Daughter of the KING

speaking of Bank accounts...

2010-07-04T10:22:00.003-05:00

As I was praying last night for my family and opportunites that God has layed on hearts, I got some Scriptures out and prayed them through ...all of a sudden, God tugged on my heart saying " do you realize that some of My promises are like checks that need to be deposited into your heart and wait for them, but many of them are checks to be cashed right then and there"....mmmm You're a Good God! So I did some Scripture Banking last night and cashed some promises that are mine now and today!!!
Do the same beloved! He is a God that love to bless His children!

2010-07-04T09:54:00.002-05:00

God often speaks to us through things we can relate to. A while ago I saw a young Godly lady asking a question , "why do some people stay in your life forever,but others only last a while". That was the begining of my new lesson.
Working at the Bank I process numerous transactions daily and see all kinds of people and they all try
to do all kinds of things with their accounts.
Now think with me here...what IF we started treating our hearts as we treat our Bank accounts?
We all like when our accounts have enough to sustain us and, perhaps, bless others as well. We want to have enough for our children to enjoy our legacy.
Few things must be done in order to keep our "spiritual accounts" in a good condition. We must remember,
that EVERY relationship we establish through out our life will leave some kind of deposit in your "account". We can't get away from people, they are all around and what they do, how they live, their choices, their words,their attitudes.. ( you get the idea) will affect us whether we like it or now. Although we can't get away from people,we can, however, avoid sometimes what kind of deposits they leave in our lives. Here are few examples:
1. "GOOD CHECKS"- the kind of people who are just simply good for you. They inspire you to be better. Have you
ever being around those? Those are the people you can't help but want to be like them!! I love surrounding myself with ladies who inspire me to read my Bible, to cook healthy food for my family, to keep my house clean. The influence of these people incredibly contagious. Are they perfect? Probably not, but they are doing their best to be Christ like is it is noticeable!
These are the people who are shaping you to be the way God intended. THAT IS A GOOD DEPOSIT!
1 Cor. 11:1 mentions that kind of people "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ"

2. "QUESTIONABLE CHECKS"- the kind of people who here and there will raise your eyebrows. They are not necessary bad,
but they are not necessary good either. This deposit could be a treaky one. Do you deposit it in your heart or let it go?
This is the time you are to ask God for wisdom. Is there a room in your spiritual account for that? Don't make a mistake, I am not talking about about not loving them, but I am talking what Philippians 1:9 teaches us "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight"...LOVE WITH INSIGHT is what God is teaching us!
After all, just like Paul said in 1 Cor.10:23 "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive". We may think a "luke warm" deposit is OK, but is it beneficial, constructive to your spiritual condition?

3. "BAD CHECK"- the kind of people you know better to protect your heart from. The ones that you know would be returned for "insufficient funds" back to you and make you "account" negative and there will be fees to pay for that one. Once again, we don't stop loving those people, but we can't allow them to deposit in our hearts and shape us into something other than God's perfect plan for us! 1 Cor. 15:33 "Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

3. Finally, a "FRAUDULENT CHECK". This one is sad and often by the time we figure this one out, it's has already been deposited in our heart and we are going through a devastating heartbreak. Fraud is fraud- it looks like the real deal, it smells like the real deal, it knows all the right answers and does the "right performance".
1 John 2:19 warns us against such people "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. ". Especially in the last days, the enemy is furious and he will do anything to lead God's people away!

We are made in the image of God and we , just like God, are very relational creatures. And this can be the best thing or the worst thing , if we are not careful. Jesus called us to love one another, YES, but He never told us to be stupid about it.Love one another with the insight, love others to bring them closer to God, but we careful that it doesn't stumble you!
Some people are just simply toxic for each other. Some relationships are not for you, there is all to it. You are to pray for them, but you can't invest yourself, because it can be the end of you.
And why, you must ask? The wisest man in the Bible answered in Pr.4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life". Your life depends on that!
So, my friend, I encourage you to evaluate your account today. See what kind of deposits have you allowed in. How have they changed you? Have they brought you closer to God or rather the opposite? Have they caused the bitter root grow in your heart as a result of that relationship or it's influence? Have they made your account richer or put you in the negative balance and you found yourself lacking with the whole bunch of penalties to pay? Guard your heart above all else!
And while you are protecting your heart, be sure to be a good deposit for others as well. Let your life and heart make someone richer!
I want leave you with the words form 1 John 2:27 "As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in Him".
Jesus is not a counterfeit! He is not a fraud! Deposit Jesus daily in your heart and once you have the fullness of Jesus in your heart it will get easier and easier to detect the right deposit.
You can take that to your spiritual bank!

New Things are in Store

2010-04-12T06:27:00.003-05:00

Zach and I have been in the stage of "Holy Discontent" as we call it. We want to see God move more, to hear His voice more, to see His face more! He is working something out and i am thrilled to see His hand doing it!!!

Baby registry in the Kingdom of the Almighty

2009-08-18T20:37:00.006-05:00

I am obsessed with being a mother. A passion for motherhood was awaken in me the moment I saw my first positive pregnancy test. ever since then- I see "baby stuff" in the most odd places! Places like Psalm 87!

“I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ ” And of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”The LORD will record, When He registers the peoples: “This one was born there.” Selah

I remember my son's precious little toes on his birth certificate and those adorable toys are mine and I still love to kiss them and tickle them! The tenderness overflows my heart at the single thought of my baby boy and now i get God even more when it comes to be a loving parent! He too, loves to declare to the world, "THIS CHILD IS MINE! HE BORN INTO MY FAMILY AND IS MINE!!!!!!!" God has a baby registry book! Who woulda thought! He registers every single one of us the moment we are born again and He tells everyone around "This one was born here and I have registered her into the Book of Life !" But this time, I think He not only has our footprints, He has the picture of our heart. Thank you , Jesus!

But wait! There is more!! Do you wonder where would that baby register book be? well, I looked up the original word for word "registered" from the Scripture above and it meant to "engrave"

May i suggest that Isa.49:16 gives us the clue to the location of the "baby registry" book: See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."....Your name and your "footprint" is on the very hand of God! The same hand that was pierced and crucified. the same hand that was raised to calm the storm, the same hand that touched to heal the sick and resurrect the dead...your and my name are engraved on the palm of God's hand! It's always before Him, it's always just a touch away , it's always near!

Building materials

2009-08-17T20:01:00.003-05:00

" A true successful person is the one who builds himself up by the stones other had thrown at him" (David Brinkley)...
I have read that in a secular printing material but was inspired by it. Daily the enemy of our souls is throwing stones at us (through other people, circumstances etc) but we have to choose what to do with those stone! I say- let's build ourselves up! So, if I change my perspective, I see those stones not as a harmful weapon against me , but a building supply meant for me.
Let's no longer allow enemy steal your joy but rather make him work for you!!!!
and remember- no weapon against us shall prosper! EVER!

House hunting

2009-08-09T17:56:00.006-05:00

This morning my husband and I stumbled upon another spiritual truth. We've been house hunting for few months already and just can't seem to find what suits our family needs. On the way to church we pass the house that has a great outside look...the price was good, but when we came closer- it was soo sad! The house inside had hiddeous kitchen, unkept rooms and horrible paint job. But then we've seen some that wouldn't catch our eye whatsoever but they are surprisingly cozy and cute inside....So as we pass the pretty/ugly house my man says "isn't that like with people? We think of someone so much by the way they acts in church, they know all the answers to the Bible trivia, but then we see them closer and are shocked...but then see those who are not that outstanding, wouldn't be on the front lines but we get to know them and Jesus lives there!"....yes honey! so true! I suppose, that would be the only time we will disagree with the House Hunting TV show host who says curbappeal is everything....not in spiritual terms.
take heart! we may not have the "curbappeal" to the world, but little that they know is 1 Pet.2:5 says that "you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."...
So..the challenge of the day is that: How is your house on the market?

loong time no see!

2009-05-13T21:33:00.002-05:00

wow..thats been a while. i don't even think anyone is checking it out. but just in case you do, here is a shout out to my peeps.. lol...
my son is about 15 months and such a tremendous blessing to us. we learn a lot about God as a parent! we learn a lot about ourselves as parents! the best job ever! LOVE it. God is still faithful to show revelations to me and i hope to keep it posted.

a child within

2007-12-11T19:44:00.000-06:00

Ok... my belly is growing and kicking and I have to admit- it is the best feeling in the world. Who really cares about few extra pounds when there is a mirracle inside of you.
People have been asking me if I was nervous about the labor part to which my answer is "no. Epudural is my new friend". A co-worker of mine asked my opinion on that though : since natural birth is the way God intended it- am I or am I not compromizing my christian stand by using that "magic drug" :). I believe the answer came from the Holy Spirit Himself (well, may be not, but it's so brilliant I dare not take the credit :)). So this is what I told her: "well, you're right, it was intended to be drug-free and painful, but that curse kicked in after the sin entered the planet and painful childbirth is a way of punishment for the sin. HOWEVER, I am covered and redeemed by the blood of Jesus, He paid for my sins...I see no reason to pay for it twice"......Can I hear an AMEN and HALLELUJAH from my "epidural user"-friendly sisters or what?!?!? You can use that one next time someone questions your choice in the labor room:)
On the serious note......having child inside this season made think a lot. Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have been just a few weeks ahead of me at this time. She too, would have an awkward waddling and bad legs cramps at night. She too , probably, wondered what her baby looks like and , if given opportunity, she too would be tempted to go get a 4D ultra-sound just to see the face of her baby while he is unaware in the womb.
But you see, even if you are not pregnant this season, you still have so much in common with Mary. May be you don't expirience all the visible signs of pregnancy- you're still impregnant with the mystery and mirracle! Christ in you- the hope of glory. Mary was privelged to carry Him in her womb, you are priviledged to carry Him in your heart. Can anyone tell? Can they see the signs? Do they stare at you wondering that there is something so captivating and different about you? The reason for the season is within you! Let the world see and praise Him!
Christ in you the hope of glory....Merry Christmas, beloved.

New devotion for the next year

2007-12-01T21:20:00.000-06:00

I have been so blessed beoynd the measure by the classic devotion my husband gave me last year , called "Streams in the desert". Many of you have heard of it and those who had read it was , I am sure, blessed by it.

But now I have found another treasure "Springs in the valley" put together by the same lady! So, for those of you who are fan of the "Streams", I have great news : try the "springs" now! I am sure God will speak to me through that too.

This one for the girls :)

2007-10-25T17:24:00.000-05:00

I have been studying something that brought my interest to the women from Proverbs 31.
I hope that my discovery will bless you just as much as it blessed me! Pr.31:10-29

A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all."

First of all, the term "noble woman" or "virtuous woman" in Hebrew is a powerful word "chayil" which means " strong, able, force". The virtuous woman is the mighty and powerful lady, a woman who is "war worthy". She is the one who wars for her family and friends- you, beloved, are the one- the warrior woman. The root of "chayil" means "to labor, to travail, to bring forth life".

v.13- "she works with eager hands": hands is "kaph" in Hebrew and one of the meaning is "hands lifted up to God in intercession", also it means to bend objects. We war for our families with our hands lifted high to God in prayer and in His strength we can bend enemy in a half! How do you like that ladies?!

v.21- "when it snows, she has no fear, for all of her family is clothed is scarlet". a.k.a when the trouble comes all of her family is prayed up for and covered with the blood of Jesus! Isn't it awesome?!

Just these few things made me look at the Pr.31 woman in a whole new way. Most of us often felt intimidated by her before, because of all the things she did, now I realize I too can do just as much- to be a Godly woman, wife and mother. We are blessed!

I have joined the swim team

2007-10-02T12:33:00.000-05:00

I have been struggling for a while. It breaks my heart to see people who are satisfied with an OK Christian life. I am so longing to go deeper. I am so ready to take a swim and not feel the sand or seaweed between my toes.
I have been talking to a young lady who shared the same desire. I was struggling and praying and asking God why, why, why so many people are not seing things the same way? It's been burdening my heart so heavily.

After much prayer and meditation, I have gotten my answer. God spoke to me and said, "Lenna, you can't make them love Me more and you can't make them want Me more. But you can't allow them at the same to hold you back in the shallow ground. Don't let their inability or unwillingness to go deeper to stop you from fully enjoying the thrill of your life with Me. Come with Me to the deeper waters and I will show you things you've never seen before. Be set free from the approval and expectations of the people. Whatever you do they will criticize, so you're free from their approval.....come away, My beloved with Me"........

What an encouraging word He ministered to Me. I am going deeper.

Luke 5:4 makes so much sense now! " When he finished teaching, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch".

I want to PUSH into a deeper waters! I want to catch God in the depth of my studies! I wonder if He is up for a game of " TAG you're it". I can see us having a blast in the deep waters. I want Him to chase me and get me. I want to chase him and get him.

I have mentioned my Bible study group lately a lot. Some of those women make SO ridiculously hungry for God. I've told some of them how blessed I am to swim in the depth of God's Word with them. I couldn't have asked for a better team-mates than the ones who are passionate about the depth.

I have been marked by God and I am forever changed......

Ezek.47:3-6
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

We all have to choose the depth of our walk with God....
WILL YOU JOIN THE SWIM TEAM ? Or will you compromize and stay on shore and be satisfied with dead seashells and seawee? As for me, I am out of here....see you in the deep, if you dare....

Building Idols out of blessings

2007-10-02T12:15:00.000-05:00

WOW....
I am so amazed at the depth of our study! My ladies make me so proud!
Lately I've been asking one lady at a time to lead particular weeks. Last week Sivi did an AMAZING job talking about women's broken dreams. She set up a small wedding feast at the Sanctuary and asked her husband who was dressed in a wedding toxido to wait on women. Everyone's heart was touched so tenderly by the loving hand of God expressed through the faithful servants.
Last night Amy led the study and her passion and fire for God's Word nearly blown me away! I had no idea about the waterfall of annointing that was hidden in that little body of hers!!!! She spoke exactly what I've been feeling for weeks. She spoke of people who choose and chose not to grow deeper in the study. we can't make anyone enjoy the indepth study God himself provided for us, but we can choose for ourselves to become mature and deeper in the Word.

Here is what hit me hard....I dare you to think of it and see how true it is in your life....I really DARE YOU....

She asked us the following questions:

-Who gave you your house and everything in it?
-Who gave you your job and everything that comes from it?
-Who gave you your family ( your kids and the spouse)?

we all answered , "God, of course".
then the said ,"do you consider all those things your blessings from God?"....YES!

then she asked this, "Then tell me, how many times have we made those God's blessings idols? How many times have we used those blessings as an excuse not to do God's will? How many times have we told God how busy, tired, occupied we are with those things He himself blessed us with? How often have we cast an idol out of very blessing that came from the very hand of God?".........

WOW.........WOW...........WOW...........
Now the excuse not to go to Bible Study because I had a long day at work seems so lame. I wonder if God looks at me and says, "I know, I blessed you with it. but I blessed you with it to enjoy it and not to draw you away from Me".
Now the excuse not to spend time with God daily because I have a lot of things to accomplish around the house seems so selfish. God looks at us and says ,"I blessed you with that place so that you can build Me there a place of worship".
Now the excuse not to do his will because i have so many family activities seems so dumb, because He blessed me with that family of mine to become the light of the world....

think of such things....I was challenged to grow deeper, to grow stronger in the Lord. I can't make anyone do it, but I choose that for myself.

Raising Godly generation

2007-09-26T13:39:00.000-05:00

I am a strong believer that there is a HUGE gap between Christian home and Godly home. HUGE GAP. I see a lot of "good ol' christian" families, but frankly, I want nothing to do with them. I don't want my children to be like them, I don't to act like them. christian and a Godly are so different.
Last bible study my friend Amy.B. answered a question from "Breaking Free" study book so beautifully. the question was, "what is your desire for your children and grandchildren"....Amysaid ," I want them to GET IT, I want them not only know the Word, I want them to be thrilled by it, i want them to thirst for it. And the only way they can do it if they see mama doing the same"......she couldn't say it anymore clearer! that is EXACTLY how i feel! I am sick and tired of "christian" families, who get satisfied with "grace" prayer before meals and brag that they've been in church over 20 years..SO WHAT?! I want to see passion, I want to see excitement, I want to see commitment, I want see a Holy Fire burning in their bones so they can't hold themselves back, but to speak of God's goodness and not discussin church leaders.
Just this morning I was meditating on my choices of people I am surrounded. At some point I started feeling as if I was a bad friend and I wasn't "best friend" to more people. and then I was stopped by the Holy Spirit and in my heart I heard, "we are called to love one another, but not called to be stupid about it". I love so many people, but I wont's allow them all to influence my life, my home, my marriage. Zach and I are VERY protective of our marriage and influences we allow in it. We minister to many people and we love them so much, but we protect our home at the same time. We are determined to be a Godly household. and yes, we do have friends coming over and we do spend time with them, but we keep our hearts sober and don't allow anyone exept the Holy Spirit influence us in any way.
I claim Godliness for my children, this day. I pray they won't compromize their walk with God for mediocrity. I pray they will keep their passion and pursuit of God fresh and anything that tried to quench it- they will avoid.
I pray the same for you and your families as well. This was the challenge for me this morning.
Let's all be challenged to keep the authenticity in us and not settle down for a "good ol' days". Authentic beauty- that what attracts God's heart!

P.S. my husband wrote an amazing blog, made his wife so proud, read it.

Daniel

2007-09-02T21:37:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday we found out we are having a boy!!! Yay!
My husband is excited. That morning I told him, "ok,let'd go find out who we're having". He said ," no, let's go confirm"...LOL....I am glad it's a boy. He will be a big brother to my little girl later on.
I was almost sure it's girl and here is the reason why:
4 years prior to coming to U.S. I lived with my best frind's family. She has 4 girls. Before I lived with them, she and her husband taught at the bible School in Finland-where my brother and sister-in-law were their students. Everyone from the sessions my friend and her husband taught had baby girls. Including my borther! Some of them still had girls even years after the graduation, so they blamed the Bates for the "girly influence".....I lived with the Bates for FOUR year, if any one got plenty of "girly annointing" it should be me! I was hoping for a boy, but was almost sure it's a girl, because no one before was able to beat the Bates annointing :):):):)
I guess I did.....my husband's prayers were answered.....
now.....I really really do want to have a girl after Daniel is born...the only logical solution for this dilemma would be moving closer to the Bates once again, so that we again will be under the "girly influence/annointing" of the Bates. :):):):)

please, continue to pray for us. Daniel is a very active little boy. And as far as I can tell- he's pretty stubborn. And that he doesn't get from his mom :). As the doctor was trying to get a picture of his face- he decided to cover with his both hands. then as she said, "let's see who this is"- he crossed his legs and had no intentions of showing" his goodies". It looked like he heard every word she said and wanted to do things on his terms.....mercy!

we are already terribly in love with him and he has no idea yet.

great job! I don't know anything about these kids, but they did an awesome job putting it together!

2007-08-25T13:05:00.001-05:00

lesson I learned from annoying bird

2007-07-14T11:46:00.000-05:00

OK....so York is having a treasure hunt....Everyday they post a clue in the newspaper where the treasure is (treasure is $1000 in chamber checks wich you can spend basically anywhere in York- sweet, I want it)....
Zach and I never done it, but for the sake of fun and quality time together we decided to do it this year.....Last night we went to place where we THOUGHT treasure might be (I am not telling you where, or some of you from around here will go and check it out too:))....anyways....here we are....the ground is still wet from a big rain night before and I am wearing my new "Skechers" white flipflops!..short grass gets between my toes and white flipflops slowly turning into grey....I am determined to find my treasure......Zach points out in the air and says something about the the birds...WHO CARES! I have nice toenails with grass decor between them! Really! I keep on walking .....All of a sudden something is flying by awefully close to me...I can hear it's heartbeat..
"What was that?"- I ask Zach. He says, "that's those birds...they bombard people if we get too close to their territory".....
????????????? birds? attack people? but they are so small looking....I think it's just him now....break free from fear of birds, hon!...keep on walking.....there are 3 or 4 of them birds now.....5, 6.....what is going on????? THEY ARE DARING ME! They fly so fast towards me and get SO close, I not only can tell if it was a boy or a girl, I can tell if any of them had grey feathers coming up! I can smell the breath of lunch on their beaks! Really....they are so bad....Zach is basically crawling on the ground, I am bent in half...... I am starting thinking they know where the treasure is and they don't want me to get it..... We finally walked far enough from them to leave us alone.....WHEW! ...We didn't find anything...and then comes the scary thought- how are we coming back? I look back and I don't see any birds, they like dissappeared!..good! may be they found a new prey!
We walk back....my shoes don't even look grey anymore, my nice toes have grass and dirt.....but it is a lovely day.....no birds......now I hear a war cry....one of the birds sounded alarmed.....where is that stupid bird? No one can see it, but you can hear the warning sound.....3 seconds and they are back again attacking us! And this time it looks like they got more brothers from the neighborhood! They are so daring- they hit you with their wings! Picture me with grass between my toes and feather in my hair! Lovely, huh?
We walk far enough and they leave us alone....Now I ask my "Discovery Channel" inclined husband about the birds.....He told me the name of them- I can't remember, but then he told me that they live in close unity with each other and they always have a watchman among them who will be staying up and looking out for trouble; when trouble gets closer he cries a war cry warning for the whole community to be prepared and within the second they are there to protect their families.....They give no chance to the approaching enemy, who has no other choice but to run....
HUH!........Isn't it what we, the Church, supposed to be like? The watchmen are our leaders and the rest of us- intercessors. As soon as we hear a hint of trouble coming, we get together, we bombard the enemy and we dare him to come close to our home.....Within the seconds we are united in mind, mission and purpose.....Our prayers are a real threat to the enemy. Our unity scares him and our worship makes him run with the dirt and grass between his toes and the feathers in his hair....not our feathers - God's feathers....because we are under the wings of the Almighty.....for us- those feathers are covering and protection; for enemy- those feathers are slap on the face and smack.......
......Beloved, lets trust the voice our leaders and not to give up being together, staying together and praying together. Those birds could not scare me alone, but when I saw 5 coming from all different directions and I didn't know which way to duck...that's what scared me!

I love you all.....

p.s. Does anyone know a good PTSD specialist? I think those birds traumatized me :)

Come to think about it...I guess I did find my treasure....the treasure of the truth of God's Word...it was revealed through annoying birds....Who is your annoying bird today? They might show you the treasure.....

intercede for us

2007-07-14T11:13:00.000-05:00

We are about to start one the of life changing studies in our church! It is "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore. I think only 1 or 2 out of the whole group have done Beth Moore Study, the rest have never been involved in the in depth study. I was never the same after that one!

I KNOW God will do some mighty work among us through this study and we all need it. We need it, because I hear the sound of spiritual shekels in our church all the time and most of them are not even aware they are the carriers of the sound...not their fault- enemy made them believe that this is as good as it gets and I am praying for the sweet FREEDOM and LIBERTY of Christ to start working among us!

Here are few prayer points I want you to join with me in prayer:

willing hearts and teachable spirits (for me this is not the first indepth study I've done, and I love everytime I start a new one; however, I have done one of them with the most unwilling and unreceptive group who refused to be transformed by the WORD, rather they veiwed the study as an opportunity to fellowship with each other(which is OK in its own timing) more than with the Spirit....I don't want the same attitude among this group).
Consistency and self-discipline (I have been with people who start so well but never finish their work.....I pray this group will stick to it and allow God to transform us to the fullest and all the way. We are not quiters! May we proof to ourselves that we are committed and determined to be changed and not stale and unproductive women of God)
Open heart to the WORD (some of the things we will study will step on toes, but just for our own best. And it is never my job to make my ladies face the issues- let God do it gently; so, I pray their hearts will be open to the WORD as they do their homework at home and sort the dirty laundry basket of the heart through and through with God alone- there is no other way to get better).
Glory revelead (to God be the glory forever and ever through all of that! I pray our hearts and faces will be radiant week by week as we allow God to work with us).

Join with me intercessors! Become the FLAME KEEPERS through prayer!

I covet your prayers greatly!

been kinda sick lately

2007-06-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

I know some of you noticed I've been lame with my blog lately..the thing is- I've been sick a lot lately...morning sickness that is :)
Yep...We are having a baby!!! yeah! Our firstborn! I am 9 1/2 weeks now...the due date so far is January 25-th..3 days after daddy's b-day :)

pray for us and pray for the baby :)

much love...
excited mama

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God

2007-06-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

last night at the Bible Study we have read Ps.52:8 "But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God;I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever".

The Psalm was written at the time when David was chased by king Saul, who as I came to conclusion , was a control freak with extreme unsecurites. Saul felt out of control and mad, because he didn't know everyone's business, so he dealt with them in his own way- just killed at least 85 people. (1 Sam.22)

As we were talking about things our control issues can cause others, I asked them a question ," how many priests today (and we are priests through the blood of Jesus) are being killed because of the anger and madness in or outside the church?"....pause..... a friend of mine said a brilliant thing ,"not only do we kill members of the holy priesthood daily with our words, actions and feelings, but if you carefully look at the Scripture, it says they were other people who were killed outside the Temple! Therefore, our actions as Christians not only effect those within the walls of the church, but it can hurt others who don't even belong here!"...is that profound or what?!?!?!?! BINGO! She has nailed that! Defenately something to consider!

As we went on with our lesson we looked at the ways David dealt with the crisis like that.
-David knew his position in his relationship with God, therefore Saul could not shake him; Do we know it?
-David knew his purpose and calling even though he was not in charge of the times and circumstances; Do we know it?

Then David finally states in Ps. 52:8 that he is "like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God".
This is one of those times when NIV gets an A++ for translation! Most of the other ones said "green olive tree".
One of my resources said , "not only the olive tree is the longest living tree, but FLOURISHING olive tree has even greater longetivity". How appropriate! If my roots are planted in the house of God and I am flourishing- therefore working hard on bearing the fruit in my life, I have even greater longetivity! What a promise!
The olive tree is one of the few trees that can still produce fruits even in rocky and unproductive land. Therefore, even if you think you are in unproductive place of your life now- God can still bless you to produce spiritual fruit even there!
Olive tree is an evergreen tree. Also, every part of the olive tree can be used. It is so much like us! Every part of our lives can be used for God's glory in various areas and as long we stay planted in His presence we will not loose our freshness!
The fruit the olive tree produces is used to make an anointing oil. So, as we bear fruit, the anointing is within us already! Are you with me?

Enemy can try to do anything, but this I KNOW- I am an olive tree flourishing in the house of my God and my roots are deep in the LORD and my branches are lifted high to praise His Holy name. And it is my Father's desire that I may bear much fruit. (John 15)
Let it be, LORD, let it be.

How many time have I broken his heart? Everything I need is really only Jesus!

2007-06-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

think of the words....revive my heart, LORD!

song in my heart now

2007-06-07T17:39:00.000-05:00

It still goes down!

2007-06-01T21:25:00.000-05:00

Since we started praying for the gas prices to go down it went 80 cents so far! How awesome is that! Last night we got gas for $3.05!!!! Keep believing God for it with me!
God is fathful in such "little" thing- can you imagine how much He will bless you in other things?!?!?!
Praise, you, JESUS, for You are worthy to receive glory and honour and power!

plug :)

2007-06-01T21:24:00.000-05:00

my husband posted a nice testimony on his blog, you guys...check it out
http://worship-warrior.blogspot.com/

New Day- NEW Victories

2007-05-28T19:16:00.000-05:00

This year is my 15th birthday since I have made my commitment to Christ. It was not a smooth walk whatsoever, let me assure you of that! I was 11 or 12 when I first met Jesus. The Soviet Union just fell apart .
I remember clearly receiving my call for ministry at the age 14 or 15. I remember how God dealt with me. Let me tell you my idea of being a Christian already at that age (just thinking about that now, I cannot believe how much enemy polluted my mind by that time): my idea of a good Christian was to sit in the back rows of the church, show up there once a week , twice if there is special going on, and that's about it. I was planning to live a good, Christ-seeking life, but, really, didn't plan to do anything extra special. Since my early childhood, one of my biggest fears was speaking in front of people, no matter how big the crowd was. It is still in me, till this very day I am scared of public speaking. Hard to believe, huh? Who would have known that the very thing that makes me uncomfortable God will use to fulfill His purpose in my life.
So, anyways, here I am a teenager with a very "good" plan of being and staying a Christian. The funny thing- I wasn't the only one who thought of that! I had a good friend Katya and we happened to think alike....Until one summer we went to a youth camp and God just crumbled every brick of the wall I have built in my heart and mind. He had called me into the ministry. There was an altar call at that camp for those who felt led by God to dedicate everything to Him for a ministry life. I remember how God spoke to me and I remember going to the altar for one reason: may be if I go closer He would hear my answer ," NO!". I went to the altar and just wept. Coming back from the camp our pastor had a meeting for those who'd like to join any kind of ministry in our church. I walk in the room and you would not believe the very first person I saw was my friend Katya! She looked at me like I had 3 heads. I remember her whispering to me ," I guess we can't stay satisfied being ineffective ourselves, huh?"...I just nodded.
Since that summer on- my walk with God had been a rollercoaster! For the next 2 years I was fully involved in all kinds of stuff happening in the church. I knew God was up to something BIG and that made me nervous.
It was summer 1998 the year I graduated. I have heard of a team of young people who was going to another city to open a new church. Someone asked me to go. I did everything possible to do so. My mom (who wasn't Christian at the time) could not understand why I wanted to go so badly. She reasoned with me very hard. I went at far as to purposely fail my college exams, so I'd be free to go. You should have seen my face, when I saw my name on the list of those who were accepted! Bummer! I ended up in college for the next year and doing ministry at my church.
In the summer of 1999 I went with my mom to Moscow where my brother was being commissioned as a pastor alone with a bunch of other people who graduated from the Bible School. I remember sitting there and watching all the people on the stage who were living for God to the fullest and asking God, "not fair! how come I can't go? Why did you even put such a burning desire in my heart to go, when I can't do it?!"....while I sat and argued with God I didn't notice another person sitting next to me. I looked at him and smiled. He said ," I've been praying , Lenna. We are making 4 missionary teams this summer to go to Republic of Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and one will stay here in Russia. I was wondering if you're free this summer. Would you be interested to go?". My chin dropped. The speed of my thought process would definitely be considered illegal ! :) Am I free? Am I free? Are you kidding me? You bet I am free this summer! Little did I know- that man just opened a door for something that would change me for life. Once I tasted the sweet bite of a full time ministry and a mission life- I was never the same!
God had a hand in all of that! So I am going to the person in charge of the trip and fully prepared to give him my answer, which was ," I'd like to join the team to Ukraine". I open my mouth and to my surprise my lips are saying something different! I told him I’d LOVE to go to Republic of Georgia! (which at that time was recovering from civil war). He was so excited and told me, "oh, praise GOD! nobody wanted to go to Georgia! your team is the smallest one!"..."Did I just say Georgia? ".....I was still in shock of my sudden change of plans. How am I going to tell my mom? Ukraine is safe! Georgia- not really! I thought of testing the waters and went to my good friend to tell her what I just did. Her response was "are you nuts?!?!?!"..hmm.. that didn't go as good... So, I decided to just play it cool. I walk to my mom and brother who were eating , sat next to them and under one breath told them what I just did. They stopped chewing. I chewed very fast! :)
That summer I went to Republic of Georgia- just to fall in love with a new way of ministry. We did summer camps, we organized open air meetings, we helped out in all kinds of churches. It was there I made a decision to come back. I went home that summer just to tell my mom I am leaving again- for one year. One year was the deal I made with God. He kept me there for 4 years. It was not always the best and smooth. I have cried so many tears there, and only God knows how many times I packed to go back and stomping my feet, tell God pouting ,"it's just not fair! it's too hard! I think I am done having fun". Then God will speak to me and I will give Him "another chance" as if He needed one and I stayed for a little longer.
I think among thousands of other things He was teaching that in every ministry in every walk with God at some point the honeymoon comes to a close and comes the season of maturing, growing, sharpening and going deeper. That season may not feel like honeymoon, but if we want to be solid, mature Christians-we are wise to embrace that season. This season is not over for me yet, but looking back I can confidently say that I have learned the best lessons there.
Republic of Georgia is a small country with lots of problems. Their official country religion is Christianity. In a forth century a woman named Nino had accepted Christ in Greece and wanted to share with her country people that great treasure. She walked all the way from Greece to Georgia. She had made a cross from the branches of the vine. On her way she was brutally attacked and beaten up. Her attackers broke her cross. She cut her hair and tried to fix it, the cross was never the same, it’s sides pointed down. Georgians decided to keep it that way to remind themselves how much Christianity cost them. Nino is called a spiritual mother of the country. With centuries their passion for Christ had grown into a ritual and simple religion. They forgot why they did what they did in church. Most of them honestly didn’t know. “My grandma used to do it, so I guess that’s what we’re supposed do”- was a common thing to hear.
But let me tell you about the passion that was reignited in them once they got a hold of the truth again! I have never seen more passionate youth and kids! My hair still stands on the back of my neck as I think of things those people did for Christ. Most of them don’t have cars, so they would walk to church several times a week. Because of a bad economy situation in the country, we often were without gas, electricity and water. We stunk, but we were happy!
Economy was not the only enemy they have to go against. Orthodox Christians persecute those of not the same belief and they tell people to stay away from us- the protestants. Till the year 2003 Georgians had only New Testament Bible in Georgian language. Our group of people worked hard to translate the whole Bible. Once it was ready and came in the country, the Orthodox mob burned the whole entire shipment. We decided to ship Bibles secretly, but somehow Orthodox mobs knew about it and they would arrive there early to set them on fire. Few times we were successful and we brought them into our church! The hunger for the Word of God still makes me jealous and increases my appetite for more of God’s word.
If I were to tell my whole 4 year life in Georgia I would ran out of space (which I probably did already)….
I once have heard a story of an old man in Canada who stood up in the church and wept bitterly saying that he was the most miserable person in the world. He was asked why. His answer shocked me ,”God called me into the ministry when I was young. I ran away from God. I wanted to keep my good Christian face, but I didn’t want to do more than that. I wrestled with God about my purpose for all the years and I thought I won. In reality- I lost. I have never lived a fulfilled life on the back row of the church. It didn’t mater what I’ve done for God when I was younger, what matters is that I failed Him today”.
I am reminded of Joseph’s dream interpretation in Genesis 41 about 7 sick cows consuming the 7 fat once; and 7 thin heads of grain consuming the 7 healthy heads of grain. This story is a real warning for us. No matter how many victories we had in the past, they won’t make up for the failures of today. Our God can use failures of the past and turn them into victory today, but not the other way around!
Georgia used to live for God, but now it is bound in the chains of rituals, even though they have victories in the past. An old gentleman from Canada had some victories in the past but once he ran from God- his past victories didn’t do much.
I never use my missionary experience as my wild card for God, because I know it can’t make up for my today’s choices.
God is calling us from the back pews of the church to come to live a life in Him and live it abundantly! I am not satisfied with only my old victories (although they were tremendous at the time!), I want more of God than stale crumbs of yesterday memories. I want a taste of freshly baked victories today with God!
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession

in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance

of the knowledge of him.” ( 2 Cor.2:14)
Fragrance only smells good when it’s fresh. Let’s go and win it, guys! Let’s go today and taste today and see today that the LORD is good!

This is where I spend 4 year on a mission field before I came to the states.

2007-05-19T11:38:00.001-05:00

gas prices - part 2

2007-05-17T23:17:00.000-05:00

so, we've been praying for gas prices to go down. God moved it 10 cents down. Today our car was almost on empty. I looked at the prices- and they were the same..hmm..what's up with that LORD? Oh, I know He is at work for something greater, so i keep on praying.
After our staff meeting at the church we were giving a ride to our dear friend and as we drove by the gas station he says, "stop there...I want to bless you"..."what do you mean?"- we asked. He says ," I want to bless you with the full tank of gas and don't think about not recieving it, don't rob me off my harvest. Let me plant the seed". What can you tell to that? Really, it was MY exuse to bless people and I used the harvest and the seed one before. Now I have become the recipient.....humbling...
We let him plant the seed in our field and now we pray for a might harvest for him.
May be God didn't change our gas prices here YET, but He sure blessed us with a free tank of gas today.
Isn't He creative? He works in the ways we least expect. Watch out for God this weekend- He is up to surprise you.
((((((((((((((((PRAISE CLAP))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Gas prices

2007-05-16T10:09:00.000-05:00

I don't know how about where you live, but here our gas prices went mad! So we decided to pray against the gas prices with my Bible Study group, because Bible says that we can bring anything before the throne of God. We started praying on Monday and are not willing to stop until we see the results. By Tuesday gas went down 10 cents! We are continuing praying and believing God for a mirracle. At first it felt funny to pray about such a silly thing, but then I said, "how else will our faith grow if we don't pray about such things?" May the Lord increase our faith through that...really, if you think about: we are asking God to remove that financial problem from our way. Don't give up praying! God is faithful in everything, even in the silly things in our opinion. He wants to be part of EVERY aspect of our life. So, might as well, make Him a King of your gas tank :) Lord, the gas prices are under your authority now :)

Our Commissioning (May 12, 2007)

2007-05-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

Beloved, in the Name of Jesus

I commission you

To rejoice in the Lord always

And again I say rejoice.

Stop worrying about everything!

Dump your anxiety

And start praying like mad.

Start thinking about

What you're thinking about!

Start feeding your spirit

And stop feeding your flesh.

Never forget the true Secret:

Christ in you, the Hope of Glory!

You, Dear One, have the supernatural CAN DO!

Now, believe GodAnd turn your

CAN DO Into WILL DO!

You are NOT a wimp.

You are a warrior.

In the Name and power of Christ

Go out there and act like one.

Omaha- Beth Moore

2007-05-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

it was so AWESOME, you guys!

God spoke to me so loud, I could hardly bear it....this whole evening I have cried at least 5 times just responding to hear tender love for me.

Just less than 24 hours!

2007-05-10T19:50:00.000-05:00

In less than 24 hours, God willing, we will be in Omaha at the Beth Moore conference!
I pray that Spirit of God will touch us an the most amazing way and the lives of many will be transformed!
Keep us in prayer, also pray for Beth and her whole team- we will have BLAST!!!!

ok, here it is

2007-05-10T19:48:00.000-05:00

He put a new song in my mouth......

2007-05-09T09:38:00.000-05:00

Oh, last Monday at the Bible Study one sister shared a testimony that shook me! We have studied Ps. 40 that night.

Just read few verses with me Ps. 40:1-3

I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

Our very beloved sister spoke at the end. Enemy has been holding her in bondage FOR YEARS concerning certain issue in her life. She lived with the shekels most of life, and as the one who's been there, I would say that with the time we don't even notice they are there.

This child of God spoke such a truth that evening. She said that something had been broken a week before. She wept as she shared what a wonderful feeling it was to be free. This is something new for her and she was truly overwhelmed by that feeling that she could not describe it. I knew what she was talking about.....been in a pit myself and cried aloud for my God to rescue me and He faithfully did. Of course, no one will ever know the extent of her hurt and trouble, but in one way or another, we- the redeemed of Lord, know the feeling.

As she kept on speaking, she said few things that will stay with me for a long time :

#1) She said that now when she reads the Bible, she gets it! You should've seen her face when she said ," I GET IT! I GET IT! I GET IT!!!!"....AHHH..... Delight us, LORD! The blindfolds of the enemy had been lovingly removed from her eyes by the blood of Jesus and the Word, the Godbreathed Word of God become more alive than ever before! She felt the hot breath from God's lips as He spoke to her through His Own Word. I LOVE it!

#2) She said ,"I am half way out of the pit and I have no intentions to go back. I am getting out even if it costs me everything. I am done being a pit dweller".... GLORY TO GOD! Enemy somehow convinces us that for Christians life in a pit is as good as it gets and in reality, God says, "you have NO EARTHLY CLUE how much more I have prepared for you!"....I am thrilled to see this sister tasting new blessings and having her own time of the life with Jesus....

Liberated Christians - this is the passion of my life. I always tell people that we, as Christians, can still be "Freed yet in bondage" people. I see them everywhere- they are saved, but still bound by all kinds of things.....none of us is perfect, but we are striving for the best and the closer we get to the Son, the more ropes will be burned off our arms and ankles!

I celebrate the victory in my friend's and sister's life! Today, like never before!

May 9 is the HUGE VICTORY DAY in Russia. They celebrate their freedom from Hitler.

I celebrate with you, beloved friend, a freedom from the accuser of your soul!

I love you dearly....

You are an amazing woman with so many gifts and talents...don't ever give up on yourself....

As she shared her testimony with the smile and tears, God spoke to me ,"this, my child, is the visual example of what Ps. 40 calls a "new song".....As she finished, I almost shouted "YOU GOT A NEW SONG!!!!! YOU GOT A NEW SONG!!!" (I wonder if some ladies in a group thought I was a nut...oh well, they already know I am one :)).....

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

A new song is sang no longer in a pit, but let the whole world hear our song to God!!!!!!!

I want all the lost people hear our victory song, I want the redeemed hear our liberty song and I want the enemy hear our new song of praise unto OUR GOD!!!! Let the enemy hear that song and be sorry he ever messed with us!

Recent pics :)

2007-05-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

I will put more pics on. My mother in law has blessed us with a digital camera...so...you will see a lot more of me :)

what a timely gift, just right before Beth moore conference!!!

SPA time

2007-04-30T15:10:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to go for a SPA a while already. So, finally we have found a perfect place to go with the ladies from our Bible Study- it is a Christian SPA, with Christian music and lady (owner) even offered to do a little devotion for us- can it get any better? I am too excited to wait! I love that kind of stuff. It's time to beutify myself.
I like how this Spa offers "beautifying" inside and out......

Humore me- I have ordered a Christian Alternative to Yoga this week (should be coming by the end of the week)...I am thrilled! I love working out, but now I can do it with the Word of God- is God a God of wonders or what?!?!?! To work out and meditate on His Word!
Somebody needs to celebrate it with me!!!!!! :)

With all this in mind, I was studying for my Bible study tonight and God started speaking to me about Ps.36, 37 (I hope none of my ladies from the group reads it before tonight, otherwise they will have to sit there and be surprised all over again and pretend they've never heard it! )...

Ps.36:6-8

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.

Ps.37:4, 23

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart....

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm.

So, as I'm preparing, I obviously see the repeat of the word "delight"....if it is more than once, I believe God is trying hard to make a point. So, I get my faithful friend "Strong's Concordance" out just to find out that all 3 of these words "delight" are all different! WOW! That was enough to get me going!

Ps.36:8 = "delight"= in Hebrew "eden" (my first thought was of a Garden of Eden, but it doesn't indicate a direct connection) means "luxury, dainty, delight, finery,delight, to live voluptiously (how do you like that!?).

That sounds pretty delightful :)

Ps.36:8 ="river"= in Hebrew 'nachal" =stream, brook, river, flood (I'd expect that) BUT it comes from the root word which means to get as a possession, acquire, inherit, possess ,give as an inheritance .

Can you see it? God has given us an inheritance which we supposed to enjoy! And it supposed to flood our lives! We are to take joy in spiritually voluptious living! He has offered it to us!

Are we feasting in the abudance of His house and are we drinking in the rivers of His delinght? (Ps. 36:6-8) or have we limited ourself to a boring diet of "bless this food" prayers and "help me top have a good day"....He has so much to offer, we have no eartly clue!

...sigh...that was good to hear from God.....

Ps.37:4 = "delight" (yourself in the Lord) in Hebrew "anag"= to be soft, be delicate, be dainty , be pampered , to be happy about, take exquisite delight, make sport of.

Did you see PAMPERED? Who would've thought that God wants to pamper us with His love, mercy and just His presence?!?!

Well, the Scripture does say that those who are in His presence have radiant look, so I guess there ain't no better face lotion that Jesus Christ Himself! :)

But pampered?! Lord, you mean like a SPA pampered? Really? How awesome would that be! A Spiritual Spa- my God will do anything for me!

I like the last definition- to make sport of......What do you think if we make it a great competetive sport of spending time in God's presence and eating at His table. We would put all of our efforts, strength, time and resources just to be with Him!At least I know that the reward for that one is great! I think I am getting myself a new exercise routine :) Not just will I be pampered, but I'll also be toned up! Can someone shout Hallelujah with me?!?!?!??!

I will run to His presence, I will dance before His throne, I will stretch on the ground on my face at His feet- there is your whole body work out :)

Ps. 37:23- "delight" (The Lord delights in us) in Hebrew "chaphets" which means "to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with , to move, bend down .

As we delight ourselves in Him He bends down just to hear our praise and prayers closer; He moves to us just to read our lips and hearts as we speak to Him. That is my God! He delights to be delighted and He delights to delight......ahh...what a delightful God I serve!

Delight me Lord, with the wonders of Your love and may my whole life inside out be the greatest delight You've ever recieved!

Russian Worship

2007-04-24T16:24:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF5k1ZL8ZpI

This Russian Worship song is so great. I have translated the words for those of you who's having a hard time unders
You know...He has told me "I love you"
You know..He has extended His hand to me ;
You know..now never, never, never will I ever be alone.

He has given life just for me,
He has shed His blood just for me,
He did everything possible just to be with me
He has granted me life and peace.He is my Saviour!!!

You know....I couldn't even dream about the happiness that I've found in Him
My whole entire life has changed since the moment He found me and I followed Him

He has given life just for me
,He has shed His blood just for me,
He did everything possible just to be with me
He has granted me life and peace.
He is my Saviour!!!

You know...He loves you so much
His desire is to be with you forever
My friend, if you choose to walk with Him
You will surely find comfort, joy and peace
He has given life just for you,
He has shed His blood just for you,
He did everything possible just to be with you
He has granted you life and peace.
He is your Saviour!!!tanding russian :)

p.s. can anyone teach me how to post videos on here??? pleeeeease :)

Put God on mute....like that's possible!

2007-04-24T09:51:00.000-05:00

Last night at the Bible Study we have read Ps.29
As I was preparing for the study, this Psalm hit me a new...I sat in awe and amusement of what God showed me...
read it with me

Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is majestic.
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;

the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
The LORD gives strength to his people;

the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Notice how many things God can do just with His voice alone. Cedars are 120 feet tall trees and 30 feed wide! The oaks are called the kings of the forest and He can make them jump and He can twist them just at the sound of His voice alone! Doesn't even have to lift a finger! Mighty mighty God with a mighty mighty voice.

Here is what the LORD spoke to me about it: Lenna, look at all the things I do with the sound of my voice alone...yet people manage to mute Me in their hearts....I can melt the highest mountain, yet the hearts of men refuse to melt when I speak to them . I can break the strongest wall, yet humans refuse to break their hearts over their own disobidience.....I can twist the oak, yet people's heart remained unmoved when I speak to them......something is wrong with that picture"..... yet He chose to create us this way, so we can make a choice to listen to Him or not.

How often am I guilty of pushing mute on the remote control of my heart when God is speaking truth to me? How often have I ignored Him speaking when He used the mighty powerful voice?

O , Lord, the Word of God says that people have grown cold, hard , numb and deaf hearts - so true! Forgive me for not listening to You at times....I am hungry for fresh mercies this morning......

Speak to me, your servant is listening!

Cities of Refuge

2007-03-20T13:25:00.000-05:00

As we're finally saying goodbye to Joshua, I was thrilled to teach one last lesson. I think it was a perfect ending for such a book as this! Really.

At the end God spoke to Joshua (Joshua 20) and told him to build Cities of Refuge for a guilty person to hide after a crime. Well, that also meant unintentional sin.
The more I studied that portion of Scripture, the more it became clear to me that Christ is my City of Refuge! And He had upgraded the "illegal allien" policy since His death: now ANYONE who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved! (Rom.10). And now ANYONE- guilty or not , can find refuge there.

So, check it out: I am studying this chapter and I decided to look up the meaning of the names of those cities.
See for yourself:

KEDESH=to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate.

SHECHEM= neck as a place of burden; to incline shoulder; to load up a man or a beast with a burden.

HEBRON= to unite, join, bind together, be joined, be in league, have fellowship with, be compact.

BEZER= to gather, restrain, fence, fortify, make inaccessible, enclose.

RAMOTH= to be lifted up, to be raised.

GOLAN= to uncover, remove ,to reveal (as God reveals Himself)

Can you see a prefect picture of Christ as He offers Himself there? What is it that you need of Him today? HE CAN DO IT!

Jesus is your Kedesh-a place where you're pronounced pure again and whole again!

Jesus is you Shechem- a place where He offers His neck and shoulders for your burden.

Jesus is your Hebron- a place where you find perfect fellowship and sweet company.

Jesus is your Bezer- a place where He keeps you inaccesible from others to get you.

Jesus is your Ramoth- a place where you're lifted out of your pit and placed on solid ground.

Jesus is your Golan- a place where your shame, pain and hurt are uncovered and removed and God is revealed in a new glory!

Where do you run when you're in trouble? Who or what have you made your refuge city? If it is not Christ- it is a false security! RUN to GOD!

So, in Joshua 20 it says that the guilty person could stay in the city as long as the high priest lived. After his death, the guilty person has to go back and deal with the past.

Hebrews 7:24-25

but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

That means we can stay there all we want to!! Celebrate that with me, somebody!!!!!! Praise GOD!!!

Are we still having Easter this year???

2007-03-07T09:37:00.000-06:00

Can you tell that satan is working over time lately?
Some stuff that is shown on TV is just out of control.
First they found the Tomb of Jesus and tried to sucker us in. Gosh! Really, do they think we're THAT stupid?!?
And as if that wasn't enough, "jesus" himself appeared on TV last night. Puertorican (sp?) guy who lives in Florida now claimed to be Jesus of the Bible. This guy was smoking, drinking, had bad financial credit, problems with the law, DUI and divorce tried to convince the world of his "diety" or whatever. The funny thing is his reasons why he's doing what he's doing...Get this!!! He said that he died for all the sins the first time he came 2000 years ago, now no sin is in his body (he used Scripture and quoted Paul about "no sin should control me") and he said now we are all free to do what we want to do. There is no such thing as sin. How easy! He also said that there is no devil and no hell. The only punishment we'll ever get is natural punishment (like jail and stuff) here on earth. And!!! He and all of his followers (which by the way he has opened several churches in several countries already!) have tatooed "666" on their wrists!
C'MON now! Really! Do you really think that Christians are THAT low to buy it. My feelings were hurt because somebody totally underestimated my intellegnce THAT much!!!
What really grieved me was that he had so many followers and they all bring their kids to that "church" and kids call him "abba father" and praise him. They also convinced that all kinds of immorality is fine and one little boy said ,"because god does the same"......SAD! Very SAD!!!
They have not only limited me, they lowered my GOD so much. They have have no clue HOW BIG my GOD is!!!! Oh, how dissapointed one they will be.
A lady from that church said ,"there is only one god and no other. And he just left this building and got into his BMW"....LOL....
Well, I'd rather serve my God who is everywhere with me at all time, who is not giving an easy way out , but seeks the best way to transform my life! Who loves me unconditionally and prepared an eternity for me, because I'm on a short trip here on Earth.

2 Tim.3:1-7" But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. (don't even even try hard to get of form of godliness!)Have nothing to do with them.
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth...."

2 Tim. 4:3,4 " For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

BOOOORING

2007-03-03T12:22:00.000-06:00

Like I wrote earlier, we're studying Joshua with my group. I LOVE that book. The story of insecure young worshipper who achieved a lot simply because he BELIEVED GOD!

I have heard a story of a man who was given an opportunity to go in a bank and take whatever he wanted. He man came out with a penny. Whose fault was that he was poor? The same thing with us- God's bank account of blessings has our name on it and we can dithdrawl (sp?) anytime we want. Whose fault that we are poor spiritually?
Looks like Joshua was the man who learned early that FAITH is a PIN number for that account and he got blessed.

With our group we'll read several chapters at a time, and then we'll scan them through together and I share with them what stood out to me. Oneof my precious ladies said the other day ,"boy! I don't know what you're going to teach, but I'll tell you that some of those chapters were BOOOORING" ( she has the most amazing British accent, so picture that). I agreed with her wholeheartidly. Some of those chapters should be named "The worst baby names book ever" or "If you don't love your baby, name it something like that"....(LOL). Another lady looked at the chapter and said ,"I am NOT reading this portion outloud!" Ha-HA!
As I was preparing for that lesson and saw the list of the king's names, I asked God to give me something fresh on that. He did!
We read in chapters 11-19 all the achievments of Joshua and his army. Then you'll see the whole list of the Kings and their location- 33 altogether.

I looked and at list and God started speaking to me. He said, "look again....what do you think those kings represented to Joshua?"...."Obstacles?"-I said/asked God. He smiled, "yes....some are bigger than others. But all of those kings were fighting Joshua to have ultimate authority over him and make him captive to their will. Are you getting the point now?"...........AHHHH.....
I stared at the list again and I could almost picture the Scripture being re-written before my eyes....."and Lenna by faith had conquered the kings....the king of offense and hurt feelings that tried to stop her from fulfilling her purpose...the king of insecurity that tried to convince her she was no good in the Kingdom of God......king of fear that tried to stop her from moving to the new heights.....king of doubt that ried to paralize her with unbelief.....all these kings tried to establish their thrones in her heart, but by faith Lenna and her God have overcame them all, because she believed.".... wouldn't that be wonderful????

You can put your own enemy in the blank. The king of eating disorder, pornography, lust, fear, unbelief,bitterness, resentment etc. Put your own king that you have and are battling at the moment, the king that is trying to put his throne next to God's throne in your heart and gain control over you. And be sure, just like Joshua was, that GOD is in the middle of that battle with you and He is getting the hail out to kill your foes right before you eyes! JUST BELIEVE!!!!
And at the end of your life, there will be a chapter that records your personal victories through and by faith. Anticipate, beloved! The LORD SABAOTH( The LORD of the Heavenly Army) is with you!!!!

"Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us." (Rom. 8:37 AMP)

update

2007-03-03T12:08:00.000-06:00

Ok....I really haven't been here for a while....lots of things happened!

I got really sick and had a surgery last week. My very first one EVER. My husband got really worried, though he did an excellent job hiding it and being strong for me. He slept on the chair in the hospital next to me and prayed with me every time I got scared. The surgery went well and I was out of hospital the same day. I am feeling MUCH better though and I don't miss that gall bladder at all!

This whole expirience made me slow down and take a deep breath ( after the pain drugs kicked in, since you can't breathe when you're having a gall bladder attack :))) and be still. It is nice once in a while to do that. At first, when I started having minor attacks from my gall bladder, I was convinced that enemy was messing with me (andmay be he did!), but God showed up through all of that in a mighty way! Like one of my favorite devotions said one time, "Defeat may serve as well as victory: to shake the soul and let the glory out!".....Love it! If enemy tried to crush me and put me down, God just used that time to heal me, restore me and refresh me.
While in the hospital and then at home on the couch (I couldn't walk much or sit straight :) for a while) I have caught up on reading some books and picked few new. I read the Bible and just enjoyed my little break! How refreshing! I think God missed me........I missed Him too....
Through all of it- God showed Himself Faithful , Just and more than anything Loving and Caring! He is so good to me!
My Bible Study ladies were so great! Speaking of Bible Study- next Monday is our last visit of Joshua! We're about to say good bye to another great achiever of God and ready to expirience personal victories through Christ who leads us into triumph!

Oh YEAH! I got my BETH MOORE tickets this week too! YEAY!!!!!!! All the "Beth Moore groopies" please stand up and shout "Hallelujah" with me :)

Church with Room 203

2007-01-26T00:15:00.000-06:00

I just watched the "freedom Writers" (http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/freedomwriters.html).

Anyone who is in any type of ministry (especially the one that deals with kids and youth!) must watch.

I sat there fully aware of the brokeness that this world throws awaylike spoiled leftovers. Broken lives, broken hopes, broken dreams, broken hearts. The whole time I set there I kept on hearing the same thing, "God is attracted to brokeness and emptiness". If only those kids knew THE hope of the world.................................................................................................

Who will go and tell them?

If you watch the video from the link above, you will hear the dairy of the last guy. In the midst of all the trouble he knew that there is a refuge in the "English" class..the Room 2003 became their shelter. The Room 203 became a place of unity. The Room 203 became a place of reconciliation. The Room 203 became a place of restoration.......God is calling you and me to become Room 203 for someone who is closer to us than we know. I was challenged to become Room 203 to someone who the world had thrown away, to someone unwanted,to someone who is underloved.....I want to become Romm 203- a place of belonging..............a place they can call HOME............It is here in Room 203 I want them to find Father's embrace and hear Him whisper in their ear "Welcome home, child".................

You and I can be the Freedom Writers...........There is bigger freedom that they don't know about. Galatian 6:1 "It is for FREEDOM that Christ had set us free"......let's embrace the promise and let the rest of the world know!!!!

Revival begins within myself

2007-01-03T16:39:00.000-06:00

I am halfway through a new book called "Revival starts within myself"(the book is in Russian)- an old story of a missionary to Africa-Christian man since childhood who expirienced God in a deeper way and got transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and through an incredible encounter with Jesus. As I was reading this book, I caught myself comparing the church of the 1-st century with the 21-st century church. I pray we will not shame the Bride that was born in Jerusalem.

Father, speak to us, touch our hearts, may our lives blaze for You. Jesus prayed in Luke 12:49 ,"I have come to bring fire on earth, and how I wish it was already kindled!"-let the fire of the Holy Spirit do it, Father!

Amen and Amen!

Phil Laeger's song with video

2006-12-30T11:43:00.000-06:00

someone put his song with this video. The words ,"thank you for showing me the emptiness of all held unto" never were more vivid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0uxDQYYsC0

Going to the unfamiliar places

2006-12-26T16:40:00.000-06:00

I have absolutely no sense of direction! It takes me a while to walk the same path in order to know it well. Oh, I guess there goes my dream of being a tour guide :). And if that wasn't enough, I also hate surprises- they make me nervious, insecure and just annoy me, really. I can't enjoy them.Boy, am I in trouble or am I trouble!?!?!?! God loves both- unfamiliar places AND surprises!
With my Bible Study group here we're studying Joshua. Our last time we read Joshua 3. I challenge you to read it- lots of good stuff there. Having a phobia of unknown things- couple moments in that Scripture stood up to me more than before.

Joshua 3:2-4 "After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before..."
How can we follow GOD to the place we've never been before? That unknown place was their Promise Land- a place they've dreamed about for 400 years or so....and now it's so close!
As you read Joshua 3, you'll pick up few keys Joshua gave :
in vv. 9-17 you'll see them:

1. Come to God.

2. Listen to His Word. (I like the fact that he didn't say, "drag your Jordan to me and make it listen to Me"...but He began with us- YOU come and listen...let me consecrate you through and through...bathe in My Presence and My Words. And about the Jordan- that's My problem).

3. Consecrate yourself. (make it right with God...spend more time with Him, make sure your heart is in the right place).

4. Now believe God for great things , even those that seemed impossible! ( God promised to get rid of all their enemies- all the "ites" nations. Someone told me that "ites" means snakes. But I wonder if if they had to face more enemies than just "ites"; enemy like "fear " was something more real at the moment).

5. Get your feet wet. They didn't see the miracle until the very first toes actually got in the water.

So, what is your unknow land God is leading you to? What is your Jordan- the obstacle too impossible to get over? How wet are your feet? God is bigger than our phobia, He is way bigger than Jordan and all the "ites" together. Our Promise Land in our journey with Christ is waiting- will you cross the Jordan with me or will you stay on the shore and miss the blessing.

2007 is a place none of us has been before. Let's get busy and get ready for a trip!

A Christmas Wish/ Hint

2006-12-26T16:25:00.000-06:00

A College Student writes a letter home:

"Dear Father,
School i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying very hard. With all my $tuff, I $imply can't think of anything I need for Christma$, $o, if you would like, you can ju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.
Love, your $on."

After receiving his son's letter, the father immedeiately replied :

Dear Son,
I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmy and oceaNOgraphy are eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy. Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task and you can never study eNOugh.
Love,
Dad"

:):):):):):):):) I love you all friends...hope all of you got what you wished for Christmas.
My Christmas was great! I spend sometime home opening presents with my husband. I really think I'll be worse than our kids, because when it comes to Christmas I am a joke of the week- I get up early, make my coffee and bugg my husband to hurry up to start opening presents. He takes his stinking time, just because he enjoys watching a nerveracking Russian sitting by the tree in expectation. LOL
I was blessed this year, he always does more than I expect. My friends blessed me with their love, support and warmth- what more can I wish.
Thank you Jesus! It's Your Birthday, but I get all the presents- you truly love me, don't You? ;) :):):):):):):):):):)

You know You're Living in 2007 when....

2006-12-26T16:18:00.000-06:00

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with the real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone ## to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that you don't have their e-mails.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on TV has a website at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have just few years ago, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
9. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.
10. You start tilting your head sideways to smile :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! By the way! I still don't do #9- PRAISE GOD!!!!

Fath-stretching promise

2006-12-06T16:22:00.000-06:00

I have shared this story with the few of my friends. If you go to Montaclair Corps, you probably heard it from your officer :)

Anyways...about a month and a half ago our pastor challenged us to give a faith promise- extra money on top of the tithes and offerings, and that faith promise would go to our missioneries that we support.
Before the service began I have already decided in my heart how much "my faith can afford" :)...So, here comes time to pray and our pastor says this , "If it doesn't scare you, it's probably not a faith promise". I tried to dismiss that one, because I already decided how much "faith" I'll give today (not to be cheap or anything ) LOL...

So , I close my eyes and here is the conversation that took place between God and me:

Me: ok, LORD, how much do you want me to give? You do remember that I don't have that much this time, so please, have mercy on me.

GOD: $100.

Me: ????

God: $100

Me:$50 it is, Lord!

God: $100- trust me on that one.

Me: I can trust you for $50 too, it's a stretch for me, you know.

God: But does it scare you?

Me: well....define "scare"...$50 I can handle, that I am sure I can find in case of emergency.....so what do you think?

God: you know what I think...

Me: Let me pray about it first...

God: LOL (I can almost picture Him going through His holy hair and laughing).

Me:....is our pastor EVER going to stop praying....

God: so, child, would you believe Me for $100 extra each month?

Me: I guess...let's do it....

Finally, I have heard an "amen" coming from my pastor....Never before have I desired an "amen" as much!..I thought I was done, but the real test just begun!
My husband looks at me and asks me ," so how much did God tell you?"....I look down and whisper under my breath , "$50?".....
"NOOO"- Zach replys and continues ," God told me how much and He told me what He told you too...so how much?"....sigh...."does He tell you EVERYTHING?....$100, that's what He told me"....
Zach said ,"that's what we're going to pledge, honey"..... OK....
I came home and had a conversation with GOD, telling Him , "I know we both heard from You $100....and frankly it does scare me a lot, but this I know- You will not fail me....so, LORD, I am willing to go on that adventure with YOU, increase my faith, help my unbelief. You have created seas and trees, You can do anything, so why am I fussing over it, that's just silly....let's do it! Actually, YOU DO it and I'll just stand and watch the glory of the LORD"......I felt Him smile over me.....

Since that few things happened :
-within 2 days I got blessed with $145- just because. People were giving me money, because they felt to.
-I got blessed with the tickets to visit my best friend Carole
-my TV broke and the very next day a friend of mine had an extra one and she wanted to give it to us.
-I got a computer for free
-the tires on my car were still under warantee (sp?), so I got it done for free
-my electricity bill was unusually small
-I did pay my very first faith promise in full!!!!
-I started Christmas shopping and I actually have some money left!

.....Just think about it....some stupid $100 fuss was actually a key to unlock a bigger blessing.....

What is GOD asking you today? What do you have to loose? (other than an OK stuff exchanged for BETTER!)..

Let's believe GOD even when He makes no sense!

My husband has blogger!!!!

2006-11-28T09:52:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody!
My husband has opened his blogger. Check it out! He is pretty good.
http://worship-warrior.blogspot.com/

Back Home

2006-11-13T16:22:00.000-06:00

I am back from my WONDERFUL trip to Carole! It was the best time ever! I don't know if I have ever prayed that much with any other group of people in one than I prayed with Carole, Mhairi and Cindy! It was great! God taught me new things- how refreshing!
My trip there and back was good. My luggage however got lost on the way back, but it safely arrived by Friday morning. (not a biggie ).
My flight from NY was late for about 40 minutes, so I was praying on the way to Chicago to make on my next flight. I only had 20 miniutes to make it there! I prayed, I read my Bible and then I realized that I will be at least 45 minutes late for my next plane! Boy, did I panic. Then I heard God telling me , "Look out the window". I did. He continued , "I can hold all these clouds in one place, I can hold sun in it's spot. Do you believe me I can do a mirracle of getting you on the next plane?". Just before I was reading Joshua (that happened to be our next Bible Study book). So I told him , "I believe you, LORD". Then He gently spoke to my heart , "do what Joshua did". My face probably looked funny for other people, because I was starring at the window with confused look and lips tight. "Do like Joshua did"- I heard again. I knew where He was going and I didn't think I can do it. "Do like Joshua did"....OK....I looked outside the window, looked at the sun and said ,"Sun, stand still in Jesus name"....waiting for God to make a mirracle. He did. When I landed to Chicago it was 1 hour behind from NY, I totally forgot about the time difference! Well, actually , I think He made me to forget it for a minute just to see if I will have guts to thrill Him with my brave request. You see, I totally believe He gets tickled when we do such thing. I think He goes, "finally, someone asked me to do something BIG".
What about you? Do you believe GOD for BIG things? Do you dream BIG? Do you pray for BIG things to take place? Do so, friend, excite your BIG GOD with the real task, He LOVES it.
Thank you, LORD, for being bigger than we think. Thank you for doing bigger things that we could ever imagine. Thank you, for being a BIG GOD.

I am not home

2006-11-01T21:44:00.000-06:00

Hey there, friends,
I am in N.J with my friend Carole.
On the way here I prayed hard that God put me on the same plane with Beth Moore (silly, I know, but it was silly as well, when I asked for prayer to visit my friend Carole and He answered, huh?)..so far I haven't seen Beth Moore, however, I sat on the plane from Omaha to Chicago with the guy who looked just like Max Lucado...I thought to myslef , "hey, I'll take Lucado as well...my God can do more than I ever expect :)
anyways...I am having fun here..tired though, but very excited to meet new people :)

Bible vs Cell phone

2006-10-28T12:44:00.000-05:00

(this is not mine, but very thought provoking!)

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we used it to receive messages?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?
This is something to make you go...hmmm...where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cellphones, we don't ever have to worry about our bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

Shape Up or Ship Out

2006-10-25T09:39:00.000-05:00

Ok now...I know only women can write this and only women can get excited reading this :):):):) but this morning I could fit some of my old pants that I couldn't fit 1 month ago! YAY! (I fit in them whithout laydown on the bed trying to zip it up! important note:))

Anyways, I gotta make it spiritual somehow :)
So as I was working out this morning, I thought of that: If we are the Body of Christ, we all were meant to function well. The reason we don't function well sometimes could be that we are getting out of shape. The more we're getting out of shape, less we can do to be effective.
I had an interesting conversation the other day with someone. This person called my home and was telling me how worn out and discouraging this past month was and how there is no desire or energy left to do anything for Christ. I asked one simple question , "how is your prayer life, study and quiet time with God?"...the answer amazed me ,"well, it's lacking lately, BUT IT'S NORMAL, everyone goes through it".
It is not normal! And the moment we make it normal- we're in trouble. We're running the race TO WIN and "normal" things may not be our best friends to do it. This is the common lie of the enemy ,"it's normal, tomorrow will be different". I had friends in Russia who's being in denial for 3 years already telling me it's a "normal" thing that all go through. I am not saying we'll loose your salvation over it, but we WILL loose our daily victories and blessing.
So that inspired me to stay in my shape spiritually and be alert and praying so that when temptation comes I won't give in.
I encourage you the same!!!
We don't serve "normal" God, we serve extraordinary God Almigthy who wants to give victory!

excellent tool

2006-10-24T20:45:00.000-05:00

If you're like me love the deep study of the WORD and knowing the origional meaning of the phrases makes you excited (like me!)...then you might find this site VERY helpful for your studies.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/ there you can find Strong's concordance, commentaries, even songs for Scriptures- pretty impressive!

coming before the throne

2006-10-24T20:22:00.000-05:00

Hebrews 4:14-16

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. "

This Scripture was one of many that we looked at during our last Bible Study. I pray that few insights that I found by doing a word-study will bless you just as much as it blessed me!

The word "sympathize" in Greek i very similiar to Englsih- "sumpatheo":
sum=with someone, patheo=feel. Therefore, it means to feel with someone.

Christ is not just feeling sorry for us in our time of trouble, but He feels it WITH US, hurting just as bad as we do, EVEN when He knows it'll be alright. He feels our pain.
One of the Commentaries suggested this thought: the reason He can sympathize with our weaknesses is because He's not only been there, but He was STILL be able to say "NO". The intensity of the temptation knows not the one who gave in, but the one who remained sinless. That's powerful! So we can come to Him with anything on our heart and trust that He will understand every single thing without us trying to express with better words.

Now...are you ready for this??? "Let us approach then the throne of grace with confidence"......I hope you're sitting as you're reading it!

The word confidence in origional Greek is "parhesia" (Strong #3954) and it means:
1) freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech
a) openly, frankly, i.e without concealment
b) without ambiguity or circumlocution
c) without the use of figures and comparisons
2) free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance
3) the deportment by which one becomes conspicuous or secures publicity

THAT'S A WORD FOR SOMEONE TODAY!!!!

Who would have thought of freedom of speech before the throne of God? MY GOD!

Do you think Jesus was an American? :):):):):):):):):):):)

Turnning things upside down

2006-10-18T10:04:00.000-05:00

John 2:14-16

"In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"

I wonder what would Jesus do if He walked in our churches today? What would He overturn and be deeply offended by? Would He overturn the tables in our church Headquorters, church offices, Bible Studies (ouch!), church dinners??? What would He have to overturn in my life, my marriage, my heart???? It's gotta be something that has appearance of "serving Him"or "being in His presence" but in reality it's nothing but a fog. Scary thought, really. I remember hearing someone tell me (when I was serving overseas) , "Well, I work in the church office, that's for God, I don't need to do anything extra on Sunday".....I wonder if Jesus would overturn all of our activities upside down saying ,"Get these out of here! How dare you turn our relationship into a performance, show and paper work".......that's a reality check for me.

Recently I felt that God is preparing me for a turn in my ministry that would most likely bring some painful changes. I told God that that would be the last thing I want to see, BUT if turning some tables upside down would bring us closer to Him and open our eyes in the areas where we were blind- by all means LORD, do it, just cover us with Your grace. Our heart and our desire is to have our heart beat with the same beat as God's. So, let's ask God to shove the obstacles out of our way in whatever areas of our life or our church.

Father, forgive us for bringing "tables" where we should bring our hearts and remind us of Your holiness, give us the fear of the LORD ; bring us closer to You Father!

In a mighty, saving, freedom giving name of Jesus,

AMEN!

Who Am I

2006-10-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

2 Sam. 7:18 "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" was in my heart last night.
I've been praying for a miracle for a while now. You see, I've been wanting to go visit my friend in NJ , but it just couldn't happen according to my check book. Last night at the Bible Study I told my ladies, "I really want to go the very first week of November, and it's only 2 weeks away and I haven't seen my check book expand in any way. But this I know: It took God only 3 days to raise Jesus from the dead, so I guess my 2 weeks is plenty of time for Him to show up in a mighty way"...All of them "amened" me.
Little did I know that the answer for my prayer was 3 minutes away!
After our prayer time my girls said they wanted to show their appriciation to me and handed me an envelope with a card- HOW SWEET. Inside the card was my ticket to go NJ (round trip) to visit my dear friend and get this- the first week of November!!! SWEEEEEET!
Isn't God good?!?!?!? The ticket was an awesome answer to prayer, but their warmth and love and care broke my heart into pieces.I told my friend after we left , "I know I didn't cry there because I'm still in shock, but I know I'll be sobing tonight". As I laid in bed last night, King David's prayer from 2 Sam. 7:18 never felt more real!
Thanks you Jesus for a wonderful family you gave me here. Thanks, girls! You have blessed me! (better stop now, before mascara runeth over :). The 11-th commandment : Thou shalt not cry with mascara on. :)

Lesson on Holiness

2006-10-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

Have you seen a recent report on CNN about the "Ice Man". The guy who was in a mob for years and his family had no clue. He was one of the most severe murderers who not just killed people, but did a lot of ugly things with them and truly enjoyed it?..That was sickening. The thing that stuck with me about him was that he was a regular "church goer" AND he had a ministry, he was an usher in his church. Nobody had any idea. That is so sad, he heard the living WORD of GOD weekly at least and kept on living his life in a habitual sin- SCARY.
I thought of him when I prepared for my lesson for tonight's Bible Study. A hard lesson on holiness is described in Lev.10
"Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: " 'Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.' " Aaron remained silent.
Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary." So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.
Then the LORD said to Aaron,"You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses."

WOW! The "Ice Man" is lucky he wasn't living back then, or he could have burned alive in his suite right then and there. Thank God for the grace of Calvary, we don't die in church when we approach God in "unauthorized "way. The one and only way to approach God, to worship Him and pray is through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. It seems we loose respect for holiness sometimes, we think we can "play" church and believe we can get away with it. May be today we won't die physically in the church, but we sure will expirience death of our connection with God. That was a sobering reminder for me today of His Holiness. "Be holy, for I AM HOLY" He said, and there was a reason for that.
Another thing that caught my eye in this portion of Scripture is "You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean". Notice, that common may not always be bad for you, but it will be useless. We don't serve the GOD of common, we serve Holy GOD, so why not choose holy instead of common? Distinguish- that involves discerment, prayer and knowing the heart of your God.
Let us be challenged today to distinguish between holy and common and CHOOSE HOLINESS (through Christ) AS A LIFESTYLE.

Lord,as we approach You, show Yourself Holy and remind us to respect that.

Praise Report

2006-10-09T13:33:00.000-05:00

God is so good!
Our church was in need of a new sound system. The worship team has been praying about that for a long time. So, our pastor made a call to the congregation challenging them to give GOD extravagantly. We needed $6000. I am happy to report you that the LORD answered our prayers beyond our wildest dreams (just like my GOD :)), we've got the offering for $10.000 that Sunday!
You should hear all of the testimonies Sunday after that one when people stood up and shared how GOD rewarded their faithfulness!
Once again I am reminded and Malac.3 "Test me by giving and you will see showers of blessings"

Word for me this morning

2006-09-27T16:44:00.000-05:00

I am alive and well! I know I haven't been here for while- life is too buzy lately. God is being buzy too trying to keep me in line :)
Anyways...So many great things happened, I can't describe His Faithfulness with the words.

This morning He spoke to me a fresh Word and I claimed it and received it. Let me share it with you:

"My children, be silent before Me that I may speak to you. I will lift up My voice as the sound of the trumpet- I will speak clearly to you, for the hour is at hand.
Be obidient, and raise your standards of discipline and dedication to a higher level. For My face is set towards My imminent return to earth. I wait only the release from the Father's hand. I long to come and be united with My chosen ones ; but the Father holds the times in His power.
And I say to you, though I am ready and longing to come to you, yes, I would have rejoiced to have come much sooner, I say to you, you are not yet ready. I have wooed you and warned you. I have spurned My entreaties, and you fought against the restraints of the Spirit.
Break through the religious curtain, and behold Me in My glory! Keep your vision filled with ME. Keep your life in tune and your worship in mutual harmony. For I will come singing over you, and what will you be if you are in discord?"
("Come away my beloved" , p.251)

Share with me your thoughts, what really stood up to you in this word?

As for me, these two things peirced my heart:
#1)be obidient and raise your standards of discipline and dedication

#2)Break through religious curtain, and behold Me in My glory. (more and more I find proof that religion and Christianity are 2 different things. Religion is nothing more but the letter that bounds me, Christianity is of the Spirit and sets me free).

Now it's your turn...share with me...I want to know your thoughts :)

new and BETTER things...

2006-09-06T10:02:00.000-05:00

How refreshing is that!
You know how they teach that the book of Philppians is the book of "joy" since the word "joy "or "rejoice" is mentioned there more than 10 times. Well, after my little study I come to conclusion that the book of Hebrews is the book of "Better things"! Just look at the amount of BETTER things we get through Christ Jesus mentioned in Hebrews. I pray it will be your word for today and your anchor that reminds you that you are in possesion of BETTER things- that's is God's promise to you.

Hebr. 6:9 "Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation."

Hebr. 7:19 "(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God."

Hebr.7:22 "Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant."

Hebr.8:6 "But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises."

Hebr.9:23 "It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."

Hebr.10:34 "You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions."

Hebr.11:16 "Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Hebr. 11:35 "Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection."

Hebr. 11:40 "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

Hebr.12:24"to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."

LOOK AT THAT! These are some awesome promises that God gave us! Let us stand on them firmly and believe Him. God can do what He said He can do and He IS who He said He is.

Glorious Garments

2006-08-29T11:04:00.000-05:00

One again God's tenderness touched my heart today. I was reading Exod.28 and vv.2 and 40 showed me a new aspects of God's care for me.

V.2 "Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor".
v.40 "Make tunics, sashes and caps for Aaron's sons to give them dignity and honor. "

God's covering for us has a unique purpose! God is in the restoration business. He wants to restore what the enemy has stolen from us. Our dignity and honor is what satan is after; enemy wants us to feel naked, violated, robbed, shamefull, unworthy. By stealing our dignity and honor enemy robbs us off many blessing, because when we're ashamed and feel unworthy we don't believe we deserve anything from God. ( although, His blessing and mercy has nothing to do with that)...
So God had a plan and He revealed it as a foreshadow in the Old Testament,"make them garments to give them dignity and honor" (back, as I would add).
God is our best Fashion Designer! Check this out!
Genesis 3:21 "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."
Isa.52:1 "Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength.Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. "
Isa 61:10 "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
Ezek.16:10 "I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments."
Zech.3:4 "The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
Ps.132:9 "May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy."
Rom. 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Gal.3:27 "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
Rev.16:15 ""Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."

There is a brand new wardrobe available for us, but sometime we wake up in the morning and habbitually put on the old rags and filthy clothes that enemy made us wear for years and we think that is "as good as it gets" and God is telling us over and over Genesis through Revelation that He has prepared a new garments for us to give us back our stolen dignity and honor- the garments of praise instead of despair, forgiveness instead of shame, future instead of old past. Open your closet and see what is yours. It's time for us to be fully dressed and take back what the enemy had stolen.

A Gift Giving GOD

2006-08-26T15:32:00.000-05:00

We're still studying the Tabernacle with my home girls here. So I am all in that study.I ask God to show me new things and surprise me every time. I delight in the fresh new manna every day and refuse to be sustained by the old revelations only. So, here it is- He is Faithful as always, showed me something I never saw before!

Numbers 18: 5-7. " So the LORD said to Aaron", "You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death."

Check this out!!! How thoughtful of God to put it this way and plan it ahead just for such a time as this! God had carefully planned the purpose for Aaron and all the priests and He handpicked all the helpers for him and presented them AS A GIFT! AWWW....To know that I am GOD's gift to my pastor- what a delight! To know that GOD spend time picking the right Russian girl for such a time as this , for such a place as this just to be a gift to someone. Not just a poor favor out of compassion like crumbs of the leftover dinner for the beggar, but A GIFT- carefully and thoughtfully picked.
And look at the way GOD presented ministry- HIS GIFT to Aaron. I wonder if it's a sobering thought for someone today to be reminded that what you do for the LORD is not just your job or work or burden, but it is a GIFT from GOD that helps you to be more and more shaped into the person you were meant to be!
Actually all of us are like Levites and I want to encourage you and tell you- you are GOD's gift to that person, whether he treats you as such or not. They will answer to GOD how they maintained their gifts. But GOD sees you as a gift to your pastor or anyone in authority over you, so treat yourself a such- bless your leader with your attitude, prayer, help, ministry- you are a GIFT.
And all of us are like Aaron as well- we have a ministry that the LORD intrusted to us, no matter what is it that you do in the church: preach from the pulpit, teach Sunday School,clean the bathroom or water the plants.....whatever you do is the gift that GOD carefully picked that fits only you, so never give up! And as I love to say, "When GOD gives vision, He gives proVISION",so if God blessed you with the gift of ministry, He will be faithful to bless you with the gift of helping hands. Let your "Levites" know how much you appriciate them :)
GOD IS SO CREATIVE!

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

thought of the day

2006-08-26T11:31:00.000-05:00

FEAR IS THE DARK ROOM WHERE THE NEGATIVES ARE DEVELOPED.

Fresh look at Psalm 23

2006-08-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

God just blessed me again with the fresh breath of His WORD that came straight from His mouth. I have read Ps.23 many times, yet it never occured to me that God is not only portraited as a Shepherd there, you can see a whole lot more of God than just a Shepherd. It really blessed me.

The LORD is my shepherd, (Jehovah Ro’i: “The Lord my Shepherd.”)

I shall not be in want. (Jehovah Jireh - "The LORD Provider")

He makes me lie down in green pastures, (Rest Giver- Matt. 11:28)

he leads me beside quiet waters, (Jehovah Shalom: “The Lord is Peace.”)
he restores my soul. (Repairer and Restorer- Isa.58:12)

He guides me in paths of righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu- the Lord is our righteousness)

for his name's sake. (El-Elyon -- The Lord Most High, His name is above all names)
Even though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; (Jehovah Shammah: “The Lord is there.”)

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me. (His is our Comforter)
You prepare a table before me (Provider)

in the presence of my enemies. (Jehovah Nissi: “The Lord is my Banner", my victory;Jehovah-Sabaoth -- The Lord of Hosts, the Warrior )

You anoint my head with oil; (Jehovah Maccaddeshcem: “The Lord your Sanctifier.”)

my cup overflows. (El Shaddai- all sufficient One, more than enough)
Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I don't need hundreds of other gods to help me with hundreds of my need- I just need the ONE and ONLY who can do it all by Himself!

He is so good!

praise report update!!!!!

2006-08-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

Some of you have read my blog "Thankfull for my freedom" posted in June (about young woman whose husband got sentenced in jail for 8 months, which was good, because he was facing up to 10 years!)..Well, God didn't stop there amazing us. Mike got permission to come to church on Sundays and Men's breakfast once a month as well! So he not only got to keep his job, he still could see his brothers and sisters in Christ on the regular basis! Which, let me tell you, shook the whole jail- they have never heard of such a thing, such a favor in their life time!
BUT THERE IS MORE!!!!
Last night at midnight my phone rang and his wife (my friend) was on the phone. My heart jumped, because that's what our hearts do when we get a late night call :) So I talk to her and we were talking and she said, "I have a huge praise report" and I asked what was it..and she said that Mike just got approved for the house arrest!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! When we thought that approval to come to church every week was the limit, God just pulled His sleeves up and said, "You have seen nothing yet, child! Watch your Daddy at work!" :):):) So this family will have their husband and father home this coming Tuesday instead of end of January :)
God will never cease to amaze me!

Nursing Home Expirience

2006-08-24T19:40:00.000-05:00

Today we went to 2 Nursing Homes to have a church service for those who can't leave the building today... To be honest, that was my first time. I diligently thought through my devotion, picked couple hymns and there we went. I arrived a bit early, so I had time to pray more and plead the blood of Jesus on the places. The first place - "Mahoney House" wasn't that bad. I saw older people slowly walking into the dinning hall where the piano was and there they sat- so quiet and gentle. I have to tell you- there is something about the old voice that is so fragile and weak during singing hymns. I saw few sparks in the eyes as we started the songs they knew by heart. The last song we sang was "Blessed Assurance"..this is my story, this is my song........
.............I am sure all of them there had plenty of stories to tell; things that those people been through are untold. I sat and I studied their wrinkled faces and wondered what stories their hearts carry....
When we were done singing the last hymn, I told them that I love stories (that's why I blog!..they wouldn't know what blog is anyway...they care less that "blog "is in the Oxford dictionary by the way)...I asked them if they knew that God too loves stories! And He is currently in the process of writing one right now that involves Him and you, Him and me.....the story of the 2 hearts. I told them that God started writing their story long before they were born and He has been diligently working on this project ever since. Every page is showing His love and His faithfulness; every page of that story shows His great concern for us. But there is one thing that God can'tdo about that story- is to determine the end of it. Her has the ideal happy end in mind, but it is up to us to decide weatherwe want it that way or not. I told them that God is up to writing the best love story EVER. Romeo and Juliet is nothing compare to that one. You see, Romeo had Juliet's heart. Tristan has Isolda's heart, Mr.Darcy had Ms.Lizzie's heart ("Pride and Prejudice")...and Jesus wants to have our hearts- all of it, 100% of it so that we can make the most romantic love story EVER written. God is writing to us every day and tells us how crazy He is about us.
At this point I looked at the lady in the walker and I asked her quietly, "Did you know that God is absolutely crazily in love with YOU?"...she looked like a shy teenager, she smiled, looked down and looked back at me being shy of the fact that she liked what I said...so cute!
God IS in love with His people. We are the only one in the whole creation that make HIs heart go faster and slower at the same time, we are the desire of His heart and He misses us when we get too preoccupied with our daily activities.
..All of a sudden I thought of the song " And he walks with with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own"...that's all I knew about it and our pianist played it ....I told people -" THIS IS the love story He wants to have with us!!!!This song is telling it all!!"

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me

And He talks with me

And He tells me I am His own

And the joy we share as we tarry there

None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing

I'd stay in the garden with Him'

Tho the night around me be falling

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling

Does He talk with you? Does He walk with you? Do you hear how He gently whispers to you"OH, BELOVED! You ARE MINE and NOBODY IN THIS WHOLE WIDE WORLD CAN HAVE YOU. COME AWAY WITH ME, BELOVED..RECEIVE MY LOVE..YOU ARE MINE AND I AM YOURS...YOU HAVE MY HEART AND I HAVE YOURS..MINE, MINE..YOU ARE MINE"....

Do you believe this? Do you live your life as you believe this?

The greatest love story of all times- Jesus and His beloved- you! He is crazy about you! Make haste, beloved. He is waiting to fill your cup till it overflows, He set the table for you - feast with Him.

p.s. the most amazing thing about today was probably one particular lady who was paralized almost completely, she stared at one direction, when I came closer to talk to her she didn't show any emotion, but when we sang the hymn, I saw her lips slightly moving and I saw her singing- silently, but I bet in her heart she had full orchestra. She walked with Jesus even inspite her paralized body and she talked with Him inspite her lack of ability and she heard Him saying to her "You are my own" and there she sat in the wheelchair totally satisfied with her Saviour.

http://synergy_2.tripod.com/lyrics/garden.html

HELOOO???????????

2006-08-17T19:09:00.000-05:00

Does anyone blogs anymore??!?!?!

talk to me..I'm lonely :(

it's really OK to have a smart mouth :) read the Scripture

2006-08-15T16:41:00.000-05:00

God has been on my case lately :)

I know where He was leading , but for a while I just took my time to obey and it effected my personal daily victory . I LOVE the Scripture, I am crazy about God's Word, and I memorized it once in a while, but most I just meditated on it and studied it. So God told me to start memorizing one Scripture a day. I obeyed this time. I went to Wal-Mart, got the index cards and every day now I'm asking Him to show me the Scripture He wants me to know by heart and He is so faithful to do that every single day. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be :) I am learning to love the WORD of God in a new, fresh, exciting way.
So this morning I wrote down Mark 14:38 (I am not cheating as I am writing it down :)) here we go ,"Watch and pray so you won't fall into teptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." yay! I am getting there....well, that was free, I haven't even began making my point :)
This morning in my time with God I read Isa. 50:4,5 " The Sovereign LORD has given me am instructed tongue, to KNOW THE WORD that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning , wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears and I have not rebelled, I have not drawn back". I felt fresh breath of God over this Scripture I've read before. I know all of us would like to have an instructed tongue, the smart mouth of sorts :):):)the key to get is to KNOW THE WORD. The key to know the Word is to allow GOD to wake you up in the morning and be teachable (Ps. 5:3 , "In the morning , O LORd, you hear my voice and in the morning I lay my requests before YOU and wait in expectation" ). I am absolutely grateful for His considirate care in this Scripture. Look, it says, "He wakens me and opens my ear" ...you can say that prophet Isaiah wasn't a morning person like many of us! Amen! So the LORD not only awaken him, He had to open his ears as well. If I were to write this Scripture, I would write, "The Sovereign LORD awakens me morning by morning with the coffee smell of His presence, He opens not only my ears, but my eyes and turns my brain on so I can learn from Him" (NLV- new Lenna's Version )....
God doesn't mind us to have a smart mouth, only if our mouth is full of HIS WORD. So, use your smart mouth with the enemy and do not give him rest. Make the enemy scared when you wake up every morning and make him say, "oh boy, he/she is up and together with GOD they mean busyness".

Sowing and Reaping

2006-08-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

ok now...I haven't written for a while, my life got so busy....
I like to tell my friends that I need to escape captivity of activity, but so far it's only words on my part. :)
In all seriousness, God has been dealing with me about that. It broke my heart that the King of Kings and the the LORD of the Universe is missing His little girl and just wants to spend time with me...Isn't HE tender and good?
I challenged my ladies at the Bible Study a week ago to press in the WORD and prayer and worship. We decided to do 15/15/15 (minutes that is) (prayer, praise, press in the WORD) and some of us who already had that habbit, I challenged them to increase the time. C'mon now, give God a raise of what you're used to give HIM :)
Let me tell you about the amazing things the LORD started showing my home girls. I am probably the youngest among them all (what a privelge to be called their teacher , thank you darlings :))...anyways..the things that GOD spoke to them! When they shared I KNEW they heard HIM speaking to their hearts. Some of the callings got confirmed, some got delivered from fear, some recieved fresh promises to stand on! oh, GOD is so good.
So last night at the Bible study we were talking about sowing the seed of the WORD into our lives. We had an amazing time, they all were sharing and we all were learning! But the thing that spoke to me the most is that, "We can do all the Bible studies there are available, we can have a heavy-duty emotion over the Word of God, yet remain unchaged for years. Why? Because the seed of the Word that God gave us to plant we ended up eating, instead of sowing it into our lives"....sobering thought isn't it?
I challenged my girls to think back about the Word they recieved a week ago and asked them, "So what are you doing with the seed? Don't eat it, to feel full for a little while, SOW it to reap the HARVEST".
I shared with them a story about my friend from Chicago, whose grandma got very sick and they didn't have money for a doctor. Zach and I heard God leading us to bless them with $100, but my friend refused to take it! I almost had to fight her down! (have you ever seen 2 Russians fight? LOL)...but later I told her, "Do you realize what you're doing to me by not taking the money? Do you really believe you're blessing me by "saving it"in my pocket?" ...she looked at me confused..then I said, "by not recieving the seed from me now, you're actually robing me off my harvest. If you really want to bless me, please, take me seed of $100 and allow me to plant it , so that later I may recieve the harvest"...needless to say, she took it, her grandma is fine and I am blessed .
Genesis 8:22 says , " As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease".
Anything we do today is the seed and we're sowing it. I can relate to it more than ever, because God has placed me in Nebraska for this season of my life and farming is popular here. I see fields here, I see farmers working, I see crops growing and I see harvest getting ready.
We can't plant pumpkins and expect cucumbers. The same way we can't plant sin or anything of the flesh and expect the harvest of the Spirit.
If I were to go out with you to Starbucks today and ask you a question , "what have you sown recently?"...what would your answer be? Would you be embarassed? Would you be full of hope and excited? Or would you not even have a qanswer....When we sow into the wind, we might reap a hurricane...when we sow into the Spirit, we reap the harvest of the Spirit.
It's never too late to start sowing the things of the Spirit in your life. Unlike farmers, we don't need to wait till spring to sow the good seed, we can start NOW. Get the seed of the Word into your hands and start sowing it. How? James 1:21,22 gives the perfect answer, "humbly accept the WORD planted in you, which can save you.Do not merely listen to the WORD and so deceive yourself. DO WHAT IT SAYS"....let's start excepting the WORD, using theWORD, believing the WORD, living the WORD out. Get your farmer's gear on, we've got some sowing to do, because with the harvest comes the GLORY.

Little by Little

2006-07-25T16:22:00.000-05:00

Exodus 23:25-30

"Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
"I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. "..

Little by little I will take care of your enemies. I wonder if you too cry out to God and say , "take it ALL away from me! I am done!" and God might answer to us, " I can get rid of it all at once, but what would happen to you at the end? Would you still be a changed person, would you still be more than conquerer?"...Little by little is His plan sometimes. I don't doubt for a second He is able to wipe off all my troubles all at once. But I am convinced, that for God, the process is just as important as the end results. He told Israel, "even if people would no longer be a threat to you, wild animals will get you". If God took care of all the troubles for you today, there would be "wild animals" too numerous for you. "What animals ?"- you ask. I am glad you asked. Our wild animals are our emotions, our hurt feelings, our broken hearts, our open wounds, our minds......God wants us to gain strength and power LITTLE BY LITTLE so we can posses the Promised Land- in our ministry, our marriage, our relationships, our family...little by little.....

Now put v.25 and v.30 together , "As you worship Me...I will drive your enemy out before you"....Worship is all YOU need to do. You want to see more of God? Worship Him more! You want to receive fresh revelation? Worship Him in a fresh way!

The Simple Guy

2006-07-25T15:31:00.000-05:00

Ok...This is funny now. I taught my Bible Study last night. The funny part about it, is that I wrote the whole lesson about this person whose name I could not pronounce for the life of mine. Only at the end of the lesson I finally said it right and considered it such a great victory.
His name is Bezalel. Have you heard of him before?
We meet him in Exodus 31: 1-5 "Then the LORD said to Moses,"See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.." (for the Tabernacle that is).
He really caught my attention. If it was my choice, I would choose Miriam , Moses' sister to do that kind of stuff, because #1 she's a woman and therefore, detail-oriented (no offense to some detail-oriented guys out there :)) and #2 - I thought that women back then were doing crafty things.
Another thing that amazed me is that God filled Bezalel with His Spirit. In those times there were only handful of people who had that chance , moreover, God's Spirit came upon people and also left them ( David prayed in Ps.51 - "do not take away Your Spirit from me"). And most of the people who were Spirit-filled were priests, prophets, kings or leaders. All of a sudden, we see this name Bezalel (the simple guy) who expirienced the touch of the Spirit.
I wonder how Moses reacted to the news when God announced it to him. I wonder if Moses asked, "Bezalel WHO? You did WHAT? "... and how would Bezalel react, "Who, ME? You did WHAT? You called ME to do something for YOUR purposes? I can't even draw a stick man!"....
Yet God, in His infinite wisdom,chose Bezalel- a man with potential. Because your potential is not based on what you did before, but what you will be able to do tomorrow.
Most of us can relate to Bezalel more than to Moses . We feel invisible and unworthy, we feel that "Moses" in our church needs to do all of it, because Moses has been on the mountain with God. So what? Our God is God mountains, but He is a God of the valley as well. Imagine Bezalel and God during one of the sleepless nights. Bezalel takes imaginery pencil and draws the scatches of the Tabernacle on his heart, "Did I get it this time, Adonai? Show me again". And the Lord touches his heart and draws His pattern of the new Dwelling Place- GLORY! The closer Bezalel grew to God's heart, the more details he saw and could resemble.
Who would've guessed that the simple guy with a hard to pronounce name was chosen to build the Dwelling Place on Earth for the God of the Universe?
God still does the same today! He picks the least likely (I am the living proof of it) and trusts our assignments. When God gives vision, He will give provision as well. Bezalel knew nothing about new skills he needed- God was his teacher.
I can say a lot more about Bezalel , but there is another moment I want to touch. Writing this lesson, I learned to respect Moses even more. He never underestimated Bezalel. Moses could have said, "no, YOU don't get it! I was the one on the mountain, I got proper education and expirience, who do you think you are?". No, Moses saw Bezalel though God's eyes- he saw potential! God sees potential in you and He will bless you with Moses who will confirm it. Paul saw potential in Timothy and confirmed it, Elizabeth saw potnial in Mary and confirmed it, a friend of mine saw potential in me when I was just 19 and confirmed it and trusted me ministry. God sees your potential. I challenge you to become a vessel willing to receive from God, like Bezalel was- just like a blank canvas, draw Your picture, Lord, I am ready to receive.

Scripture for you

2006-07-25T14:55:00.000-05:00

"The LORD GOD is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hind's feet and will make me to walk (not to stand still in terror, but to walk) and make (spiritual) progress upon my high places (of trouble, suffering, or responsibility)! (Hab. 3:19 AMP).

I don't normally do Amplified, but this Scripture really blessed me. It made me think of the hymn "As the deer" and I thought, "how interesting, that very often we ARE acting like the deers (on the high way), we get paralized with fear and miss out on the huge blessing. When God gave us an ability to be like deers, He most likely meant to be as fast and be able to go high places BUT enemy , who always counterfits God ( as we all know) , somehow convinced us that when we give in to our fears and doubts and freeze, paralized with it (like deer and a headlight) that we are "deer enough". Look at this Scripture again, " He makes my feet like hind's feet to walk (not stand still in terror, but to walk) and make (spiritual) progress". I am tired of the enemy's lies and allowing him to rob me off my blessings! If I have to be compared to the animal with hooves, I want to make the best of it :)
So, dear one (or should I write "deer"one) God has given you a wonderful ability to be fast and capable of reaching the new heights! Let's run together! After all, as the Scripture promises, our God is our invincible army, so you and I are not alone. I pray that the sound of our "hooves" will scare the enemy and will paralize him with fear, let him taste some of his own medicine.
Our God is awesome!!! Be encouraged!

GOD still heals!

2006-07-18T15:30:00.000-05:00

Hab. 3:2
"LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."

God IS renewing them in our day and time and making it known! There are several people that got healed in our church and I wouldn't believed them have I not witnessed it with my own eyes.
One of my friend's husband got healed during our prayer meetings- he tore a ligiment and came to church on crutches and as people were praying for him, he said that it felt like a warm oil flowing through his legs. In the middle if the prayer, he started bouncing and by the end of it- he was jumping! God totally healed him!Praise Jesus!
Another man in our church broke his arm during one of our outrich events (boy, did we feel guilty for asking him to participate:)), so he ended up with a cast on his arm. A month later, the x-ray showed that his bones did not grow right and there was a space between bones, so the doctor said that they might have to break his bones again and place them right. So, 1 day before his appointment he was in church and asked for prayer. As he described later, he felt a great pain in his arm during the prayer and it really alarmed him. Next day doctor took another x-ray and he could not believe his eyes- not only that bones were positioned perfectly and healed, the metal plate that they inserted earlier had calcium on it. Doctor said that medically it was impossible.
And last Sunday we had a great testimony at church. We have a new couple that started coming to our church, they gave their lives to Christ and trying to make it right . The guy used to be an alcoholic and in fact, his verdict was "incurable", but with God all things are possible. That young man stood and testified about God's "stubborn love"-as he called it. He has not had a drink in a long time, but that's not his main testimony. As a result of old alcoholism habbits, he had Hippotitus B (which is incurable, as I was told) and his liver was damaged, so he's on a waiting list for a new organ. Last week he had his blood test done and the test showed that THERE IS NO TRACE of Hippotitus B in his body what so ever!!!!
And I know all these things are possible only because of our God- Jehovah-Rapha, the Only One who heals us. If somebody told me these stories, I would suggest them not to watch those"healing services" on TV as much (because some of them preachers gave a bad reputation to God. "give me $50 dollars and you'll be healed"- kinda junk)...But these stories ARE real, I know all of these people and God is still in the healing business and I want to see more of God's glory in my family, in my life, in my church. I am not chasing after His works, but after Himself! I want to be a God chaser. My heart cries out with Habakkuk "LORD, I have heard of your fame;I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." AMEN!!!!
Beloved, God is looking for a reson to show up in your life and bless you- let Him!

P.S. I'll leave you with this thought expressed by Beth Moore in her study "Believing God"- "We believe little, because we've seen little. And we've seen little, because we believe llittle"

homesick...

2006-07-15T14:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't been homesick for like EVER. But this song really made me homesick. Hey Carole, does it make you homesick for Russia too? and all of you who understands russian....if you don't just enjoy the music

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

2006-07-11T16:21:00.000-05:00

..Or..let me just add- what matters is how Christ sees you....that is important.

Reminds me of a Christmas song, "Do you hear what I hear?....do you see what I see?"....Now, do YOU see what HE sees in you?

Be glad, beloved, Christ is crazy about you!

smile

2006-07-11T16:04:00.000-05:00

The Dentist's Hymn:.................. Crown Him with Many Crowns
The Weatherman's Hymn:........ ........ There Shall Be Showers of
Blessings
The Contractor's Hymn:...............The Church's One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn:............... ...............Holy, Holy, Holy
The Golfer's Hymn:.......................... There's a Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn:......... Standing on the Promises
The Optometrist's Hymn:......... Open My Eyes That I Might See
The IRS Agent's Hymn:............ I Surrender All
The Gossip's Hymn:.............. Pass It On
The Electrician's Hymn:......... Send The Light
The Shopper's Hymn:................ Sweet By and By
The Realtor's Hymn:.............. I've Got a Mansion, Just Over The
Hilltop
The Massage Therapists Hymn..... He Touched Me
The Doctor's Hymn:.............. The Great Physician

For those who speed on the highway - a few hymns: 45mph....................God Will Take Care of You
55mph....................Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah 65mph....................Nearer My God To Thee
75mph....................Nearer Still Nearer
85mph....................This World Is Not My Home 95mph....................Lord, I'm Coming Home
100mph.............. Precious Memories

think about it

2006-07-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

It's not enough to have your knees bent, but rather, broken hearts.

encouragement

2006-07-11T14:46:00.000-05:00

I am so glad that God has all the answers, because I don't even get all the questions!

Are you Mary?Are you Martha? Are you both?

2006-07-09T19:27:00.000-05:00

Look at that picture! You know, I've always thought in my head that people always talk so poorly about Martha was being such a busy woman, meanwhile, Mary, who hardly got anything done was always a good one. Jesus said that Mary chose better thing, but still it doesn't mean she chose the best. They both are out of balance!
The "Hidden Life" book that I menationed earlier talks about it and I was sitting in my chair saying "AMEN, SISTER! Preach it!" Finally, I hear what I've always wondered about.
"....It is helpful to see that there was nothing wrong with Martha's work; it was good. The tragedy was that her focus was so limited. If she had been lovingly attentive to the awesome reality of the presence of God with her in her work, she would have been able to serve those around her in love and peace without resentment.
The gift that Mary, the contemplative person, offers to Martha, the active person, is the call to slow down and expirience the beauty that is present in each moment. "Please, Martha, stop long enough to listen, to pray, to make little space in your life for God. Go sit by the window for a minute, go take a quiet walk; go anywhere you can and sit quietly and listen". Mary had chose the better part, but it still wasn't the best. She had not yet learned to take her long attention into the work that needed to be done. If Mary had taken the love she was receiving from Jesus and graciously offered it to Martha through service,she would have stilled the conflict Martha was feeling and brought peace to the situation.
Mary and Martha represent the conflict we all live with. When we are out of balance in either of these two ways of living, our relationships and our spiritual life suffer. The Mary in us has to be redeemed through our willingness to become servants in places where we may be very uncomfortable, the world of our reality. If we don't take our spirituality into real work we are called to , nothing will ever get done. The question for Martha in us is, "Can I do this work without feeling put upon and resentful but in love and gratitude?" That happens when we finally realize that our transformation requires that we bring loving attention and a sense of the abiding Presence into our work.
It takes the work and energy of a redeemed Martha to do God's work in the world, and it take compassion flowing through the redeemed Mary to draw people into the community of love. Our prayer is coming to receive this love, and our action is going out to offer it to the hungry hearts of others. When this happens, all of our service becomes prayer and all of our prayer becomes service...... (p.84)
Amen!I see the body of Christ full of Marthas and Marys and we all struggle with life that is out of balance. Help me , Lord, to become your true servant that is in perfect communion with you!
Every Martha and every Mary can also tend to get angry with each other. Glance again, at that picture above. There is that woman behind Martha probably whispering to her ear, "look at you, you work so hard , while your sister is doing nothing....it's not fair....you surely can use some help...does anyone care..at all???? does Jesus care that you sweat in that kitchen....."....next thing you know , Martha is confronting Mary....yes, our churches are full Marthas, Marys and voices behind..let's tune our hearts to the One and Only voice that we need to hear and obey. Let's be aware of His Presence whatever we do- that way we won't loose that precious connection with His very heart.

NOW READING

2006-07-09T19:06:00.000-05:00

I am half way through this book -it's amazing. Read this:
"In order to change and grow toward wholeness, I had to get comfortable with mystery. Mystery is that place beyond rational knowing and beyond our capacity to control; therefore, its acceptance felt like a fundamental assault on my way of protecting myself in the world. I had tried to force God into a nice, neat little box of my own construction in order to feel safe and in control of my life, but when I was clinging to my opinions and illusions, I wasn't able to see Who God really was or grow into fulness of Christ's love. I was afraid to let go, but I put down my emotional security blanket in order to movw back to open, childlike trust in god- however HE chose to reveal Himself" (p.81)
...wow....I can relate to every single word.
Carole(http://cjbate.blogspot.com/) blogged about putting God in a box, I couldn't agree more! "In our own way, I think we too, box him in ....picking up our big crayons and marking the places we will allow him to move. I do not want to be left with "Little concentration camps for Christ." I do not want to be in a "little concentration camp for Christ."
How is it that we have "found" a way to box in a God who can not be contained?
He broke out of the temple box and spread throughout the world for all mankind.....we catch his wind and try desperately to shove him back in a box again..
Sometimes the box is old and familiar and sometimes the box has new ribbons on it and is more attractive.... it's still a box.
Surprise us Lord! (by browneyed girl)

us

2006-07-05T17:25:00.000-05:00

BITTER-SWEET EXPIRIENCE

2006-07-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

Our Bible Study group have started the study of the Tabernacle. I was too excited to begin. When I sat down to write my first introduction lesson, I wanted to write about everything and I thought after that it will be clearer...not really...my second lesson was the same- I wanted to cover so much, but God really stopped me and birthed a different lesson through me. And let me tell you, THAT ONE was HARD on me! Mostly, because I could relate to every point God was teaching me. As I was preparing for the sutdy, I felt it was important for us to stick around in the desert before we begin building the Tabernacle. So we did. We "hung out" with Israel when they went through the sea and we sang along the "Freedom Song" in Exodus 15, many of us, who's been freed from spiritual Egypt knew exactly how Israel felt....
Then I told my ladies, "I begining to think that Israel was slightly "bypolar", because chapter 15 is not over yet and we see them complaining" :)
Read for yourself: Exodus 15:22-27
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.".............
Why would God in all His infinite wisdom chose to reaveal Himself as Jehovah-Rapha,the Healer, by the waters? Couldn't He wait till one of them got sick with some terrible disease? Why there?
I think He had a perfect plan. You see, Israel- the free people, had to learn something. They may be physically free, but in their minds- they remained to be slaves. And the first sign of slavery is - bitterness. Bitterness is a disease that is so common among us humans. Biterness is the cancer that eats us inside out. Marah was a strategic place for Israel to learn their freedom. Bitterness of the heart is something we all have suffered at some point of our life. I remember mine- it was so bad I could literally taste it in my mouth and I cryed out to God for healing. And He did exactly the same He did with Isral, He got the tree and dipped it in, the tree of Calvary that is. 1 Peter 2:24 says,"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
I was challnged by Israel's very first test in the wilderness.God saw their hearts and He knew that bitterness had root there (Hebr.12:15 "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.)
Among all the people, Israel had the most rights to be bitter- they were abused, mistreated, misunderstood,persecuted for their faith, their babies were killed, they were different from the people they lived around, they spoke a different language, they have been home-sick for over 400 years...you name it- they had it...yet God pointed out the issue of bitterness before He pointed out the "golden calf" problem. I guess He was trying to say, " Free child of God is the one with the sweet heart". OUCH! I want to be free. Healing of my bitter heart was the greatest freedom for me- I am free to tell you I'm delivered, I am free to tell you about my past pain, because I let it go....I am free. I AM FREE!!!!!
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Gal.5:1)
Bitterness is a trap for all us, dear one, be alert.
But wait, there is MORE!!! :)
My favourite part about these 5 verses is the end. After they've delt with bitterness, God leads them to Elim where they see 12 springs and 70 palm trees. Isn't God good???? I stoped and thought about those numbers-12 & 70. 12 disciples, 70 disciples that Jesus sent out....forgive 70 times 7......do you think what I think? Do you think that God's desire for us to deal with the our biterness so that He can use us to the fullest later? Isn't He GOOD??? We want to serve Him so bad, we want to be refreshed in His presence and you can get it at Elim. But to get there we all have to pass through Mara and allow that sweet Cross to be dipped in our hearts enough to make it sweet....c'mon beloved, you can do it! Dip that Cross in you heart as many times as you need, even if it's 100 times a day, God is Faithful to make your Mara sweet (notice, He promised to make YOUR MARA sweet, not the reason of biternness)....you're just one step away from Elim- a place of great spiritual effectivenss, fruitfulness, refreshment and freedom! Elim awaits for you, hurry!

Highly Recommend

2006-06-27T16:49:00.000-05:00

I am almost done with this book and I LOVED every page of it. It is written so prophetically, it blew my mind away! Higly recommend this book to anyone. The author is 18th centure writer, but they updated her language :)
This is book is written in a "love letter" from God type of thing. REALLY GOOD!

Merylin Dey and I

2006-06-27T15:46:00.000-05:00

hhmmmm

2006-06-27T09:53:00.000-05:00

have you ever walked to work and thought to yourself, "what should I blog about???"....this was in my head this morning...I don't think i have anything smart to write. SO, I guess, I can just update you on things in my life.
Last weekend I helped with the VBS in my church and I was supposed to help in the kitchen , but I ended up in the nursery. How? Don't ask. I tell, you, I am still recovering :) last time I changed messy diaper, when Natasha .B. was 3, she's 8 now . I got really shaky and sweaty performing my nursery duty (or should I say "dudy" LOL ). But it was good training.....i guess...
On the serious note. We started the Tabernacle with my Bible study group!!! Yay! Oh, I love the Tabernacle! Last night was our first lesson- it went great. We had a new lady joining us. My home girls are awesome, I love them all!
and that's about it for today....hmmm...I want to write more...better go read my Bible and ask God for the thrill of the day, He does it all the time with me, gives my something I can't keep my mouth shut :):):):)

BIG DREAMS

2006-06-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago I was sitting at home, feeling so sad. I was on a date with Jesus-just two of us- me and my God. And told Him how I felt at this particular season of my life and here is what I told Him:
"You know what Jesus? You have been so good with my dreams my whole life! I accepted you in my heart when I was 11 and that's when I started dreaming. When I was 12 I really wanted to be a part of the youth group and pretty soon I was. When I was 14 I REALLY wanted to be in the worship group- and there I was in a worship team shortly. When I received the calling on my life, all I wanted to do and go and preach the good news ...and there I was 19 years old at the airport of Tbilisi- my new home for a while. Then I wanted to learn English and you gave me people who taught me language so well. But now here I am in Nebraska and I don't even know what to dream about....it's not that I don't think you can do it, because I KNOW You can! It's just I don't even know what to dream about :( and it makes me sad. Because a dream can motivate you, it pomps you up and makes your heart go faster everytime you think about it..I want to be excited about something...put a dream in my heart , will you?"....then Jesus and I had more time to talk about other stuff and that was it.
The same day we had a prayer meeting at our church and I went there with my husband. At the end of the prayer meeting, a friend of mine came to me and said, "the whole time I was praying, I heard God telling me the same thing over and over again and it made no sense to me, but He told me to tell you, because you'll know". I asked him what it was and he said, "God spoke to me to tell you this, "Dream BIG! You're serving a BIG GOD, so if you want to dream again, start dreaming BIG"- that was his exact words! My chin droped down and my eyes were full of water. This guy looked at me and said, "does it make sense". I whispered back, "you have no idea!".....why didn't God tell me that in the morning Himself? Could it because I would think it was me and not Him and surely God wouldn't tell me such a silly thing?...I think that was a reason...but this I know, my daddy told me to dream BIG and this is what I want to do. I serve a BIG GOD and He can give me the desire of my heart (Ps.34) and He will catch a falling star for me if I ask Him. That is true romance.God's voice is whispering to my heart, "child, you were meant to have great dreams, because you're MINE and I have great dreams for you too!"...I guess my big dreams just show that I get it from my Dad, Heavenly Father that is. He has great imagination. I can almost see Him and Jesus sitting on their thrones talking great dreams over yours and mine lives and I can see them getting excited about it. God is crazy about me and I love every bit of it! I am just as crazy about Him! My faithful, loving and VERY Romantic God! I love you so much!
In Jeremiah 29:11 we all know this Scripture where God says, "for I know the plans for you.....", this word "know" in Hebrew is "machashabah" means "imagine"....God is imagining great things for you, your family, your ministry, your life....how far would you go to get it all??????????
Oh, I want to dream BIG and let GOD show up!

what would be your banner???

2006-06-20T09:36:00.000-05:00

I am currently in the process of writing a new study on Tabernacle. For some of you who know me well, you know that Tabernacle had started my passion for God and His Word. I absolutely fell in love with Jesus through the Tabernacle. My first time even learning the word "tabernacle" was with a VERY DEAR friend of mine; we decided to do that study together and it was so much fun. We did it in 2 different languages- she read her Bible(in english) and read mine(in Russian)- both of us knew those 2 languages, but it was more comfortable doing it together this way....anyways....Tabernacle is my passion. I told my ladies last night, "if you don't like the Old Testament, give me a chance to make you fall in love with it, if you still don't like- find a different teacher, because it's not that O.T. is boring, it's someone not teaching it right".....so....this morning I was studying for it as part of my devotional time and I found something I never saw before:
In Numbers 2:1 God told all the tribes to position themselves around the Tabernacle and here what else He said, "The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: "The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family."
A family banner? hmmm that's interesting...I wonder what they looked like...made me think "what would my family banner look like? it has to have something on it that represents your family, something that shows your uniquiness, your passions, your priorities"..........Mine probably would have some sort of a music sign for sure, because my husband loves worship and he hears God through music and a bookshelf that represents me :), ok may be just a Bible and a journal.....I don't know....just a thought....But if you were to draw your family banner- what picture would be on it? Better yet, if God was to draw your family banner, what do you think would He draw to represent your family as He sees it........just a thought.................

LONGING FOR SOMETHING NEW?

2006-06-19T15:21:00.000-05:00

IF YOU WANT GOD TO DO SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE THAT HE HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE, THAN MAY BE IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR GOD YOU'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE......

A Profound Mystery

2006-06-16T11:45:00.000-05:00

I love that show "Kids say funniest thing" . I once read a child's letter to God and it said, " Dear God, I went to a wedding today and they kissed IN THE CHURCH! are you OK with that?"
I believe God LOVES weddings. The Bible begins and ends with the weddings. On the first pages of the Genesis we see the very first walk down the aisle of a proud Father and His -Eve. And the end of Revelation we see the same proud Father presenting the Bride to His Son Jesus. God loves weddings! He takes marriage very seriously too. When it came to the Marriage covenant in the Bible you never see Him messing with it. WHY? I asked God and here is the answer He gave me: In Ephesians 5:31,32 Paul is repeating the very first, the most origional wedding sermon :"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." Adam and Eve didn't have earthly parent, so it was really for us. Oneness, unity is the key for the marriage. Then Paul gives the clue why: " This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church." For those of you who's married- you are a walking, breathing, talking profound mystery of God! that's HUGE! God chose YOU and YOUR SPOUSE to demonstrate the profound mystery of Christ and His Bride.
The world today takes marriage so lightly, it breaks my heart. I wonder, how many teenagers loved God, have they seen more of Christ in their Dads and how many kids would love Church more, have they seen Church not only on Sundays and Bible Studies, but 24/7 in their mama. Yours and mine marriage meant to show the profound mystery since the begining of time!
So I encourage you to be the living, walking, talking, breathing, life changing profound mystery with your spouse. It is not a coincidence you're married to this person! God had a plan!

the desert time

2006-06-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

I was reading the book of Hosea the other day and God's tenderness overwhelmed me...read this for yourself: Hosea 2:14-19 (my comments are in light color)
"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. (some of us may go through the desert- the place where life is heating up, the place of thirst, the place of hunger and low energy,the place where you are tempted to give up the most, but this is the exact place where the LORD is going to speak to you tenderly. Take courage, beloved, His voice is going to heal you!)
There I will give her back her vineyards (all the things that the enemy stole from you, God is giving you back in the desert! who would've thought that the desert can be a place of treasures!?),and will make the Valley of Achor (which in Hebrew means "trouble") a door of hope (how many of us are going through trouble? Just think how God can turn your trouble into hope! oh, my God is so good!).
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(the desert is the place where you take your vocal lessons ;) He will put a new song in your heart and make sure the vocal cords of your heart are capable of carying the tune ).
"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.
I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;no longer will their names be invoked.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.
I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.
"In that day I will respond," declares the LORD........(He will respond to you! what is it that you're asking Him? does it feel like the wind and the sand and the dry heart are going to rob you of His voice? we have a sure promise- HE WILL RESPOND!)
but wait! there is more!!!! :):):)
If you read the rest of the chapter, the end result of the desert is the new wine and oil a.k.a. fresh anointing, fresh joy and strength and in v.23 God said "and I will plant her for Myself". May be some of us are in the process of transition- new place, new job, new situation- whatever it is that is NEW, I believe that God is in the process of planting you in the new soil so that you will bear much fruit for Him and while you're waiting, enjoy His tender voice! After all is done, you will have brand new spiritual diamond on your finger :) He said He will betroth you to Himself there! And let me tell you- 5,6,7 karat is nothing to Him! He is going to give you MORE than you expect!

learning new things

2006-06-13T16:23:00.000-05:00

Last night I had my Women's Bible Study and there I shared my first expirience in America. My faithful friend Carole took me shopping for the first time. I just arrived to the states few days ago and on my first hour oo the U.S land I paid $90 for a cab ride. So, obvoiusly, I had no clue about prices here. So, here were are- Carole and I at the store. I look around and I'm loving everything. Then Carole looked at me and said, "Let me teach you something, dorogaya (which means "dear" in russian). Rule #1 in shopping is "clearance"- it's your best friend, you look for it". I never even knew the word "clearance" before that! Boy, did I discover treasures with my now TWO best friends- Carole and Clearance :)
I thought about it not too long ago and I realized that clearance is not the only treasure that Carole introduced me to.....
I grew up in the Communist Russia, I was about 10 when the whole Communism System fell apart. So I am a child of a new begining, but raised by the "old mentality" society. I became a Christian when I was 11 or 12. That was something so radical and new for all who knew about it. I became a Salvation Army Soldier and was so in love with Jesus!My pastors (S.A. officers) were awesome! But they, just like me, grew up around Communism mentality as well, it's not their fault at all. They showed me God the best they knew. They taught me that God was Just and that He was Fair and that He is also God of wrath- all of it is true and it was enough for me to fall head over heals in love with Christ. When I was 18 God called me into the mission field and I said "yes" right away. That's where I met Carole.Our hearts mending right away, we loved to sit at night and talk about the deep things of God, we prayed together, we laughed together. Carole showed me the best example of what mother is like, she inspired me with her sermons, her passion for God made me more thirsty for Him. But she had something that I couldn't understand. She knew something about God that I didn't know. My spiritual taste buds were reacting to that something I didn't know. One day I found out what it was! I tasted some of it and loved it. Carole showed me the God of mercy! God's mercy is not something I was familiar with. His mercy that is new every morning!
It felt like I've been having the same meal from God every day and it was the same all the time. Just some bread, occasionally some jam, some tea or coffee on certain days- it was good, but I didn't realize there was so much more. Carole was using the whole menue! She was trying something new from God every day! That is what I learned from that woman! It's like she gently took my hand and showed me that there are many more pages of the choicest foods of God beyond my toast and tea. My heart was overwhelmed with the riches of God's love. All these years I've been eating the same not knowing how much more I'm missing. Mercy is my regular now that I take every morning, but I recieve a variety of spiritual food every day and I would never go back to the toast and jam again!
Thank you, Carole, for introducing God of mercy to me- we have become good friends :) and thank you for showing more of God to me.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (Ps.34:8)

are serving a safe kind of God????

2006-06-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

I absolutely LOVED the "Chronicles of Narnia" movie. People at the movie theater, however, did not like it as much (I suspect, I was the reason :)) You see, during the whole movie I had Scriptures poping up in my head and out of my mouth without control. I surprised myself with the knoledge of the Bible I had. You know what I'm talking about? Almost every scene touched my heart in a different way. When Aslan roared and the queen sat down, I told my husband, "there you go- "every knee shall bow, every tongue confess.." And when I couldn't think of a Scripture, I just said aloud, "that's my kinda God!".....anyways, in that movie it was said , "is He safe? of course not! but He is GOOD!"
I thought about it as I prepared for the Bible Study last night. It is true, our God is not that safe , He requiers a lot of risk, but boy is HE GOOD!!! I spoke to my ladies and asked them, how much risk would they take to know His goodness?"..Sometimes to know His goodness we will need to risk something, to step out of our comfort zone just a bit. Sure we can be happy with just "ok", but you see an "ok" was never God's intend for us.
I remember going on the beach when I was a little girl and playing in the water in the "safe zone". I went just deep enough to walk on the sand with my hands, then I yelled to my mom , "mom! I am swimming! Can you see?" ..my head above the water, my body on the surface and seaweed between my fingers. I wonder how many of us as Christians do the same? We pretend to "swim" on the deeper end and appear like we know what we're doing but have no clue what it is like in real life and what a freedom it is to swim on the deep side of the lake. To let Christ -the Living Water hold you, allow His Spirit to rock you on the waves of God's breath, no seaweed between toes, no shells, no sand under feet- and THAT's risky...but again, is HE safe? probably not, but HE IS GOOD!!!!
So, beloved, get you swimming gear on , will you swim with Jesus?

Just something to think about....

2006-06-12T08:28:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading a book and something got my attention...I can't get it out of my head. It says "your commitment to the purpose is directly reflected in your faithfulness to a detail"..I thought to myself, "How many times I am so concentrated on a big stuff while small detail is neglected and then I cry when it fails..."..now I know why....
I am about to write my study on "Spiritual dicipline" and I think that would be my title... think about it...

Thankful for my freedom

2006-06-06T16:38:00.000-05:00

About 2 years ago I have met a young lady at the Bible study. She looked so fragile and graceful. Her testimony was the most amazing one I have heard in a while. That lady have truly experienced THE REAL liberty in Christ. Satan used her for a while, but now she was free. Her "freedom speech" was so inspiring. I remember thanking her at the end for her story. At that time her husband was not a beliver. Back than she wasn't even sure if her marriage will last any longer. Her husbnad was still wearing "sin shackels" on his heart. May be 6 months later he started getting more serious about God.And now he an awesome man of God, totally different. That was absolutely amazing! I am blessed now to see how much stronger they grew in the Lord and how much their family had been transformed! Glory to God!
Yesterday I had to go to the court of this young man-husband and father of 3 little kids. His past was haunting him. (another proof that world has no forgiveness and how satan throws people away once he had enough of them). I set on the benches and listened to the judge's verdict. My heart broke as I heard the sentencing. I glanced at my friend Val, his wife- she looked so strong! I could see God's grace all over her! I looked back at her husband and all I saw is free man. Free in deed.His life is rescued by Christ, his sins are forgiven on the cross, his future is guaranteed through the blood. He is going to jail to pay off the old debt he owed to this world, but unlike many of the inmates there, he is going there as a free man and nothing will EVER change that.
After we left the court room, we all were silent. I looked at my friend and saw her smiling through the tears. She whispered, "I am excited.....I know God is up to something. Can you imagine how much better my husband will be at the end? I know God is good!" What a faith!!!!
She is right though! We saw God's mercy in the court room that day! He was facing up to 7 years, but only got 242 days! Is that awesome or what? He is able to get work release and still provide for the family! He might be able to come to church (if judge considers that "theraputic"....why don't you come , your honor, and see for yourself HOW theraputic God's presence really is ::))).....I just want to tell you- I saw God's handwriting all over yesterday and it was beautiful! Another slap on enemy's ugly looking face! Enemy meant to destroy him, but God turned the tables around!
All I could think of is the Scripture in Micah 7:8 "Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light."

I witnessed that first hand yesterday!

Please, keep that family in prayer!

autobiography in 5 days

2006-06-06T15:24:00.000-05:00

autobiography in 5 days

The author is unknown, but I just LOVE it!it is a autobiography in 5 days.Day 1: I walk down the street. There is a hole in the ground, I fall right into it. It's not my fault! It takes forever to get out of it.Day 2 :I walk down the street. There is a hole in the ground. I try to ignore it, but I fall right into it. It takes a long time to get out.Day 3: I walk down the street. I see the hole in the ground. I fall into it- it became a HABBIT by now! How can I get out of it?Day 4: I walk down the street. I see the hole in the ground. I walk around it. I didn't fall.Day 5: I walked down a different street.That, my friend, is a walk of holiness. We strive to do our best and sometimes it involves a walk in a new, unfamiliar place, but that's where the glory is resting!!!1 Tim. 4:7 "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly."1 Tim. 6:11 "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

The Wealthiest Place on Earth

2006-06-06T15:22:00.000-05:00

The Last few days I have been pondering on the same thing....Someone asked the other day, "what do you think is the wealthiest place on earth?".....and the answer was "a cemetery".........???????????? " what in the world?"- I thought to myself...a cemetery? Did I hear it right? "yes, cemetery", he continued. You see, cemetery is full of books that were never written, poems, that were never read, songs that were never sung...then I thought to myself "it is also full of ministry callings that were never answered,purposes that were never fulfilled, prayers that were never prayed, words of encouragement,that were never spoken outloud...."...I guess it IS the wealthiest place on earth. But my problem is that I don't want to add up to it! I want to die empty and say like Jesus, "it is finished!"...IT...I have my " It", you have your "IT"...will you leave your " IT" here on earth or let your "IT" be wasted.....let your "IT" be finished before you leave this earth. The wealthiest place on earth is the Christian who is fulfilling his purpose, being fruitful and effective for Christ and preparing him/herself for Heaven-the one and only wealthiest place EVER.