When I think of having active faith, I think of my older sister. She is amazing. If God said it, then she believes it. Jerry was new in the Lord, and she read in her bible that he would supply every need that she had if she would just believe it. Well, she believed it. As a result, my younger sister who had contracted Spinal Meningitis when she was six months old, had a mouth full of rotting teeth because of the medicines that she had to take. We couldn’t afford dental care, and certainly not for baby teeth, but that didn’t stop Jerry from believing and standing on the promises of God. Barbara Gail was four years old. During prayer, the Lord told Jerry to go to her Mama’s house because he was going to heal Barbara Gail. Jerry didn’t even think about the empty gas tank she had or her lack of money to buy gas or even the remote possibility that she was just in the flesh and that God didn’t really tell her to do that: No. Jerry simply took God at his word, got into her car, and put a note card over the gas gauge so she wouldn’t hinder the Lord’s work with doubt, started the engine and told the Lord that she trusted him and to just get her to Mama’s house.

When she arrived at the house, Mama was cooking breakfast. Jerry came in with Holy boldness and told Mama that God was going to heal Barbara Gail, today, and that’s when the praise and prayer commenced. She anointed her with oil, and prayed a simple prayer, “In the Name of Jesus, be healed.” The power of God came into that kitchen. When things settled down a bit, Mama looked at the spatula that she still had in her hand with the egg on it. They laughed and laughed and sat down to eat.

Meanwhile, I was back at my house. I had been seeking the Holy Ghost, but it seemed that every time that I got close, someone would shout in my ear, and tell me that’s it, or hold on, or just let it go, or so many other things that I was really getting confused about what I was supposed to do. So on that day, I was praying by my bedside, and I told the Lord that I know that the Holy Ghost is a gift, and that if the gift is for me, and if you are real, then you can fill me right here and right now, so I raised my hands and God filled me with the Holy Ghost. A light came into that room. There was not anyone else with me so I wasn’t distracted. When I came to myself, I was ready to go tell Mama what the Lord had done.

When I arrived at Mama’s, they told me that God had healed Barbara Gail. We were laughing and talking and eating sandwiches, and Barbara Gail kept trying to get Mama’s attention. When Mama asked Barbara what was the matter, she said that she couldn’t eat. Mama asked her why? She said ’cause Mama, I can’t chew it. I don’t have any teeth.

We looked in her mouth, and there was nothing there but smooth gums. He left the bottom of the teeth because that would help the ones that would be pushing through. We could see the white in her gums of her uncut teeth. My God is real and he is a miracle working God if you can believe.

It is that simple. Believe. Two miracles happened in Goldsboro, North Carolina that day; one, me being filled with the Holy Ghost, and another, a child being healed. I wonder what could happen if we simply believe God and take him at his word?

Jerry lives a life of faith because she trusts God, and so do I.

Look in this week’s Lattereign for more on why Active Faith is Pleasing to God.

It seems that I have spent my whole lifetime, trusting God. That means that I know that he will intervene in every aspect of my life. What a comfort to know that he is watching out for me. You see, I’m his treasure and he takes the time every single day to see that I am clothed, fed, and cared for in every way. While he is only a breath away from me, still he gives me the independence to make my own decisions.

Do I always make the right choices? No, but there is one thing that I can be sure of, and that is that no matter how challenging life gets, I have this assurance that all I really need to hold on to is Jesus Christ. He will take care of the rest and he will see that all of my needs are met if I will keep on trusting him to do as he promised in my life. He has never broken a promise, and he can not lie, so I can be assured that I will overcome if I will keep the faith.

I can’t lie; it does get discouraging sometimes in different seasons of our lives, because we are desperately trying to fight spiritual battles with the wrong weapons. The wrong weapons are of flesh and blood, when the Lord requires us to call on his name and declare his doing among the people. He tells us to pick up our shields and prepare to defend ourselves.

After a while the shield and sword may get heavy, but that is when we refresh ourselves in the Holy Ghost, and with prayer and worship, and then we can take on any enemy.

This week’s Lattereign reminds us that we can Trust God and Overcome.

Keep on Trusting-You will Overcome

I’ve come to a realization about myself lately: I am an independent thinker, and also sometimes set in my ways. It wasn’t a sign of weakness to ask for help when I was growing up; it was called being a friend. I remember that there always used to be those one or two close friends who could read your mind almost, and come to your rescue, with a kind word, a thank you, or in the words of J.T. Pugh, a “How may I help you?” Those were times to cherish.

What a relief you felt to believe that you had the support for your time of challenge. Today, society as a whole has lost the ability to give without expecting something in return. I miss the neighbor who used to live next to us who would always borrow a cup of sugar, or flour or some other ingredient for her latest cooking venture, only to reward us with a plate of the cookies that she had baked with the sugar. That, my friend was gratitude enough. One time, I stayed next door with a neighbor who was uncomfortable being in the house alone because her husband was on a business trip. The next morning she packed my lunch for school and included a gigantic (in my 8 year old eyes) sized piece of chocolate cake. It was heavenly. I think I got the better end of the arrangement.

Having a friend who can support you when life gets real, and you don’t quite know what to do, is a blessing of God. So, when I think about the way that the Lord cares for us, I can have confidence and then trust in him. God is in control of the storms of life.

Read how the Lord cares about Israel.

With Great Mercies will I Gather Thee

I feel about 20 pounds lighter since I started cleaning out the clutter in my computer. I have been on a clutter removal binge for the past several months, and yesterday I started removing computer file clutter. My Lord! I didn’t realize just how much I held on to from the past. I am still wading through files. I have lost count of the number of GBs that I have safely removed from the computer.

My husband gave me a gift back a while ago; an external hard drive. This thing holds an amazing number of GBs. Whoa. It is easy to use, and we can plug it into his computer and share files. if we want to.

Technology continues to amaze me.

As I was methodically opening files to search for treasure that I had long buried, I thought about how we sometimes do the same thing with our memories. How often do we promise the Lord to do thus and so, and then, we get busy and promptly forget that we have vowed to do it? We think nothing of casually commenting on others who are not faithful or dependable, when all the time we need to start digging through our own spiritual files and find the little attachments that weigh us down spiritually and cause us to be oppressed and depressed. No wonder we are continually struggling to get unbound from our thoughts of negativity and doubt.

It’s time for a spiritual file cleaning.

We don’t need to hold on to every bad thought or hurtful comment that someone made to us in some obscure place at some obscure time. It is time to press the delete button and move it to the recycle bin. Before we empty the recycle bin, we need to learn what the Lord is trying to teach us and pray. When we have prayed, then, we should empty the bin into the arms of Jesus. He will decide what needs to be in your spirit and what needs to be washed away. Some of the attachments may prove to be difficult to remove because there are files open somewhere deep in our minds and hearts that we haven’t closed, and put under the blood. They require a more thorough cleansing. It may take more than one time at the altar to pray it out of your spirit, but when all is said and done, if we keep trusting God and believing in his cleansing power, the very difficult file will submit to the master and be removed.

It is an exhilarating feeling to let it go.

The weights of the world will chain you to the past and eventually choke you to the point that you will be gasping for air. Untangle yourself while there is still time. If you choose not to heed the warnings, you could crash just like your computer overburdened with files.

My computer will be highly effective for a few more years, because I have given it room to breathe, but even if it stops tomorrow, I have prepared by backing up the worthy items on the hard drive.

Make your plans. Clean it up! Make room for the blessings that you can’t contain! It’s time for a fresh start. Have you started your Spring cleaning? Find out how in this week’s Lattereign.

PS. This week’s blog is a post that I found in the treasures of computer clutter, and it was written back in 2007. Since that time I have been through several computers and external drives. You must continually renew to stay spiritually fit.

This is That, A New Beginning