A Whole New Heart for a Whole New Year!

The 3rd Annual Legacy Ministries "Equipped with JOY!" Women's Conference has come and gone, but not without making a major impact in the lives of so many...including my own! Like one attendee said, "All I can say is 'WOW!". The hundreds of volunteer hours (literally...if not thousands!) were WELL worth it! In the words of one of the songs at the conference, "Lord, I'm amazed by You!"

My passion is to see people set free and equipped to fulfill God's call on their lives to intimacy with Him and service for Him. As I told the ladies in the closing session, my rendition of the verse that says "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart" is "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you Himself!" How awesome to experience how wide, how deep, how high His love for us really is! That is the only desire that truly satisfies the deepest longing of our hearts--our love tanks! After that, our other desires will line up to match the desires He has for us to share that love to the hurting all around us. Then we will start to see those God-given desires fulfilled before our very eyes!

That has proven to be the case in my life this past weekend. God is a rewarder of those who deligently seek Him. He rewarded me by letting me see ladies soaking in the message Friday night about allowing Him to do heart surgery on us to heal those wounds that tie us to depression, anxiety, unforgiveness, etc. Then on Saturday it thrilled my heart to see the women writing diligently the dreams God has placed in their hearts to now go out and share that with others.

Thank you to all the volunteers who had anything to do with putting this conference together...the Table Topic facilitators, Breakout session teachers, registration, program, corporate sponsors, intercessors...the list goes on and on. What a team! What a privilege to be able to partner with Almighty God in His work to heal, restore and send out people to do His service! I know all on the team will agree with me that He gets all the glory! There is no way any of us could heal anyone, yet He chooses to use us as vessels to pour out His love to others. "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)

Ladies, mark your calendar now for the 4th Annual "Equipped with JOY!" conference to be held on January 20-21, 2012! The theme will be "Making a Difference". Let me know if you want to go ahead and register!

A Fresh Start

As I sit to write this post on the first day of 2011, I think about how God’s mercies are new every morning. If that is the case, then they are new this morning. Since this is the first day of the year, that means that they are new for the start of this year. It does not matter how your year went in 2010, you have a clean slate for 2011!

Let’s take a look at the verse from which we get that truth (Lamentations 3:21-26 NKJV):
“This I recall to my mind,
      Therefore I have hope.
      Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
      Because His compassions fail not.
      They are new every morning;
      Great is Your faithfulness.
      “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
      “Therefore I hope in Him!”
       The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
       To the soul who seeks Him.
       It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
      For the salvation of the LORD.”

Some of you may have gone through many trials in 2010. The way you look at your heartaches of last year will have much to do with whether or not you get out of the pit of despair the enemy wants you to stay in for this year.

What do I mean? If you look at 2010 with a “Woe is me” attitude, chances are you will expect nothing better in 2011, and you will probably stay in despair. On the other hand, if you do what Lamentations says and recall to your mind the many times God has brought you through, you will be well on your way to experiencing joy as you see God rescue you again and again!

Think of it like this. When you drive a car, you need to keep focused on where you are going, not where you came from. The rear view mirror is very small compared to the windshield on which it is attached. If you always look at the rear view mirror to see behind you, you will soon crash. However, if you glance at the rear view mirror when you need to, it could save you from a crash.

That is the way it is with our past. If we keep dwelling on the past, it could keep us from moving forward with the great future God has for us. On the other hand, if we allow God to show us glimpses of our past and show us His perspective, it can help us to be launched into His call on our lives. We will soon recognize that He was faithful to bring us through it all, and His faithfulness will see us through in the future.