The Voice of the Lord

When my cousin's daughter (who is 9 years old) wanted to get baptized, she asked her parents what they thought about the decision. My cousin and her husband told the girl to pray about it and see what the Lord said about it. So she prayed about it and she felt the Lord said ok to being baptized.

The pastor asked the girl - "What did the voice of the Lord sound like?"

She said, "I don't know - but it was CLEAR"

I thought that was a wonderful answer.

Waiting for the Clear Voice of the Lord -
Lots of love
Linda

Moving Day

Saturday was moving day. There were about 12 of us, including 4 strong men with a truck and trailer who moved the heavy furniture. It went fast. We started at 9am and were done and eating sandwiches by noon and everything was moved into the new apartment. My two cousins and I stayed until 4 and helped unpack all the boxes and find places for my aunt's stuff. We were totally wiped out when we were done.

I woke up with muscle spasms in my lower back yesterday. I prayed for healing and for those muscles to relax. My aunt and cousins and I all went to church because my little niece was getting baptized and then we all went out to eat. My aunt said, "Since I have to work this week, you want to come over to the old apartment on Wednesday and clean it for me and I will pay you?" I said, "Can we do it on Monday instead? Maybe I will be starting my new job on Wednesday?" My cousin got a big grin on her face and said, "Yeah! We are believing that she is going to get that job."

So later today I'm going over to clean my aunt's old apartment, even though I am still having painful muscle spasms. I will just have to do the best I can.

These muscle spasms kind of remind me of some of the things I have been going through lately. Just because it hurts, doesn't mean I can stop and take it easy. The things that need to get done, still need to get done. I'm still at a crossroads in my life and no amount of crying and praying is going to really be able to change the outcome. If it is the Lord's will for me to return to Oregon, then that is where I will go, and if it is His will that I stay here - than I will stay here. But I'm surprised that I still have trust issues. I am surprised that after all this time, I still don't trust that where I am - and where I am going to be is the Lord's will and that He is in control. I am horrified to admit that a part of me still believes that if it is the Lord's will for me - that somehow that means it is going to suck.

Somedays I actually think I am crying because I am mourning the loss of the illusion that I have some control over my life. I have no control over my life and that fact has been so obvious to me, especially the last couple days. I was resigned to go back to Oregon - almost looking forward to it - when this job interview came out of nowhere. Every time I had a job interview before, and didn't get the job, we said, "Well the Lord has something better in mind for you." Now I think, there is NO better job for me in this state but this job. Now I feel like I almost HAVE to get this job, because if I don't, then what was the whole point of the interview in the first place - for another hope deferred? That would suck! It would have been better for me to go back to Oregon without this stupid job interview to get my hopes all up.

But I don't know yet if I'm going back to Oregon or if I'm getting that job and staying here and let me tell you - the suspence is KILLING ME! Then there is another part of me that doesn't even want to post about these things on this blog. Maybe I am mourning the loss of being a know-it-all legalist with an answer for everything and a good rant about all those blind guides out there. Even the false prophets out there that I spent such an enourmous amount of blog space pointing my fingers at - now I just feel sorry for them as they wait for comet elinin to come destroy the earth or that the yellowstone caldera will blow or the new madrid earthquake will come and God's supposed judgement will finally have happened - even they will be saved and we have to love them too. Because deep down, I'm a better fighter than a lover.

Yet, I am a member of the body of Christ. Am I an eye? A nose? A big toe? I don't know. What is my purpose and where am I suppose to be? Why - right where the Lord has me - that is where. I'm here in Casper and I have helped the people here. If the Lord sends me back to Oregon - then I will help people there and if He has me stay here and work a real job for a season - does that mean my journey is over? That what purpose my life had will be changed - and I will just be a regular non-special egyptian again? I think not.

Some days there is no deep revelation and insight into spiritual matters. Some days it is about cleaning the toilet and vacuuming and wondering if the boy I love, loves me back. Some days it is about lonliness and heartache and somedays it is about cute bunnies and joy in the Lord. Oh how I wish I really trusted the Lord, so that no matter where I am or what I am doing, I am content and super spiritual and every word that comes out of my mouth is grace and salt and light. O how I wish I was that girl. Somedays I wish I really knew how to end one of these blog posts. Somedays I guess I just have to stop typing and push "publish post"

love in Christ
Linda

Crack O Dawn Report - Martin Zender

I am so

getting this job! I'll find out for sure next week!

Where the Wind Blows

Every day is an exciting adventure in this journey we call life. Plot twists and turns and from one minute to the next – we do not know what the future will bring:

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8

The word for wind in that verse is pnuema – the same word for spirit.

Last May, while I was in Greybull, Wyoming with my parents, the Lord began to put on my aunt’s heart to look into moving to Greybull to be near my grandparents. She had a job interview with the local counseling center – a possible position in her field had opened up – and also found a great downstairs apartment for only $450 a month. The idea that I could stay and help her move was put on both our hearts. It all seemed like the leading of the Lord.

The job and the idea of moving to Greybull all fizzled, so then we knew that the Lord had not opened doors there like we thought. Yet, a door was opened there. The door for me to come out here to Wyoming to help my aunt was still open. But now I would be helping her move in Casper and not up to Greybull like we had originally thought.

The first place my aunt looked into was a mobile home for sale for $45,000. My aunt really loved it and thought that maybe it would be better to buy rather than rent. This mobile home was located in a senior park and the owner was willing to work with her. As she made some phone calls for financing, one of the people who worked at the bank said that his sister owned a mobile home at that same park for only $36,000. So we went to see this new mobile home. It was much nicer than the first one, and less expensive so she decided that maybe the Lord was leading her to get this one. We were praying daily that we could know the Lord’s will, that He would open doors and close doors. She was able to find a lending company that would lend for the purchase of a mobile home. Everything seemed like it was a go from the Lord, so she put an offer on the mobile home for the asking price $36,000.

But strangely, the people selling the home rejected her offer, and we were back to square one. Continuing to pray, we looked at other mobile homes, but my aunt was now less inclined to buy since the mobile home parks had a lot of control issues, and she wanted to have more freedom. She began to look into apartments. We went to see a few and then there was one that seemed perfect for her, except that the landlady knew everyone’s business at that complex and had mentioned to my aunt, “If you need to babysit your grandkids, maybe you could do it at their house.” It still seemed to my aunt that it was the Lord so she decided to meet with the landlady to give her a check for the deposit and sign the lease.

Yet, when my aunt got there, deposit in hand, she had such a check in her spirit, that she started to cry. She told the landlady that she was not able to make a decision at that moment. In the car, on the way home, my aunt was crying and seeking the Lord and saying, “Lord! What is wrong with me? What is your will, why is this happening?” Three days later, around the corner from that apartment, was an identical apartment owned by a different landlady for $25 less a month, plus they paid all the utilities, plus it had an attached garage. That was the apartment that the Lord had really opened up for her that was, by far, the best of all the situations that had presented themselves before then. Every step of the way seemed like the right one to us, yet the Lord had other ideas. When all was said and done, the Lord found the perfect situation and He ordered our steps, although it was a believing process, and spiritual lessons were learned along the way.

I am once again at a crossroads. So far I have been on 7 job interviews with no job offers. Some of those jobs seemed like they would be perfect for me, but then I did not get the job. I began to think that maybe the Lord was showing me that I should move back to Oregon. In fact, there seemed to be so much evidence (or seemingly confirmations) that I called my parents and told them that I was considering moving back. I am waiting on this check from my son for the van. It was literally supposed to be here a month ago, but it has been stalled for one reason or another. I could use that check to buy a bus ticket back home and also to mail some boxes back. Every thing seemed like a go from the Lord, that my work of helping my aunt move would be complete in a couple weeks so I was considering buying a bus ticket so that I would be heading back to Oregon on September 15th. It all seemed like the Lord’s will, that is, until yesterday.

Yesterday, I got a call from the hospital here in town. I had applied for an Executive Secretary to the CFO position there and they wanted me to come in for an interview. I was completely surprised of even getting an interview and the job pays $40,000 a year. Not that money sways me, because it doesn’t, but I do have some needs at the moment that cost money, a car, quite a bit of expensive dental work that needs to be done, among other things.

So literally, it could go either way. The Lord will either open a door here in Casper and I will get this job, or He will open doors for me to head back to Oregon and I will have opportunities out there. The amazing thing is – I’m ok either way, because I know now, probably even more so than before, that the Lord is going to take care of me either way. I won’t know if I will have a job offer for at least a couple weeks. We will continue to pray for the Lord’s will to be done, and that the Lord will open doors for me and let me know where I am to go next. In the meantime, I am content. The Lord has shown me time and time again that His plans for me are good, that He is going to give me a future and a hope.

Where that will be – only the Spirit knows.

Lots of love in Christ
Linda

Being in the Moment

My phone alarm goes off at 4:30am. I hit the snooze so I can stay in that awesome dream I am having. I talk to the Lord about the coming day, that I can know His will for me and that I have the energy to carry it out. I pray for the people in my life and I pray for Johnny, who seems to be on my heart and mind a lot these days.

The alarm goes off again and I get up and walk upstairs to let the dogs out. I guess one of them (probably Sweetie) couldn’t wait until 5am and pooped in the mudroom. Grr. Oh well, I clean it up.

I let the dogs out into the back yard. I put food in their dishes. Misty comes in through the doggie door, she is a long-hair wiener dog, who is black. Sweetie is a long-hair wiener dog too, but she is multi-colored. Sweetie is also old and blind and has snot running out of her nose all the time. Gross. I give her a little pill wrapped up in a doggie treat. Misty gets a treat too so she isn’t jealous. I am watching the dogs and my cousin’s house for her this week while her and her new husband go to Texas for their honeymoon.

I make coffee for the first time in this coffee maker. I guess I didn’t put the pot all the way in because coffee went everywhere and so did the grinds. I clean it up and put it in the trash can. Later, I bump into that trash can and it falls over spilling coffee grounds all over the floor! I clean that up too.

I get my mp3 player on and my running shoes and go out for my daily walk. I have scoped out a nice walking route that takes 20 minutes to do. I’ll walk it again later so that I get in 40 minutes of walking a day. I am listening to Gary Siglar do a teaching, but sometimes I listen to Russ Dizdar or Chris White. There are wild bunnies hopping around people’s yards here. You never see wild bunnies in neighborhoods in Oregon – just out in the boonies. I saw 4 different bunnies today. They are so cute.

People’s sprinklers are making tiny rainbows as they water the lawn. It reminds me of how the Father always takes such good care of me, and that I need to remember to be thankful and to be in the moment. The future will come and the Father will take care of that too.

Later, I hear thunder and I take a blanket out onto the front porch and watch a spectacular lighting show. I see the flash of lightning and then I count, one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four – then I hear the thunder. Wow, a close one. I really wish they had great storms like this in Oregon. The storm takes about 45 minutes to go over head and then it goes away and you start to see blue sky again. So weird.

I am enjoying this time alone in a beautiful house, but I feel the winds of change again on the horizon. The Lord is planning another move for me again. I will tell you more about that soon, but for now, I am thankful for the beauty of every moment and I know the Father has good plans for me, where ever I am.

Take time to enjoy the little blessings in your lives. Pray for the people in your life and walk in newness of spirit. The Lord is in control of EVERYTHING – and we just have to trust Him.

Lots of love!
Linda

New World Next Week

North Casper

I’ve been living in North Casper for the last month and a half. It is the bad part of town or as the locals call it: ghetto. There are leash laws here, but in this part of town, people let their dogs roam free. I have encountered more than one on my daily walks.

A couple weeks ago, some teenaged boys who live a block or so away from here, spent the evening doing drugs and breaking into cars. One boy was 17 and one boy was 16 and they were best friends. In one of the cars they broke into, they found a loaded handgun. Later at one of their houses, goofing off and being stupid boys, the 17 year old accidentally shot the 16 year old, killing him instantly. Now this boy will probably face being in prison for the rest of his life. Horrible and tragic and when I saw this young boys picture in the paper, I just started crying and praying for him. One life over, one life forever changed. God, how much I hate this stupid evil world sometimes.

Thankfully, today is my last day in North Casper. My cousin is picking me up in a couple hours to take me back to her house in East Casper, where the dogs stay in their respective back yards and there isn’t meth houses next door with paint peeling off of them. My aunt will be moving to East Casper next weekend.

I’m trusting the Lord for my daily provision and I know that every day – where He has me is where I am supposed to be. I’ve been applying for jobs and I have had 7 interviews but no job offers. I am praying that if it is His will for me to get a job, He will open doors. I signed up with a temp agency, but I’m not so sure I’m supposed to have a secular job just yet. My lots of job interviews keeps my aunt happy, and we have been praying for the Lord’s will – so that is all I can do for now. As I said on a comment recently, my ability to predict the future is at an all time low. I understand now, that it doesn’t matter yet, if I am to stay in Casper for a season, or go to Ontario, or anything. Today, I am going to my cousins house to house sit for a week and help my aunt move during that time and that is all the future I need to know about. The future will come and bring with it more adventures and more uncertainty.

But there is no uncertainly with the Father. My life is in His hands and I am in His will because this is all of His will that He has revealed to me. I can rest in the knowledge that when it is His will that I move again or get a job or a car or an apartment – then He will reveal those things to me at that time. I will just live in Today knowing the Father is always with me and has good plans for me.

Today, I am walking in newness of life and the newness of the spirit and not the oldness of the letter (Rom 6:4, Rom 7:6) I am right where the Father wants me to be.

Love you all!
Linda

Just checking in

I just wanted to get on real quick to let you all know that I am super busy at the moment. I am moving in at my cousins house on Friday because I will be housesitting for her next week as she goes to Texas, but I will also help my aunt move into her new apartment - so we just decided that I would move in with my cousin until I can get my own apartment. My life is in the hand of the Father, so we are trusting Him for my provisions.

So I will be blogging when I can. Hopefully soon.

love you all!
LLinda

God is Sovereign

A close friend sent me an email this morning. She told me she was tired and didn't think she could go on anymore and then I was unable to get a response back. It may be too soon to tell, but I am very concerned that my friend may have done something drastic. But, I don't know where she lives. Only the state and that particular state happens to be pretty big. Probably takes a couple days to drive from one end to the other.

Pray for my friend. My friend is in a very bad place and the adversary is trying to convince her that it is not worth going on. But that is a lie. God has a plan for each and everyone one of you and you are the image of God. Never let anyone tell you different. So please pray that my friend is just offline for a while and not something more. Also, take the time today to find out where your internet friends live - like city and state and not just state.

Thanks for praying
love in Christ
Linda

Martin Zender - Crack O Dawn Report

Mercy is Better than Judgment

There was a blog the other day that I was reading. The man who writes the blog considers himself a minister of God. He met a man that he believed was mocking God and when the man asked the minister to pray for him, he refused, believing that this man was not deserving of prayer because of his ungodly attitude. I was heartbroken when I read that.

The fact that the man asked this minster to pray for him at all, shows that he at least acknowledges the fact that he needs prayer and the Lord. The Lord has chosen US, his sons and daughters to be the ones who show the lost who God is. Unfortunately for that man, the God he was shown was one who looks on the outward appearances and attitudes and condemns them, and forever separates Himself from that lost sinner.

But that is NOT who the true God is. The true God would have mercy on that poor lost man, who knows ONLY what the world has taught him. The true God would love the sinner and especially those that oppose themselves in their ignorance. The true God would have had mercy on that poor man, and said, "God loves you, even if you don't know it or appreciate it." God would forgive that man seventy times seven times, or so many times it would be beyond our human ability to count.

I do not even judge this particular minister. He is blinded by the same legalism that blinds the pharisees. The pharisees would say everyone who was not them was a sinner, and they could not see that they themselves were the biggest sinners of all because of their lack of love and compassion. This minister built a case against this man, a case in which the minister was justified in his condemnation of this poor lost man. This minister believes that his judgement against this man is God's judgment against this man. I'm sure the man believed that too. How very sad.

We are not to judge the lost, but love them and speak grace to them and not condemnation. There is ENOUGH condemnation in this awful evil world. We should endeavour to love people like Christ loved them and NOT condemn them, even if they are guilty - just like the woman taken in adultery. Jesus could have condemned that woman, but He didn't. Why? Because God is in the business of mercy more than judgment.

Be merciful to the people you come across in life today my friends. Love them that oppose themselves and are guilty. Forgive them and love them and don't hold their sins against them, because there may come a time in your life, when you need mercy and forgiveness. What goes around comes around.

Love in Christ
Linda

Plans Confirmed

The theme of this journey to Wyoming has definitely been Jeremiah 29:11. Before I even got here the Lord had put that verse on my heart. When I first walked into my aunt's house that verse was on a little plaque on her bathroom wall. She ended up giving me that plaque when we packed up her stuff in anticipation of her move.

Yesterday, my aunt and I were in a Christian bookstore looking for a gift for my cousin's wedding. I was just wandering around looking at stuff and saw a little stand that had a bunch of journals on it. I pulled one out to look at it, and on the front cover it said, "For I know the PLANS I have for you." Jeremiah 29:11! Wow. It was just a nice little confirmation once again that the Lord is still in control and has good plans for me, even if nothing seems to be happening at the moment.

My aunt found an apartment that is very nice and suits her needs and also has a garage that she was specifically praying about. We will be moving her over the next month. I have confirmation that I am to settle into Casper for a while and get a job, apartment, and eventually a car. I will be spending some time here, to see what the Lord would have me to see. I am trusting the Father that His plans for me are good. I have a job interview on Thursday.

My cousin is getting married tonight and my grandma and uncle and his wife are coming to stay at my aunt’s house tonight. There is a lot of things going on here, things I can’t go into detail on this blog, but my aunt and I have been praying a lot and doing spiritual warfare. I am beginning to see that a lot of my past walk has been works based, even though I did not see it at the time. It is not about what I am doing, but about the Lord and what He is doing, in my life, and the lives of those around me. I am learning to cleave to the Lord in His grace and mercy in my life, and trust in HIS PLANS for me, and not my own.

I see things differently now, and the legalism that was once who I was, is being purged from my system. Trusting in your walk and your works, is still legalism. But everyday brings new challenges and new awareness. Thank God for His amazing tender mercy in how he is dealing with me.

Love in Christ
Linda

Be Strong and of Good Courage

Three times the Lord told Joshua to be strong and of good courage before he was to lead the people of Isreal into the promised land. Today, the Lord wants us, His sons and daughters to also be strong and of good courage:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Eph 6:10

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim 2:1

I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 1 John 2:14.

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalms 27:14

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. Psalms 31:24

When our hope is in the Lord, He strengthens our heart, and wants us to be of GOOD courage.

The word courage from the dictionary reference website here is defined as, “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.”

It means fearlessness. Perfect love casts out fear. Fear is our biggest enemy because he who fears is NOT made perfect in love. If we have areas of fear and the one that I personally battle with lately is FEAR OF THE FUTURE – then we can pray to the Father to become fearless. To be filled with all strength in the Father and to have good courage.

Lots of love
Linda

Purpose of Heart

In Acts 11:22-23, Barnabas when he came to Antioch the first time, it says, "when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."

We sometimes have to purpose in our hearts that we will cleave unto the Lord no matter what is going on in our lives around us. We especially need to cleave unto the Lord when under extreme stress and anxiety. Sometimes we need to make a decision to delight in the Lord so that when troubles come, we cleave unto the Lord first thing.

The plans the Father has for us are GOOD, and NOT EVIL. Purpose in your heart that you will cleave unto the Father, come what may.

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalms 37:4

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalms 37:11

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. Psalms 37:23-24

Love in Christ my friends
Linda

Love is Salvation

Voice of Truth

Big Scary Bugs

(Ok, ok. Maybe not actually size! But close! Definitely close.)

Okay the last few weeks, my aunt and I have been having a battle against some AMAZINGLY FREAKY-ass bugs. Above is a picture of the first one we came across.

My aunt said if I cleaned her apartment she would give me $25 every two weeks so that I had a little spending money. So one day a couple weeks ago, I went into the kitchen with the view to sweeping and mopping, but what should I see creeping slowly across the kitchen floor but the above bug! I took a picture of it because I didn’t think anyone would believe how honking big this bug was. I get goose-bumps every time I think about it.

So I grabbed a paper plate and coaxed the hideous creature to step onto it, all the while imagining the bug flying towards me and eating off half my face. Luckily it stayed on the plate until I could throw away the plate and then quickly I tied the garbage bag and walked it out to the dumpster across the street. Phew.

Later when my aunt came home I showed her the picture and regaled my heroism in my battle against an unknown adversary. She looked at the picture and said, “I’ve never seen a bug like that.”

A couple days later, the second battle of the bugs occurred. This time my aunt was alone when she came across another bug, just like the first. She told me that she was not going to bother with paper plates and just grabbed a rolled up newspaper and hit it and hit it until it stopped twitching. I was horrified! “You killed it?” I gasped, “Oh my God, there will probably be some evil bug karma now (even though I don’t really believe in karma). I can’t believe you killed it!” So we knew something was on.

The next day I went to have a bowl of oatmeal. I keep my container of Quaker oats and the container of whey protein that I put in my oatmeal and the brown sugar, all in a plastic bag on top of the refrigerator because it is handy. When I brought down the bag, the bottom of the bag ripped and the contents fell out onto the floor. As I bent down to pick the stuff up, here was one of these bugs! It was dead, so I had no idea if the bug was in the sack before it ripped or just happened to be on the floor when the contents spilled out possibly killing it instantly. I shudder to think of it slinking around my breakfast bag.

Then a day or so later I went to wash the dishes. The little plastic tub that we wash dishes in was already full of soapy water so I reach in to grab the sponge and one of those bugs was stuck on the sponge! I tried to shake the bug off the sponge into the garbage but it was dead. It must have drowned but it was unshakably stuck to the sponge so I threw the bug away sponge and all. Later when my aunt got home from work I lifted up the lid to the garbage and showed her the bug stuck to the sponge. She said, “Lets bag that up so I can show my friend Sue and she can tell us what kind of bug it is.” I was all queasy fishing out the sponge with the dead bug stuck to it, but phew, got it put into a plastic bag for analyzing later.

Sue came over and we were moving some boxes out of the storage room when I noticed one of those same bugs dead on the sidewalk. It seems that someone went before me and decapitated the little fellow because its head was about three inches away from its body. I said, “Sue, come over here and see one of these bugs and tell me if you know what it is?”

So she walks over and what does she do? She steps right on the head! “EWWWWW!” I exclaim, “You stepped on the head!” Yuck. So she bends down and peers at the body and says, “That’s a Mormon cricket.” I thought, Yeah, Mormon. I told her I thought that they looked like a scarab and she said that scarabs are crickets which was something I did not know.

This brings us to today. I went into the kitchen this morning and noticed that there were not very many dishes to be washed, so I decided that I would wait until after I had breakfast to wash the dishes. There were a few spoons in the strainer and a bowl so I put them away. Then I heard a strange noise. It was kind of like a hissing noise. I wondered if there was air in the pipes or something and peered into the sink. Something caught my eye in the silverware holder of the strainer. I heard the noise again. Hiss, hiss. Inside the silverware holder was one of these bugs. Hiss, hiss.

Oh. My. God. Did you just hiss at me?

Sure enough, that bug’s body was moving in time with the hissing.

Hiss. Hiss.

OH THAT IS IT!!! I grabbed the strainer out of the sink and banged it over the garbage. The bug was out of the strainer but I couldn’t see it in the garbage bag. But I could hear it…

Hiss. Hiss. Hiss.

I was MORT-I-FIED! So I tied up that bag and walked it out to the dumpster but I could still hear that evil hiss coming from the bag. UGH. So that is the sixth occurrence of these bugs and as we all know, six is the number of all things scary.

Phew, I am getting goose-bumps just relating this horribleness. Have a good day today my friends and DON’T FORGET THE BUG SPRAY!~

Love in Christ
Linda

The Tarnishing Of A Brother’s Reputation

Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. Psalms 52:2-4

Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.

But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. Psalms 64: 3 -9

There is a law of reaping and sowing in effect. What we sow we SHALL reap, no matter what. Maybe if we discover it, the Lord may have mercy on us and not make us reap what we sow, but that is the exception to the rule.

Last year when I found myself in the middle of no where with NO money and NO gas I met a man who was kind to me. He didn’t have any money to give me, but he had a food stamp card and bought me some food. He found me a place to park my van, where I could sleep for the night. He liked me and tried to hold my hand. I was extremely focused on the Lord at that time so I told this man that I could not be in a relationship. We shared meals together. He found me some work and we worked together. We had a disagreement about an NA meeting, but then later after that, when I was crying he tried to kiss me.

I then proceeded to tear this man down and tarnish his reputation in order to justify my position as the heroine of the story and for dramatic effect. It wasn’t hard. He was a felon, so I magnified that point. It doesn’t matter that I actually believed my position on the matter, I was convinced that I was in the right and found a verse that justified my position by further making this man out to be the bad guy. I’m sure you know by now that I am talking about Johnny.

This man was in prison because he got drunk and did something reckless and stupid for which he paid for it by sitting in jail for six long years. He didn’t grow up in church and doesn’t know anything about the Lord, so he just did the best he could to do the right thing. He kept calling me and wanting me to come back down to Ontario to see him. But I resisted because I believed all the horrible things I had said about him. I believed he was an enemy trying to get me off the straight and narrow. I believed it because I was so legalistic that I believed that anything I really loved was somehow a sin and therefore had to be resisted at all costs.

Johnny got drunk and did something reckless. Maybe some of you that read this blog all the time, know that I myself got drunk a couple months ago. I posted as much on this blog. What most of you do NOT know is that when I got drunk, I called Johnny. Of course, I don’t know what I said to him, but he definitely made a renewed effort to contact me after that. I think he would be horrified and definitely would not want to be with me if he knew all the awful things I have posted about him on this blog.

God is not without a sense of irony. For God Himself opened my eyes to the truth. That God was the one that introduced me to Johnny, and it was God who kept that door open all this whole year so that when I began to see that not everything I loved was a sin, that Johnny was still there. But now, of course, everyone hates Johnny. My family, you all, etc. And why do you hate him? Because I made you hate him. Now that Johnny and I are getting together in a really good way – in a God sanctioned way – what I have sewn has come back to haunt me, to bite me in the ass. Oh people, understand – Johnny is NOT the bad guy.

I am.

So this is my public apology for all the bad things I said about Johnny. None of it was true. Well, it was true, we did have a little fight and he did try to hold my hand and kiss me – but I twisted those things to make them seem ominous and evil when they were really innocent. I can’t undo it, but I did delete those posts from last year and I am posting this apology so that you can know the truth.

Be careful my friends. Watch every idle word you may speak against someone, they could all come back on you. Speak grace and not condemnation, because you never know if you have to eat those same words later on.

I’m not so sure I want to keep blogging. So much of what I have posted in the past is legalism and a great way to elevate myself. I don’t believe that way anymore and I truly regret tarnishing Johnny’s reputation the way I did. I can’t take it back, I can just try now to make it right. Richard, understand that if you are going to beat me up with your comments – I’m not going to post them.

I hope you can forgive me.

Linda

Divisions

Three times in the gospel of John, it states that there was a division among the people.

The first instance is in John 7. It starts when the Jews began to talk about Jesus. Some say, “He is a good man.” And others say, “Nay – but he deceives the people.” Many of the people said, “Of a truth this is the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Shall Christ come out of Galilee?”

So there was a division among the people because of him. John 7:43

The Pharisees sent officers to take Jesus, but then later the Pharisees came upon the officers and said, “Why have ye not brought him?” The officers answered, “Never man spake like this man.” Then answered the Pharisees, “Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who know not the law are cursed.”

Jesus Christ IS the TRUTH. The people who saw Jesus for what He was – the TRUTH, believed on Him, but the Pharisees would not acknowledge that Jesus was the TRUTH because they found a way to twist the scriptures to prove their point against Him. In this instance it was that the Christ would not be from Galilee.

The second and third instance was in John 9 and 10, right after Jesus had opened the eyes of the man who was born blind. He was saying that He was the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. Then:

There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? John 10:19 – 21

That word division is the same Greek word that was translated “rent” in when you put a new piece of cloth on an old one the “rent” would become worse. It’s the Greek word schisma where we get the word schism. It is symbolic of the idea of one piece of cloth being torn. I Corinthians also has three instances of the same word division.

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions (schisma) among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Cor 1:10

In 1 Corinthians, the context of the divisions, were that the believer’s were divided over who their leadership was. They had missed the point. They were beginning to follow men instead of following the leading of the spirit of Christ within them. So that Paul has to state, “Is Christ divided?” The answer would be no! The body of Christ is not divided but one body. Yet within the Corinthian church of that day, they were divided. Paul states why they are divided:

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions (schisma), are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 1 Cor 3:1-4

They were divided because they were still carnally minded and not spiritually minded. Bottom line was, they were spiritually immature and could not get past the carnal mind to grow up into the truth. Even so, how does one become un-carnally minded? The carnal mind is blinded from the truth of spiritual things that are understood by the mind of Christ.

At the same time that Jesus was opening the eyes of one that was born blind – he was reproving the Pharisees because of their spiritual blindness. Seeing they see not. There are two things that blind people’s minds to the truth. The god of this world, (2 Cor 4:4) or the reading of the old testament when not rightly divided or seen through the accomplishments of Christ:

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 2 Cor 3:14-15

It is the Lord who opens people’s eyes and it is the Lord who leaves people blind. The carnal mind is enmity against the mind of Christ. When the blind men were sitting on the side of the road and heard that Jesus passed by, they cried out for him. When the people reproved them, they cried the louder. Then Jesus came and gave them sight, or un-blinded them. So it is available to cry out to the Father to have our eyes and minds open to His truth and to understand the old testament as it relates to the New covenant and the mind of Christ.

Unfortunately, most people do not know they are blind, just like the Pharisees. It is the Father’s will that the body of Christ be with out divisions. That there be no schisms in the body. The Father is opening the eyes of the blind all around us, the vail is being taken away. Cry out to Jesus to receive your sight and heal your carnal mind. You already have the mind of Christ.

Love in Christ
Linda