I am learning so much. I must admit I thought I knew a lot about offense and had it under control. But I NOW must say, "I am a child and I need to sit and learn". My church is teaching from the "Bait of Satan" by John Bevere. It is a book about living free from the deadly trap of offense. I have learned so much in two weeks, I have also broken free in my life in such a way that it has caused me to reevaluate everything I say and do. My actions, my motives, my understanding of Offense and how it can drive us so far away from God. We think we are Godly and we find out we are full of sin. I must confess that about myself, I thought I was Godly and I find that I am full of sin. The sin of OFFENSE. I thank God that we are reading this book. One of the main things I have learned is, THERE IS NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO TO ME TO MAKE ME NOT LOVE THEM. Because the love I love with is the love of God. Agape=the love of God. Phileo=love of man. Take time to read the "Bait of Satan" it will change your life if you allow it to. God Bless.

America and Truth

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Beautiful words written about a beautiful country a place that is like no other. America. Most school children today, don't even know this song. They have no idea of the true America. They only have knowledge of this new America that has no basis or foundation in the truth. The America they know was not forged through the power of God and the blood of just men who fought and died for a nation that would bring Glory to the eternal God. They only know what they see now. A facade, a pretense, a country that is a shell of what it was created to be. Our children have not seen the true America. They have only seen what is now only a dream.

We didn't become the country we are by accident. We became the country we are through divine assistance. We became the country we are by the help of a soverign God who predetemined and predestined a nation of Christians. A nation of Christians that based their very existence on the HOLY Bible. The Word of the living God.

Why did America become so great. Why has America existed as long as it has? Because America is not only good but America based it's existence on the eternal Words of the living God. Can we continue to survive if we continue to push away those principles that have allowed us to be great? Can American continue to survive if we continue to push away the hand of God? The hand that has held us in His protection.

Have most of us just closed our eyes, decided to roll over and play dead as we see our freedoms slowly and surely taken away from us? Are all of our representives for sell to the highest bidder? What would make you (as a U.S. representative) in the Senate or the House sell yourself to the highest bidder. You can't live in the land of the free and the home of the brave if you sell it away. The greatest nation on the face of the earth? Even so great that it too can be bought and sold. No longer is it "We the People", it is now "Who is the highest bidder" and "How much evil can I do and get away with it?" The sad thing is that money is more enticing than doing what's right. Money is more enticing than a good name and representing the people.

The media has become experts at taking anything and distorting it. It has also become the primary catalyst in a generation that has become anesthetized to "TRUTH". Not only does this generation not know what truth is, they don't even know how to think for themselves and they aren't even aware of their own history. They take the word of those in the media as if it dropped down from heaven and is literally God's word. The American media has become propagandist. It is no longer based on facts, it is filled with inuendo and opinion. And those spinning it either have no regard for the truth or have been bought and/or sold to the highest bidder. Woe unto you who lie and tell lies and deceive many. You will have to give an account of every evil, lying and deceiving word that falls from your mouth. It won't be pretty.

We must return to our roots and remember that the only way to conquer evil is with good. Stand up, vote for change and make a difference. But most of all awaken to the realization that only God can bring about true change. Change in the hearts of men. Change that can alter the face of America. Let's pray that WE (America) will awaken to the truth of God and position ourselves spiritually to save a generation. A generation that is waiting to see truth, and have an experience with what is REAL.

Hallelujah to the King

Come let us shout rejoicing!
Now let us sing
Lets lift our hands before the king.
Come let us bow before him
now let us praise,
Let's give all glory to his NAME!!!

Hallelujah to the king of glory!
hallelujah to the lord of lords!
hallelujah to the God of Israel!
for he reigns forevermore
Hallelujah to the king of glory!
hallelujah to the lord of lords!
hallelujah to the God of Israel!
for he reigns forever
reigns forevermore

He reigns forevermore
He reigns forevermore
He reigns for-ever-more
he reigns forever
reigns forevermore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJybtgsOYno

Forgiveness

I am not a person who holds a grudge and I have no problem forgiving or letting go of most every issue. However, I find it hard to forgive someone who lies to me. I will say that I won’t necessarily treat the person that has lied to me wrong or hateful; but I will cut off communication with them all together and not acknowledge that person. When a person claims to be a friend it makes the lie even more hurtful. A lie of omission is still a lie, especially when you know being honest will make a difference. That means you are knowingly deceiving.

Some people have no idea what a friend is, or how friends should treat each other.
A friend, a true friend looks out for you, not out of selfishness, but love.
A true friend tells you the truth even if they know it will hurt you.
A true friend won’t tell you something to benefit them in spite of how it may hurt you.
A true friend will treat you the way they want to be treated.
A true friend will leave you alone, if they know they will do something that will hurt or harm you.
There are people that use you and will tell you what will benefit them, knowing they are lying in order to have their own way. This is not a friend.

I am 40 years old, and I still have blinders up when it comes to people. I am not the type of person to say one thing and do another and I usually most of the time remember what I tell someone and keep my word to that person. It doesn’t have to be a promise, because my word is my promise. If something happens to cause me not to keep my word I let the person know or I make sure to make amends. I make certain to apologize when I am wrong and I don’t BLAME SOMEONE ELSE or find someone to point the blame towards.

My Achilles heel (my one weakness) is that I believe the best of every person. That is a good and a bad thing. When you believe the best of every person you look past or don’t see their faults. When you believe the best of every person you see in them the things that make them good, the things that make them great. You see the goodness in them, the potential they have within them to accomplish great things. You see the greatness within them. You see the attributes within them that yield their potential to make a difference in their lives and the lives of those around them. And you see the possibilities and qualities they possess that can be used to change the lives of people all over the world. WHEN YOU BELIEVE THE BEST OF EVERY PERSON YOU SEE THEM THROUGH THE EYES OF GOD’S LOVE, NOT YOUR OWN EYES.

When people mean you NO harm seeing the best of every person is good; however, when people mean you no good, it can be bad. I find that this gets me in the most trouble. I must learn to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. I have the harmless as a dove thing down pat; however, it is the wise as a serpent element that needs work. I am often reminded of where the bible talks about Jesus knowing the hearts of men and he knew not to trust them. I need to know and understand the hearts of men when to and when not to trust them. When something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, acts totally like a duck (If it is towards me or not) then for me it is a duck.

I love people, I know that I have this honest from my heavenly father. I love to help people. Outside of God, people are most important and we should always take care to treat each other with the same respect and concern that we want shown to us. People matter, more that things. Including riches, jobs, cars, anything you can think up. People matter more and we ought to remember that when we deal with our families, friends, acquaintances, and even people we don’t know. People Matter. May God give me the strength to forgive and help me to remember that even when people lie they are worthy of forgiveness because You 1st forgave me.

The Storm

In the fall of 2009 I had a dream that was very alarming. This is that dream.

There was a major storm coming that would touch every nation of the world and destroy everything in its path. Every nation and every people were aware of the storm and knew that it was coming. As a result, all of the nation’s leaders gathered together to find a way to survive this storm, this destruction that was coming. The decision was to construct underground shelter cities, a place for citizens of each nation to survive. Each nation would be responsible for the construction of these underground cities and make sure that every citizen knew where they were to report in order to survive the Storm. Every government of every nation with the assistance of the media did everything they could to make sure the citizens knew where the closest underground shelter city was located. There was enough time to prepare the shelter cities and make sure that everyone had the opportunity to survive.

The time came; the storm began and started to make his way across the earth. As the storm began to raze across the world, warnings were sent out to alert every person of every nation to seek refuge in the underground shelter cities prepared as safety against the storm. I received the warning to seek safety in the underground shelter city closest to me. The journey began. In the dream, there was a sense of personal accountability; not of one being accountable for others getting to the shelter, but each person had the task of getting to the underground shelter city themselves. As I journeyed to the shelter city I started out with a group of people. Some of the people were friends, some were acquaintances, and some were just people who happened to be traveling to the shelter too. Our travelling did not involve vehicles but we had to walk to our destination. As people received the alarm to get to the nearest shelter city as soon as possible, they packed their belongings in backpacks and whatever they could easily carry and made their way to their designated shelter city.

As our group travelled, more people joined us and we walked and talked and made our way on our journey. As we travelled, I noticed that some of the people I began the journey with were no longer in our group. Some of the people seemed to get distracted by things that were happening around us and leave. The group I started with was not the same group I continued with as we were a quarter of the way through the journey. Some of the people I travelled with were family members, I did not know which members they were but as family they were dear to me. As we travelled my family members began to get distracted and do stupid things. They would not stay with the group and started going down different paths that were not directly on the path to the shelter city that we were making our way to. I went after them and would catch up to them and ask them what were they doing, didn’t they understand the importance of getting to the shelter city. "Why are you going this way when you know the importance of the situation at hand?", I would scold them and tell them to continue with us and to stay with the group. This happened more than once and each time I found myself searching for them and getting them back on the correct path. It seemed that they weren’t the same family members each time but different family members at different times on our journey. At about the mid point in our journey I remembered stopping outside of a diner. Some of the people in our group stopped to go in and eat; however, others including me continued and did not let food distract us from reaching our destination. We understood the critical nature of reaching the shelter.

As we continued the journey the sky began to darken as the storm got closer. We could feel the difference in the atmosphere and knew that the storm was approaching. It seemed that as the storm started to get closer some people moved faster, some became even more distracted. Instead of staying on the correct path to the shelter people began to take other paths that they felt were quicker or that they believed would take them to the shelter; however, my group and I continued. As we got closer to the shelter you could visibly see the signs of the storm. It was the scariest thing I had ever seen. A sense of dread, fear, and hopelessness seemed to grip your very being at the very thought of being caught and/or destroyed by the storm. This feeling was more than just a normal fear but it was as if being caught in the storm would bring about your utter and complete destruction. This destruction would be so great that you would never be able to escape it; a destruction that would take a moment, but last an eternity. Everyone that caught a glimpse of the storm seemed to know that this was true. Even as they became more distracted, as if the distraction would drown out the final outcome of the storm, they knew that this was an eternal destruction.

At last I arrived at the shelter city entrance. The entrance of the underground shelter city had a waiting room where people checked in before going into the protective area of the underground shelter city. The waiting area was similar to the waiting area of a hospital emergency room. There was a television with updates of the Storm and also movies and programs showing. There were books and magazines to read. There were also toys and other distractions for children to play with while waiting to check into the shelter city. When I got to the waiting area of the shelter city, I immediately knew that I had sent my children ahead of me. Three of my children had followed my instructions and checked in and were already in the safety of the underground shelter city; however, when I arrived I noticed that two of my children were still in the waiting area playing in the area and goofing off. They apparently became distracted by what was going on in the waiting area and did not check in. I instantly became upset and asked them why they were in the waiting area and not in the safety of the shelter city. To this question they did not have a good answer. As a mom I felt as so many moms; they are playing around and not doing what they are supposed to do. I was very wrought with them but I knew the gravity of the situation and ushered them to the check in area.

At this point, the storm was very close people were running into the underground shelter city entrance seeking refuge from the storm. You could now hear and see the results of the storm raging outside. The storm made sounds like I have never heard. These sounds didn’t sound normal; they were sounds of metal bending and beasts moaning. It felt as if some very great evil was upon us. As we made our way to the check in I saw some family members that had made it to the shelter. I sent my two children ahead and went after my family. Instead of heading toward the check in line, I noticed that they went a different way. I caught up to them to tell them to come at once. One of them apparently had to use the restroom and they all left the line to go. I informed them of the imminent danger and realized that if I didn’t leave and go to the check in I would be destroyed by the storm.

As I made my way back to the check in area, I saw that the storm was right at the door of the entrance to the shelter city. It began to rip and pull the building away. The intensity of the wind was more powerful than any wind force that I have ever felt. I could see the storm as it seemed to enter the building and sucked it and people still trying to enter the building to escape destruction away. I made it to the check in and looked back, as I looked back I saw my two children that I sent ahead to the check in some distance behind me. I ran to them and asked them what in the world were they doing here, I sent them ahead and they did not obey or heed my instruction. We ran toward the check in area and it was vacant. Only a guard was in position inside the first door to the shelter city. He had locked the first door to the shelter city.

The check in doors to the shelter city were constructed with two steel doors. The first door had a window and could be opened; however, the second door was solid steel and could not be opened once closed. I pleaded with the guard to open the first door, the guard looked at me and did not want to budge; however, he reluctantly opened the door and let me and my two children in. He then ran ahead to safety. We immediately ran into the first door. By this time the Storm was almost upon us, the wind was so strong that I had to push the door, in order to close it. This took some time. As I pushed the door shut I turned around. My two children had just run into the second door and just as I turned to look in their direction, I saw the door shut behind them. I ran to the door to try to get in but it was too late. The door had shut and there was no way to open it. I banged on the door and my two children ran to the door trying to open it but it was locked even to them. I thought within myself, "I can’t believe this, I went back after them and they didn’t even hold the door open for me." I felt a sinking feeling and knew expressing any emotion at this point was futile. I could feel and hear the wind as it got closer to the door. The steel door in front of me was reinforced but it was nothing compared to the force of the impending storm. I watched as the door began to rattle and shake from the force of the storm, I backed up to the steel door behind me. As the storm ripped the steel door out of the walls I saw total darkness. I woke up.