I read a very interesting blog article the other day. I didn't save it and now I can't find it. But when I woke up this morning, the Lord began to give me some direction that I'm very excited about.

In this blog, this male Christian blogger proposed that the Free Evangelical Church is the anti-Christ. He defended this thought well - the biggest thing I remember is him saying that Jesus had the harshest criticisms for the religious.

I heard a long time ago that the spirit of anti-Christ should also be thought of as 'instead of Christ.' I have felt for a long time that the majority of today's churches have an instead of Christ attitude ~ having a form of Godliness but denying the power within.

When is the last time you attended church and received healing? saw a miracle? a deliverance?

Instead, there are programs to raise money to build a new building and marketing strategies to 'reach' the community. I attended a church several years ago that paid a man, who was a professional church marketing strategist, to create a program to raise money for the church!  I was in leadership at that time and was asked to create part of the service that would kick-off this campaign.

I remember standing in this meeting feeling the grief of the Holy Spirit. The events that surrounded this became the catalyst that God used to set me free from religion.

I was shocked the first time I entered a church and received a 'program' that gave the details of the service. Apparently, no one expected the Holy Spirit to move during the service and I suspect if God had found a way to 'move,' it would have been quenched.

We've all heard it said that the churches don't need the Holy Spirit to do 99% of what they're doing today. And we are the church. It's hard today to tell a lot of difference between an American Christian and anybody else.

We dress the same, divorce the same, have intimate relationships before marriage the same, use pharmaceuticals and doctors instead of receiving healing from God, have the same illnesses, the same poverty, etc, etc, etc, ~ all the while professing Christ. The church has an 'instead of Christ' spirit.

This morning, I woke up about 5 am, which is unusual for me. As I lay there, inwardly grumbling that I was going to be tired today, the Lord began to give me a vision.

I saw people entering a building and greeting each other in the foyer and talking. But I saw a sanctuary door closed, with a sign on the door telling people that prayer and worship was going on. After they had greeted each other, the people entered the sanctuary quietly with awe and reverence for the Lord and there was a cloud of glory in this room. The chairs were set in a circle with everybody facing each other.  There was no platform and no obvious leader. There was a small group of musicians in the corner playing worship songs as the people prayed and worshiped.

When the Holy Spirit began to move, people began to give Words from the Lord. The entire thing was Spirit led - prayer, worship, what was spoken, and every 'service' would be completely different as the Lord led. There was a 'gentle' leader that would keep order and point to who's turn it was to speak but no one 'screened' the Words. If someone gave a Word that was not 'pure', it was 'tweaked' by those in the congregation, until everyone felt they had heard what God wanted to say to them today.

As the Lord led, there would be prayer for healing, deliverance, etc.

When the Holy Spirit released the people, they went to a meal. This meal was a true communion ~ eating and drinking together unto the Lord, remembering Jesus and honoring the Body of Christ.

I'm not going to add anything to this. I have sought the Lord for many years regarding these things and was blessed by what He showed me this morning. Please let Him speak to you regarding these things.

love and blessings~

I read a very interesting blog article the other day. I didn't save it and now I can't find it. But when I woke up this morning, the Lord began to give me some direction that I'm very excited about.

In this blog, this male Christian blogger proposed that the Free Evangelical Church is the anti-Christ. He defended this thought well - the biggest thing I remember is him saying that Jesus had the harshest criticisms for the religious.

I heard a long time ago that the spirit of anti-Christ should also be thought of as 'instead of Christ.' I have felt for a long time that the majority of today's churches have an instead of Christ attitude ~ having a form of Godliness but denying the power within.

When is the last time you attended church and received healing? saw a miracle? a deliverance?

Instead, there are programs to raise money to build a new building and marketing strategies to 'reach' the community. I attended a church several years ago that paid a man, who was a professional church marketing strategist, to create a program to raise money for the church!  I was in leadership at that time and was asked to create part of the service that would kick-off this campaign.

I remember standing in this meeting feeling the grief of the Holy Spirit. The events that surrounded this became the catalyst that God used to set me free from religion.

I was shocked the first time I entered a church and received a 'program' that gave the details of the service. Apparently, no one expected the Holy Spirit to move during the service and I suspect if God had found a way to 'move,' it would have been quenched.

We've all heard it said that the churches don't need the Holy Spirit to do 99% of what they're doing today. And we are the church. It's hard today to tell a lot of difference between an American Christian and anybody else.

We dress the same, divorce the same, have intimate relationships before marriage the same, use pharmaceuticals and doctors instead of receiving healing from God, have the same illnesses, the same poverty, etc, etc, etc, ~ all the while professing Christ. The church has an 'instead of Christ' spirit.

This morning, I woke up about 5 am, which is unusual for me. As I lay there, inwardly grumbling that I was going to be tired today, the Lord began to give me a vision.

I saw people entering a building and greeting each other in the foyer and talking. But I saw a sanctuary door closed, with a sign on the door telling people that prayer and worship was going on. After they had greeted each other, the people entered the sanctuary quietly with awe and reverence for the Lord and there was a cloud of glory in this room. The chairs were set in a circle with everybody facing each other.  There was no platform and no obvious leader. There was a small group of musicians in the corner playing worship songs as the people prayed and worshiped.

When the Holy Spirit began to move, people began to give Words from the Lord. The entire thing was Spirit led - prayer, worship, what was spoken, and every 'service' would be completely different as the Lord led. There was a 'gentle' leader that would keep order and point to who's turn it was to speak but no one 'screened' the Words. If someone gave a Word that was not 'pure', it was 'tweaked' by those in the congregation, until everyone felt they had heard what God wanted to say to them today.

As the Lord led, there would be prayer for healing, deliverance, etc.

When the Holy Spirit released the people, they went to a meal. This meal was a true communion ~ eating and drinking together unto the Lord, remembering Jesus and honoring the Body of Christ.

I'm not going to add anything to this. I have sought the Lord for many years regarding these things and was blessed by what He showed me this morning. Please let Him speak to you regarding these things.

love and blessings~

We've all had one of those days...or one of those weeks. You know. Everything seems to be going along fine and then you have a little bad news. So you take a deep breath, tell yourself that this might not be as bad as it sounds, and you keep going.

And then you get another little set back. So you pause and regroup a little and you realize that the first thing added to the second thing is causing you to be a little more upset than you might otherwise. And you brush back your hair and carry on.

And then a third thing happens and you just have to go sit down and take a moment. Or a day or two. Ha!

Life can throw us come curves and some of them are small and some of them big. Some of them are small but they get a lot bigger in our minds than is necessary.

When these things happen, I remind myself that my wonderful Father knows everything. He knew these things were coming. He knew what was going on when I didn't. He sees all and He loves me. Nothing ever catches Him by surprise. He has even planned ahead of time.

He always has a solution, He always has an answer, He always has my back.

And then I always ask myself, "How would He want me to react? How does God see these things?"

Sometimes, trust is a lot bigger than faith. Sometimes our faith might just be a way of controlling things. And then when things don't go as we planned, do we lose faith?  Hopefully, our 'trust' kicks in. Trusting that God is always trust-worthy.

Yvonne, at StoneGable had a wonderful post the other day about what to do when you're having a bad day. I would really encourage you to read it because she was spot on.  I told her that I would have added one more thing - singing our praise to God.

When everything seems like it's going wrong, I start singing my praise to God.  I sing really loud. I sing loud enough to chase all the demons and doubts and fears away. And then I 'stomp.' I'm not kidding. I stomp around my house and sometimes I wave a banner and I shout and declare that NO weapon formed against me shall prosper!

And I do this until my eyes are firmly back on Jesus. I remind myself of all the good things He has done in my life. I count my blessings and thank Him for every single one of them.

And I make sure that I'm not upset over bad things that CAN happen and that might NEVER happen. I remind myself that giving it to God changes everything!

And then I vacuum. I use all my attachments. And I get every single little dust bunny and scrap of stuff that's in my house. My family likes this stage because then they can't hear me singing. ;)

love and blessings~

We've all had one of those days...or one of those weeks. You know. Everything seems to be going along fine and then you have a little bad news. So you take a deep breath, tell yourself that this might not be as bad as it sounds, and you keep going.

And then you get another little set back. So you pause and regroup a little and you realize that the first thing added to the second thing is causing you to be a little more upset than you might otherwise. And you brush back your hair and carry on.

And then a third thing happens and you just have to go sit down and take a moment. Or a day or two. Ha!

Life can throw us come curves and some of them are small and some of them big. Some of them are small but they get a lot bigger in our minds than is necessary.

When these things happen, I remind myself that my wonderful Father knows everything. He knew these things were coming. He knew what was going on when I didn't. He sees all and He loves me. Nothing ever catches Him by surprise. He has even planned ahead of time.

He always has a solution, He always has an answer, He always has my back.

And then I always ask myself, "How would He want me to react? How does God see these things?"

Sometimes, trust is a lot bigger than faith. Sometimes our faith might just be a way of controlling things. And then when things don't go as we planned, do we lose faith?  Hopefully, our 'trust' kicks in. Trusting that God is always trust-worthy.

Yvonne, at StoneGable had a wonderful post the other day about what to do when you're having a bad day. I would really encourage you to read it because she was spot on.  I told her that I would have added one more thing - singing our praise to God.

When everything seems like it's going wrong, I start singing my praise to God.  I sing really loud. I sing loud enough to chase all the demons and doubts and fears away. And then I 'stomp.' I'm not kidding. I stomp around my house and sometimes I wave a banner and I shout and declare that NO weapon formed against me shall prosper!

And I do this until my eyes are firmly back on Jesus. I remind myself of all the good things He has done in my life. I count my blessings and thank Him for every single one of them.

And I make sure that I'm not upset over bad things that CAN happen and that might NEVER happen. I remind myself that giving it to God changes everything!

And then I vacuum. I use all my attachments. And I get every single little dust bunny and scrap of stuff that's in my house. My family likes this stage because then they can't hear me singing. ;)

love and blessings~

The Lord put this on my heart to write a few days ago and very honestly, I hesitated. Since then, He's given me two confirmations and I am repenting and writing as fast as I can. :)

I hesitated because this post felt a little harsh but sometimes the Lord corrects us sternly with a desire to bless us.

Several years ago the Lord spoke to me about 'motives.' Since then, I've examined my motives before I do most anything...blog, speak to someone, go somewhere, etc.  I believe the Lord cares about our motives more than He cares about our good works.

I believe that if our motives are not pure in what we're doing, the work will be burned up. In other words, we may as well not have done it. If our motive is to appear Godly, to have someone else think well of us, or to promote ourselves, we need to stop and get our hearts right before we do anything else.

If our motive is manipulation, we're really in trouble, because control and manipulation are a form witch craft.

Proverbs 16:2 says, "All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives."

For some, this may be a new thought. They've believed that it was a given - that they should go to church, that they should attend the Bible study, that they should take that family a meal - but if the motive is not pure, we've gained nothing in God's eyes.


Matthew 6:3 tells us, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing," We are to keep our good works secret, not flaunt them, and certainly not seek recognition for the things that God deserves all the glory for.
A few years back I was in a relationship with a pastor and his wife. I knew the Lord had put me in their church as an assignment. I was asked to be part of their worship team.

I typically start every day with worship. And so even before church on Sunday mornings, I was in the practice of spending time with God in worship and in His Presence. I had an opportunity to share this with this pastor, and his response was, "How long do you have to do this before you get into God's presence?" He saw this as a means to an end. His desire was not for God but for the benefits of God.The Lord would later show me this man from His eyes. The man had a spirit of selfish ambition and I saw the word, "devour."
Philippians 2:3,4 says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

This is to be our motive; that we first are glorifying God and then that we are seeking the good of others and never hoping to advance ourselves. 

love and blessings~

The Lord put this on my heart to write a few days ago and very honestly, I hesitated. Since then, He's given me two confirmations and I am repenting and writing as fast as I can. :)

I hesitated because this post felt a little harsh but sometimes the Lord corrects us sternly with a desire to bless us.

Several years ago the Lord spoke to me about 'motives.' Since then, I've examined my motives before I do most anything...blog, speak to someone, go somewhere, etc.  I believe the Lord cares about our motives more than He cares about our good works.

I believe that if our motives are not pure in what we're doing, the work will be burned up. In other words, we may as well not have done it. If our motive is to appear Godly, to have someone else think well of us, or to promote ourselves, we need to stop and get our hearts right before we do anything else.

If our motive is manipulation, we're really in trouble, because control and manipulation are a form witch craft.

Proverbs 16:2 says, "All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives."

For some, this may be a new thought. They've believed that it was a given - that they should go to church, that they should attend the Bible study, that they should take that family a meal - but if the motive is not pure, we've gained nothing in God's eyes.


Matthew 6:3 tells us, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing," We are to keep our good works secret, not flaunt them, and certainly not seek recognition for the things that God deserves all the glory for.
A few years back I was in a relationship with a pastor and his wife. I knew the Lord had put me in their church as an assignment. I was asked to be part of their worship team.

I typically start every day with worship. And so even before church on Sunday mornings, I was in the practice of spending time with God in worship and in His Presence. I had an opportunity to share this with this pastor, and his response was, "How long do you have to do this before you get into God's presence?" He saw this as a means to an end. His desire was not for God but for the benefits of God.The Lord would later show me this man from His eyes. The man had a spirit of selfish ambition and I saw the word, "devour."
Philippians 2:3,4 says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

This is to be our motive; that we first are glorifying God and then that we are seeking the good of others and never hoping to advance ourselves. 

love and blessings~

It has always fascinated me when I read that God assigned Adam with naming all the animals.
Because I believe that their name decided a lot of their characteristics.

Man has yet to discover all the animals that there are on the earth.  Every year they find a new type of spider that they've not named or a new creature that lives deep in the ocean.

If you've ever watched any of these documentaries, there are so many different species of animals on the earth and such a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes.

God has such a wonderful imagination - or did Adam?

Adam was created in God's image and therefore, is a creative being.  Was it the name that Adam gave the animals that decided that the giraffe would have such a unique pattern and a tall neck?  That the elephant would have such 'cute' feet, floppy ears and a long nose?  How much authority did Adam have over the earth where God placed him?  The Bible tells us that God gave the earth to man. (Psalm 115:16)

If you've ever looked up the meanings of the names of the people in the Bible, it's a study all in itself. Do you know what your name means and what your children's names mean?

If you think about it, we 'declare' their name over them thousands/millions of times in their lives. What are we calling them?  Does their name have an impact on who they are?

I think it does. I believe that God names every single child. Even those that don't believe in God. He puts a name on their parent's heart and it's the name He has decided for this child. (*I want to edit this statement. My daughter reminded me of situations where God probably had nothing to do with the name some parents gave their children. So thinking about it more, if parents don't seek God for a name for their child, does that name have an impact on that child? I think it does. And there are several examples in the Bible of God changing a person's name when they entered into covenant with Him. Abram-Abraham, Sarai-Sarah, Saul-Paul)

Because He knows every talent, every ability, every calling and potential that He has put in their life. And of course, one or two names can't cover everything, but it certainly is important.

My husband and one of my sons names are Mark.  Mark means 'warrior.'  And they both certainly demonstrate leadership abilities.

Several years ago I was selling real estate when I told someone laughingly that my husband and son were named Mark, my boss was named Mark, three of my clients were named Mark and a dear friend's husband was named Mark.  They replied, "God has surrounded you with warriors!"

Whenever a name surges into popularity, I pay attention to what it means. What characteristic is God bringing into the world 'for such a time as this'?

The name 'Linda/Lynda' means 'pretty or beautiful.'  I had a friend many years ago that was a bit of a tomboy and teased me about being 'girly.'  She told me one day that her daughter 'Lindsay' is "Just like you!" and when she started to try to change that, the Lord stopped her, saying, "I made her that way!" Lindsay is a derivative of the name Linda.

Different variations of the names Kayla, Katelynn and Katherine have been very popular for years. They all mean 'pure.'  My middle name is Kay, which also means 'pure.'  I love knowing what my name means - Beautiful Pure.  It's a lot to live up to! :)

So God brought an interesting thought to me the other day.  I was thinking about the 'spirit of Joshua', the 'spirit of Moses' - you know...how people always say 'there's a spirit of someone on them' - and I was wondering if that was true.  Isn't every individual's spirit unique and does God put a 'spirit of someone' on us?  (Joshua means Jehovah Saves and Moses means Pulled out of the Water)

And God brought me this question, "How much do we determine who we are and how much is determined by God?"

God gives us the potential but how much of what we decide determines how far we will go on this journey God has for us?

I believe that when we receive a prophetic word, which is kind of what a name is, our obedience is what determines how far we will go and whether or not it will come to pass.  We cannot just lay down and wait for God to make it happen.  We are a co-creator in this thing.  The earth was given to man.

And your life was given to you.

A few years ago, I had an assignment from the Lord.  When I started down the path, I didn't know it was an assignment.  I was just following God as best I knew how. And then I found myself in the middle of a battle.  I continued to seek God and lay down my life as He was telling me and obey specifically what He was showing me to do. After about a year of intense battle, the Lord showed me scroll.  I saw it unroll and on it was a 'things-to-do list.' Everything on the list had a check mark next to it.  As I watched, the Lord marked off the last thing! I knew that I had obeyed the Lord in everything He had told me for this assignment and that this assignment was over.

I believe that every obstacle you overcome, every wound you decide will make you stronger, every person you forgive, every dream you determine to make a reality, every single thing that you lay down before God and submit your will to His - every single thing, takes you closer to fulfilling the calling on your life.  Every single thing takes you closer to "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest."

God is using His people to change the world - one assignment at a time.  Never despise the small beginnings. Never think that you're not doing much as you share Christ with just one person. It's these small assignments that add up.  Be humble and faithful in the little things.  We each have 'a garden' to tend. If we do well with our small garden, it grows.

We change the world one assignment at a time.



photo credit: Royaltyfreeclipart

It has always fascinated me when I read that God assigned Adam with naming all the animals.
Because I believe that their name decided a lot of their characteristics.

Man has yet to discover all the animals that there are on the earth.  Every year they find a new type of spider that they've not named or a new creature that lives deep in the ocean.

If you've ever watched any of these documentaries, there are so many different species of animals on the earth and such a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes.

God has such a wonderful imagination - or did Adam?

Adam was created in God's image and therefore, is a creative being.  Was it the name that Adam gave the animals that decided that the giraffe would have such a unique pattern and a tall neck?  That the elephant would have such 'cute' feet, floppy ears and a long nose?  How much authority did Adam have over the earth where God placed him?  The Bible tells us that God gave the earth to man. (Psalm 115:16)

If you've ever looked up the meanings of the names of the people in the Bible, it's a study all in itself. Do you know what your name means and what your children's names mean?

If you think about it, we 'declare' their name over them thousands/millions of times in their lives. What are we calling them?  Does their name have an impact on who they are?

I think it does. I believe that God names every single child. Even those that don't believe in God. He puts a name on their parent's heart and it's the name He has decided for this child. (*I want to edit this statement. My daughter reminded me of situations where God probably had nothing to do with the name some parents gave their children. So thinking about it more, if parents don't seek God for a name for their child, does that name have an impact on that child? I think it does. And there are several examples in the Bible of God changing a person's name when they entered into covenant with Him. Abram-Abraham, Sarai-Sarah, Saul-Paul)

Because He knows every talent, every ability, every calling and potential that He has put in their life. And of course, one or two names can't cover everything, but it certainly is important.

My husband and one of my sons names are Mark.  Mark means 'warrior.'  And they both certainly demonstrate leadership abilities.

Several years ago I was selling real estate when I told someone laughingly that my husband and son were named Mark, my boss was named Mark, three of my clients were named Mark and a dear friend's husband was named Mark.  They replied, "God has surrounded you with warriors!"

Whenever a name surges into popularity, I pay attention to what it means. What characteristic is God bringing into the world 'for such a time as this'?

The name 'Linda/Lynda' means 'pretty or beautiful.'  I had a friend many years ago that was a bit of a tomboy and teased me about being 'girly.'  She told me one day that her daughter 'Lindsay' is "Just like you!" and when she started to try to change that, the Lord stopped her, saying, "I made her that way!" Lindsay is a derivative of the name Linda.

Different variations of the names Kayla, Katelynn and Katherine have been very popular for years. They all mean 'pure.'  My middle name is Kay, which also means 'pure.'  I love knowing what my name means - Beautiful Pure.  It's a lot to live up to! :)

So God brought an interesting thought to me the other day.  I was thinking about the 'spirit of Joshua', the 'spirit of Moses' - you know...how people always say 'there's a spirit of someone on them' - and I was wondering if that was true.  Isn't every individual's spirit unique and does God put a 'spirit of someone' on us?  (Joshua means Jehovah Saves and Moses means Pulled out of the Water)

And God brought me this question, "How much do we determine who we are and how much is determined by God?"

God gives us the potential but how much of what we decide determines how far we will go on this journey God has for us?

I believe that when we receive a prophetic word, which is kind of what a name is, our obedience is what determines how far we will go and whether or not it will come to pass.  We cannot just lay down and wait for God to make it happen.  We are a co-creator in this thing.  The earth was given to man.

And your life was given to you.

A few years ago, I had an assignment from the Lord.  When I started down the path, I didn't know it was an assignment.  I was just following God as best I knew how. And then I found myself in the middle of a battle.  I continued to seek God and lay down my life as He was telling me and obey specifically what He was showing me to do. After about a year of intense battle, the Lord showed me scroll.  I saw it unroll and on it was a 'things-to-do list.' Everything on the list had a check mark next to it.  As I watched, the Lord marked off the last thing! I knew that I had obeyed the Lord in everything He had told me for this assignment and that this assignment was over.

I believe that every obstacle you overcome, every wound you decide will make you stronger, every person you forgive, every dream you determine to make a reality, every single thing that you lay down before God and submit your will to His - every single thing, takes you closer to fulfilling the calling on your life.  Every single thing takes you closer to "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest."

God is using His people to change the world - one assignment at a time.  Never despise the small beginnings. Never think that you're not doing much as you share Christ with just one person. It's these small assignments that add up.  Be humble and faithful in the little things.  We each have 'a garden' to tend. If we do well with our small garden, it grows.

We change the world one assignment at a time.



photo credit: Royaltyfreeclipart