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God is so faithful

 

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

- Isaiah 41:10

 

This is a great scripture to use when things become too hard to handle in your everyday life, and fear and anxiety grip your heart.  If you quote scriptures like this every day, it will give you what the Bible talks about, the renewing of the mind.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

Vickie, you posted this scripture in a post recently and it inspired me to tell you just how this scripture has helped me. Thanks for asking me to post it on your website.

A few years ago i had to quote this scripture each day before going into my new job that was totally intimidating...911 Center. Not only was it intimidating because of the high volume of information I was expected to learn it was also very stressful because lives often depended on me. And to add to that stress there were a few of the girls that were in charge of training me that seemed to be determined that i fail at making it as a dispatcher and were also very mean. But this scripture got me through each day and held me in place until God blessed me by opening another door for me. I was given the rare opportunity to go to work in the jail. The director told the Captain at the jail that I was too valuable to lose and she would not recommend just anyone. So my 3 months of not giving in or giving up at the 911 center paid off because I ended up loving my new assignment as Jail Officer. This was not my permanent home but a holding place until God once more opened another door for me and showed me favor by giving me the job i have had now for the past 3 1/2 years. My Captain even called the owner and hiring manager in the new company that I desired to work for and put in a good word for me. So...my thoughts are...we do all we can do and let God work out the rest. He will walk with us and then carry us when we need to be carried. Praise God, He is so awesome!!!

My point is, I had no idea if i could do the job but i decide to raise the bar high for myself and try. If I failed then at least i tried and wasnt left with always wondering if I could have been successful. took the scripture literally. It said I COULD do it with God's help. So my part was to take the required test to get in, show up for work everyday, ignore the girls being mean to me, which was NOT easy. I had to bite my tongue a lot or walk outside to keep from strangling them or backhanding them a few times...pray. Pay attention and do my best and let God take care of the details that i couldn't. Even though I didnt succeed at 911, God had a bigger and better plan then I had for myself because when I went to the jail, which was even more scary and intimidating, I ended up liking it far way better than 911. The 911 center gave me experience that prepared me for the job i am doing now and the jail gave me experience that I am glad I was able to get. Once I got the job I am at now i felt job security enough to move the kids and I out of moms house which was very cramped, and to a place of our own. So God works, we may not always see what His plan for us is but you can always bet it will be something better than we ask for or expect.

When I was able to walk into a cell block alone with 30+ men-criminals and be locked inside with them and not be afraid, you know God was with me. I had an officer watching from the tower but if they had decided to attack me or shank me, there would still be a couple of minutes before other Officers would be able to get to me. A lot can happen in that little of time. But I never felt afraid. I was careful and followed the rules but again I believe God showed me favor in the inmates eyes because they NEVER gave me any problems. Even the ones that would come in combative became calm when I came in to finger print them, search them, ect. I remember thinking each time something like that happened..it was God causing that to happen. Kind of reminded me of Daniel in the Lion's Den. :-)

While i was working at the jail i remember praying for God to make me a usable vessel. I didnt feel i was doing anything for Him and I didnt know what it was He wanted to use me for. I really just wanted to be open and let him show me what he wanted. I woke up at 5am and He showed me what he wanted me to do. So i opened a post office box in the name of what i called New Hope Ministries and started printing stuff off the internet like "Dealing with Anger God's Way" by Joyce Meyer or from other websites that dealt with life's issues like forgiveness, bitterness, repentance and obedience ect and mailed them to the inmates. They had no idea who it came from or how their name was gotten. But after a while i could see it was touching their lives. Most of these inmates had nobody writing to them and felt nobody cared. They were in a place where they were open to the Word of God. They couldnt just pretend in front of me because they didnt know it was me. they thought it was a church. I believe that idea and inspiration came straight from The Holy Spirit. The officers would make snied remarks about jailhouse religion and i understand that but i really believe God reached some of those inmates and at least there were seeds planted. I did my part...researched, read, printed and mailed the letters and prayed for God to do the rest and that was to prepare their hearts and minds to receive His Word and it be planted in good soil and then to bring someone else in to their lives to water the seed and help it grow and bear good fruit and change their lives and use them to do the same. I have faith that HE DID do that because that is His will. It is not his will for anyone to perish but for all to come to the knowledge of His saving Grace. He would not have told me to do all of that and not hold up His end. Amen.

Satan laughs and says...who are you? You are nobody special. You are not Holy and perfect, you have no right ministering to anyone. I may not be perfect, I may stumble and fall, but I am only defeated if i stay down. I sometimes let the flesh take over but God reminds me that I am not where I use to be and He isnt finished with me yet. I just repent and ask God to make me usuable again. I never claimed to be a Spiritual leader but God can use the lowest of the low. If God can use someone like me then He can certainly use you. All he wants is a willing vessel. Some of the people God used in the Bible werent perfect either. None of us will be perfect until Jesus returns for us. So open your heart and mind to the leading of the Holy Spirit. If you feel like you arent doing anything or enough for Christ then ask Him to show you. Ask him to cleanse you and make you a usable vessel and to reveal your purpose to you. Even if it is short lived things, little things. Sometimes we have to start out small until we mature and are ready for bigger and more responsibility. I hope this blog will bless and inspire every one that reads it. - Karen

The Prayer of Agreement

The Holy Spirit has brought some scriptures to my mind, and has given me a message. The Bible says that a three-fold cord is not easily broken.

I heard a story about a man with a stick. He could break the stick easy when there was one of them. Then he got another one. It was harder to break the sticks. With each stick that he added, it became more difficult to break them. It is the same way with the prayer of agreement. The Bible says that one can put a thousand to flight, and two can put 10,000 to flight. The prayer of agreement is the key.

Several months ago, I had a cousin who was in bad shape at the hospital. The whole family was praying for her, and she went home to be with the Lord anyway. I asked several family members how they prayed for her. Several of them told the Lord, "If it be your will, then let her come out of this." I was believing for her complete recovery. The point is, we weren't all praying the same way. The lord even told me that she was going home, about a week before she passed away. At the time I thought he meant her earthly home.

I told of this experience to make the point that it is the prayer of agreement that gets God's attention. He can only act on His Word, and on our Faith. Where does the faith come from? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Faith comes from the heart, and is given three ways.

1. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit. See Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. ...
2. Faith is a Gift of the Holy Spirit, see 1 Corinthians 12:8–10 :8. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
3. "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God."--Rom. 10:17.

On the day of Pentecost, the Bible says they were all in one mind and accord when the Holy Spirit came like a rushing mighty wind. When you agree with someone in prayer, you need to be in complete agreement with the other person. The Bible says: "I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." Matthew 18:19 NKJV