Thursday 28 February 2013

Pray together, Stay together

Wow it has been a very busy week here in our house. There have been so many great blog ideas that have popped into my head this week that had to be scribbled down and then left for a later time, there just hasn't been any time to take for myself to write. I am so sorry, but that is where my priorities are, family is first. 


The church had a wonderful guest speaker these past couple weeks. He spoke about marriage and God's design for it and for us. Sadly I missed a fair bit of it because of a hungry, grumpy baby, but what I did hear was wonderful. And Hubby filled me in on the rest after. 


When we first got married, Hubby and I rarely ever prayed together besides mealtimes.  It seemed like our spiritual walks were very separate and different.  My family had always been very open about spiritual warfare and prayer and we walked through many dark times and many wonderful times together in our faiths.  

Hubby's family is also very strong and rooted deeply in faith. But in his immediate family, he doesn't remember talking about things often. He know has seen and been told of many things that his parents have dealt with, but growing up he had no idea. So as a newly married couple, talking about faith and praying together was very awkward for him. 

A few months into our marriage I was having horrible dreams. We were staying in his parents farm home while they were living in a big city renovating houses.  And I just felt horribly oppressed and down living there.  There was a heaviness for me even when entering the house. It was strange for me to find this since I had visited the home and stayed there many times without feeling that way.  

Hubby had an old friend come and see him. They had both been on a mission team together to Trinidad and Tobago. The friend was one of the leaders and had dealt with a lot of spiritual warfare while there. As the leader, he felt like he had to deal with it all alone and he never talked about it with any of the team. 
Hubby had also dealt with a lot while there but had never experienced things like that and had never talked about those types of things either, so he also dealt with them alone. That night while hubby and his friend got caught up, they talked about T&T and all that they both experienced while there. 

Hubby got home late that night and just came right to bed since I was already asleep.  

At about 3 in the morning I was woken from my sleep and the Lord told me to pray for my husband. So I began to pray and speak blessings over him. 

Hubby shot up from his sleep and gasped. He reached out to wake me and said "Anita are you up?" 

"Yeah, have been for a while."

"Really? Why?"

"God told me to pray for you."

"Really?" he replied sounding much to shocked. "I am glad you were praying." Then he went about explaining his dream. I wont explain it all to you since it was long and detailed and very specific demons were dealt with.  But the jist of it was that he was being chased by some demons and they were speaking curses over him. He was running as fast as he could but they just seemed to gain on him with every step.  

Then all of the sudden in his dream he felt something change. He stopped running. He turned around and looked at them and said, "No! the blood of Jesus over me." And he started to chase them away, speaking the name of Jesus over them and casting them out. 

There was a reason I was woken to pray. He needed my prayers.  

That night changed our marriage.  

I know that is a huge thing to say but its true.  After his dream we stayed up together battling in prayer. We cast away demons that were attacking us and our family. We both were made aware of the importance of praying for each other and with each other. 

We truly invited God into our marriage.  

We were no longer living our lives together and our spiritual lives separate. Praying together has been a huge part of our marriage since that night.  

We notice when we don't pray together, it makes a difference.  We find that when we go without praying together we both start to feel disconnected and distant. Our communication suffers greatly when we don't pray together and we both end up having much worse dreams. We have even noticed our children not doing as well through the night when we haven't prayed together for them. 

We feel more connected to each other when we are open and pray together. It is hard to be open and honest with each other on a regular basis. But joining together in prayer makes us more vulnerable and open to our spouse. It is a whole new kind of connectedness when you pray together. 

We grow closer to God together and it brings us closer in our marriage also. My parents once shared the picture of a triangle with God at the top and each of us at a corner.  When God is the focus, together we grow closer to God, making the triangle smaller and bringing us closer to each other as well. 



 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Genesis 2:19-25


Adam and Eve were in the garden with the Lord. That was the way that it was supposed to be. They were in communion with God. And in our relationships we should be also. 


The way to have a good, loving, long lasting marriage, is to pray together. 

"When God is in your marriage, divorce isn't an option." (via the speaker at church last Sunday)

The speaker talked about how he has seen many marriages that were nearly dead, gain new life when the couple started to pray together. 

I am a firm believer in praying with your spouse.  

When we are going through rough times, we pray together to get us through. 

When we are feeling joyful, we pray together to thank God for how much we are blessed. 

God needs to be the center of our marriages. If He is not, we labor in vain. He is the glue that put us together and He is what will hold us together. With Him in our marriages the enemy cannot destroy us and our families. (unless we allow the enemy to come in)


Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.

Psalm 127:1


Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Mark 10:9 


Monday 25 February 2013

More Blessed to Give

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Acts 20:35



This cause has been placed on my heart and I wanted to share it with you. 

I am babysitting a little girl next week, her mom and older siblings are heading to Haiti to build a home for a man named Tiny. He works with Emily Hime at the Maison Ke Kontan, an orphanage in Haiti.  Tiny has six children and his home was destroyed during Hurricane Isaac.   Read the full story Here. 

I was greatly moved when Cherrie was telling me all about the orphanage and Emily who runs it.  Emily is a Canadian who traveled down to Haiti for missions trips and was a student in Canada. Emily set up Hime For Help, a nonprofit organization with hopes to relieve suffering of victims that are facing battles and obstacles that they cannot control such as natural disasters, disease outbreaks, war, governmental corruption, or extreme poverty.  Emily started the organization and then was offered the chance to run a small orphanage in Haiti. She left school and went to Haiti. 

There are opportunities to help. 


The Orphanage does not have a vehicle and they are trying to raise money to purchase one. For the children's safety and to help those in their community in case of emergencies, transportation is very important. 

There is a Widget Below that should send you to the Site to Donate.  They still have a long way to go. 








There are also other opportunities and needs that the orphanage has that can be found on the Hime for Help website.  Please take a look. 



Held Back with Force

I awoke this morning after having an interesting dream. I felt like I should share:


Hubby and I were driving to the church that my mom used to work at. We were going there to pick her up and as we got there we saw some young men sitting in the parking lot.  
Inside the church we could see some youth dancing and singing, worshiping the Lord.  Hubby and I chuckled because they looked a little silly and the moment we did God spoke to us. We both were rebuked and we were told to go in and speak to them and pray blessings over them. 

As we walking into the sanctuary, the guys from the parking lot did also. As they did the whole climate of the room changed. The youth stopped worshipping the same, you could tell they felt awkward and judged. 

Hubby got up in front of them all, ignoring the ones from the parking lot and the effect that they had on the rest. He began to speak to them, he was going to explain himself to them and then bless them, but something happened. 

He started to feel awkward. You could tell that he felt like his skin was itchy or that his clothing was feeling tight and he was uncomfortable in front of them.  But fumbling and pulling at his clothing, he pushed through. 

As he pushed through and continued to speak, his eyes began to water and turn red. He rubbed at them and tried to go on. They looked like they were burning and that he could barely see a thing. But he continued. 

Making it through the beginning, he asked them to pray with him. As he did his body tripped and was knocked to the floor. He could no longer stand. I rushed to help him stand up and continue on.  As I got him to his feet, I looked up at his face to see the one side start to droop. His words were slurred and impossible to understand, his mouth drooped to one side and again he was knocked to the ground. 

I let him stay down on the ground and I stood up to take his place and bless the people, there seemed to be more of them now. 

I started to bless them and felt this feeling that Hubby needed to be a part of it. I bent down and pulled him to his feet. In pain and his body half broken, I held him on his feet as I stretched out my other hand to bless the people. 

I barely got out one word when someone came running and grabbed to me to tell me that my Mom was hurt and I needed to leave, right now. 

I said, "No I need to do this, I will come after."

But they persisted. And would not let me go on. "She needs you Now!" she said as she physically pulled me toward the door. 

Finally feeling the urge of God and the blessing he told us to speak, I pushed her away and ran back to the people staring at this strange happening. 

I ran back, stretched my arms out over the people and shouted a prayer. It felt as I did, that chains were breaking.  That Light cut through the room and illuminated the attack that was happening against us. Their eyes were being opened to what was hurting my husband, and was hold us back. And then God spoke to them. 

His message, the prayer and blessing we had to say, that was fought so hard against, was this:

He will bless your going out and your coming home. He will be with you when you rise up and when you lie down. You are never alone. You are covered in the blood of Jesus, bought with a price, redeemed. The Father in heaven knows you, and loves you. 
 May the Holy Spirit fill you with Joy and Peace and Love. And may His light shine so brightly in you and in your lives, that you blind the enemy, that everywhere you go the name of Jesus will be proclaimed and lives will change. Everything you touch will glorify His name. You will be greatly blessed because of His love. 


As soon as the words had left my mouth, those men from the parking lot, they were gone. 
My hubby, he was standing by my side, unharmed. 
The people began to cry out and worship again. 
And I ran out to find my mom. I got to her to find that she was perfectly fine, and had always been. 



I told hubby the dream right away, then both my children started to stir. (I think they likely had some dreams too, they are often woken up when we have dreams)

Hubby told me that he had some really good spiritual dreams like that too.  He normally writes his down right away in the night so that he can remember them. Last night he didn't.  And today he doesn't remember a single part of it.  Hence my dream?





For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12


Saturday 23 February 2013

Death and New Life

Little A has been loving a story book that her Great Nana gave to us a couple months ago.  Its a very old book and Hubby remembers it from his childhood as well.  At first Little A didn't pay attention to the old paper back book, she has so many bright flashy hard covers that she has us read over and over.

But a few weeks ago hubby pulled it out and read it to her.  And since then it has been one that she asks to read almost everyday. 

I tried to find a link for it so you could order it if interested, the company still exists but I have searched and they dont make this book anymore. You can still purchase old copies from amazon or ebay. 

Anyway, it is called "The Little Sleeping Beauty" and is the story of Jesus healing the dead child. There are three retellings of this in the bible, Matthew 9:18, Mark 5:21, Luke 8:40. 

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.  Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.


While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother.  Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”
 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.  But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!”  Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.  Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Luke 8:40- 42, 49-56

Reading this story has gotten me thinking about death, Jesus raising people from the dead and how incredible, and shocking it would have been to see it happen.  We don't often hear about that kind of thing happening nowadays and if it does it is often surrounded with doubt and speculation. 


Jesus performed this kind of miracle a few times that are recorded in the bible. 

In Luke there is also an account of Jesus healing a widows son.


Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.  As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.  When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said,“Young man, I say to you, get up!”  The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”  This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Luke 7:11- 16

And then in John where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead after 4 days. 



Death is such a horrifying thing for people belonging to this world.  YOLO, you only live once, is a very popular saying out there right now.  People can take it either way, you only live once so you should be crazy, live wild, and die with some great memories.  Or you only live once so you should be conservative, don't take too many risks, and take care of yourself.

As Christians we believe that our lives are not our own. We were made with a purpose. We are part of a plan and every moment should be lived out to glorify our Father in heaven. Death is very different when you believe that you will live again, and when you know that you will spend eternity with the Heavenly Father. 

While on this earth, in this body, we are separate from God.  Our hearts and flesh cry out for Him, the one that created us, that fills us, and that brings us real life.  


For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.  For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  For we live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19


Often, when we lose a loved one we are left feeling hurt and angry. We wish that Jesus was around to bring them back to life. We pray and hope that they wake up, that they will be sent back.   But really, if they know the father, that is the last thing that would want.  

They leave this earth and get welcomed in. The see the face of their creator. They fall at His feet and worship. They spend years that feel like minutes and minutes that feel like years, in worship to the King of Kings. 


 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;  but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 
Phillipians 1:21-24

We cannot be sad for them. They have been blessed. "To die is gain." We are the ones that are left behind and are sad for our loss.   

When I die, I expect a celebration. There should be no sadness. There should be no anger with God. Even if I go today, and leave my wonderful husband and children behind, I know that God's plan is good and that someday I will meet them again. 


And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Revelation 21:3-8





Sorry if that was all over the place, hopefully it makes sense to you and isnt too hard to follow.

Blessings.
A

Thursday 21 February 2013

"He is my Friend"

I wanted to post the continuation of the post, "Friends", right away and then got sidetracked with the post about faith yesterday.  But better late than never. 


After talking with Little A about her "friends" that we cannot see (not invisible friends, just not visible to me), she told us that they left and hasn't talked about them since. 


A few days later, I went into her room in the morning when she first woke up. I kneeled down beside her as she slowly blinked the sleep from her eyes and adjusted to the light shining in from the hallway. 
I asked if she had a good sleep and she nodded. 

Then, out of the blue she says, "He is my friend."

"Who is sweetie?"

"He is," she says pointing to the corner of her room near her curtains. 

"Oh, what is his name?"

"He is an angel!"She says it as if angels are something we all see, all of the time, and that I should know without her telling me. 

"He is?"
Oh, to see through these beautiful eyes. 

"He loves Jesus." She says with a smile and light that shines through her eyes.

"Oh good, I am glad that he loves Jesus," I reply. "What does he look like?"

"He has teeth." (A perfect place to start her description, sounds like how my dad describes people, "you know, what's his face, the one with the hair.")

"Oh."

"And eyes! Eyes above his teeth." (not sure why she left out that he has a nose, but maybe he doesn't have one)

"And he is wearing a dress."

"Really!? What color is his dress?"

"It's a blue dress."She responded excitedly. 

Then that was it. She was ready to get up and get moving and she didn't bring him up again.



While we were playing later that day, I asked her, " Is your angel down here with us?" 

"No. He is upstairs. In my room." (Honestly, I wish I had taped this whole conversation, she made me feel like everything I was asking was so obvious and it was silly for me to not know already.)
Then she went right back to playing. 


Then, at supper, I was cleaning up and telling Hubby all about what was said. Little A perked up and turned from the table to face us in the kitchen.  "He is and angel and he is my friend," she interjected. 

Hubby asked, "What is his name?" 

Her response, "Bab". 

Just then it hit me. For weeks, and I mean weeks, she has been thanking Jesus for Bab in her prayers.  
(I have been thinking that she meant bam, because she sometimes is silly when she prays and that is what she calls hitting, "bamming.")
"Thank you God for Jesus and for Bab, and for dad, and mom, and E, and ...."

Wow. 

God is so good. I am so glad to know that there is an angel looking out for my little girl.  We pray all the time that Jesus would be with her and speak to her. That he would show her his love and bless her and protect her. I know that he is looking out for us and for her, but it is nice to have some confirmation of it. 

After the strange feelings I had with the things she had talked about before, I was so grateful to hear her say that he loved Jesus. And even as she first said brought it up, I felt much more at ease than before. 

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.  For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost."
Matthew 18:10-11


“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:16-17



Wednesday 20 February 2013

Confidence in what we Hope for

Thinking about faith today after talking to my sister about having faith and not giving up on trusting that God has something good for us. 

If we really examine ourselves most of us are lacking in our faith. 

I often feel like I am trusting God and then something happens to make me realize how much I was really leaning on my own abilities and not God.  

There have been many times in my life where I have given things over to God and had to continually offer them back to him again after fighting to keep control.  Being pregnant was one of the things that for me was the hardest things I have done to date.  It felt completely and totally out of my control.  

There was nothing I could do other than to eat well and take care of myself, to help my child develop normally. It was entirely in God's hands. No amount of worry would change anything, but I found myself getting caught up in the worry and fear of the unknown. 

I refused to have my doctor do a test during an ultrasound, they wanted to see if the baby had a possibility of having Down Syndrome. My thinking behind it was that I trusted God that the baby was safe and healthy, that He was in control, and that finding out would not change the fact that I was keeping the baby. I knew that doing the test and having them find something would just cause unnecessary worry, stress, and more testing. I had to just trust God. 

We are constantly worrying and fearing for our children. We basically make them live in bubbles afraid of everything around us and this unsafe, sinful world we live in.  But God has a plan for us and for our children, we need to trust him and that He is in control. (I am not saying let your kids roam free and wild, we still need to use common sense for their safety.) We need to let them live, and experience life, the world, and Gods love for the world. 



Hebrews 11:1 says 
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.



When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.  I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:14-21


Take a read of Hebrews 11. It is full of wonderful examples of real faith in action. 

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
verse 3

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
verse 7

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
Verse 23

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
verse 29 


Tuesday 19 February 2013

"Friends"

Sorry for the long break from the last post. We had a wonderful weekend with Hubby's sister and brother-in-law and our niece and nephew.  Then we just enjoyed our time together yesterday since Hubby didn't need to work. 




Little A has an amazing imagination. She started playing pretend around 13 months old. I actually caught it on video, the first time she pretended to make food and serve it to my dad and to herself.  It was adorable, and totally shocked me that she was using her imagination at so young. 

Since then she plays and pretends all the time. But in recent weeks she has been talking about some imaginary friends. She often makes up names for her dolls or other toys and pretends with them. But a few weeks ago she talked about "Bubby and Dubby."  She took her play camera upstairs and set it up on a chair so that she could take pictures of these two "friends." 

I asked her where they were and she showed me a spot on the floor.  She then told me that they live there and that they are a family.   

Then she said, "Maybe they are hiding in the tree."

So I looked toward the window and expected her to run over to look at the trees. Instead she walked over to the corner of the wall and attempted to open it, saying, "Right in here." 

The whole time this was going on I had an uneasy feeling.  I do find it strange when kids play with imaginary friends (I dont like not knowing who/what it is they are talking to, and my childhood gave me too much experience with dark things). But the whole thing was just strange and out of the ordinary for Little A. 

When hubby got home I told him all about it and he too had an easy feeling. So that night we talked to her about the importance of our friends knowing Jesus. We told her that she should ask them if they know Jesus and she said yes. But then I realized that even the demons know who Jesus is. 

So we made it clear that loving Jesus is very important, and that Jesus lives in her heart. So if Bubby and Dubby did not know Jesus and did not love him, then they could not be our friends and they had to leave.  We then together told them that they had to leave and could not come back.   She has not talked about them since. 




Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,  but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

1 John 4:1-6