Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My Jesus, Your Jesus

I've been doing this blog for about a month now. If you have followed along you know my testimony, and you know what God has done for me. How He has restored me, and set me free, even though I have messed up so many times in my life. My Jesus has always been there to pick me up, and in the times when I couldn't walk, He so lovingly carried me. And just as He longed for a relationship with me, and has always been there for me. He longs for a relationship with you and will always be there for you as well. Revelation 3:20 says Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

I personally have never had the privilege of helping to lead someone to the Lord. But I would like to take that opportunity now. What God did for me, I know He can do for you. I can honestly say from personal experience that once the Lord touches your life you will never be the same again. If you will allow me I would like to share with you how you to can find your way to my Jesus, so that He will become YOUR Jesus too.

You may be saying, hey wait a second I'm a good person, I haven't killed anyone, or done anything majorly wrong. Why would God consider me a sinner? The first thing we need to do is recognize our need for a Saviour. The Bible tells us in Rom 3:23 " for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, "

And to realize that sin has a penalty Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord".

But we have Hope because God the Father made a way of provision for us to get to Him through Jesus Christ His Son. Rom 5:8 tells us "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".

And because He made a way for us, we can respond to His call to us Rom 10:9-10 "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation".

So to just do a quick recap of things, We first must admit that we are all sinners that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). That we must "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). And confess your faith "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:9-10).

Like I said in an earlier post I'm not a preacher, or a missionary, and my purpose here is to simply be real with you. I'm not here to condemn or judge you in any way. But I do know that one day I realized I needed a Saviour. Jesus came to this earth and died for my sins, so that I could come to the Father, and receive forgiveness. And even if you were the only person on this planet, Jesus still would have come and died for you, because He loves you so much.

If you are at the end of your rope like I was, and simply rededicate your life to Christ, or if you have never received Christ into your heart and you really want to receive Him, would you simply pray this prayer with all of your heart. " Dear Lord Jesus, I see that I have a need for You in my life, and for the gift of eternal life You died for me to have. I ask that You forgive me of my sins, and come into my heart to live and be Lord of my life all the days of my life. I surrender my life to You today. I thank You for the gift of salvation that You have so graciously given me. And I thank you that my name is now written in the Lambs book of life. I ask that You now come and lead me today and show me how to live, and follow You. I thank you for all these things in Jesus Name I pray Amen.

If you just prayed this prayer I want to be the first to welcome you into the Kingdom of God. If you have prayed this prayer from your heart, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at journeyoflifetime2009@gmail.com . I'd love to hear your testimonies as well. ---Believer

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Who I Am In Christ

“WHO I AM IN CHRIST”

  • I am complete in Him Who is the Head of all principality and power (Colossians2:10).
  • I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).
  • I am free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
  • I am far from oppression, and fear does not come near me (Isaiah 54:14).
  • I am born of God, and the evil one does not touch me (I John 5:18).
  • I am holy and without blame before Him in love (I Peter 1:16; Ephesians 1:4).
  • I have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5; I Corinthians 2:16).
  • I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
  • I have the Greater One living in me; greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world (I John 4:4).
  • I have received the gift of righteousness and reign as a king in life by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).
  • I have received the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of my understanding being enlightened (Ephesians 1:17,18).
  • I have received the power of the Holy Spirit to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to cast out demons, to speak with new tongues. I have power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm me (Mark 16:17,18; Luke 10:17,19).
  • I have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of Him Who created me (Colossians 3:9,10).
  • I have given, and it is given to me; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, men give into my bosom (Luke 6:38).
  • I have no lack for my God supplies all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus(Philippians 4:19)
  • I can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one with my shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16).
  • I can do all things through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13).
  • I shall do even greater works than Christ Jesus (John 14:12).
  • I show forth the praises of God Who has called me out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2:9).
  • I am God’s child⎯for I am born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, which lives and abides forever (I Peter 1:23).
  • I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ unto good works (Ephesians 2:10).
  • I am a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17).
  • I am a spirit being⎯alive to God (I Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 6:11).
  • I am a believer, and the light of the Gospel shines in my mind (II Corinthians 4:4).
  • I am a doer of the Word and blessed in my actions (James 1:22,25).
  • I am a joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17).
  • I am more than a conqueror through Him Who loves me (Romans 8:37).
  • I am an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony (Revelation 12:11).
  • I am a partaker of His divine nature (II Peter 1:3,4).
  • I am an ambassador for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20).
  • I am part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people (I Peter 2:9).
  • I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 5:21).
  • I am the temple of the Holy Spirit; I am not my own (I Corinthians 6:19).
  • I am the head and not the tail; I am above only and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13).
  • I am the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).
  • I am His elect, full of mercy, kindness, humility, and longsuffering (Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12). - I am forgiven of all my sins and washed in the Blood (Ephesians 1:7).
  • I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13).
  • I am redeemed from the curse of sin, sickness, and poverty (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 28:15-68).
  • I am firmly rooted, built up, established in my faith and overflowing with gratitude (Colossians 2:7).
  • I am called of God to be the voice of His praise (II Timothy 1:9; Psalm 66:8).
  • I am healed by the stripes of Jesus (I Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:5).
  • I am raised up with Christ and seated in heavenly places (Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:6).
  • I am greatly loved by God (Colossians 3:12; Romans 1:7; I Thessalonians 1:4; Ephesians 2:4).
  • I am strengthened with all might according to His glorious power (Colossians 1:11).
  • I am submitted to God, and the devil flees from me because I resist him in the Name of Jesus (James 4:7).
  • I press on toward the goal to win the prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward (Philippian4:19). For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love, and a sound mind (II Timothy1:7).
  • It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).

Who We Are In Christ

Speaking as someone who struggled with her self esteem for most of her life, the need to know how Jesus sees me is even more important. You see, the enemy Satan would love to not only see me, but countless others to believe his lies that we are nothing, that we are worthless no body's who have no purpose, no future, and we might as well just suffer, and just give up.

This can't be further from the truth. God made us, mankind in His image ( Genesis 1:26 ). And as I always say "He don't make junk". For a long time I didn't understand why I was the way I am. What really made me tick, why am I so sensitive, why do I long to be loved so much?

I finally got the answer when my Care Pastor had me take a test called the" Arno Profile System". It's a test that helps a person see what their temperament is, so they can get their needs met. Whether that need be from ones self, others, and even God Himself. It was an 8 minute test with about fifty or so questions. It's a first response test meaning you circle what you first response is to a question. After it's finished it goes to some one for evaluation, and they then figure out all your temperament types in three different areas,1.Inclusion(Social), 2. Control, 3. Affection. Just google out Arno profile on your search engine and you can find out more about this amazing test. I recommend that everyone take this test. So that you can find out what your needs are and how to meet them.

After I found out the results of my test, everything started to make since. Why I longed so many years for affection, even though I was very loved by my family and friends I still couldn't get enough. That's because my strongest need is in affection. I'm in the middle as far as expressing affection, but what I want is off the charts in the test. Because of this it is very important that I go to my Lord Jesus to meet that need where others can't. And truthfully it's a balance of family, friends, and my Jesus.

For many years it was hard for me to believe that God loved me and accepted me. Even after I came back to the Lord, it took many years for me just to believe that He really does love me, and He wants me to know who I am in Christ, and own it for myself by faith. When I heard Him call me " My Cathy " at the Cleansing Stream Retreat I knew once and for all that I really am His. So with that I am going to post a list that speaks of who we are in Christ once we are saved. I encourage you all to read this daily if needed in order to get God's word inside you. I also suggest that you read it out loud so you can hear the words. If read aloud often enough you will begin to believe His word, How much He loves you and how He sees you ---Believer

Monday, May 18, 2009

Journey, Part 26

On Saturday we addressed many things like purity, and fear. One of the things was on guilt, shame and condemnation. I have to let you know for you to understand this part of my story, that I have my own personal term of endearment for the Lord. I call Him " my Jesus " thereby making it very personal. Below I have included a section of an email that I had sent to a friend of mine telling her of what God did for me on Saturday morning at the Cleansing Stream Retreat:

I'm rediscovering my Jesus, and He has done so much in my life. I love Him so much. And for the first time in my life I know that I really am His. This weekend at the retreat was amazing. There came a time when we went up for prayer for Guilt/Shame and Condemnation. I went up with and idea of what I wanted prayer for, But God had other things in mind. They had us get water all over our hand so we could remove the veil that was keeping us from seeing the Lord. So one of the people helped me walk over to an anointer so I could keep my hands wet. The anointer held onto my arms so I wouldn't fall over and they told me to go ahead and wipe the veil off my face. So because I had done this before, I simply went through the motion. At that point a captain ( that's someone who is there for the anointer if they need help praying ) came up and said are you done. I didn't feel like I was done so they told me to do it again, tears were streaming down my face, they told me to take my time and do it as much as I needed too. The more I did it the more aggressively I wanted this off of me. I began to cry harder and began to push harder on my face pulling the veil down, in the spirit I could see like I was clawing at my face trying to get this thing off of me, finally I saw one large chunk that looked like black bubble wrap come off my face, and I knew I was done, so they told me to look up with my eyes open and hands raised high in praise. They were encouraging me and praying and rejoicing with me the whole time. The captain asked me if I could see my Jesus. I was having problems but I knew the Lord wanted to show me something. He told me it was ok if I closed my eyes. I was telling the Lord that I loved Him, when I saw Him or I should say the impression of Him, and He cupped my face in His Hands, and on my right side, the side where I had seen the stuff removed, He began stroking with His hand, as if He were healing that place. I told Him again that I loved Him, and He simply said "My Cathy". Well of course I totally lost it at that point, and praised Him all the more. From there we went after the spirit of guilt shame and condemnation, and cast it out of my life for good. I am Free! And I know that I know, That I really am His. And know that He loves me.

I just wanted to share with you a little bit of what God does at these retreats I know His work is not all about me, but this was just so very precious. He's so amazing! You see God knows right where to meet us, and when to meet us. He so gentle with us because He loves us so very much. He wants to see all His children free from the things that bind us. And I will have to say time and time again I've seen how God brings healing and restoration through the " Cleansing Stream " Ministry.

Won't you step into His cleansing stream? You will never regret it.---Believer

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Journey, Part 25

For the past eight weeks I've been going through the " Cleansing Stream Seminar" with my friend and Care Pastor. We finished up with the Retreat this past weekend. It was far more than anyone could have asked for and believed would happen. There were around 100-150 people there and it was so amazing to watch every one get free from all the bondage's. The neat thing about Cleansing stream, is that it is a discipleship ministry. Teaching and training people up to get rid of bondage's from their lives, and be able to stay free. For many of us we would go up for prayer with something in mind, or not knowing what to expect and then God in His Awesomeness would do what He wanted.

I personally have done Cleansing Stream eleven times, I've done every thing from being a participant to being an anointer. Ten times in the church that I went where I lived before I met my husband and got married. And I just finished the eleventh time this past weekend, except this time I went as a participant. Now you may be asking yourself why anyone would go through something like that eleven times. Well my answer to you is 1.) It's like an onion that has many layers, and each time you go through God goes a little deeper, and peels another layer of the onion off. And 2.) It's not only awesome to get free myself, but to see so many other people getting free as well from the stuff from our pasts. And then the third and final reason is that you walk away with tools that you will be able to use your entire Christian walk.

On Friday night we were dealing with rejection, and the spirit behind rejection. Well God began dealing with me two days before the retreat, about my childhood and began showing me how much rejection I really had felt as a child, that I really didn't think had been there. But He began to show me on Wednesday before the retreat. Once we were dealing with the rejection on Friday night, the Lord began to show me that I had, so much shame and self rejection, for being born with Cerebral Palsy. Now like I said in an earlier blog, I've never felt sorry for myself for being born the way I was born. I've always taken the stance that I wouldn't be who I am if I hadn't been born with a disability. So when the Lord started showing me this I knew He was touching stuff from way back in my childhood. Stuff I hadn't even realized was there.

They had us go up for prayer, by rows and where I was sitting was about three quarters of the way back so I had a while to wait, but as soon as the people in the first row stood up and started going to be prayed for I started crying, and I couldn't stop. I cried the whole time, and finally I got my turn to be prayed for. I went up, and I began to tell the anointer ( the person who prays for and with you ) of my childhood, We went after the spirit of rejection, and broke it's hold over my life, and commanded it to never return in Jesus Name.

I don't want you to think that we were a bunch of demon possessed people, because we weren't. Once a Christian and you have accepted Jesus into your heart, you CAN NOT be demon possessed, because Jesus holds that place in our hearts. But what we can be is oppressed, which means being held down by the enemy, and he can tell you lies and try to hinder your walk with Christ, and to try to keep you from becoming all that God wants you to be.

I have said it before and I will say it again, Christians aren't perfect, we are simply saved by the grace and mercy of God through His Son Jesus.---Believer.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Journey, Part 24 Update

Yesterday I went to the church to help do some stuff. I was talking to my Care Pastor about my blog when I got emotional, and began telling her about how my heart was still pretty tender about the whole healing thing. Upon hearing this we ended up in an unplanned counseling session. God did some amazing things, He showed me that I was still dealing with rejection from my childhood, stuff I thought I had long since dealt with.

I received an answer of why I wasn't physically healed. After months of searching and praying, to the Lord asking Him why because I was certain that I had heard Him correctly, and had even received confirmation through my friend. That even months after I been through the fire, I still felt in my heart that I had heard Him correctly. But the physical healing still hadn't manifested, so I must not heard right. I was saying to her that I had no idea there had been so much stuff still in my life from my childhood and that maybe the healing the Lord had told me would happen on October 17,2008 was not a physical healing, but instead an emotional one. As soon as I heard the words come out of my mouth, I knew the Lord had given me the answer, I had so longed for. I knew the healing was an emotional healing. So you see the healing did come, it just did not happen in the way I had expected. Is the promise of physical healing still there, yes it is, in fact the Lord spoke to me this morning about it from His Word in Psalms 37:5 " Commit you way to the Lord, Trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass ". I have assurance that My God is not a man that He should lie. He always fulfills His Word, and His promises to His children. Isaiah 55:11 says " So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it ".

So you may be asking after all this does she still believe that she will be healed physically? The answer to that is YES, absolutely without doubt. So I will continue to wait on the promise that I know my Lord gave me.

In order for the Lord to do the work that He wanted to do in me, I had to be broken and poured out for Him. Do I understand it all, no, and I don't know if I ever will. But I do know that I am so very thankful to my Lord for doing it, because if I hadn't gone through the hurt, and it really was a great hurt. I wouldn't be who I am today, and where I am in my walk with Him today. So for that I am eternally grateful to Him.

Being a Christian ( A Christ follower) doesn't mean that all your problems go away the moment you accept Him into your heart. It means that you are not alone, that He is always with you, giving you the strength you need to get through the storms in your life, 2 Corinthians 12:9b-10c says And He said to me, "........My strength is made perfect in weakness.........For when I am weak, then I am strong. In other words when we are weak He is strong. We can lean on His strength and trust that He will get us through each and every storm we go through, that He knows what is best for us and will not misguide us. I know He has for me, and I know He will for you too.---Believer.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Journey, Part 23

Well there you have it, my entire testimony to date, and you have now read about the worst most darkest place I've ever been. But God is faithful even when we are not, I guess that's one of the things I wanted you to see the most.

We have a very kind and loving God. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). I want you to see through the example in my life that Christians are merely people like everyone else, and sometimes we make wrong choices, and mistakes. We are not perfect by any means. But God is Faithful in that if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ( 1 John 1:9).

He desires that none should be lost and He loves you so much. 1Timothy 2:4 -6 says that God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.

I'm not trying to preach here. My life has not been a perfect one, but He's always been here to guide me along the way, giving me His love, mercy and grace . By no means do I think I have had the most horrific life, because I know there are people out there who have had it much worse than I. But I know now through this journey of a lifetime that God has been here with me all the way, and has never, nor will He ever leave or forsake me ( Hebrews 13:5)

And that longing empty feeling that I have always had, that need for love and acceptance. Well I have now found the One and only One who can fill that place inside me. It is not by doing anything for Him, it is simply being His child, that we find true love and acceptance in Christ. That empty longing feeling is now gone and is being filled with the love of my Lord and God. He has restored me, and made me whole and complete in a way I've never been before.

This concludes the Testimony part of this blog. I pray it has blessed you. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 5:23).---Believer