When you walk out of your own home every day to: go to school, go to work, meet someone for lunch, go shopping...name any number of things that take you out every day and you will realize that as you look around there are all types of things that are presented to you at "Satan's Silver Tray", the cafe of trouble! From the simple temptation to cheat: on a test, running the light or stop sign, realizing that you were handed too much change...to larger ones, cheating on your spouse, stealing money from the petty cash box or (as one woman I saw) take money intended for a server from a table, repeating an item of gossip that steals someones good name maybe costing them their job. These are some pretty tasty items on that tray, but let me remind you that if you take an item from the Silver Tray, it will cost you dearly. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Phillipians, 3:13-14 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. Isaiah 43:18-19 "“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?" I am referring to an item on the Tray that a lot of people choose, and it is a favorite of Satan's to serve! "Serve them a BIG dose of GUILT! Make them believe that Jesus' blood did nothing to atone for their sins, hey, maybe we can even get them to go out and hang themselves the way Judas did!" This "guilt" thing could cost you your immortal soul! Because you feel remorse and guilt  you feel unworthy (the side effect of guilt...you know like eating beans gives you intestinal GAS) no way to have one without the other, and this unworthy feeling makes you look for worth in "all the wrong places", which piles on more guilt and so-it-goes! 1John 2:12 I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. That is the item on the menu that is printed in letters so small you have to get a magnifier to read it, but it is THERE! Your sins are forgiven! If Judas had only known that he could have walked up to Jesus as He hung on the cross and he would have been forgiven, he didn't have to die. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem! If you are willing to die to get rid of your problems, why not die to yourself and give it all to Jesus? When He died, His blood erased all the sin from man-kind, but you have to ASK Him! Now, are you going to go to the cross and tell Jesus that you know that He loved you enough to die for you so that you could bring your guilt and shame and really ugly deeds to Him to be cleansed, or are you going back to the old cafe to get another helping of Satan's killer food? I suggest the former! Psalms 103:3 He forgives all my sins, He heals all my diseases.  As you read this, if you have something you want to be rid of, pray with me: "My Father, I love you and I thank you for forgiving my sins through the saving blood of Jesus Christ Your Son, Who died on the cross for me, I accept Him in my heart as my personal Savior, Amen"  If you prayed this prayer from your heart, then close that menu, it no longer applies! You are FREE, you are clean, you are made WHOLE! Be Blessed, Pray, Pick a new place to eat!

I was trying to open my eyes but I was so sleepy I could not. A person had come into my room, sat down in the chair next to my bed, and said: “I’m in so much trouble, I don't want to be humiliated, I need help, please pray for me."  I was trying to open my eyes and I woke myself saying, "I can't open my eyes, I'm so sleepy." I sat up and realized that I hadn't seen that person in two years had not thought of them at all, so I knew that the Lord had prompted this encounter. I woke, called that person and said, "The Lord told me to call you, what's wrong?" That person had come to the conclusion that God was not aware of them, their word was "Everything in my life is upside down, I have been through a terrible divorce, child custody battle and now my finances are the worst they have ever been. So many people depend on me I don't know what to do, (then the words) I don't want to be humiliated." That "nudge" in the Spirit proved, once again, to be a lifesaver for this person. I told them, "If God wasn't aware of you, I wouldn't be on the phone with you right now!" While we spoke God inspired me to give Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Knowing that I had no way, except by the Spirit of God, to know what was going on in their life and hearing this promise from the Word, did all they needed, gave them the hope and knowledge that God knew them and their need and cared enough to send help! At times I have felt that what I did was of no importance, then something like that happens and reaffirms, to me, that He indeed has a plan for my life, one that I must be willing to carry out! I think we fear being wrong, not really knowing if it is God speaking or our own mind, but I would rather err on the side of the warning than to ignore it and realize that I should have said something. Jeremiah felt that way and voiced it in Jeremiah 20:9-11 You pushed me into this, God, and I let you do it. You were too much for me. And now I'm a public joke. They all poke fun at me. Every time I open my mouth I'm shouting, "Murder!" or "Rape!” And all I get for my God-warnings are insults and contempt. But if I say, "Forget it! No more God-Messages from me!” The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones. I’m worn out trying to hold it in. I can't do it any longer! Then I hear whispering behind my back: "There goes old 'Danger-Everywhere.' Shut him up! Report him!” Old friends watch, hoping I'll fall flat on my face: "One misstep and we'll have him. We'll get rid of him for good! "But God, a most fierce warrior, is at my side. Those who are after me will be sent sprawling—Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves, a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget. We have to give what we feel in our heart is right, whether anyone agrees with us, or just makes fun of us, we have the responsibility to say what God gives us. You can take the easy way out and just keep your mouth shut, but would you stand on the sidewalk and watch a person walk out in front of a car they didn't see without yelling out for them to STOP? No you wouldn't, you would yell at the top of your lungs. When you feel the nudge in the Spirit to pray, or in this case speak, to someone, DO it, don't wait, it could be the most important prayer or call you will ever make. Pray for wisdom, knowledge and understanding in all you do and then listen for the voice of the Lord in your own life! Pay attention to those around you stop, look, and listen!

The definition for the word Enigma is: a person of puzzling or contradictory character, I know a lot of people that fit that description, do you? One of those people had requested my friendship on one of the social networks, and then when I accepted, they immediately deleted me as a friend. It happened two more times, same person, same action. You might wonder why I accepted a second and third time only to get deleted, my daughter certainly wanted to know. I would love to tell you that I am so much like Jesus that I instantly forgave their social error, or trying to make me feel rejected, or whatever it was, and accepted in good faith. I could tell you that but it would be a blatant lie. I did it because having been raised as a preacher's kid I was trained that the parishioner was always right; you never argued with the person that was a member of the church. Another thing you never did was to repeat gossip, of any kind, that was almost a federal offense, and never tell anything that went on within the confines of our home, absolutely a federal offense. Who do you talk to under all those conditions? I learned, at a very early age to talk to Jesus, that's right; He became my friend and confidant. He heard all my complaints against people I thought were mean to me, heard all my dreams of what I wanted in my life as a grown-up! I always felt that He loved me more, because I was born on the day we celebrate His birth, that had to be special...didn't it? As I got older I continued my conversations with Him; I had to ask his forgiveness for hitting that girl, a real bully, in the nose, "after all Jesus, I have kept my mouth shut for so long and she just kept on!" I was sorry my dad got called and I was in trouble, but I was not sorry I hit her. Jesus reminded me that He was beaten and bruised for my salvation, only then did I feel a little guilty. My teen years were mostly concentrated on who I would marry. I don't know why, but I was always afraid that I would fall in love with someone that wouldn't love me back! It was like the mystery, when I was a little girl wanting to learn to cook, of how my mother got all the food ready at the same time when she cooked dinner! I did find out how to get all the food done at the same time, not so much luck with love, but again, Jesus listened and understood, as it seemed I always fell for the wrong person! It was during one of those personal heartbreak times He came to me in a new way, He introduced me to my new best friend, the Holy Spirit! My heavenly communication reached a whole new level as the gifts of the Holy Spirit began to work through me! 1 Cor. 12:1-3 What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often miss-understood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say "Jesus be damned!" Nor would anyone be inclined to say, "Jesus is Master!" without the insight of the Holy Spirit.  Through every stage of my life, from the age of eight until now, Jesus has remained my faithful and true friend. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is our friend! John 15:11 I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father. Jesus is not an enigma, according to Hebrews 13:8 He is always the same, yesterday, today and forever. He is the friend that is close and easy to talk with, He will never repeat your deepest secrets except to His Father, so let me ask you a question, do you know Him?

The comment said "You always lift me up", how very happy I was to see it, I confess it made my day! As a result, all the rest of the day, my brain was playing "You lift me up so I can stand on mountains.." I decided to Google the lyrics; it seemed like the right thing to write about as I felt I needed a little “lifting of the head”. When I saw the lyrics Josh Groban (love his voice) sings, to my embarrassment I had been "hearing" the wrong words all day. Read this: You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up...To more than I can be. When I read this verse, the mental picture I got was of a little child riding high on his dad's shoulders. Next mental picture was the one that the poem Footprints in the Sand, by Mary Stevenson, puts in your mind, it starts: One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD. As you read the poem you find the man had gone through terrible trials and in those periods he saw only ONE set of footprints... upon asking the Lord why, He answered "My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you." Jesus gave us the promise "I will never leave you or forsake you, I will never let go of your hand". I know that sometimes it is hard to "keep the faith", but you won't get too down on yourself when you remember the disciples, walking with Jesus daily, seeing Him open blinded eyes, strengthen lame legs, cleanse the lepers, and yet, when the storm came upon the sea they were afraid! Mark 4:39-41 "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?" Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?"  They were in absolute awe, staggered. "Who is this, anyway?" they asked. "Wind and sea at his beck and call!"  I can't even count the times a day a whispered prayer is on my lips, a two word prayer, simply  "Help Me", I may say it six times before I stop and say "Thank You Lord, I know you already have". We all go through the "valley of the shadow of death," but when we do, if we maintain that Jesus is with us, we will "fear no evil" because we can say "for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me", ahhh comfort, that is what we need. It is then that He lifts us up, and places us on His shoulder. Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’  "There is no life-no life without its hunger; each restless heart beats so imperfectly; but when You come and I am filled with wonder, sometimes I think, I glimpse eternity."   I just downloaded a song by Trace Adkins that says “Love Will” , it’s words should also be included here, just know that His Love Will Raise you UP!

I spoke to someone recently who is missing her dad, mom, and best friend, who passed recently. The hole that my dad’s leaving has left in this house is unimaginable, but we have to remember that our loved ones are happy in heaven; we are the ones who grieve for them, because we miss their earthly presence! I've shared a few things with you, but as I can't look you in the eyes while talking, I don't know what you're thinking. I'm going to risk talking to you a little about something and you are free to draw your own opinion, ask the Holy Spirit to touch you as you listen. The first time I saw Heaven, there was no sign saying "Heaven Right this way", I saw a beautiful, endless, expanse of a marble floor, almost translucent in color. There was light, soft light with a pink hue coming from a source I couldn't see. I saw a very beautiful white bench and on it sat a person that I knew, a young, vibrant woman with a husband and children to care for; Her hands were folded in her lap, she had on a pink dress and looked absolutely gorgeous. The focal point of the room changed and I saw a little room, like a waiting area, and in it three people that had already gone to heaven, I knew they were waiting for the person I saw to come to them. When this vision was finished I took it to my dad and told him we needed to pray for the person I saw sitting on the bench, I knew something was about to happen, she and her family needed prayer. The next day I got a call, this person had suddenly, and without explanation, died, her heart had simply stopped beating as she sat reading a book. God is so good; He let me see that three of her very close relatives, already there, were waiting and they were there to greet her upon her entrance into the heavenly realm. Never doubt that your loved one is alive and well, just because you can no longer see them doesn't mean they no longer exist. 2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. V 8. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Maybe you are wondering why I saw that, and if I did and prayed about it why did it happen? God, obviously, knows us from our beginning to our end, Psalm 139:13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit-by-bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day. Keep your spirit open; let Him show you things to come. He has shown my many things but because of space restriction in this venue, I will save them for another time. An old hymn says; "He knows the bitter, weary way, the endless striving day by day, the soul that weeps, the soul that prays, He knows, He knows. He Knows, Oh thought so full of bliss, for though our joys on earth we miss, we still can bear it feeling this, He Knows, He Knows” I’ll close with words I heard my grandfather say so many times, "God is too good to do evil, and too wise to make a mistake" He knows... You are loved!