Did You Ask?

Did you ask the Lord for patience?

Did you plead for it in prayer?

But when tribulation tried you,

Did you think He didn’t care?

Oh, my child, He heard and answered,

Answered full your earnest cry:

“Tribulation worketh patience!”

Now you know the reason why.

Did you ask Him for submission?

Did you ask for it in prayer?

But when suffering came upon you,

Did you think it wasn’t fair?

Oh, my dear, He heard and answered,

Though not how you wished, ‘tis clear;

For we only learn submission

By the things we suffer here.

‘Twas unselfishness you wanted?

Did you plead for it in prayer?

But the sacrifice He asked for,

Did it seem too great to bear?

Oh, He cared, He heard and answered,

Answered full your heart-felt prayer;

For we learn to be unselfish,

By the sacrifice we bear.

Did you ask the Lord for victory?

Well, He took you at your word!

Tho’ when the battle raged around you,

You wondered if He’d heard.

Oh, my child, He heard and answered,

And He gave you your request:

For how can you win a victory

If you never face a test?

Did you ask to be made humble?

Not to have self-righteous pride?

But then wonder when He published

All your failings far and wide?

Well, my child, that was His answer

To your prayer of desperation:

The surest way to be made humble,

Is to bear humiliation.

Judge not God with mortal’s judgement, When your prayers are answered so;

For the truest paths for Christians,

Often lead through vales of woe.

And the answers that He gives you,

Will be truly good and fair:

Though you may not understand them

Till you view from over there!

–Josephine Hope Westervelt

Poetically Prophetic

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You Have Come Home

I am bringing you to My 

waters of perfect rest

The place your heart

unknowingly searched for

A place occupied by 

the one’s who laid their 

hearts bare before me

Allowing Me to have my 

way in and through them

During their darkest times

Your journey was long and 

hard and steep at times

Yet you never gave up

I took you into unknown territories to test your heart towards me

The stripping of your ego, 

pride and old ways of doing 

things were necessary

I can fully use you when I 

see Myself in you

You are now moving in sync 

with My Spirit 

As My love emanates from 

your being 

It will spill over to everyone 

you come into contact with

Setting alight many to seek 

My face

My daughters I have drawn 

you with My love

While you were still in shackles

Clothed in rags

Blinded by your pain

My love gently lured you 

to explore My heart

Till you were overcome and 

forever changed by My love

You are entering the place I 

longed for you to find

You have found it through 

your many wanderings

You have found it through 

your constant pain

You have found it in your 

darkest hours

When you had nothing to 

hold on to

I drew your focus to My gaze

All your fears had to bow in 

the presence of My love

I am so in love with you, 

My daughter

You held onto My hand 

through the uncertainty

Through the voices trying 

to quiet you

Through the demonic attacks 

sent to derail you

You walked straight into 

an oasis of My never ending 

love for you

I don’t look at your credentials

I don’t look at your accomplishments

Nor at your outer appearance

I was captivated by your 

love for Me

Many will see and share 

and taste of the deep work 

that I have done in you

I am calling you to Myself

I have found you faithful 

Amongst many daughters 

that are still holding on to 

things of no worth

Your worth is hidden

in Me

No one can touch you

My sword over you severing 

every plan of the enemy

Oh how I yearn after you

What once held your gaze are fading in the background

The love and attention you 

so desperately needed from 

human beings

You have found in Me

I am your constant Companion

All other lovers are fading in 

the background

You have found the key 

to My heart

You will be like a beacon

drawing hurting daughters 

out of their caves

My light burning through you

will lead them straight to Me

This is the day that you will look back and thank your enemies for the part they have played 

They meant to harm you, but 

I am turning everything around 

for your good

Your journey brought you 

to this wide, open place in Me

The place I have prepared for you

The search is over

You have come home.

~ Ebigale Wilson

You Have Come Home

The Journey

Sing! Sing! Sing!

No Music No Life … I have to agree!

We must Sing Sing Sing! And Worship and Praise!

Today for #SongSunday I am adding an old quote I found tucked in my notes.

Tell us some of your favorite songs in the comments. ~ XXOO Michelle

“Any man can sing by day; but only he whose heart has been tuned by the gracious hand of Jehovah can sing in the darkness.

The things of earth may satisfy for the hours of prosperity; but only the peace of God can give gladness in the darkness of adversity.

God gives joy in sorrow; and when the sad one sings through his tears, then the Lord comes out to him with new and more tender assurances, so that by his very hymn he is made more gladsome.”

~Wm. M. Taylor

Seeking Love

We are a technologically advanced society, but our souls are sick.

We seek help in psychotherapy, support groups, tarrot cards, crystals – anything that will relieve the pain. But we find that these supposed sources of help are helpless.

The emptiness will not be filled.

What we long to know is that we are loved. To be more specific, we hunger to know that we are accepted as we are, forgiven for all we have done, and cared for by a gracious, loving God.

When we know this, we walk away well.

~ James Bryan Smith

Lord, I receive this day your acceptance, forgiveness, and care, believing You love me – like a Father. Amen.

Love Attacks

I had the most embarrassingly funny moment at a shopping center in Brisbane this week.  Like most of my crazy moments in life, God used it to show me something beautiful.  I just love His perspective.

Being an American in Australia, I got to the shopping center a little shaky.  I lived in Australia years ago so you’d think I’d be fairly confident at driving on the OTHER side of the road (competent, YES…confident, not quite yet).  Maybe it was the fact that I missed the turn off to the parking tower and had to circle the giant center a few times, or that it took me 5 goes at parking our new little Mazda 3 straight.  At any rate, I was super excited to be on an outing and having driven all by myself, though slightly flustered.

Inside I quickly found my current favorite shop and enjoyed browsing through the home wares section. After a few minutes, I looked up and saw a familiar face from a distance. There was a guy standing some yards away intensely eyeing a kitchen knife, and I was certain this was our good friend Rod (who I had not yet had the pleasure of seeing since we’ve been back in Australia).  Rod seemed to have cut his hair super short since I last saw him last in November, so being ME I figured I’d sneak up and give him a big, surprise hug from behind and then shower him with love as he’s a dear friend of ours.  

I got super excited as I prepared my sneaky love-attack…..and when I pounced, I did it with all the affection and silliness of a little sister-type!

And y’all….much to my horror….this man was NOT Rod.

He was most likely taken aback, but could have been a little less direct and rude with me when he informed me that he was not who I thought he was.  Of course I apologized and my face was probably several shades of maroon as I crept away from him in humiliation.  I actually had a hard time looking at him in the eyes for a second as he very quickly walked away from me (actually, it looked almost like he was escaping from me!).  I made a quick exit as well, giggling to myself as the initial embarrassment wore off.  

Again later, I saw him from a distance and he seemed to have a lighter attitude and more of a spring in his step.  I hoped I had not freaked him out too much and he was now able to laugh about it.

When I shared this story with a friend that day at lunch, she made a most interesting comment that got me talking to God about it. “What if that’s the only hug that man has ever received from Jesus,” my friend said to me.  1 John 4:17 says that as Jesus is, so am I in this world.

 Galatians 2:20 says that I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives IN ME.  And what about Romans 8, which states that I have the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living within me?!  

What if it was a complete GOD SET-UP because this man NEEDED A HUG???  That’s a different perspective indeed.

The more I processed this with the Lord the more He spoke to me about it from several different angles.

 What if God Himself desires to sneak up on us with that same kind of love and excited affection, yet we abruptly shoo Him away like this man did to me?  What if, like this man, we are too intense and focused on our tasks that we forget that God just wants to give us a cuddle?  

How often have I pushed Holy Spirit away because I’m so focused on getting stuff done that I don’t feel like I have time to allow Him to love on me.  And what if the man’s attitude changed because he actually did encounter the love of God for a second, through me?

How much more does God want to love on us, celebrate us and see us changed by just a moment with Him.  

And sometimes, all we need is a good hug and someone to celebrate us.  How amazing to know that Jesus always celebrates us!

As you can tell, I took away a few important lessons from this most embarrassing moment.  I do think that if I had the opportunity again, even through the embarrassment, I’d still do the same thing.  

The Love of Jesus transforms the world, even through a stranger’s hug.  I’ll never apologize for how I carry the Love of Christ.

I think I’ll go allow Him to hug on ME for awhile now.  There’s nothing in the world like His love.

~ Mandy Woodhouse

Sacrifice

Worthy Thought: Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.

~A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Image is Angela Lipe-Pattengill with Sounds Of Love

My Worship Belongs To You

I Worship to an audience of One

My heart leaps as I sense Your presence

Transcending all boundaries in tune we are One

Always pursuing always near

Your love calms my every fear

My Safe place, my everlasting Light

I behold your Glory knowing I’m always in Your sight

Hands lifted and heart rejoicing

My King, My Hero, My next Heart Beat

My breath comes from You and so does my tune

Lovingly coaxing my every move

The length of my days are written in You

No pain, no attack can stop the unfolding of my story

Always and in all things I give You the honour and the Glory

Hallelujah, Hallelujah I exalt Your Name

Above the noise and the sound of rain

I give You Daddy God All the Praise

Forever and ever all the length of my days

I will exalt Your Name

Never again believing I deserved the shame

Only basking in Your loving gaze

Hands lifted and heart surrendered

I worship to an audience of One

♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡

~ Melissa Sedick

My Worship Belongs To You

She Remembers The Pain No More

She remembers the pain 

no more!

The lonely nights

The constant fights

The anger, frustration, the 

deep rooted pain

The rejection, the lies, the betrayal 

The endless challenges

The closed doors

The heart wrenching pain  

of losing those dear to 

her heart 

 

The deep issues she 

struggled with

The silent battles no one 

knew about

The anxiety that controlled 

her life

She remembers the pain 

no more!

It was replaced with a peace that surpasses all understanding

Who would have thought that 

a journey of obedience would lead to a place of perfect rest

A place deeply hidden 

in Papa

Pursued and occupied 

by the desperate one’s

Who died a thousand deaths

 

Papa lured her away 

Called her to Himself

A high price of obedience 

she had to pay

Only her and Papa knows 

about the tears of surrender

About the tests, the trials, the pain of letting go daily

About the awakening to something indescribable

Where her flesh collided 

with Father God’s Spirit

And a lovesick daughter

was born

With love Papa drew her 

to Himself 

A place where she ministers to Papa and He ministers to her

She yearns only to dwell in 

His presence

She had to be transformed 

into His image

For Papa to make her His 

dwelling place

It was worth the pain of 

dying to self

Worth every sacrifice

He asked of her

Worth the witchcraft and 

every demon coming against her

She counts it an honour to be trained by Holy Spirit 

To be one of Papa’s daughters representing Him in the earth

She is known in heaven 

She is feared in hell

She laid hold of a place 

few have visited

Occupied and made it hers

Had she not surrendered completely 

She would have missed this important visitation

Where Father secluded her

Healed her broken heart

Restored her unto Himself

A nameless, faceless army are emerging!

A changing of the guards are 

taking place!

The hidden one’s who were

trained under the watchful eyes 

of the One they love most

Are ready to release the fragrance of heaven in the earth

Ready to release their secret place encounters into the earth

Many are amongst us already

Fathers glory carriers

Silently, obediently, humbly going about the Fathers business…

They remember the pain 

no more!

~ Ebigale Wilson

She Remembers The Pain No More

The Journey

Sing Like The Battle Is Over

I am wearing out this new album by Catherine Mullins.

Enjoy this weeks #SongSunday

When God Moves You

When God Shifted ME Instead of the Mountain…

My husband and I recently transitioned our lives from a little town in South Carolina all the way to Brisbane, Australia. We sold our house and all of our belongings, sold off our vehicles and flew across the world with six suitcases and two little dogs.  

God spoke, we heard Him clearly, and with wise counsel and radical abandonment we counted the cost and took off on perhaps the greatest faith adventure of our lives.

The transition has been one of the smoothest, most amazing God-stories that we have ever known.  The Lord ordered each and every single step and surrounded us with great favor.  We got to Australia a few weeks ago and it felt like an Ephesians 3:20 dream (better than we could have asked for or imagined).  Unlike many other times that I have traveled, there was not one single glitch – until, that is, we had to get the dogs from quarantine.

To be fair, the mix-up in dates was entirely our fault.  We got excited and neglected to read the email correctly, so we drove nearly nine hours to collect our precious fur babies an entire 24 hours early.  Thankfully we had accommodation and the rental car sorted, so our mistake did not cost us what it could have.  But not having seen our puppies for 14 days was wearing on our hearts, and the idea of not collecting them on the day that we planned was gut wrenching.

And just like God…this turned out to be a significant lesson for me on so many levels.  

When the government officer from the post-entry quarantine department gently explained that we could not see our dogs on that day, I went to war in my Spirit and with my words.  I know that I have the power of life or death in my tongue (Proverbs 18:21), and I know that I can speak to mountains and see them move in the Name of Jesus (Mark 11:23), so I began to declare, decree, and believe that I would see this mountain move and hold my puppies that very day.  I know that I am seated with Christ in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and can therefore push Heaven down to earth over my circumstances (which I boldly did, and with great authority).  

As I sat in the car while my husband was out trying to make sense of it all, I remained calm and confident that I would see my dogs and be driving off with them within moments.  

Now allow me to be honest… in the past, I would have been riddled with anxiety.  I would have worried about their little hearts, and would have driven my husband crazy with my fancy ideas and suggestions on how to solve the situation (*cough cough* control is actually a better word).  I would have allowed fear to come and make me act irrationally, and I would have most likely cried my eyes out with anger and worry.  But this time was different.  

As I continued to declare and decree the promises of God over our lives, our situation and our dogs, something shifted for me.  I seemed to press into the whole situation with a new confidence in God, and I gracefully kept my calm in every way.  I was convinced that as the officer walked off to triple check our details that he would return and open those giant, official gates and let us drive in to collect our babies.  After all, “Surely GOODNESS and MERCY follow me all the days of my life…” (Psalm 23:6, ESV).  

Yet the official man very kindly and humbly denied our request.  We had mistakenly come several hours before the quarantine period was to end, so we had to return tomorrow as per government rules.  I had decreed, declared and believed with great faith, yet the mountain did not move.

But you know what?  It was actually ME that shifted.  Something in me changed, and instead of feeling anger, frustration, anxiety or worse – I actually felt a sense of expectation.  

Here’s what happened the more I verbally declared aloud God’s written word over my circumstances:  Peace began to flood my heart, and the nervous heat in my chest disappeared.  My brain got quiet...super quiet!  I began to feel fully awake, as if I was more aware than before of the atmosphere around me.  I could even sense angelic activity!  I began to feel super bold and confident as I prayed with authority, and what would have been a once all-consuming fear actually did not exist at all in my mind or body.  

I shifted gears into complete and utter trust in God and His perfect plan for this situation.  Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 became alive to me (the living word!).  And this all caused me to be more excited and expectant than ever!  

“If the mountain didn’t move, then God must be up to something better than I could have imagined for myself” is what loudly rang in my Spirit.  You see it’s up to me to keep trusting my Father and to keep hold of my own spirit in the waiting.  He who rules his spirit is better than one who conquers a city (Proverbs 16:32).

And you know what?!  We got to spend time with friends that night that we would not have been able to see if we had the dogs with us.  God used us to bless others and minister deeply to a friend, which we would not have done had we been doting on our sweet furry friends.  There were so many other little factors that played out which made us see that God saw what was best all along. And when we finally got to see our puppies the next day it was a most wonderful experience with full attention all on them.

Sometimes it may not make sense to our natural minds WHY things don’t work out the way that we expected or declared, especially when we feel that we have done “everything right.”  But that does not mean that we are to stop declaring!  Daniel 10 records the account of Daniel praying, and the angelic help being held up for 21 days by things going on in the unseen spiritual realms.  

Sometimes things are held up because of the enemy, sometimes things are just meant for an appointed time…but God is never late.  And we are not to ever stop telling the mountains to move!

My advice?  Don’t give up.  But likewise, don’t despise the shift that could actually take place in YOU instead.

 

 ~ Mandy Woodhouse