Once Lost...was Found...

Luke 15:32 speaks about the prodigal son, who was once lost, but then was found.

I was visiting my publisher last week at his Starbucks office location, when I absentmindedly left my phone outside on the couch where we were sitting. After performing due diligence looking for it, I paused to reflect on my predicament after a moment of meditation praying about it, a kind of look into the future came to me.

I was advised by God, by my Spirit Guide, by my Guardian Angel to have the phone disconnected, but to be patient and wait a few days...that it would be returned to me. I humbly followed the instructions I'd been given and waited for God's Grace to unfold in this mundane matter that perhaps really didn't need divine intervention.

Hoping for a call from the person who might have found my phone, I was picking up every call that came to our home, but after 10 PM I'd developed a habit of never answering the phone because of some issues we'd had in the past. On the night the came in, when the phone rang I turned to my husband and declared, "Go ahead and pick up...it's about my lost phone!"

Sure enough, it was! My Lost phone had been Found by a Good Samaritan, a sweet guy, a good person. I offered to pay him, he offered to drive from Kenosha right over to my home to return it, but we settled on him meeting my husband and I in Kenosha the next day at a fair we were planning to attend.

We'd set up a stand from which we would be selling the homemade fudge that I make. After everything was ready, the fair opened and a crush of well over 100 people began making their way toward our location. One person stood out in my inspired eyes for no particular reason. I got my husband's attention, pointed him out, and again confidently declared, "That's him, that man in the center. Sure enough, as the crowd thinned this one man continued walking right up to our booth. He had my phone and wouldn't take any reward, so we gave him some fudge instead! See, there are still so many wonderful people in the world!

This kind of glimpse into the future isn't a first for me. I've come to learn that it may be a gift passed down from my grandmother, but about being touched by God's Grace, I do know that God's Grace is available to anyone under any circumstances and is given to help us grow our relationship to God. 

Many Crosses to Bear . . .

If you've been following my blog you know that a couple of weeks ago God gave me the words for a blog post. I later learned they were also given to a number of others, but Phillip Nation, was one who also posted a very similar essay on a web site. When i questioned God about this I was told that it is common for God to do this sort of thing in order to get the Message out there. Then I saw this CBS Sunday Morning video about the Three Crosses Ministry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAKHgTWA9Bk&noredirect=1

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/many-crosses-to-bear/

A man named Bernard Coffindaffer received a commission from God after surviving open heart surgery to put up crosses. He used his own money, three million dollars, spent his last dime, put up his last cross, then died, but that wasn't the end of the story or of his ministry!

 
Sometime after Bernard passed, a Mississippi mom, Sara Abraham, had clipped a newspaper article about Bernard's crosses ministry out of the paper and slipped it into her Bible. During a devotional the article fell out of the Bible and onto her table and when she reached down to pick it up the Lord inspired her to continue Bernard's ministry, which she did.

Hearing this story bolstered my faith that God indeed works through many people simultaneously all around the world!

 

http://www.crossesacrossamerica.org/Crosses_Across_America_Vicksburg_MS_About_Us.html

Getting the "Message" Out

Apparently, God is the original "Social Media Guru" . . . and was engaged in connecting believers with a spiritual network long before Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook made today's modern Internet scene.

Why have I come to this conclusion, just the other day, and it's happened before, I was overwhelmed with the impulse to write down some specific words I was being give from God. I learned a day later that pretty much those same words were given to at least one other person, Philip Nation, who also wrote them down and posted them online.

I had to know what was going on so I prayed to ask if indeed He sends the same messages to more than one person. The clear answer I got back was, "Absolutely!" And, I was told God sends important messages to thousands of people simultaneously. To souls in different cities, from different countries, practicing different religions, speaking different languages, all to make sure His teachings for our generation get out.

In the "old" days, it was one person speaking to another, but God isn't above making use of our modern technology and social media platforms to greatly amplify His audience. God is picking believers for this task knowing they have the passion and courage to speak to others, to show their Christianity in today's secular world. Knowing some will listen and some won't, the more people who hear the message the better. When Jesus walked the earth there were only a few million human beings. Today there are billions and yet one person with a Facebook account or a Twitter feed or a popular blog can reach millions!

God went on to say how distress He is about the Christians being killed for being believers and He knows it makes people frightened to show their faith in some countries. God wants to saturate the world with His messages of hope in order to be victorious in the global battle for faith, so that Christianity can prevail, so that Good can overwhelm Evil.

I was upset at first when I learned that what I'd written had already been posted online. God's answer gave me comfort and helped me understand my small role in achieving God's Greater Purpose. I was told that it shouldn't matter who gets credit for the words as long as the message gets out to the world. That made sense to me. Hopefully, more Christians will join the fight, the battle, the war to win the world over for our wonderful Great God!

Earning God's Confidence

After the miracle of being given the words for the Eight Keys to Spiritual Growth post, I kept mulling over the significance of what happened.  Of course I felt honored that God had the confidence in me to pass on important messages of hope that are being given not only to me, but to many other believers.God knows the deepest desire of my heart is to help people and I love to see the smiles on their faces when that help arrives in the form of a Words from God meant just for them.

 

I have a little prayer I say everyday that goes like this, "Lord I will praise and honor you all the days of my life and in Jesus' name I pray, amen." I say this prayer several times a day. Why, I'm very thankful for so many blessings, in my life and the lives of my family members, from the smallest Godwinks (read my book) to the ultimate super miracles that have been overwhelming at times.

God has blessed me and in doing so has taught me so much about myself. Having come out of my difficult childhood brainwashed with the opposite message, just knowing that I am an intelligent human being with the capacity to amount to something, means the world to me. My book and my blog are constant reminders that using my gifts and skills I am capable of making a meaningful contribution to the greater good. But my gratitude doesn't just extend only to the good things in my life.

I also thank God for the trials and tribulations I have each day. I now realize that when you have problems, and everything seems to go wrong or not the way you'd expected, it's not God trying to punish you, rather you're being pushed forward, new doors are opening to give you new opportunities. The question is, are you willing to face such a challenge and walk through a portal for change when offered as a gift from your God?

Most people are afraid of change, but God wants you to grow and so there's always a good lesson that comes out of turmoil and in time usually abundant blessings will follow. Many make the mistake of blaming God for the things that go wrong when in reality they should thank God for teaching them to be patient and wait for the rewards that will be coming. 

I also feel very honored to be able to follow in my Grandma Carmella's footsteps. She had a gift to be able to pray for the answers to people's problems. I believe she planted the spiritual seed in me to carry on the Generational Blessing that was given to her. I plan on following every instruction the Lord gives me along with being thankful for both the good times and the challenges that come my way.

 

Eight Keys to Spiritual Growth

An assignment given by a teacher without a means of measuring success normally ends in frustration on the part of the student. As members of the Body of Christ, the church, our assignment is to make disciples. But can you really measure growth in discipleship?

A strong case can be made not to even bother to try and measure transformation in a person's life. Nevertheless, there are biblical injunctions that halt our progress into sin and prescriptions that lead us toward spiritual maturity. Researchers did not set out to randomly create objective measurements against which a person's faith life would be judged as newborn, still growing, or mature, yet attributes were uncovered indicating spiritual growth.

Here are eight factors at work in the lives of believers who are progressing in spiritual maturity. They are referred to as the attributes of discipleship. They are not necessarily new, but they stand out as key ideas in the lives of many different types of Christian believers.

1. Bible Engagement

It should go without saying believers will be engaged in studying the scripture. However, leadership must often begin by restating the obvious. Transformation can be recognized in people when their minds are sharpened by the Bible, their perspectives are shaped by the Bible and their actions are directed by the Bible.

2. Obeying God & Denying Self

Discipleship is the progress of obedience to the One who is in authority over you. Many people progressing in their faith prioritize God's desires over self. Transformation can be seen in them because they progressively set aside earthly delights for Kingdom priorities.

3. Serving God & Others

Just as Jesus said He had come to serve and not to be served, so must believers. The choice to serve others is just that--a choice. It highlights a maturity of soul. Transformation is evident when personal needs, and even life goals, are set aside for the needs we see in others.

4. Sharing Christ

Inherent in being a disciple of Christ is making other disciples. Even as we live out the benefits of the Gospel, mature believers know that sharing the Good News with others is a necessity. Transformation is evident when we talk about the source of our faith.

5. Exercising Faith

Can you measure a person's faith? Probably not. But you can see it when it is put into action. Believers noted they knew the importance of living by faith as opposed to living by personal strength. Transformation is seen in believers when risk aversion is set aside and lives are characterized by faithful obedience to God's will.

6. Seeking God

People become disciples of Christ because they intend to follow Him. A continuous hunger should arise from this life of faith. It is referred to in scripture as our "first love," and believers are commanded to return to it. Transformation is seen when our desire is to know God more deeply and experience His work more fully.

7. Building Relationships

Our faith is personal, but it is not intended to be private. Jesus established the church for our collective good and our collective growth. After all, humans are naturally relational. Spiritually, we are no different. As believers, our horizontal relationships with others should develop just as our vertical relationship with God does. Transformation is occurring when relational maturity is evident in our lives.

8. Unashamed

Believers felt it appropriate and even necessary for others to know them as Christians and be held accountable for a life exemplary of that name. Transformation is evident when a believer is unashamed in presenting his own life as being aligned with Christ. The saying is "if you aim at nothing, you will hide it every time." At the very heart of Christianity is the work of making disciples of Christ. It should never sit at the fringe of our lives or the church. Through work like that of Transformational Discipleship we are able to better recognize when we are effectively reaching that goal.

Note: This essay was originally written by Philip Nation, and posted by Rich Walkowski (see link below). For those of you who've read my book, there is a section where some inspirational words came to me and I wrote them down, only to learn later that they were lyrics to a song I'd never heard. The same kind of thing happened here. After praying the words to the essay above just came to me, all at once, and I wrote them down as fast as I could so I wouldn't forget them. Since God gave them to me I knew I should share them, so I wrote the "Eight Keys to Spiritual Growth" blog post. Shortly after posting it my editor came upon another very similar essay written by Philip Nation. I can only assume that God wanted these words shared from more than one source. This represents one kind of daily "miracle" described in my book, miracles we can all share if we grow closer to God.

https://about.me/philipnation 
https://www.facebook.com/kloveradio/posts/10153676252099056

Dear Anna . . .

 

Does anyone out there remember the popular self-help columnist, Abigail Van Buren, or more popularly known as Dear Abby? Launched in 1956 by Pauline Phillips, she wrote the column which was syndicated until 2000 when her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, carried on? As most of us realize, self-help books and columns can only do so much to solve people's problems. Most of the hard work has to come from the people themselves, but it never hurts to tell your story to someone who not only listens, but cares enough to offer some targeted advice. 

That tradition began in my family with my grandmother, who was the "Dear Abby" of her neighborhood community in Italy. Here's an excerpt from the upcoming Third Edition of my book:

I suspect my guardian angel currently is my grandmother on my father’s side. She taught me how to find and grow my faith. A devout Catholic, she attended church regularly, prayed the rosary often, and for special needs would enter a nine-day period of prayer. These technical aspects of her faith, however, only reflect the surface waters of her deep, abiding beliefs.

Every believer is given certain gifts that can be used in God’s service. My grandmother’s became known in her community in Italy, when as a little girl people came to her home to ask for her help. Her method was to pray a novena to a certain saint and in her dreams the answer to the question or the solution to the problem would come to her.

When word of her gift got out, her parents were frightened that she would be arrested or worse, and arranged for her to come to America where she set up housekeeping with my grandfather, also from Italy, but who earned his citizenship as a soldier in WWI. Once here she continued to share her clairvoyant gifts with others, but on a more informal basis.

Many of my fondest childhood memories involve my Gramma Carmella. I could always feel God’s Holy Spirit in and around her whenever we could be together. Our relationship grew close to the point where she was the most important person in my life.

That Gift was passed down to her daughter, my Aunt, and seems to have been also passed down to me. When I found myself talking to people about their problems, I began to sense that the Holy Spirit was giving me just the right words to say to them, words they needed to hear at that exact moment. I know the words aren't from me because half the time they don't make that much sense to me, but from the look of revelation on the face of the person I'm sharing them with, I know they were from God.

If you have a problem or a question you'd like to share as an anonymous comment on my "Dear Anna" blog page, I'll pray about it and do my best to pass on to you any insight I might be given to share with you and post it as a reply to your comment.

Gifts were given to be shared . . . I'll share mine with you . . . you share yours with others!

 

God's Household . . .

1 Timothy 3:14-16

Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if i am delayed you will know how people are to conduct themselves in God's house household, which is the church of the living God,the pillar and foundation of the truth. Beyond all questions, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the spirit, was seen by angels,was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world was taken up in glory.

The church is important to God and Jesus is the chief corner stone. (Ephesians 2:19-21) Jesus is the head of the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ in the church. People have seen church grow and flourish in many different ways since Christ has returned to Heaven, and that process continues today. The church is the Bride of Christ, If you believe in Christ, you are part of the church; that is, His Body. Build one another up in Christ Jesus that we may together, and by His leading and power, be the church God wants us to be.

                                               

                                             

Psalms 100:4-5 

4- Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise!

Give thanks to Him, Bless His name!

5- For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures 

forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.