How Do You Respond?

Good day to you Mighty Warrior of the One True King! 

We do well to remember that the greatest response, no matter what is going on in life, is to be praying and offer up worship! It will cause doors to be opened and chains to be loosed, for you and for those who are around you.

When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; suddenly there came a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. - Acts 16:23-26

Is it easy? Nope! Is it worth it? Yes! There are so many things that we can pray and sing about. The following is not an all-inclusive list however it is a great starting place: the goodness of God; His incredible faithfulness; the amazing love of Jesus; the power of the blood; the same Spirit that raised Christ up from the dead is indwelt within us and we can boldly access the throne of grace.

Take stock of your life right now - what areas can you see that in the midst of whatever is going on that I will choose to pray and sing praise to the one true King? You might be in stocks like Paul and Silas were, or you might be in a place where it seems that everything is out of control in your world. What a great time to get doors open in your life and have chains be loosened - for you and whomever else is in your surroundings! You might be on the opposite side of life and you are successful, and you have no idea about hard times. What a great time to keep doors open in your life and stay chain free - for you and whomever else in your surroundings!

Photo Credit

What a great testament to who the Lord is in your life that you go after Him during the good, bad and just plain ugly!

- created by Lane Mercer (twoarrowsministries@gmail.com to schedule for ministry to your group)

Prayer October 21, 2014

     Good morning Lord!
  
     Thank You for today! Thank You for Your word ~ Your promises!
     This morning in my study Your word speaks of: 
Your creation ~ Genesis
Your power ~ Psalms
Your concern for Your children ~ Matthew
     You have given people so much, all that we need! - but we focus on our "wants".
     Please forgive us Lord, please open our eyes, our hearts and our spirits; soften our hearts that we hear Your voice, Your call - Let us learn to walk with integrity and righteousness, bringing to You first, pleasure in Your children and second, glory in Your workmanship.-
     Let our love and worship please You Father, let it wash away the bitterness of our neglect.
     In Jesus name~

The Winning Edge - Be The Best You Can Be!

     I had a dream/vision that I don't want to go into too deeply, but to share the substance of. I saw a battlefield in the aftermaths of a great battle, I was wearing armor myself so I knew I had been in the battle myself.  I saw one of the casualties and knew immediately who the person was and went to them. (This person had been someone in my life that had brought a lot of hurt to me and I was often in a position of needing to forgive them. Even though I had forgiven them, their actions and words had caused wounds and scars that I was still dealing with. However in the dream I only felt love and concern.)
     As I bent over them, I knew their wounds were fatal and I told them "don't speak" because I wanted them to live long enough to hear my assurances. Then I told them "I love you and I will see you in heaven". Then they were gone.
     (As I awoke from this dream I received a very valuable understanding. I was given a great deal of healing in this lesson and I've been able to apply it in my daily life and have felt pressure and leading from the Holy Spirit to share it here. Actually I had hesitated due to the personal nature of the dream, but the Spirit told me this morning that if I want to learn more I need to share what I have already received. Of course I want to learn more...so here goes!)
     I recognized the spiritual battle this person is living daily as they pour their life out in sacrifice for others - paying a higher price in their life service than mere man(including me!) can see with earthly eyes.
     In seeing this I have been able to let go of hurts they have brought, I was able to completely forgive them and lift them in prayer for strength, peace and comfort for the battle that they are living daily. I was given a new compassion for them through being able to see the condition of the battle they were striving through and the wounds their spirit was suffering! 
     I have seen that our life seems to run almost as if we are living parallel lives - physical and spiritual, at the same time and somehow God integrates it together for us. While we see the physical, the spirit is either busy growing or floundering, depending on our physical actions - do we study God's word? do we praise? do we pray? or do we go our own way pleasing ourselves?
     If we want to win the battle that our spirit is facing daily we have to take steps to give it the winning edge! We need to put on our armor, give our spirit good nourishment and train it! Would we send a soldier into battle wearing Tshirt, shorts and flip flops with a soda in hand, or do we want him geared in bulletproof armor and carrying powerful weapons?  Would we expect our soldier to be strong if we give him only junk food to survive on? We might be foolish enough to believe that would work, but it doesn't even require an expert to tell us that it won't work! Even an average mother/wife knows the family she cares for needs to be well fed and rested to perform at their best! How much more should we try to do for our spirits who are daily facing a battle against a "roaring lion" that is "looking to devour them"? Remember too that soldiers are more powerful in higher numbers, so take time for fellowship, not to mention that it is included as a directive from Jesus!
    
To "Recap":
     The First Lesson I learned from the dream/vision is to See to others,
     They are facing battles daily themselves that you don't see (some are even "life threatening" battles), when others cause offense or hurts to you, Forgive them! Support them in their struggles through prayers for their protection, strength, peace and health, after all their victories are your victories as their losses are ours also!(John 17:11) And, give the hurts and offenses to God (yes, repeatedly if you need to!), He will handle them for you if you give them to Him.
     The Second Lesson is to See to Yourself,  We are in a battle daily!
     So Daily :

•      Put on Your armor
•      Feed your spirit healthily and nutritiously(Study the Word)
•      Keep your heart, ears and eyes always on your Commander(Prayer)
•      Praise and Worship Him!
•      Fellowship (maybe not daily, but at least weekly) (encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on Hebrews 10:25) Remember the larger the army the better the chance for victory, if one falls down the other can pick him up!

Ok Team! Let's go out and win each day's battle for our Lord and Saviour!

~Lorna Mercer