I am Not Forgotten

We all have days when we feel forgotten. I had one of those days yesterday, and honestly, it hasn't been the only one lately. I wouldn't have used the word "forgotten" if you asked me last night how I was feeling, but I woke up with this song in my head this morning.

Great reminder that no matter what else is happening, God knows, and He has not forgotten us. Hope this can encourage someone besides me this morning.

Redeemed Conference – Redeeming our Sexuality

The 2013 Women’s Conference challenged me in many ways. One of the main ways it challenged me was through the workshop and messages presented by Kerry Clarensau, National Women’s Department Director for the Assemblies of God. Because of how much I want to say, I am going to post about the workshop and services separately.

The first thing on the workshop agenda was Kerry’s workshop on “Redeeming our Sexuality”. Before I say much more about this, let me just say that I read Kerry’s book prior to conference. I got to this chapter in the book and before I read it, I didn’t really expect it to apply to me. Boy was I wrong. There were things in this chapter of her book that absolutely applied to me and some of them were things that I hadn’t even considered before.

One of the things that Kerry said during this workshop was “God doesn’t want His daughters to carry around the baggage of sexual sin”. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the baggage is from you choosing to live in sexual sin. This could also apply to you if you are the victim of someone else’s sexual sin. These things, whether brought on ourselves or put on us by others are not a part of God’s plan for our lives and He wants us to live in freedom from them. He doesn’t want them to hold us back and keep us down.

When Kerry was talking about this, just her use of the phrase “God doesn’t want His daughters” immediately caught my attention. I forget entirely too quickly that I am God’s daughter. I go through life and I forget to view myself that way. This changes my perspective on myself. It changes the way I view myself. It drastically improves my self-worth and my self-esteem for me to view myself as God’s daughter. If you are saved and you haven’t thought about yourself from that perspective lately, try it!

Another thing that really got my attention was when Kerry said, “The world is really loud about sexual things, the Church needs to be just as loud.” I will admit, that this blog post in and of itself is a stretch for me. To be honest, I’m stretching myself to even write this post. The world has twisted the idea of sex to the point that it is uncomfortable for many people to even talk about (it is me). However, Kerry is right! Because the world is so loud about it, and because what they tell everyone is so wrong and full of lies, we need to be just as loud in speaking the truth.

Kerry shared five ways to set healthy boundaries around your sexuality.

1. Guard Your Heart
2. Avoid inappropriate conversations with your friends
3. Don’t let the flame die
4. Guard your heart from other men (never have alone conversation with someone of the opposite sex)
5. Be respectful of men. (The respect we show other people is not a reflection of the other person’s worthiness; it is a reflection of our character.

You can find out more in Kerry’s book “Redeemed: Embracing a Transformed Life”.

You Are Good!!

Redeemed Conference - Worship

Last week’s “Wordless Wednesday” post (pictured to the left) was a photo that was taken during worship at the 2013 Arkansas Assemblies of God Women’sFall Conference. What a fantastic conference, with a fantastic theme, and fantastic leadership! The theme for this year’s conference was “Redeemed” and it was a weekend of redemption for many women.

As far as the leadership, I believe this photo says it all. Angelia Carpenter (pictured in the front, center of the crowd), District Women’s Director, leads the way not only in what she says from the podium, but also by example. She is a woman of impeccable character, she is my friend, and she is the person whose example I am proud to follow.

Worship during the conference was led by Leah Smith from Beebe Open Arms Assembly of God. This worship team was anointed!! The presence of God was so powerful during both services and it was evident from the very first song to the very last.

If you get the opportunity sometime, you should attend one of these conferences. There is something about several hundred women gathering together to openly worship the Lord that is unexplainable. Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” This is a promise that is multiplied by several hundred at these conferences.

I will continue to share more about this conference, but for now, here are some more photos of the worship that took place!

Wordless Wednesday

A Lesson from Jehoshaphat

For various reasons, the story of Jehoshaphat has been on my mind lately. You can find the one I’m referring to in 2 Chronicles 20.

Jehoshaphat was the King of Israel at this time. The armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir all joined together to try and conquer Israel. Jehoshaphat was warned prior to being attacked that the armies were coming his way. In response to the warning, he sought the Lord for guidance. He then proclaimed a time of fasting and prayer throughout his people.

Jehoshaphat continued to seek the Lord. He prayed a prayer asking the Lord to deliver them from the attacks. The night before they were to be attacked, Jahaziel (the son of Zechariah) told the people not to be afraid. Here is what he told them.

And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” – 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 (NKJV)

When the time came to face the enemy he did something that most would find unbelievable. He was greatly outnumbered by the armies approaching. He didn’t send his best warriors out front. Instead, he sent his best worshipers out front. The scripture says that “when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated”.

Here is what happened. The three armies that joined together to attack Israel, turned on each other and killed each other. When Jehoshaphat and his army came to the battle grounds, there was no one left to fight, they were all dead. They also were then able to collect valuables from the defeated armies. Scripture says it took them three days to collect all of it! The Lord fought and won the battle for them and they got the goods left behind.

There are many important lessons in this one chapter of scripture. One of the biggest for me is the power of prayer, fasting, and worship. I believe greatly in all three. The second is what it says in verse seventeen. “You will not need to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!”

The battle is the Lords (and it is) but I’m drawn by what this verse says: position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Let the Lord fight the battles (because it isn’t your job to do that) but position yourself. Worship, pray, and fast at times to ensure that you are in a position to stand back and see the salvation of the Lord.

Redeemed - Citipointe

A new day has dawned
Let all the earth rejoice
Your kingdom will reign
With Your love Abba Father

Death now be broken
As Your word has spoken
Redemption became
With the love of the Father

So great is Your love oh Father
You gave Your life for all
And the wonder of it all
Is that we are redeemed

The song of the redeemed will rise
All our praises, all our lives
Sing worthy
We sing worthy

Don't Let Satan Steal Your Blessings!

I want to take a few minutes to share a little bit about my last semester in college and something incredibly important that I learned from it.

As an adult student, married, with a child, and working full time, finding time to get things done was very difficult. Anything that seemed to be “extra” just didn’t get done. I would go to work during the week from 8:00-4:30 Monday –Friday. After dinner, I would try and work on homework or study. I would spend all weekend, Friday night through Sunday night doing homework and studying and somewhere in between would try to squeeze in laundry and a little housekeeping (and I mean a little). My husband would cook dinner most nights and he would help out with some laundry and dishes.

One thing about me is that I will work hard at whatever I’m doing, but I can’t do it on limited sleep. I don’t function well on just a few hours of sleep, so giving up sleep to find time for other things was not the best option for me. Although I did have some nights of a few hours of sleep, I couldn’t do that every day. I had to find other ways to get things done.

While I was saved, and had a relationship with the Lord, it was not what it needed to be. When life was overwhelming and I was trying to balance the 24 hours I had in the day, it was difficult to balance things. One way that I dealt with balancing my time was skipping church. I told myself that it was ok because I prayed at home and I would watch preaching on TV. At the time it all made sense to me, I got extra stuff done and I felt like I was still OK with God.

Here is what I learned this semester. THAT WAS A LIE FROM SATAN!! Satan convinced me that my life was just fine the way that it was, but let me share with you some of things that I was missing out on by missing church. I found these things out this semester after I started going back to church regularly.

Friendship – support, love, and prayers from other Christians change who you are. Without that, you are missing so much in your life. Hebrews 10:25 says - Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (NIV)

Being in the Presence of the Lord – Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." While you can pray and read the word of God at home, there is a much stronger move of the Holy Spirit when you are gathered with other believers. The Lord shows up among a body of believers.

The infilling of the Holy Spirit. While I know different people have different beliefs about this, I have to tell you, this is so real. There are many places in the Bible that speaks of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Act 9:17-18 is where Saul was baptized in the Spirit. “And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized”.

While you can receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit without someone else laying hands on you, for me, it took someone laying hands on me. But I had spent years wanting it and seeking it and it took one Spirit Filled Believer, listening to the Lord, stepping out and approaching me, laying hands on me, and it came. I have heard stories of people being alone somewhere and being baptized in the Holy Spirit so it can happen when you are alone or with other believers but either way, it will change your life! I am a different person now than I was before this occurred.

Intimacy with God and a Connection to the Throne. All of the things I said above impact the intimacy level you have with the Lord. He wants to give you all he has and He just needs you to open up to Him and allow him to give you more of Him.

Friends, don’t miss out on what the Lord has for you. Let me tell you, this last semester of school was both the best and busiest one of them all by far. I had many more assignments, projects, tests, quizzes, and papers this semester than any other. Mostly due to the nature of the last few classes I had to take to graduate. Two of the three classes included exit exams and assessment exams to evaluate the program and the university in how well it did preparing us to graduate. More work and no more time in the day to complete it all. But, I CHOSE this semester to be in church and let the Lord help me deal with the rest. He blessed me so much this semester because of it. He came through for me and I came out at the end of the semester with grades just about the same as any other semester. So, really, there was no loss in productivity on my part. If anything, the Lord helped me out and increased what I could get done in a short amount of time.

DON’T LET SATAN STEAL YOUR BLESSINGS. Don’t let Satan keep you from allowing God to bless you. The Lord is waiting for you to come to Him and He WANTS to bless you. I heard this from someone before and heard from another person today and I have continued to come back to it. “You can have as much of the Lord as you want to have”. He is waiting to give you more. Lay it all down, trust in Him, and He will work in ways you could not imagine in your life. Satan wants you to think that your life in Christ is fine just the way it is. He wants you to think that you don’t need more. But he is a liar! The most spiritual person on the face of the earth can still have more. If anyone thinks they have enough, they are missing out. THERE IS ALWAYS MORE IN HIM!!!!

Don’t let the circumstances of life hold you back. Jump in head first and let the Lord handle the circumstances of life. He is better at it than we are anyway!

The moral of this story is not so much about church attendance (that’s just what it was for me). The moral of this story is that until we reach the throne of Heaven, we haven’t had enough. There is always more. DON’T SETTLE FOR LESS THAN WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU!!!!