DON'T BURDEN THE DONKEY

DON’T BURDEN THE DONKEY

This morning I realized I was in one of those in-between stages. A few weeks ago, when I started reading Jonathan Cahn’s book, RETURN OF THE GODS, the Lord inspired me to do a write-up on the book so that people could see some of the amazing things Cahn put together on the demons who have attacked, infiltrated and, in many cases began to dominate our current culture and lives. So last week I did that. It was quite a bit of effort but well worth it. It was one of those things that when God wants it done, there’s an urgency to it that you just cannot ignore, and you have to go full speed ahead until you’re done. So I finished my write-up, and now what?

 

There are so many things I want to do: start working on a painting, clean up the patio, paint the wall where I just finished a stucco patch, draw, get back to working on volume 2 of my BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE series, finish up the update on my trust, finish the Hemingway book I’m reading now, etc., etc. But when I started telling Jane about all those things, I realized I needed to just stop for a minute. What does the Lord want me to do this week?

 

Then I realized that it wasn’t up to me to prioritize the tasks for this week, but rather, up to the Lord. Letting the Lord lead me is the only way to ease up the scramble of so many tasks and so little time. When I thought about it, I instantly felt at ease. I know that since I give it to Jesus, it will be easy, and I will be doing the right things at the right time.

 

You probably know that about a month ago, I started claiming 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and every day when Jane and I pray, I tell God that we’re giving Him our bodies, minds, emotions, and spirit. It’s becoming a fundamental part of me, and the truth of what’s in my heart now manifests in my daily life.

 

There are two other scriptures we pray about letting the Lord lead us. One is where God tells Joshua: “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you” (Josh. 1:3). I take that as Him giving me the path before I take it. It’s not about my desire, but about His. And Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

 

So, seeing where He leads me this week will be exciting, and I don’t have to be anxious about it or worry at all.

 

I put out a preach letter many years ago and I loved the photo I found to go with it. The donkey is pulling a cart and has so many packages piled up in the cart that the cart falls to the ground, and the donkey is up in the air. That’s how we get when we stress over all the stuff we want to do. It’s not bad that we know what we’d like to do, but it’s definitely not God’s will that we get so overburdened that we’re up in the air, thinking, thinking, stressing, and getting nothing done! Like I tell people, hearing the Lord’s voice takes practice. We need to ask Him what’s the first thing we should do, and do it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. You’ll get to know Him. It’s fun and the most satisfying thing ever. You’ll see.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

AHAB AND JEZEBEL COMPANION SPIRITS

AHAB AND JEZEBEL COMPANION SPIRITS

A Jezebel demon is charming. It can operate in a man or a woman. But it can’t operate at full capacity without its companion spirit, Ahab. When Ahab, one of God’s anointed leaders, married Jezebel, it was not a godly partnership. God didn’t say anything about Jezebel at this point, but instead, 1 Kings 16:30 reads: “Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.” What is it about an Ahab that makes God unhappy? The Ahab spirit makes good people weak and easily manipulated. God doesn’t want His people manipulated by demons. The Ahab spirit knows that a person wants to feel worthwhile, wants to be powerful and make a difference in life.  But the Ahab spirit makes the person compromise and capitulate to get a feeling of control that he doesn’t deserve.  

 

An Ahab values peace more than purity. He or she would rather make a truce than a righteous covenant. They fear confrontation and will do just about anything to avoid it. Those under the influence of an Ahab spirit are passive. They like the position of authority but look for someone else to make the confrontational and difficult decisions. They allow the person under the spirit of Jezebel to have acting authority. Ahab of the Bible allowed Jezebel to set up her witchcraft, her sacrifices to Baal and Ashtoreth, her strange rituals and eventually Ahab sat by, letting Jezebel even murder the true prophets of God. Jezebel is a charmer, funny, engaging and even delightful, but once in control, vicious.

 

The word “Jezebel” means “unmarried, uncommitted, unrestricted.” A Jezebel spirit is always looking for an Ahab to control. Jezebel is not committed to Ahab but uses Ahab to facilitate his or her plans. And Ahab is a willing client. In psychology, the relationship between Ahab and Jezebel is called co-dependency. Jezebel needs a weak person and Ahab, who hates confrontation, needs a strong one.

 

Ahab conforms, compromises and counterfeits. He or she doesn’t want to make waves. Peace is prized above truth and the feeling of serenity above purity. 1 Kings 16:31 says Ahab thought it was no big deal to connect with Jezebel and “walk in the sins of Jeroboam.” Jeroboam was a master of compromise. The people were supposed to go to Jerusalem for their feast, but since Jeroboam was afraid that the people would switch their loyalty to the king in Jerusalem, he decided he better keep the people from going there. Instead, he made up his own rules, contrary to the rules of God.

 

It looked pretty good, but it was a counterfeit. Jeroboam made some gold statues similar to the ones they made in the wilderness, set up two places for the feast—places much easier to get to than Jerusalem, and he changed the feast month to make it more convenient for him. (See 1 Kings 11:26-16:27.) It didn’t work out well for Jeroboam or his people.

 

When compromise starts, it escalates into the making up of new rules and situational ethics. Jezebel is allowed to make the rules, while Ahab feels obligated to religiously follow them, for fear of confrontation, a fight, or losing the relationship entirely.  An Ahab recognizes wrong, but fear binds him. The Ahab can see a wrong but is afraid of the consequences of standing up to it.

 

The devil always wants to set up unhealthy, unholy co-dependent relationships and the Ahab/Jezebel is a perfect example.

 

The great thing is that both of these demon spirits are flighty—they easily flit back and forth, in and out. They’re fickle, which makes them easier to tackle and take out. They’re renters, not homeowners. When we recognize their characteristics, we can do something about them.

 

Rebuke them in the name of Jesus Christ. Tell them they cannot be in charge of you anymore. Expose them and cast them out, in the name of Jesus. As it says in Philippians 2:10: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.”

 

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). We are bold and brave. We do not have to be co-dependent with anyone but the Lord. He is our safety, our leader, our standard.

 

We don’t bow to anyone but God because only He deserves our love and trust. The Lord loves us enough to hear our prayers and set us free of any demons. His rewards for relationship are everlasting, and eternally good.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

God inspires my writing, and you can find other great life-changing insights in the digital downloads and paperback editions found on Amazon under my name. If you would like to receive a free sample e-book, find the one on Amazon that you’d like and email me at  carolynmolica@hotmail.com .

 

 

Watch this week for my articles on the amazing content in Jonathan Cahn’s book, THE RETURN OF THE GODS. He exposes three main demons who are prominent now in America. If you haven’t read the book yet, I highly recommend it!

 

 

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Yesterday I heard a man use the phrase: “God is in control.” He has the right to use it because he has surrendered his life to the Lord’s leadership on a daily basis. For him, using that phrase is accurate and justified. But for too many people it is an excuse for apathy. “Well, I can’t do that much anyway. I just let God be in control.” But it doesn’t work that way. If God were in control of everything, Adam and Eve would have never sinned; David wouldn’t have killed Uriah to steal his wife; Peter wouldn’t have denied Jesus three times.

 

There are certain things that God is in control of, but we need to be sure we are not shirking our responsibilities and apathetically turning over the tasks at hand to God because we are too lazy or afraid to take responsibility for what He’s given us to do.

 

God gave humanity freedom to choose. God inspired Joshua to make the people decide: “If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

 

When the Israelites came to the edge of the Promised Land in eleven days, Moses sent out twelve spies to check out the situation. God brought them to the land He’d promised them. But there were obstacles.

 

When God brings us to a new place in our walk with Him, there are going to be obstacles, but that’s no reason to give up and lamely excuse ourselves by saying: “Well God’s in control, so I’ll just sit here and see what He does.” There’s a time for waiting, but if the Lord is leading us and we’re yielding to Him, we may discover that there are more times He calls us to action than the times He asks us to sit on the sidelines.

 

The Israelites were supposed to go into the Promised Land after eleven days, but since ten of the twelve spies saw obstacles, the people got afraid and wouldn’t go in. And God couldn’t make them go in. God doesn’t force us. He gave us freedom of will. The Lord wanted them to be bold and act, but they wouldn’t do it. (See Numbers 13 and 14.)

 

Fear and apathy go hand in hand. “The slothful man saith, ‘There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.’ As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed” (Prov. 26:13-14).

 

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth,” says the Lord in Revelation 3:16.

 

If we are going to use the phrase, “God is in control,” let’s mean it in our personal lives and use it in the right way, because we have chosen to surrender all to Him, daily yielding to His every call to action. Let’s sign with Him in contract, be with Him in action.

 

Be bold. No more sitting on the sideline thinking God is going to do all the work. We’re in a team and we all need to go forward utilizing our unique talents for our God and His kingdom.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

My most recent book, BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE, is full of great short stories of animals, and how God utilizes their unique character to teach us about Himself and our world. Fun summer reading!

 

It’s $15 on Amazon, but I have copies here at home for $10. Send your $10 and address to me at 4401 El Parque Ave. Las Vegas NV 89102 if you’d like a signed copy for only $10 😊

 

https://www.amazon.com/BIBLE-LESSONS-NATURE-Carolyn-Molica/dp/B0BV4GC859/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QACB0S8NH0BF&keywords=bible+lessons+from+nature&qid=1676485121&sprefix=%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-1

 

NEHEMIAH'S SPECIAL PRAYER

 

NEHEMIAH’S SPECIAL PRAYER

Nehemiah was one of the Israelites who was taken into captivity in Persia. God favored him and made him the personal assistant to the King. When Nehemiah found out that there was a big problem in Jerusalem (over 900 miles away), his heart went out for the people. The first thing he did was pray. It was a different kind of prayer. Nehemiah asked God for a hearing, like in a court case.

 

There are several places in the Bible where God requires Nehemiah-type prayer.

 

God asked this kind of court-case prayer of Isaiah. He says to Isaiah: “Meet me in court! State your case and prove that you are right.” That’s the Contemporary English Version. The Amplified reads: “Remind me [of your merits with a thorough report], let us plead and argue our case together. State your position, that you may be proved right.” And the KJV: “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified” (Isa. 43:26).

 

The elements of Nehemiah’s court-case prayer are as follows.

 

1. RECOGNIZE THE FEAR OF GOD. Nehemiah addressed Him: “I beseech thee, O Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God” (Neh. 1:5a). The word “terrible,” in the Hebrew means “to be feared, or morally to revere. It means to cause astonishment, to be held in awe or godly fear.

 

Nehemiah was well aware of the wrath of God Almighty, the vengeance of God that took place when He merely took His hand of blessing off of people and let them reap the consequences of bad behavior. The results, as Nehemiah had experienced personally, were perilous, destructive, miserable, full of anguish, failure, and deep depression—all the things the devil loves to put on God’s people.

 

Nehemiah verbally recognized God’s right to be angry.

 

2. REMIND GOD THAT HE IS A GOD OF MERCY. Nehemiah reminded God that He is the God “that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments” (v.5b).

 

3. CONFESS AND REPENT FOR SINS. Nehemiah not only confessed and repented of his own sins, but he also confessed and repented for the sins of the people. “I pray before thee now, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments” (vv.6-7).

 

Notice that Nehemiah mentioned the sins of his father’s house. There are sins we commit on purpose; we know better but we do them anyway. Then there are “sins of our fathers.” The Bible term for this is “iniquity.” These are patterns of thinking and acting that we “naturally” fall into, sins in our blood. They are sins we may or may not even be aware of until we see the painful consequences they bring to our lives. Nehemiah’s heart was broken when he heard about the people in Jerusalem, and he knew that they had fallen back into bloodline sins: apathy, moral compromises, rebellion, stubbornness, pride, abuse, ungodly priorities.

 

Nehemiah understood and repented for the people.

 

4. PRESENT THE EVIDENCE. This is where Nehemiah went back to the scriptures to present evidence of God’s mercy to His people even after they sinned. He reminds God of how He worked in the time of Moses, how He told Moses if they didn’t do right, they’d be scattered and how if the people would turn back to Him, He’d gather them back and bless them. Then Nehemiah put his plea forward and basically said: “Since you did it for Moses, how about us?”

 

5. ASK FOR PARDON AND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD. Nehemiah then asked God: “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer” (v.11). In the same verse, Nehemiah also asked God: “Prosper [move forward and make successful] thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man [the King of Persia].”

 

Nehemiah’s court case with God was a huge success. As it turns out, God blessed Nehemiah by working in the King to send Nehemiah to Jerusalem to take care of the problems. The King also sent letters to those in authority to make sure Nehemiah had all the physical supplies he would need to totally rebuild the walls and gates of the city. Building the walls and gates turned out to be much more of a blessing than just protection. It unified the people, strengthened their hearts, turned them back to God’s ways and healed them.

 

Just to confirm the five elements of Nehemiah’s prayer:

 

1.      RECOGNIZE THE FEAR OF GOD

 

2.      REMIND GOD THAT HE IS A GOD OF MERCY

 

3.      CONFESS AND REPENT FOR SINS

 

4.      PRESENT THE EVIDENCE

 

5.      ASK FOR PARDON AND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD

 

I pray that God will help us to remember this type of prayer when we need it.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

My new book, BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE, is full of fun stories about how God uses nature to teach us His ways. This book is appropriate for young people as well as adults. 😊 And if you’d like to write a review, that would be great. We writers know that a good review makes a big difference. Thanks.

 

DONKEY TALKS

Jane and I walked into the second-hand store many years ago looking for a copy of the Amplified Bible. As we came around the corner, a big white Bible was lying out on the ledge, separate from the other shelved books. I said: “Oh look, there’s the Bible Joyce uses.” At that moment, it didn’t even occur to me that Joyce always uses the Amplified. There it was, laid out so nicely for us, but I somehow didn’t make the connection. We started to walk away. 

 

Then two strangers came up looking for a particular book and began asking a lot of questions. They were somewhat annoying, but we were polite, and they “happened” to keep us there just long enough that Jane “happened” to look down and see the spine of the Bible. As plain as could be, it read: “Amplified Version.” Sometimes God puts an answer right in front of us, and we still don’t see it. But because He knows what’s in our hearts, He gives us more than one chance and comes at us in any way He can.

 

We don’t want to miss God, but if we do, God has a promise we can claim beforehand for those times when we miss or ignore the revelation. Second Corinthians 5:14 says: “The love of Christ constraineth us.” The word “constrain” means to bind together or draw together. He’s relentless and keeps coming back, like when you want someone to come for dinner, and you keep asking them and try all kinds of ways to get them just to give in and say: “Okay, I’ll come.”

 

Parents know children have this constraining thing down to an uncanny science when they want something. They come at you from every imaginable angle to get it. Jesus does the same with us so that we listen to Him.

 

The Bible has many examples of the Lord constraining His people. One of my favorites is the record of Balaam and the ass. It’s found in Numbers 22 and is one of the funniest in the Bible.

 

Balak, the king of Moab, knew Balaam as a prophet. He knew he could win if he could get Balaam to prophesy against the Israelites in the upcoming battle. So, King Balak sent his men to Balaam with a bribe.

Balaam told the men he would ask God about what to do and let them know in the morning. God not only forbid him to go, but He forbade him to prophesy against Israel. But King Balak wasn’t giving up so easily. He sent more prestigious men to Balaam with the promise of promotion, a place of honor in his kingdom, and the message: “Now please come, curse these people for me, for they are too powerful for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know [your reputation] that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed” (Num. 22:6 AMP).

 

Baalam decided to ask God one more time if he could go. Baalam wanted to go. He wanted the promotion, the prestige, and the money. Everything good, right? Surely God would bless this, right? This makes me think of how many times we try to make God bless what we’ve already decided we want to do. That’s not a good way to live and there are consequences.

God gave Baalam another chance and said: “If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them.” God said: “if the men call,” but Baalam skipped right over the “if” part and “rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.” God was angry with Baalam’s action, but because of God’s persistent love, He gave Baalam another chance to do the right thing. He sent an angel to try to stop him from making a big mistake.

 

“And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

 

“But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.  And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

 

“And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.  And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff” (Num 22:22-27).

 

This next part is hilarious:

 

“And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, ‘What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?’

 

Wouldn’t you think Baalam would wake up by now? After all, his ass was talking to him! But Baalam was so outrageously angry that he actually started talking back to the ass and carried on a whole conversation.

 

“And Balaam said unto the ass, ‘Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.’

 

“And the ass said unto Balaam, ‘Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee?’ and he said, ‘Nay’” (vss. 29-30).

 

Then finally God got through to Baalam:

 

“Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

 

“And the angel of the Lord said unto him, ‘Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

 

“And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, ‘I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.’

 

“And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, ‘Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak’” ((Num. 22: 32-35).

 

I know we usually do our best to listen for the Lord’s guiding and then follow through on His instructions, but isn’t it great to know that when we miss it, God will go to the farthest ends, (even if it takes talking through the mouth of an ass), to constrain us and compel us to come back to Him?

In the bookstore Christ worked through two strangers to constrain Jane and me and they kept us at the bookshelf until we saw the desired Amplified Bible right there in plain sight.

God constrained Balaam through a talking animal. What an amazing Lord we have.

Question: “Why was the ass smarter than the man?” Answer: “Because she could see what was right in front of her.”

Let’s pray that we will open our eyes to see what the Lord puts right in front of us and thank God that He will give us more than one chance to do the right thing.

We receive an extra blessing from this record of Baalam and the ass: that animals can talk. It doesn’t happen often, but I know of two separate times when one of our animals had something to say. One of the times was when our dog, Spike, was up on my bed. We often liked to share a snack of soda crackers before bed. One evening as we were enjoying this experience, he looked me right in the eye and said: “Yummy!” So, don’t be surprised if something like that happens to you. God IS amazing!

 

Love, Carolyn

 

THE BIBLE OR THE LORD

THE BIBLE OR THE LORD

Sometimes in life, we are faced with a bit of a dilemma. We want to do God’s will, but our routines can get in the way. And that even happens when we need to choose between our “go-to” scriptures and the words given to us through the personal revelations or urgings of God or our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve all had certain Bible scriptures that work for us most of the time, or at least they’ve been powerful in application in the past, but what about when they don’t work?

 

We can’t allow ourselves to fall into the trap of expecting our Lord to always work in the same way with us. We know that in the natural realm if we expect change, we can’t keep doing things the same way. To get a different outcome, we need to do something different toward what we desire. It works similarly with God. Even though the written Bible is the living word of God, it’s only living when the Spirit of God is right there activating it for us. God tells us Himself that even the devil can quote scripture. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness this happened: “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, ‘If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee’” (Matt. 4:5-6).

 

Jesus fulfilled the instructions Moses gave in every way, but a greater way was to listen to his father God and do precisely what He said in the moment. When it came to healing, Mosaic law forbid healing on the Sabbath, but on several occasions, Jesus got the revelation from God to go ahead and do a healing. Each time Jesus healed someone, it was as the Spirit of God instructed. Just look at the many different ways he healed: by making mud to put on a man’s eyes, by speaking a truth, by first teaching the truth and then doing a healing or deliverance, by responding to the faith of the person who needed the healing, by sending a person to another place to be healed (i.e. a public pool). How did Jesus know what to do each time? He walked by the spirit and always did what God instructed.

 

The written Word of God was inspired by God and there’s no doubt of that: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). But if God, or the Lord Jesus, gives us a direct instruction, we can’t afford to argue, or make excuses, no matter how awkward, outrageous, our illogical it may seem! Maybe the Lord will just want us to look at a different scripture. Or maybe it’ something else.

 

We often don’t know exactly what God wants us to get from each instruction He gives! I’ve found that lots of times, He has the most amazing surprises! And many times, the instruction He gives looks like it has nothing to do with what we’ve asked for. God does that on purpose to train us in the supernatural!

 

One great thing about living in Las Vegas is that there is an atmosphere of “Take a chance.” It may sound silly, but that’s exactly what God wants us to do with what He tells us: Take a chance. (Of course, with God, there’s always a safety net that the devil does NOT provide with his idea of taking a chance). But we need to risk following the holy spirit through to the details so that the Lord can trust us to serve him. We say we trust him, but if we’re not hearing and following through on his specific instructions, isn’t our trust a bit shallow?

 

But if we’re brave enough to just jump into what we think the Lord is saying, well, if it doesn’t turn out, okay, we’ve learned what His voice is not, and we have at least taken a huge step in finding out what His voice really sounds like.

 

We can get better and better at recognizing the in-the-moment urging of the Lord and become even faster and braver at jumping at every instruction! This is the way Jesus lived and the most exciting, wonderful way we can live too.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

Get your signed copy of my new book today. Just send your address and $10 to me at 4401 El Parque Ave. Las Vegas NV 89102. You can also go on Amazon to get any of my other books on how to apply the truths of the Bible to everyday life.

 

POWER SHOT

POWER SHOT

I started reading the book of 1 Corinthians, and when I came to the second chapter, verse 4, I had to pause and take notice.

 

Paul says to the believers: “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” And I told God: “That’s what I want. I want my everyday life to demonstrate your Spirit and your power.”

 

Then a week later, that’s exactly what I got, and it was a notable blessing for sure. We had started to hear a rattling noise when we turned the air conditioner on in the car. To me, it sounded like something with the fan. It happened a couple of times, and we knew we better get it checked, but our regular mechanic was now doing a different job, and we weren’t at all excited about trying someone new. In fact, Jane was a little freaked out about it.

 

That night she had a talk with God: “You do so many other things for us, tell me what to do about this car thing.” Jane explained to me: “The idea appeared instantly to my mind—find a mechanic that will come to the house.” The next morning Jane googled mobile car repair and started the process. She said, “One stood out to me, and God said that’s the guy.”

 

The mechanic came over and diagnosed that it was a ball bearing that was making havoc in the fan. If the fan had come loose, it could have smashed into the radiator and that would have been a much bigger mess. He told us he would check around for prices and was hoping to get one from the Napa parts store rather than at the Dealership. As it turned out, the part from the Dealer would have been over $300, and after calling the various Napa stores, he got the very last one available for just a little over $100! We got along so well with the man, he gave us the “Trump discount,” told us we had instant VIP status, and we could call him any time for our car issues, and he’d come right over. At the end of our visit, John asked Jane how she’d found him, and Jane said, “God pointed you out!” He smiled.

 

That whole turn of events was a demonstration of God’s Spirit and power working to make our experience much more than just a car repair!

 

The same day another wonderful demonstration of God’s Spirit and power was manifested in a miracle with a new Power Shot stapler I needed. Two pieces of metal on my 25-year-old tool had separated, and it wouldn’t staple right. I bought a new one, and brought it home, and it didn’t work, so I took it back. The guy in the store checked it out, and he couldn’t get it to work either, so we went over to find a new one. We both looked around, but there were none left. As I started walking away, something caught my attention. There were two staplers at the side of the counter. A larger one was on top, but I noticed part of the label of the smaller stapler almost hidden underneath: “Power S”! I pulled it out, and sure enough, it was the Power Shot stapler I wanted! I couldn’t hold back my excitement, exclaiming to the store worker, “It’s a miracle! A real miracle! This wasn’t here before!”

(For the record, in the past, angels (ministering spirits Heb. 1:14) have brought back to Jane and me items we thought we lost. I think they really like doing that! HAHAHA.)

 

In the Bible, Peter and Jesus needed some money for their taxes, God told Jesus what to do—send Peter down to the lake with his fishing rod. Jesus said: “Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee” (Matt. 17:27).

 

Jesus and Peter needed some money for their taxes. I needed a new stapler and a car fix. If we want our lives to demonstrate the Spirit and the power of God, then we have to believe in doing it in all aspects of our lives, big and small. We are NOT what we used to be. We are God’s sons and daughters. We walk by the spirit, and the miracles happen in our day-by-day lives. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

 

I can hardly wait to see what miracle happens next, as that verse from 1 Corinthians becomes even more deeply imbedded in my heart! As we walk by demonstrating God's Spirit and power, our lives are no longer the old “normal.” We expect more. As we’re told in Matthew 21:22, believe it and receive it. This IS our life in Christ!! Miracles and other demonstrations of Spirit and power are the new normal in the mundane and glorious machinations of our lives.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

Don’t forget, my latest book on Amazon is $15, but if you’d like a cheaper copy of “Bible Lessons from Nature,” send just $10 and your address to me at 4401 El Parque Ave. Las Vegas NV 89102, and I’ll get a signed copy right out to you.

 

And Happy Mothers’ Day!