ARISE

Thoughts, Prayers and Words of Encouragement: This AM as I woke with my granddaughter Julie beside me a myriad of thoughts and emotions flooded my soul. It had been a long night, she talked in her sleep most of the night, tormented by "hurry quick I must get out of here." Her little life only 8 years long has seen, heard and endured so much. I am quickly reminded of my prayer the day she was born as I held her and anointed her.."Lord, please get the most amount of glory possible from her life." The weight of His glory is sometimes so heavy!

So I slipped out of bed into the prayer bathroom :) (no closets available) and began the most wonderful journey of hope and deliverance I have had in the past 2 years. As I opened my time with readings from Mother Teresa I am challenged again to minister and care for Jesus in His distressing disguise. I am made aware that for me it is SO easy for the poor, destitute, broken hearted etc....my challenge for today is crying out for God's love for those that have been close to me, hurt me and now am I able to care for for them???...at this point I need His outpouring to care about them in order to care for them!!!. It is a moment of reckoning...forgiveness is grand until you extend your hand and heart in love. So after many tears and cleansing I am ready to face this day and truly find and minister to Jesus in His distressing and very personal disguise.

I open my God Calling devotional (AJ Russell) and the part of the devotional reads as follows; "Abide in Me. The works that I do shall ye do also; and greater works than these shall ye do because I go to my Father....Greater Works..(I have always been challenged by this verse!!) Arise from the grave of sickness, poverty doubt, despondency, limitations Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.....A wonderful future is before you both....A future of unlimited power to bless others, just be channels. Be used. ASK ASK ASK...Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you and unto those form whom you pray."

Following this reading I am lead to open my Bible to Isaiah 61. At the top of the page it says Messiahs Jubilee....well I am celebrating my year of Jubilee this year. The scripture (one so familiar) The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor...." I am not going to write the whole thing...however when I launched out in ministry in 1997 the scripture that our work was based on was Isaiah 58.....and now the Lord directs me to this very similar but a scripture so much more defined and so much more along the lines of the ministry of the past couple years. (I hate slow fingers and a mind that is used to verbally processing....I just cant type fast enough to keep up with my mouth and mind hahaha)...anyhow the matter at hand is this.....THIS IS MESSIAHS JUBILEE..these are the things that make His heart beat so fast, these are His desires, it is all so cool.

In the early days of ministry I would tell people that I just wanted to go and bless people and love on them. This AM as I am reflecting and pondering all that the Lord is saying I have that FIRE rekindled....the scoffers asking me for a more tangible form of ministry...all my inability to clearly articulate the future of what ministry looked like.......today NO MORE....I realize it is OK for me to be nothing more than a channel of His blessing and love.....I AM FREE......

So Isaiah 60...ARISE SHINE FOR YOUR LIGHT HAS COME AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD HAS RISEN UPON YOU.

Dear Lord, how incredible and excellent is Your name. Your healing power, Your deliverance, Your WORD....this day fill me with Your great love, make me a channel of Your blessings and love to ALL those around me....both those close and those not known yet....THANK YOU for this wonderful beginning....love you