Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Are you lonely?

John 1:14 (The Message) The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

I love this description of Jesus! He was fully God, yet He became so approachable. The cool thing is, He still is!! There is a picture of Jesus, standing at the door knocking. If we open the door, He says He will come into us and share a meal! This passage reminds me of the neighbor who comes over and knocks to bring a plate of goodies for me to eat! That's just who Jesus is! He spreads the feast! All we have to do is open the door!!

As for me and my house, we say, "Welcome!"

Monday, October 22, 2012

Healing Moments!

This is a beautiful video made by a dear friend, Rita Corke. Let the healing moments awaken faith in your heart!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Who is Watching?

"And all creation's straining, on tiptoe just to see, the sons of God come into their own" (Romans 8:18-25)
Have you ever stopped to give thanks in the midst of the difficult trials you are going through?

Sometimes it can take awhile before we are able to do this.  I have learned through the years, that when I am having a tough time, if I can stop and give thanks to God,  my spirit lifts in ways that I cannot understand, but are powerful.

The other day, I was out walking the trail near my house. As I walked, I was praying about issues troubling me.  I felt impressed to go back over the most horrific thing in my life, the death of my son, and give thanks for all the good that God has done in my life, and in others lives, because Stevie died.

That probably sounds strange to some of you, but it is the truth. There are so many wonderful and glorious things that have happened in the last two decades, that would not have happened if Stevie had not died.

I started to think on those things as I walked.  I never got past the first one.  Even now, remembering, I have tears of joy in my eyes.

There was someone watching me, as I went through the trial of my son's treatments for leukemia. They were watching, in the year after he died.  Something in what they saw, changed a man's destiny forever. And it wasn't my piety, it was my transparency.

Jack and I were packing up to move back to Houston, we were beat down, deep in grief, and I was personally done with the church and with God.  The phone rang, and on the other end was a co-worker. She had been watching. Even in my "dark night of the soul," something in what she saw moved her to call us as rescuers.

"Anna Marie, you and Jack have to come and pray for my Uncle Bill.  He is in my home in a coma.  He was kicked out of the nursing home because he got into a violent fight with another resident. He is the meanest man in Crockett! If he dies, I know he is going to hell. Please you have to come!"

The desperation in her voice pricked my spirit.  Even though I was in a terrible crisis of faith, I knew we had to go.

We got there, and as Jack began to minister to this old man, he began to fight and writhe. Even in his unconscious state, he was angry.  Jack stopped talking and told him, "Bill, I am not going to preach at you, I am just going to pray for you." As Jack put his hands on that old man's crusty bald head and prayed for Jesus to come to him and deliver him and set him free, Uncle Bill began to go peaceful, and tears streamed down his face.

My friend and her niece jumped back and shrieked, "He got it! He got it!" They told us they felt electricity course through their arms as they were touching him in prayer.

That night, my friend got up hour after hour to check on her uncle, because he was so quiet.  Early in the morning, she went in and his face was aglow. He had a sweet peaceful smile on his face as he slipped into eternity.

Uncle Bill is alive forever, because Stevie died.  I cannot stop giving thanks for the eternal consequences of that.  Uncle Bill is part of Stevie's inheritance.  And he is only the first.

I can only give wonder and thanks for this enormous gift. I realized through this experience, people are watching.  Even when we stumble, the Light in us is brighter than the darkness in the world.  Even in our pain, He never leaves us, even if we leave Him. He will bring us through, and in the process, we will bring many to Glory.  It is not up to us, it is up to Him.  In our weaknesses He is strong. 

Thank You, Lord, forever...



Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Are You Grieving? by Anna Marie


My heart was crushed with mourning as I came to watch her die;
A life as lovely as a rose was all my eyes could see.

Sweet friend, cry not for me;
My petals whisper worship as they lie


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Feel like you are being chastised?

Esperanza: Hope
Today, I was enormously blessed by a woman who told me how much an article I had written for a Christian magazine had helped her.  At the same time, I was brought up short in the knowledge I have not written for most of the year.

This has been a stressful year for me.  God has been stirring the depths of my soul to refine me.  I hate it. But I love Him for it.  His word says He chastises them whom He loves. (Hebrews 12:6)

Punishment is not pleasant while it is happening, but it produces good fruit, much like pruning a rose bush produces more blossoms. 

Those things (even relationships) we find ourselves putting before Him, are stumbling blocks in our walk.  Many years ago, the Lord showed me that those things, or people that had power over my emotions, other than Him, were idols.

I was brought up short, because I had put my husband in a place in my life that was more important than my relationship with God.  I worried constantly about my man.  If he was late coming home, I had him dead in a car wreck.  If he was sick, I wondered if he would recover.  I was a mess.

I still remember the day the Lord spoke to my heart and revealed to me I had made Jack an idol.  We were in a prayer session in our healing center in Georgia.  I do not remember who we were praying with, or anything else about the moment. But I remember Jack telling this person about idols.  I felt as if I had been slapped.

It was a most healing moment.  I repented, and gave him over to God and determined to trust the Lord for his life.

I walked in that freedom for years.

Recently, the Lord has shown me another idol in my life.  It has been a painful revelation, but one for which I most grateful to be shown.  I never want anything to come between me and my precious Lord Jesus.

As I have labored to give it over to Him, He has revealed depths of glory I would never have known any other way.  His love and life is so eternal.  I am living in the right now eternal life of God!

So, I am slowly making my way back to the written word.  There is a freedom that comes from sharing one's journey of suffering with others.  I pray that you will be encouraged by these words.  There is nothing we can go through that is not common to man. (1 Cor 10:13)

to be continued.....blessings, Anna Marie