Gift of Love

At Christmas, Christians celebrate the greatest gift ever received -- Jesus Christ.  After we receive Jesus and get His gift of salvation, we study His words for direction.

Jesus tells us to love, not as the world does but at a much higher level.  We must love everyone in thought, word and deed, no matter what the situation.

This Christmas I received a vehicle for free.  I was selling my car but the person was struggling to come up with the money.

When praying for direction, the Lord said, " Freely receive, freely give," so I gave the car away.  Only when we put the Lord first can we know how to love at the level He expects from us.

Finding Jesus

While my daughter was in the hospital recovering from liver failure, one of her nurses especially stood out from the rest with her supportive, loving attitude.  When someone asked what her secret was, she gave one name, Jesus.

 

My daughter said I was like that and everyone in the room turned to look at me.  I, too, gave the name of Jesus.

 

We would be lost without Him and I love pointing out His excellent leadership.  This supernatural guidance is only a sincere prayer away!

Tribulations Happen For A Reason

Whenever we experience trials and tribulations, it is important to understand, “why,” because this is our opportunity for spiritual growth.  After my daughter was conscious and coherent from her near death, I asked her if she knew why this happened and she said, “yes.”

 

She explained to me how she wasn’t taking care of herself nor listening to God and He wanted her attention.  She stressed that He has it in a big way now!

 

In her excitement about living for Jesus, she emphasized that she was doing better than ever before in her life.  Out of our difficulties and struggles can come miraculous spiritual growth and a closer walk with our Lord.

 

A close personal relationship with our Lord Jesus gives us supernatural love, peace, joy, comfort, support, acceptance, protection, strength and security.  This awesome power through Jesus is only a prayer away!

Miracle After Miracle

When my daughter had liver failure, everyone had the experience to see God’s healing power.  For example, her brain swelled, which should have resulted in brain damage and needing therapy to learn how to talk and walk again, but God healed her and no therapy was needed.

 

And then a fever appeared and all kinds of tests were run but by this time she was awake and coherent, so she prayed all night long to be delivered.  God healed her with the fever disappearing and all the tests negative.

 

She was released from the hospital about two weeks after being on life support for half that time near death.  While the expert medical care helped, the miracles and answered prayers were obvious.

 

Miracles are only a prayer away!

Giving Thanks

Instead of continuing with the story of my daughter's almost death from liver failure, here is an important message from the Lord about giving thanks.  I sure feel grateful!

He told me to read Psalm 100 in my dreams over and over again.  Here it is about giving thanks.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Comfort In A Crisis

On October 19, 2014, my daughter had liver failure due to excessive use of Tylenol.  She was air lifted by helicopter to St. Louis University Hospital because of its severity.

 

She has a disability that causes chronic pain and when she ran out of prescription pain medicine, she used Tylenol.  As we later learned, Tylenol should only be used according to the directions because it can build up in a person’s body to a dangerous level.

 

Since lots of people consider off the shelf medicine safe in any dosage, an antidote was available.  She was on life support and unconscious but with a 50% chance of survival because of this antidote.

 

At first, I cried and was scared until I saw her at the hospital.  Then I prayed for help and the Lord reassured me with His presence and said that it would be ok.

 

After canceling my commitments, I contacted everyone for prayers and had her put on church prayer lists.  I was stressed but hopeful because a loving and merciful Father determines our fate.

Trust In Jesus

My great spiritual experience for the last three weeks began the night before it started, as I was going to sleep.  A strange creature caught my attention and I thought it was a mouse on the bed, but when it came directly in front, I knew this was no mouse.

As it stopped and stared at me, I saw that it looked like a type of beetle but mouse size and much larger than any bug in the midwest.  I said a prayer of protection to Jesus and knocked it off the bed.

I heard it on the wall as it continued to move.  This was an opportunity to trust in Jesus and build my faith, so I said another prayer and went to sleep.

This was to be the last good sleep I would have for weeks.  Supernatural help is only a prayer away!

God Directs

Last Saturday I prayed on which pet I should take to the Pet Blessing.  The Lord told me "none."

With curiosity I went to see "why."  Last year I took my little dog and we blessed pets along with the minister.

This year the minister arrived with her sick child and needed someone to take care of her inside, while she blessed pets outside.  Then I knew the reason and offered my services.

We must always be ready to serve for the Lord no matter what job He wants us to do because it's for the betterment of all.  

Life is so much easier for everyone under His direction and it's only a prayer away.

Stress Reduction

To keep our relationship close, I tell the Lord if I'm too busy for a visit during the day to wake me up at night.  I get woke up quite often.

 

This last week He woke me up for a sermon topic on stress.  The following is a short version on how Christians can reduce their stress by following God's advice.

 

1) Trust God has a plan and will make a way, so look at the situation from His perspective.

2) Understand that trials and tribulations provide a necessary opportunity for spiritual growth.

3) Pray continuously about everything because supernatural help is required for effective stress relief.

 

Humans are not created to have ongoing stress but this relief can only happen in the freedom we get from a close personal relationship with our Lord Christ Jesus.  This release from bondage is only a prayer away!

 

God Encourages

Almost exactly one month ago, I was feeling so wonderful that I asked the Lord to use me more and He said, yes!  Unfortunately, I did not pass my test and this month I needed encouragement.

Last Sunday night, the guest minister at my church called me up to the front for prayer.  He said that the Lord wanted me to know that He sees what I"m going through and wants to encourage me.

Spiritual growth is the hardest job anyone can do because it's so easy to regress and so very difficult to advance.  Success takes determined tenacity, unswerving faith and a desire for truth above all else.

As Christians, we have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for help.  

Of course, this supernatural assistance is available for anyone who wants this relationship and is only a prayer away!

A Tiny Miracle

While walking my dog early in the morning, a bumble bee fell on his back.  The bee was shaking and had one leg sticking up at an unnatural angle.

I didn't know if the bee was sick or cold but it definitely needed help, so I prayed.  And God answered quickly.

Just seconds after I finished praying for its healing, the bee flew straight up and gave me a thank you buzz.  Then it turned in a blur and quickly took off for home.

This tiny miracle was a great way to start the day.  

Healings can be just a prayer away.

God Markets Best

My daughter wanted to sell her home in IL because she had moved closer to her job in St. Louis, MO.  We both prayed for God's will to be done and a few days later a man asked if it was for sale.

She hadn't posted a sign or even finished moving and it's sold.  

God answered our prayers fast!

Life is so much easier with supernatural help and it's only a prayer away!

God Answers Through Another

This last weekend I was selling at an art show when a woman purchasing jewelry said to me that she was told to tell me, labyrinth.  Then she asked if this means anything to me.

Well, I told her it sure does.  The Lord lead me into the ministry, and I use a labyrinth for my Christian Meditation Services.

I added that right now, my church has an outdoor labyrinth but we're thinking of purchasing an indoor one.  That exchange began a wonderful conversation about her experiences and how her Dad prayerfully makes labyrinths with Scripture.

This meeting with another of God's children had answered my prayer for help on this matter.  

Holy direction is only a prayer away!

God Answers

God speaks to us in many ways and for effective communication we must be receptive to it all.  

For the last two weeks, the Lord has been teaching me about obedience at my request when I failed to follow His directions twice.

Lately, I prayed that He would use me more, so this last week, I had a minister ask if she could pray for me.  She began by telling me God wanted me to know that I sparkle.

Hurray!  I'm a sparkle in this dark world.  She then explained that the Lord heard my request and was going to use me more to prophecy and edify the church.

Hurray! Jesus wants to use me more.  Holy direction is only a prayer away!

The Best Miracle

In the last two blogs I've been sharing my struggle on giving up control to Jesus.  After I failed Him the first time, I asked for another chance to be directed again but failed the second time, too.

So then when I repented, I asked to be slowly taught on how to follow His spontaneous direction.  I'm fairly good with planned directions but the immediate requests I refused to do until I had thought about it, which meant the opportunities had passed.

For this last week, I've seen people paying for strangers' purchases when they ran short and had people tell me how important this is to do.  The Lord is teaching and helping me to change into a more giving, loving person.

The best miracle is when we let go of our selfish, fearful, angry, worldly, sinful behavior for spiritual growth.  

Holy teaching for spiritual growth is only a prayer away!

Jesus as Lord

On my mission to relinquish control of my life over to Lord Jesus, I'm still struggling.  After I didn't leave my exercise class two weeks ago when the Lord told me, I have asked for forgiveness and repented.

Since then I've asked Him to teach me and try me again.  Well, He did and I failed again.

I was standing behind a woman with two small children at a gas station while she was buying some food but couldn't afford the milk.  The Lord told me to pay for her groceries.

I argued that this was my gas money for the week and refused to follow His direction once again.  Of course after I thought about this and the opportunity had passed, I felt foolish and repented once again.

While working for the Lord, I'm fine with following His structured directions but this spontaneous stuff is a new challenge for me, which I'll eventually overcome with His help.  

Supernatural help is only a prayer away!

Relinquishing Control

One of my greatest challenges for walking the Christian life has been turning over control to Jesus.  As I bring an area into obedience with Christ, another area to work on gets pointed out.

My current challenge is time management, which has been a long struggle.  I think Lord Jesus decides how I spend my time until I get tested and fail.

In morning exercise class, I prayerfully asked what I should do next.  I was told to leave the room now.

I was so surprised that I argued with the Lord on how it would disrupt class, upset the teacher, diminish my workout and was not a good idea.  Then I thought about this for about 15 minutes and realized my foolishness.

So I repented and decided to leave, but then the Lord told me to stay because it was too late.  Supernatural counseling and direction is only a sincere prayer away!

Praying For Strength

When facing problems in my ministry, I need supernatural strength for handling difficult situations.  I especially pray for help with spiritual warfare.

These battles can come in many forms from physical to spiritual.  The hardest to accept have been with humans.

Fighting against spiritual evil I can accept as part of this wicked fallen world.  However, humans that use their free will to control others with their irrational, incomprehensible screaming anger pushes my buttons.

With this battle, I pray for the supernatural strength to stay calm and peaceful.  

This strength and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ is only a prayer away!

Supernatural Help

As an employee of the Lord, I always have supernatural help.  He told me years ago when I started that he would never leave me nor forsake me.

Quite often, I'm dealing with frustrating situations because people think irrationally and follow their own standards.  While I usually point out Christ's logical guidelines for life, I find praying for supernatural help works best.

Sometimes I can offer words of advice that help and sometimes the Lord gives him or her a supernatural experience later.  One person met a stranger with a message from the Lord confirming what I said.

Other people have experienced healing, being used by the Lord, answers to questions, directions for their lives, peace, etc.  

Supernatural help is only a prayer away!

Prayers Answered By Our Time

Why are some prayers answered quickly and some take years?  One factor might be how open we are to accepting what the Lord tells us.

I know two people that have been praying for direction in their lives.  One person asked for four months with no response and decided to stay up all night praying with God's answer coming at 7 am.

Another person has been praying for a year with no response.  The Bible says we must be obedient, unselfish and faithful in prayer.

This means asking for our Lord Jesus to lead our lives and not us trying to direct Him.  A joyous meaningful life in God's will is only a sincere prayer away.

Second Biggest Miracle

When people turn away from their selfish, crazy, wicked ways and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, it is the number one miracle.  The second biggest miracle is when Christians let go of their control and allow Christ's Spirit to change them into His servants of love.

This type of Christian must give holy unconditional love no matter what the other person does, even our enemies.  I've had many stressful experiences trying to be this loving Christian.

While I've been yelled at many times, the worst experience was sexual harassment.  When I was at a friend's house, their male friend followed me around and touched me inappropriately.

I prayed for him to be stopped, preferably with some pain.  Jesus told me to love him and pray for his salvation because he was going to hell.

Only with Jesus' help could I do this and the Lord gave me supernatural direction to stop the harassment much to the surprise of this man.  Being unconditionally loving isn't about a perfect life but supernatural help, which is only a prayer away.

God's Timing

Sometimes I get an immediate answer to my prayers and other times it takes awhile.  God's timing is based on spiritual necessity and immediacy.

In the morning this week, I asked the Lord what to wear and got answered.  Then I prayed about what to do at church, I was told to preach and the Pastor contacted me the next day to do that.

Sometimes I ask and forget about them until months or years later when my prayers are answered.  The Lord always hears our prayers but sometimes we ask for things that are spiritually bad for us.

Prayers that always get answered are the ones for spiritual growth because we are created to grow in holy love and wisdom for an eternal life with our Heavenly Father.  

Spiritual growth is only a prayer away!

God's Will

After writing miracle blogs for about a year now, I'm starting to notice a pattern.  I pray for help and the Lord answers me with supernatural experiences that not only directly help but build our relationship, too.

God loves us and wants to help but we don't include Him in our daily lives enough.  I can only keep focused on His holy things because of the supernatural help I get.

The following is what an average week looks like in answer to my prayers.  The Lord gave me money (in many different ways), fixed the shower head, filled my deodorant, caused missing stuff to appear (sometimes at another one's house), healed me from eating bad food and had someone give me pants to replace my wornout ones.

Not only were my basic needs met but extras, too.  The Lord healed my friend's brother of terminal cancer, gave me money to see relatives along with a harmonious visit and had me give some money away to others in need.

While we need to pray in His will for the spiritual benefit of all, there are lots of blessings our Heavenly Father wants to give us.  These supernatural gifts are only a prayer away!

Celebrate Spiritual Growth

After working on an issue, I will get a test to see if it's resolved.  When my husband and I quit going to art shows because it was too much work for too little pay, we were frustrated and angry.

Now years later, we felt God told us to try again.  However, we did things different this time.

We prayed and included His direction in our plans.  The Lord blessed us with good weather, tasty food, friends, a profit and, best of all, the opportunity to witness about Jesus.

It feels good to resolve past issues and celebrate spiritual growth!  Supernatural counseling is only a prayer away.

Spiritual Growth

It is easy for humans to fool themselves into thinking they are improving spiritually.  All people, including Christians, cannot objectively know themselves.

But as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit to convict us for spiritual growth.  Almost every day I pray for this advising to become a better person.

As a result, I have learned about my selfishness, lack of unconditional love, desire for control, lust after power, etc.

While these shortcomings were difficult to face, I couldn't live in denial because Christ requires improvement.

With supernatural lessons and advising, I work on obtaining spiritual maturity.  This maturity will be evident by the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness and self control.

All Christians should strive to be actual disciples of Jesus Christ.  With the Holy Spirit, supernatural help is only a prayer away.

Evil Is Real

As a servant of the Lord building His Kingdom, I find myself frequently in a battle with evil.  The attack can be physical, mental or spiritual.

It can be assaults through humans, by demons, under incredible circumstances or with alien thoughts invading my mind.  Satan has so many weapons at his disposal (like violence, hate, fear, lies, manipulation, discouragement, chaos, distraction, illusions, etc.) that an automatic defense for any situation must be used.

The best defense for Christians is Jesus Christ.  They must be constantly vigilant, never use just their own strength and always ask Jesus for help.

Jesus overcame Satan when He walked the earth and continues to stop his evil today.  For a ready defense, Jesus is available 24/7 at any location by prayer.

The Lord Provides

As a servant of the Lord, I realize the money I have is not my own, so when He told me to give all my cash to someone at church, I did.  However, the next day I wanted money to get a Father's Day gift for my new Christian earthly dad.

The Lord told me to get the coupons off my email for my favorite Christian store.  I took them in to the store and picked out my selections.

I didn't know if the three coupons could be used together and only had some change.  The cashier scanned them all, said they saved me $19.17 and told me that I owed her 66 cents.

I counted out my change and had 67 cents in my wallet.  

Thank You, Lord, for providing!

Give Your Health to Jesus

It surprises me how so many Christians that I advise or meet go to secular doctors for treatment.  I ask them if the doctor is a Christian and prays for them.

The answer is either, no, or I don't know.  I recommend that they pray for protections from the side effects of their treatment, and they look puzzled.

Do they think the whole medical field is God inspired, like the Bible?  While I know that God sends some Christians to be doctors, they are usually in the mission field to save both souls and lives.

However, all Christians have the Great Physician Jesus Christ to heal any physical or mental illness for free.  His healings and directions are available 24/7 by prayer, but sometimes requires repentance from disobedience.

Christ's Peace & Strength

In my ministry, the Lord sends me people in distress to help.  Some of them appreciate this spiritual advising and some do not.

No matter what the results, I experience miracles.  It's a miracle when people spiritually grow and if they become hostile, I pray for the miracle of Christ's peace and strength.

Jesus never lets me down.  He sends me His peace and strength quickly and my feelings miraculously change within a minute or two.

This ministry would be impossible without Jesus and His 24/7 supernatural help.  The peace and strength of Jesus Christ that surpasses all understanding is only a prayer away!

The Miracle of Change

To be a Christian, we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin and the Lord of our lives, but this is just the beginning.  While His gift of eternal salvation is easy to receive, relinquishing our control is very difficult.

To avoid total surrender, I compartmentalized my life and only assigned certain areas to Jesus.  My favorite area I kept was diet because I knew He wouldn't want me eating junk food.

However, I couldn't pray for spiritual growth without being called on this hypocrisy.  So, I decided to bring Jesus grocery shopping with me.

He took away my junk food cravings and His suggestions of eating healthy with less sugar seemed very reasonable.  Life is so much easier with Jesus!

Supernatural Guidance

From my own experiences, I noticed that prayer requests are mostly about health and finances.  Christians wouldn't need my prayers on these issues if they received their own guidance from the Lord.

I don't ask others to pray for me about health and finances because spiritual growth is what I need with those other things just being symptoms.  

After preaching about God wanting a revival at my church, I became very sick.

I prayed for healing and if I should go to the doctor.  After no response, I then asked the Lord if I would die.

When He answered, no, that I would overcome this, I knew it was just a test to pass.  Supernatural direction and guidance is just a prayer away!

Answered Prayers

While most of my prayers are answered immediately, there are some that take months or years.  With prayers of help to do God's work, I get the expected quick support, but other answers can be surprising.

After the Lord opened my eyes to see demons so I could pray for protection, I wondered what else I was missing around me.  So, I prayed to see more of what was going on here and hoped for angels.

Instead, my husband and I saw a huge, tan dragon-like creature quickly fly across the deserted highway in front of our car as we drove home late the next night.  It was so surprising and weird that I needed my husband's testimony to confirm this reality.

Life is always exciting with the Lord!  Supernatural support and insights are only a prayer away!

Evil Experiences

Sometimes evil comes as a false prophet that teaches untruths and sometimes it comes as a physical assault.  While I cannot be deceived by unbiblical sermons, I am susceptible to direct attacks.

I woke up in the middle of the night in great pain and unable to move with an evilness surrounding me.  I couldn't even open my mouth to ask my husband for help.

However, I could pray.  As soon as I called on Jesus to save me, the evil attack stopped.  

Then I asked for a restful sleep and He granted it.  Protection and help from evil is only a prayer away.

Spiritual Warfare

As I grow in spiritual awareness, I become more and more aware of the evil powers behind the scene and how this affects us.  Most of the Christians I am helping right now are in this battle against evil.

These attacks can take many different forms, like things disappearing, scary voices or visions, negative thoughts, physical suffering for no apparent reason, chaotic life, irrational thinking, etc.  While the devil has no control over us, he can create a lot of stress if we let him.

The best defense was clearly stated by Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians.  We must work on a close personal relationship with the Lord for His strength and power, so we can fight the devil's tricks.

This will be obvious when we have truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the word of God with continuous prayer for His direction.  

Help is only a prayer away!

My Weekly Healings

Once again I found myself praying this week for healing.  However, these ones were not about illnesses but accidents.

I stepped off the porch right into a hole and twisted by ankle, which led to lots of prayer.  Then I reached down to pick up something and got a splinter under my nail.

While I feel very blessed by Jesus for my healings, I realized that maybe I could have avoided these problems with a bit more sleep.  When working for the Lord, I discovered that I needed to sleep when I could before the next adventure.

Pray For Miraculous Health

When thinking about which miracle to write about, I noticed that one I asked for a lot was healing.  I suspected too much sugar and not enough exercise was a problem, but I decided to pray for confirmation.

The Holy Spirit told me that human bodies are not created to exist on man-made chemicals, processed food or a sedentary lifestyle.  Oh, no, give up my caffeine, chocolate and fast food while taking up daily exercise!

Now this will be a miracle.  Thankfully, miracles like this are only a pray away!

Joyous Miracles

Over the course of my Christian life, I have known many suffering people.  However, Jesus can turn suffering into joy when people experience miracles.

Whether they needed to begin or return to a relationship with Jesus, He healed their afflictions.  

I met addicts, alcoholics, abusers, etc. that have been delivered, but my favorite joyous miracle was a suicidal woman I helped.

This woman called and told me that she had tried to kill herself but no matter what the method, she could not even hurt herself.  I explained how I had been praying and that Jesus had delivered her from herself, so suicide was not an option.

She gave up on depression and turned to the Lord.  Supernatural help is only a prayer away.

Small Miracles

As a child of God, He gives me many small miracles every day.  I receive unexpected gifts of food, money, clothes, information, etc. from many people.

However, one of my favorite small miracles is my deodorant.  After this brand was discontinued about five years ago, I prayed over the empty container to continue working.

This deodorant has miraculously worked for over five years to remind me of how my Father even takes care of me in small ways.  

Supernatural blessings are only a prayer away!

Singing For God

Humans are created to praise and worship their Loving Creator in music and song.  However, since I was raised in a home without music and song, science said that I would be unable to do this.

After realizing the importance of singing last year, I prayed for six months to have this ability.  Then God began to work on me by bringing a song into my reality that I could even sing acappella.

And the miracle of singing continued until I publicly sang a duet in church last Sunday.  All kinds of spiritual growth are only a prayer away!

My Biggest Miracle

My biggest miracle happened five years ago this month.  After 144 hours of contemplative prayer, I met and began a relationship with the Loving Creator, Savior Jesus and Holy Spirit.

I was forever changed and became such a different person that I did not even recognize myself.  At first, not knowing myself was confusing, but as I learned Jesus' ways, it became easier.

One of the biggest surprises was my guilt, worry and fear disappearing.  In a close personal relationship with the Trinity, I am forgiven of sins, given peace that surpasses all understanding and provided eternal life.

With these burdens lifted, my life is easier, but not stress free.  However, stress relief is only a prayer away.