Wednesday, August 28, 2013

"I don't have to be in church to be WITH God"


25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

This verse is from Hebrews, Chapter 10.  

This verse has been SO on my mind for over a month now.  I keep coming back to it over and over.   And tonight I can't sleep, I guess it is time to blog and share my heart.  

I have asked God to forgive me over this verse;  one,  for my own personal stuff and two, because I have used that verse to judge others.  

I am so sorry.   You, yes, you reading this,  may be the one reading this that I need to ask forgiveness from.....

I looked at it this evening in several different versions.  The one above is the NLT or New Living Translation.  


Hebrews 10:25

New International Version (NIV)
25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

There is the same verse in the NIV version.  

The one verse says, let us NOT give up on meeting together...and the other is let us not neglect our meeting together.  

So,  there is to be a time when we meet together.   A specific time. 

Can a soccer player play his game without the teammates?  
Can a volleyball team play with only one?  

No...the TEAM has to show up - they collectively win...work together and fight through to win.  

Like I said, I have been thinking on this verse and speaking to God about it for almost a month now - I believe tonight is the time to share! 

It started like this...  Lord, why don't they come?  Lord, why can't they respond when I ask and see how COOL church is and how we just want them to get the healing we have received.  Lord, why is it always, "he is more closer to God now than ever and he does not need church".  And Lord, why don't they see it...like I see it ....they are a train wreck waiting to happen.....

Then, I would ponder and think and reflect more and another Sunday would go beyond and I would see posts on Facebook or Twitter and the thoughts would come.....Lord, they have time for that.....lord, they have time for that....and yet...I am getting mad here God -- I want them to WANT you...I want them to see....they NEED you!  I mean, Lord ...here is where they will GET their encouragement...not there!   

And the judging began....


Lord forgive me!  

My  husband is now one of my BETTER  friends and praise God I can talk to him now about anything and I did speak to him about  this scripture and my thoughts and feelings have been discussed and discussed.

 He is very wise and reminds me - God has it!  What must I do? - ----pray!   Pray that those I know  who need to assemble  themselves  will be convicted and realize, they need HIM.  Period.

I mean, I asked God to forgive me, forgive us.  Not 'assembling' ourselves was a piece in the puzzle of how our marriage and our family fell apart.  WE allowed everything else to get in the way.  We isolated ourselves because we had soccer or volleyball and excused ourselves when we were not at a sporting event because that was the ONLY FAMILY Night we could have together!!!

That is the enemy.  He was able to get in.  It is scary to think about when the 'guilt' of not being in God's house changed to "well, can't make it this Sunday"...."oh well".   We would forget and the guilt disappeared!   And so easily the conviction was gone.  Gone.

And the Enemy whispers and continues to deceive and lie.  Then SIN transpires and now there is WAY too much guilt to even think about heading back to the 'assembly'.  There is no way I can GO to church NOW.... And in my case, My husband did not want to go to church anymore and I HATED sitting by myself and people asking where he was and so I could go to another church but....'they were just  too  FREAKY there'...etc. etc.  etc.  Excuses.

Excuses.

So, like I said, I had to ask forgiveness of My Lord, as it says in HIS word, DO NOT neglect...DO NOT forsake ...so I  disobeyed.

THAT is what I really WANT to WARN my pals about....my family about....my new friends and circle of influence  about........please, being disciplined by God is NOT fun.
Now mind you, I don't believe we were punished, it was our choice - God allowed.  HE knew, but the Enemy is so cunning and such a liar -- don't think for one moment....in all that time, that  I   understood  we were being lied too----- we just thought we were busy! But then again, I did understand it, I would get it while driving and the Holy Spirit would try again to remind me of WHAT was missing.


And then second, I have had to seek and ask forgiveness from God because I have used that scripture to judge others.    I would catch myself if a tragedy  or even something minor discomfort occurred within a family and I could hear myself think, "well, that will make them sit up and take notice that they need to be in church".

Have you thought that?

The bottom line is - IT is a HEART issue.  When you are in love with someone, or falling in love...YOU want to BE with them.  You call...you speak to them...you stick around, and you have a relationship....

When you are not in love...you don't.


When you are really in LOVE with Jesus, YOU want to be with others that feel and worship the same way.  YOU  figure it out. You want to be near HIM.

For SO long -------  40+ years - I did not know what it meant to be in LOVE with my Lord...I do now.

It took a 'death' in our lives, a death in my heart,  to get me to wake up and see ...that something was NOT right - but it was NOT right with my LOVE for HIM.

 When my heart changed....I wanted to be in in God's house and with others...giving  that ENCOURAGEMENT and receiving it.  As I realize ...the DAy is coming when Jesus will come to us out of those clouds  and then everyone will see and realize, that Jesus is Lord -- but will HE know you?


There..............I feel like it has been said, I needed to say it.  I needed to confess, and now the Holy Spirit will convict those...them.  HE is a gentlemen - He won't continue to bug you -- if you have squelched Him, you will probably read this and just say - 'whatever'.

 And if there is an open heart and mind -- maybe He is calling you HOME...HE wants to be closer to you or close with you again....

The TEAM needs you ...I need you.  The Body of Christ needs YOU.  YOU need HIM - don't forsake the assembling of yourself -- FIND a house that loves God and teaches the Word.  Find a place where GOD is moving and join in....don't miss out.....

My feelings get hurt when I invite people over for a party and they say they are coming and don't show....

My feelings get hurt when I hear about a party and I know I was not invited...

Simple little illustrations.

I have invited.  If you have never been invited - I am inviting you NOW!

Real stuff -- God has invited you, can you imagine ?  HE sent HIS only Son -- sometimes I think...Do they realize that they are telling God..."they are too good to meet HIM in HIs house?"

But that gets close to judging again -- God forgive me.

Lord, I pray that those that are most dear to me...would, read this, and WANT MORE of you.

Lord, I pray that any others that I am not aware of ....would read this and open their hearts and rejoice cause they HAVE You or SEEK You cause they need you.

Lord, I pray I get MORE of You.
Lord, I thank you so much - for restoring me....them....us....and God, bless my church family and body of believers - may we hear, "atta boy ...atta girl" when You return!

Amen.







Saturday, August 24, 2013

God had this......like I didn't know that already.......



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Ok, the scripture listed below was a piece of God's word that brought me life and comfort at a very crucial point in my life  - well, to be honest I had MANY crucial points, but...


I mean, there can be a season in our life where each day there is a breaking point or a point to where we say - "Lord, I can't do this "....THAT is when this scripture came into my life and it spoke to me.  



>>Show resourcesAdd parallelHabakkuk 2
New Life Version (NLV)
I will take my stand and keep watch. I will take my place on the tower. And I will keep watch to see what the Lord will say, and how I should answer when He speaks strong words to me.The Lord’s Answer to HabakkukThen the Lord answered me and said, “Write down the special dream on stone so that one may read it in a hurry. For it is not yet time for it to come true. The time is coming in a hurry, and it will come true. If you think it is slow in coming, wait for it. For it will happen for sure, and it will not wait. As for the proud one, his soul is not right in him. But the one who is right and good will live by his faith.

So, today, I am sharing it.  

It has been a CRAZY week, God has spoken to me daily - even yesterday with this CRAZY and WEIRD dream that I am still trying to make sense of.  Well, HE gave me the meaning for it right away -- but now....just to think on that....

Anyway --like I said, school started and I have seven wonderful, sweet, cute, and needy bodies within my room that now I get to train, teach, comfort, and speak life into and I am so glad for that.  Yes, I only have seven but that is my blessing.  And I have MUCH work to do  -- learning gains will be made!  Much is expected!   ( as you know- I have a FULL time aide....I can hear my CES peeps saying it now........)  

I also continue to pray for the 25 ladies that went on that Encounter and I try my best to encourage them to KEEP a hold of their freedom - but living in this life is the HARD part, it is a daily thing.  

I also try and keep up on my quiet time and the reading of HIS word...which still seems to take a back seat at times.  But...there has been VICTORY in that!  

And of course there are many others that I hold in prayer - thank God I can pray without ceasing and HE knows my heart ...it is just my communication with HIM!   Otherwise - I would be stressed!  

I am also just trying to be a good mom still - HP has been gone now for 2 weeks and the house is so quiet - I don't hear the battle scenes of some Mortal Kombat video game in the background and I don't wake up and walk to the kitchen to see remnants of the midnight snack.  I can also go to bed a bit earlier as there is no food being cooked at 10:45 after soccer practice and then those  pans of brownies...as I do miss coming home to a room full of boys watching some athletic event!  

And there is another child, she is busy student teaching and I got to help her plan  a unit for Social Studies last night - well, maybe not plan but just sit there as she told me her plan and I said, "um yes,"  and, "I would do this"---To which I would hear, "mom, how do you know all this?"..."Um, Taylor, I have been doing this for 26 years now!!!!!!!".  

And there is this man that I love that also needs my attention - it is so easy to get caught up in school and work and other stuff - even the kids stuff - that you find yourself on the couch on a Friday looking at each other and not even having the energy to have a date, conversation, and then XXX........LOL.  (took care of that today! )    Sorry - being REAL........  

Life....

SO, let me get back to the scripture...

1.  For those still waiting for their miracle -- read the words in HIS word...wait for it - pray and write down those dreams....HE fulfills them in HIS time.   He wins.  God wins.  !!!  HOLD on!!!  

2.  Breathing in HIS word is our life....exhale in prayers...and then breathe in again and exhale...THAT makes perfect sense.  I heard that this week from a preacher - J. Franklin.  He also spoke about how God has told him, the end is near but  so many of us here have scheduled the Holy Spirit OUT of our lives...The Holy Spirit is OUR Power!......praise God for that power -- that strength that can be increased as we walk with HIM...and pray in the Spirit.     This really 'hit' me as John Bevere has just come out with a new teaching series on the Holy Spirit and Francis Chan wrote a book a few years ago about the Holy Spirit - how creative of God...HE is speaking to us all- from different faiths and different venues.   

With that being said ...one of the MOST incredible experiences I had with those ladies at the Encounter was to watch them hunger and thirst for their prayer language....that power.  I was able to pray with three woman...what glory shown.  Wow.   To experience that -- tremendous joy! 

I know that in my own season of pain and when the nights were so long and I just could  not utter ONE more word in English...praying in my prayer language was freeing -- releasing, and comforting...and praise God -- HE heard me directly and not the Enemy.  

And 3...

I blogged a bit ago about my pal - she dealt with Breast Cancer before, now it has come back but in her sternum and neck.  I have sat by the computer and emails...watching for updates on her condition.  I am so far away.  She is able to blog and update with her peeps via the CareBridge site and I hear her faith come through - she is so positive.  She comforts me.  But this week - her husband had to post.  She was too weak.  They have put chest tubes in her to drain the fluid away - he says she is comfortable.  I cried.  

God can still do a miracle.  But...a part of me is also praying for her family.....that this time is not for her to suffer but to enjoy her loved ones and that her healing maybe in HIS arms.  I can deal with that - but I DO NOT want to.  But...as I read through the comments and encouragements, I was touched by one in particular -- she was a mutual friend from a LONG time ago.  I was able to then, write to her on Facebook and as I read ...the tears just flowed...OF COURSE God has a team of prayer warriors right there in Watertown....ready to  tend to her and pray over her....OF Course!  

 God is so BIG...God is so wonderful......stupid me...no, silly me...no...just naive me....even when I claim it is NOT about me, it creeps in there...I mean, I thought I needed to fly there to pray over her because 'she needed that' .....but of course, God HAS it...GOD had it...GOD is there -- in other women of God.   They will pray over her and tend to her.....HOW that blessed me - 1400 miles away.  

Can you see me ??   How naive of me -- HOW sweet of God.  HE is probably laughing.  

God is so so so so so so so sweet!   Sweet.  

Why is it so hard to believe at times?    

Lord, this is for Trace -- minister to her today -- ease any pain.  May she enjoy the family!  
Yours, Michelle






Tuesday, August 13, 2013

...if Grandma, Encounter Overflow, no words...here I go!

This is a photo that was placed on the paperwork and promotional fliers  for Grandma and Grandpa Africa as they left for their missionary work in Ghana, Africa back in 1952.

Their real names were Rev. Edwin Ziemann and Mrs. Bernice Ziemann.

My mother-n-law is on the left.

Grandpa went to heaven  over 10 years ago and Grandma joined him over a year ago.

IF ONLY I could of spoken to them today....

There was an overflow....


I had blogged and wrote about something I was preparing for.
How did I prepare?  Prayer.  Meetings and planning.  Prayer.  Prayer.  Meetings.  Fasting. Prayer and then more prayer and study and even more study.

It was a challenge but one I freely accepted.

I just wanted to be USED by God...to be HIS servant.


I will tell you this - this past weekend was INCREDIBLE - I am humbled and just in AWE of HIS power.  I am well aware of HIS healing power, HIS majesty, and HIS divine appointing and time...but to be able to witness when another in Christ gets set free.....WHOA!   The Earth moved!

Hearts changed.

It was not just another that got healing or a breakthrough ( meaning one person ) .....
...it was 25 women....25 women all experienced a direct ENCOUNTER with their heavenly Father and EACH got a filling, each received what they truly asked for!

Some fell in love with Jesus for the first time, others finally figured out HOW to love HIM, others needed to fall deeper...
All forgave something or someone, many forgave MAJOR hurts ...and even today - the layers of the onion are STILL being peeled off!
And many received an extra dose of POWER once they asked to receive it!


I will be blogging a few more times about the Encounter Weekend, but today as I was still walking on water from this past weekend I wanted to share a few things.

A story that I have heard told from Grandma and Grandpa is of a time when Grandpa went to Upper Volta and visited a village that had a man in STOCKS outside in their courtyard.  He has been there for years.  His skin had begun to grow around the stocks and Grandpa asked as to why he was there.

He was 'crazy' or had demons.

I believed the story RIGHT away -- cause it was Africa...that happens in Africa....not here..........

Grandpa knew the village was to pray and fast for some time, overnight.  They did.  In the morning, Brendan's Grandpa prayed over the man and stated he should be released from the STOCKS and he was and he was no longer 'crazy'....he was healed.  HE was a new person.

Praise God.

God did that.  The obedience of the village and their prayers helped open the windows of heaven.

Can you imagine how his family felt?
Can you imagine the joy...and that man became a man of God.

He went to school and became a preacher.

God USES us..our messes become a message.  Our tests become our testimonies.   There is a HEALING in a wounding....

So if Grandma and Grandpa were here, I would rejoice with them and we'd talk about that story and I would then begin to tell them of what I witnessed....in 25 women.....

Many were finally SET free of those STOCKS!
Whether Satan's demons are in ya...on ya...or around ya....that is a matter of Geography...oppression was VERY apparent in the countenance of these women.  All of them....and guess what - HE set them free.

It was a TREMENDOUS event -I want to share more, but tears are flowing and the words will come...I am humbled at HIS glorious provision and WHAT HE does.

God wins ALL the time.
Now in these 25 women, they can claim that promise for themselves - God wins!

God wins for Shelly.
God wins for Kelly.
God wins for Rachel.
God wins for Jimi.
God wins for Dawn.
God wins for Rebecca.
God wins for Stephanie.
God wins for Ashton.
God wills for Jenny.
God wins for Traci.
God wins for Brittany.
God wins for Christina.
God wins for Sherri.
God wins for Mindy.
God wins for Taydra.
God wins for Angela.
God wins for Melissa.
God wins for Addie.
God wins for Lisa B.
God wins for Lisa B.
God wins for Allison.
God wins for Alisha.
God wins for Paige,
God wins for ________,
and God wins for _______.    I can see the faces of these precious fearless  last two women- but  their names are escaping me ..I am old... but I wanted to post this entry - so I will get to my paperwork at church and edit this later today!

PS - watch the VIDEO -- remember YOU have broken EVERY chain!


To be continued!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pD2zIuiC2g