Thank You Lord!

Matthew 15: 33-38
 And His disciples said unto Him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
And Jesus said unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
And He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the brokem meat that was left seven baskets full.
And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children.

I find it interesting here that Jesus took the little they had and rather than praying for God to increase it He gave thanks.
I would have taken the food and told God all about my problem and exactly what I needed Him to do then waited for it to happen. After it happens then I would feel surprised and start thanking God for what I just saw! 
This isn't the only time Jesus gave thanks before he saw any evidence of anything happening. In the story of Lazarus ( Luke 11), Jesus said, "Father I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me.
And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth.
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Again, Jesus thanked God and then proceeded to tell Lazarus (who by this time has been dead four days) to come out of the cave.
If I trust that God is going to meet my needs I think I could do a much better job of thanking Him even before I see any evidence. That is a sign that I actually believe He is and will taking care of me.

Walking On The Water

Matthew 14: 24-31
 But the ship (the one the disciples were on) was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind was contrary.
 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the wter.
 And he said , Come. And Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
 And immediatly Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?


Ok, who in their right mind is going to step out of a boat in the middle of the rough sea? Right? Well I ask you this, would you rather step out of the boat in the middle of a calm sea?
 The very fact that Peter stepped out of the boat at all was a great show of faith. You would think that after he realized he could walk on water even "the wind boisterous" wouldn't have been able to shake him but aren't we the same way. When things are going good we think we can "walk on water" and anything seems possible. But let a little (or big) storm come along and all of a sudden our confidence gets shaken and we look away from Jesus. That's when we start sinking. It's not the "problem" that causes us to sink, it's taking our eyes off Jesus. As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus whether we are in the calm of life or in the midst of a tormoil the impossible is possible.
 There is power in looking to Jesus.No matter how insurmountable your circumstances and challenges are, turn away from them and keep your eyes on Jesus.

God Will Make A Way

Luke 1:37  For with God, nothing shall be impossible.

Matthew 21:22  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive.

Mark 9:23  And Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Mark 10:27  And Jesus, looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: For with God all things are possible.



These verses and song mean a lot to me. I have a dream that I haven't figured out how it's going to come true. But I cling to what God has said in His living Word. He promises to hear, he promises to answer, he promised to make a way.
  I've been involved in foster care for the last 9+ years. Children have come and gone and children have come and stayed. In each case I felt like I learned valuable lessons. In some cases a piece of my heart went with the child when they left. In some cases I was blessed to see the family get on their feet and be reunited. In other cases it was sad to see a child returned, knowing they were going back to very shaky grounds and the family would likely not be able to hold things together.
Through it all I've been tremendously blessed with 4 absolutely wonderful adopted children and one who I am soon to be starting the adoption for. But I feel like my house is running out of room before my heart is ready. I dream of having a bigger house with a much bigger property. Property large enough to handle the dreams of my children. Dreams they have of a farm and horses. Dreams of a place that would be therapy for other hurting children. Yes, these are my dreams but they are also the dreams of my older children.
 I'm not ready to run out of room. I have so much more I would like to do.
 The only hope I have of these dreams coming true is to cling to the promises of these verses, knowing my Father in heaven sees my heart and my dreams. And He can make a way, for with God nothing is impossible.

What Can Faith Do?

I love this song! This is what faith can do!!!!




Here are a few verses about faith.


Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1



And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea and it should obey you.
Luke 17:6

And Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Matthew 15:20


...verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Matthew 17:20


For more verses on faith click on this link and it will take you to Blue Letter Bible's list of verses.

http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?criteria=faith&page=1&sf=5&t=KJV

Lemmings

We used to play a computer game called "Lemmings". In this game we had to build walls, bridges, stairs etc. to make a safe path for lemmings to reach their destination. If we didn't build fast enough the lemmings would walk right into utter destruction and our whole group of lemmings we were trying so hard to save would die right before our eyes.

In light of this game I found it very interesting today when I heard the definition of lemmings.

1. subarctic rodent: a rodent with a small thick furry body and furry feet that lives in subarctic regions. Lemmings are noted for their mass migrations in search of food during population explosions, which has given rise to the myth that they flock to the sea to drown themselves. Native to: Arctic and northern regions. Genus Lemmus, Dicrostonyx.






2. doomed conformist: a member of a large group of people who blindly follow one another on a course of action that will lead to destruction for all of them



When I heard definition 2 I had to think of my own walk of life. As a Christian am I standing apart from the crowd and being Holy Spirit led or am I trying to fit in the crowd and blindly headed for destruction. Am I really stepping out of the confusion of a mass group of traditional beliefs and letting God lead me? Am I being a lemming?

WARFARE PRAYER

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith, I arise and establish my legal right and dominion over this region and territory which You have given me. According to Daniel 9:4,You are the only "Great and Dreadful" GOD; keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love You and to them that keep Your commandments.



I appeal to the GOD who said in 2 Chronicles 7:13-16, if I shut up the Heaven there will be no more rain, if I command the locust to devour the land, if I send pestilance among my people, if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, I will hear from Heaven and forgive their sin, I will heal their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attend to their prayer that is made into this place. For now have I chosen and sactified this house that My name may be there forever and my eyes and my heart shall be perpetually there. I declare that this place is sactified. I present my body as a living sacrifice by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer. Make these prayers holy and acceptable unto You.



I confess my sins and the sins of our Fathers. Let grace and mercy prevail over us. I declare I have a free passage for my prayers to ascend into the realm of the supernatural and they will not be earth bound. I come into agreement with the supreme good of Heaven. I am seated in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus; therefore, war from this plan and realm. I declare that the annointing of GOD breaks every yolk; open every portal and assign angels to reinforce me as I advance into new levels, new dimentions, new realms, and territories. Let there be a breakthrough in the heavens. I tap into apostolic and prophetic veins. I shatter glass ceilings, I smash spiritual bars and higher membranes. I declare a breakthrough atmosphere is established. I recalibrate the spiritual climate and decree that every bit of lukewarmness must be replaced with the fire and zeal of GOD. Baptize me with the Holy Spirit and fire; let there be fire in my mouth as I advance in this prayer. I take authority over demonic satanic atmospheres and climates created by cultic activities,destiny altering images, incantations, ill spoken words, witchcraft hostil environments, fear, terrorism, hatred, and violence in the name of JESUS. I command the spirituanl climate to shift, the economic climate to shift, the social climate to shift,cultural climate to shift, educational climate to shift, political climate to shift, Ecclesiastical climate to shift in the name of JESUS. I command the atmosphere must be filled with the glory of GOD. Father, fill the atmosphere, fill the environment with Your glory ! I alter this environment and declare, it is now suitable for my ministry to thrive, my relationships to thrive, my children to thrive, my loved ones to thrive, my business to thrive, my ideas to thrive, my nation to thrive, and my economy to thrive. I establish a supernatural environment for miracles to occur. I war in the name of JESUS and by His shed blood, which is the shed blood of the Lamb. The Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world. By Him evil must be destroyed; for this reason was the Son of God made manifest that He would destroy the works of darkness. I decree and declare that the works of darkness are destroyed. I breakthrough the prevailing and sustaining powers of darkness over this region in the name of JESUS. Amen " But thanks be to GOD, which giveth us the VICTORY through our LORD JESUS CHRIST" 1 Corinthians 15:57 ~Abundant Blessings and Love~

(Please feel free to copy or repost)