Rain...just in time!

It's raining! I LOVE it! The year I start a garden, the rains seem to come at just the right time...just when the ground is starting to get a bit dry, just when the plants and flowers are looking a bit like they need a big drink...it seems that the Lord knows the perfect time to send the rains!

There's a song we sing here at IHOP which I love:

Rain down, all around the world we're singing

Rain down, can you hear the earth it's singing

Rain down....

I forget the rest of it right now, but you get the picture...we're asking God to rain down on us, His bride, to prepare us for His return! He rains down on us ALL that is His so that we can grow and flourish and BE the bride of Christ! What love, what joy, what abundance of grace and mercy is all His, that he LAVISHLY pours it out on us and rains on our gardens!

Seen on the National News

The U.S. is facing a crisis of faith. A poll of those ages 18-30 was taken recently and this is what was discovered:

"67% of those ages 18-30 never read the Bible or other spiritual texts or go to any spiritual church or gathering."

Father, forgive us who are aged 30-95 who have not lived out the first and second commandments!

Ah, to be a warrior...OH, I AM ONE!

"Warriors bask in God's glory. They know their sin is taken care of, that God doesn't see what is wrong with us, He only sees our new nature."

(From a conference a friend recently attended...this could be G.Cooke)

A quote to ponder

“The high calling is not out of reach for anyone that the Lord has called. I will tell you what will keep you on the path of life--love the Savior and seek His glory alone. Everything that you do out of true love for the Savior, to glorify His name, will extend the limits of His eternal kingdom, and ultimately will result in a much higher place for yourself. Live for what is recorded here (Heaven)." ~ Rick Joyner

Dandelions

I've never seen so many dandelions in my LIFE than I've seen in yards here in Kansas City! I thought my yard was immune especially since I've treated it well, etc. However, it is not the case. I have found a "natural" killer treatment online so I'll be doing that in the next couple of days; while researching, I learned that if you can pull the flowers while they are yellow, before they turn to those puff balls which are seeds that multiply the problem with just a bit of wind, then you can cut down on the spread a bit.

However, the ONLY TRUE way to rid one's property of dandelions, as we ALL know, is to completely uproot them! Of course any regular blog readers know that a spiritual truth would come roaring forth from this keyboard, so here goes.

I decided to do some pulling of the yellow flowers, and while doing so, some of the dandelion plants were so ready to be pulled up by the roots that I just did the major surgery! We've had DAYS of rain, so the ground is very soft, thus making pulling up by the roots much easier...but only some of them were willing and ready to be pulled up by the roots.

Of course I was being super careful not to knock the "puffy" stems and thus send the seeds flying in the breeze to reproduce, but it is inevitable.

How true all of this is in our spiritual lives. We've got some deeply rooted issues in our lives...ALL of us do and if you think you don't, well, I'll let you deal with yourself! :-) Those deeply rooted issues sprout and grow and at first, we can hide them with beautiful yellow flowers coming forth. I even remember going out in the yard as a young girl and picking a whole bouquet of yellow dandelions for my mom! But just as with issues (and sin), the yellow flower fades and turns to a white poof ball, standing tall and proud! The reality of our issues will ALWAYS show forth and eventually will affect not only us but others!

When the wind catches these poof balls, the seeds scatter and fly, and each one of them can lead to yet another dandelion weed growing up. Depending on the strength and direction of the wind, the seeds may go a short distance or may fly for blocks or even miles!

Indeed, our issues and sins, when surfaced and blown on by the wind of the Holy Spirit can be carried short or long distances, affecting those closest to us, or even those far away! If left where they are, it's only a short time before the entire yard is one big dandelion patch.

The ONLY sure way to clear out the dandelions is to UPROOT them! The entire root has to be pulled out, cleanly, completely, with nothing left!

In our lives, our issues have roots, and often have tentacles from those roots which grip the soil of our souls. At times we even feed those issues or sins, which only serves to keep the roots digging deeper, thus producing more flowers and eventually more poof balls which spread the "infection". God, in His severe and wonderful, gentle mercy, comes to us EVERY DAY wanting to go to the root of the issues in our lives through the Holy Spirit and dig them out completely. However, our will can get in the way because God will never over-ride the human will. When will gets in the way, the root cannot be dug out, and the dandelion remains...even if you cut it back to the ground level so no "fruit" can be seen. Eventually, left untreated, it will grow again and affect everyone around us!

So, as I drive through neighborhoods here and see some yard clear of dandelions and others FULL of nothing but dandelions, I am driven to prayer, first for myself, that I would allow God to do HIS digging in my heart and soul to uproot anything that hinders His love from entering in and from my being able to love Him and love others! Second, I pray for those in my life whom the Lord is "working on" and uprooting stuff...and finally, for the people in those houses.

I'm off to get my dandelion "killer"...and in the meantime, I keep my heart open to the Lord so He can uproot all that needs to be uprooted!

God rocking my world, again!

This morning, I heard one of the BEST sermons I've heard in years! No joke. I know, I know, some people may say, "Oh there she goes again exaggerating!" Seriously, my friend Linda and I looked at each other at the end of the sermon and agreed that Steven Venable's sermon just rocked our worlds completely. It's a sermon you want to spend time listening to again, pouring over the notes and letting it sink in deeply.

If you want to hear it for yourself, go to www.ihop.org and look for April 25, 2010 Steven Venable 10:30 a.m. service.

Just a couple of thoughts from his sermon might whet your appetite:

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man...Worship is therefore the fuel and goal of missions." (John Piper from Let the Nations Be Glad)

"...we exist in a religious environment in the West in which the ultimate goal of all things is often seen as the personal fulfillment of man and God exists to procure that 'great' end. In our hearts we believe that God exists for us rather than us existing for Him."

"There are not competing objects of attention, affection, or allegiance in Heaven---there is only one, all-consuming, absorbing focus of adoration. The Lord alone is exalted in the Heavenly Sanctuary. No angel, living creature, or elder is subtly elevated so as to detract from the glory of the only One who is worthy."

In Hungary, Hero's Square, Easter Morning 2010

Check out the video by clicking on the title of this blog! This was Easter Sunday morning, 2010 in Hero's Square, Budapest, Hungary.

In Hungary, Hero's Square, Easter Morning 2010

Denver House of Prayer

Arden, Joyce and Steve...yummy lunch at Cheesecake Factory in Denver!

The "flame" at Denver House of Prayer. DHOP.

Joyce and Steve, intercessory missionaries at DHOP!

The entry-hall at DHOP.

There is a sweet atmosphere here at DHOP. On the screen is IHOP-KC being streamed in!

Now that I think of it, I really packed a lot in during this weekend in Colorado! Not only was I blessed to see family, but also to see dear friends with whom I went through Intro to IHOP in the fall! Steve and Joyce live in Denver and are a part of DHOP...Denver House of Prayer! We enjoyed lunch together and then they took me to see DHOP! Currently, they are doing 10 hours of live worship and prayer per week!

Zack's B-day party with Christie's family

The medals ceremony! Christie's nephew, Spencer, and I won the overall Gold!

The whole gang following the Olympic sports competitions.

Zack doing the standing long-jump competition.

There were some rather "odd" sports for Olympic day.

All the girls, and birthday boy, Zack before the games began! Love the t-shirts!

One of my nephew's, Zack, turned the big 1-3 on Monday! My sister-in-law's family came over to help celebrate his birthday on Sunday and I was also blessed to be a part of Olympic day!

More Colorado fun!

Haley celebrating her 9th birthday!

Here's dad lighting the candles!

Dad and daughter...sooooooooooooo happy!

Auntie Arden got to sneak a pic in with precious Haley! :-)

Zak, Danna and Haley working on the birthday cake!

I am blessed to have two brothers living in Colorado now! And, it just so happened that my niece, Haley, was in town that weekend, so I received a double blessing! While it flew quickly, I thoroughly enjoyed a fun afternoon hanging out with fam and celebrating Haley's birthday (a couple of weeks early)!

Ooops, backing up a couple of weeks.....

Sharron and I met at Missions Training International in the summer of 2006. At that time she was serving in Australia and I was in Hungary.

Loving her cool Jeep and cool dog!

Of course we had to make a quick stop at the Prayer Room at IHOP! :-)

My friend, Sharron Willen, drove through Kansas City on her way out to Montpelier, VA, and we had a short afternoon together to catch up. A fellow missionary, she is starting a new assignment working with troubled kids and troubled horses. So good to see her after 4 years!

Surprise trip to Colorado

I know, dangerous to take pictures while driving 75 mph. :-)

Roger opening the front door....checking for the "package".

Christie walked in the house, into the kitchen, and I had to say, "Hello!" before she realized I was sitting in her living room! :-)

What a FUN look on Brooke's face!

The birthday boy, Zack! He too was surprised!

A week ago, as I was spending time with the Lord in the morning, I thought, "Why don't I just drive to Colorado and surprise my nephew, Zack, for his 13th birthday!?"

So, I took off on Friday morning and arrived that afternoon! I stood on the front porch of my brother Roger's home and called him from my cell phone. I got him to come downstairs to the front door by saying I'd sent a package which was to be delivered today...would he go check on the front step? Hee hee hee!!! I LOVED all the surprised looks as various members of the family came in the house to see me sitting there!

Another cookout with friends!

Whitney, Lindsey, Matthew and Ashley! They were the first to enjoy dinner on my newly stained deck! LOL!

Lovin' spring in Kansas City!

Like I said, I love entertaining...not big groups, but smaller groups where people can really have good conversations! These precious friends and I all went through Intro to IHOP in the fall. The Daniel fast was finished, so we indulged in some good hamburgers!

I love it that God has called all four of these precious young ones (all in their 20s) to come on staff here at IHOP and serve the Lord as intercessory missionaries! Their hearts for Jesus and to see Him lifted up and glorified are precious to me and so many! Their laughter and friendships are also precious to me! :-)

Cookout with friends!

We had plenty of food!

Really yummy veggie kabobs!

Good friends!

More precious friends!

Anyone hungry! :-)

I love having friends over for cookouts! A group of precious friends came over in early April, and sadly, the weather didn't permit us to sit outside, but we still had grilled veggies (during the Daniel fast) and enjoyed fellowship! I am loving the friends the Lord is blessing me with here in KC!

House stuff! :-)

Simon, enjoying sunning at the foot of the deck.

Come on over and enjoy my deck with me!

Ah, the garden...so far I've planted tomato, peppers, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, carrots, beans, pumpkins and some unknown seeds! :-)

Trying to keep the rabbits and birds out!

The beautifully stained deck!

Ah, the joys of homeowning! I stained my deck as you can see above! It looks good, except now it is covered in pollen! Praise God He healed me of allergies years ago cuz it is THICK here! I stand on that healing for the glory of Jesus!

Also pictured is my garden. I realize how difficult it is to see how big it is. For Americans, it's 18' x 10'. European friends, you figure that out! :-)

Family

What fun just to be with family...hanging out on a rainy Saturday afternoon, not doing a whole lot, but just being together and talking. LOVE IT!

Friends may come and go, but family is there forever!

Spontaneity is the spice of life!

I pulled it off! Two days ago, I decided, "I'm gonna drive to Colorado to surprise my nephew, Zack, for his 13th birthday!"

So, I did it! 9 plus hours in my car, listening to teachings by Mike Bickle and Derek Loux the entire way, and arriving, greeted by surprised looks on faces upon my arrival....PRICELESS!

Continuing life lessons...

Here are things I'm learning this week:

In this community, lots of people are good at the first commandment; the second commandment? Well, I'm seeing that's a challenge for some people.....

The Lord is perfect in His timing and gives us opportunities to walk out healing through sacrifical love.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for people." (Colossians 3:23) Even in friendships, are we working at it for the Lord or for that person, or for ourselves?

Faithful friends stick with you no matter what!

An oldie but a goodie: Wounded people wound people.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord!

Staining decks takes a LOT of time.

Starting a vegetable garden is more challenging than it looks.

I love taking friends to the airport because in our busy schedules, it's 45 minutes to get caught up on each others' lives!

Spontaneity is REALLY fun...and I cannot WAIT to see how it all works out!

Reality.....

Trees buffeted by the wind either topple over or sink their roots down more deeply and become stronger. I choose to sink my roots deeply into the love of my Father, even as Psalm 55 unfolds in my life....

Hurricanes

We all have things we struggle with. I'm not talking about addictions or temptations, but rather those things in life which just don't make sense and cause undue hurt. The easy answer is that we live in a sinful world. But, that's a lame excuse for what sometimes happens, or should I say all too often happens even in the Body of Christ. We blame the devil or sin or even use God as a protective cover. It's like taking the reality of what happened with Hurricane Katrina a few years ago and saying "it happened because of this or that." On a certain level, that may be very important, but the reality is, you have to do the clean-up for people's lives to be restored and for them to be able to live properly.

So, I struggle with the hurricanes in life. I've definitely been the cause of some hurricanes, or at least added my wind to the storm. Just as Jesus did with the storm on the sea, you DO something about it. His action brought peace to the storm and peace to the friends' lives involved in the storm and it built them up and strengthened their faith in Him. I believe we are called, in this dance called life, to do just that within our limited human abilities, taking the authority of Christ in us as believers to speak peace and restore people while building them up and pointing them to Jesus.

I've also endured some hurricanes. Some have brought damage and there's been little or no attempt to bring peace, restoration or encouragement. Other hurricanes have blown me away, in a good way as the selflessness of others has ushered in peace and encouragment, just like Jesus did.

One thing I do know from my hurricane experiences is that I grow wiser and stronger.

An atheist professor gave his life to Jesus at Harvard!

Five bus-loads of students from the International House of Prayer University headed east to Boston 40 days ago with the goal of living out the Great Commission in one of the "hardest" places in this nation spiritually. There are a number of "elite" colleges in the Boston area and on one of those campuses, Harvard, a Chinese professor, who was an atheist, gave his heart to Jesus after some of these IHOPU students shared the love of Jesus with him!

If I wrote out all the stories of what the Lord did in Boston, on the campuses, in the subways, on the street-corners, outside of bars, in Harvard square, this would be a VERY long blog entry! If you want to hear some of them, log on to www.ihop.org and listen to Saturday, April 10 message by Allen Hood at the Awakening Service. Incredible!

Physical healings, salvations, beaten-down and discouraged Christian believers encouraged by the passionate worship and prayer demonstrated by 1/2 the group of IHOPU students while the other 1/2 went out to the streets with loving boldness. In the face of severe ridicule, these students shared the love of Jesus, speaking prophetic words which revealed the secrets of people's hearts and brought some to tears and repentance! Nothing is impossible for God! Nothing!

We will receive these students back here in Kansas City in the next couple of days, and I have a feeling things will never be the same! They are so in love with Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit that the flames ignited in them will catch all of us on fire!

A good quote

I got this one off a friend's Facebook status update!

"[The Enemy's] plan from the beginning was to assault the heart... Make them so busy, they ignore the heart. Wound them so deeply, they don't want a heart. Twist their theology, so they despise the heart. Take away their courage. Destroy their creativity. Make intimacy with God impossible for them." J. E.

Happy Easter!

My absolute FAVORITE hymn of all time is the one with these words:

"Jesus Christ is risen today!
Ha-a-a-a-le-lu-u-jah!
Our triumphant holy day!
Hallelujah!"

For me, Easter is ALL about life, triumph, victory hope and the glory of God quite literally manifested in the flesh of the risen Jesus Christ! The empty tomb is a clear picture in the natural of what is possible for every person on the earth: FREEDOM from whatever tomb, whatever abuse, whatever ridicule, whatever family issues, whatever persecution, whatever fear, whatever "death" producing addiction, or whatever bondage that may have had or still has a grip on you or me! My prayer for all of us this Easter is that Jesus's triumphant emergence from the tomb would grip our hearts in a new way as a clear testimony of just how much the Father loves us and wants us to be set FREE in His Son, Jesus Christ!

May the blessings and love of our Daddy in Heaven flow into your hearts today and this coming year!

Thoughts to ponder

The past week has been interesting. You know that old addage that your life can change from one moment to the next? So, true. But that's not what this blog is about...well, it is because the thoughts below have entered in during this week and have caused me to pause.

The measure by which you are able to receive God's mercy is the degree to which you will be able to love!

Whoa!

God's not thinking about the last five years of you messing up; He's dreaming about the next billion years of you being with Him!

Let those sink in...