Power without love can be dangerous!

It leads to a controlling dictatorship, of which our God is not!

Love, on the other hand, has freeing Power! It releases us to live without fear. God ’so loved’ us that He delivered us from an eternal hell, just by our believing in His Son and the Son’s act of Love on the Cross so we can live our life with God’s Power dwelling in us because we believed in Him enough to give our life to Him.

When we’re gathered together in church we sing and beg, “God, come, show your Power.” In other words, do something we can see, hear, feel, when all the time His Love is shielding us from distressing influences of the mind that would distract us, causing mental stress.

Why would we insultingly beg the Holy Spirit to come into our midst, when He’s already there in us? Does our overwhelming need to ’see or feel’ something over ride the Powerful Presence of the Indwelling, Risen Christ Who’s quickening us in our mortal body? He wants us to utilize His Love for us by recognizing His Powerful Presence in us… that is what I would call true corporate Worship…standing in awe of such a Powerful Love as that would bring us humbly to our knees with shouts of Praise!

Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is common sense dancing!

I love that thought! Laughter is the best medicine. The Bible says so in Proverbs! Belly laughter makes you cough, strengthening your lungs as well as tightening your tummy muscles, laughter enhances emotional health thus triggering mental health! It’s a fact that laughter strengthens the social health between family and friends. It might even make an enemy smile!

Further more, you can’t cry with worry and laugh at the same time! I had a sister-in-law who never smiled and rarely laughed…everything in her view of life was always sad, wrong, or hopeless. She loved her husband but rarely did she smile. Happiness was something others had but she bordered on the belief that laughter was almost sin! Our children often dreaded going to visit their religious but scowling aunty. Happily, as she got older, we discovered she could laugh when she wanted to!

I’m convinced Jesus had a sense of humour! John 7:1-11 tells how He sent the disciples on ahead to the Feast of Tabernacles in Judea. He said He would remain in Galilee, because He knew the Jews were lying in wait for Him at the Feast. So He remained behind. I can just see the grin on His face when he decided to go alone not too long after the others left and were out of sight. The KJV says ‘he walked in the middle of the crowd as an ordinary jew dressed like everyone else.” He didn’t try to hide; he mingled among them. John 7:11 says: “…meanwhile the jews kept looking for him, wondering “where can he be?” “Where is that fellow?” Jesus was surely getting a ‘kick’ out of their looking for but not being able to find him! I love playing tricks on people like that. Just ask my kids!

Put on a happy face today…make someone smile! It enhances servanthood!

I believe that when God initiated the birth of His Son on the earth, He was preparing for a Movement of Jesus Followers who would be different. A new kind of humanity! Their function would be electric and alive because the Life of His Son would be living in them. Their characters would be as impeccable and pure as His. Their bright Light would be strong enough to convict the liars and the cheats. Those with shady moral values while keeping religious rules would be exposed by the integrity and Light of the Jesus People. The new ‘humanity’ would be visionaries, crusaders against wrong! They would know the Truth so well it would set them Free to shake the world with love!

That’s what God was envisioning when the angel visited Mary that day. That’s what John 3:16 is all about. He soooo loved the world that He gave!

Buddha has nothing tangible to give the guilty nor does he/she/it possess the ability to offer life to the oppressed. Buddha can’t reproduce him/herself. He/she can’t look into the future…being unable to dream of a better day…he/she has only the present miserable moment. They don’t have a host of ministering angels around them. Their vain philosophies are just empty promises of an imaginary peace that a person must work up within himself, whereas Jesus is Peace Himself and He lives in and helps those who believe in Him.

Jesus was born of a woman. He lived 33 years here on earth, healing people, raising the dead, opening blind eyes and deaf ears. The greatest marvel is that he has chosen to live inside us by the Holy Spirit. His Father’s Plan was to love the unlovely, heal the incurable, deliver the undeliverable, set the prisoner of habits free, comfort those who mourn the losses of dignity, personhood and family. In short Jesus came to give good news to the poor!

WOW!!! He is waiting to do those things through us! Wake up, people!!!

These thoughts were generated in me by the words I read in Erwin Raphael McManus book: Wide Awake..the future is waiting within you!

Good reading for this day and age!

“The righteous may fall seven times and rise again… but the wicked shall fall by calamity!” Proverbs 24:16.

For many years I misunderstood what it meant in Phillippians 2:12 to “work out my own salvation with fear and trembling”. It seemed to collide with my belief in God’s gift of unconditional love, knowing that Jesus had done the work required for my salvation. Moses delivered the Law… but Jesus accomplished the requirements of it. So I now rest, knowing my salvation is secure, simply because I believed in Jesus and confessed salvation based on the work He did for me. He then moved into my heart! He wants to help me live this new life with the new personality that is being conceived as I develop a new character. Matthew 5:1-12 lists those changes. They’re called the Beatitudes!

I soon discovered in my new life that I have new responsibilities and privileges. I can now speak directly to adversity and deal with it authoritatively. In short, when I need help He tells me what to do and how to do it. I soon discovered that when I asked Him to do something He responded by telling me I have a tongue and I’m to use it. He will give me words to say. I’m still prone to bringing trouble on myself through unwise choices because of impatience, Like a cry baby I beg to be set free. I repent and ask for deliverance. He in turn redeems my bad behaviour choice and brings good out of it. Romans 8:28.

So now, I use my authority to take action and speak to the ‘mountain of mistake: “Remove yourself into the Sea of God’s forgetfulness.”

I’m then free to get on with the journey into the rest of my life!

You have the same authority if He lives in you. Flex your muscles! Use your rights! Cease from your procrastinationings!

Make a decision to walk out from under the ‘dark cloud’ that hovers over your head. Seek a job or even a church change! If you’re not able to flex your muscles where you are then look for a new Gym! Go after the training support you need in order to move on.

Work out your salvation with right thoughts and ‘fruit of the spirit’ behaviour!

If the soul would find rest, it must divorce itself from the angst of anxiety; stepping aside from that which causes mental conflict. Physical rest in itself is partial and temporary. There is a rest in God that restores the soul for the season, bringing things into perspective and proportion. It is then we walk in step with His steps, experiencing the smooth pace of peace He’s given us; walking hand in Hand, resting, relaxing, breathing Him in.

He waits patiently for us because He loves being with us. Think of yourself as a child, crawling into Papa’s arms. Nothing’s really wrong, it’s just knowing He’s warm and always accepting. He wants us to enjoy Him! To discover the hugeness of His love! He longs to hear us say: “Thank You, Papa!” When we hear ourselves thanking Him it is then that we feel restored in our soul!

He wants us to come as often as we can. It’s when we’re spasmodic that He grows concerned for the state of our mind, because continual resting in Him guarantees prevention of over-reaction to the thoughts and feelings of others. Actually, it’s wholly possible and permissible to walk with Him constantly; unfazed by the pecking reminders of life’s daily dilemma’s and the demanding responsibilities of growing a family. When the soul is rested life is calmer and it is seen in our composure. Resting like that is developed on a daily basis. Once you’ve experienced it over a length of time you will become addicted to it! Guaranteed!

Our seeds of fruitfulness often lie dormant in the dark ground of lostness.  The shell of a seed must be broken apart in order for the life in the seed to rise towards the Light above the ground to become what it really is. ”

The disciples were not world travellers. They must have paled when Jesus said: “Go into all the world.” He even told them how to pack: 1 pair of shoes, 1 coat… ouch… you should see my suitcase… but I’m learning.

A rigid mindset in a follower of Jesus doesn’t work.  If you’re in the yoke with Him you must be ready to turn the formidable corners that lead to a change of direction/action. But so many of us don’t like change;  it’s a frightening fact that the inflexibility of a closed mind often leads to a stagnant religious lifestyle.  Yet we sing loudly, I Surrender All.  Methinks God shakes his head!

A year ago on this weekend, I sold my Condo in Abbotsford to re-locate closer to my children in North Langley/Surrey.  To say I’ve not missed my mate would be a lie.

I have ministered in new places like Uganda, Kenya, and ‘new- to- me’ churches in Ireland and England.  Visited again Northwest Edmonton and Spruce Grove, Alberta…had a great Ladies Weekend in Estevan, Saskatchewan and another Ladies Retreat in Salmon Am, B.C.   At the present moment I’m in Japan, ministering at Parkside Chapel.  When I return home next week I will be re-packing to journey to the churches in El Salvador and Guatemala for two and half weeks.  Between travel assignments I’ve done pulpit supply for local pastors.

This afternoon, as I was musing on how God chooses to use us, this profound yet  debatable thought flew into my thinking machine.  As God’s children we’re prone to pray: ”God, please use me!“  God answers back: “My child, please use Me.”

He wants to come on board our activity!  He wants to cure our dependence on self.   It needs to be: “Not I…but Christ Who lives in me.”

I have found a global ministry on Facebook and on Skype. . . while sitting in my office I am face to face on my computer with a single mom in Uganda…teaching her the Bible!  Technology has brought the world to me!

Thank you for being my friend!  I rely on your prayers.  Your monthly support is what keeps me on the road.  God’s strength is unfailing!

Today, Greta published her first-ever e-book, Falling Sparrow: Overcoming the Ghosts of Sexual Abuse. First published in the late 1990s, Falling Sparrow has sold out several times. This spring, Greta updated it, and has now released it as an e-book, available here (or in your favorite e-book app). If you are struggling to overcome the effects of sexual abuse–or know someone who is–Greta’s story will help.

Proceeds from the $4.95 e-books go to support Greta in her ministry around the world.

If you don’t have an e-book reader, you can purchase the PDF version of her book, download it to your computer, and either print it or read it on screen.

Yesterday morning, while washing my face, these words screamed into my head: “You can’t fly like an eagle when your claws are in your enemy.”

I searched my heart immediately for I had decided a long time ago that my dictum in life would be to keep short accounts. Thus, this urgency has to be for someone out there who wants to soar in prosperity but is miserable with bitterness.  Grudges ground us! The Upward draft is difficult to catch.

The sinister side of an ongoing grudge is that it brings progress to a screeching halt.  God’s way to freedom for us, is to forgive; thereby releasing our enemy from our clutches; namely, cease from our judging and condemning.  Instead, we pronounce blessings of goodness and kindness on him; freeing him to catch his upper draft breezes of God’s blessing.  We too will catch the Breeze of Blessing!…We will fly like eagles were intended to fly…effortlessly!