Your Angel is on His Way!

Daniel 10:11-13 (Amplified / The Message) - “And [the angel] said to me, ‘Daniel,’ he said, ‘man of quality, listen carefully to my message. And get up on your feet. Stand at attention. I’ve been sent to bring you news.’ “When he had said this, I stood up, but I was still shaking. “‘Relax, Daniel,’ he continued, ‘don’t be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me…"

Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.  

Mark 11:24 - For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].  

Do you ever wonder why your prayers are not coming to pass? Do you feel that what you are praying is not only a true desire of your heart and something you feel strongly about, but also something you feel God really wants to happen? Something you have felt led to do. Do you feel like you are called to do this very thing? Maybe it is a business, a book, a relationship, a family, a move, a job, a specific direction in your life. "But GOD, WHY aren't you answering my prayers?"

As I was reading and studying, I found something very interesting in the book of Daniel. An angel came to Daniel in response of his prayer. The things is, the angel began to come to Daniel the very time WHEN HE PRAYED. It took the angel 3 weeks to get to Daniel to answer his prayer. WHY? In laymen's terms, he was held up. He encountered a problem. "Houston, we have a problem." The angel ran into opposition. I looked up the verse in the Hebrew and here is the definition I found:

Withstood/Waylaid/Delayed: To take one's stand, Rise up Against 

The angel on his way to answer Daniel's prayer was hit with opposition. Who would oppose an angel? Demonic forces. A demon got in the way while the angel was on his way to Daniel. The angel was delayed for THREE WEEKS! Then was finally rescued by the angel Michael. I'm not making this up! Angels are real. Equally, demons are real. They are out there. We may not see them, but they are real. It's right there in Daniel Chapter 10.

What does that mean to you? Have you grown weary? Have you prayed and feel you are at a stand-still? Have your prayers not been answered but you really feel like what you are praying for is something led of the Holy Spirit?

Friend, if you believed when you prayed, like Daniel, one of your angels could have taken flight right when you prayed! Obstacles to answering your prayer could have come up along the way. That doesn't mean an answer is not coming. It just may mean you need to wait it out. Do not grow weary. Stand firm. Be steadfast. Once you have prayed, THANK GOD for the answer. Thank God for your answer coming to pass. As you are delighting in the Lord, seeking to please Him, it says that HE WILL give you the desires of your heart.

Take heart! Your Angel is on His Way!

Persistence That Pays Off

Luke 18:1-8 - Also [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up) ² He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary. ⁴ And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man, ⁵ Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming .... ⁶ Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says! ⁷ And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf? ⁸ I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth?

This was me in 1998. I had met this man on July 7th. We were in England and a week later, on July 13th, I had a vision that he was the man I was going to marry.  Upon returning home from England, I woke up praying, I prayed during the day, I prayed during the night, I prayed while I got ready, I prayed while I drove. I prayed. I pleaded. I begged. And then, I prayed some more. Lord, pleeeeeeease let him know that he is going to marry me. Pleeeeeeeease! 

We were separated by 14 hours and about 4 states. Day in and day out, I prayed. For 18 months I prayed non-stop. It seemed like an impossible feat. I knew that I could not pursue him, and the I had to let him pursue me. How could I convince him he was to marry me if I couldn't even call him? And to him, I was merely the girl who lived in Indiana, a far cry from his future wife.

Nonetheless, I prayed.

I was like the widow. The judge granted her what she asked of him because she annoyed him with her constant pleas. That was me.

Today, I know a bit more about prayer than I did back then, but the reminder of persistence is another wake-up call for me.

Lets say, as a child, your dad told you he was going to buy you a bike for your birthday. A few weeks before your birthday came, you went and "test drove" bikes. You tried them out. You picked out your favorite color. You got the tassels for the handle bars. You got the little horn that you honk. You even decided to get a basket you could add onto the front. You found the perfect bike. Purple and pink, your favorite colors. Your dad, stood back as you finalized your decision. And it's made. He stands back just smiling. Then, the bike goes on order to be delivered on your birthday.

Over the next 3 weeks... let's check out 2 scenarios.

(1) Your dad told you he was going to get you a bike, and you already picked it out, but daily you continue to ask your dad for a bike. "Daddy will you buy me a bike? Can I pleeeeeeease have a bike. Daddy can I have a bike? Daddy, I really want a bike. Can I have a bike Dad? Dad, Dad, DAD!!! Can I have a bike? Will you get me a bike?" Your dad has already ordered the bike for you, why all the begging? "It's coming," your dad would respond at each request. 

(2) You know your bike is on order. Over the next few weeks you crawl up into your dad's lap, "Daddy, I just wanted to say thank you for getting me that bike! Thank you for the tassels that you let them add. And the purple and pink! I'm sooooo excited about riding it Dad! Thank you SOOOOO much! I love you sooooo much dad! You are the best dad ever!" And conversations like this happen a few times a day. Every time you see your dad, you tell him how great and wonderful he is. You tell him how thankful you are that he bought you that bike, each time you hug him, each time you thank him, his shoulders straighten, he wells up with pride that he has made his daughter happy. He is just as excited about the bike to be delivered as you are, just to see the joy on your face. With every compliment of how wonderful he is, he is far from annoyed with you, but each compliment of appreciation makes him want to bless you even more. 

Faith is now. When we pray the FIRST time and ask in FAITH, we can be sure that God has heard our prayers. Since faith is now, when we pray, we believe we have received what we have prayed for and then we can do like the girl did in the second example. EVERY time we come back to the throne of grace, we can come to our Father and THANK HIM for that desired outcome. Thank Him for what we had prayed for, in faith. And... we can still apply the same persistence. We can still thank Him several times a day. We can pray, sing, shout in THANKSGIVING!!!! "THANK YOU GOD FOR BRINGING THIS TO PASS!!! You are such an awesome Father! You are so good to me! Thank you Father! Thank you for answering my prayer! Thank you for loving me!! Thank you for your faithfulness!! THANK YOU FOR THIS____________. What a loving and gracious God you are! Thank you Lord!!" As we shower Him with love and gratitude, just like our natural father, I can only imagine that our heavenly Father would swell with pride and love for us too. Even during some times of prayer and thankfulness, maybe we would be crying to the Father out of our gratitude and thankful heart. With such sincere gratitude, I just see our heavenly Father wanting to love us and so happy to be appreciated and loved by his daughter. Smiling, just as our earthly father would as we "climbed up on his lap" at the throne of grace.

Our God is different than the unjust judge that it talked about in Luke 18. Our God wants to give us the desires of my heart (Ps 37:4)! Now... when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8). To answer Luke 18:8, will we be those who continued in FAITH and in PERSISTENCE? 

July 13th 1998, I had a vision that I was going to marry Tyler. July 13, 2000, exactly two years later he asked me, "Would you be willing to be #2 in my life for the rest of your life? Will you marry me?" I said yes. Six months later on January 6th, we were married.

Persistence pays off. Don't lose heart or grow weary. Dig in and be persistent. For those who cry out to God day and night, will God defer YOU and delay help on your behalf?  I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge YOU speedily.  (Luke 18:7-8)

Do you want some answers speedily? Take the advice of Luke 18:7 - PRAY, CRY OUT, THANK GOD, COME, DAY AND NIGHT! What are you longing for God to do in your life? Well friend, let's THANK GOD day and night! Let's be persistent and watch Him show off how much He loves you!

#194 - Where is the Prize?

Good morning! :) God amazes me. His timing is perfect. And.... he cares. He cares about everything in our lives. He cares about our needs, our wants, our desires. His desire is to bless us, we are His children! I see things at such a deeper perspective now being a parent. How the desire for a parent is to provide MORE than just the bare necessities of a child, but to provide the fun things too. To provide those things for your child where their eyes light up with excitement, they are filled with joy. Whether it be just time playing with them, swinging them around or whether it be a new toy, the joy it brings to a parent to provide MORE than the necessities is now quite apparent. God wants to do the same thing for US! He wants to do that for YOU! He wants to see you giddy! He wants to see you so excited at the blessings HE brings to you. Just like a parent. He IS YOUR parent! Isn't that a blessing! He is OUR parent! He is OUR Father! That is good news. Let's get into today's Word...

Proverbs 15:23,29 - A man has joy in making an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment--how good it is! ....He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous...

Proverbs 31:16 - ....expanding prudently....

Just yesterday, God amazed me. He does it frequently, but it is fun when you can see how God's timing is better than our own. Several months ago I was considering pursuing some avenues that I "hoped" would provide some extra income in our family. I remember as I thought about it and considered it, in my mind I just didn't feel at peace about it. It was going to call for a lot of time researching some things on line, then if MY PLAN even panned out, MY PLAN was going to cause me and Tyler Junior to have to travel one way about 4 hours, on a frequent basis. To me, my plan sounded very toilsome. I was willing to make it work. I was willing to FORCE all of the puzzle pieces into place, even if they did have to be bent some. I was willing to make MY plan work and let God tag along.

In the back of my mind as I continued "mentally" pursuing this idea, I still settled with a feeling of hesitancy. I did not have peace. One day in my quiet time, I finally just heard clearly, "No. Not now." I had received my direction. I did what most children may do when they don't get their way, I protested. "But... but but but...." I wanted God to know why MY IDEA was a good one and why it should work NOW! It was MY IDEA and I wanted to do it NOW! lol. I laugh just thinking about how that does sound like a little child, nonetheless that was how our conversation went down. Needless to say, I eventually listened. I hung up my idea, not knowing if anything would ever come from it or if it would hang forever, un-pursued.

But isn't God amazing. Isn't his timing perfect and his connections divine?! I have continued to daily do the things that I felt like the Lord was leading me to do. I have continued to just be obedient (for the most part.... an occasional plight for forgiveness would come in). I have stuck to what I KNEW I was directed to work on. Sunday after church as I was talking to our Pastor, he said something, prophesied, over this specific area. I made a comment on the way home from church to Tyler, but just left it at that. If GOD wanted to open up doors, I was going to let him but as it stood, I was just going to be still with the, "No. Not yet."

Then, wouldn't you know it, just yesterday, someone came up to me talking to me about the very same thing. They did not know I had hung up this "plan" just months ago. They not only came to me to specifically make some recommendations, BUT they also gave me a name to this divine connection. The divine connection is someone they knew well, and is the business owner, the actual person I would need to speak with about my idea. They are not 4 hours away, but right here in Columbia!

I think about how it would've turned out if I would have pursued MY PLAN on MY TIME. I think of how the last 3-4 months would have been toilsome, time spent on the computer searching things, time spent driving places that were in vain. Time. Wasted time. I just sit here and thank the Lord that I listened.... sure, maybe stubbornly at first, but I didn't pursue MY plan in MY timing. As this person talked to me, I just felt an abundance of peace. I didn't hear harps, or birds chirping, but I felt peace. I felt like THIS was God's Timing on the idea that I had. HE had planned this person to talk to me. And who knows, if they wouldn't have seen some things I had done, if I wouldn't have continued to be obedient in the day-to-day things I was called to do, they may have never contacted me to connect me with this God-Contact!

Sometimes the word "wait" can be the hardest word for us to hear. Wait. "But, but but but.... I want it NOW! I want it NOW! Work it out NOW God!" His timing is SO much better. Even when it's hard to wait. I once heard Tony Evans talk about this very subject. He said something like this: "There are two scenarios. Both of these single women want to get married desperately. They want to find Mr. Right. Take the first lady. She gets to work at 8:00 in the morning, busies herself for the Lord immediately upon arrival. It seems like no time has passed. She has pursued exactly what the Lord has wanted her to pursue with excellence. What seems like about 5 minutes goes by and they look down at their watch and wouldn't you know, it's already 3:30! It's close to time to go home. She has been so busy getting things done, that she hardly noticed how much time had passed. Then, there is the other woman. She gets to work at 8:00 in the morning. All she can do is sit there and think about how frustrated she is that the Lord hasn't brought her the "Mr. Right" she has been waiting on. She sits there, sulking, doing nothing. Not pursuing the calling God has on her life because she wants to be married. She wants Mr. Right. So, as she sits at work, it seems like five, six hours has passed. She looks at her watch and in utter discouragement she sees that it is only 8:05! All this doing nothing and only 5 minutes has passed!" His point in the story was this, if you are a believer and still clinging on to a promise that is yet to be fulfilled, pursue the calling on your life with fervor!! Time will go by so quickly and the prize that you have been longing for all along will be waiting for you on the other side of your obedience!


Now... I don't care who you are... that is GOOD STUFF! That is some AMEN material right there! The prize that you have been longing for all along will be waiting for you on the other side of your obedience! 


Holla! Amen!

Be blessed my friend!

#141 - How to enjoy TODAY

Good morning! :) Well... I have a PRAISE report for yesterday! :) The boy turned 15 months and had his 15 month "Well Visit" with Dr. Sooros. This weekend on Saturday he had a fever, and on Sunday the fever had subsided but when he was walking he was extremely off balance. Well... Tyler and I just did what we know to do based on the Word. "Lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." (Mark 16:18) "By Jesus stripes we ARE healed."(Is.53:4-5, 1 Peter 2:24) "When 2 or more come together in together and AGREE upon anything you ask for, it will be done for you by your Father in heaven." (Matt. 18:19) - So... we laid hands on Tyler Jr. and thanked God for his complete healing and restoration. From the symptoms, it would've appeared that he had an ear infection, but we just thanked God that our son was healed! He was whole, restored and walked in divine health! The report from the Doctor was good! He was perfect! :) He's in the 92nd percentile for height and 45th percentile for weight. So... he's tall and slender. :) Such a cute boy! :) It amazes me because he usually eats more than I do! Where does the boy put it?!? So, that was definitely a praise! Thank you Father for being true & faithful to your Word! 


Let's get started! Lately.... I've not been getting past Proverbs. I've been getting so much good stuff out of Proverbs! Psalms will just have to wait. :) 

Proverbs 15:13, 15, 29 - A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. 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]. The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous (the upright, in right standing with Him).

Man... do I know these scriptures Oh to well! But praise God for HIS Word that we can receive truth and revelation! :) I looked up the word "desponding" in the dictionary. This was the definition: to be depressed by loss of hope, confidence, or courage. There was a period of time where I felt like the word of "desponding" would have described me. On the outside, maybe one could not tell.... I smiled and did my best to have a Positive Mental Attitude. But in my heart, hope was shallow at best. My heart had grown weary and sluggish. It was like my heart had been running this race and I was just worn out. If you picture a person in a desert, shoulders hunched over, arms dangling, head hanging low.... or a (not in shape) runner who has run 20 miles, just exhausted.... I picture my heart looked like that if it was walking. My heart was just sluggish, slooping over, tired. My hope, confidence and courage were down. AND... one reason they were is because I was doing EXACTLY what this verse talked about! I had anxious thought and "forebodings". My thoughts were continually in the future, not in the present. I was anxious over the future. I was constantly thinking about the future which paralyzed me from enjoying my "TODAY." I missed the scenic view of my journey because I was so focused on where the end destination would take me. I was longing to live in the future I saw in my mind. I was so longing to live there, that every day in my present was a disappointment because I hadn't "arrived" at my destination yet. 


PRAISE GOD for GOD and HIS WORD! Praise God for my husband. Praise God for revelations! I somehow realized, probably greatly due to Tyler, that I could not live in the future any more. ALL I could control was my today! All I could do was enjoy my today. Sure... have goals, yes! But once I had my goals, work them backwards to figure out what the daily action steps are and then just consistently DO those daily actions. Not dwelling on or staying at the "end" but focusing on the daily actions I can do today. And while doing that, enjoying the journey. A JOURNEY WITHOUT TOIL! Enjoying the smell of the roses along the way. I realizes that being anxious was AGAINST the Word. If I was being anxious, I was trying to control something that was not MINE to control... ie: the future or other people. ALL I could control was my today... my RIGHT NOW. Not next hour or later tonight, or tomorrow. All I could do was control my right now. Enjoy my right now. Tyler STILL has to catch me and correct my thinking because I occasionally still try to live in the future. Or... get anxious, my mind would get bogged down because I'm thinking about all these things I need to learn or do... but they are things that the outcome hasn't even been established!  No need to be anxious. What's the wonderful verse say, "Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING with prayer & petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God." Phil 4:6.


The VICTORY in it? Check out Proverbs 15:29!!! :) What VICTORY! What GOOD NEWS! He hears the prayer of the righteous!!! GOD HEARS US!? Are you born-again? Are you saved? God HEARS you!!! Do you have sin in your life? Well, ask forgiveness, get things right. And then pray to God. Submit your request! God HEARS you! I actually recently was holding "offense" against a few people. When I realized it, I knew exactly what I had to do! Just what it talked about in the new testament. It says something like: If you are holding anything against your brother, leave you offering at the alter. Get up, go, get things right with your brother. THEN, come and make your offering. 


So, even me! I had to get offense right. I had to ask forgiveness from God, and my "brother/sister" in Christ. 


GOD HEARS OUR PRAYERS! That is GREAT NEWS! Something DEFINITELY to rejoice about! PRAISE GOD! And do you know, you can have a GLAD heart REGARDLESS of your CIRCUMSTANCE! Because you have the FAVOR of GOD on your side! If things look impossible... just smile and laugh and THANK GOD outloud - I HAVE THE FAVOR of GOD on my side! GOD EVEN MAKES MY MISTAKES TO PROSPER! :) I HAVE GOD'S FAVOR! :) 


Have a great day! Live in TODAY! Enjoy TODAY! Tomorrow has it's own worries. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Therefore, enjoy your TODAY!