Lost

My Golden Retriever just disappeared.  She had taken off before but something told me this time was different.  I called for her numerous times and she did not come home.  I was sitting outside in the backyard and I faintly remember hearing a “car door” about the last time I heard her.  Did I imagine that I wondered, could it be the animal shelter?  Or worse?  I had taken a photo of her at 1:07 p.m. as we were sitting outside.  It had been over an hour now.  Where was she?  I tried to tell myself just to imagine her in the breezeway or coming out from the tall grass.

About 2:20 p.m. she returned and had a spot of blood above her left eye.  The tissue around her eye looked pretty bruised, too. She was dirty so I took the hose and washed her off.  I brought her in the house; she had an adventure that was for sure.  She panted extremely heavily for over 15 minutes.  In a human it would have been called hyperventilating.  There seemed to be no lessening of the intensity.  I sat down by her and held her paw to calm her, and tried to give her water but she wasn’t interested in it.  It looked to me like her gums were bleeding too.  She was still breathing hard but the panting stopped.  I am glad I don’t know what she got into.  She is home.  I had begged God over and over to please bring her home.  

There was a moment when she was missing that I got a glimpse of the Father as He is seeking His lost children.  If I love my dog that much I can only imagine how much He loves his children.  I can almost hear Him saying, “Go get them!  I don’t care about your personal feelings about them, they are My children, you don’t have to like them all, just lead them home.  They are My children, and I love them.”  Animal lovers will understand this next statement:  I couldn’t have cared less who brought my dog home, I just wanted her safe with me.  It could have been the police, my worst enemy or a neighbor.  I would have been grateful regardless, just to have her back where she belongs. Can’t you see the Father saying that about every lost child?  I personally have found salvation and I am assured of eternal life.  Do all His children know Him?  I have no right to sit on my laurels and pick and choose among them.  And in the Great Commission I have been commanded to tell them about Jesus.

Can you see if someone had seen my dog and said, “Well, that dog really isn’t worth the trouble of bringing it home. That dog can figure it out for itself.  I don’t want to interfere.  I know that dog and it has done this before.  I think that dog just needs to learn her lesson.  And besides all that, I’m busy with more important things.”

Can you imagine if someone saw a lost person and said, “Well, that person isn’t really worth the trouble of witnessing to.  That person can figure it out for themselves.  I don’t want to interfere.  I know that person and he has sinful behavior in his past.  I think that person just needs to learn his lesson. And besides, I’m busy with more important things.”  

I sat on the floor with my dog and occasionally, as I petted her head, she would lick my hand.  I was making sure her bleeding stopped.  She was grateful to be home.  I imagined her saying, “I’ll never you leave again.”  Of course there is no guarantee of that.  When I was a baby Christian I could not get enough of Him.  I knew every Christian radio station and the song line-ups for the day.  Little by little I grew up and grew out of certain things.  Today was a reminder that I should never lose sight of the lost.

I understand the lost when it comes to ministry, and it is the sole purpose of why I go to the prisons and tell them my testimony.  But there are other lost, the ones that are not so obvious, the ones who are not all dressed in the same color like in the prison or jails.  It is the lost I see when I run errands in everyday life.  It is the ones that are not behind physical bars that you can see but bars visible in only the spiritual realm.  Like maybe at the grocery store, the gas station or sitting in a church pew.

Let me ask you a question.  Do you witness?  If not, why not?  Could it be you too are not sure what you are a witness to?  And I don’t mean to your denomination, I mean to the Great Commission:  

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Here are questions to ponder:

What does “All authority” mean in verse 18?  

What does it mean to be baptized?  (Hint: Not infant baptism - verse 19)

What are you to teach them to obey?  (verse 20)

People are lost and will go to hell.  That’s the hard truth.  If you really know what you have in Christ you will know how to reach the lost.  If you don’t know what the Great Commission entails, please take the time to learn. People are perishing and you may be their only lifeline.

My dog is snoring as she lies on the kitchen floor.  What a wonderful sound.  Heaven rejoices with each person who gives their life to Christ and is found.  Oh, how beyond beautiful that must be! Don’t be too busy making a life here, when this is temporary, only to forget about our real calling.  At best we get about 100 years on earth and the only thing that will matter after we are gone is who we took with us.  

The unthinkable happened

Every shred of joy was gone

I left this town in disgrace

I couldn’t hold my head up

At last I dumped the whole mess on Jesus

And said with a demand,

“You’d have to be God to fix this!”

I imagine Him smiling

And today I glimpse eternity

(The short version of Set Free From Darkness)

Divine Healing

What do you think about divine healing?  Do you believe it is possible or have you been conditioned by TV preachers who use it as a fundraiser?   Is it possible or a hoax?  Well, I will ask you this.  If you don’t believe in divine healing but you pray to God, what are you praying for?  If someone is healed and they have been prayed for, do you think it was a coincidence they were healed?  Do you think the doctors got the diagnosis wrong in the first place?  Does divine healing sound too good to be true?  

If you have followed my blog you will know that often I write my articles before I have it all worked out in my mind.  Sometimes as I type, the message presents itself during the process of writing and other times I simply toss out ideas as potential conclusions.  

Today is going to be one of those days.  To give you a little background information on this subject, in 1987, I began searching for God.  I didn’t want the old, traditional, mean God who in my opinion was sort of a bully and powerless who just gave you a list of do’s and don’ts as he waited for you to mess up.  I don’t have a problem with do’s and don’ts.  What I have a problem with is a version of God that I could sum up by do’s and don’ts.  It was as if you got so many check marks in a certain area then He’d come through for you on what you asked.  Needless to say, that version of God is not correct.  

I had given birth to my daughter Danielle in October of 1986. She was perfect and beautiful.  I realized what a true miracle she was, not just Danielle herself but this whole process of reproduction and birth.  I began to search for “that” God, the one who is truly amazing.  

I watched a movie on television discussing reincarnation.  That movie led me to books and other materials in search of god.  Resources were not in short supply as I checked out as many as I could from the library and purchased others from book stores.  I did not know I was being led into New Age philosophies. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know what New Age was.  These books would tell of supernatural events and they even discussed Jesus.  So, little by little, I put my faith in what I was reading.  Let’s just say one thing led to another which led to disaster.  The whole account is documented in my book, Set Free From Darkness, available for purchase on the website.  

Life after disaster is where I am today.  Actually, it has been 30 years since my life unraveled, or as I like to say, my ministry began.  I find myself today in some ways right back to where I was in 1987.  I know New Age is dangerous.  I found that out firsthand the hard way.  I know the truth of the Bible.  I have banked my eternity on it.  I know when the New Age writers would reference Jesus, they said He was a good person, a teacher, even a prophet but they never, ever called Him the Son of God.  They never addressed His death and resurrection.  He had power, and He did not just come with a list of do’s and don’ts.

The God I know today is supreme and mighty.  So, here I am some 30 years later and I want to know His power.  I have just gone around a big circle.  Along that journey I have picked up many tools.  I have learned He will not share His glory.  New Age says you can be like god.  The Bible says we are His hands and feet and the Holy Spirit lives within every believer.  And the Holy Spirit seeks the glory for the Son (Jesus), and Jesus seeks it for the Father.  

What does this have to do with divine healing?  Well, everything.  The Bible says I am to go out and lay my hands on the sick and pray for their release from sickness and disease.  These vessels (our bodies) then are the means by which God has chosen to reach the world.  So if the sick are going to be healed, I had better do as commanded and lay hands on them.

 Mark 16:18 b. (KJV)  “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

This is part of the Great Commission.  With that said, I have had quite a week.  I have laid hands on about 16 people and prayed a simple prayer with them for healing.  But, let’s just say what if I’ve got this all wrong.  Worst case scenario, they are no worse off than before I prayed. On a good note, it has begun to make me aware of people who are outwardly sick, lame, or hurting.  I am surprising myself and other people with the offer to pray for them, even strangers.  I have recorded the names and illness of those I’ve prayed for and I will update the list and blog about it as time and answers to prayer come to my attention.  

My husband, John, smashed his thumb while trying to repair a lawn mower for a friend.  He had told me I didn’t need to come to the ER that it was not serious.  He needed stitches and I met him at the ER anyway.  I got there before the doctor had stitched his thumb up and I prayed for him and I fully expected to see the wound stop bleeding and close up before they could put the first stitch in.  It didn’t happen like that and he has 6 stitches in his thumb.   John was surprised to see me and when we got home he thanked me for coming to the hospital.  I told him I had a confession to make.  I said even though I was concerned about him and his thumb, I really wanted to come and try out my healing technique.  

It’s the same yearning in my soul as in 1987.  The God of the Bible is powerful and He has given us The Great Commission to carry out.  He would not have given that to us if He did not give us the tools (power) to carry it out.  I personally don’t have my own power but the Holy Spirit living within me does.  I’m just the vessel, He’s the healer.  This time I have an arsenal of weapons I did not have before.  I am surrounded by praying believers, 30 years of experience and, above all else, the Word of God.  I can listen or read a teaching now and discern for myself what God’s Word says about the subject.  Here is the bonus:  I’ve been so busy aware of sick or hurting people that I have not thought about my own problems all week.  That alone is a good reason to continue with my journey to heal.    

 Mark 16:15-18 (KJV) ¹⁵And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. ¹⁷ And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Entitled to Nothing

I had a dream, and in part of it the “Gardener” put a post-it note up that had profound truths on it.  When I woke up I couldn’t remember many of them but I was told when I was ready He would remind me of the rest.  I was to write down what I remembered.  He was called the Gardener and looked quite frankly like an ordinary little old man.  

He was letting people know where they go wrong in what they believe. The first truth that people needed to know, “You are entitled to nothing. Anything you have is a gift from Me.”   

I woke up thinking about that and, realized that I was not raised entitled by my family as we did not have a lot of money growing up.  I have used the term entitled about some millennials I know.  The Gardener was not talking just about millennials but every living human being.   

I thought, Well what would I feel entitled about having? Here is one basic – gravity. Think about what life would be without gravity, nothing would stay in place, my coffee wouldn’t stay in my cup, I couldn’t type at my laptop, I’d be trying to hold it in place.  I think things would be a mess, stuff floating everywhere.  It might be fun to experiment with it like in a carnival ride but practically, it would be a nightmare.  

I do sort of feel entitled to gravity and yet the Lord (Gardener) said I was entitled to nothing.  Okay let’s just say for the sake of argument He would throw in gravity.

What about the earth?  I sort of feel entitled to have a place to put my feet especially now that I have gravity.  And He says I am entitled to nothing.  No earth.  No Sue.  He gives it as a gift.  Thank you, Lord, for the earth and gravity.  Well now, with the gift of the Earth and gravity, it gives me a better start.

What about oxygen?  Oh yeah, that is vital too.  Oxygen, earth and gravity.  And to keep His message in perspective I am entitled to NONE of these.  I used to think it was life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness but somewhere through the course of life I seemed to have forgotten that I am entitled to nothing.  Those are my unalienable rights aren’t they?  I guess not in God’s economy.  They are gifts from God and I see them as my rights, my “entitled rights!”

I recently saw a movie that asked the question, “Why do poor people seem to be happier than rich people?”  And I’m just tossing out the possibility that it is because they don’t feel entitled to have more.  

Jesus was the servant to all.  He said that what you do for the least of these you do for Him.  Is it possible that Jesus was grateful for everything and felt entitled to nothing?  We have been given the title of children of God, like His Son.  What would happen if we consciously went through our day not feeling entitled to anything.  I’m trying to sort this out as I write as this is new to me, too.

For example, if we get flipped off in traffic, we yield the right of way with a smile (sincere one) and don’t offer up a “hope you get yours” prayer.  

Or, you are running late and you go to the grocery store to have the lady with six children go ahead of you as she pays with food stamps and holds up the line “forever.”  Maybe we wouldn’t mumble to ourselves how she needs to be given birth control, needs to get a job, has too much time on her hands, etc. Maybe we aren’t entitled to speedy checkout.  We certainly aren’t entitled to be rude and think we are better than she is. And how about this: we are not entitled to think our time is more valuable than hers.

Entitled – Believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

Believing – Accepting something as true, feel sure of the truth of it.

Inherently – In a permanent, essential, or characteristic way.

Deserving – Worthy of being treated in a particular way, typically of being given assistance

Privileges – A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.

Special – Better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual.

Treatment – Manner in which someone behaves toward or deals with someone or something.

Entitled (Amplified)  Truly believing oneself to be inherently and permanently deserving and worthy of privileges and advantages or special, better, greater treatment.

The Gardener wrote on His note – “You are entitled to nothing.  Anything you have is a gift from Me.”  

After I woke up from the dream I thought, what a sobering thought.  And every time I revisit it I get pulled in a little further.  I like the phrase “attitude of gratitude.”  In the month of November a common practice is to come up with a new item every day that you are grateful for up until Thanksgiving.  I’ve been thankful for running water and electricity but I really am made aware when there is a power outage.  Thanksgiving gets squashed and somewhat forgotten in between the hype for Halloween and Christmas, could it be because our vision is blocked by our entitlement?

My personal prayer is this, “Father, I don’t want to take You for granted and not see the gifts You have given me.   Thank You for this dream, of You as the Gardner.  Teach me gratitude and humility to understand I am nothing without You.  My lungs have oxygen, my feet have the earth, and You hold me in place with gravity.  I am entitled to nothing and yet I have everything.  Thank you, Abba.”  Amen