Imagine: Sitting Down with Jesus

Imagine. You are sitting in your bedroom a little discouraged and in comes Jesus to sit on your bedside. Life has been getting to you. Defeat has been infiltrating it's way into your thoughts. This time, you've been down a little longer. You've stayed on the ground, too exhausted to get up. Jesus' appearance shows up at just the right time. You really need a Word from Him. You need encouragement. You need hope.

As I sat in church yesterday, the Pastor said something that sparked my mind going off in all these thoughts. I imagined what Jesus would say. I imagined that He would remind me and you of WHO we really are as a believer. That He would bring us out of the pit we felt like we were in and REMIND us of WHOSE we really are. That defeat is only temporary and victory is permanent! As a child of God, ULTIMATELY, WE WIN! Jesus went to the cross, chose death, DEFEATED Satan on our behalf and victoriously arose from the grave a WINNER! Our Team won! He won for ALL of us! He won for Believers!

This morning I began thinking back to the childhood song I remember singing over and over in summer Bible School. You probably sang it too.... it goes like this, "Father Abraham, had many sons and many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you, so lets all praise the Lord. Right arm. Father Abraham, had many sons..." And the son goes on until you're moving all body parts, marching, wiggling and as a kid, having a blast just moving all over! The more over the years that I've thought about that song, the more I realized what GREAT stuff is in that children's song! It begins to tell us WHO we are! As a believer, we become one of Abraham's sons, adopted if you will, but a son! An heir to the promise.

Galatians 3:29 - And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

As Christians, like the song says Abraham is, "Father Abraham." So we could go back to Genesis and begin to see the promises that belong to us throughout the entire Bible! One of my favorite places to see the promises that belong to me are in Deuteronomy 28 (check out the New Living Translation). Let's take a look.

• My CHILDREN are blessed! (v 4)
• Wherever I go & whatever I do, I AM BLESSED! (v 6)
• The LORD will guarantee a blessing on everything I do and will fill my bank accounts with increase! (v 8)
• The Lord blesses me with many children! (v 11)
• The Lord will bless all the work I do. (v 12)
• I AM the head & not the tail! (v 13)
• I am always on top and never at the bottom. (v 13)

These promises are straight from the Bible and they belong to US! I basically copied & pasted them, then personalized them! They are for us today! Let us not forget how Deuteronomy 28:1-2 - If YOU will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above the nations of the earth and ALL these blessings shall come upon you and OVERTAKE you IF you heed the voice of the Lord your God. 

I believe if Jesus sat with us, he would remind us that the devil is a TOOTHLESS lion. He roars, but he is toothless. He can't bite us! I believe Jesus would remind us that we ARE the head and not the tail. That HE went to the cross and DEFEATED it on our behalf giving us VICTORY! I believe that Jesus would remind us, ON EARTH as it is in HEAVEN! Live on earth, as it is in heaven! Don't accept defeat. Apply the Word to our situation. Apply faith and diligence, that we would walk out in victory as He desires us to. I believe Jesus would begin to remind us of WHO we are and WHOSE we are! We are His! We are JOINT HEIRS according to the promise! A joint heir, has EQUAL ownership! Romans 8:17 - And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ....


I believe Jesus would REMIND us that WE ARE A WINNER! Because HE has already won, WE have already won! Coming out of our little "sit-down" meeting with Jesus I believe we would walk differently, talk differently, carry ourselves differently. I believe we would walk tall. Be bold. Listen sharper to His Voice. Attempt greater things, knowing we have already won. I believe we would be bolder & more confident.

Imagine... if Jesus came to sit down with you on your bedside, you would leave changed. Radically and fully changed.

Begin today. Live like Jesus sat down with you this morning! Live boldly. Live victoriously. Live your calling without fear! Live as though you can not lose, because when you FULLY receive the promises as your own, YOU CAN'T!

#159 - Give Your Battle a VOICE!

GOOD MORNING! It's a bit chilly out there today!! Is it where you live?? Yesterday was rainy and cold, definitely an indoor day. We enjoyed the weekend in Indiana doing business & visiting my family.... got home around 2:00 am yesterday after a 13 hour DRIVE! Yes, DRIVE! Even with a 1 year old! Wow! Quite amazing, I know! Tyler Jr was quite a trooper, such a good little traveler. Nonetheless, after getting home, bringing some stuff in, and finally getting to bed, we were rolling upon 3:00, so TJ & I slept in yesterday! He didn't wake up until 11:30!!

Well, let's get going and see what the Lord has to say today! :)

Psalm 29:2 - Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness or in holy array.

Psalm 29:3a, 4a, 5a, 7a, 8a, 9a - The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord...  The voice of the Lord... 

Psalm 29:11 - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace. 

As I began into my Quiet Time this morning, like usual, I first pulled out my journal and began to journal. I couldn't help but look back over the month and be thankful over all the things the Lord has done. The little things and the big things. How HE has completely just provided. I was reminded of how our Father provides by getting a package off the front porch this morning. It was a package for Tyler Junior! A pair of shoes & a summer outfit. He does not even know it, but he is completely provided for! All his needs are met ALL the time! And if he had any needs, he would have grandparents falling in line to meet them, to bless him, dress him, feed him, do whatever to provide for any and every need. As that was my "before" experience before my Quiet Time... I started out with just a grateful heart, thankful how the LORD provides! Through one means or another, He provides, He comes through. His grace, His mercy and when it doesn't make sense on paper, it's by His grand Provision! Like Psalm 29:2 says, Give the glory due HIS NAME! Give Him the glory that HE deserves! We all have things to be thankful for, health, finances, family, relationships, protection, clothes, a warm home, living in an area that HASN'T been hit by a Tsunami or earthquake. We have SO much to be thankful for. Give Him the glory due His Name! Give Him the glory! 

Thank you Father! Thank you Lord! We PRAISE YOU right now! We PRAISE YOU for all you have done! Thank you Father for providing! Thank you for protecting! Thank you for your hedge of protection! Thank you for being great and mighty! Thank you for allowing ME to be your child, for allowing me to be an heir. Thank you Lord for sending Jesus. Thank you that I, with the mistakes and all I have done, thank you the you have given ME a second chance. Thank you for forgiving me, redeeming me! Thank you Father for forgiveness! Father, I PRAISE YOU! You are SO worthy to be praised!! Thank you that you are Jehovah Rapha, God our Healer! Thank you that you are Jehovah Jirah, God our Provider! Thank you that you are Jehovah Nissi, God our Victory, our Banner! You are God our Peace, Jehovah Shalom! Thank you Father! We praise you! You are so worthy to be praised! 

As we read further in Psalm 29, out of the 11 verses, 6 of them begin with "The voice of the Lord." As I read these... they revealed something MIGHTY that the Voice of the Lord brought forth. ie: Makes the wilderness tremble, Splits and flashes forth forked lightning. The verses remind us how POWERFUL the Voice of the Lord is. As I was reading them, the immediate thing that popped up in my spirit was this, WE, YOU & I, are made in the very image of who these verses are talking about! We were made in the image of God. Where it says the VOICE of the LORD is powerful, we could also substitute this: THE VOICE OF AMY is powerful! The VOICE of Deb is powerful! The Voice of David is powerful! The Voice of Stephanie is powerful! Put your name in there! As children of God, WE were made in HIS image! When we committed our lives to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were given a power that can only come from heaven. We were given power and authority to operate in strength on this earth! And, we can read verse after verse in Proverbs and throughout the Bible on how powerful our Words are, the strength that our Words hold. Even God did it to Abram in the old testament. Abram & Sarai, married, no children and past child baring years, what did God do? God SAID, I change your name to ABRAHAM, which means Father of many Nations! I change your name from Sarai (which means quarrelsome) to SARAH, which means Princess. In a time that they did not have ANY children, and were getting old into years.... old? Yes, even as old as 90 years old! Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 before they had their first child, Isaac! But, WORDS! Words are powerful! Putting VOICE to our situation is so powerful!

Still a bit uneasy on accepting it? Fast forward down to Psalm 29:11... what does it say there? The LORD will give unyielding and impenetrable STRENGTH to HIS people! One way He gives us this strength, is through our ability to TALK! To give VOICE to a situation! "My God supplies all MY needs according to HIS riches in glory! I call my bills paid!" - "By Jesus stripes, I AM healed! I call this headache GONE in Jesus Name!" - "I have FAVOR in the sight of God & man, therefore, in this situation, in this meeting, I THANK YOU God for FAVOR! Unmerited Favor!"

The Lord gives STRENGTH to HIS people! Begin today with your Voice! Satan can't hear your thoughts. You can't fight your battles in your mind, with your thoughts, you MUST give WORDS to your battle! You must SPEAK! Give your battle a VOICE! In your voice is STRENGTH!

#150 - Call those things SO!

Good morning! All is well here in Columbia, South Carolina! What about where you live? I'm sitting here enjoying the nice singing tunes of Tyler Jr. He just woke up and is laying in his bed just talking and singing. It is quite funny! I think he gets his ability to sleep from his MAMA! :) What can I say?!

OK...well, let's get started today.

Romans 4:17 (amp) - As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.

Romans 4:17 (kjv) - (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 

Over the years, the latter part of Romans 4:17 has really become part of our daily confessions in any and every circumstance. Some may call it being legalistic, we choose to believe that we are just careful with our  words that the words we speak line up with the Word of God. That our words are not contrary to God's Word! Sure, there are times when maybe we have to be cautious not to "call anyone else out".... even though people may speak things they really don't want to receive.... let's just say it's been a learning process over the years.

Let me tell you a story... I used to work at a youth camp in the summer. We did lots of activities each day, soccer, capture the flag, tennis, etc. Well... on this particular day, we were playing capture the flag... and I always played with the kids. As we were playing, I pivoted on my foot and turned my knee. It just happened to be the same knee that I tore my ACL & miniscus when I was in High School. I fell to the ground and all I could do at the time was scream. Some of the staff, and one of the parents carried me and got me into a vehicle to bring me to the Emergency Room. Shortly after arriving at the ER, Tyler showed up. The doctor on call, said things did not look good. In the mean time, some close friends waited in the waiting room... their words were something like, "Oh man, I just know she tore her ACL. That is a real bummer. She'll probably have to get surgery & go through therapy again."

Tyler came back to where the Doctor was... I would have to go see a specialists once the swelling went down, but the Doctor said there was an 80% chance that the ACL did look torn. When Tyler overheard our friends saying they were sure I tore my ACL, he just made a simple comment to the tune of, "Well, she's my wife and I call her knee healed. I call it fine because by Jesus stripes she is healed." Though the circumstances looked pretty dim, and even the words of the Doctor sounded bleak, Tyler chose to believe the WORD of GOD over the word of the Doctor.

During the next week, we spoke and called my knee healed. Though I was on crutches, we called my knee fine. We called it whole in Jesus name. We called it well! Perfect! That everything would be lined up as GOD had created it to be lined up. Fast forward a week. I went to see the specialist, and do you know what the outcome was? All is well. Everything looked good. Everything looked fine. No tear. ACL in tact.

What are some other common things you may hear around our house?

• Instead of, "I have a headache." We say, "By Jesus stripes I am healed of this headache! Since headaches have a name, and EVERY NAME has to bow to the name of Jesus!"
• Instead of, "We don't have any money." We say, "We have more than enough because MY GOD shall supply all of MY needs according to HIS RICHES in glory!" 
• Instead of, "This situation doesn't look good." We say, "I have the favor of God and God even makes my mistakes to prosper."

Over the years, we have just chosen to find our answers in the Word. Has it seemed radical to some, I'm sure it has! But, it has brought VICTORY in our lives and in the situations we have gone through that we have chose to speak the WORD, instead of what looks like the situation really is. We have chose to speak those things that BE NOT as though they were! Like in Romans 4:17. If we feel sick, we speak we are healed and walk in divine health. If we have been broke or without money, we've spoke, we have MORE than enough because OUR GOD owns the cattle on 1,000 hills! We have just taken scripture and spoken it on our behalf and it has brought VICTORY to our lives!

I encourage you.... next time you are tempted to speak the grim circumstances that you may be going through.... choose to speak the WORD! Have GOD'S WORD and POWER work on your behalf! Did you know that the ANGELS are dispatched by the Word of God!??!!!! Angels are empowered to GO FORTH when the Word of God is spoken. I just choose to have them working on MY behalf, so I speak the WORD! :)

Have a blessed day!

#86 - LIVE in the BLESSING ** A MUST READ! **

OK.... WHOA! I almost feel like just bypassing the whole "Good morning" stuff... I'm just going to skip to: WHOA! I want to prepare you... what you are about to read is REALLY REALLY GOOD STUFF!!! You may have to read it more than once to allow it to sink in, but if you grab it as revelation to YOU then it could really change your whole life, how you think about things and what you accept as truth! It is good. So... let's get started. Well first... let me just pray, "Lord, I thank you for your AMAZING Word... please allow Your word today to flow out in a way that is easy to receive. Thank you that the words will all be in the right order and will FREE people. That they will allow people to truly grab hold of YOUR blessing that You have given to them. I pray this all in JESUS MIGHTY NAME, AMEN!"

Proverbs 15:15 - All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].

Psalms 105:6,11 - O you offspring of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones... He is [earnestly] mindful of His covenant and forever it is imprinted on His heart, the word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations, Saying, Unto you will I give the land of Canaan as your measured portion, possession, and inheritance. 

Proverbs 31:21 - She fears not the snow for her family, for all her household are doubly clothed in scarlet. 

Let's first look at the word forebodings... you probably have a feeling of what that word is... this is the definition from the dictionary: prediction, a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil. Just look at the POWER of your thoughts. This goes along with the devotion from the other day that talked about having a PMA, Positive Mental Attitude. All the days of the "desponding & afflicted" .... Desponding. Not a word you probably use every day. The dictionary terms it as: to be depressed by loss of hope, confidence, or courage. So, if you put that verse into words and terms that WE use it would say: The depressed CAUSE evil to come upon them by allowing themselves to be stressed (anxious thoughts) and by predicting evil in their life, allowing their inner feelings to think negative & dwelling on the possibility of future misfortune. WOW! That is a load! Do you ever drive around and your mind is racing on how bad this "situation" COULD turn out? STOP IT!!!! STOP! Choose to have a glad heart regardless of your circumstance! Choose to see the good! I'm going to tell you why that's important... 


Offspring of Abraham. Check this out... the offspring of Abraham are experiencing AMAZING things. I mean, think about it..... they are receiving an INHERITANCE that consists of the NATION of CANAAN!!! So much for your mom's china cabinet or wedding ring, Abraham's offspring are receiving an inheritance of a WHOLE NATION! WHOA! Ok... you may be thinking... "OK Amy. That's great for them, back in that day. Hip hip horray for Abraham's offspring. Now, how does that affect me?" 


OMG! Let me tell you!!! YOU ARE ABRAHAM'S OFFSPRING! IT'S TALKING ABOUT YOU!!!! It doesn't matter if you haven't traced your family tree back to Abraham, if you are a born again, child of God, YOU officially put yourself in this lineage! Let's go back for a short history lesson. Go with me to Galatians 3:29 - And if you belong to Christ [are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed], then you are Abraham's offspring and [spiritual] heirs according to promise. In other words, IF YOU have accepted Christ as your Savior, YOU are now Abraham's offspring. You have been grafted into and adopted into the family! You are an HEIR! 


Let's look further, let's continue to see what this entails! Galatians 4:4-7 - .... God sent His Son...To purchase the freedom ...that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God's sons]. And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father! Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ.


Brother or Sister, do you get this? GOD IS YOUR FATHER! REALLY! He is your FATHER! Therefore, when you read about the blessing of Abraham, of the benefits of being an HEIR, it is talking about YOU!!! A Covenant. 1000 generations. What's a generation? How many years is it? Approximately 20-30... so let's just call it on average that a generation is 25. 1000 generations would be approximately 25,000 YEARS!!!! So, GUESS WHAT?!?!? YOU fall in that time period of what it is talking about in Psalm 105!!


Therefore, your inheritance? CANAAN! NATIONS! Having a hard time paying your bills? Grab hold of the concept of WHO YOU ARE! Brother, sister, this is HUGE - YOU ARE ABRAHAM'S SEED and HEIR, or RECIPIENT of EVERY GOOD BLESSING AND GIFT!!! If you want a LIST of the blessings that belong to you, go check out Deut. 28:1-14. Here are a few just to give you an idea... GOOD stuff!!! Blessed shall be the fruit of your body (Want kids? Told you can't have them? That's not what my Book says!!!) The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face... The Lord shall COMMAND the blessing upon you in your storehouse (aka: bank account in our day) and in ALL that you undertake. And He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God GIVES you. And the Lord shall make you have a SURPLUS of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, ...lifestock, ...ground, in the land which the Lord SWORE to your fathers to GIVE you. YOU SHALL LEND to MANY NATIONS, but you SHALL NOT BORROW. 


WORD!!! Friend! Meditate on this!! There is NOTHING to big for God. Receive this as a revelation. Sit on it. Think on it. Dwell on it. Let it permeate in your WHOLE BEING! THIS WORD is talking to YOU! This is YOUR INHERITANCE NOW! This belongs to you NOW! Are you living in an area of LACK in ANY area of your life?? Bills? Mortgage? Vehicles? Relationships? Then you need to GET A REVELATION where Deut 28 is concerned!! I am PREACHING to myself too!! I need to get a greater revelation of what belongs to me!! Because guess what?! When this revelation is lived out in it's fullness, that means you OWN NO MAN NOTHING. You own your cars, you own your house and houses, you own your land. You LEND money not to just your "brother-in-law", but NATIONS are asking to borrow money from you, and you LEND TO THEM! 


WOW! Get this! This is good stuff! Now let's get it and live it! The Kingdom of God NEEDS US, God's Children to be living in the FULLNESS of the blessing, of our rightful INHERITANCE that has ALREADY been given to us. The WORLD needs us to live like that!! WHY? Because Jesus is not coming back until the whole world has been preached the gospel! And that takes DOE RAY MEE!! GREEN BACKS! DINERO! CASHOLA! CASH! MONEY! To preach the gospel to ALL the ends of the earth takes money! Let's DO OUR PART and LIVE IN THE BLESSING!