated from the glorious presence of God that keeps us in health and perfects us in love. This is not for after we leave this earth. It is salvation for today! Today is the day of Salvation for all who have yet to receive it by faith in believing on Jesus as the Son of God who is able to save even to the outer most parts. Call upon his name and be saved! All who call on his name this day will receive the full salvation package and be restored to full health.
Believe in good and reject the evil! I don’t care what the experts say, no one is higher than God, so believe what He has already declared from the beginning! Peace, health, prosperity and a future that is good for those who choose to agree with Him. Agree with the devil and you will continue to have sickness, poverty and spiritual blindness.
Jesus didn’t die for his own sins, he gave his life for us to be set free! His one selfless act of obedience to the Father, made it possible for us to be given immunity from the punishment of our sins. He did it for all of the sinners, the rich, the poor, the addict, the businessman, the politician, the nurse, the police officer, the prostitute, the beggar, the Banker, the oppressed, the shamed and the outcast, and he did it so none of us would ever have to suffer that same punishment for sin again! God’s justice for all who choose to believe in Christ is ruled in our favor and we flourish in the Truth!
We are free when we know the Truth! Free from all that we formerly could not be free of in this life. It is a supernatural exchange when we receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord and we ask Him to come and live inside of us and take away all of our sins so we can live with him and never be locked out of eternal life and the blessing of God. We enter an eternal, unbreakable covenant of peace. We are reconciled back to our Heavenly Father and we are no longer a cast away drowning without a life preserver. We will not sink under the waves, because we now have the righteous right arm of God holding us up!
I don’t care what it looks like in the natural. If you will simply speak words that agree with God and not allow corrupt communication to flow from your lips, you will see the glory of God arise upon your life. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened! Believing God’s Word as your highest authority and eternal truth will keep you from sickness and evil.
God’s thoughts are only good about you, and His plans and purposes are always to build you up and make you stand strong in the Truth, so you are able to reign and rule in this earth and overcome the enemy. The blood of Jesus and the word of your transformational testimony of Jesus healing and delivering your life are the only keys you need to be an overcomer! Trust God and believe that Jesus is not only able to keep you from falling, but he will also teach you how to receive the love that perfects each of us to the highest realm of God’s glory.
It is truly a matter of BELIEVING God’s Word or rejecting it and accepting the lies of the one who came to kill, steal and destroy every man. Choose life by choosing to believe in Jesus! Read the Word of God and it will become your life and you will not be caught in the web of deception that the enemy has laid for those in darkness to be trapped.
God is good. God is love.
No one else is good apart from God. This is the Truth. If something is good, it is of God. If it is evil, it is not of God. Negativity-complaining, speaking words of hatred or death over people all from the realm of darkness. This is why you pray for all people and all nations. You bless and you don’t curse! Stop back biting others and start blessing and being obedient to God by loving Him and others.
The link is to a video of a song that was used to promote the mini-series A.D. Please watch it, because it is a powerful message in itself.
I remember watching the television mini-series A.D. in 2015, and I fell in love with everything about Jesus and his disciples. I loved that they were willing to lay everything down to spread the Truth of God’s good news, and they were not going to let anything stop them from fulfilling the purpose Jesus had given them.
I was just learning the Bible at that time, so it was wonderful to see some of it in action through the mini-series which covered the book of Acts. I thought it was such a beautiful picture of what love should be, so I grabbed hold of that message and began living my life for the King of Kings.
I was so on fire for everything that I would learn each day in the scriptures and I had to share it with everyone!
I always thought “those people” the ones saying, “Jesus Loves you!” And going about all happy and peaceful we’re kind of annoying. There was no peace in my life before 2015, and I was on the misery train to hell. Complaining, ungrateful and never satisfied with anything, because it was never enough.
Things were totally different after watching that television series and turning my full attention to the Bible and wanting to actually understand it.
A shift took place in my life that was so powerful that the Lord told me it had caused a whirlwind.
How did that happen? I saw what Love truly is, and my heart melted into one that God could use for His works to manifest through. Not because I was perfect or knew everything, but because I found the Truth about what it means to Love others more than self. Nothing could deter me from loving and sharing all that I had.
I was determined to bring back that message of Love that was so raw, pure and holy that everyone was willing to give all they had to help their brothers and sisters, even at the cost of their own lives. I asked God how I could best share His love with a hurting and broken world, and He gave me the grace to begin praying fervently night and day for three years straight.
I thought it was just me, and that I somehow had some special love that was greater than most other people, because I was unable to ignore anyone in need, and it was so necessary for me to go out and help each day. I realized later that I had been transformed and was no longer the spoiled, all about me selfish person that I had been my whole life. I had become like the One that I was so focused on and couldn’t imagine ever doing even a day without Him.
I spent my days immersed in all that the Lord wanted to teach me. I had found my best friend and greatest delight and desire in Christ. I was so happy with just being with him each day, and I loved being led to find people that we would help each day. I truly have no idea how many people we have stopped and helped over the last five years, but I have many amazing testimonies about those individuals that changed my life forever.
To see through the eyes of love and understand the hurts and afflictions of others is a very humbling experience. I can say that I probably had as many tearful times as I did joyful, because the suffering of so many people was heartbreaking each day. I wanted them all healed and helped, but I know many of them were not changed the way that I had hoped they would be. I had to come to the place of understanding that not all people want to be healed, and not all people are able to accept that their is a God who loves them completely. I would feel the Father’s heart for these people living on the streets or stumbling around with no understanding of who they were and why God created them.
Most people that we helped were from the foster care system or had a horrific childhood that caused them to be alone and lost on the streets as young adults. Living on the streets was obviously not what any of them dreamed for their lives when they were children, but the world and their own families had left them rejected and seen as outcasts.
The issue of drugs impacted most of them, because that is what you do when you are broken and the devil slimes into your life to ensure further destruction that will keep these young adults from ever knowing how to have hope and see their dreams come to life. Most of them had no dreams anymore, and they had come to the place of acceptance with their lives being locked out of the world.
I love how Jesus always wants to save the people that no one else cares or shows compassion or any interest in them. Heroin addicts were some of the hardest people for me to leave on the streets, because I knew that if we didn’t get them help, they most likely would never be free.
I wish that I could say we changed the whole world my beautiful Savior and I, but it would be a far stretch to claim that I did anything but yield to the Lord. He did everything through me. As long as there was no fear in me, he could take over and do amazing things to help the broken people everyday. I was fearless because I knew it was all Jesus and I couldn’t fail or get hurt as long as He was in control.
I wouldn’t trade those days for anything! Some people might say it cost me greatly as far as giving up my own life, but I truly never had a life before I surrendered it to Jesus. I was just like every other wife and mother stuck cleaning for hours a day, and never having anything that could ever make me feel satisfied in life. The big house, nice cars and all that is supposed to be the “American Dream” always made me feel like I was living in a nightmare that I wanted so desperately to wake up from.
Jesus woke me up and it was the most amazing journey to freedom that I never imagined possible.
Life is what you make it, I made it difficult and empty, but God made a way to fill it with good things that renewed my youth and gave me eternal life in HD quality color and clarity.
I want to add that through every painful trial that I went through, the Lord always came powerfully through and many days He would simply wrap His arms around me and hold me as I would find myself sobbing and broken for my own mistakes in life and the injustices of the world that were so clear from a higher perspective. I wanted to fix everything, but God had a better plan. He wanted to allow all of the people to come to Him so they could become His partner and do their part.
I have sat and watched the thousands of prayers that He had me pray come to pass or begin to take shape, and there is a beautiful love that is happening through this whole covid 19 crisis. When all the masks finally come off, everyone will understand that they are no longer who they once were when they see their reflection in the mirror again.
Journal Entry November 2019
Electrical storm is on the way!
Watch the skies and see the stripes during the time of planting, see the crossing signs when it is time to shift again.
Take the clouds to the ends of the promise land and see how many are cheering you through to VICTORY!!
No one is against you! They are all pulling for you to reach the top where you can see clearly.
There is only faith, hope and LOVE that can live here at this realm. Who believes what he has heard? Don’t doubt the Truth because the Truth is the only WAY to catch that glory bound train of believers!
Love can always be found, so run after LOVE with all of your heart and let go of your falsehoods that can’t satisfy you for even one dark night without Love on your side.
Today is the day of salvation! Ask and receive, and ALWAYS understand that our God is GOOD! He has planned a celebration station at every turn for this generation!!
No more fighting in the streets, no more helpless, no more homeless, no more bitter or broken cisterns, because we are ALL forgiven as soon as we make that call!!!
It’s not the glory that we are needing my dear beloved ones. It’s the Rock that keeps us aloft without fear of a great fall!
Let the worries go, and run after him with all of your heart this time!
Stop believing that it’s a race to compete and that you can find defeat! Believe that I am your VICTORY and I will never forsake those in my keep.If you want to hear my voice, stop believing that you can’t hear it and start declaring my TRUE, SPIRIT LIFE WORDS.
“My sheep hear my voice…”
Know my voice! My voice is found in the pages of that GOOD NEWS BOOK!
Why would there be sorrow and bitterness when I ensured blessings for all who would run after me? 100 times back what they give up for my name’s sake in this lifetime!
What have you given up for me? Family? Prestige? Power? Honor by men?
You lost the world and gained the Eternal treasures of Heaven for all those that will believe and come to me. Corruption is not as obvious as it is after its impact destroys a generation.
You ask me to tell you things that you then conceal, but I truly have given you the pathway out of hell.
Live for true food, give your best to the least and the worst, and you will see the waves of mercy washing each life clean.
Shout out the victory and stand in my authority that you have been given.
If your faith won’t get you out of the pit, why haven’t you put your faith into the faithful and obedient Servant of ALL? Have faith in God and also Jesus Christ! Trust that God has made a way to keep you safe and He will hear your prayers and answer your cries for help.
Don’t believe that God is asking you to carry sickness or any other burden of evil. He said to cast your cares on him, because he cares for you. He wants to carry your heavy burdens so that you are free from worry, fear and stress, because those are the things that can cause suffering if you hold on to them.
Release the blessings oh Lord!
I am seeking your solution to this question. If it were up to you, what would you declare that the world needs right now?
One word or more; just respond and be heard!
When you are an obedient soldier, you do as you have been commanded, but what happens to the soldier that has taken so many hits that they can’t stand anymore?
I was out driving one night and the Holy Spirit had me stop to help a person sleeping under a bus stop bench. It was around 11pm, and I had to park my car and walk over to this person through some bushes and a ditch. It was one of those times when I wanted to find a way out of this, because it seemed like a lot of work that could end up being an unsafe risk. The Holy Spirit would never lead me into a dangerous area that I wasn’t equipped to handle, but I was debating this assignment for awhile.
Finally I had the items that I was going to bring the person and I prayed over them and decided there was no getting out of this, so I put on my big girl pants and made the short hike to where the man was laying behind the bus stop bench. As I approached him, I could hear what seemed to be sobbing. Instantly my heart ached to help him.
I walked over and placed some water, money and scripture cards and a book on the ground. I whispered, “I brought you some water and other items to help you. God bless you!” He reached out his hand to take them, and I saw that he was a soldier with military attire. He was really big too, but with a soft voice he said, “Thank you so much. This means more then you will ever know.”
I had never been at a loss for words as I was right then. All the people that I usually help are drug addicts, prostitutes or people that have no self esteem or confidence, but this guy looked like a navy seal and someone that was known as a brave and strong soldier. How could I possibly have any words or advice to give him?
I started to walk away, and I let him know that he was not alone and that the Lord had sent me to help him. I told him to read the book that I brought, because it would help him get through the struggle he was facing. He said that he would read it and thanked me again.
I drove away and prayed for him with tears pouring down my own cheeks. I thought about how many people would have jumped at the chance to help this brave soldier if they had only known the battle he was facing alone that night. Then I realized that we are all facing battles everyday and most of us would rather die then have to share the things that are tearing us apart inside.
I heard a pastor preach on pride shortly after that, and he said that pride was how Lucifer fell and that we were not to have pride. He claimed that anyone who doesn’t confess their wrongs to another person is in pride and will fall. I realized that night when I was instructed to help that soldier behind the bus stop that God wasn’t going to make anyone fall, but He would lift us up with His righteous right hand and keep us from the evil one that would try to cause us shame, fear, anguish and misery.
It is of great value to have an intimate relationship with the Lord and not just follow what a church leader tells you about God. God can’t be contained in a box or a religion, because no one can fully know all that there is to know about Him, but He does invite us into a sweet adventure with Him to grow in our understanding and expand our thinking to rise up in Love.
There is a simple solution that makes me so heartbroken to know and yet, no one else seems to understand or believe what The Creator of the universe and all that are in it has said will destroy evil completely, and that is pure love for one another that comes from Him. It almost seems too simple to be true that love is the solution. We all heard it so many times in cheesey love songs that it makes it seem like just a sappy dreamers solution, but I tell you today as the Lord lives, He has spoken to me about this.
I prayed for two years asking for a way to stop the evil of child abuse and sex trafficking.
On a beautiful, sunny afternoon a few days before Easter, I was lured to my window when I saw a vapor of mist in the air. I looked out the window and what was once believed in faith, was instantly made real!!
I heard a voice asking me what did I see? I was shocked, yet completely at peace and overfilled with an amazing joy and love that was encamping me along with the beautiful sparkling bubbles of lights and in the middle was a mini sized tornado thing. I answered and said that I think it is a whirlwind, or some force that is spinning the air around. I was correct He said. Lol. I laugh because it still seems so impossible to actually have a real encounter with what most people will never believe is possible. I probably didn’t believe it was possible either until I was there, and it was happening for real to someone like me. “Someone like me”, meaning that I have no special gifts or greatness, and I am a sinner that loved to sneak away to gamble at the casinos too often, and that was just one of my many sins and faults! So why would I actually be talking to God the Father?Well, He told me that I was His beloved daughter that he loved with an everlasting love. He said that He knew that I had been suffering many disappointments that were causing me to harden my heart, but that I need not be concerned about being left behind or forgotten as He knew I felt by the world. He said that He had a special purpose for my life, and that the whirlwind that I was seeing was what my prayers and blessings for strangers had done to the atmosphere. He said that the currents had completely shifted the direction of the winds, because of the love that I was expressing for others in spite of my own circumstances of guilt in sin, financial stress, watching hopes and dreams be crushed, etc. I will be honest in saying that my problems are nothing compared to so many others around me, and I don’t believe that I was in need of being comforted by that visit, because I was actually singing and filled with joy right before that happened.
God didn’t come to pull me out of the ditch, He came to show me that no matter how far we feel we have fallen in sin, He isn’t worried about that, because He knows that He is able to remove that sin from us at the correct moment.God told me that He had an answer for me on how to stop the evil that is destroying lives at birth with drug addicted parents, poverty, abuse, depression, mental illness and disease. He said the answer is LOVE. He said that love is the only thing that can completely destroy evil. He shared more with me, and His words were in a much more God like flow, but most people will have a hard enough time even trying to accept this as truth, and I would not share it today if I didn’t know that this was the correct time that people start to be awakened and aware of this reality that many have believed was a fairytale, myth or a lie, but the lies are actually the ones that have been coming from the evil destroyer known as Satan who is ruler over the earth.
He has convinced far too many people that God is not real or that He is a bad God to let people suffer and die, but the truth is that, Satan is the one that has caused all of the suffering for people in this earth. When sickness is suddenly causing total panic and fear by the entire world, it is truly the time to repent and turn to God believing that He is good and ready and willing to help his children.All who call on the name of Jesus will be saved. Please don’t delay to tell the Lord that you are sorry and you didn’t know he loves you so perfectly and wants you back in His arms safe from the evil of the world, and not blaming God for all that He didn’t do nor did He ever want anyone of his creation to suffer or die.
We all still have a choice that we can either give up and live in misery, or we can love others more than our own circumstances and begin changing the lives of others through that love, because that is truly the only way to make the world better for all. Be reconciled back to the Father by accepting the gift of Jesus as your substitute for punishment of all your sin, and know that Jesus paid a high price for your freedom, healing, and place with the Father.
It isn’t about who did what or blaming anyone. It is about loving everyone, because we are all created to love and be loved.
People are given choices everyday. It is totally up to each of us to bring a better future for all or cause more suffering and misery by our lack of believing in good.
Here are some ways that people can choose to either live for self or to live for the Lord and bring a better community for all.
I can choose to start complaining about all that I have to get done, or I can decide to say a morning prayer before stepping out of bed, and giving my will and day into God’s hands.
I can decide to yell and threaten my kids repeatedly to try and force them out of bed early and demand them to be ready for school, or I can pray the night before and ask that God give them sweet sleep and helps them to wake up refreshed and willing to learn and be on time for school.
We can speak out a positive future for them with God’s Word on who they are, or we can destroy them by speaking negatively about them and their future!
I can be stressed out and thinking about the rush hour traffic that I don’t want to hit, or I can pray and ask God to clear the path for me.
On my way to work, I can complain and yell at cars that I think should be moving faster, slower or just out of my way, or I can see every individual driving next to me as a person with real feelings and experiences they are going through and I can pray for God to open His good treasury in Heaven and pour out blessings for all of them to be saturated in His peace and know they are loved.
At work, I can get offended when my co-worker gets promoted for the project that I did and they just added their name to it, or I can ask the Lord to bless that person with great godly wisdom that will ensure a rewarding life and bight future.
At lunch, I can shove a juicy cheese burger down my throat and wash it down with a strawberry milk shake from in and out burger, or I can use that money to buy ten items off the .99 cent menu at Wendy’s and hand them out to the homeless in the park near my office building.
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
– 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
During the afternoon, I can focus on office gossip, or I can take a few minutes and begin asking the Holy Spirit what or who is in need of prayers and help in that moment.
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
– 2 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
When a coworker comes to share negative news and current struggles at home, I can pretend to care and agree with their misery as being awful which will help them sink deeper into self-pity and despair, or I can speak words of life and truth back to them that will cause their wrong circumstances to come into alignment to what God says is Truth.
“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””
– James 4:6 ESV
When I am driving home and see police and fire trucks racing down the road, I can pull out of the way until they pass and then drive home, or I can immediately begin praying for divine intervention for whatever the need is that they will encounter. I can also pray and ask for help for others that are broken down on the side of the road, or driving recklessly.
We can choose to be helping to change an entire generation from spiritual blindness to Kingdom living through kindness, or to be willfully blinded through disobedience to God’s word of loving and helping others.
Giving is the best way to live. Being focused on how to get more or how to be more is the fastest route to death. That can be both spiritual and physical death. When it is about me, my plans, my dreams, my kids, my vacation, my job, my husband, my life, it is of no value to anyone else other than to cause jealousy, arrogance or greed to be exalted.
When I am able to lay down everything and ask God to do His perfect will through my surrendered life, then I am fully satisfied with all that I need.
God is so good. He knows what we need to have peace and a lifetime of joy, so why don’t we let Him help us to help each other become great blessings for His glory?!
We don’t have to continue to be divided by politics, religions, race, or even age and gender. In Christ we are all one, and there is no life outside of Christ, so begin praying fervently for all people and nations to come into Christ and be saved!
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
– Romans 12:12 ESV
Prayers and sharing testimonies publicly on a blog or a TikTok or you tube video, or whatever platform that will cause others to know the love of God, and turn to be saved, use them!
Let’s spread out a net of love and righteousness that reaches across all nations and silences the evil and wickedness of exalting sickness, fear, hate, greed, lust and all negative news!!
The prince of the airwaves can’t keep the Truth hidden if all Believers begin sharing and not being afraid or cowardly when it comes to sharing how the Lord saves and loves to be with us to make us radiant and righteous by His doing and not our own.
“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
– Psalms 9:1-2 ESV
www.bible.com/68/psa.112.1-10.gnt
“Praise the Lord! Happy is the person who honors the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying his commands.
The good man’s children will be powerful in the land; his descendants will be blessed.
His family will be wealthy and rich, and he will be prosperous forever. Light shines in the darkness for good people, for those who are merciful, kind, and just. Happy is the person who is generous with his loans, who runs his business honestly.
A good person will never fail; he will always be remembered. He is not afraid of receiving bad news; his faith is strong, and he trusts in the Lord. He is not worried or afraid; he is certain to see his enemies defeated. He gives generously to the needy, and his kindness never fails; he will be powerful and respected. The wicked see this and are angry; they glare in hate and disappear; their hopes are gone forever.”
Psalm 112:1-10 GNT
This is a story of how God gives purpose to every individual’s life, even when it ends before it really begins. The “collateral beauty” is what comes after the loss of any human life. It is a phrase coined in a recent movie with Will Smith and Edward Norton titled Collateral Beauty. The movie was about a dad that lost his little daughter to Cancer, and his painful journey to move past her death and to see the collateral beauty that came from her life and death. The story below is the beginning part of an example of the collateral beauty that came from an unnamed victim from the AZ Foster Care system in 2011.
My friend and I had just closed my boutique for the day, and the nightly news was playing on the television set in the back room. My attention immediately shifted towards the television when I heard the news anchor talking about another child death in the Valley. The story described how a daycare worker in Phoenix had placed her hand over the mouth of a frightened , sobbing four-year-old girl to keep her from waking the other children during nap time. The small child was fighting for air as the daycare worker refused to remove her hand from the child’s face. The child was kicking, squirming and pushing to get free of the woman who was suffocating her, but she was too small and eventually her struggling siezed, and her little body was left lifeless on the floor.
This was a parents worst nightmare. How would a loving family face this tragic loss? The murder of an innocent child while left in the care of a trusted daycare facility is unimaginable, and was likely to end with the daycare closing and the worker responsible locked away in prison, or at least that is what might have happened had the child been from a loving family who would mourn her loss and fight for justice for their child.
The daycare worker was not charged for any wrongdoing in the child’s death. The death was ruled an accident and the woman responsible was free to go about her normal life and even potentially cause harm to more children.
They displayed the girl’s photo on the television as they reported the story, and her beautiful brown hair and perfect, little innocent face looked so much like my daughter, who was also four years old at the time, that my heart started to ache as it filled with grief and anger for the loss of this child. How was it possible that no charges were filed? Was this really acceptable to allow something so heinous and unnecessary to happen to an innocent child?
The story went on to show a brief video interview with a man who was the child’s foster parent. He told the reporter that the little girl had no family or anyone that loved her. She was essentially an unwanted child and a burden on society. He explained how there was no need for an investigation or charges in her death. He wasn’t saying it because he thought it was right, but he was telling the reporter why her death would have no justice in his opinion. There was no one to fight for her. He said that she was a sweet little girl who didn’t deserve to die, but her life was not important to anyone, so her death was not important either. He actually said, “She was all alone in the world, and nobody loved her”. Although the man appeared somewhat sad at her loss, he seemed to be hiding something, and I couldn’t help but wonder why a single man was the foster parent to a four year old girl that had no family connection to her.
Why would the state of Arizona think that it would be in a child’s best interest to grow up in a home with a single, childless forty something year old man as her caregiver, and then do absolutely nothing when a daycare worker took the life of this innocent little girl? After the news story, I decided to do an investigation of my own to find answers that would justify the decision made by CPS, the criminal investigators and the Maricopa County Attorney’s office. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one detail of information related to what happened to the little girl. It seemed that the beautiful little girl had just faded away silently in the Arizona system of injustice without a trace. Regardless of how inconsequential the little girl was to the State and the community where she lived and died, her life would not go unnoticed or in vain, because I would be her voice that was silenced that day by the daycare worker’s deliberate actions that took her life.
Most of us never take notice of issues that have not impacted us personally, and I know that the little girl resembling my daughter was the reason that I finally made an effort to do something more. I wish it hadn’t taken this innocent child’s death to wake me up to the injustice of Arizona’s children, but it was the reason I am now an unwavering, vigilant voice for all the children in Arizona.
I began researching the child abuse epidemic in Arizona and shortly after discovering how serious of an issue it was in Arizona, I chose to close my boutique, so that I could utilize my resources for helping the children of Arizona. At the time it felt like a difficult choice, but I look back now and see it was actually a gift from God. After that, everything started to fall into place. I became actively involved with the Childhelp organization, and I knew instantly that Childhelp and its founders were also a gift from God.
Childhelp is one of the oldest and greatest defenders of abused children in the country. The founders of the organization, Sara O’Meara and Yvonne Fedderson are the only two reasons that anyone should need to support the organization. Their compassion and dedication to saving children from the horrors of abuse are unprecedented. They have devoted their entire adult lives to their work at Childhelp, and through their commitment and unyielding strength, ten million children have been saved from abuse.
Childhelp has proven to be a leading organization in saving, protecting and rebuilding the lives of abused children. The prevention programs, residential treatment facilities, 24 hour hotline, world renowned advocacy centers, foster care programs, and group homes are all established “For the Love of a Child”. Visit Childhelp.org to learn more about the issue of child abuse.
I didn’t include the amazing work that God allowed me to take part in with changing the AZ Foster Care System in this story, but I wanted to just mention that this child’s death did more than just give my life purpose. I fought with everything that I had to help AZ Kids, but I consistently failed in every effort until I prayed to God for help one night. That is another story, but it is when I realized that there really is hope in the midst of total darkness and evil, because God does hear prayers and He was quick to respond within hours of that first prayer I poured out for the suffering children in my state.
Photo- My children (Grace & Christian) with Childhelp Founders Sara & Yvonne.
If ever there was a story worth reporting about DCS and the state Foster Care System, it should be these words spoken by Governor Ducey on Monday at the State of the State Address
Improved Child’s Services:
Meanwhile, just two years ago, the problems at the state’s new Child Safety department seemed insurmountable. But because of the committed service of our state’s child safety workers, non-profit organizations and the faith-based community, combined with legislative support – the Casey Family Programs just named Arizona the best in the country for its foster care reduction.
The backlog that plagued the agency for so long, has been eliminated. The average caseload has dropped from 145 cases to 16. And since a year ago, we’ve found safety and permanency for nearly 11,000 children. So I’m proud to announce that our budget investment this year will be in adoption services, because we are finding kids loving homes.
On Friday, Governor Ducey signed Arizona’s fiscal year 2018 budget, a fiscally responsible financing package that invests in education, protects our most vulnerable citizens, and expands opportunities for those who need it most.
The budget empowers Arizonans to foster and adopt children, makes important reforms to reward caregivers, and improves outdated IT infrastructure to ensure that children’s needs are being met.
Here are three highlights from the new budget:
While there certainly is still work to do, the Arizona Department of Child Safety has seen incredible achievements over the past two years:
By supplementing policy and process improvements with investments in programs that work, we can ensure that children and families throughout Arizona are safe and secure.
This year’s budget is another step in making that happen.
An independent report commissioned by the Arizona Auditor General’s Office has concluded the DCS is on the right track.
The report, performed by Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, praises DCS for making significant strides in transforming the agency to better serve children and their families, according to a press release.
“It is clear (DCS) has undertaken a concerted and strategic effort to implement the recommendations found in our earlier report,” the Chapin Hall report stated in the press release. “The strategy undertaken by the Department has been deliberate and intentional….DCS has clearly established a set of priorities that are well-thought out…(and) we commend the Department for making good use of the Independent Review as a guide to transformation.”
Reducing backlog and workloads
The report praised DCS for successfully “implementing tailored strategies to reduce the backlog of cases,” the release stated.
As a result of DCS improvements, inactive “backlog” cases plummeted from 16,014 in March 2015 to 3,470 in November 2016, a 78 percent reduction. Today, the backlog of inactive cases is 1,688.
DCS also reduced the total number of open reports from a high of 33,245 in April 2015 to 10,536 in November 2016, a 68 percent decrease. Today there are only 7,888 open reports, the release stated.
“With the backlog nearing its conclusion, many positive outcomes have surfaced,” said DCS Director Greg McKay, in the press release. “A faster response to protect children; more time to assess and investigate; manageable caseloads; fewer children being removed from their homes; and less staff turnover.”
Hotline
The report also underscored the improvements made to DCS’s hotline.
DCS has taken significant steps to improve standardization of its call-screening by implementing a new decision-making guide, which contains detailed explanations, clarified definitions and classifies various types of harm.
A dedicated audit staff has also been placed at the hotline to further ensure quality and standardization.
Other highlights
As of October 2016, the Department had filled 1,341 DCS Specialist positions out of 1,406 appropriated full-time positions.
Over 1,600 families in Maricopa County have accessed the Building Resilient Families program. Building Resilient Families is a community-based intervention program for children and families reported to DCS where the children have been assessed as safe and the family presents with low levels of risk.
In fiscal year 2016, 4,625 families were served by the Healthy Families Arizona program, which DCS uses to help prevent child abuse and neglect, and avoid the potential for children being brought into foster care.
“We appreciate the work of our Legislature, the Auditor General, and Chapin Hall in supporting these needed reforms that have clearly taken flight; there is still much to do but please take a moment and thank a DCS employee, they deserve the credit,” Mr. McKay stated in the release.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced Thursday, March 16 the Arizona Department of Child Safety has officially cleared the backlog of inactive cases that impeded the state’s ability to attempt to improve vulnerable children’s lives.
In March 2015, DCS was plagued by more than 16,000 backlogged cases. Today, that number has reached an all-time low and is now below the legislative-set benchmark of 1,000 cases, according to a press release.
“Arizona has accomplished what once appeared to be an insurmountable task thanks to the hardworking men and women at the Department of Child Safety,” Gov. Ducey said in a release.
“But our work is far from done, and we cannot lose sight of the work that remains and the many children we must protect. By reducing this backlog, DCS can now devote even more attention to protecting Arizona’s most vulnerable children and keeping families intact. This is about the lives of children in our state, who need our help. If we don’t help them, no one else will.”
Over the past two years, DCS has tailored its efforts to reduce the case backlog, including bringing back three retired DCS employees to work exclusively on inactive cases, hiring outside contractors, incentivizing employees to work inactive cases and streamlining oversight and case transfer processes, a release states.
As a result, the decreased backlog helped to improve response times on abuse allegations, lower caseloads for workers, and allow more time for DCS workers to assess and investigate cases. All of these changes have contributed to fewer children in out-of-home care.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of DCS staff, we have reached this monumental goal by persevering and working together,” DCS Director Greg McKay said in a release. “I want to thank all DCS staff for the sacrifices they have made for this to become a reality and for the sacrifices they make every day serving Arizona’s children and families.”
There are currently about 17,200 children in out-of-home care, down from 19,044 children in February 2016, according to a press release. Arizona’s legislature set the backlog benchmark for DCS during last year’s session.
“This significant milestone shows what can be accomplished when we work together to protect Arizona’s children,” Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, said in a release. “I would like to thank frontline DCS workers and the director for their hard work as well as my colleagues for passing legislation to support this progress.”
DCS met the benchmark four months before the July 2017 deadline.
“When Sen. Lesko and I crafted this legislation with help from DCS Director McKay, this was the outcome we were hoping for,” Rep. John M. Allen, R-Phoenix, said in a release.
“Although the department and state still face many challenges of providing struggling families with the help they need or moving children to safe and more permanent situations, it is still gratifying that this effort has succeeded.”
A case is classified as “inactive” if no documentation has been entered for more than 60 days or if services were not provided.
Due to the length of time that some of the more complicated cases require, there will always be cases that exceed 60 days in our system, which is why the legislature set DCS’s inactive benchmark at under 1,000 cases.
About five years ago, I saw a news story about a four year old girl that was killed in the Arizona Foster Care System, and my life has never been the same. This beautiful child lost her life after a daycare worker tried to keep her from waking the other children by placing her hand over the girl’s mouth. The news said that the daycare worker would not be charged for the murder of the girl, because it was an accident. The woman never intended to kill the child when she suffocated her on the first day that she attended the state run daycare, so it had to be an accident?
The child’s Foster parent (a single male with no blood relation) commented that the girl had no one who loved her, and that she was all alone in the world. He said that her death would be just like her life, and no one would care. His outward demeanor was half melancholy and half sarcastic, but neither showed the signs of a compassionate parent. He looked like he had no business caring for any child, especially not one that the state gave him custody as a single, unrelated man. This story was heartbreaking and suspicious to say the least. I couldn’t bear the thought of what she must have suffered in this world all alone, and the fact that no one was going to fight for her life or death was an injustice that was beyond comprehension.
l spent the next two years determined to end child abuse. I made my way into several non profits by doing anything that was needed to help them. After countless hours of child abuse research, awareness efforts, volunteer projects, and legislative initiatives, I realized that the numbers had actually increased by 40% on the number of children in the Arizona Foster Care System! My heart was aching for these little ones, and I was desperate to help in any way that I could.
I remember driving in my car, and trying not to cry after losing the battle with a child sexual abuse prevention bill in the AZ legislature, and suddenly I just started talking to God. I had zero knowledge of the bible, but I knew that God helped me at least two times in the past when I cried out for help, so out of utter desperation, I cried out for these innocent children. I spoke a very detailed prayer asking God to please help me, because I simply couldn’t save these children without Him! I asked Him to rescue just one child a day, because I thought that one child was better than none, but God had a better plan.
Three days after I poured out my heart in prayer, I received a call from a nonprofit that I served on the Board of Directors. The founder of the nonprofit wanted me to come and meet a girl that the police had brought to them after she was rescued from a motel in Scottsdale. The police received an anonymous tip that the girl was being sex trafficked. By this time, I had already forgotten all about my prayer, but I heard a little voice whisper, “She is alive, because of your prayer”. I had never heard that little voice before, but there was no mistaking what I heard, and I immediately asked when they found the girl. The woman tried to tell me it was on a Saturday night, but my prayer was on a Friday night, and I told the woman that she was wrong, and that the girl was rescued on Friday night. The woman didn’t understand why I was being so insistent on the day, but she agreed to call the police and get the exact time and day, so that I would stop hounding her about it.
A few hours later, the lady called me back and wanted to know how I could have known the day was Friday, because the police confirmed that the girl was in fact rescued on Friday, but she wasn’t taken to the safe house until Saturday evening. The lady asked if I had been involved with the FBI operation that had taken place that same night across the nation. I had no idea what she was talking about, but in order to get more info, I said, “what have you heard?” She said that 168 children were rescued that weekend in the largest sex trafficking bust at that time in the US.
As soon as she spoke the words, that same small voice that I heard earlier whispered, “Think bigger! I want to save more than one child a day!” Holy Crap! God heard my prayer!!! I didn’t even know for sure if God was real when I prayed that night. I only knew that I couldn’t fix the issue on my own, and I had come to the end of my finding the solutions after two years of sleepless nights trying to figure out a way to stop the evil that was destroying our children, so I went to the last place I could think of for help.
Not only was there a God, but He was eager to answer that prayer and all the prayers that have followed!
This is just one piece of a beautiful story that is still unfolding, but I am ready to share all of the pieces, because I am not here to create a legacy about my life, but I am here to share in a legacy that is much greater than my own life. I know an awesome God that loves every single person, and He is ready to be found by everyone!
Man can’t solve the social injustices alone, because man is the reason for most of them. God is the One that can do what is impossible for man, so if you want to see your community free from crime and evil, I suggest that you start by partnering with the Creator of all good! Use your voice by praying for the lives that are suffering all around you. If you don’t know how to help someone, PRAY for them! God knows how to do what you don’t or can’t do on your own, so just show love for others by praying for them. That is the greatest thing that you can ever do to help a hurting life.
I came upon a man about to collapse crossing the street in Mesa, so I stopped my car and asked if he needed help.
I know that most people don’t understand why I feel the need to stop and help people that I see on the streets, but I don’t understand why they don’t feel the need to help. If I ignore the human lives that are suffering and feel alone and unloved, how will they ever know that they are loved, and that God is able to heal and rescue them from their despair?
The man today looked like he was going to die if he didn’t get help, and I finally insisted that he get in my car before he passed out in the street. He was barely able to speak, his body was twisted and in constant motion. I assumed that he was a drug addict or just really sick, but either way, I knew that he needed help. I have some knowledge on what addictions do to the body and mind, but I have no experience with helping someone that is addicted to heroin, and this guy was in terrible shape, and I figured that it was either up to me to lead him to God, or he would die.
I prayed over him many times, and I asked him to surrender his life to Jesus, so he could heal him, because nothing that I was speaking was going to be enough. I fed him lunch, and asked God to bless his food to help his body receive the nutrients it needed to be restored enough to at least function long enough to speak a full sentence, but that wasn’t happening in the 3-4 hours that I spent driving around with him in my car. I finally decided to just play some music that I thought might help to ease his mind from the severe wd symptoms that he seemed to be suffering from at that time. I guess that the demonic spirits that had his life and body bound didn’t like that much, because he started displaying worse signs of wanting to come right out of his skin. The faces and strange sounds that came from him were not normal human speech or expressions. He was going in and out of what appeared to be demonic possession as the spirits were fighting to remain with him, so I just started singing loudly and would ask him to repeat the words with me that proclaimed deliverance and being well with the soul.
I told him that I wasn’t going to leave him until he was free from what had a hold on him, and I meant it, because I knew that God would never lead me to this guy if he didn’t want me to help him escape the bondage. I was thinking that perhaps I should have been better prepared, but I have no idea how to prepare for something like that, so I just gave it all to God to handle when I saw no signs of improvement. After awhile he sort of came out of some of the suffering and what appeared to be a torturous hell from my view, but he still wasn’t able to sit still in his seat or talk clearly.
I drove him to where he said he lived, and I thought that he might be okay if I left him there and just continued to pray for him, but then the drug dealers rolled up, and I could tell that part of him wanted to go join them, but he said that he didn’t want to stay there, because he knew that if he did, he would end up at their apartment doing drugs. I didn’t want that either, but I also didn’t want to force someone to change because I thought that they should, so I told him that it was his decision to make, and I knew that God wanted to help him through the battle that he was in, but I wasn’t sure what that really would entail.
I found a nearby detox center and drove him there, but I had no idea if they would take him or if they would require insurance or even a full name, and I had none of that info to give them, and he wasn’t in any condition to fill out paperwork. At that point, I stopped in the parking lot, and began to tell him that this suffering now was actually part of his healing that would later help him to lead many others out of the same bondage.
He said he was molested by a man when I asked him to tell me his story, but he didn’t say anything else, and he really didn’t need to, because I already knew why God put him with me at that moment. I told him how I first came to know God was real and that He was able to do big and awesome miracles, and it was when I cried out to God to help the children that were being sexually abused and no one else would listen or help these hurting lives. I told him how God listened and rescued 168 kids that very night that I prayed for his help. I told him that God didn’t want him to carry that shame or guilt anymore, and that it was not going to continue to keep him locked in addiction to escape the pain of the past, because God can remove all of that pain and heal him completely.
We talked about his dreams as a child and how it was not too late for his life to be transformed into what it was meant to be before evil tried to destroy it. The guy was only 24 years old, but I truly couldn’t tell if he was 20 or 40, because the drugs had messed him up so badly.
When I finally left him, he was almost speaking full sentences, and he no longer had that fear and pain clinging onto him. I can’t tell you what happened after that, but as I drove away, I started sobbing. The pain was so heavy on my heart knowing that his struggle was nowhere near over, and that no one cared enough to help him. I couldn’t find any place to take him that I knew would give him the care and support he needed.
I just cried out to God and told Him that it wasn’t fair that he had to suffer like that because of what happened to him as a child. He would have died if I didn’t pick him up today, and part of me wanted to die knowing that he was just one life that was out there among thousands just like him that no one would see or help.
I asked God to please make sure that his life was surrounded with protection and that he would never be alone again. I knew that I couldn’t do anything, but I also knew that God could do everything he needed and more, so I gave him to God and told God that I knew that He was the only One that could save that kid, and I knew that He would do just that.
I told two people about my day, and both of them acted upset and concerned more about my safety than that poor guy that was barely an adult, and a very broken one at that. I told the people that if I was worried or in fear, that would mean that I didn’t trust God, and I knew that God sent me to find that guy before he died on the street.
I just want to say that if anyone ever sees a person in need, and they don’t stop to help them out of fear for their own life, than they need to truly examine their relationship with God and know that perfect love casts out fear. God is perfect love, so if you truly trust and believe in God, than please let go of the fear ,and see and hear the people that are suffering all around you everyday. We are the light that shines out the darkness if we are in Christ and doing the works that He did.
The church isn’t a building, it is the people that make up the Body of Christ, and if the people in the churches don’t start getting outside the walls, the Body of Christ will never rise up!
The people inside the church buildings are saved, so let’s stop focusing on how we can entertain them and get into the streets and find the lives that are dying without Jesus!
I have loved you with an everlasting love. I created you for my good works. Before you were born, I thought of you. I formed you in your mother’s womb; knitting all of your inner parts perfectly together. I have always been with you, and I planned each day of your life. Oh, won’t you trust in Me even now My beloved child?
Have you not known that it was I, who held your hands up and taught you to walk? Did I not spoon-feed you all of your first solid foods? I tell you that it was I, the Lord, your God. I brought you out of your darkness, and through the storms and the crashing waves that tried to overtake you and steal your life away.
Believe in Me, because I have believed in you. I knew that you would try to deny My help, and that you would need to prove that you were strong enough to do this world alone, so I waited with patience as I watched you stumble through the darkness. I was attentive to your every cry, and I held your hand in the loneliest of nights. Your heart was aching, and Mine was breaking, as I reached out My hand to draw you near. You tried to grab ahold, but the pleasures of the world were determined to steal your soul.
The longing to feel love and belong to something bigger, you worked and gave all that you had to give, but rejection and denial by people left you hurting and feeling betrayed. I have not forsaken you. I am with you every step of this journey. I know your pain. I know your heart. I am the comforter that can give you hope, faith and love to last to the end.
I have sent my ministering angels to keep you from falling too far, and in the day that you are ready, I am still close enough to hear your whisper, “come near”. I will never leave you, My beloved child. I made a vow to uphold you in this world. I want so desperately to open your eyes, so that you can see that it is I. I am the One that has loved you from the beginning of time, and it is I, who will love you through this earthly life. My love doesn’t end. I am eternal and My Spirit dwells from within. Though your earthly form fails you, I will never fail you. I will raise you up on the last day, and you will shine as the Son.
Your life is not your own, you were bought with a price. That price was paid with the precious blood of My only begotten Son. If you can open your heart and let me in, I will show you a new life that frees you from sin. I don’t ask you to come to Me cleaned up and pure. I only ask that you come to Me, so I can pour out my love and mercy in your life to heal. You are My beloved child, and I am your Father. My love never ends. Come to Me, and I will set you free.
Love requires freedom-voluntary-we must fall in love
Freedom involves risk
Risk entails responsibility
Responsibility enables growth
As my two sons were determined to hit the streets in search of capturing some fictional Pokemon creatures, I decided that it was a good time to teach them about capturing some hearts for Christ. I told the kids to prepare some sack lunches, and I would drive them around to a few Pokemon packed parks. It was a rainy night in Phoenix, and I knew that God had an adventure planned that went far beyond Pokemon play.
Within five minutes of being out on the wet streets, we saw a young girl standing near a QT store holding up a sign. The sign said something about being pregnant, and I couldn’t read the rest, but I immediately made a U-turn in the middle of the road to go back and help the girl. As I was pulling into the parking lot, I could see the girl was very young and she was sobbing and hysterical. I jumped out of my car and ran over to her with open arms. As I stood in the rain hugging this scared and broken teen, I told her that everything was going to be okay, because God heard her cries and had sent me to help her.
As we talked, I learned that she had been living on the streets for almost two months after her boyfriend dumped her when she refused to have an abortion. She moved to Arizona for a guy that she thought loved her, and she was now pregnant and alone. The sad truth was that the life she left in North Carolina wasn’t much better. Her mother was in prison after she abandoned her and her six siblings for a life of drugs.
The girl immediately said that she couldn’t go anywhere without the other three teens that she had left in a nearby motel, because they needed her. She had met the other teens while living on the streets, and they each had a story that was as heartbreaking as her own. One young male had just lost his mother and was literally all alone in the world, the other two teens were products of a broken foster care system, so they only had each other. The pregnant girl had taken them all in, and was trying to provide for this group of broken youth, because she was the oldest, and the only one that could rent a motel room.
She told me that it was just a really hard day, and she was sorry for being so emotional, because she didn’t usually fall apart like she was in that moment. She said that people had just been so cruel and heartless that night as they would pass by her yelling out the car window things like, “Get an abortion!”, or even worse were the men that kept trying to pick her up for sex.
I asked her if she had tried to get help from any of the social services available or any of the churches, and she listed off several places that she had contacted that included shelters that were all full or wouldn’t accept her because she didn’t have an Arizona id card. She said that one church told her that they might be able to help her pay for a bus ticket back to North Carolina, but they had to approve it with their board first, so she was supposed to keep calling them back. Of course, she didn’t have a cell phone, or a computer to access information to find resources, but she was pretty resourceful in spite of those so-called missing necessities that most of us think we can’t live without them.
The first thing that I did when I arrived was to pray for her, because I knew that God sent me there, and that He would make a way for her to get through this situation. I told her that my heart was aching for the things that she was telling me, and she got defensive and said that she didn’t want people to pity her or look at her like she was pathetic. I let her know that my heart wasn’t hurting for her, because I already knew that God was watching over her life, but what I didn’t know was what would become of all of the people that ignored her cries for help, or tried to take advantage of her or cause her more hurt with their cruel words. She said that she just wished that everyone could experience what it is like to be alone and desperate to stay alive even for one day, so that their hearts wouldn’t be so calloused. She said that she knew that this wasn’t her life forever, and that she was going to make it out of that situation. I told her that I knew that was true too, and that this was just a moment in her life that God was going to later use for her to help many lives in that same situation.
As I brought over all of the bags of sandwiches and snacks that we had prepared, I grabbed a handful of prayer cards that I keep in my car, and I remembered that when I was waiting for my boys to come out to the car, I had prayed over each sack and asked God to richly bless who ever ended up with the lunches, and to pour out His steadfast love in each life that received one of the bags. I paid for another night for the teens to stay in the motel room they had, and I hugged her and gave her my phone number to call me if she needed anything later. I knew that God had a plan for her life, and as I was saying goodbye, another car pulled up, and they were waiting to see how they could help. I knew that was the person that God sent in response to my prayer spoken upon arrival.
As I drove away, I thought about how God was going to take that young soon to be mother, and pour out his love as a Father, and He will later be a Father to her baby, so that neither of them will ever be alone again. I prayed for her one last time, but this time I spoke words of Prophesy over her life. God is so faithful to lead each of us out of darkness, and to lead others into our lives that are able to release further blessings and protection over each of us. I just thank you Father, that your love is an everlasting love, and that we never have to be alone or abandoned again once we let You in! 
Don’t let this world cause you defeat.
It is through My blood at the cross, that each life can be made complete.
Have you never heard that I gave my life to carry you through?
For my blood ran red, and your sins washed white as wool.
Come with me, and I will give you rest.
You need not toil or bear that weight upon your chest.
You are in My hands, and I will never let you go.
The Father has entrusted me to get you home.
I am the One that comes at the darkest hour in the night
I am the One that will fill you with my light.
There is no darkness for those that seek my face,
There is only steadfast love, mercy and grace.
Life is given, and hope is renewed,
The Holy Spirit now dwells in you.
I am the light of this dark world,
Remain in me, so I can teach you how to live, love and lead.
For my burden is light, and one can find strength to walk in God’s power and might.
Don’t cry out with a grieving heart without adding My name with a plea to give you a new start.
This is the way that you will be saved! I will answer you before your cry is done, and together We will become One!
There are many that have not known the way, so if you see the darkest soul today, don’t hide your face or coward away.
For my light is a free gift that you received from God’s grace,
and it is His will that you shine into every dark place!
The light of love and truth will cast out the darkness of lies and deception.
Don’t fear what destroys the body, because I am the resurrection.
Why do you call evil good and good evil?
For the churches that have been dormant and tried to look the other way, in a sea of injustice that has encamped our City and State, there are no more excuses for this lack of love among the people. God sent a fierce flame to burn through the hearts of the church leaders and call into judgment what they have overlooked with mega churches filled with nothing but inward focused lives that have left our streets filled with the most heinous types of hatred and evil.
My voice is not to condemn people, but to awaken the churches that are filled with people that are needed to love their neighbors. Stop focusing on nothingness and get in the streets and find the hearts that need healed, then you will fill your church chairs and grow a community that cares!
Don’t build your church bigger with walls, break down the walls and send the Christ filled believers into the streets to show mercy, compassion and love in a broken and evil world, that is in need of redemption and a resurrection!
Has God prepared his servants to simply sit and listen to others talk about how good God is, or has He prepared them to go out and show the world how good He is through actions in love and words of life?!
I speak to every believer today when I say, NOW is your time! NOW is your day to rise up and give all that you have received to the world around you!! It has taken God your whole life to bring you to this time, and there is indeed a purpose and a plan that He has called you to fulfill right now! Get out of that church building and get into the broken and hate filled city streets to heal these hurting people!
Don’t hesitate and don’t look back, RUN the race that is laid out in front of you and use God’s strength and might through the power of His Holy Spirit within you to do what Jesus commanded us to do in the world; love our neighbors!!
Recent Comments