Category Archives: Unity

Let it go!

Why is letting go so hard to do? I think it is partly because we have a need to nurture. We want to fix things and put it all back together again.

Other times we are afraid. If we don’t try to fix it, who will? We want to be in control, oh my, we have to be in control!

I have been so guilty of this lately. I say I am praying about it and giving it to God and yet I pick it right back up and lament over it again and again. Am I thinking of myself or what God wants? Am I willing to let it go if it is for the Kingdom or am I too selfish and fight to keep it for myself? Do I just want to hurry through a difficult situation because it is just that…too difficult?

At times when exhaustion has set in, we have just worn ourselves to a frazzle and can barely hold on, but yet we just can’t quite let go. The enemy loves it when we are in that situation. He thinks he has us! We have so much pent up anxiety we don’t know what to do! That is when the Lord is waiting, patiently, wooing us to let it go! “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Of course there are some that refuse to release because they enjoy having something to talk about. The drama is their mama! They love to air it on social media and their day is not complete unless there is a “Woe is me!” in there somewhere.

God is not pleased when our days and weeks are filled with negativity. We bring ourselves down and others around us! Not only that, but our friends, coworkers and family never know what to expect from us. One minute we are up and the next minute we are biting their heads off! Yet we are their Christian example.

Our Facebook and Twitter status reads like a yo-yo, up one minute and down the next. People never know where we truly stand because we don’t know ourselves!

Little annoyances that we let consume us then come to define us.

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We become known as Debbie or Donny Downer and no one wants to be around us. We need to let those little things go.

And then the ultimate… forgiveness. We all know the Bible says if we do not forgive we cannot be forgiven. (Yes, it really does say that.) “But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:26. So why do we hold on to such pain? Because of that old sinful nature within us. Religion won’t get it; this is why we must have RELATIONSHIP!

We must keep that old man under subjection daily. It is so much better to let go of things that would build up and take root in our hearts and cause even more pain if we would allow them to stay and grow. It’s just not worth it.

You will have less stress in your life, much better physical and mental health if you forgive and forget. “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” Proverbs 17:9 NLT.

You can start to heal when you let go of hurts from your past and forgive those who have harmed you and then forgive yourself for your mistakes.

Time is short. Revenge is not ours to give and neither is judgment.

And that difficult situation you find yourself in right now? There could be a greater miracle ahead if you let God take you THROUGH this season. If not a miracle then I promise you He will change you, mold you and create new strengths in you because of your trial. He knows The End, He wrote the last chapter!

Choose peace.

Verily, verily…Listen Up!

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Friends, I have been so burdened lately that I cannot sleep normal at night. I have these images in my head, in my heart, and the Lord is calling me, He is calling US, to stand in the gap. I have blogged about this crisis several times already, you can read What Did the Early Church Do When Persecution Came here and We Are N ~ Pushing Back the Darkness here. Please share this and most of all, pray.

I remember several years ago, a visiting missionary walking up and down the aisle in our church carrying a pocket watch on a chain. She was swinging it back and forth, much as a hypnotist would, singing, “Go to sleep, go to sleep…” to the tune of the children’s lullaby.

Why? She was trying to make a point that America was asleep when it came to reaching our world or being aware of what was going on around us.

Today, it seems as if we are still snoozing.

The apathy we are seeing in many ways is saying, “We don’t want to think about all that is going on in the world. We want our happy lives to continue, the sun to come up in the morning and everything to carry on as it always has.”

To Americans, it is half a world away. Most cannot begin to process the evil we are seeing, except on television, movies and video games. But these crimes against humanity, an R rating wouldn’t begin to touch it.

Senator Lindsey Graham warned this past Sunday that Iraq was not the only country in danger. He put out the alarm that they would attack on U.S. soil. It is inevitable, they have vowed to raise their flag in the White House.

“Mr. President, be honest with the threat we face,” Graham said. “They are coming.”

He isn’t talking about the 30,000-50,000 that have taken over Iraq. Most likely they are already here. On U.S. soil.

So what is the answer?

When Jesus wanted to get the attention of the crowds He used the term, “Verily, verily…” Of course that is the King’s English so what does it mean, or what did it mean to them?

Many translations of the Bible use the words truly and assuredly in place of verily. The Greek definition goes back to the word Amen in the Old Testament. We use it today at the end of a prayer, or as a confirmation when we agree with the words of a minister, friend, or speaker. So be it, is another translation, or meaning of the word, Amen. In other words, we make it our own; we take possession and agree with what has just been said.

Some scholars say that Jesus used the words, “Amen, Amen, I am going to speak to you…” as His opening remarks to silence the crowds. Imagine the thousands on a hillside gathering to hear The Teacher. It could not possibly have been quiet! There were no microphones, sound systems or sophisticated megaphones. He had to say something to get them to sit down and listen to what He had to say.

Maybe that is why He used Amen at the beginning of what He was about to say. Not just to quiet them down and prepare them but also to let them know that what He was about to tell them was of great importance. “Listen up!”

He warned of days like this, that our lives would be in danger, we would be persecuted because of His name.

Those days are here.

Jesus told the story, He sounded the alarm. He repeated Himself. He called urgency to His message. He gave it authority, using emphasis and stressing the importance of His words.

He wants us to do the same.

What is happening in our world IS our world.

It doesn’t matter how far away or that the Christians are not of our denomination.

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What matters is that people are being killed, literally slaughtered, because they will not renounce their faith and will not convert to evil.

Children are being killed, even beheaded; women are being sold as slaves, raped, beaten, and torn from their families.

Some have been buried alive.

We have thousands of refugees trapped on a mountain with very little of life’s necessities to sustain them. They have NOTHING. No bed, no clothing, no documents identifying who they are or where they came from. They are literally people without a country!

Yet life goes on for us. We are free, we are happy, we have LIVES.

Friends, they have vowed to come for us, too. This is not pleasant to hear but we must prepare ourselves now. We must become unified as the Body of Christ in order to be able to stand. We need one another and our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world need our prayers.

Will the IS go away if we pray? Will Israel and Palestine sign a peace treaty? Will Russia withdraw from the Ukraine?

Probably not.

But prayer changes us and it puts warrior angels into action. They will fight on our behalf; they will stand in the gap. God does respond to the prayers of His people!

“‘And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:29-31.

It will strengthen those going through the fire; God’s Word is full of examples, such as when the Church prayed for Peter in Acts 12.

Look at what Paul says here to the Corinthian church concerning their prayers:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-11.

Prayer can move mountains, shake kingdoms and cause others to act.

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It is the most powerful weapon we own.

“But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.…” Acts 16:25-26.

Not only were Paul and Silas delivered but the keeper of the prison, and his entire household, were baptized! It matters.

Can we get involved? Will YOU get involved? Will you pray, will you share and let others know that you believe God hears us when we call on Him?

Will you cry out, “Listen up!”

If we intend to reach the world with the Gospel we must get our focus off of things and on to people. We must listen up.

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What did the Early Church do when persecution came?

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“The Christians are to blame for every public disaster and every misfortune that befalls the people. If the Tiber rises to the walls, if the Nile fails to rise and flood the fields, if the sky withholds its rain, if there is earthquake, famine or plague, straightway the cry arises; ‘The Christians to the lions!’” ~Tertullian, A.D. 196

The news reports are overwhelming. We might see the headline but cannot bear to read the article; it is just too graphic. These are unthinkable, horrendous and literal crimes against humanity.

When parents are forced to choose either to push their children off the top of a cliff or watch them succumb to starvation or death by the sword? This is evil at its worst.

I shared this past week more about the persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria here. The #WeAreN movement has gained unprecedented ground thanks to social media outlets such as twitter and Instagram. Now we are hopefully seeing a little action from governments around the world. Christians, and even non-Christians, are calling for an end to the mass genocide.

Humanitarian aid was dropped to those stuck on the mountaintop today, and airstrikes are being discussed. I pray they do not wait much longer.

This could be you. This could be me.

We have been called to prayer. Urgent prayer. Some say, “What good can it accomplish? Doesn’t this have to come to pass before then end comes?”

This has made me think of earlier persecutions of the Church.

Do not think they didn’t experience it. That is how the Gospel was spread to the four corners of the globe! They fled persecution, it scattered them, and the message literally exploded. “So then, those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose in connection with Steven made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews alone. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 11:19,20).

The Apostle Paul, who was referred to as Saul before he was saved, was feared more than anyone when it came to hatred of the Christians. He, and those that followed him, went from house to house dragging people out into the streets, killing, torturing and trying to get them to denounce their faith in Jesus Christ. “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.…” 1 Corinthians 15:9-10.

After the ascension of Jesus, the persecution grew worse. The methods of torture and murder were more heinous. Some were covered in pitch, nailed to posts and then torched. Others were crucified or wrapped in the skins of animals and thrown to dogs!

When Nero’s reign ended, it became a literal crime to be called a Christian; although you could change your FATE by renouncing your FAITH, and giving sacrifice to the preferred god of the day.

The Apostle Paul was no stranger to persecution, suffering at the hands of the very ones he had worked with side by side. He was imprisoned many times, beaten, tortured and eventually gave his life, as did his comrade Peter and many others.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” Ephesians 6:18.

The early Church prayed and many were saved at that moment for a greater purpose.

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A good example is when they prayed for Peter after Herod had cast him into prison. Most men did not come out of Herod’s stocks. “Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” Acts 12:5. Angels delivered Peter from his chains and he went right back out sharing the Truth.

The Church fasted, they came together in unity and then they preached.

Yes, they continued to preach the Gospel even in the midst of persecution!

But Christians were still being martyred. What good was prayer doing for them?

Paul said it like this, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ;and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confidentby my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Philippians 1:12-14 NLT.

It’s all about the Gospel being preached? It’s all about others hearing Truth?

“We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 ESV.

No matter what happened, the Gospel was being preached, shared, and Jesus Christ was receiving glory. Our sole purpose in this life is to win others to Him. Win the lost, make disciples, share the love of Christ and the message that He died at Calvary, but did not stay there!

Paul is delivered many times but he eventually succumbs to the sword as well. He gives his life for the Gospel that he loved so much. Yet, the prayers of the Church carried him through trial after trial, imprisonment, torture, and loneliness that many could not fathom.

“For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:19-21 NKJV.

For our brothers and sisters facing persecution TODAY, not only in the Middle East but around the world…they need our prayers desperately. They need strength to stand in this evil day. They must have a prayer covering to be able to say they will not denounce Jesus Christ. We cannot depend on someone else to do this.

It’s our responsibility no matter the name on our church sign, to pray for those being persecuted.

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We are brothers and sisters, we are the Body.

Will you stand with the Church in this dark hour? If the Lord Jesus doesn’t return for His Bride soon, the persecution will continue and spread across the earth. It will knock at our door one day. Shortly.

“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake…” Philippians 1:29 NKJV.

Prayer will strengthen the Church Body and those being targeted. Let’s bind together and do what we were created to do.

Then we can face adversity as Paul and say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

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Category Archives: Unity