Missing Christopher…

She missed him before he left!

Dear Lord, please watch over Christopher and keep him in Your Spirit.  Please guide him in Your Way! In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN!

Lost Generation

This is my command: Love each other. ~Jesus~

Frank & Amy

Let’s love our spouse with all our hearts! I am surrounded by women at work who when I ask about their marriages they all say “well we’ve been married forever” and they are complacent with their relationship with their husband. God says to enjoy, love, cherish, honor, and respect our spouses.

I being a newly-wed am completely in love with my husband, but what keeps me grounded is going to God’s word and knowing what He says about being a spouse. If I only love and honor our marriage based on feelings/emotions then there are days when I could be downright spiteful or mean to my spouse.

We must first go to the source of love-God, in order to give love. So let’s choose to go to God and pray that we will bring only loving kind words, that we will be our spouses helper (Genesis 2:18), to respect him (Ephesians 5:33), to love and be affectionate toward him (Titus 2:4).

God gives us one spouse and one life to love them to the fullest! Why don’t we enjoy the day we have with our spouse and never take it for granted because we never know when our last day will be. I want mine to be like the Proverbs 31 woman: A woman worth more than rubies to her husband, I want my husband to have full confidence in me and lack nothing of value, I want to bring him good, not harm, all the days of my life!.

Proverbs 31:10-12 “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.”

Jesus says in John 15:17: This is my command: LOVE EACH OTHER. So today I pray that God will empower you to love your spouse dearly, cherish the days God has given you and love with all your heart!

Musical bliss

Music makes the spirit dance

Chris

Sista Sista

We are family .... I got all my sisters with me

 1 John 4:11-13 

¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

How blessed we are to have this close bond and everlasting love we have for each other. I wonder sometimes that we ever got along in life without it. It is a consoling comfort during the seasons of failure, the belly aching laughter to replace the hurt that is too much to bear and the shared tears to drive away the intense sorrow we all have to experience in life sometimes. No one can love quite like a sister can, and I am so incredibly blessed to have a sisterhood that includes you.

Tonight was a wonderful reminder of just how lovely each and every one of you are. I am so incredibly thankful the Lord has chosen to surround me with such great and sincere sisters. I am reminded of how many times the Lord commands us in His Word to love one another. He explains again and again throughout His Word that by loving each other we will manifest His very Spirit into our lives. And this makes perfect sense to me after spending all evening wrapped in the security and safety of true unconditional love; agape love. Agape means unconditional, unmerited and undeserved. It is the way the Lord loves us and the way He commands us to love one another.

It is wrapped in this security blanket of acceptance that we truly find freedom to grow through our mistakes and learn from our failures and to become the children of God we are called to be. We have all made many mistakes and can live and learn from them when we are surrounded by sincere love and not crushed down by the spirit of self-righteous indignation. Our sisterhood becomes a safety net to catch our sorrows and a launching pad to build our dreams. We are truly free to live, to love and to laugh without fear of condemnation and in the knowledge that we are forgiven and loved in spite of our short comings, and this love and fellowship nourishes and drives hope for our future in Christ. No wonder He keeps telling us to “love one another as I have first loved you.”

I thank you all for being who you are and for being able to accept me and each other in spite of our obvious imperfection and I applaud you in your ablity to face the world head on with such boldness in the Lord. We are all walking towards eternity and I am sure glad I get to share my journey with you.

You are the best “Sistas” a girl could ask for

Have a Spirit filled weekend and I look forward to sharing Gods Word with you Sunday.

Chris

He is with you

He loves you more than you know!!

He is with you

Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, Psalm 94:14, Hebrew 13:5

“….I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

 

Do you ever wonder where God is when we are going through crises, troubles, everyday life?  Well God’s promise is He is right there!  He never leaves us or forsakes us.  What a wonderful promise!  Sometimes we have to ask to see where He was in a situation but He does reveal Himself. I had that prayer right after I was saved a few years ago and God showed me that He was present through my Aunt, my best friends mother’s, the private Christian school, my mom, and the list goes on.  The one part He reminded me was I didn’t always want Him there at that time but through it all I never left your side.  I wonder all the ways God protected me because I guarantee it was many a time.  I am glad today that I can look back through God’s eyes and see His presence. 

 Today as you go through life hold onto His promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  He longs to be a part of your life, have you invited Him to share the day with you today, because He’s there waiting for that relationship.

 

You are beautiful

Psalm 139:13-14

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

We live in a world today obsessed with beauty.  It is apparently taboo to grow old anymore.  We put on make-up, the best clothes, and are constantly comparing ourselves to others.  Man wouldn’t it be nice to relax and not feel the pressure of “not being pretty enough?”  Well you can….

God says He made us; He knit us together before we even knew we would be born and created our inmost being.  I hope today you embrace God’s individual gift He has given us, our own beauty!  It’s unique, no one else has it, and we are all different.  Yet every day we try to look like this model or this movie star.   I hope today we can say:  “ God thank you for making me the way I am, I praise you because I am wonderfully made, your work is wonderful.”  I hope today we stop believing Satan’s lies that we aren’t beautiful enough.  I pray today that women and men start to thank God and embrace the person He made us to be. 

A song by Jonny Diaz says it perfectly; the song is More Beautiful You:

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says He has made everything beautiful in its time.  I hope you embrace the fact you are beautiful today, the way God made you.  And know that God wants that time for you to feel and believe you are beautiful to be now.

Smokey Mountains here we come!!!!

Hello all,

I am sooooo excited about preaching a revival message in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. For all of you that will be joining us this weekend directions and information will follow. For everyone else please keep us lifted up in prayer this week and stand with me in asking God to soften the hearts of all who will hear the gospel this weekend and give them a heart of repentence that will cause them to turn back towards His amazing grace.

I love you all and I am looking forward to sharing some great photos and testimony with you upon my return. Alan has his guitar and is ready to lead all of Smokey Mountains in singing our church song,  ”Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary”

God bless you. May you have a spirit filled week.

Great Smokey Mountains!!!

Alan and I will be leaving around 5am Saturday morning and heading for the hotel. We will be staying at the Relax Inn in Bryson City, NC until Monday morning.

Hotel Info – It’s not the grande hotel, it’s cheap

40 Highway 19
Bryson City, NC 28713
(828) 488-2127

Driving Directions
1. I-26 W towards Columbia -  Entering North Carolina – 243 mi
2. Take exit 31B on the left to merge onto I-40 W/US-74 W toward Canton/Knoxville – 18.4 mi
3. Take exit 27 to merge onto US-74 W toward Waynesville/Clyde/Atlanta/US-23/Maggie Valley/Franklin/Murphy/US-19 – 4.1 mi
4. Take exit 103 to merge onto US-19 toward Cherokee/Maggie Valley – 31.5 mi
5. Turn left at Governors Island Rd/US-19 – 0.4 mi
6. Turn right to stay on Governors Island Rd/US-19  Continue to follow US-19 – 2.2 mi
7. Turn right at Spring St/US-19  Continue to follow US-19 – 0.1 mi

Service will be held at  5pm on Sunday at the campground with baptism to follow. We are praying to God for a great harvest of souls.

Rus & Chan will be leaving about the same time Saturday morning and heading for the campground. There is a cost of $15 a night for the campsite and you cannot make reservations as it is first come first serve. Brandi and some Transit folks from Faith are heading up Friday to set up two LARGE tent sites so if you need a place to crash let me or Brandi know.

YOU ARE WELCOME

Here is a map to the national park and a picture of where we are going to preaching the Word of God and inviting folks to GIVE THIER LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST!!!!!

Bryson City Smokey Mountain Website

Bryson City Facebook

A More Beautiful You

beautiful...

These are a few things God has reminded me of lately so I hope it helps others out there. Especially the women who really need this message in our society today.  I love this song by Jonny Diaz, More beautiful you.  The youth also really need to hear it and embrace it because it is so true and it is the way God looks at us.  It’s awesome.

When I start to hear satan say I am not pretty and all those stupid lies I say nope: God created me this way, I thank Him, and He says I am beautiful and I want to fullfil the purpose He has for me (then in my head I stick out my tongue and rebuke satan).  Hehe, kinda funny if you think about me stickin out my tongue to him…but that is really what i do.

I just think God is so awesome!  Music is how God really reaches me the most I think, songs that I have heard have helped heal so many wounds…..I am so thankful for Christian music and the artists’ talents!

Be Blessed in His Love,

Love ya!

Kristin

Growing in the wilderness

 
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

He says not to worry about the necessities of life because God knows we need them (Matthew 6:28-32).  God has tested our faith in Him.  I realize now that God was wanting to perfect in me perseverance.  He wanted to know that I would rely on Him time after time, month after month, get on my knees and be persistent in prayer.  When I knew my faith was wavering I would pray that God would give me the faith.  I love when God tests us and puts us in places we don’t understand, because every time it brings me closer to Him and He makes me more mature and complete in Christ. 

So I say to you all, as you face the trials of life, consider it pure joy because God is there and He is developing a more complete and mature you. 
 
Kristin Deck

It sounds like the Lord

What is our responsibility when burdened with grief and sorrows?  What are we to do?  What does it mean to run the race when you can barely walk?  What if an earthquake has already hit our lives and the undergirding of our lives have been shaken to the core (e.g., job, finances, health, family, marriage, children)?  What if we’ve already prayed and prayed?

What if the sound of the Lord’s voice speaks to you quietly in your heart and says very tenderly, “You’ve been through so much and things are going to get much, much worse, do you want me to take you now dear one?” 

“Is that you, Lord?”  Sounds just like Him. He speaks so lovingly and gently to you.  And He knows how much you’ve been through.  You wonder if you can handle it when things get worse.  Maybe He does know best, but you think you can handle it with His help.

Then you hear the sound of the same voice again repeating the same thing ever so tenderly, and it sounds like the Lord.  Then the same voice comes again later with the same question. 

You think, ‘Well, after all, my children are now independent and they were my primary reason to be here; but I want to continue to be here with them and want to finish my job here on earth, but the Lord must know best.’ 

“Is that really you Jesus?”  It sounds just like You.  And, His sheep know His voice (John 10:14), and this voice sounds like the Lord.

“Is this you, Jesus?”

No, it is not.  It is the enemy posing as an angel of light but it comes from the pit of hell.

It is not time for Christians to be lured into leaving earth either by a deceiving demon spirit, or by requesting “Take me,” or by mere joking around, “Time to beam me up.”

Our words are powerful because we are in God’s image and that is in His design—He created the world by His words, and we create our ‘atmosphere’ by our thoughts and words.

It is time for us to walk in His grace using the gifts He has provided for us.  This is our responsibility and our Joy!

Even if that small voice “sounds” like the Lord in tone and in tender knowing words, discern if it is the Lord.  I did and it wasn’t!!!  The Lord told me it wasn’t Him, and I realized that the message given wasn’t either.  The enemy wanted me to lie down and die; not fulfill my part in the Body of Christ. 

Once I discerned it was not the Lord, the enemy did not try again.  And total peace came from the Lord as well. 

That voice can also sound like the Lord and seem persistent for you to get more done for the Lord’s benefit or whatever, but it takes away peace and it is not walking in His grace. 

What is it to know the Lord’s voice? 

John 10:14-15 ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” 

The Lord compares us ‘knowing’ Him like He ‘knows’ the Father.  This is an intimate knowing of the Lord as we are one with Him; just as He is one with the Father.  It is not just the sound of the voice; it is discernment through an intimate knowledge of the Lord by seeking Him, watching how He moves, and reading His word. 

Later, when I expressed this scenario to a pastor mentor, he said it was the “sound” but not the “personality” of the Lord; rather it was the enemy who comes to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).  Is that still small voice the ‘personality’ of the Lord, not just the ‘sound’?

We are being changed into His image ever so much more.  The enemy tries to deceive Christians—‘if that were possible’ (Matt 24:24), especially in the end times.  “How?” you wonder. This is one way that the enemy tries to deceive us; but God, will teach us otherwise and will give us discernment if we seek Him. 

So let us take heed and learn from each other.  It is deceitful for the enemy to use the “sound” of the Lord’s voice and his tender expression; but beware his “personality” is different!  Ask for discernment!  Seek the Lord, His word, and Godly counsel, and you will not be deceived!! 

Encourage each other with Godly wisdom, and rejoice for the Kingdom of Heaven is ours!!!  We are His sheep and we do “know” His voice because we have intimate knowledge of Him, and wise shepherds and friends to help.

Rejoice!  The Kingdom of God is at Hand!   

Dr. Cindy L. Hanson

Ephesians 1: 17, 19-20. [pray constantly and ask God] to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God…. ¹⁹ I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

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