Thursday, December 29, 2016

CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all my friends and followers around the world. Always remember that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of all history and His birth is the greatest event ever. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Let's all of us take that message to the world. Together let's save the lost and be a part of hastening His Return!

Love,

Carolyn

Sunday, December 18, 2016

DELIGHT

 
DELIGHT
My best friend Jane wrote this in a recent letter: “The Bible says that for everything there is a season. There have been so many seasons in my life and they have bridged the gamut from absolute disaster to delight beyond my wildest expectations. But in this season, right now, I am beginning to experience the harvester and the sower passing each other. My prayer requests and heart's desires are beginning to run and chase me down. This is so new the baby is still crowning on the way out.”

As it says in Amos 9:13: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt [that is, everything heretofore barren and unfruitful shall overflow with spiritual blessing] [AMP].

This is what God spoke to the Israelites after they’d spent a long time in captivity and struggle. They yearned for deliverance and the blessings they’d once known. I think we all go through times when we yearn for better times, without so many struggles, a purer time of happy days and more delight.

The Message Bible puts it this way: “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now. God’s Decree. Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people: They’ll rebuild their ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land. They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them. God, your God, says so.

That’s exciting and I believe that’s what’s happening now for God’s people around the world. We can expect restoration. “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed” (Joel 2:25-26).

And new things: Isaiah 48: 6-7 says: “From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’”

These new blessings that God and the Lord Jesus have for us are so new we won’t be able to attribute them to anything but the sheer magnitude of God’s love for us. We are going to start getting some prayers answered and new blessings before we even get the requests out of our mouths. I’ve started to see it happen, so I expect it to spread.   

Get your delight list out. I think it’s going to be a long one!

Love, Carolyn
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Sunday, December 11, 2016

HONORING GOD AND EACH OTHER

HONORING GOD AND EACH OTHER
At the Christmas party, I was honored with a special hardhat and a $1000 travel voucher, for ten years of continuous service. I had no idea I was getting it, so the blessing was especially sweet. In the Bible, wise men from the East came to honor Jesus, bringing Him gifts. These men watched and studied the skies and knew from the lineup of the planets and stars, that a great king had been born, a king worthy of honor. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11).

The shepherds honored the baby Jesus in a different way.  They were “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). The angel of the Lord came and told them that they were in the right place at the right time and it was to them that this blessing had come.

How often are we going about our normal routines, endeavoring to do God’s will the best we can, and all of a sudden we meet someone new who really blesses our lives? Or we’re inspired to get in a certain grocery line and end up blessing a total stranger? We end up in the right place at the right time to either be blessed or be a blessing. Hebrews 13:2 even tells us we should “be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

That’s what happened to the shepherds. They were in the hills by Bethlehem and that’s where God wanted them. The angel of God found them and told them the good news. “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2: 9-11).

This event brought “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (v.14). The shepherds went down into the city of Bethlehem to witness this for themselves.

The Bible doesn’t say anything about them honoring Jesus with physical gifts like the wise men did later on, but the shepherds honored Jesus by telling people what the angel told them and what they actually witnessed themselves. That’s how they honored God—by telling other people about the great things God did and was doing even now.

“And when they [the shepherds] had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.  And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them” (vv. 17,18 and 20).

Gift-giving originated with God. Right after God created Adam, He gave him a gift. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2: 8-9).

The idea of honoring God and others came straight from our creator and has happily invaded all cultures of the world.
This Christmas let’s think about honoring each with our gifts and our respect. And most of all, let’s give some special attention to how we can honor God and our Savior, Christ the Lord.

Love, Carolyn

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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

"BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD"

“BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD”
In the story of Christmas, the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she would be having a child by a miracle of the Holy Spirit and this child would be Jesus, the son of God. Mary believed that if people would just stick with what God told them, His Word was always going to come to pass. “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).  She had heard of the miraculous things God did and totally believed that God’s Word was true. She believed that the Red Sea really did open up miraculously to let the Israelites cross over on dry land. She believed the story about the ax head that was lost, but then floated up out of the water, defying the natural laws of gravity (2 Kings 6:5-6). She believed what she heard about the Hebrews just looking at the brass serpent in the wilderness and getting healed of their snake bites (Num. 21:8-9).

So when the angel Gabriel told her that she was the one who would miraculously birth the Messiah, the son of God, the promised seed from the Bible, she believed it: “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).

Peter also was taught to believe the records of the many miracles God did. And he, like Mary, believed beyond what looked impossible by natural laws. Peter literally stepped out of the boat, after hearing and believing just one word from Jesus: “Come” (Matt. 14: 29). Peter saw that Jesus was walking on top of the water, even as the ship was being tossed around by the waves. When Jesus said, “Come,” Peter figured Jesus meant it, so he dared to do it.

We all have verses that mean a lot to our heart. We can probably name a few right now. Those are the very ones the Lord has been trying to speak to us personally all along. If you’ve not done this before, you can take a slightly new approach to those favorite verses. Focus on the verse then be like Mary: Believe the miraculous and say, “Be it unto me according to thy Word.” And let’s be like Peter, walk out and expect it to work.

Love, Carolyn
(painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1898)

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

COUNT TO TEN AND BE MORE CHRIST-LIKE

COUNT TO TEN AND BE MORE CHRIST-LIKE
I was sitting quietly in Starbucks with my laptop, notebook and Bible, totally engaged in studying on dreams, when up out of my peripheral vision a nightmarish face invaded my space. It startled me and I grabbed ahold of my purse on the empty chair next to me and slid it onto the floor by my feet. I had earplugs in so I couldn’t hear what the grizzly-looking man was mumbling. A few moments passed and I heard Jane’s clear voice from the next table over, “We’re working here. We don’t have time to talk.” The man angrily mumbled something about the Bible and in a matter of minutes he got up and left.

Later on, Jane and I talked about it. She told me she was ready to fry the guy with her words the minute she saw him approach me, but she’s been practicing counting to ten before she speaks out of anger. It was amazing. Her quiet, honest words only got one low grumbled complaint before the nightmare man left.

I thought about a lesson I’d heard as a child: “When you get angry, count to ten before you speak.” Jane counts “one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, etc.” I learned it as: “one dimension, two dimension, etc.” I think it works with any three-syllable word, but the point is, it does work.

My tendency is to sit there and boil on the inside until I can hardly stand it and can’t concentrate anymore. Either that, or I fire off some snide remark out loud or under my breath.

Not Jane. She counted to ten and calmly and clearly told the man we didn’t have time for conversation. And it was true. I was studying for an article and she was working on promotions.

There are several verses in the Bible that say God is slow to anger. We are to “be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1).

Nehemiah 9:17 says this: “Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.”

Counting to ten is one way to make sure we don’t fly off the handle in rage, but instead, be more like God, slow to anger. By calming ourselves we give the Spirit a chance to work, instead of being led by emotion.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a hot temper (maybe partly my Sicilian background?), but the truth is that no matter where it came from, only God can really change those built-in character bents. Unlike one who “flies off the handle,” the Lord is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Ps. 103:8).

Psalm 145:8 tells us: “The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.” Anyone who knows the old Jane, knows she can cut to the bone and turn a live person to sand (figuratively) with her words. But her answer to the scary man in the coffee shop was full of compassion. She spoke the words calmly and straight forward. After counting to ten, she had no anger, just truth.

The wisdom of Solomon on slowing down our wrath, is found in Proverbs 15:18: “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.”

And Solomon goes on to say, “Better to be slow to anger than to be a mighty warrior, and one who controls his temper is better than one who captures a city” (Prov. 16:32). These are some very strong words.

Is it worth it to count to ten to calm our anger? Definitely! It is God’s will that we do it, as we can see from these scriptures.

In Colossians 3:1-3, the Apostle Paul admonishes us as Christians: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. [We’ll be there soon.] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For [in reality] ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” He goes on to say in verse 5: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.” Among the things he lists, is anger.  

If you know any other way to be slow to anger, God bless you. For now, since I’ve seen the amazing true results in Jane, I’m going with “one dimension, two dimension, three dimension, four dimension, five dimension, six dimension . . .  See, you’ve already tired of reading, so can our fiery anger also dissipate as fast? With the Lord’s help, I absolutely believe, YES!

A few days ago the same man walked by Jane in the same Starbucks and the demon in him audibly growled at her! But Jane has no fear. I hope to report to you sometime in the future that because of the goodness of God, this same man becomes like the man of the Gadarenes in Mark 5:15: “ And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind.”

One dimension, two dimension . . .

Love, Carolyn

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Thursday, December 1, 2016

BEING SPIRITUALLY PREPARED FOR THE HOLIDAYS

 
BEING SPIRITUALLY PREPARED FOR THE HOLIDAYS
The holidays are upon us and though we would love for everything to be cheery and bright, in reality many of us will face some awkward situations. Here’s five keys to help us:

1. GIVE IT TO JESUS, THE MASTER OF CELEBRATIONS. It’s like Peter had already been to holiday after holiday with the same results. He was pretty sure it would be the same as before. But when he did his best to give it to Jesus, everything changed. In Luke 5 Jesus told Peter to “launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” They hadn’t caught any fish all night and he couldn’t see getting the nets dirty again. Also he knew that if he tried fishing in the day he’d probably get nothing. “Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the [one] net” (Lk 5: 4-5).

Even Peter’s small amount of true trust got results in a wonderful way. “And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes (vs. 6) and he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken” (vs. 9).

Jesus knows how to do celebrations. When he was at the wedding in Cana, they ran out of wine. The party was turning sour and Jesus turned the water into wine and made it sweet again. Who’s to say He wouldn’t do that for us??

2. RETREAT TO GOD AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED TO. Sometimes when we get into tense situations or conversations, the best thing to do is excuse ourselves for a few minutes and go to the restroom or take a short walk: Retreat.

The King James Version of Psalm 91: 9 tells us to make the Most High our habitation. The Hebrew word translated “habitation” means “retreat.” It goes on to say that because we retreat to Him “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (vss. 11-12). Stones represent the natural world.

During the holidays we have so many opportunities to get trapped in conversations that engender strife. We get tripped up on those stones thrown into our paths. But we can be willing and ready to physically take a quick retreat to somewhere else to talk to God and He will send His angels to keep us in the Lord’s way so we don’t crash into the stones, getting offended or offensive.

3. BLESS THOSE AROUND YOU AND ANYONE WHOSE NAME COMES UP IN CONVERSATION. God created every person with something marvelous in mind. So no matter what little we think a person seems to be doing toward that goal, we give them an open door by praying, “God bless them and help them to be able to do Your perfect will for their lives, in Jesus name. Amen.” The holidays are as good a time as any to give people a little more sympathy and empathy. Remember that if you gossip about others, for sure others will be gossiping about you too.

4. GET YOUR BODY BLESSED. Going into situations where we’re uncomfortable because of incidents or feelings from the past, tend to make us vulnerable and weak and susceptible to old soul wounds. These can make us feel badly, think badly and act badly, which can quickly take a toll on our physical bodies as well.

Pray this: “God help my body to do and be as You God intended it to be.” Ephesians 4:16 says, “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint is supplying, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” That’s a good one to pray too.

5. GET YOUR MOUTH BLESSED. One of the biggest tricks Satan pulls with family and friends is to get us to say something we later regret. Proverbs 18: 21 tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Once said, it’s out there and nearly irretrievable unless we almost immediately ask forgiveness and even then it’s awkward. The best way to avoid this is to get your mouth blessed. Pray, “Lord, help my mouth to be blessed to only say what You intend.”

To review: 1. GIVE IT TO JESUS, THE MASTER OF CELEBRATIONS, 2. RETREAT TO GOD AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED TO, 3. BLESS THOSE AROUND YOU AND ANYONE WHOSE NAME COMES UP IN CONVERSATION, 4. GET YOUR BODY BLESSED, 5. GET YOUR MOUTH BLESSED. 

These are 5 keys that will really help us this holiday season.  The number 5 in the Bible represents God’s grace. Let His grace give us amazing holiday times.

Love, Carolyn


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Sunday, November 27, 2016

BIBLE DREAMS AND NIGHT MIRACLES

BIBLE DREAMS AND NIGHT MIRACLES
Psalm 17:15 is one of my new favorites: “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.” The word “likeness” in this verse means “what He’s formed, what He’s fashioned for us.” God’s will is to bless us always, even when we are sleeping. The first place in the Bible where God fashioned something while a man was sleeping is found in the very first book of the Bible, where “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Gen. 2:21-22).

The man was alone. He needed a companion and of all the animals God had already created, none was quite right. So God put a deep sleep on the man and in that time, a part of that man was used by God to create the perfect companion. The Lord doesn’t need to take a rib from us, but He does need something from us. He needs what’s behind the rib, our hearts.

Then in Genesis 15 God makes a promise to Abram about his future and what He would do for him. God tells Abram that even though he was old, he would have a son with his wife Sarah. “And He [God] brought him forth outdoors and said, ‘Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if thou be able to number them.’ And He said unto him, ‘So shall thy seed be’” (Gen. 15:5). God promised him land as well.

Then Abram asked God how would he know it and God told Abram to make preparations for a covenant relationship between himself and God. So Abram got it all ready and “when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and lo, a horror [fear] of great darkness [misery] fell upon him” (v.12). God told Abram that his heirs would be suffering slavery for a while, but “afterward they shall come out with great substance” (v. 14). And God also showed Abram that he would die peacefully and “be buried at a good old age” (v. 15).

In this example, we see that Abram prepared himself to be connected with God in a covenant relationship. This was no small thing. Abram was saying to God that he was willing to accept what God would do. Even if bad things happened along the way, Abram trusted that the Lord would bring a great outcome in the end. As it turned out, one of Abram’s heirs was the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Genesis 40, Joseph is in prison and two of Pharaoh’s workers were thrown in prison as well. The two had dreams but they had no interpreter in prison, or so they thought, so they were sad. Then Joseph asked, “Isn’t Elohim [God as creator] the only one who can tell what they mean?” (v. 8). And it was because Joseph was able to interpret their dreams according to what God intended, that later he got out of prison, interpreted a dream of Pharaoh’s and became the second in command of all of Egypt.

Conclusion: Dreams matter and learning to interpret them according to Godly wisdom is a great Biblical tool we could stand to learn. I was not very interested in dreams until just lately when I heard a teaching on it. But now that I’ve been studying it in the Bible, I don’t want to be caught short on anything God has made available to us in His wonderful Word. So the learning continues.

In the Old Testament times, people were used to talking about dreams and visions, and interpretation seemed to be a common practice for believers as well as unbelievers. There are many examples, including those of Gideon, Samuel, Nathan, Zechariah, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Job and so many others.

But let’s go to the New Testament times. Peter had a life-changing vision, which affected him as well as those of us who were born, not of Jewish blood, but of Gentile nations. The thing about dreams and visions is that God gets us when we are not in a fully rational state of mind. He gets us when we are in a more open state and more receptive to new ideas. Even if we don’t understand them at first, they get in and then we have to deal with them.

This is what happens to us sometimes at night when the Lord puts someone in our dreams who we don’t like or someone from the past who we don’t want anything to do with. We ask ourselves, “Why is this awful person getting into my dreams?” Usually it’s because God wants us to pray for them. OHHHH NOOOOO! Yep, if they were awful to you, they were probably awful to others as well and who else is going to pray for them? God trusts that you will! Be happy if the Lord only requires you to pray for them. This is similar to what happened to Peter in Acts 10, only Peter didn’t just have to pray for them, he had to go see them. The result was earth-shaking!

“About noon, when Peter was going up to the roof to pray, he was hungry and wanted to eat. But while they were preparing the food for Peter to eat, he had a vision. He saw something coming down through the open sky. It looked like a big sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, ‘Get up, Peter; kill anything here and eat it.’ But Peter said, ‘I can’t do that, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is not pure or fit to be used for food’” (vv. 9-14).

Remember, Peter was a Jew and he followed very strict dietary rules. 

“But the voice said to him again, ‘God has made these things pure. Don’t say they are unfit to eat’” (v. 15).
Peter was so bewildered, God had to show him the same vision three times and “then the whole thing was taken back up into heaven [and] Peter wondered what this vision meant” (vv.16-17).

“While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Listen, three men are looking for you. Get up and go downstairs. Go with these men without wondering if it’s all right, because I sent them’” (vv.19-20).

So Peter went with the men and they brought him to a Gentile’s house, Cornelius’ house. Then Peter began to understand the vision. As he stood before all Cornelius’ household, “he said unto them, ‘Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean’” (v. 28). And Peter taught them.

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, ‘Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth [respects] him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him” (vv. 34-35).

I also like the way the ERV puts it:

Peter began to speak: ‘I really understand now that God does not consider some people to be better than others. He accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right. It is not important what nation they come from. God has spoken to the people of Israel. He sent them the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all people’” (vv. 34-38).

It is because of Peter accepting the vision from God and acting on it, that today there are millions in the body of Christ who were of Gentile backgrounds.

If you are skeptical about dreams and visions, take a look in a concordance at the references. In the King James Version, “dream” is used 87 times and “vision” 96 times. Let the Lord show you through His Word.

Everything God does is for our benefit and speaking to us in a dream or vision, when the big “me” doesn’t get in the way, is just one of them.

Love, Carolyn

I got inspired along these lines by Katie Souza. I don’t follow all her teachings but when I listen, I let the Holy Spirit show me what’s good for me to look at. I’m sure you do the same thing with the Bible teachers you hear also.

How about putting some of my books and booklets on your Christmas list? They are inexpensive and valuable gifts for yourself or someone you love.


Wednesday, November 23, 2016

WHY DOES GOD USE DREAMS? -- HOW TO INTERPRET THE SYMBOLS

WHY DOES GOD USE DREAMS? -- HOW TO INTERPRET THE SYMBOLS
Job 33:14-18 tells us some amazing truths about why God speaks to us in dreams. In verse 14 He says: “For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it.” That’s just so true. How many times has the Lord tried to tell us what direction to go or give us an answer to prayer and we just are too busy or too distracted to really listen? But God is very clever.

So He’ll visit us when we’re napping or sleeping, when our bodies are trying to slow down and rest, and we’re in a more subconscious state. The Lord communicates with us, like it says in verse 15-16: “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds. Then He open the ears of men, and seals their instruction.”

Why? “In order to turn man from his deed and conceal pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword” (vv. 17-18). Everything the Lord does for us is to give us a wonderful life. So what this section of scripture is telling us is that He will try to get to us in any way He can, and since He already knows we sometimes don’t listen so well when we’re awake, He communicates with us while our body and soul take a rest.

In studying what the Bible says about dreams and visions, I’ve seen that God either talks very directly, or He communicates with symbols. Proverbs 25:2 tells us: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” We are those kings, as John tells us in Revelation 1:5-6: “Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests unto God.”

Both the clear dreams and the symbolic dreams are very intimate from God’s point of view, but the dreams with symbols require us to do some searching. Because we have to search for what the symbols mean, the journey necessarily requires a more intimate relationship with the Lord.

There are lots of books on interpreting dreams, but I never quite knew which ones were “right,” so I pretty much avoided them. Two books would interpret the same symbol in two different ways. Then I heard a Bible teaching on dreams that made sense as far as sources for symbol interpretation. They are:

1.      Think about what the symbol means to you personally
2.      Look up the meanings of the items in your dream in the Bible itself
3.      Look up their meanings a Dictionary
4.      Get the help of the Holy Spirit. “The helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things” (John 14:26).

One important thing, before we go looking up dream meanings, is to actually get some clear details on the dream. “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” In this case, that would be us!  The dreams I remember are usually the ones I have right before I wake up in the morning. The other morning, I tried to remember my dream and it was amazing how much more became clear as I began to write the dream down.

So even as you write down the dream, the Holy Spirit will teach you some things about what the dream means. And remember that it is YOUR dream, so some items in the dream will be specific to you. For instance, “a cream-yellow car” for me would indicate the dream has something to do with my grandparents. If you had a cream-yellow car in your dream, you would not be thinking of my grandparents.

So, you start to look at the dream and if you aren’t exactly sure what God is trying to tell you, start with one of the main items in the dream. My dream the other night had two kinds of chairs in it. I examined the two chairs and asked myself, “What’s the difference between these two chairs?” In other words, what do the chairs mean to me personally? When I answered that, the next thing I did was look up “chair” online at https://www.blueletterbible.org and found the Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) words and definitions for chair.

It’s so awesome to look up the definitions of words used in the Bible. When you read the definition that is right for your dream, the Holy Spirit resonates with your heart and you know it’s the one that makes sense. Then you can look up chair in the Dictionary and the Holy Spirit will do the same with the definitions there.

I know this sounds fairly simple and it is. God doesn’t want it to be complicated. He wants you to get the message and He knows if you really want to receive it, you will do what it takes to find it out.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” (Prov. 25:2). The word “glory” means “abundance, riches, honor and splendor”. God wants us to have this glory and when we discover the meaning of some of those dream messages from the Lord, that’s exactly what happens.

Because I was an admitted dream skeptic, I wanted to be convinced that dreams were from God. I wanted to know they contained important messages from the Lord, not just a re-hash of my everyday circumstances. So I looked up multitudes of scriptures and records in the Bible on dreams and visions. In my next article, I will be sharing some of them with you. You’re going to be just as amazed as I was!

Love, Carolyn

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Sunday, November 20, 2016

GOD WORKS WHILE WE SLEEP

GOD WORKS WHILE WE SLEEP
“Behold, He [God] who keeps Israel [and us] shall neither slumber nor sleep.” God is Spirit and He doesn't sleep. We, as Spiritual beings, don't sleep either, but it's our body and soul that do need the sleep while we're here on earth. If we sleep three hours out of 24, it's an eighth of our day. If we sleep eight hours, that’s a quarter of our day taken up! How can we make those sleeping hours count spiritually? Two ways: understanding our dreams and planting night seeds.

Night seeds: The thing that is so amazing and awesome is that Spiritual faith can work through the night, uninhibited by our doubtful, fearful and oh-so-rational minds! Things are working in our unconscious, spiritual hearts, freely.

We may have to do a little preparation work first, like praying a couple scriptures from Psalm 91 about protection: Verse 1: “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Or verse 7: “A thousand shall fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand; but it shall not come nigh me.” Isaiah 54:17 is also a good one: “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”

Then we can go for it. The two following sections of scripture are vital to me in getting great results from planting night seeds:

Jesus taught this: Mark 4:26-27: “And he said, ‘So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.” Notice that Jesus said the man planted the seed, then he immediately went to sleep! I just love that.

If we plant seeds right before we go to sleep, no rationale or emotional reaction can get in the way to block our faith! Who we are spiritually as sons and daughters of God Almighty, and our relationship with His son Jesus goes ahead to work while our bodies and souls take a rest, and the solutions come, the seeds sprout.

Then the second vital verse is Psalm 17:15: “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.” I looked up the Hebrew word for “likeness” so that I could better understand this verse. It is “temuwnah” and in this context it means “what You [God] have fashioned,” what You [God] have formed,” “the manifestation of Your favor.”

So this verse is saying that when I wake up, I’m going to be blessed by what You, Lord, have been doing in the night. You’ve worked with my spiritual night seed and WOW, it’s sprouting!

I only learned this principle this week and already am seeing great results. Let me give you a couple examples from the last few days:

I got a last minute invitation to a Christmas party. I’d already scheduled a hair appointment for several days after the party. When I called to re-schedule, there were no appointments available. After more than a week went by, I started getting a little worried. I decided to try out my new discovery of planting a night seed. In light of the worry I was feeling, I knew I needed peace about whatever the result would be with my hair. So I claimed John 14:27, which says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Even though I was feeling stressed, I prayed and planted this peace seed. When I opened my cell phone first thing in the morning, I had a text from my hairdresser offering to do my hair on a Saturday. Not only did I get an appointment, but it was on a perfect day, so I didn’t have to miss any work.

My best friend Jane also planted a night seed. Her seed was concerning business. She didn’t get out her Bible and read the scriptures, but she told God His own story back to Him about the lepers outside the wall in Samaria. (It’s in 2 Kings 7). There was a great famine in the city because it was surrounded by an enemy army, cutting off the food supply. The lepers did as they were inspired by God and He did a miracle. The enemy fled, leaving all the food and goods behind. The next day, the famine was gone and the commerce thriving!

When Jane woke up the next morning, there were more downloads on her promotion than there had been in the last three promotions!

This stuff works. Remember, Spirit continues to work while we sleep. Let’s make our sleep count in a spiritual way to enhance our lives.

Love, Carolyn

(There will be more Bible truths about dreams and visions in later articles.)

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Sunday, November 13, 2016

MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA


MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
I had mounds of papers needing to be burned: old tax stuff, bank receipts, bills, etc. Finally, on Friday I did it and the mountain of papers burned down to a small layer of ashes. God is able to do that with the mountains of the world and the mountains in our personal lives as well. This past week in the US we had quite the shaking of mountains.

Whenever mountains come down there is a shaking, a rumbling, smoke, fire and water. In the aftermath, all are agitated; some aggravated, some elated. Only the Lord can maneuver us through it. He gives us comfort in the aftermath of a great fall:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.”

Whenever you read the word “selah” it means, “pause a minute and really think about what I just said.”

King David prayed, “Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke” (Psalm 144:6).

Isaiah prayed, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and that you would come down, that the mountains might quake and flow down at your presence. As when fire kindles the brushwood and the fire causes the waters to boil—to make your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!” (Isaiah 64:1-3)

Many things will change in the US, but God does not change. It is our job here in the States to listen to our hearts, follow the urging of the Holy Spirit and do what the Lord tells us to do, no matter what (even if it’s different from what our other Christian friends are doing!). In other countries, it’s your job to pray for us here and do the same thing: follow the urgings of the Holy Spirit in all things.

Remember that God sees way beyond what we see. Be kind to each other. It just could be that God had His reasons for having some people vote one way and others another way. (OMG! . . . and He didn’t consult with us first?!) God isn’t nearly as restrictive and narrow-minded as we are sometimes.

We can be refreshed and thrilled when we read some of the Old Testament and see how merciful and kind and forgiving God can be after He’s thrown down His fire. The majesty, power and kindness of our God is astounding.
Love, Carolyn
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

BODYGUARDS ON THE JOURNEY

BODYGUARDS FOR THE JOURNEY
Mario told me he drives 23 hours straight through when he takes his family to visit his relatives down in Mexico. I asked him why. He replied, “There are many robbers along the way and I am protecting my family.” It reminded me of Genesis 24, one of my favorite Bible records where Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac.

The servant had some doubts about the trip but Abraham told him, “The Lord will send his angel before thee and with thee, and prosper thy way.” What exactly did this mean?

The servant had to travel about 450 miles through rough lands carrying a dowry for the prospective bride. So, like with my friend Mario, there were robbers along the way ready to ambush the servant of his many precious treasures. Part of the angel’s job was to go ahead of the servant and make sure the bandits were not going to be around to attack and steal the goods. Abraham was extremely rich, so when his servant was going for a bride, he would have had many camels with loads of gold, silver, beautiful clothing, and other wonderful things.

The other part of “prospering thy way” was to make sure the servant actually acquired the treasure (the wife) he came for. And, indeed it did happen.

How do these scriptures relate to us? If you consider that our lives are a journey, then these verses from Genesis 24 relate to us in many ways and can be applied in many circumstances. We all have possessions; consider them treasures. We’d like them to last and not be lost or stolen along the way.

Jesus spoke, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth shall have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth shall have [already] been loosed in heaven” (Matt 18:18).

We can use these scriptures to loose [declare] angels to protect our treasures—our homes, our bodies, our business acumen, our livestock, our thoughts, our spiritual insight and all our many precious possessions.

Just think about it. Name some of your most treasured possessions and include more than the physical things you have. Any of these wonderful things God has blessed us with, He’s also given us the permission to ask or declare angelic help in taking care of them and protecting them.

Psalm 35:27 says that the Lord “delights and takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” Then in Psalm 103 we are told that it’s one of the angels’ jobs to carry out God’s pleasure toward us: “Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word...all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure” (Ps. 103:20-21).

Considering all the goods that Abraham’s servant took with him, he most likely had other people with him also and the angel protected them too. We could use these verses when we’re asking protection for our loved ones, as well as our personal safety and the protection of our goods.

Part of the angel’s mission was to prosper the servant by making sure he got what he went for. In this case it was the right woman. Whatever things God has given you permission to go after, you could send angels on these verses to prosper your way by making sure you get what you are after too.

It’s also something to note that the angel was sent out to prosper the way of a servant. This guy wasn’t a king or a corporate giant. He was a servant. Every single born again person has access to angels, like it says in Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” Galatians 3:29 says we are those heir: “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Today I am praying for you, that you will read this record in Genesis 24: 1-61, in light of your own journey, and think about how you can permit angels to prosper your way as well.

Love, Carolyn

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