Time out for Comic Relief!

It's been a while since I posted on this blog. I am in a time of my life when time management skills are needed more than ever before. I have started going to school to get my Master's Degree in Professional Counseling. I decided to change from my normal "serious" heart-issue posts to share some comic relief I had in the middle of an otherwise very stressful time of statistics homework.

Before I decided to get my Master's Degree, I found out I had to have statistics as a pre-requisite before I could start my degree. My daughter, Amy, took AP Statistics last year. She told me, "No problem, Mom! I'll help you!" Yeah, right! What she didn't take into consideration is that she is just as busy as I am, so to find 15 minutes of her time is quite difficult. So, I've been doing most of this stuff long hand...just taking formulas the book teaches and plugging in numbers. I have no earthly idea what the formulas really mean or how they came about coming up with these crazy formulas, but give me a formula, and off we go!

I got a graphing calculator from a friend, but Amy couldn't help me with it, because it's a Canon, and she learned on a Texas Instrument from school (of which we do not own, because we didn't think we had $100, so she used one from school...now I know it is definitely worth $100!) Finally, I got another friend to loan me a TI calculator thinking I could get Amy for at least some time to help.

A couple of nights ago I was at the frustration threshold when the formula I was using was for calculating the correlation coefficient (r)...how they come up with r for that, I have no idea! These problems have 2 sets of numbers: the x column and the y column; n = the number of pairs of numbers in the problem. The formula that I had to do long hand is...are you ready for this? r = n times the sum of x times y minus the sum of x times the sum of y divided by the square root of n times the sum of x squared minus the sum of x squared (yes, that's different! the sum of x2 - the sum of x squared) times the square root of n times the sum of y2 minus the sum of y squared. I said, "You have GOT to be KIDDING ME!!!"

I think Amy heard my moaning and groaning so much that she had pity on me and came to help me learn how to do that on the graphing calculator! YAY!! I can't even begin to tell you how complicated the calculator is, but Amy had me take notes on what to do. She said, "Press On; press 2nd; press 0; scroll down to diagnosticON; press enter...now that's just for if something goes wrong!" At that point, I busted out laughing!!!!!! I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face. How was I supposed to know if something went wrong? To me it was all wrong!

After I got a hold of my self, I let her continue...long story short, it worked! Now it takes about 2 minutes to enter all the information and find out the r (the correlation coefficient) when it was taking me FOREVER before, and the number was so big on the y column, the number didn't fit in the calculator anymore! So, I said, "OK, now, let me try a problem by myself before you leave so I can see if I can do this." I did it and plugged my answer into the online homework problem and checked it....on popped a message that said "FANTASTIC!" I belted out a holler, "HUHHHH!" Amy said, "Mom, you just woke up the house!" About that time, Bill came out of the bedroom half asleep trying to rescue whomever was being attacked! He said, "WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED??" Of course, Amy and I busted out laughing again, and I had to apologize to him. He was NOT happy!

OH, MY GOODNESS! THANK YOU, LORD, FOR GIVING ME SOME COMIC RELIEF IN ALL THIS!!! I will get through statistics!

Combatting Stress

I am now beginning my journey to get my Master's Degree in Psychology from a Christian perspective at Liberty University online and I already love it! I started taking my pre-requisite courses this fall to prepare me to start the Master's program in January. Let me give you a little tid-bit in layman's terms I learned in PSYC 101 this week.

Stressors are external events or situations in your life that cause stress. Strain is the negative reaction you have as a result of stressors in your life. Strain includes stress-induced sickness: physically, mentally, and emotionally. If the resources you have to combat stress are greater than the stressors in your life, you can be at peace even if someone else freaks out at the same level of stress. On the other hand, if your resourses to combat stress are less than the stressors, you may have great strain while someone else under the same circumstances is calm.

What are those resources we have to combat stress? There are many, including: positive outlook, friends and family, sleep and times of rest, exercise, proper nutrition, experience. The best resource, however, is God Himself! As Christians, we sometimes forget that the One Who created us is all we need to combat the opposition we face in life. He actually dwells in us! Wow! The stressful situations we face never take Him by surprise. He is there to protect us and give us wisdom and insight that brings perfect peace. It is true! I have experienced it. Have I been stressed? Hah! Of course! But that is my reminder to get my eyes off my stressors and on to my Resource! What is so great is that even when I am bombarded with more stressors, I can have peace at the same time!

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. (Is. 26:3-3, NKJV)

In Him We Live!

"In Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28
That verse has been ringing in my spirit lately. As I was meditating on it, I sensed the Lord speaking to my spirit, "The opposite is also true. In you I live and move and have my being if you let me!" Wow! That's the desire of my heart! I want God Himself to operate His love through me to others.If you read Acts 17, you will find that Paul said that to the people in Athens after he observed how religious they were with all their idols and even an altar that had an inscription, "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD." Let's take a closer look at what he said to them about that: Acts 17:23-31 (NKJV)

"Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Some of them "got it"; others still didn't. My spirit leaps within me as I read Paul's words, because I KNOW that God! God in His very nature means that we cannot prove His existence, but He sure proves Himself to those who truly seek Him; I know, because He continues to prove Himself to me everyday! His ways are so past our ways; His thoughts are so higher than our thoughts. That's what makes Him God! That's why you cannot "prove" Him, but He can make Himself known to you.

Thinking about what God spoke to my spirit about Him living, moving and having His being in me, I set out to find the verse that says that. I found it in John 14 when Jesus was talking to His disciples. In verse 23, He said, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." So I am one of those temples not made with hands that Paul talked about in the earlier mentioned passage! Oh that I would let that happen every day! I desire for God Himself to guide and direct me as to...
*what to say
*how to respond rather than react
*when and what to pray
*when and how much to give
*what and how much to eat
*how to not take others' actions stemming from their own issues personally
*trading my perspective for His
*letting go of my expectations on others they cannot meet, therefore freeing me of hurts from unmet expectations
*letting the fruit of the Holy Spirit operate in and through me
*how to show His unconditional love
*letting God Himself illuminate His Word to me
*letting God Himself give me the desires He wants me to have and letting Him fulfill those in His timing

WOW! Is it possible? YES! With GOD, all things are possible! What a joy when I do allow Him to do all that through me! On the other hand, what stress and frustration when I don't let Him! As I have said many times, "I can't do squat without Him!" Yes, He loves me unconditionally even then, but the stress that comes when I try to "do life" on my own just reminds me to get back on track and let God be God in and through me! What peace! Lord, let it be, even today!

Out of Africa...but Africa is Now in Me!

Too much time has passed since I last posted on this blog six weeks ago. I must say that during that time I was privileged to have experienced a trip that changed my life and deepened my walk with God unlike any other. My missionary brother, Donovan Barron, was right when he told my daughter, Amber, and me that this would be an experience of a life time. So this post will be long enough to make up for all the weeks I missed!

My great friend, Carol Winkles, boarded a plane with Amber and me on Aug. 10 as we headed to Kenya for what proved to be a life-changing experience that we will never forget. We first stopped in Amsterdam for a layover where I was praying that God would show me where to plant the 4 Spiritual Laws tract written in English and Dutch. Everyone needs the peace and joy I have found in Jesus, but not everyone is ready or open to that. I did not want to just give it to anyone if they were not being stirred by the Holy Spirit. We met a young man on the plane whose family is from Holland; he was en route to start college there. As we were waiting to exit the aircraft, I gave him one and said, “Here’s a little gift for you.” He read the title, smiled and thanked me. He continued to read it. I said, “You can share that with your family here, too.” He thanked me again and said, “I think I will.” Praise God for little opportunities to plant seeds in Europe!

On to Nairobi. We stayed the first night at the Methodist Guest House, where we had our last hot shower of the whole trip! The next morning Bishop Shadrach Oloo, pastor of Agape Church in Nakuru, drove us and our host pastor, Zachariah Shahasi of Living Way Foursquare Church on our 2 hour journey to Nakuru. Since we had arrived in the dark the night before, this was our first time to see the sights of Kenya and start taking in the atmosphere of the culture. Wow! Poverty was to a new level. In America, there are some areas where there are slums, but for the most part you don’t see poverty. In Kenya, it is the opposite. Road conditions were sometimes so treacherous with the percentage of pot holes being 80-90% of the road. So many people walked leaving paths next to the road everywhere I looked.

We stopped at the Living Way orphanage on the way to Nakuru where they do not have electricity or running water. They gave us a “presentation” when we got there and sang glorious songs praising Jesus. We gave them a little lesson about God not leaving us and taught them a song. Then we got out a little 7” DVD player and showed the Jesus Film for children. They were glued to the screen. We passed out sock puppets (made by the Girls Ministry of the AG in Georgia) filled with goodies like stockings at Christmas. They loved it. Thus began my change of heart already. Never again will I take a toilet (rather than an outhouse with a hole in the ground) or a hot shower for granted!

We got to Nakuru at Pastor Zachariah’s house where his niece and friend were waiting to serve us. (They cooked for us every evening. I ended up loving most Kenyan food.) His house was probably considered upper class compared to the housing we saw on our journey. However, even then, water only runs 3 or 4 days a week. We often had to manually pour water in the toilet to flush it. It was either that or a trip to the outhouse to use a hole in the ground. To bathe, we boiled water and added some cold water in a pitcher to pour over our heads.

Saturday we went to minister at a breakfast for area pastor’s wives and women in the ministry. What a blessing to enter the room ahead of time where about a dozen of them were already worshiping and crying out to God to touch the meeting! We sensed God’s presence strongly. Originally I was supposed to speak there, but God gave Carol a message weeks earlier, so I told her to speak and that I would greet them. Amber danced to the Vicki Yohe song, “Your Presence Amazes Me!”; appropriate indeed! I prayed about what verse in the Bible to greet them with. It ended up that Carol had already gotten a prophetic word from God that she wrote down ahead of time; she used it to end her message. It started with the exact verse I used to greet the ladies! What are the odds? With God there are no coincidences! :) We had sweet prayer time with the ladies. We were able to bless the ladies with jewelry donated by ladies in America. We had just the right amount with enough left over to give to ladies who would host us for the duration of our trip...the exact amount in fact! We were also able to bless them with reading glasses that someone donated with eye charts to see what strength they needed. They were thrilled that they could now read and study their Bibles! The pastor’s wife who was the leader of the group told us afterward that 2 ladies shared with her that they had decided to quit the ministry, but because they attended the breakfast, they changed their minds!

Sunday was a great day of ministry as I was assigned to go to a different church than originally planned. Amber and I went to Agape Church as a “thank you” to Pastor Oloo for driving us. Carol ended up speaking at the Living Way church where I was scheduled to speak. God was definitely making the plans as the Agape church was a bit more “western” in worship with a combination of African, Swahili songs along with Hillsong-type English worship. Their congregation was just the right place for Amber to dance to Nicole C. Mullens’ “My Redeemer Lives!” They loved it and even had her dance it a 2nd time after I preached. I was totally amazed at my God as I listened to the lyrics of each worship song and excitedly told the pastor, “That song goes exactly with my message!” At the end of the service, I was honored to be able to pray for people in a prayer line. I saw broken hearts mended (that was the theme of my message), people baptized gloriously in the Holy Spirit, people giving forgiveness as they released those who offended them, and people receiving forgiveness from God. Awesome time! After the service, they took us in a room and served us a delicious meal of goat stew and rice followed by a serving of Kenyan tea. At the same time, Carol preached a message at the other church about facing your giants where 3 people gave their hearts to God and the altar was full of others giving their giants to God.

After our goat stew meal, there was no time to rest and prepare for the Sunday night service at Living Way where I found out the night before that I was preaching for. On the way to Living Way, I thought, “I’ll just preach what I did this morning.” I heard the Lord tell me in my spirit, “No. That was for Agape Church not Living Way.” I then was going through a file I grabbed with past sermons that I brought just in case I needed them. When we got there, I still was not sure which one I was going to deliver. Worship was already going strong in the big tent church with very traditional African worship--no English. God knew Amber’s song would not have fit in there. I finally grabbed the message I felt God wanted me to deliver, and I watched as Carol smiled real big many times and shook her head. Come to find out, I did not know it at the time, because I had not read her message ahead of time, but I ended up preaching about half of her message she gave that morning to the same congregation! Go God! :) Can you see already why this trip changed our lives? This was only day 3! We had 5 more incredible days ahead!

Monday was a day of rest for Amber and me, but Carol went with a pastor and his wife to do outreach in the slums of Nakuru. This pastor’s family live in and have a church right in the middle of the slums. She took the 4 Spiritual Laws tracks in English/Swahili and saw God move in mighty ways in people to whom they were able to minister. Many gave their lives to Christ. One lady that was addicted to alcohol was changed and did not want Carol to leave. Carol got an email since coming home from the pastor saying that many of the people they ministered to came to church on Sunday. Only God can truly transform a life and break strongholds of addictions! Christ truly transforms lives!

We were blessed on Tuesday to go on a Safari. Even then, we saw God orchestrating it. We thought we were just going to have a driver and us, but the pastor that took Carol to the slums along with another friend ended up going with us. It was a good thing, because our safari van got stuck in the mud, and the 2 guys who originally weren’t supposed to be with us got out and pushed it out. I could just imagine the 3 of us getting out with all the wild animals pushing a van out of the mud! Afterward, we treated the men to an all-you-can-eat buffet at a local hotel for just a little over $5 a person. While we were eating, Pastor Zachariah called and said, “Tammy, you have to leave now and go to this church where the pastor wants you to pray for his church.”

I said, “Can we go later this afternoon?”

“Oh no,” he responded, “He has been calling me for the last 2 hours. His church is all there waiting for you to give them a message. They have cooked a meal for you!”

“Are you serious??” I exclaimed, “We just ate a buffet! Can we go to your house first and change into dresses?” (I knew that in their culture, women were looked down on if they wore pants in church, especially if they were to minister!)

He said, “No, we don’t have time! I’ll explain to them that you just came from a Safari.”

We were then taken to a village called Pipe Line to a little church called Jesus Manifestation Foursquare Gospel Church. When we got out of the van, we were greeted by all these little kids who dressed up for our visit. We went into the little metal building church that held about 30 people where African worship was already going strong! They escorted us to the chairs of honor in the front. I didn’t even have my Bible. Carol got hers out of her back pack and passed it down to me. I prayed, “Wow, God! What message do you want me to tell these people?” He gave it to me on the spot! Titus 2:11-13. I said, “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people. (pause for interpreter) It has appeared to us in America (pause); it has appeared to you in Kenya (pause) and that same grace has brought us together.” They then cheered! I kept going with the passage that talks about eagerly awaiting the blessed hope of the return of Christ. I told them I was amazed at how eagerly they were awaiting us, and how we need to all the more be eagerly awaiting Jesus’ return. I took them to the end of Revelation where Jesus promises to come one day and where it says “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come quickly, Lord Jesus!’ ” Carol then took the mike and exhorted them with a great message about God looking at their heart and how special they were. They had all the people come down to the front for us to pray for and then they took us outside for a special ceremony where they planted a tree in honor of their guests coming! WOW! I kept thinking, “What just happened?!” All that was topped with another meal that we had to eat so we wouldn’t offend them. God gave us grace to be able to fit in more chicken and rice!

The next day we loaded an African shuttle full of fellow believers and headed 7 hours away to Migori where we visited another orphanage and Carol and I both spoke for the National Foursquare Gospel Convention. The shuttle had seats that just covered our bottoms and half our thighs so more seats could be added. It was a tight fit, but full of joy as the passengers sang worship songs most of the way. We were privileged to stay with a lady named Pastor Ann on her plantation. We called her Aunt Jemima. We did not have electricity or running water. We had a kerosine lamp like the 1800’s. The hospitality was incredible. She and the 3 ladies who helped serve were so grateful to get the last 4 gifts of jewelry. They wore them with pride!

The conference was great. I think I had more fun preaching there than ever! I greeted them and told them that 25 years ago I married into a Foursquare Gospel family; that my father-in-law was a retired Foursquare pastor and my brother-in-law is currently a Foursquare pastor. Before I got up to speak, Bill had just texted me and told me he was fasting and praying for me and the conference, so I was able to then say, “My husband is not a pastor, but he is a mighty man of God, and he is fasting and praying for me and for this conference.” I think that helped them to receive from me more. God truly spoke through me as I encouraged pastors to keep going and encouraged the body that they, too, were ministers of the Gospel. Carol also did a great job the next morning. Someone asked her if she could come back and do workshops for the pastors in the future. I laughed as I remembered that when we were planning the trip back home she said she did not preach. She only ministered to women and outreach on the streets. I knew better. I told her she better be ready! As long as she has the approval of her husband and the people want her (so she doesn’t “usurp authority”), she has an open door to speak. I saw God’s call on her to speak years ago, and now she’s preaching in Africa!

Again, we were able to bless the pastors and others there with reading glasses and they were grateful. We were probably more touched than they were. There are even more details of the trip that I did not include. Besides times of ministry, we also had great times of laughter like no other trip. It was like the joy of the Lord was our strength the whole time. We were kept safe and healthy.

On the way home, we stopped in Rome, where I again prayed to God to let me know who to give the 4 Spiritual Laws in English/Italian. I gave it to one cashier at gift shop and she thanked me. She then told her fellow cashier, “Look what she gave me!” I told her, “You can have one, too.” They both seemed interested and happy to get it. At one point I had one more to give. I was going to give it to another cashier at another shop, but felt in my spirit that he was not ready for it. Amber told me she was thinking the same thing. Right before we boarded our flight home, we met this elderly lady in the bathroom. She carried a long conversation with me in Italian that I did not know what she was saying. I gave her the tract and told her it was for her. A lady in line interpreted for me. The older lady read the title out loud and exclaimed, “Grazie!” with a huge grin. Again, thank God for the opportunity to plant a few seeds in Europe!

What an experience! I am grateful to our families for letting us take 10 days away to go on this incredible journey. I will never be the same! Thank you, God for new perspectives that will affect my ministry forever! I was in a dry time in my spiritual walk before the trip. Now it’s like I’m swimming in the ocean! Lord, help me to remember that and hang on to it for the dry times that will come in the future.

Spiritual Warfare Prayer

I posted this "Spiritual Warfare Prayer" from my book Loving God with All Five Senses a couple of years ago. It has been requested that I post it again. Click here to purchase the entire book in Kindle format for only $2.99. To get a hard copy, go to my website or amazon. (Legacy Ministries gets more funding if you get it through Legacy instead of amazon.) The book is good for individual or group Bible study.

"Thank you, Lord, for placing the Helmet of Salvation on my head. It will protect me against any thought-bomb the enemy tries to place in my mind. I will not take them on as my thoughts in the Name of Jesus! I place my thoughts in Your hands. Please forgive me for the thoughts I hold on to that are not of you. I ask you to change my mind set to be more like the mind of Christ. Thank you for transforming me by the renewing of my mind.

Thank you, Lord, for placing the Breastplate of Righteousness on me. It will protect my heart. Lord, I place all my emotions in Your hands. Help me to remember that You are with me regardless if I “feel” it or not. Please forgive me when I fear. Thank you that though my righteousness is as filthy rags, yet You have clothed me with Your righteousness because of what You did at Calvary!

Thank you, Lord, for placing the Belt of Truth on my waist. Please reveal any hindrance or lie I have been holding onto that would keep me from trusting You and replace it with Your Truth, oh Lord! Help me to let go of my perspective of the Truth and seek Your perspective knowing that Your Truth will set me free! Help me also to have a deaf ear to the lies of Satan and give me ears to hear what the Spirit says.

Thank you, Lord, that my feet are shod with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace. I am being prepared for the calling of God on my life to take the Gospel of Peace to others. Help me to remember that no matter what I go through, You will use the circumstances in my life, both good and bad, to prepare me for the destiny You have chosen for me. Thus I can have peace in the midst of the storm. Thank you that every step I take will be in Peace and I can take that Peace to people wherever I go!

Thank you, Lord, for putting within my hand the Shield of Faith, whereby I can quench every fiery dart of the wicked one. Help me to remember that Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen and that without Faith it is impossible to please You. Forgive me when I have gone forward in my own strength and abilities instead of totally relying on You. Help me to dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High where I will be protected from any onslaught of the enemy.

Thank You, Lord, for giving me the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God—the only offensive weapon. All the other armor You give me is for protection, and I thank You for just how protected I really am! This weapon is the only thing I need to combat the enemy. It is really an arsenal of many weapons that are not carnal, but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Forgive me when I fail to read and study Your Word when You have prompted me to do so. I choose to read Your Word, meditate on Your Word, memorize Your Word and use Your Word against the enemy in due time. Help me to not fret over what I will say, but to trust Your Spirit to give me just the right Word in the very hour I need it. I do not want to “debate” Your Word thereby casting pearls before swine, but I will speak Your Word to those who are hungry for it as well as proclaim to the enemy “It is Written!” Remind me also, that my enemy is not flesh and blood—it is not any person, including myself—but it is Satan and all the principalities with him. Therefore, I pray that You would remind me to not let corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

And having done all, I will stand! Thank You that the battle is not mine, but it is Yours! Thank You for the victory in Christ Jesus who came to destroy the works of the enemy! In reality, the enemy has already been crushed under Your feet by your death and resurrection. He is therefore under my feet as I trust in You and let You dwell in me! I am more than a conqueror through You who love me with a perfect love that casts out all fear! And for that I will ever be grateful!"

"A Prayer for Our Nation" by Judy Roberts

This prayer was written and prayed at my church Sunday by a dear friend of mine, Judy Roberts. I was so touched by it, I asked her permission to publish it on my blog. Thank you, Judy for being so led of the Holy Spirit to write this prayer for our nation as we have just celebrated Independence Day all across the USA.

We thank You, Heavenly Father, for the promises You have given in Your Word. You promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that if Your people, who are called by Your name, will humble themselves and pray and seek Your face and turn from their evil ways, then You will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We give thanksgiving that all Your promises are, “Yes” in Christ Jesus and in Him, are “Amen!” through us to Your glory. May Your eyes be upon us today and Your ears attentive to our prayers, O Lord, God, and Creator of all that is: seen and unseen.

On this Independence Day weekend, we are thankful for freedom! We celebrate the freedom You have granted us from oppression. We celebrate and give thanksgiving for the freedom to worship You throughout this nation. We declare there is no freedom apart from You. We give thanksgiving for patriots who prayed, fought, and fell that we might be free. We give thanksgiving for founders and early leaders, who put their reliance and resolve on You. We give thanksgiving for the vast resources You have placed in our land. We give thanksgiving for the armed forces throughout the years, who have served and died for our freedom. We thank You, that in your great mercy, we have been protected from attempted terror attacks. We acknowledge it is only by Your hand this evil was prevented.

You have been immeasurably good and merciful to us ~ far beyond what we deserve ~ and so we humble ourselves before your throne this morning in repentance.

In Proverbs 1: 32 & 33, You have said, “For the waywardness of the simple will kill them and the complacency of the fools will destroy them, but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm."

In Proverbs 1:22 & 23, You have said, “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.”

We, as a nation, have misused our freedoms and celebrated independence from You and Your ways. We repent and ask Your forgiveness that You are not recognized as the source of all wisdom, provision, and freedom.
*We repent for our waywardness and complacency.
*We repent for our mockery and foolishness.
*We repent for being poor steward and for the misuse of your blessings and resources.
*We repent for worry and fear over bad news; for not trusting You to meet our needs.
*We repent that we celebrate that which is anathema to your Word and in your sight ~ that sin is celebrated; that holiness is despised.
*We repent for compromise!

Forgive us for allowing our culture to be ravished by the enemy and all that is unholy in Your sight. *We repent for our appetites; that we partake of entertainment and media that grieves your Holy Spirit.
*We repent that we have forgotten how to blush.
*We repent for not raising our children to fear You, to be discerning, for exposing them to unholy influences.
*We repent for disparaging marriage and for approving relationships that do not honor You.
*We repent for being a nation of liars; that the truth is not recognized or revered.
*We repent that we refrain from speaking truth about that which is sinful and about that which exalts false gods.
*We repent that we have not prayed before we vote.
*We repent that we have not humbled ourselves to pray for our nation and its leaders.
*We repent that we cannot be distinguished from the world by our words, actions, relationships, and appetites.
*We repent that we do not acknowledge You in all our ways, our decisions as a nation and as individuals.
*We repent that in our nation, we have devalued life. You are the author of life. Forgive us for killing Your children.

Forgive us for every thing, for every way, for every law, for every attitude, for every thought that does not honor You!

We are comforted by your promise in 1 John 1:9 that tells us if we confess our sins before You; You are faithful to forgive our sins and restore us to all righteousness. We require Your righteousness! We require Your mercy! And we seek Your mercy for the United States of America and for its citizens. We seek mercy for Your church. You alone are our substance, our hope, our forgiveness, and our freedom. You have promised to bless any nation that follows after You. We seek to be blessed!

Infuse our nation and it’s leaders with a holy fear of You, our Creator, our Source, our Savior. May our leaders, our president, congress, judiciary, state and local governments and citizens know the fear of their Maker. Cause our president, legislators, judiciary, to be stalwart defenders of our Constitution, which we believe was and is a gift from You for our nation. We pray You send a great awakening upon this nation, upon the leaders of government, religion, entertainment, education, commerce, and into every home. Give us God-fearing leaders in every realm of society, who seek Your counsel and forgiveness. Turn our hearts and minds to You. Cause us to know You and to follow Your ways; to speak truth and honor You.

Lord, You who gave us patriots who prayed, fought, who fell; founders and early leaders who put their reliance and resolve on You alone. Help us as a nation, as a people, to return to those roots You have blessed and will bless that we will be a blessed nation again. May You be celebrated and recognized as the source of all wisdom, all truth and of every freedom.

May we, as a nation, be a blessing to Israel, for your Word says that You will bless those who bless your chosen people. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

May morality be celebrated once again and that which celebrates immorality go out of business. May we have no need to pass laws to make abortion illegal, but may there be none seeking abortions. May there be no need to make pornography illegal, but may it die because of a lack of interest and awareness that it is shameful. May there be no need for lies, because our hearts are filled with Your truth that brings freedom, joy, and peace.

Cause us to be exceedingly thankful for the blessings You have poured out upon us that we become good stewards of them unto You. Awake us as a nation and as individuals! May Your Kingdom come in America! May Your will be done in America! And, above all, may Your people live first as citizens of your Kingdom ~ that You receive glory and honor. For there is nothing above You, our God and our King!

In the mighty name of Jesus ~ the only Way, the only Truth, the only Freedom,
Amen!

Don't Let Your Jokes Become Yokes

It is true that laughter is the best medicine, but what about times when jokes bring about laughter at someone else’s expense? Have you ever heard someone cut another person down with a “joke” and then proclaim, “JUST KIDDING!”? More than likely, the jokester was really not kidding. He was probably trying to get across his message of offense. He may not even realize that what was in his heart of offense came out like arrows to the victim causing a yoke of bondage (not just for the victim of the joke, but more for the one who told the joke). Proverbs 26:18-19 (NLT) - “Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”

Another way of letting jokes become yokes of bondage is the use of sarcasm. The definition of the word “sarcasm” is “the use of irony to mock or convey contempt: his voice, hardened by sarcasm, could not hide his resentment.” The Greek word for “sarcasm” is “sarkazein” and it means to “tear flesh.” OUCH! We need to check ourselves before we open our mouths to use sarcasm. Do we really want to tear someone’s flesh? In the Hebrew culture of the Bible times, they often used word pictures to convey deeper meanings of words. The word picture for bitter words people say is arrows. Psalm 64:2-3 shows this truth: (NLT) “Hide me from the plots of this evil mob, from this gang of wrongdoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows.”

God is not pleased with this kind of “joking.” In fact, He lists that in the midst of a list of sins to avoid in Ephesians 5:3-4 (NLT): “Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes--these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.” Going on to verses 7-8: “Don’t participate in the thins these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!”

If you have a tendency to offer “coarse jokes” at other people’s expense, pray about it. Ask God to show you the deeper wounds in your own heart that would cause you to lash out in sarcasm. Pray for God to reveal His perspective about what is in your heart and why the other person does things that grate on your nerves. He will show you things about yourself and about the other person that will help you to show kindness instead of shooting arrows with your words.