A Reason to Write

I know its been forever.
Sorry.
I didnt want to write anything unless there was something to write.

Last week I attended the Mountain of Worship Conference (www.Mountainofworship.com) that my dear friends and I helped put together. The conference name was "Signs and Wonders"
I have not seen such excitement in the body of Christ since the Toronto Blessing first started in 1994. Nearly everyone was out of their seat. Some danced. Some waved flags and banners. Some were filled with holy laughter and fell down laughing themselves silly. It may not all have made a lot of sense, but during worship......
A woman in a wheel chair got up and walked. My good friend had her shoulder healed. A man who could hardly bend his kness for the pain was doing squats.
God was in the house.
I could feel Him.
I could hardly stand for the heavy weight of His presence.
Everything is changing
And I have finally found my voice.

More to come.......

A Waitress and High Water

Then there was the waitress....

She was a teacher, a woman after my own heart
And she was still waiting tables.
I gave her a word about God suppling all her need, but it didn't seem to be enough
So I wrote her a check......
One of my friends also gave her an encouraging word and she was so very thankful.
Tears threatened to overflow and she gave out so many hugs
God is good.

Then there was the hurricane.....

I watched the news all day. I couldn't take my eyes from it. How could such devestation hit our country? I cried out to God to manifest His glory. This disaster is the perfect opportunity for Him to show His strenght.
i know there will be much discussion on this topic. It brings the ephermeral nature of life into stark clarity.
Pray for our countrymen
Do not judge, just pray.

Because of His Wonderful Love,
laura

What to do? What to Do?

So.... I shared one of the words for a friend that I believe the Lord gave me.

Odd thing...

I was headed over to my friend's house and drove right past one road and nearly missed another. I felt the Lord was telling me to be careful to not miss where my friend was at spiritually. I needed to be sensitive and listen carefully.

Nearly as soon as I arrived, my friend shared a dream with me. She rarely remembers her dreams, but this one really stuck with her. However, she had no idea what it meant.... But I did.
In her dream she did exactly the opposite of what my word for her was and she saw my husband (which I knew represented our family)bashing her on the head with something heavy (albeit accidentily) This bashing I am sure represented bible thumping. It was a dream that said, "I feel like you are bashing me over the head with religion and I want to do the very thing your God says I should not do."

I was a little in shock, to say the least. She seemed clueless as to the dream's meaning and there I stood about to open my mouth and share the word the Lord had given me knowing full well she, at least subconsiciously, did not want to hear it.

O me of little faith. What to do, what to do?

I carefully shared the word (which was very positive and encouraging) and she seemed to respond positivlely. She expressed a desire to get closer to God and recognized His hand in her life. But I was still very uncomfortable. Should I tell her the meaning of the dream? Had I really messed up by sharing anything at all?

After talking with a close Christian friend, we agreed I should come clean and tell her the meaning of her dream in compassion and express my concern that she felt I wanted to bash her over the head with my faith. I have NO DESIRE to do any such thing and I want her to be free from such fear.

I am finding this prophecy thing, this following the leading of the Holy Spirit thing, to be a little tricky : )

Another event..

While clothes shopping with my son today and waiting around for him to try stuff on, I asked the Lord to give me someone to minister to. I wanted to pray with someone. Soon enough I saw a young clerk wearing hearing aids. She was arranging clothes and kept walking by me. I was nervous about stepping out, but finally decided the next time she walked by, I would ask her if I could pray for her ears.

She wandered off and a 30 something man stood near me looking at pants. I struck up a converstion with him and he shared that he could possibly be leaving for the war shortly to do a year term and his wife was due with their first baby very soon. I asked if I could pray with him and he was delighted. We prayed and the spirit of God felt like a big hug, warm and wonderful. Turns out, he is the cousin of the man we purchased our home from and his brother-in-law lives right around the corner from us. Neat connections.

He went in to try things on and I saw the young deaf girl again. I asked her if I could pray for her and she thanked me and said, "No thanks, I am proud of who I am"
Odd... you think you should go one direction, but God has another plan.

Well, I am learning and I intend to keep up this great experiment.

Laura : )

I Did

Here's a quote a friend sent me this morning

"God has not sent angels or any other beings other than mankind to possess the kingdom of God. Only man is made in the image of God and today can be filled with the life of the Spirit of the resurrected Christ. Only man has the God-given place to rule and reign with Christ on earth."

I was telling a few friends about the old man on the road side and as I heard the words "Something really cool happened to me today.." come out of my mouth, the Lord quickend my heart and said, "It did not happen to you, you did it."

Now this is partly about that old teaching of not taking glory for anything. I would never say, “Guess what I did” because it might sound proud. But the fact is …..I did. I stepped out in faith. There was no one else there to do it for me. God did not get out of the car and open His mouth. We need to stop being bystanders and expecting Him to show up and do something amazing. WE are His vessels here on this earth. If we do not DO something, who will?


AIMEE SEMPLE McPHERSON
"A Woman of Destiny"


Aimee Semple McPherson has been described as a woman born before her time. Actually, Aimee was the spiritual pioneer who paved the way for the rest of us and should be considered largely responsible for the way we demonstrate Christianity today. Aimee defied all odds. There was nothing mellow about Aimee. There was nothing too radical for Aimee. Whatever it took to "get the people," Aimee did it.
But religion hated Aimee. When denominational politics seemed to hinder and wound so many ministers, Aimee rarely gave them a thought. Instead, she set about building a ministry so vast and so great, that even Hollywood came to take notes. In a time when women were only recognized as an "accessory," to ministry, Aimee built Angelus Temple to include them. When the building filled four times each Sunday, Aimee ventured even further. She built the very first Christian radio station in the world, and founded one of the fastest growing denominations today.
· had 45 lawsuits against her.
· was believed to have been the first woman to cross the country in an automobile.
· was the first woman to own a Christian Radio station.
· was kidnapped by the Ku Klux Klan so that they could hear a private sermon.

I want to be unstoppable. I want to be true to the call of God on my life.

This morning I wrote out prophetic words to several friends that I’m not sure know the Lord. They were on my heart and I intend to give them these encouraging words. Did it get it exactly right? I doubt it. Did I do my best to hear the voice of God for these friends? Yes. Am I coming from a heart of campassion for them? To the best of my ability. So I will jump out and leave the rest up to Him. There isn’t much more I can do than take the leap and trust Him with the results. I am coming to learn. Its either that or nothing at all

Because of His Wonderful Love,
Laura

Old Man on the Road-Side

Well, I've decided that the focus of this blog is going to be testimonies of doing the kingdom stuff. You know the real deal, out on the streets. So here is testimony number one.

Yesterday I was driving down a busy road when I saw an old man walking with a cane and carrying a clear plastic garbage bag with a few cans in it. He was stopping and fishing cans out of the long grass along the side of the road. I drove past and headed home when I became so convicted that I needed to go back and give him what little money I had in my wallet. As I turned around, the Holy Spirit showed me I also needed to pray for healing for the man's throat. This was a leap for me. I am not accustomed to stopping and talking to strangers (I hope to find this a more common occurrence in my life)

I pulled over at a spot close to the old man and got out of my car. As I walked up to him, he asked me if I needed help (funny, huh) I told him I did not, and I handed him what money I had. As I did, I told him that God wanted him to know He had not forgotten Him and He love him. The man looked at me as if I were an angel. He asked me if God sent me to him and I told him yes. Then I told him God wanted to heal his voice, his throat and I asked if I could pray for him. The man nearly broke down in tears. He’d known the Lord all his life and had sung for many years in a quartet in church, but apparently could not sing any longer. He’d been to the doctor and been told it was just old age and there was nothing that could be done for him. I laid my hands on him and prayed and I felt the tangible power of the Holy Spirit fall. When I finished the elderly gentleman thanked me for the money and told me he’d been out collecting cans because he needed ten more dollars to pay a bill. His truck was right around the corner, so he didn’t need a ride, but he promised to get right off the busy highway and go home to his wife (which he did). I do not know the outcome of my prayer for him, but I know I was his divine appointment for that day.

I am so encouraged by my experience and I intend to have many more stories like this (and even better) to share

Have a Blessed day

Laura : )

Leaving Home

Sometimes there are things you want to write about, but the feelings are just to deep to be conveyed with much accuracy.
My 18 year old son recently went off to college and we are so proud of him. He has a splendid opportunity unfolding in front of him, an adventure all his own. But boy, is it hard to see him go. What is really cool is the way God met with him before he left. He was one of those kids who grew up in a Christian home and wished he had a "real" testimony. You know, the kind where a kid makes all the wrong choices and then get miraculously healed and delivered. He felt somehow cheated out of that kind of dynamic testimony.
But over the last few months, God blessed my son beyond my wildest dreams. He had an extreemly accurate prophectic word over his life that wasn't just full of God loves you stuff, but had real, confirming direction. In addition,God answered prayer after prayer for him. I am so thrilled to send him off into the world with not only a solid foundation in the word, but now a real, dynamic testiomy of God's power in his life.
But all that dosen't make it any easier to let him go. He's an awesome kid and I miss him terribly.
I decided I'd be fine the day we put him on the plane. Funny how emotion won't be denied. Thing is,it lets us know we love deeply.
What more is there to say
Here's looking at you kid

The Stuff

Wall Mart---

I was checking out and noticed the clerk's name was Gloria. In my mind I heard myself say to her, "Your name is Gloria, but right now you don't feel very glorious, but the Lord wants you to know, He is going to restore your joy" Well, that was cool, so I paid for my goods and walked off.....

"You can go back, you know" the Lord said to me while my heart pounded away in my chest.

I parked my cart and slinked back over to the check out counter where I faithfully delivered the message. Gloria's mouth dropped open and she said, "How did you know? Yesterday I buried my neice." She hugged me and thanked me for the encouraging word and told me how much she needed to hear it.

Belk Department Store---

As I looked at the woman behind the counter, I felt the Lord wanted her to know her father would be ok. Well, for all I knew she was adopted, or her father had died. It's getting a little riskier, now. I made a little small talk and asked if she had grown up around here, which lead to family and I asked if her parents were still living, whew! her dad was still alive and lived in the area. I delivered my message and after a little more discussion discovered that her dad was still active and mowed lawns. I thought, gee, great, he's in great health, well maybe I missed it or maybe something is going to happen to him in the future. However, as the lady kept talking, she disclosed the fact that a few days prior a four wheeler had fallen on her father. Needless to say, I was glad I had confirmation that I had heard God correctly. I told her he'd be fine. She was puzzeled by where I got my info, I didn't eloborate, guess the follow up will need to be better next time.

These kind of events are awesome because they demonstrate the power of God to someone and then you can follow up by answering their now interested questions, It's a great opportunity to share the gospel and I believe will be very effective when I get it right!