Keep Asking

What happens when pain hits? What happens when disappointments continue to (what you feel) plague your life? There are days it is easy to want to give up and give in. There are days it is easier to think that we can just walk through life and be remote. 

Matthew 7:7 tells us something different:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (NIV)

This is the version of the verse I grew up memorizing and hearing over and over. When one reads it in the Complete Jewish Bible it says:

Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. (CJB)

This is a completely different concept. To just “ask, seek or knock” is one thing. According to the Complete Jewish Bible we are too, “keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking…”

I do not claim to understand why there is a difference in these translations. I have not gone back to the Greek to understand the word used, or the tense that is supposed to be translated. What I do know is, I don’t believe it is a one time question. I don’t believe we should just “give up” on seeking. We need to “keep knocking” on doors to find answers.

This isn’t an easy concept in todays world. We have all of technology available to us, but in many ways that has dumbed us down and caused us to be overwhelmed by the information. It puts us in a place of not wanting to ask, not wanting to seek, and not wanting to knock on doors available. If there isn’t an easy answer to the question, we don’t want to take the time to search. If it isn’t available instantly, we give up. 

I’m watching this in my pre-teens and teens. It is almost easier to just give up than it is to actually search for something. The desire to find an answer has gone away because most answers are at their fingertips. All they have to do is use Google and there it is! So, when there isn’t a “Google answer” for something, they don’t know what to do. 

We all know that the difficult questions are the ones we really need in order to live LIFE to the fullest. We all know that finding answers to WHO God is and how He is relevant to us today is the key to living a LIFE of abundance and JOY. And yet, those are the ones we give up on because there is no “easy answer.” We can’t “Google God” and make Him relevant to our lives today. We can’t “Google God” and have an experience that brings the Holy Spirit to us.

I’m not saying that God can’t use technology to help us understand Him. We can read His Word on the computer. We can search and find testimonies of others who have found answers. Reality is, we have to use our inner STRENGTH and rely on HIM to help us find the answers. We have to have FAITH that HE will show us. We have to BELIEVE that HE LOVES US and cares.

 

Take time today to KEEP ASKING, KEEP SEEKING, and KEEP KNOCKING. He is faithful and will bring the answer. 

Love and blessings,

Rose Horton

 

Thanks to @emmorter for making this photo available freely on @unsplash

Grieving Unmet Expectations

Entering into new seasons of life, you will always have expectations.  No matter how hard you try in the natural, it’s just in you to expect certain things to take place or be a certain way.  As a faith-filled believer, it is actually truly in our new nature in Christ to be expectant.  Expectation for a believer can be a most beautiful, glorious thing!

But what do you do when you have unmet expectations?  As a faith-filled believer, how do you navigate when someone’s free-will choices affect your faith and what you thought you’d see?  How, as a person of faith, are you allowed to grieve the disappointment of what you had hoped things might look like?

Welcome to a small piece of my life in the past few months.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 says that we are not to grieve like others who have no hope.  So please do not mishear me or hear what I am not saying:  It is important to grieve the old season, if necessary.  It’s ok to grieve the disappointment of unmet expectations in the new.  It is not ok to stay in that grief, without hope and with an orphan mentality, because that is not who you are.  It is now Christ living in you, and He is our very own Hope of glory.

Here are some steps the Lord has given me to push through this strange season.  If you have had to face the pain of disappointment through expectations not quite turning out the way you had wished for, these steps are definitely for you.

1. Take this as an opportunity to learn more about God’s character.  During times like these, false beliefs about God may be exposed, which is a great thing!  Work through the process with Him, and replace lies with truth.  It’s also a great time to find out more beautiful aspects of His character that you never knew existed or that you’ve never before experienced.

2. Learn to fight with your sword.  Learn to declare truth in the process.  Dive into the Bible like never before!  “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).  The Bible says that our weapons are not like the world’s weapons.  Learn to use your weapons and pray the promises of God aloud, attaching your faith to the truth in His word.

3. Don’t compare.  Don’t compare your life to someone else’s.  Don’t compare your pain to another’s.  Don’t compare your grief to your friend’s.  Don’t compare your current situation to your old one.  “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

4. Invite others into your process.  Galatians 6:2 says that we should bear one another’s burdens.  Don’t let the enemy isolate you!  Isolation is the petri dish of lies.  “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against All sound judgment” (Proverbs 18:1).

5. Keep a right perspective.  Romans says that hope does not disappoint.  God promises to work out ALL THINGS for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).  “…But take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

6. Remind yourself of God’s kindness.  Surely out of everything you’ve experienced, you could write a list of all the ways that God has shown kindness to you in the midst of disappointment.  Anything from seeing a rainbow or a stunning sunset, to that friend who took you for coffee, to the guy that held the door opened for you that day you were about to burst into tears.  If we look carefully, there are MANY kisses from the Father along the way.

7. Surrender the unmet expectations.  Surrender them.  Let them go.  Don’t allow yourself to never expect anything every again – you are NOT a victim – just surrender it.  Sow it back to Jesus in your tears, and reap a harvest of joy and peace in return.  And then get up and start hoping again.

The scripture that has helped me most is from Psalm 23:6 – Surely goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.  

May goodness and mercy chase you down in this season.  Our Father is so KIND…ask Him to remind you of His kindness toward you and don’t give up hope.  If you must grieve, then grieve.  And then pick yourself up and jump back into a place of expectation of good.  He will not fail you.

~ Mandy Woodhouse

 

Take The Plunge

We are only as bound as we choose to be.

It’s time to take the plunge and get on about our healing.

Don’t be like the man that laid next to the pool for 38 years.

It’s time to Jump in!

Release To Live Restored!

~ XXOO Michelle

Check out our website for more details.

We All Have Need For Patience

For years “Patience” felt like the missing puzzle piece in my life.

I was not good at waiting. I liked to rush rush rush and plan plan plan.

I thought God was funny when He blessed me with twins and joked / “Wow – You are going to teach me patience for sure aren’t You Lord!”

Well, the twins didn’t bring me patience, nothing brought patience, but God.

When I surrendered my obsessive need for control and rushing and planning and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, that is when His peace that surpasses all understanding came into my life and with it brought me the much needed patience I had always been searching for.

Patience

noun
the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset

Learning to wait well helps us do His will and everything else we need to.

For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.

—Hebrews 10:36

Don’t forfeit your promise by not having patience!

~ XXOO Michelle

We Are Dead

“Dying to self”

She heard these words

many times

Without realizing the significance

of dying to self daily

in the life of a Christian

Then Father took her on a 

journey of dying to self

in ways she never could 

have imagined

Dying daily sounds doable 

Till Father asks you to die 

in the presence of your enemies 

Or when Father ask you to 

die when facing your greatest battles 

Or when you are at the end of yourself and your pain pleads with you to operate in the flesh

And Father asks you to lay it 

all down

Papa had to wait patiently 

for her to grasp the sacredness 

of this decision

He wanted all of her

Not partial obedience 

Or when it suits her

Everyday she had to lay 

it all down 

Everything she held dear 

she was to release

Every heartache, every battle, every challenge 

No questions asked

Obedience in its highest form

Nothing less

This was unknown territory 

to her

She was always in control

A perfectionist hiding 

behind pride

Instead of dealing with her 

hurt and pain 

Could she really hand 

everything over?

Every humiliation?

Every person who had

hurt her?

Every issue she hid away 

for too long?

Watch how everything she 

so carefully built up

come tumbling down

Her way of doing things 

go up in ashes

Before her eyes?

Why her? She wondered

Till the scalpel went deep and revealed her wounded heart

She was tested in every 

area of her life

Holy Spirit was her guide

As she became less and 

Father God more

The more she died to self

Father could take His rightful

place in her restored life

Daily she had to let go of 

her pride, her plans, her 

issues, her ego

Till she was ready to be 

put on show

Nothing is more important 

then to glorify Jesus with 

our laid down lives

Gone are the days we

wanted to impress people

Gone are the days we lived 

for people’s applause

Gone are the days when we 

were building our own kingdoms

We’re here to honour our Father with our laid down lives

We present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to our Father

His fragrance now lingers everywhere we tread

When we open our mouths we waste our every breath in honouring our King, because we are dead!

~ Ebigale Wilson

We Are Dead

The Journey

You Write A Beautiful Story

He Writes A Beautiful Story!

From Glory to Glory – beginning to ending and everything in between…

The world needs to hear your #RestorationStories !

We would love to help you share your story.

Enjoy this great song. 👇🏻

https://music.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-story-live/1479913444?i=1479913551

Radical Encounter

We all need just one thing—a radical, life changing encounter with the Perfect One.  Otherwise, we are doomed to a lifelong fruitless chase after beauty, goodness, perfection, and wisdom that will leave us frustrated and forlorn.  

And it needs to be an encounter that lasts—a face to face collision with the unmovable one that leaves us prostrate, humbled, awe struck, and fully convinced that we have embraced eternity.  

Maybe that’s too much to ask and maybe it isn’t.  Our creator has demonstrated that he knows very well how to hide himself.  He is just as adept at revealing himself powerfully, when he decides that the time is right.  

And we don’t need booming voices or flashes of lightning in order to discern his presence—a quiet whisper and a gentle caress can absolutely overwhelm our hearts with a sincere appreciation of his divine love and grace.  

Only he really knows what each one of us needs in order to be convinced of his love.  It is different for each one of us.  He has a trillion ways to speak.  How many love songs are there?  How many wise sayings? How many voices pleading for us not to go down dark, lonely paths without good reason?  How many smiling faces beckoning us onward in our search for truth?  Only he specializes in radical encounters customized for each and every living, breathing soul.  

Even he said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The miracle is not always God suspending natural laws, but rather it is getting his people in agreement with spiritual laws.  The mountain he speaks of could refer to our cold hearts, our blind eyes or our deaf ears.  When we can feel as he feels, see as he sees, and hear as he hears, then the world and it’s mountains will be no obstacle at all to our progress and perfection in the faith.  

Heaven will become so much more real than this clay and water training ground that we call home that we will drop everything and be ready to fly at the faintest whisper of his presence.   So, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

~ Brad Heilhecker

Pain And Change

Pain… another word that is not something a person wants to speak about. Last week I shared about mistreatment. Why would I want to write about pain? Today a verse popped up and it was:

2 Corinthians 7:10 Pain handled in God’s way produces a turning from sin to God which leads to salvation, and there is nothing to regret in that! But pain handled in the world’s way produces only death.

Earlier in the chapter Paul shared that he knew his first letter to the Corinthians caused them pain. He knew it caused them distress. He did regret that, but only “for a short time.” He realized that the painful letter he wrote caused them to move back to God. 

Pain in our life should be handled in a way that “moves us back to God.” If it is harsh words from others, physical pain from an illness or accident, or life not going the way we planned – all circumstances should cause us to “turn from sin to God.” Walking with God often means we must CHANGE!

When others cause pain in our life it is difficult. False accusations and words hurt. Often we want to act out in anger or frustration, but those are ways of the world. When we act out with those emotions, those produce death. We end up hurting those around us instead of bringing the fruits of the Spirit.

So often we want to run from pain. We don’t want it to be part of our life. And often, the pain causes me to react inappropriately. It causes me to be frustrated. Edgy. Worried. 

Since reading this verse, I had to ask myself, what will “turn me to God?” What will “move me closer?” It seems so obvious to those of us who grew up reading the Bible and attending church. However, have we continued to follow through with staying close to Him? Have we chosen to follow His Words and share HIS Truth with those around us in-spite of pain or mis-treatment?

A goal for me in 2020 is learning to respond to pain with TRUST and forgiveness. This year I need to learn how to show LOVE, JOY, PEACE… in the middle of ALL circumstances and situations. These are CHANGES I need to make. 

What are you choosing to do when pain enters your life? What choices do you need to make to turn “back to God?” What CHANGES do you need to make?

When others challenge you, stop and think about what they are saying. If it is true, than change! “Turning back to God” means we need to CHANGE something! 

Use the pain to change… Use the pain to “turn back to God.”

Love and blessings,

Rose Horton

Thanks to @Nate_Dumlao for making this photo available freely on @unsplash

Holy Spirit in You IS the Dominant Spirit

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. – 1 John 4:4

Have you ever walked into a room, a building, a store or some venue where you immediately feel feelings you had not, until that moment, felt?  Feelings such as anxiety, intimidation, fear and discouragement, just to name a few.

These are feelings that may make you feel twitchy, flustered and often makes you want to run!

2 Corinthians 2:11 says that we are not unaware of the schemes of the enemy.  The devil is crafty and he will often try to trick us by making us believe that these feelings are actually coming from us, when in reality there is an external spirit at work in the room that we have just entered.  If God created you as a sensitive and discerning person, you know exactly what I mean.

Sometimes these things can feel so overwhelming to a discerning person that it is difficult to find the inner peace and to actually think clearly enough to realize what is actually happening.

Personally, I have worked out that if I am suddenly and unexpectantly feeling a certain way that I was not previously feeling (especially intimidation and fear), then it is actually my invitation into intercession for that particular location and the people within it. This happened to me recently, and I heard the Lord speak in the midst of my discomfort, “YOU ARE the DOMINANT SPIRIT in this place.”

Here’s an illustration from life that the Lord gave me yesterday.  

I was driving down a busy motorway in Brisbane, just past peak-hour morning traffic.  I was doing exactly the speed limit, not even one over. There were dozens of cars going around me, all in such a hurry.  Some would tailgate me until they could get around me and punch on the gas to prove how badly they needed to go faster.

Others were speeding past me. Some were overtaking me while others undertook me.  They were all rushing around in a manner that I could literally feel their anxiety.  Yet for me, I was not bowing to the craziness around me.  I REFUSE to speed, so I was just rolling along with my internal peace and refusing to be influenced by what was happening around me.

I was the dominant spirit in that environment, and my speed was actually causing those following me to go slower as well.

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you..” – Romans 8:11

God also reminded me of my dogs. We have a boy named Frodo, who is an alpha male.  We live with a family who has a gorgeous boy named Pepper, who is also an alpha male.  They are both good boys with huge personalities, and it took some time for them to work out that Frodo was the true alpha in the room.  There are still times that just Frodo’s presence causes Pepper to get angry, bare his teeth and growl, but as soon as Frodo begins to rise up as THE alpha, Pepper backs off. Frodo is the dominant male in the room.

If you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, then you, too carry great authority (check out Ephesians 1). YOU ARE the DOMINANT SPIRIT in the room, because you carry Him within you.

One final testimony to encourage you!  I had a medical appointment one morning in a part of Brisbane that is known for its night life.  I had a 2 minute walk to the train station, and ran into a homeless woman just as I was about to enter the station. God gave me a word of knowledge about her health and circumstances so I asked if I could pray for her.  As I began to pray we saw her physical healing take place, but there was a woman sitting on the sidewalk across the road from us who began to scream at the top of her lungs, “No, DON’T TOUCH HER!  Keep your hands off….” And then she yelled at the lovely woman that I was praying for, “Don’t let her do it!  Don’t let her pray for you!  Don’t do it…it’ll ruin everything!  Noooo!”

I could hear her screaming at me, but for a second I was unsure of whether or not she was talking to ME, so I started praying in the Spirit just to regather my thoughts.  This seemed to make matters worse, and it caused the woman’s yelling to grow louder and more aggressive.  I quickly realized that this was a demon yelling at me, not another homeless lady.  So, in my righteous anger, I asked the lady that I was praying for if she knew Jesus – and got to lead her to the Lord – but not before a group of rather large men approached me shouting the same things at me that the demonized woman across the street was shouting!  They never got within a few feet from my person, but each of them was manifesting something nasty that was designed to intimidate me and cause me to leave the scene.

Just about the time I saw my woman accept Jesus, find healing and find deliverance, the woman across the street started to scream as if someone was stabbing her!

The men began to shout loud obscenities as well, and I suppose all the ruckus caused the police to arrive.  I was asked by the police to leave immediately.  I politely submitted to their wishes and turned into the train station, where the Lord so graciously processed with me what had happened.

I am a carrier of His glory, and I walked into a territory where demons seemed to have free reign. Yet He who is in me is greater, because I have the Spirit of the Risen Christ within me, so I was the dominant Spirit.  Just like Pepper getting cranky when Frodo walks into the room as the alpha, I seemed to have stirred up the spiritual atmosphere when I came walking down the street carrying Jesus inside of me!  

But I am not unaware of his schemes, and I knew that I carry Jesus therefore I carry authority. The intimidation tactics did not work on me because in that moment I knew who I was and WHOSE I was.  Had I allowed the intimidation to affect me, the woman would not have been healed, delivered and saved that day.

If you have Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit within you, you ARE the alpha.  You are the dominant Spirit, and you carry great authority.  Let’s ask Him to show us more and more how to navigate this in our lives.  

“ …having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church…” Ephesians 1:18-22

~ Mandy Woodhouse

 

  

 

There is Courage in our Yes and in our No…

The story of Esther in the Bible shows us what a powerful “Yes” it was for Esther to courageously accept the assignment to save her people and a nation.

Her “Yes” opened up doors of favor for her with the King, exposed Haman’s plot, and saved many people.

Her “Yes” was risky – but worth it!

But not so fast …

We seem to skim right over Queen Vashti who was just as courageous in her “No” that ultimately cost her everything.

She didn’t want to be paraded around for her beauty to her husband and his drunken friends anymore. She didn’t want to just be seen as a “pretty face” or an “object of desire” anymore. She would rather be driven out because she refused to display her lovely face and figure before the lustful eyes of drunken men.

She was willing to give up everything in her “No” to not feel cheapened and unworthy anymore.

Her defiance in her “No” cost her the crown, but she didn’t cater to the vanity and sensuality of drunkards.

She courageously sacrificed a kingdom.

Rather than lower her values of modesty and worth she courageously accepted disgrace and dismissal.

Ultimately she won in her “No” as she sat in that drunken court that day and remain seated and refused to dance-even at the King’s command.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. –Winston Churchill

We all have #DivineCourage

We all can answer #ACallToValor

Grab my book “Divine Courage” available now on Amazon Divine Courage: A Call To Valor: Michelle Bollom: 9781098746636: Amazon.com: Books

Image from Instagram by Power Words

~ XXOO Michelle Bollom