Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire Part 2

Hello Beloved,

Do you remember the book I was telling you about? FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE?
Well, I want to tell you more about it..
The formula for a good life filled with whatever you need( not what you want always) is so
simple. Prayer.
" The more we pray, the more we sense our need to pray; and the more we sense the need
to pray, the more we want to pray."
I guess if you want a breakthrough you need to read Acts 2:42
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers."

Sounds so simple doesn't it? Then why don't we do it? So simple...PRAYER
Something else I found interesting in this book...
A minister from Australia or New Zealand was visiting and this the comment he made.
" You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. You can tell how popular the pastor or Evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night ; BUT, you can tell how
popular Jesus is by who comes to the PRAYER meeting."

Now that is just powerful to me.
What is prayer? It is the sound of people freely expressing their hearts needs, desires, and praises. Check out Genesis 4: 25-26 ( KJV)
The last line is .... then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.: Thus begins a relationship
with God.
RELATIONSHIP: connecting or binding participants in a relationship.
So with prayer we are connecting with God. This is how we build a relationship, communication.
I guess it is no different then learning about someone here. You talk, you listen, you learn,
communication....

PASSION: a intense feeling or conviction, devotion to some activity.
When we are ask to pray for someone or something we need to pray with passion, cry out or implore aid.
When you pray start thinking about your relationship with God and know that you can CRY out
to Him. He is after all our " ABBA" our daddy.

This book is filled with things I have never thought of like this before.. I just read something else in the book I want to share..
" If we don't want to experience God' closeness here on earth why would we want to go to heaven anyway? I think that is profound! Think about it.... I for one am going to do all I can
to have that closeness with God..
Passion.. We need passion in our relationship with God..
How many relationships start with physical passion? So why not with God?
I don't know about you Beloved but this old girl is having an eye opener with this book..
I really hope you will all try to read this book.. It is again called FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE
by Jim Cymbala.
Thank you all so much for listening to me go on and on .. I love you all dearly.
God Bless till next time.....

The above was sent out as an email to all my friends and families in October 2009
Remember: Smile , when you do you are dressed the most beautiful you can be.
your friend in Christ Jesus, billiemae

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Part 1

I am going to share here what I shared with my email friends in October. I started writing to
them " Beloved" letters. So now I will share with you my Beloved.

Hello Beloved,

I just felt the need to talk to you today. I am reading a book called: FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE, by Jim Cymbala. This man is the Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, in New York.

This is a man who did not go to school to become a pastor but was called by God. I am not very far into the book yet but already I have learned something from it. This man was having a hard time starting his church. He felt lost, lonely and tired, BUT ( there is always a but) he really LOVED the Lord.. Have you ever felt lost, or lonely or tired? I know I have..... anyway..... This man was not well and went to visit his in-laws in Florida and while there he went out on a fishing boat. He didn't fish but he did catch something.... He caught God's attention......
He prayed about all the things in his life that seemed to be going wrong and he questioned...
Well I will tell you what he believes God ( I believe it too) impressed upon him, NOT in his ears but upon his heart.
" If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack
for something to preach. I will supply all the money that's needed , both for the church and for
your family. .. and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response."

Now I will tell you what he went back and told the people in his church.

"From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens on
Tuesday night will be the gauge which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us."
The answer is so simple...... prayer.

This is such a good book folks, I wish you would all get it and read it..
Prayer such a simple thing to do and I find it the hardest to understand.. Do you?
I pray and talk to the Lord all the time. but I also keep asking myself if I am doing it right? Is
there a right or wrong way to pray? I don't know the answer to that for sure... I know I question sometimes if I am doing it right or wrong.. What should I pray for? Should I pray out loud or silent? I don't know, but I am going to finish this book and see how it went for these folks..
Today this same church is LARGE and I believe PRAYER may be the reason why.
I know I too Love the Lord with all my heart so what is the difference? Is it how we pray?
Thanks for listening to me today.. I love you all .. May God shine down on you today.
Remember : Smile, when you do , you are dressed the most beautiful you can be..
your friend in Christ Jesus, billiemae

Troubled

I was just thinking about this blog page and how no one visits it . My sister thought it would be a good idea... I really am not so sure.. I think it is good for me, but someone else ? No, don't think so... so the thoughts I write today are for me....
There is just so much going on in the world right now... The weather is weird, cold where it is usually warm, tsunamis all over the place, it is just upside down stuff. People are so into themselves( now if this isn't the pot calling the kettle black I don't know what is!), people are searching for something to believe in but what? People without jobs, losing their homes, drugs, so many things to discourage us.. Why isn't someone ( should be me) telling people not to give up. We should be encouraging each other with positive thoughts... Like last night in Bible study our Pastor was telling us about the children of Israel and how for 40 years they wandered in the wilderness ( I did it for 56 years, dummy me!) because of unbelief... They sent spies into the promised land and sent 12 but only two, Joshua and Caleb came back with a good report. In Numbers 13:30 " Caleb tells them before Moses , that we are able to overcome it."

I guess that is what I am telling myself today. That we are able to overcome it.. Life is hard
for each generation in that generations own way. But if we look back over them we see that
each one was able to overcome whatever was in the way.... I believe that if we look toward
Christ Jesus we too can overcome it... No matter what it is that we either don't understand, or fear we too can overcome it...
I really wish someone would read this blog, but hey, if they dont that is ok too. I will encourage myself with the Word of God... David encouraged himself in the Lord. 1 Samuel 30:6
I really am troubled by not being able to help someone . I love so much the Word of God and I know what it has done for me in my life and I know that I know that I know when it is my time to leave this place that I have a home in Heaven with a Heavenly Father who loves me..
I thank you Lord Jesus for the peace of knowing that in you I rest...
Well smile, when you do you are dressed the most beautiful you can be... your friend in Christ Jesus , vickie

Testimony

I want to tell you my Testimony.

While taking a bath today something came to me.... Like most people I sing in the tub and the song I was singing started to penetrate my thoughts... The song was " Love Lifted Me"
You all probably know it... it goes like this..

Love lifted me, Love lifted me, when nothing else could help, love lifted me..
I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore,
very deeply stained within , sinking to rise no more.
but, the Master of the sea, heard my disparing cry
from the water lifted me , now safe am I..
Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help, love lifted me..

It hit me, that is exactly what happened to me when I fall in the bathtub in 2007!
LOVE LIFTED ME!!!!!!!!!!
I can not get over how personal God is with me.. I ask myself , Who Am I, and then I think about it and I know who I am... I am a whosoever, just like in John 3:16. God LOVED me! ME!!!!!
I am so thankful and grateful for my salvation.. I want to sing prasies to Him for ever..
He brought me from a deep dark bottomless pit of despair and showed me LIGHT. Jesus is the LIGHT of the world.... I love Him so much and I want to share that love with all that I can..
Jesus is coming back soon and I want all to know Him and love Him the way I do....
So my testimony is that Love Lifted Me when I wasn't looking.... Thank you , Thank you, Dear Lord Jesus.

Remember to Smile today for you will be dressed the most beautiful you can be...
your friend in Christ Jesus, vickie

Grand Promise

Good Morning my Beloved Family and Friends!

What a beautiful crisp and sunny morning it is. Snow covered ground and fresh crisp air. What a beautiful day to be alive! I want to share with you something I read this morning in one of the Bibles I am reading... This morning it is out of the Childrens Living Bible. It says,

" Always be full of joy in the Lord: I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for the answers. If you do you will experience God' s peace , which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 4-7

Now is that not a grand promise!!!!! Full of joy and rejoice.. Praise. Pray always... sometimes the answer is no. Thankful... Thank Him even when the answer is no... He knows our every need... Peace will follow... What a grand promise!!!!!
I just wanted to share that with you today...
I am so glad that Jesus waited on me... I am beyond happy in the comfort of my Lord' arms..
I love Jesus Christ with all that I am and I just want to share my joy with you... Jesus is coming back soon and I want to tell the world to get ready.... I hope your ready for His return..
May God shine down on you today with more blessings then you can count.
Smile, when you do you are dressed the most beautiful you can be... your friend in Christ Jesus, vickie

Part Three

November 6, is a day I will always remember... This evening was the first of a conference at our church and it lasted all weekend. Wow! what a great weekend it was.
In the last post I told you about a elder at our church with whom I was speaking and she said something to me I don't think I shall ever forget.... It went something like this, " Sin is like an onion, it has many layers." I tell you that just blew me away.
You know we all have sin in our lives and we try to get rid of them.. but without Jesus Christ in our life we cannot.. I want to relay to you now what happened to me on Friday evening, November 6.
My husband and I went to church that evening and we saw a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Several pastors were there from other churches and so many youths... It was a wonderful full church this night!
The youths from all the churches there put on skits. It was great to see all the young people getting into Jesus Christ .. The understanding of scriptures through the eyes of the young. What a treat that was ....We had worship service and song service before the Pastor came out to speak.
Something started happening to me that has NEVER happened to me before. I just hope I can explain it so it can be understood.
While I was seated I felt like someone was "behind" me, only it really felt more like in me, behind me. I turned and no one was there.. This happened to me several times and always no one was there.... The Pastor came out and started talking and he started talking about climbing a ladder ( I think) I was there and not there at the same time... They finally had a alter call about half way through the sermon and so many people went forward and I was one of them...
( Now, before I go on , I have been in church most of my life and I have always been a believer
in Christ Jesus... I have be baptized in Jesus name too... ) I went down and I stood with my arms reaching high in Praise. Then the something that had NEVER happened , happened.. I started Praising outloud and crying outloud and moaning outloud, and the more I did this the lower I seemed to get to the floor.. I tell you this was very painful , not in the physcial but in my spirit.. I got so low to the floor and then I just started laughing and laughing hard and praising.
God' Spirit was with me, in me, and all around me! When it was finally over,( I don't know how long it lasted) I was so exhausted and FREE!!!! Yes, FREE!
I believe with all of my heart that I was being " peeled like an onion" . Remember how the elder
had told me that sin was like and onion with many layers? Well I think I had several layers of sin peeled off me this night! I still thank God for it and I will always Prasie Him....
After this night things in my life have been different... I look at things differently now... I needed
this experience to help me grow.. I believe that it did.
There is a song called " I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now" Well , I WOULD NOT take anything for my journey now... I love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart, mind, and soul. I await his return with open arms...
I don't know if this will help anyone or not.. I don't know if anyone will believe it or not... I only know that it happened to me and I am so grateful for all of it so far.
Well till next time... Smile, when you do , you are dressed the most beautiful you can be.
your friend in Christ Jesus. vickie

Hi,
I will just go on from last post.

I was moved to a room on the second floor of the hospital. I was told not to move around as they
needed to have my doctor come and see me.... Well after they settled me in , I had my visitors
for abit then all left and I was finally alone ... For the next two days I laid in that bed not moving much... I was not even hungry and I couldn't watch tv to well, so I just laid and thought..
Now on that wall was a clock and a cruifix.. This is what I looked at and thought about for the next two days..
Have you ever thought about what Christ Jesus went through BEFORE he was hung on the cross? How he was treated and why? What kind of pain he had to endure and for whom?
What each and every second must have been like for Him? I counted seconds off that clock
for 48 hours! It was not fun lying there not able to take deep breaths and that set me to thinking about Christ Jesus.. I don't remember much about what went on in that room with
people poping in and out but I remember how much it hurt me to think that I was the reason
Jesus went to that cross...
I came home and went to see a specialist and had to wear a neck brace for 8 weeks. In that 8 weeks I had to be humbled.. I am a very independant person and I like to do for you but not you for me.. That was lesson # 2. I have learned how to accept help now and I think I am maybe the better for it..
I went back to work right before Christmas and was so glad to be back in the public again.
While I was off they hired a new person at work and she and I had our differences. Long story short, I was only back to work about 10 months and I was let go.... That was a great big blow
to me, not just because of the money but because of self-esteem.. I had none. I spoke when I should not have , she was the favorite with the boss so I was ask to leave.. I have been out now for about 14 1/2 months or so and just recently found out the reason I was ask to leave was because I pray to much.. SO if you lose your job and it is for the same reason. PRAISE GOD!!!
I tell you true it was a long and hard strugggle that first year for me. I began to lose hope and faith.. But God wasnt't done with me.... Oh, thank you Jesus.
I have a great church family and friends... They kept me in prayer and one of my sisters who is the dearest and sweetest girl I know just keep sending me things via email... God Bless her...
So in September 2009 she sent something to me and I have adopted it as my own now.. I will share with you ... The short version is :
" Starting today and for the next 29 days I will pray for __________."

Well I did this and prayed all of October faithfully. On Novermber 6 at a conference at church
I know that God answerd that pray.. Not just for me but for many people at that conference.. To God goes all the Glory!
The morning of 6 Novemeber, I had taken some food out to the church and one of the
elders was there... she and I just talked about this and that... I left and then that evening I went back for services.... something happened that night that has forever changed me... I will tell you more in another post.
Smile , when you do you are dressed your best! billiemae