Almost New Year! And Another Tuesday Quotes...

Christ within us can accomplish what we can never hope to do in our own strength; and that continuous walking with Him will change the weakest of us into His image. 

Donald Gee

Merry Christmas! Time for another Wonderful Wednesday Prayers!!

While to some, this might not seem fitting with the spirit of Christmas, bear with me. It is another of Kay Warren's prayers, and in reality, it is all about what Jesus did on the cross, which is, of course, the biggest reason to celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Father, you are a God who hates evil, no matter where it is found. I'm so grateful that you're also a God who loves to be gracious. Forgive me for denying and excusing my capacity for evil and wickedness. I have caught a glimpse of myself today, and I don't like what I see. I confess that I have screamed for justice when I've seen the sins of others, but I have begged for mercy when my own sins have been revealed. Please show me your grace. I am amazed that you see all there is to see in me  my inmost being - and you still loved me enough to send a Savior. Thank you for your kindness to me. The way you forgive me, mop up my messes, and repair the broken places over and over again is so humbling. May I be willing to give to fellow sinners the grace you've given me.

Merry Christmas! it's time again for Tuesday Quotes

Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask. 

Billy Graham

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Another prayer by Kay Warren, from Dangerous Surrender...

God, I'm not so sure that I'm strong enough, courageous enough, or disciplined enough to ay the necessary price to see your kingdom come. I have gotten lazy, usually looking for w way out of difficulty rather than facing it head-on.Would you remind me today that the cause is worth any cost I might have to pay? I'm willing to believe that you are a rewarder of those who seek you, and I can anticipate that wile I may be asked to give up something precious to me, I will also gain something of infinite worth. I'm willing to risk it for you.

Tuesday Quotes

As we lean into Him, the most precious, inexplicable change begins to shape our decisions. We find that we desire to exist in accordance with His will and our prayers take on a new intensity. We tap into the source of all things good when we align our goals with His plans. 
Angie Smith

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

A prayer by Kay Warren... from her book Dangerous Surrender:

God, what you ask of me seems beyond my reach. I know I'm too protective of the Kingdom of Me. Part of me is ready to start living more for you than for myself, but part of me is desperately afraid. Please forgive me for living for myself. I've gotten really good at it. I see more and more clearly now that surrendering to you - denying myself, taking up my cross, and following you - is going to cost me. But because I know you made me to love me and you gave yourself for me, I am handing you the keys to the Kingdom of Me. Save me from myself.

Another Tuesday Quotes

Many Christians are so busy defending their own end zone that they have forgotten the joy of scoring touchdowns. 

 

Gary A. Haugen

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Today, I thought I'd go with an updated version of The Covenant Prayer that John Wesley attributed to the 17th-c Puritan leader Richard Alleine. It goes like this:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank with me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty;
let me have all things, let me have nothing;
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure
     and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father,
     Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Tuesday Quotes

Everything that God has put inside us must be expressed and acted on here and now - or it will never multiply and grow. No matter how small and seemingly insignificant it might be, we can do something today; we can get started with something. 
Glenn Packiam

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father, in the name of and for the glory of Your Son, Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One,

I ask You firstly to accept my praise. My heart knows full well how holy, awesome, numinous, wonderful, and great You are, and that You have blessed me beyond comprehension. Thank You!

And Lord, I ask that You help me to always seek Your face. Cause a deep, abiding hunger for You, and for Your promises to be fulfilled in my life. Bring glory to Your name every day of my life, through my life. Raise me, O Lord, to higher and higher levels of anointing even as You draw me closer, deeper and deeper into Your Kingdom plan, Your presence, and Your very heart.

O Father, help me be totally reliable in Your sight, shifting within me all that is necessary for Your call on my life to come to full fruition, for Your glory, in Jesus' name. May Your Spirit SWEEP me clean every single day, and bring me further and further into Your presence, into Your very throne room, that I may humbly yet boldly praise Your name and bring petitions before You with fervent and effective ministering, by Your grace, for I wish to worship and adore You there, at Your feet, daily, unhindered and indestractable, O God! O, that I would daily HEAR Your voice with clarity, and see Your face, and understand Your heart, and sense Your very HEARTBEAT, O God!!

O Father, glorify Yourself in me, NO MATTER what it takes!! May my very life testify daily to Your goodness, faithfulness, favor, and power, and to Your daily dose of LOVE, O God!! May my life testify consistently to Your intervention in the lives of Your people, and to Your ability and will to hear from Heaven in order to INVADE the earth with Your TOUCH and WORD daily, O God!!!! May I live the INTENDED, normal Christ-centered SUPERNATURAL life in accord with Your Word and command and promise, for Your awesome, life-changing, super-charged glory by the wonderful DUNAMIS power of Your Holy Spirit, for the glory of God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, before Whom each and every knee shall bow!

May the knees of ALL THINGS in my own life, O God, bow before You. May all that which is NOT of You begin to do as YOU bid them... body, spirit, soul, finances, relationships, and all other things, for each has a knee which is called to bow. I release ALL to You here and now, for Your awesome glory, even as I invite those around me to do the same, for Your glory. May we RISE to the challenge of COURAGE You have called us to, and may the knees of fears, doubts, worries, and negative thinking as well as the lies we have believed all bow before You THIS DAY. I take a stand for You fully... FULLY this day... and give You all the praise and glory, for this I do only by YOUR power!

Thank and praise You, Jesus!!!
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

If you wish to know God, you must know his Word. If you wish to perceive His power, you must see how He works by his Word. If you wish to know His purpose before it comes to pass, you can only discover it by His Word. 
Charles Spurgeon

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O, My Father...

I come with joy before You, knowing how much You desire Your people be free, delivered, saved, and yielded to Your way, out of love. Please provide a heart for true, pure, joyful worship within me, that You may come and continually inhabit my praise, for You are beyond worth all the glory, in Jesus' precious name, holy, righteous and true...

Amen and amen

Tuesday Quotes

Faith is no irresponsible shot in the dark. It is a responsible trust in God, who knows the desires of your hearts, the dreams you are given, and the goals you have set. He will guide your paths right. 

Robert Schuller

Another Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father,

Shine the Light on me, that the reflection I see in the mirror is the one You created me to be, which is a reflection of Your Love, for Your glory, in Jesus' name...

Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Gratitude evokes grace like the voice and echo. Gratitude follows grace as thunder follows lightening. 

Karl Barth

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father,

I want to get lost in Your awe-inspiring and transformative presence. May Your Spirit come and work deeply, intimately within me as I seek Your face. I love You, Lord.

Amen

Tuesday Quotes

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. 
St. Augustine

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father,

Help me to continue to agree with You, Your words over my life, and Your way. Help me to be strengthened to ignore the devil's lies and to cast down all thoughts, words, and feelings that are not from You, for Your glory in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

You block your dreams when you allow your fears to grow bigger than your faith. 

Mary Manin Morrissey

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Lord,

Shake me out of the strongholds of my life and past, and birth who I truly am into everyday being, that You alone are forever glorified, not only in me, but for generations to come, in Jesus' name and for His sake,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Where God is, a spider's web is a wall; where it is not, a wall is but a spider's web. 

Felix of Nola

Tuesday Quotes

Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials. 

Smith Wigglesworth

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father,

Help us to walk the walk of the Messiah and to follow after Him with all that we are. Give us a deep, unrestrained, insatiable hunger for Your Word, will, way, call, and destiny for our lives. Help us to always thirst for righteousness and holy living, for Your supernatural alteration of everyday earthly life as Your Spirit comes to invade it with the principles and realities of Heaven. Help us to forever be open to the fresh new thing You are doing, and help our eyes, ears, and hearts be ever-ready for Your communications with us. Give us all courage as we walk out the life we were called to from before the creation of the earth. Thank and praise You, in Jesus glorious and wonderful name above all names,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future. 

Robert Collyer

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father God,
Peirce the veil over the eyes of our hearts, that we may see Your face this week. Part silence from noise, and boredom from busy that we may take time to truly hear from You and heed Your Word. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

His will is not always focused on events; it is focused on His friends drawing near into His presence, standing in their roles as delegated ones. The will of God is as much about process as it is about outcome- often fluid, not static.
Bill Johnson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Oh Father,
Help me to have faith, and not doubt, as I come before You with humble boldness, seeking Your will to be done in the earth as it is in Heaven, in Jesus' name, now and forever, for His glory...
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

God demands the right response in order for His intention to become a manifested action. His intention is not always His action. God put us in time and space- and gave us a will- and it is through the human will that God must act.

Kim Clement

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O God,
Give us hearts to discern Your authentic Word and voice from the imitations of the enemy and the flesh to discern excellence from it's counterfeit, perfection; to discern who should be part of our lives and speaking into them, and who should not. Give us wisdom, and add to it revelation, for Your glory in Jesus' awesome name, Amen!

Tuesday Quotes

We need to be continually immersed in the world of the Spirit if we are to ever see, hear, feel and discern the things that the Spirit of God intends for us to know and understand.
Mark Chironna

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father,
Help us this week to learn what it is to truly minister in a godly manner. Help us to minister to You and others out of love and obedience rather than need or greed. Help us to learn to be quickened by Your Spirit rather than to be impulsive. Show us the way to Your heart, for Jesus' sake and in His name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

The moment God gives you something He wants you to say, don't hesitate. Speak it out. Suddenly, the heavens will open, and satan will flee.
Kim Clement

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father God,
Help me partake of Your divine nature this week by placing Your very words in my mouth. Give me the courage and grace to utter Your words Your way, in Your timing, and for Your intent and intended results, in Jesus' magnificent name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

When unbelievers lead the way in inventions and artistic expressions, it is because the church has embraced a false kind of spirituality. It is not living in a true Kingdom mentality, which is the renewed mind.
Bill Johnson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father, Holy and Righteous and Good,
I come before You today because I wish to be free from all that defiles: prophetic words from those who speak from other places than You which I have hidden in my heart disobedience; bitterness. anything cluttering up my heart; any paradigm that isn't in line with Your Truth, and any lies I have believed. Father, shift every paradigm necessary, let Your Truth set me free by exposing the lies within, and help me let GO of all defilement, no matter their origin. I ask this in Jesus' name and for Your glory,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

There is no failure in faith.
Bill Johnson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father, that Your Spirit would alight on me through the week, impressing upon me that which is in Your heart which you have of will equip me to address, for Your glory, I pray, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

God's plans and our emergencies often seem to be on different tracks, but the Lord knows exactly what we need. When the problems are the most severe, God proves Himself on behalf of individuals or nations.
Kim Clement

Back to Church Sunday!

Today at church, our pastor played this video. I just wanted to share it with you... I thought it was great. :)

                                          September 15 is National Back to Church Sunday

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father, in the name of Jesus,
I would ask You to remove all the ties that bind me to that which is not of You, and is not heavenly. Show me where I am bound, that through Your Spirit and Truth, I may find freedom, for Your glory. thank You, Lord!
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

The glory of the gospel is this: We have the Word with us. And....when the Word resides in our spirits, we can become the voice of Almighty God.
Kim Clement

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father in Heaven,

Thank You for creating me uniquely and loving me as I am. Thank You for Your call and challenge to become more like You. Today, I say, Spirit of God, come. I willingly surrender to the call of God on my life and ask You to help me be up to the challenge. Sweep clean all that is not of the father from my life, that the path is prepared for me to walk in my purpose, baggage-free. Thank and praise You, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Jesus is returning for a spotless Bride, whose body is in equal proportion to her Head. The Father alone knows when that moment will be. We don't.
Bill Johnson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Lord, help me to always seek and experience Your face, allowing the outpouring of Your favor to help me do and be in Your will, that I may change history for Your glory. Help me to carry revival and grace within me always, and to live in Your continued manifest presence and favor so that, like the Church of Acts, I may live with uncompromising standards, Kingdom values, and by the manifest power of Your Spirit. Fuel my heart, O God, with Your presence, Your passion, and a burning desire for my God-gifted destiny to come to fruition, for Your total and absolute glory in Jesus; name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

In the beginning, the wind and breath of God, the Spirit of God, brooded, hovered and vibrated over chaos and brought about order. The Spirit of God manifests the presence of God. You cannot know the presence of God purely by logic and reason. The presence of God can only be known by experience , and that experience is tantamount to revelation.
Mark Chironna

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father, that I may walk in Spirit and in truth, with heart, mind, body and spirit, and that I utilize every gift You have given me for Your glory. That I may fulfill Your assignment, Your call, Your purpose, Your destiny upon my life, being sure of my call and election for Your glory. That I may be continually growing closer to You, never grieving the Spirit, but cooperating fully, with courage, love, faith, and hope always, for Your glory: this I pray today, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

In the command to do the miraculous we find the key, "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:8). we can give away kingdom in the measure we experience the King's domain within us. What reigns on the inside rains on the outside.

Bill Johnson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father in Jesus' name,
I pray that You would continually bless me with ears like Samuel, wisdom like Solomon as he followed and pleased You, eyes open to Your dimension like Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, Daniel, O God, and a heart that is fully pleasing to You, I ask. Be glorified in this, as I humbly bring this request before Your throne of grace. Thank You, Father, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Posture is to prayer as tone is to communication. If words are what you say, posture is how you say it.

Mark Batterson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father, help me to bear YOUR burden alone, and no other, for Jesus' sake and glory.
Amen


I am bearing a burden for God and Him alone. Will you help me achieve the dream attached?

Dreaming of a Journey

Everyone has been through something… a trial of some sort. Everyone has to decide at some point what they truly believe in, and what is important to them. This project, Journey to a Thousand Voices, is all about helping people come to deeper realizations about who they are, Whose they are, and what they believe. It’s about learning from the experiences of others, and how we come to believe what we do. So, whether you have a story of overcoming insurmountable odds, of finding strength in weakness, of coming to a major ah-ha moment in your life… Journey to a Thousand Voices may also be an opportunity for you to share YOUR voice.

Follow your heart! Follow your north star!
My own photo.

Hello there, friends, family, and blog readers from around the globe... as many of you know, my name is Harmony, and I have a dream. It’s a simple yet profound dream, really: travel to spend time with a minimum of 1000 people in as many places as I am able, given resources, to listen to the stories within their hearts. At the same time, I’d like to do some acts of kindness along the way and photograph the Journey, blogging my experience and the takeaways from each conversation. With Journey to a Thousand Voices, it is my goal to really get to listen to the heartbeat of the people, the life stories, the challenges and triumphs, the victories over trials that have tried to wipe us out. 

My photo. Standing in the sun.

Tonight, I wanted to tell you a little more about the Journey to a Thousand Voices project I've been asking for help and contributions for. I hope it will clarify a few things and help you, too, become passionate about world change.

My goal for this Journey, ultimately, is to visit with and listen to the stories of a minimum of 1000 people in at least 8 states and 4 countries, capture some amazing photograph, and do some random acts of kindness. Make the Journey unforgettable, life-changing, and therefore world changing. With YOUR help, I'll be able to do just that, and you'll have played a part in helping define history fr the next generation to come.

The more I am able to raise, the more diversity there can be, and the more diversity, the more people will be helped in the broader sense. The more diversity there is the more in-tune we can ALL become with what is happening in our world today in the lives of people just like us. What lessons will we learn along the way? How will our beliefs be strengthened or stretched?

People need HOPE. They need to be able to share their experiences in a safe manner, knowing their listener will respect them, no matter what. I believe my quest to begin – and fulfill – Journey to a Thousand Voices is a vehicle for that to occur.

As a Christian, writer, life coach, and photographer, I understand the power of words, of story, of image, and of authenticity – all important aspects of this Journey. I have extensively studied to prepare myself for such an experience, and was inspired to this end while in grad school at Warner Pacific College, where I looked at the intersection of faith, healing, and creativity. I have also been inspired by the lives of many whom I have had the absolute privilege to meet and get to know through my work with women and children who have endured varying crises, and through varying ministry opportunities and experiences. I have a passion for helping people to become the best selves they possibly can be as they overcome obstacles and obstructions of life and walk into their destinies.

 Will you help me fulfill this Journey? Will you become part of the support team for this endeavor? 

 

I would greatly appreciate it!  

 

You might be asking, What's in it for ME?  I'm glad you asked! 

--Follow my journey via a variety of social media outlets.

--Cool postcards and/or photos along the way for those helping fund the project in amounts over $200.

--Big gratitude, e-thanks, handwritten thanks, Facebook updates, and thank yous posted on the blog I will use for this Journey. (That would be THIS blog!)

--Some of you will have the opportunity to become part of the 1000 I talk with for the blog.

--Depending on how much is raised, those who become part of the 1000 will get to meet with me in some pretty special places! And where it is a group meeting, you have the opportunity to be part of group photos for the blog, too.

--For those who would rather not meet in person, there is a ChocolateThanks option, where I send you some pretty fancy chocolate as part of my thanks. There’s also a pretty cool Glittery Thanks option, which has a one of a kind necklace as part of the thank you. 

 

Why is Journey to a Thousand Voices So Important?

--People can share their stories, which is a cathartic act, leading to healing.

--Readers can follow stories and learn from the lessons of other people's lives.

--Photography of the Journey makes the experience more holistic and fluid. It helps bring the stories to life, while helping others discover the beauty of the world around them.

--Journey to a Thousand Voices is one step in a bigger whole for me. My ultimate goal is to listen to 10,000 stories over the next 10 to 12 years.

--This is a way I can share the unconditional love of Jesus Christ with those around me, no matter who they are, their background, or what they believe.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 tells us that "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. "

This is a way that YOU can be a cheerful giver, and so can I. For out of the giving of many, the giving TO many can become a reality!

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, and for your consideration, prayers, contributions, and passings-along of this project, Journey to a Thousand Voices. May it bless all who help prepare the way, beyond measure!

Another Tuesday Quotes

Prayer and praise are both expressions of faith, but praise is a higher dimension of faith. Prayer is asking God to do something, future tense; praise is believing that God has already done it, past tense.

Mark Batterson

Dreamer's Watch, Part 3: The Gift in You

As some of you know, I have become a bit of a Dr. Caroline Leaf enthusiast.

For those of you new to my writing, Dr. Leaf is a Christian, brain scientist, and the author of two books (The Gift in You and Who Switched Off My Brain?) and has a third on the way.

In reading The Gift in You, I've gained a lot of insight into how i think, and therefore, how I dream... and why I dream the way that I do, to some extent. And I find that super exciting...

There is a test in the book that looks at the differing ways people think... looking at what Dr. Leaf calls the Seven Pillars of Thinking, which correspond with the seven pillars of wisdom we read about in the book of Proverbs.

So, what were my results?

My thinking profile... the gift in me... shows that I think in this particular order:
Linguistically
Intrapersonally
Musically
Kinesthetically
Visually/Spacially
Interpersonally
Logically/Mathematically

Linguistic is at the top.. way up there, and logical/mathematical is way down at the bottom. The rest of them all run between 65 and 53.33%.

So, in layman's terms, I think first in words, then I introspect, music tagging along close behind. Then, I have to begin to move as I think, which allows me to see what I'm thinking about, which allows me to communicate it inter-personally, and then, at the end of my thought processing, patterning and other elements of logic/mathematics comes into play.

weheartit.com

So, what does this mean for the dreaming and visioning experience? In itself, it changes nothing going into my mind, but it DOES help me to control what I keep in there... and how I choose to think about it. This goes as much for a dream or vision as for any other thought.

 Dr. Leaf writes, "Thoughts are active: They grow and change. Thoughts influence every decision, word, action and physical reaction we make. A thought may seem harmless. But if it becomes toxic, even just a simple thought can become physically, emotionally or spiritually dangerous."

"Are you paying attention to what words you are saying and what words you are receiving into your spirit?
    Words reflect the thoughts and emotions of the speaker because every word was first a thought and an emotion," she further writes.

So, can you see how important this is to our dream-life, and to other gifts of the Spirit? We must be careful, as Prophet Kim Clement also says, to accept into ourselves only that which doesn't defile us... that which is not going to be toxic in the long-run, or the short.

What does that have to do with the patterns we think through, you may be asking...

If we know the pattern we think through, we can gain better insight into watching what thoughts finish this loop. every thought you have retained has gone through the specified loop, the gift in you. every one of us has a different and unique thinking pattern and set of memories which we filter all the information we encounter through... whether it be information from the world around us spiritually or physically.

For me, that means that, having an understanding of my spiritual gifts, personality, and the way I think, I am better able to understand how God created me and how He works through me as an individual within the whole, the body of Christ. It means knowing I was born to be a dreamer.

More on Dreams

For those of you who are really interested in DREAMS, stay tuned not only to THIS blog, but to the dreams tab over at The Color of Faith. I'm starting to write about dreams there, some, too. :)

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

This is a prayer my SISTER wrote, actually, and it has been on the wall for a while now... I thought today that I would share it with you.

Lord,

Today, let me live every moment for Your glory and all that is in You. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Let me live out Your love. Fill me with a hunger to know You better, for Your Word, and Godly wisdom and revelation. Today, let me not hurt anyone. Meet today's needs today. Protect me from all evil and let me not yield into temptation. Save me from myself, my fleshly desires. Lead me in the way I should go. In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Disappointment is like dream defibrillation. If we can respond to it the right way, disappointment can actually restore our prayer rhythm and resurrect our dream.

Mark Batterson

Shofar Rain

So, lately, two things have really stood out in my dreams... including in the wee hours of the morning today.

One has been the sound of the shofar, and the other has been rain.

Last night, though, the rain was a lot different... and after a while, it turned into snow, but the snow was unlike anything you've ever seen before. If anyone out there has ideas of what meaning it might have, I'd appreciate it...

It was somewhere around maybe 4:30 this morning, and for the third time, I had the same dream of the night; almost more like a vision in how it felt.

It was raining liquid silver drops, and I was standing there, face to the sky, soaking it up. To me, I knew this was being bathed, soaked in God's love.

Here's where it got interesting... not only that time, but at least once more last night: the rain began to change consistency, and when it was all snow, I heard the sound of a shofar blowing teki'ah (one long blast) and somehow knew it was a Yemeni shofar. The next thing I knew, I was face to face with a Great White Lion with the name Judah stamped (tattooed) across His forehead) - the first time I have seen a tattoo on Him as a Lion. His eyes were a bright sea green... so bright, yet stormy with emotion, like the Pacific in a storm. Three times, He roared, and the sound was deafening; it was frightening and yet I knew I would be just fine.

weheartit.com

As the snow was continuing to fall, I noticed a faint "bell" sound. Not wanting to look away from the eyes of the Lion, I tried to concentrate on the flakes falling between us, and here is what I saw: each and every snowflake had a tiny bell in the center, surrounded by a Star of David, surrounded by the frilly fringe of the snowflake. All was not white... the bell was silver, the Star a silvery-blue, and the rest - the outside - of the flake, a purest white. And as the snow began to accumulate on the head of the Lion of Judah, He began to shine, more and more, the more snow fell... as though the snow were giving Him even more strength and purity than He had to begin with.

Just as I was waking up, the Lion turned into a Man, and there was light coming from His hands, and fire from His feet... the fire and light came toward me and it was as though it swallowed me. This part, I understand to mean being swallowed up in God, in His love, in His destiny for my life, covered in the Spirit and made ready for His purposes to come.

I woke up wondering if the snow was a symbol of God bringing Israel back to Himself, into Jesus, or whether it meant something else.

It's Independence Day once more...

It's Independence Day once more... the 4th of July. :)

These past weeks, I have been thankful to have the time to work toward my dreams and goals, which I believe are pretty well God-led.

Today, I marked Independence Day with a mini-celebration of my own, as last evening, I finished an acceptable video for my Kickstarter project, and at this point I'm just waiting to find out their decision on a go-ahead date. It's exciting!

At the same time, I went to a barbecue with some very special loved ones, and one of the ladies who was there was in some recent dreams. I dreamed she was back, but didn't know she was, and then, there she was. lol

This is a woman who has been a missionary nurse in a variety of places, and whom I find to be just awesome. It was a wonderful time just sitting down with her, among others, and chatting, catching up. I hadn't seen her in about 12 years or so, we figured out, and that sounded about right.

I had one of my less than 10 sodas a year, a Virgil's Root Beer (and I didn't even share it with the Virgil who was there). lol

A woman I used to work for was also there, and she was in some dreams of mine last week, too, so it was good to catch up also with her.

I'm finding that more often than not lately, if God has someone from my past in a dream, about three-quarters of the time, I've either run into them directly (either in person or online), or someone else has mentioned them within a couple of weeks of the dream. It's been really pretty fascinating, since that is a newer trend I've noticed.

Anyway, enough about me.

Happy 4th of July to you all!! How did you celebrate?

WeHeartit.com
Happy Independence Day!

UPDATE, July 9th--

As 1 in every 4 Kickstarters that is presented, mine was declined. I am going back to reframe it, and might break the project up between two different sites...

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

O Father of Lights,

Light up my world, and help me light the world around me for Your glory this week! You are the Light of the word, and we are meant to show You off and shine for You. Help me to SHINE for Your glory, and not my own. Thank You, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

...if you aren't willing to put yourself in "this is crazy" situations, you'll never experience "this is awesome" moments. If you aren't willing to run off the cliff, you'll never fly....You can't not pray when you are running off a cliff. The same is true when we take a flying leap of faith.

Mark Batterson

I Recommend...

I've been able to spend time catching up some on reading, and I thought it'd be nice to more succinctly recommend some of the best of the books I've read in the past few months. (All book cover photos from GoodReads, unless otherwise noted)

So, without further ado...

Outrageous Courage is about one woman's story of overcoming fear to walk into her destiny. Really a wonderful read!

The Gift in You. I'll discuss this book in a bit more detail later, but needless to say, it's very helpful for allowing people to better understand not only how they think, but the unique sequence that their own brain takes to thinking properly.

The Happy Intercessor. Beni is a delightful author and her story is relatable. I totally enjoyed this read, because it deepened my understanding of one of my giftings.

Culture of Honor, by Danny Silk Probably in the top twenty books to really impact my own life in the last fifteen years, Culture of Honor looks at how to build and sustain an environment where God is honored, and so are people. In this way, God is free to do the supernatural through His people.

Mark Batterson's The Circle Maker will truly change your life if you let it. This is for anyone wanting to learn more about prayer in general, and prayer for the issues that raise their ugly heads in our lives in particular.

Really good to read along with The Happy Intercessor and The Gift in You, The Supernatural Power of a Transformed mind is an awesome read!

Dreaming With God, by Bill Johnson, is bound to become a classic for those who really want to take things to the next level, and goes well with the books of James Goll and Kim Clement, aside from the rest of his own, Kris Vallatton's, and Danny Lee Silk's.

Jim Goll's The Seer is one of the best books I have ever read on the gifting of the prophetic, and in particular the gift of the seer prophetic.

In Hosting the Presence, Bill Johnson looks at how we are to interact and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in order to help live more fulfilling lives in the body of Christ.

RC Sproul, Jr's wonderful little book, The Call to Wonder, looks at regaining childlike wonder in one's life. It's a great read for those who tend to take themselves too seriously at times.

Randy Alcorn's little book, The Grace and Truth Paradox, is really great to read around the same time as The Call to Wonder and The Happy Intercessor. The three seem to really mesh well with their ways of thinking and therefore they would be good to read within the same month, probably.

Chip Ingram's Living on the Edge looks at the effects of living out Romans chapter 12 in our every day lives. A very inspiring test to ponder and then, make a move!

For those who are lovers of all things Madeline L'Engle, this gem of a book is what I am reading as I type this. It is reflections on the book of Genesis, and has been quite fascinating thus far... A Circle of Quiet and Walking on Water are also two really great L'Engle texts you might enjoy!

Great to read along with Outrageous Courage, Undaunted, by Christine Caine, is a life-changing book for those seeking to deepen their faith walk with Jesus Christ.

I read this months prior to Outrageous Courage and Undaunted, but still, Bethany Hamilton's testimonial autobiography, Soul Surfer, is an amazing read. If I had planned it out, I would have read all three together, then The Happy Intercessor and so forth from there. Great book!

I DID read The Risk Factor: Crossing the Chicken Line into Your Supernatural Destiny at the same time as Soul Surfer, and the two were quite compatible.  Kevin and Chad Dedmon are quite inspiring in this test, and if there were a sequel, I'd definitely read it!

Inspired by their song of the same title, Matt and Beth Redman's Blessed By Your Name, while a short book, is packed with a lot of power and insight. An awesome read, especially if you're going through a trial at the time of reading.

This image found at Amazon, as goodreads.com had none. Anyway, Leroy Eims' Prayer: More Than Words is one of the best books on prayer I think I've read in about ten years. Powerful and to the point. It's a few years older than most of these on my list, but I'm quite glad I read it!


While I've got more than these read recently, I thought this was a really good starter list for those new to Christianity, or who are looking to gain a closer walk with Jesus or deepening their presencing with the Holy Spirit.

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father,

Praise You for this day and all that You have already accomplished in my life. Thank You for who You have created me to be, though I haven't always understood all that has been happening around me. Watch over and guide me today, and throughout the week. Show me who to share Your love with, and give me the courage to give it. You tell us that we have freely received, and are to freely give. Therefore, O Lord, help me to give Your love away this week, for Your glory in Jesus' name. Thank You, O Lord,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Imagination is the road less taken, but it is the pathway of prayer. Prayer and imagination are directly proportional: the more you pray, the bigger your imagination becomes because the Holy Spirit supersizes it with God-sized dreams.

Mark Batterson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father, we come before You today seeking Your face on behalf of our country. We know that You are in charge and that Your eyes are on us all. Give us peace, and grace. Forgive us for that which has been atrocious in Your sight, and wash us clean, O Lord. Wash our land in the Word of God, and help us to do our part. Give us a great LOVE for Your people here and abroad, and help us to know where to work with You today and throughout the week. Thank You, Lord, for You are faithful, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

In the midst of contending for breakthrough, there comes a point when it is inconvenient to pray again.... this is commonly the tipping point when God loves to move.

Chad Dedmon

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Today's prayer is as follows...

O Father, our heavenly Father,

We adore and love You today and come before You with praise! We thank You for all You have done for us this week, and for the growth Your Spirit has accomplished through and in us. Continue to guide and direct us and draw us to You as we become closer to who You have created us to be. We thank and praise You, for we know You are faithful to do this, in Jesus' name!

Amen

Tuesday Quotes

When people are full of faith and vision, they can see what is possible in the unseen realm. They will always contend for God-sized possibilities to become manifested in the present moment.... Tenacity is an attribute of faith.

Chad Dedmon

The Gifts of the Spirit

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." - 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

1 Peter 4:10-11 tells us, "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen."

^"And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him." - Ephesians 4:11-13

What do we learn here of the Gifts of the Spirit?

1) They are varied.

2) They are all to edify the body, and to glorify God.

3) There are some gifts which are higher than others. There is to be an ORDER to the Church.

 Recently, I was reading Culture of Honor, a book by Danny Lee Silk, where he was discussing how the Church at large is out of God's divine order of operation. that wasn't the main topi, no, but it caught my attention nonetheless, because of how true it is. When we place those with pastoral and teaching gifts ahead of those with apostolic, prophetic, and evangelistic gifts, there is a problem. ALL are used of God, but not all are equal in terms of heirarchy.

Most people don't ant to think of there being hierarchy in the Church. Why, it's just UN-American!! Yet, God isn't from America, He is from Heaven... and Heaven is to be reflected in the earth. The gifts and callings of the Spirit are one way that we are to reflect His nature and our true home here on the earth, where we live. We as the Church are to CALL HEAVEN DOWN to "invade the earth," as Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church at Redding, California puts it.

The Word of God calls us to ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK. We are to walk by faith, and live by faith. We are called to live out God's divine order here on earth, regardless of what the world's systems say.

As Danny points out, we are to live in a culture of honor, where each person is honored for who they are in Christ, in the roles that God has assigned for them, and the placement they have within the Church at large. But if we have things OUT of ORDER, how is that an honoring thing? Those with apostolic and prophetic giftings are to be honored because they help bring Heaven's perspective and thoughts to earth and SPEAK FOR GOD that which He wills us to hear! Yet in much of the body of Christ, they are not honored, but set aside. Many fear the very gifts God has given us because they have believed the lies of the enemy and see only the potential for harm when they are misused, and throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.

When we ALIGN ourselves to Heaven - it's priorities, giftings, heirarchy, and rule - we ALIGN ourselves with God Almighty! To align with anything else would be a travesty...

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Like the Tuesday Quotes, I decided to add a Wonderful Wednesday Prayers feature, too... so, when I am online on a Wednesday, I will add a prayer...

Today's prayer is the first of them.

Our Father in heaven,

Guide and bless us throughout the day, and watch over our thoughts, words, and deeds. Draw us closer to You in the way You see is most fitting to my life right now this week. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name.
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

I've decided that, at least when I'm here on a Tuesday, to just give you a quote. Something to chew on for the week... So, without further ado, here is the first:

"God isn't offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren't impossibly to you, they are insulting to God."
Mark Batterson

Dreamtime...

These past few weeks, in dream time, have been fascinating. It has been one of those swathes of time where dreams COME ALIVE in mysterious and wonderful ways, and where interpretation comes easier than usual. For this, I have been thankful.

Interestingly enough, a seizure started this set. It is the first time this has happened for me.

Many of these dreams have had to do with friendships and other relationships... some have had to do with habits and patterns of thought. All have had to do with change, of those I have been recalling.

For instance, one from last night revolved around the ocean, and the Oregon coast. I started in Astoria, walked to Newport, was given two checks (for 20 and 100, respectively), and walked back to Astoria, and the curse over the land at the beginning of the dream was broken by the walk. you see, people were turning into paintings - which by prayer, the Lord showed me, people were going from being authentic to becoming a caricature, an inauthentic PIECE of themselves, and were becoming less than they could be. There was also an element of innocence (a cat I once had as a pet) and entertainment (a late night show host) that DISAPPEARED when people began turning into portraits. I thought to myself, interesting that authenticity, innocence, and honest entertainment all disappear together. And at this point, I haven't figured the checks out, other than that they represent some sort of gift. The walk, too, wasn't as long as it seems to the naked eye... in the dream, as I walked, I was teleported, so I only really walked about 5 miles each way, rather than much more. This showed me that God will work with someone doing their part, and whose hearts are honest toward Him in their intent.

After this, the dream time turned to a Christian singer I know; someone I used to attend church with and who I highly respect. I was still on the coast, and her husband - who is currently alive - had died and she was dating another man, who was a filmmaker. In the dream, she worked at the end of this really long tunnel, about a mile and a half underneath the ocean waves, and was recording the speed of the waves - not something she would likely be interested in in real life, but I went with it. :) I remember, in the dream, watching waves crashing against a wall, and then watching a movie this friend's new boyfriend had captured that included some of her wave-speed research with my Mom, who then walked with me through the tunnel to go and speak with her. She said, "The reason our movie went so well is we refused to do what we had done before with our habits, the things that we knew could cause God to not bless it. Sure, we resumed afterward, but look how well the film is doing!"

In the dream, this woman had a need to disclose... to confess. She also had a need to make an excuse, of sorts; to defend the very behavior she had just confessed. God showed me that people always have these two urges: confession and defense. I heard Him say, we are to be like the waves, which cannot truly be recorded... an individual wave, yes, but not the whole of the ocean. This was in line with something He has been teaching me over the past few weeks, in general.

I made a comment to someone one day that people are either like the OCEAN, or like the DEAD SEA. And this is what I meant...

The ocean is healthy, as it can purge and purify itself instinctively, with intuitive wisdom we don't even understand. The ocean has PLENTY to give, and does so regularly. When others add something detrimental to the ocean's well-being into it, eventually, though not always right away, the ocean coughs it up... it LETS GO. The ocean BLESSES and is generous, while also not allowing everyone's waste to remain in it. Life in the ocean is fruitful when it is working in proper order.

The Dead Sea, on the other hand, only take things IN. It never releases, unless something is TAKEN from it. There is a lot to give; the good things that have accumulated at the Dead Sea have been healing for many... and the same can be said of those who take and take, but never give: there is sooo much good inside of them, but they aren't willing to allow the letting go. Good might seep, it might be manipulated out of them, but if someone REFUSES to give, they are like the Dead Sea in that they have MUCH to offer but a stingy spirit.

Dreams are there to guide us, to share wisdom from above with us, as well as the wisdom we intuitively HAVE but haven't quite grasped yet.

What are YOUR DREAMS telling you these days?

Dreaming is a Type of Prayer

Tonight, as I was reading, I came across this powerful quote:

Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears, writes:

"If you keep praying, you'll keep dreaming, and conversely, if you keep dreaming, you'll keep praying. Dreaming is a form of praying, and praying is a form of dreaming. The more you pray the bigger your dreams will become. And the bigger your dreams become the more you will have to pray. In that process of drawing ever-enlarging prayer circles, the sphere of God's glory is expanded."

As a dreamer, as a prayer warrior... I tend to agree, though don't always remember this. NOW, it's up on a wall... what about in your own life? Do you find this true? If so, do you have an example to share?