Wonderful Jesus!

Category: testimony

• Consider Job’s Wife-Part 2

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 15, 2020

  Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.-Job 2:9-10-NKJV

  

  consider-jobs-wife-2.mp3

  In my previous post, “Consider Job’s Wife” I wrote about all the adversities that Job and his wife shared at the hands of Satan. I ended with her comment in verse 9- “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

  Today, I want to pick up at this verse. I believe this statement was the statement of a woman in deep pain. As I mentioned before, she lost everything: children, beloved servants, finances, property, status in the community, all in one day. And when Job got attacked in his physical body, I believe she was making a “God, I can’t take anymore statement!” And not a ,”God is not really God,” statement.

  Job responded to her statement, “But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

  I believe that this is definitely a statement of correction to Job’s wife, but not a statement of judgment. Foolish women are women who do not believe in God, nor trust Him for their welfare. Job was telling his wife, that she sounded as one who didn’t know and trust God. He understood that he was married to a woman of high moral character and she was hurting. So when he told her how she sounded, he was basically saying, “That’s how a woman who doesn’t know God would talk. God has blessed us and now we’re having some hard times, should we reject Him because of that?”

  Now you might think I’m stretching here in my thinking. But let’s look at another key verse in this account of what happened to them. “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters.-Job 42:12-13

  Look carefully at this verse. The passage tells us that God blessed Job with cattle and with 10 more children. But it doesn’t tell us that God gave him another wife. I believe Job still had the same wife. The wife Job lovingly encouraged during their hard times. Had the Lord been displeased with Job’s wife, He would have given this godly man a more godly woman. Had Job been displeased, he would have put her away. But it doesn’t tell us that. Therefore, we can infer that Job, and the same wife he had at the beginning of this trial, were blessed together, by God, at the end of it.

  I have read this book on several occasions and have not seen anywhere in this account of all that happened to Job, the mention of a new wife. But he most certainly did have to have a wife in order to have 10 more kids!

  What am I saying? We have made snap judgments about his wife being cruel, insensitive, ungodly, and critical, to name a few.  But instead, she was just a wife who was hurting because of so many great losses at one time. And in a moment of weakness, she opened her mouth and made a dumb statement. But Job lovingly, helped his wife get the right perspective on what it meant to trust God.

  Trust isn’t just trusting God in the good times, but it is trusting Him in the difficult times. Any person can render trust to another or even to God, when things are going well. But when it looks as if you have been forsaken, as if you have been forgotten, or even as if you have been betrayed, and you still trust-well, that’s genuine trust! And that’s what I believe Job very effectively helped his wife to see; and when she saw it, she was strengthened. There is so much more I can share, about going through difficult times, the husband/wife relationship, being rash with our words, or raising children, but time and space is against me.

  Let me leave you with this thought: God is and always has been a good God. He didn’t set Job and his wife up to fail, but to be successful! And they succeeded. The next time you are hit with a trial, realize the devil is behind it, and if you will trust God, you too will succeed. Sickness and disease, loss of job and income, loss of loved ones, loss of all that you hold dear are painful situations in this life. Most of them are not at the hand of God showing the devil how great your love and trust for Him is. Most are simple a result of us living in a fallen world of sin, and having to navigate the life we live, by faith, in the God we trust! I trust we will never experience pain and difficulty to the level that Job and his wife did, but if we do, we already know that we can win it and receive double for our trouble! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Faith, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged hard times, Job’s wife

• A Bold Witness!

  Posted at 5:28 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on March 27, 2020

  John 9:32-33 – “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” NKJV

  If you read my previous blog, “A Bold Example”, you will remember that I wrote that this is one of my favorite accounts of Jesus performing a miracle in the Bible. I can really “see” what happened during this encounter and it gives me a greater picture of humanity’s response to Jesus.

  The situation before the miracle: A man born blind is sitting near the temple, and according to later statements, we find out that he was begging. The passage continues by stating that the disciples asked Jesus who did sin? Can you imagine sitting near the church and the church people are coming out the door and they begin to ask the pastor what he thought about your life? That would be pretty embarrassing to be the one sitting there. After all, he was blind, not deaf! They had to be near the man because Jesus spat on the ground, made clay, and anointed the man eyes all without moving! Today, in a similar situation, the person would think the church people were so rude and feel justified in the fact that they don’t go to church!

  But Jesus is a special kind of shepherd. He never gets involved in a situation with people that He doesn’t have a plan to impact their lives for the greater good! Where the disciples saw a person living out the consequences of sin, Jesus saw someone in whom God could reveal His works! Lord, help me to be just like You! I know I want to be!

  This man is healed of whatever caused congenital blindness in his life. And even greater, he can see for the first time. Can you imagine his joy, his wonder at the world around him. He can now put color and images to the things he only knew by touch, sound, and smell! He is probably wide mouthed and big eyed at the bigness of what has happened to him, then he hear whispers around him, “Is not this he who sat blind and begged?” Then he heard someone else say, “He is like him.” He probably very reverently stated, “I am.”

  Then they begin to question as to how his eyes were opened? “He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” How did the blind man know it was Jesus? Did the disciples use His name or was the man familiar with Jesus but had never encountered Him? Many are familiar with Jesus, but have never had their own personal encounter with Him! Somehow he knew Jesus was responsible for his having sight. When asked where Jesus was, he didn’t know. He was still marveling at the fact that he could see! And instead of a huge celebration of this wondrous work in their midst, the people take him to the Pharisees.

  The Pharisees question him as to how he received his sight and he replied, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” The commentator that I used yesterday from Logos stated that here the man toned down his version of what happened because it was against the Law to knead on the sabbath (which is what Jesus did with the clay) or that he was sent to wash in the pool of Siloam (because it was a pool of ceremonial waters). It could be!

  Some of the Pharisees begin to argue, “This Man is not from God because He does not keep the Sabbath.” I could bring up a whole lot of sacred cows we currently have in the church that if someone did or didn’t do we wouldn’t think they were “saved”. But others asked, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” These are not questions they put to the man born blind who was now healed, but they questioned amongst themselves. Finally they ask him, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He bears witness to the fact that Jesus is a prophet! Probably because in the Old Testament prophets like Elisha and Elijah performed great miracles for God.

  In their attempt to discredit his witness of Jesus and to prove that this is not true, they call his parents. I could have a field day with his parents! Why is he begging when he has parents? I’m confused! His parents are afraid that they will be put out of fellowship so they are careful with their response. (What kind of nonsense is this? Who would rather have a blind son and be in a church, then have a son who could see and go worship somewhere else?) I’m just saying! They are asked if this is their son who was born blind and if so, how was he healed? Their response was that this was their son born blind, but they don’t know how he was healed. They told the Pharisees to ask him because he was old enough to speak for himself. (A Jewish boy becomes of age at 13, and we are told that he is a man. They knew he could speak for himself).

  Here is where we see the boldness of his witness. He knows that to disagree with the Pharisees and to speak highly of Jesus will get him kicked out of synagogue; but this was probably no real threat to him, since he was probably not really allowed to go into the synagogue anyway. He tells the Pharisees, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see!”

  They begin badgering him to see if his testimony will change. They ask again, what did He do to you, how were your eyes open? But instead of answering again he replies, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear again. Do you also want to become His disciples?” And the Pharisees attack him with their words. But he replies again when they say that they don’t know where Jesus came from, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you don not know where He is from, yet He has opened my eyes!…If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” At this point they cast him out of the synagogue reminding him that he was born in his sins and in no place to teach them! Well! He actually was, because experiencing Jesus is a much more powerful witness and lesson than a seminary degree!

  I told you that this was a lot of information. I couldn’t share how his witness of Jesus was so powerful, without going into some details. As the religious leaders heaped insults and threats upon him, he didn’t cower down and change his testimony. He actually got bolder and begin to insult them by saying that he thought it was amazing that they didn’t know where Jesus came from or how He could perform a miracle! This part of his testimony is more powerful to me than the part we all know and say, “I once was blind, but now I see!” Although that is pretty impactful in its own right! This man was so affected by this miracle in his life that he refused to allow anyone to dishonor it or the one who performed it.

  I’ve been too long, but I want to end with this thought, when did you last stand strong for the Lord in the presence of those who ridicule Him? When did you last set the record straight when someone tried to belittle Him or His impact in your life or the life of someone you know or love? When did you last rise up and just “BE” a witness to the reality of Him in your life? The environment in which we find ourselves today is the perfect time to be a bold witness for the Lord! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Believers, Evangelism, John 9, miracle, testimony | 0 Comments | Tagged Believer, Christian, consequences, Jesus, miraculous, Sinner, supernatural, testimony, witness

• Where Are All the Miracles?

  Posted at 2:20 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 11, 2019

  Judges 6:13 – Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

  If you haven’t read the account of Gideon in a while, or never, you may not remember that during the discourse between him and the Angel of the Lord that he asked this question, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about…?”

  The thing is, people are still asking the same question today! They may not know that Gideon asked it of the Lord many centuries ago, but it is a question many have asked; if not verbally, than certainly in their hearts. I know that I asked it!

  The Angel told Gideon that the Lord was with him, and Gideon responded, “if the Lord is with us?” I can imagine that the thought that the Lord was supposed to be with him was too much for him to take in at the time, so he included others in his question. He couldn’t believe that in his present circumstance that God was with him because the proof of God’s presence to Israel was always demonstrated through miracles. And since he was in hiding from the Midianites trying to scrape up enough wheat for food, he wasn’t buying it! No miracles, no God, no brainer!

  People are so confused today about miracles. Does God perform miracles today like He did in the Old Testament and the New Testament? If so, where are they? This is a legitimate question that needs to be answered in the Body of Christ! After all, how can we say that we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who sent His Son Jesus through a virgin, the very God whose name conjures up miracles in our mind, and yet we have never seen a miracle?

  Jesus’ ministry was validated with miracles. John asked, are you the Messiah? Jesus said, check out all the miracles! (Luke 7:19) The miracle working power of God had to be in the life of the Messiah! And the Son of God would definitely have to operate in miracles, since the Father did!!

  Before Jesus left the earth He gave what we call the Great Commission in Mark 16:15-18. And in this commission He stated that if we believed in His name, signs would follow us; and He named a few—they would cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover! People who believe God, see miracles. He fully expected His church to operate in miracles as He did. Remember He even said the Church would do greater works than He did! (John 14:12)

  In Acts the disciples were threatened and told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, but they prayed that God would stretch forth His hand to heal, and that signs and wonders (miracles) may be done through the Name of Jesus! They absolutely expected miracles to be with them!

  But today, we have a problem with wondering if miracles are for the church. We argue about the validity of any miracle that we hear, calling it hype, fake news or anything else to discredit it. We would rather look for any explanation we can come up with than to believe that God would intervene on our behalf. But He does, and He will!

  Gideon did see the miraculous, once he began to trust God. God told him that he would deliver Israel, and with 300 men that’s exactly what he did! As a matter of truth, God gave Him several miracles before that one. He was and is the God of miracles!

  So where are all the miracles? Well, what are you believing? Do you believe that God doesn’t care enough about you and your circumstance to give you a miracle? Or do you believe that miracles are not for today? Or maybe your believe that miracles happen but only when God wants them to! Well, therein lies your problem! None of this junk will produce a miracle! Faith produces miracle!! Not a little faith (read my post on the mustard seed), but great faith moves the hand of God!

  I have seen God move miraculously in my life. I’ll only share one. It’s at the forefront of my mind because of a song I heard this morning. The song my husband and I sang to each other on our wedding day! “Only God Could Love You More!”

  As a young woman I watched many of my girlfriends get married. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. But when I began to pray for a husband, I asked God to give me a love story in the process. Well, one day, out of nowhere, He told me to join the Navy. I didn’t really have an interest in the military, but I obeyed. After I did, He told me that I would marry an officer.

  I shared this with friends and one told me that it would never happen. But I want you to know that one day I was sitting in an airport in Sicily waiting for a flight to the States when he walked in and spotted me. A naval officer, single, saved, and handpicked by God was sent to say hello! And the rest, as we say, is history! A miraculous meeting, a call to a phone booth in a military barracks in Italy, and a date to meet in Florida ended with a wonderful love story, an amazing friendship and a godly marriage that demonstrates there is no area of our lives that is unimportant to Him! He’s just good like that! He gave me a miracle love story that I can’t tell in its entirety, but you can believe me when I say it was so!

  I encourage you today to stop asking “where are the miracles” and start trusting Him to do the miraculous in your life! You don’t have to continue a humdrum life. Find out what the word says about your situation and what God has promised to do. If it is your finances that need a miracle, He has one for you! If it is your body, your relationship, your children, your job, or whatever, He cares and He can and will perform a miracle for you! Read Pastor Brannon Carnes miracle on my blog-“Tell Me Your Story” to get another witness to the miracle working power of God! It’s true! He’s true! Then share your miracle with me. I would love to hear it! Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in Christian, Faith, miracle, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Christian, Faith, Jesus, miraculous, testimony

• Tell Me Your Story-Brannon Carnes

  Posted at 11:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 27, 2019

  Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

  I was praying on Saturday evening when I heard the Spirit of God whisper, “Tell me your story!” As I continued to pray I saw my blog and was given the idea to ask my followers to send in their stories, aka testimonies. The following morning we had a guest speaker, Pastor Brannon Carnes share a most amazing story. I knew then it was a confirmation from the Lord and I was to share it. I hope this excerpt from his story bless you as much as I was blessed:

  Testimony of God’s Resurrection Power: Brannon Carnes

  The setting is hot, humid and without a single natural breeze (in Sierra Leone, West Africa). I am leading worship for the second time. I am opening my mouth as I have done for almost 30 years, leading God’s people in worship. However, there is something that’s about to happen to me that would change my life forever, an attack that I’ve never experienced before.

  The moment I stopped playing the keyboard and singing, I start to experience a dizzy sensation. I thought to myself, “How could this be happening to me at this moment?” In my own estimation, I felt I had been drinking plenty of water, and I knew I had eaten enough food. Nevertheless, I was beginning to quickly lose touch with reality. I was not feeling well at all with no logical reason.

  My eyes began to close. I had no feeling left in my natural body. I felt nothing and I was in control of nothing. Everything goes completely black. I then entered a dream-world. It felt like I was taking a nap.

  In this dream, someone was reaching down to me, as if to pull me out of a hole. I opened my eyes but all I see are the eyes of the man pulling me out. I didn’t recognize this man, neither did I know where I was. The truth is, Pastor James Ward had picked me off of the floor and placed me in a chair.

  At this time, I remember opening my eyes and thinking, “where am I?” Pastor James was in my face shouting, “Are you with me? Are you 100%?” Later, he told me that I was looking at him but I wasn’t coherent. My eyes were glazed over and I was drifting. He mentioned that my eyes started rolling into the back of my head and I was unconscious again.

  Pastor James said that my body became lifeless, I went completely limp. He checked for a pulse and found none…the lady standing to my right was a nurse. She also checked for a pulse and found none. Pastor James mentions that the first thing to pop into his mind was an image of my wife’s face and he being the one to tell her that I died in Sierra Leone.

  Pastor James immediately jumps into warfare mode and begins to war for my very life. He was praying intensely, fervently. The urgency eventually took over the service and in seconds the entire church begins to pray.

  The nurse, who also happened to be one of the key intercessors of the local church, begins to call down fire from heaven. My body starts shaking…then from out of nowhere I see a ball of fire come down from heaven and hit me in my belly! And I was completely alive! I’ve never felt more alive in my life up until that moment! Pastor James asks the question again, “Are you with me…are you 100%?” The tears weren’t streaming down my face, but squirting out of my eyes as I shouted a resounding, “Yes!”

  I was taken to an upper room for me to cool off…A medical doctor came in and took my pulse. He just happened to be attending the morning session of the conference. He said my blood pressure was a bit low, but would check me a little later in order to get a more accurate reading.

  Whenever asked how I felt, my response was, “I feel as if nothing happened.” I did feel great! There wasn’t even a trace of fatigue, no side effects. I didn’t even feel any pain from hitting my head on the floor. The Resurrection power had taken care of everything. All systems were not only back to normal, they felt like they were brand new.

  Wonderful, wonderful, Savior!! Thank God He is still the same today that He was yesterday and will be forever!

  If you have an amazing story, do tell! Since it is my blog, I reserved the right to edit it for grammar, to shorten it for quick reading, to choose when to post or not to post! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Christian, miracle working power, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Christian, encouragement, Faith, miraculous, resurrection, testimony

• He’ll Do It Again!

  Posted at 1:00 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on August 12, 2019

  Colossians 2:14 -having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. NIV

  I thank God for Jesus! Knowing that the penalty for my sins, death, has been paid in full with His death, and that I am free of that debt, is great news! We used to sing a song years ago:

  He paid a debt, He did not owe.
  I owed a debt, I could not pay.
  I needed someone to wash my sins away!

  And now I sing, a brand new song, amazing grace!
  Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay!

  Yes! Jesus “canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us,…nailing it to the cross. We are free of that if He is our Lord and Savior! A great place to shout, “Glory!”

  If that was the only debt that He had canceled, it would be enough, but we serve the God of abundance and there is more debt cancellations in our future!

  In Exodus 11 the children of Israel are given instructions from God. Verse 2 states that God told them to borrow from their neighbors jewels of silver and jewels of gold. Notice the word “borrow” was used, not the word “ask”. Now we know that they had an abundance of silver and gold when they left Egypt because they melted some of it and made a golden calf, and another time they gave so much for the construction of the temple that they were told to stop giving. So they left Egypt with quite a lot of gold and silver.

  Then in Exodus 14 the Egyptians pursued the Israelites as they crossed the Red Sea. When the waters were released and drowned them, the debt was canceled. God said that they would not see the Egyptians again. So therefore, the debt could not and would not be paid! He canceled their financial debt and the gold and silver and jewels were theirs with no strings attached!

  The most amazing memory I have of debt cancelation is the first time God did that for us. We were having our second child. We did not have health insurance for a number of reasons. So in order to take care of the finances for having a baby, we paid in advance throughout the pregnancy. On the day of her birth I had to have a C-section, and she was placed in neonatal icu.

  This was heartbreaking for us as parents to watch our child be placed in nicu for obvious reasons, but the costs associated with this, knowing that we didn’t have insurance was a real concern. My husband said that he needed a stress test at that point. So we are now concerned about her life and our finances. But God spoke to my husband from Philippians 4:6-7- “Be anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

  Someone from the hospital visited us and told us of a way to have the bills picked up through Medicare and even told us that all the money we had already paid would be returned to us. When we shared this with a person in the medical field, they said it wouldn’t happen; but I want you to know it happened! We had all of our money given back to us and the debt was paid, canceling our need to pay it. Wonderful, wonderful Savior!!

  Over the years I have heard so many wonderful testimonies about debt cancellations. Our congregation received hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay off our church! It does happen! The question is not, “Is this for real?” The question is, “Can you believe it is biblical, and can you believe He will do it for you?” He is still cancelling debt! Does this mean I get to go out and buy a Porsche I know I can’t afford and tell God to pay for it? Don’t be ridiculous! But when you find yourself in a state of overwhelming debt, you can ask for His assistance! I’ve seen Him provide the funds when payment time came and I have seen Him cancel debt. He is still saying, “Be it done unto you according to your faith! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in finances, provision, testimony | 2 Comments | Tagged Faith, finances, miraculous, provision

• Life After Death

  Posted at 1:49 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on July 1, 2019

  Galatians 2:20 – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.

  In my previous blog I wrote about the need to die to hypocrisy. The same hypocrisy that Paul addressed when he spoke to Peter and the other Messianic Believers of his day. The same hypocrisy that needs to be addressed in us all! But there is so much more we die to!

  We not only die to our old ways of thinking, behaving and acting, but we die to our sin. Paul knew that, and so did the others. I didn’t address it because he was talking to believers and that was understood. His point in this verse is that when they died to their sins, they died to the law and to their traditions. And it was worth it!

  But today I want to address life after death!

  Nevertheless, I live!” Paul has just mentioned the effects of his death by crucifixion, but he doesn’t stop there. He lets us know that he has been raised from that spiritual crucifixion to being very much alive. Paul could have just as easily said, “I have a new way of living since I died to my old way of living and it is much better than that old life I had because I am truly alive!”

  If you know anything about Saul of Tarsus, then you know that he was a busy man for the Sanhedrin and the cause of Judaism. As a young man he was zealous for God without any spiritual revelation of his knowledge. He went about gathering Believers and turning them over to be killed because he felt they were a bunch of heresy practicing lunatics! In Acts, Luke makes a point of letting us know that Paul was there when Stephen was martyred and was instrumental in his death! So Paul had a full and busy life, yet he recognized it was life he had to die to in order to live!

  “Yet not I, but Christ lives in me!” However, Paul is saying, I am not alive because of laws, traditions, and hypocrisy, but because Christ lives in me. By now I am sure the Jewish believers are squirming in their seats! Paul reminds them all, life didn’t begin for any of them until Christ came to live in them. Jew and Gentile both lay claim to same thing “salvation by faith in Jesus Christ”, because if they don’t, they are yet not living. True life springs forth from the life of Christ that radiates from the inside to the outside. It did then, and it does now.

  Jesus introduced this concept when He made the statement, “The thief comes but to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I come that you may have life, and that more abundantly!” (John 10:10)

  I was just reminded of something that happened to me many years ago. We went to pick up a young lady for church services who lived in the projects of Chicago. My husband drove me there, but on the way he made a statement about her being in the tallest building without a working elevator in it, living on the top floor. I told him to stop it! But sure enough, it turned out to be true. He then decided that the girls and I should go back to the van and wait for him because he didn’t want us in that building.

  As I was headed back to the van, I saw four young men headed towards us and I knew by the Spirit of God that they were up to no good. I put my daughters in the van quickly, locked the door and turned to face them.

  The first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Have you heard that Jesus came to give you life and that more abundantly?” It stopped them in their tracks! They surely was not expecting that! As I began to share the gospel, that saved me from being robbed or something, three of them walked away and the fourth one prayed the prayer for salvation with me! Glory to God!! If that young man was sincere, he died to his sinful ways that he came to assault me with and walked over to new life in Christ!!! And when my husband came back down he reported that the young lady was not there and he knew she had probably given me the wrong address to begin with. But someone still got saved that day!!

  Paul reminded Peter of this new life and that there was so much more to it than being one way with the Jewish brethren and another way with the Gentile brothers. He reminded Peter that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and Life and that no one comes to the Father, but through Him!” And since that had happened with him and with the the Galatians, he should have known better. Abundant life in Jesus is not through our contacts, our heritage, our family, our works, or our church affiliation…only through Him and in Him!

  Life after death!! That is the greatest and most powerful testimony any of us can have! And it can be yours today if you have not been crucified with Him. Ask Him in today that you may be crucified to your death and alive in Him. Say this simple prayer: “Father God, I recognize that I have never given my life and my heart to you. Today I recognize I am in need of your salvation. I believe in You, God! And more importantly, I believe that Jesus is Your Son, who came to earth in the flesh and died on the cross for my sins. That He rose again from physical death and is alive in You. Forgive me of my arrogance of thinking that I could live my life without You. I want Him to be alive in me. Jesus come into my life today. Change it! Crucify the old man in me and make me alive in You! Then lead me where I can learn more about You so that our relationship can grow and I can experience life more abundantly. In Your Name I pray! Amen”

  Well, if you have prayed this prayer today, I welcome you into the family of God. We are family!! Praise God for another member being ingrafted in the family! One last thing— if you have prayed this prayer today, please leave me a comment so that I can begin praying for you that Christ will be formed in you and also rejoice in this great salvation! You have just experience life after death! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Believers, Family, Galatians, Galatians 2:20, Salvation, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Believer, Evangelism, Family, Galatians 2:20, Jesus, Salvation, testimony

• IT’S INSTINCTIVE!

  Posted at 3:55 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 24, 2018

  Matthew 13:3 – “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:…”

  One evening as I was praying for my great niece, age 3, who was being rushed to the hospital, I heard in my spirit, “Teach the young mothers how to fight for their children.” I knew that God was giving me an assignment but I didn’t know when I would get to fulfill it or how.

  When we had the all night prayer, mentioned in my previous post, that was the assignment that I was given, by my assistant pastor, who also leads our women’s ministry. So needless to say, I was excited to share what I believed was a word from God. 

  On the morning of the all night prayer, as I was meditating about the message,  I heard the Holy Spirit remind me that Jesus spoke in parables. I agreed! Then He told me to consider the mama bear and how she protects her cubs. 

  I YouTubed a mama bear protecting her young. In the video the mama bear and her cubs were at the river drinking water and foraging for food. On the video another bear ( a hungry male bear fresh out of hibernation) came on the scene, noticed one of the cubs alone, and headed for it. Out of nowhere the mama bear rushed the other bear. After a few minutes of the mama bear’s attack, the male bear left and the mama bear and cubs continued what they were doing. A few minutes later, the thin male bear returned, but this time his focus was the mama bear. Instead of waiting for the attack, the mama bear raced across the water and attacked again, but was more aggressive in the attack. The other bear finally gave up, left, and according to the commentator, it didn’t return.

  When I finished watching that video, I knew what the Lord was telling me to share. 

  It’s a mother’s instinct to protect her young. Whether that mother is an animal or a human, by the nature of motherhood, mother’s protect first!!

  God talked to me about how this works instinctively in everything but the spiritual realm. As mothers, we should instinctively know that when the enemy (the devil) attacks our children it’s time to fight. Whether they are attacked spiritually, physically, or emotionally, our position is to instinctively be in a position of attack on the enemy.

  I shared an example about how the devil attack our youngest child with breathing issues around the age of six. We were coming home from church when she said she couldn’t breathe. I told her, yes you can! She replied she couldn’t and her breathing seemed labored. When we got to the house, I laid her on the couch in our living room and my husband and I prayed. She continued to labor with her breathing. We continued to pray.

  Finally he left, and I continued to pray. I told the devil he wasn’t  going to give my child asthma. I was not going to the hospital. And she was not dying so take his hands off.  And so forth and so on!  I prayed until her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. Glory to God!!!!

  I’ve had several times as a mother to fight for our daughters. When the devil attacks our daughters, my attitude is, “This means war!”

  When he tried to bring that labored breathing back on her, I get at him again. No, devil! I don’t think so! I told you to take your hands off of my baby!!… and anything else that came to mind!

  One day she had an issue that needed medical attention and the doctors noted that she had had tests to check for asthma, but for some reason it was never diagnosed. I guess not!! God is a good God!!

  I know that I was given that assignment because I fight first and ask questions later. We have seen God heal our children or intervene on their behalf more times than we can count. Why? Because we will fight for them. 

  As I said to the women that night: This is not a braggadocios statement, this is how we live life in our home. We don’t take what the devil sends our way because he decided that was what he was going do. We take God at His word and we fight for what God has promised us. 

  Do we win every battle? Not yet!! But we win many more than we lose because when God is for you, who can be against you? I cannot go into everything that I shared that night, but I will say this: I challenged the women of God to let the fight for their children become instinctive as they confront the enemy  and tell him to take his hands off of their children. And I encourage you to do the same! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in children, Faith, Sickness, Spiritual warfare, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged children, Parenting, Spiritual warfare

• IS THAT MY BIKE?

  Posted at 3:17 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 15, 2018

  1 Samuel 30:19 – And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.

  I love the account of David at Ziklag! For those who are not familiar with this record of David and his men I encourage you to go and read it in its entirety. But for brevity’s sake I will summarize it. 

  David and his men went out to battle. While they were gone from the camp, the Amalekites showed up and took everything and every body from his camp. When he returned to camp and saw what had happened he was distressed; and to make matters worst, his men wanted to stone him. He inquired of the Lord if he should pursue the Amalekites and God told him to go, for he would recover all. This verse let us know that he did indeed recover all. 

  As I was sitting here thinking about a blog for this week, I remembered a testimony my friend shared at church and thought that I would share it here:

  My friend lived in a nice home in a changing neighborhood. As a single woman she was concerned about this and was careful to leave everything locked up. However, on this particular night she shared that she had left her garage door open one night during the week. When she returned home she saw a van in the alley and some guys with a bike. As she approached, she realized that they were coming from her garage with her bike. 

  She jumped out of her SUV that she left running, and said to the guys, “Is that my bike?” Of course, they denied it. She continued to tell them that it was her bike and they were to put it back where they got it from. Lo and behold, they put the bike back, jumped in their van, and rode off!

  Now! She is not a tall woman! She did not pretend to have a weapon with her! She was alone and she put herself in a vulnerable position by getting out of her vehicle and leaving it running in an alley with a couple of thieves. When she shared this she told it with all of the attitude that she had used that night! We laughed until tears fell down our cheeks, because we could see it, and yet it was a bold thing for her to do! I still chuckle when I think of it. But we also rejoiced with her, because she took a stand against her enemy and prevailed!

  I told her it would be used in a sermon one day, but I wanted to share it in today in my blog. 

  When I think of her confronting those thieves, I think of how we are to confront the devil when he tries to steal from us. Whether it is our finances, our health, our children, our marriage, our jobs, or our peace, we need to demand that he put it back!!!! Jesus told us in John 10:10 that he is a thief. Every time he shows up, he’s come to steal from us, kill something in our lives, or destroy something or us! He is relentless and he is bold!

  It never occurred to her that they could attack her and take her vehicle. It wasn’t until she was in her house that she even felt nerves over standing up to them. But a righteous indignation came over her, and she didn’t idly sit by and let them take her property.

  Too many times we do just that! We just sit back and let the devil do whatever he wants to do to us. He wants to give us cancer, we accept it! If he wants to break up our marriage, we allow it! If he wants to keep us in poverty, we don’t resist it! 

  But I think it is high time to say to the devil, “Is that my stuff?” Is that my health? Is that my baby? Give it back!! And when we stand in our God given authority that Jesus accessed for us, I want you to know that the devil will act just like the thieves did, he will return it and flee!

  What if he has already taken off with it? What if you currently are dealing with loss because of what he has done? What should do? Pursue him, for you shall recover all!! Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in encouragement, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged testimony, victory

• Choosing to Live by Faith!

  Posted at 3:32 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 9, 2018

  Habakkuk 2:4 – “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.”

  A lot is going on in the world today and things are getting crazier. Every day, all day, there is “breaking news” and we are becoming less and less concerned about the activities in the world in which we live because it is difficult to keep up with them. (At least I hope that is why we are becoming indifferent!)

  People are dying in the streets and there is little or no outcry about it! Politicians are only interested in keeping their seat and being the party in control. The Church wants to make sure it is not bothered and continue on as they are going. And citizens are so confused, hurt, and disillusioned that they no longer know what they believe or why they believe it. Things are a mess!!

  But Habakkuk wrote, “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him!” In other words, “Look at these people who think they are untouchable because of their riches, their positions, their connections and their influence, their soul (their heart, their thinking, their “vision” of all that is happening, is not right!) Their pride has gotten the best of them!

  In dealing with children in the classroom over the past few years, trying to help them work through conflict effectively, they seem to be more aware of the seemingly heartless times in which we live. So much so, they feel justified in their behavior because the “adults” on television, in the news, in their communities, and some times in their homes are living the same way. A life of pride where their soul is just not right!

  However, God encourages us on four different occasions in the Word, that the just shall live by their faith! 

  Living by faith is not an easy task. Nor is it popular! But God is not concerned with what is easy or what is popular. He is still saying today that those who know Him are to live differently than the world lives. We are to live by faith!

  I remember a few years ago the government made a distressing decision that negatively affected the Christian community. I was called by a dear friend and she asked me what were going to do. I told her that we would continue to do what we were doing and trust God with that other stuff. Although, there are still ramifications from that decision, I choose to walk by what I believe and not by what I hear, see, or feel. That’s the faith walk!

  Today, as I write this blog, I am sitting in airport waiting on my flight for home. My flight was actually scheduled for later on tonight, but as we were eating breakfast and making plans for our last day of vacation, we received an alert from the airline stating that our flights were canceled. 

  Mind you, that last night I specifically prayed that we would not have canceled flights or delayed flights. On the way here, our flight was delayed three times. I didn’t think to pray at that time about that although I prayed about every thing else. So lo and behold, our flight was not delayed, it was canceled. 

  Instead of fretting, we declared that all would be well. We actually ended up with an earlier flight, immediately. This was great because my husband had something come up unexpectedly that he needed to get back for. 

  My sister met us here and her flight was also canceled. She didn’t get on a flight immediately. She was actually told that all flights to her destination were sold out. But we prayed and decreed that she would get on a flight.

  After several nos and even being booked on a flight for tomorrow, we continued to believe God that she would get a flight out. And wouldn’t you know it!! She did! She left at the same time that we left and got home a little later than we did. And we all got home earlier than our original flights. Look at God!!

  So how are you living when curve balls are thrown at you in this life? Are you frustrated and angry? Whining and complaining? Defeated and disgusted? Or are you choosing every day to believe that God is looking out for you and He can be trusted?

  I get it! Living by faith isn’t easy, but it is a choice. I’m not successful in every situation at the living by faith mantra, but I am choosing more and more to make that the first way I look at a situation instead of the last.

  Every day! One day at a time! One situation at a time, we get to choose to live by faith and not like the world-thinking that we can handle things in our strength and in our own way, like the proud! Thinking that we have to accept every thing that is thrown our way because of the powers that be. We can continue to do that, or we can walk by faith trusting that God can change situations around in our favor, for our good! 

  Today, we chose right! We chose faith! And God worked things out for our good and His glory! And it goes to show that walking by faith can be more adventurous and worthwhile than just living life and getting by in life. Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in Faith, Prayer, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Faith, Prayer, Victorious Living

• The Great Deliverer

  Posted at 2:04 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on July 26, 2018

   

  Psalm 34:19 -Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

  In the Baker Encyclopedia of Bible, affliction is defined as:

  “Anything causing pain or distress; suffering; calamity…”

  If ever there was an individual who experienced many afflictions, the apostle Paul, was the man:

  *He was beaten three times with rods

  *He was stoned

  *He was shipwrecked three times

  *He spent an entire day and night in the water

  *He was always in danger as he traveled by feet

  *He was troubled by both the Jews and the Gentiles

  *He had the pressures of ministry on him daily

  *And the list goes on…(See 2 Corinthians 11:25-28)

  But in 2 Timothy 3:11, Paul echoes the truth of the words penned by the psalmist, “And out of them all the Lord delivered me.” In all that he experienced, his testimony was sure, God was and is a faithful deliverer!

  Recently, I was talking with a friend about some of the amazing ways that Jesus takes care of us and I thought I would blog about it:

  Years ago, I went to the mall right before closing to pick up some items needed for church the next morning. When I came out the door, it was amazingly quiet and deserted. However, I noticed a white car with four men inside. They were closer to me than I was to my car, and so as I was trying to decide what to do, all four doors opened and they started getting out. Immediately I sensed they were getting out to attack me. Before I could think, a security guard appeared at my left hand side. He said, “Let me escort you to your car!” I was so relieved, and of course I began thanking him for his timely appearance. About that same time I noticed that all the men got into the car and sped off. I turned to thank the security guard again and to tell him I was now fine, but he wasn’t there any longer. I truly believe that security guard was an angel!

  She shared this story with me: 

  She was on a trip with a friend. She went to be with her friend’s toddler while the mom was working. One day she decided to go for a walk and someone recommended a scenic area that she might enjoy. She got to the area and noticed that it was pretty isolated and she, the baby, and two men were the only ones around. She begin to feel uneasy about the situation and just began to pray in the Spirit and worship at the top of her lungs. The men left the area, her peace was restored and she enjoyed her day. You say, nothing happened to make her feel that way but the objective was to keep “nothing” from happening!

  Another friend was actually attacked. They pulled weapons out on her and she in her nervousness began to pray in the Spirit. One of the young men shouted, “My mom prays like that! I’m getting out of here!” And they fled the scene and she was shook up, but all else was fine.

  I could probably share a few more such stories of miraculous interventions, but there will be other times to do so. As I have been rejoicing over His faithfulness to us, I just had to share it! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged encouragement, hard times, Jesus, testimony

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