GOD WANTS TO TALK TO YOU

Does that title scare you? "God wants to talk to you." Does that create fear? Or hope? 

One of the conundrums of The Call is that it is something God has decided and ordained. We don't like it when Someone else decides something. We were not involved in The Holy Decision to save our souls.  Without discussing it with us, He sent Light in to the world.  Who asked for Light?  Did you ask for it? I know I didn't.  Did you know you were walking in Darkness? No, neither did I. 

We are perfectly content in our sin-induced darkness, not aware that we can live lives of Light.  Our unaware-ness of Light.. and Love... and Holiness... and LIFE... did not change the desperateness of our desperate state.  We couldn't see things from Heaven's vantage point.  We still cannot.  Rarely do we get a glimpse of life as it is.  We just live each day in a life as we hope it should be.  It is not that way.  We are in desperate trouble as we live our busy lives of going to work and coming home. And going to church and coming home. That's the tragedy of people who live in Darkness.  We just don't see.  We never see what we SHOULD see. We see what we want to see.  But we are living in darkness.  So we convince ourselves we are not.  We are NOT living in darkness.  But.  We.  Are.

Light is an irritant to someone living in Darkness.  

We never stop to think as we resist the Holy Spirit of the One True God, who is always calling, always reaching, always wanting to RESTORE US.. as we find excuses to reject Him and justify our reasons why Jesus is just NOT the Center of All That Is....

 that what we are truly saying is, 

"Leave me alone, LOVE!  Stop bothering me, LIGHT   Go away LIFE! I prefer Death."  

Who would say such a thing? Most people.

We whisper whispers that we think God cannot hear.  "Who asked You to save us? Why don't You just leave us alone? Let me live my life in darkness."

He cannot allow that. He loves you.

He is calling you.  It's not by chance you are reading this blog... (to borrow a favorite phrase of my mother Molly).

He knows how churches hurt people because they are more focused on building numbers than building people.  He is not churches.  He is God

He knows that His children often fail one another.  He is not a person. He is God.

He knows that life is often cruel.  He is not cruel.  He is God.

He is love.
He is power.
He is God.
He is real.
HE IS WHO YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR.

I don't know who I am writing this for, but I think it could be you.

I don't have thousands of people signed up to read this blog. 

But.. one thing I know for sure:

GOD WANTS TO TALK TO YOU

If that sentence fills you with fear...don't hide. He doesn't want to yell at you. He wants to say, "I love you.  I love you. Come home to Me. I want to give you Life."

I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit of the One and HOLY God will overwhelm you with His merciful love.  

I pray that He takes these typewritten words and transforms them in to POWER.

I have been disappointed in people.. but never in God.
I have been rejected by people.. but never by God.
I have disappointed people.. but God is never disappointed in me.
I
know
one 
thing.
You can trust God.
You can trust that Jesus is your High Priest RIGHT NOW.. interceding for you.

Father, let these words become LIGHT to someone today. 

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:14-10

AMEN.

NEW BEGINNINGS

If ever there was a redundant phrase, I think "New Beginnings" should be at the top of the list.  Because if something is a beginning, then it has to be new.  Right? Right.   And today is the day we begin a new year.  2016. A new year.  Beginning again.

Redundant or not, today will be a "new" beginning for me.  It will be the first New Year's Day for as long as I can remember New Year's Days that I will NOT be helping my mother find her "phrase for the year."  Every New Year's Day, she would think of a rhyming phrase and that phrase would be her phrase for the year.  Last year it was, "May Jesus be seen in 2015."  As it turns out, Jesus WAS seen, face to face by my mother, and five weeks later my father.  Of course, I miss them more than I can find the words to express.  More than I can find the words.  I miss them.

My parents loved God so much and they devoted their lives to encourage others to experience His Love.  Mom used to say, "I wish someone would just put a camera in front of my face so that I could tell the world that Jesus loves them."  And God granted her wish.  I am shocked and amazed at her connection to the movie, "War Room".  The Kendrick Brothers put a short clip of Stephen Kendrick's interview with mom on their Facebook page, and MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of people have viewed it. MILLIONS of people meeting my mother, Molly.  I am shocked and even more amazed to be walking through stores now and see the DVD of the movie and know that each one has my mother, Molly Bruno, alive and talking about the love of her life, Jesus.  She is a special feature, "Molly Bruno - Modern Day Miss Clara." Who could have guessed what God was doing? Who could have known she would be with Him as the world began to know her?

My mother's phrase for 2015 did not mean she wanted to see Jesus that year.  Though of course, when she realized her illness would bring her face-to-face with him in a matter of weeks... she was not reluctant to go.  But that phrase meant to my mother that she wanted JESUS to be seen in HER LIFE to those around her. My mother wanted others to see His love and power. My mother wanted others to feel His compassion and mercy.  She wanted Jesus to be seen in her life.  Jesus.. through her.. to others.  And He was. People flocked to her side. Her phone rang constantly with people asking for prayer. People loved her from the moment they met her. People responded to her gentle nudges to examine their relationship with God - much like Miss Clara did.  "Where do you go to church?" was her lead in sentence and her way of telling people that it wasn't going to church.. but KNOWING JESUS that would bring LIFE to them. Not religion. LIFE.

As I begin 2016 I am receiving emails from people I don't know.  People who have just seen my mom on the DVD and want to know more about her.  I am Molly Bruno's daughter... and they want to know more about Molly Bruno.  I can hear her voice in my head, "It's not me, Marie, it's JESUS. Tell them about JESUS, not Molly."

"Yes, Mom. I will."  

I cannot fill the shoes Molly Bruno wore as she walked her life on earth.  She taught me better than to think I can.  Or I should. My mother taught me that the only thing that matters is Jesus.  "When you have Jesus, you have everything."  And her goal should be the goal of anyone who names the Name of Jesus.  That we would allow the Holy Spirit to change us in to the image of Jesus. My life should be more than what I talk about.  My life should be about who I look like.  And so, for me, on this first New Year's Day without Mom, I am thinking that I will borrow her phrase... and say...

 "May Jesus be seen in 2016"

And.. of course.. if you want to know MORE about what Molly Bruno taught her daughter, you can get my book about her.. "How To Make A Meatball - Recipes For Living My Mother Taught Me".  It IS a shameless plug.. but more than just to sell books.  Her lessons to me might bless your life too.  http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Meatball-Recipes-Living/dp/0996457402/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451660237&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+make+a+meatball+by+marie+armenia

ROMAN SOLIDERS

I don't see anywhere in the New Testament where the New Testament Church was protesting stuff that the people in power were doing.  And the people in power were doing horrible things.
The Roman Empire was running Israel - pagans that they were - and no one wants to stand up to an angry Italian guy with a sword. In spite of the extreme brutality of the Romans and their Empire... the New Testament Church was focused on something else completely  They were focused on Jesus and HIS POWER... because...

They knew the RESURRECTED JESUS personally.

  

Acts 1:3 reads: "After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive." He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."

Those of us who identify ourselves as followers of Jesus owe a great and eternal gratitude to these founders of the faith and what they focused on.  Thankfully, the epistle of Peter is not about organizing a protest against Nero and his predisposition to feeding Christians to the lions. We should be forever grateful that Paul didn't write his epistles to the early church urging them to boycott the local coffee shop because of the color of the cups they were using!!!!!!  No..they focused on Jesus... who He is.. what He had done.. what He was going to do.. and they had GREAT GREAT POWER.. they lived without fear of losing their very lives....in order that THE GOSPEL would be preached.  They focused on eternity.. and telling people they could choose where they would be spending it.

Well, to be fair, they weren't ALWAYS SO FOCUSED.  Acts 1:6 shows us their initial focus: "Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus was speaking to them for forty days about THE KINGDOM OF GOD, but just three verses later we see that their focus was getting those ROMAN SOLDIERS OUT OF ISRAEL.. and running their own country once again.

It must have been a confusing season for them. First, Jesus is the most popular man alive.. healing people, raising the dead. Then Jesus is dead. Then He's alive. And hanging out with them again. FOR FORTY DAYS.  Certainly this Resurrected Man had the power to drive the Roman Soldiers out. He most certainly did.

But.. He didn't. 

When the Holy Spirit came and drenched them from the inside out, they understood the TRUTH.  Keep your eyes on The One who is coming back.

It might be nice for you and your family and your neighbors to get a better government. I welcome that. But when you and your family and your neighbors and I face eternity, it won't really matter if a Republican or a Democrat is running the country.  The only thing that will matter is that Jesus is King of Kings... and whether we know Him or not.

The New Testament Church KNEW THE RESURRECTED Jesus.  They knew Him. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. THIS IS THE EXAMPLE WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.

LIFT UP JESUS.

TELL ABOUT HIS LOVE. 

LET THE HOLY SPIRIT COMFORT US.
So many of us are living under a cloud of occupation.  We have, in our own strength, no power to overcome the Roman Soldiers in our lives.  Be comforted today.  Remember that just because they aren't gone today doesn't mean they won't be gone tomorrow.  Jesus has power over every Roman Soldier. Look to Him. Please... stop.. and remember who Jesus is.. and HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU.

"Roman Soldiers" will come and go.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

THE END OF THE FUTURE?

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."  (Acts 2:17)

This verse intrigues me.  God is speaking about THE LAST DAYS.  Only God knows when those days will arrive. But this verse clearly tells us that a season is coming to this planet which will be the LAST DAYS of humanity's story upon it. 

Those of us reading this are still alive and breathing. The earth is how it's always been. True, it seems like something is beginning to shake, and some of us are shaking with the shaking, but God is still in control.  We are still alive. The earth is still spinning on its axis. 

We can learn some things from this one verse.  First, there is coming a season for and on this planet that GOD refers to as "THE LAST DAYS."   God is going to end the story of HIS-STORY with humanity living on Planet Earth. Things will change. Things will end. 

What will God do during this season of the end of the ages?  What is God's plan for THE LAST DAYS?

HE WILL POUR OUT HIS SPIRIT ON ALL PEOPLE.

Even as we reap the consequences of our rebellion, He will be POURING the COMFORTER on all people.  The Holy Spirit will arrive in such a way that it will be like a FLOOD covering the earth.  The Spirit that will lead us in to all truth. The Spirit of His Comfort.  The Power of His Greatness. POURED OUT. POURED OUT. POURED OUT. Like a flood.  

And what will be the ramifications of people being flooded with the Very Spirit of Very God? 

1- SONS AND DAUGHTERS WILL PROPHECY.

2- YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS.

3- OLD MEN WILL DREAM DREAMS.

WHAT?  Prophecy? Visions? Dreams?

All these things have something to do with the future. THE FUTURE? IN THE LAST DAYS?

YUP.  THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS.

With God there is ALWAYS a FUTURE. Always a HOPE.  

Old men who were sure their days of dreaming dreams were over will now have renewed strength and hope to dream dreams.  Sons and daughters will prophecy about God's plan for the future.  Young men will see visions.  About the future? 

Even as God is allowing the planet to be in it's LAST DAYS He continues to send His Spirit to cause us to look to the future.

Some of us are dealing with our own "last days."  

It could be the LAST DAYS of a marriage.   

LAST DAYS of a relationship.

LAST DAYS of having children at home

LAST DAYS of a life long career.

LAST DAYS of living in your home town.

LAST DAYS of life.

Please remind yourself that even in the last days - of anything - God continues to POUR HIS SPIRIT ON YOU.  He continues to remind you that you are not finished dreaming dreams or having a future.  Here. Or there.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAST DAYS IS A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.

God will create something NEW whenever He allows something OLD to see it's last days.

Be encouraged in the Lord, today.

Look to YOUR FUTURE.

'SING TO THE LORD. HE LOVES YOUR VOICE!"

Her name is Annie and she was my mother's best friend from almost the day they were born.  Annie's mom and my grandmother were very close friends.  Annie and Mom  hardly saw each other in the last few decades but they spoke on the phone several times a week.  My mother passed away four months ago, and since that time I have had the privilege of being ENCOURAGED by Annie  - to remember the joy my mother and father are feeling right now. And to rejoice with them.  Her last email to me ended with the sentence "Sing to the Lord. He loves your voice" and it just HIT ME in that place that NEEDED TO BE HIT.   I have no formal training to be a singer or a songwriter.  I don't have a membership card to the musician's club.  I just sing because I love to sing to the One I love.

And one sentence from someone who loves me.. and reminded me that I am His Delight.. has opened up my sad little heart again.

This morning I find myself reviewing music that has been sitting here for a while.  For the last year or two, caring for mom and dad was my priority and my husband's priority.  More than music. More than singing music. More than writing songs.

But Annie reminded me that I am back in a season of singing.  And it isn't important how much training I have, or whether or not my talent is as exceptional as someone else.  God loves when I sing to Him.  God loves my voice. My true audience LOVES my voice.  Go figure.  He likes to hear me sing. He likes every song  I write.  He LOVES my voice.  He does?He does.

So, this morning, thanks to an email from a Godly older woman, I am singing again. And the singing is lifting the grief. And the sorrow. And the longing for someone I love who is gone.
Why? Because someone took the time to encourage my gift.

Take the time today to encourage someone to use the gift that God has given. 

And encourage yourself in the Lord.

Whatever your talent... whatever your gift.. do it to and for the Lord.

And don't forget to sing to Him. He loves your voice too..

"Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 

1 Corinthians 10:31

SEEKER

"I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek Me if I could not be found." - GOD (Isaiah 45:19)

I like the being found part of the Gospel.  I like the part where God sent His Son in to the world to seek and to find that which was lost. I was lost. For sure.  He found me.  And without having to lift a finger, God made a way.  Before I was seeking for Him, He was all about finding me.  And so He found me. Redeemed me. And we both lived happilty ever after.  True.

The End.  Well... sorta.  It's the end of the story when it comes to the beginning of my eternity.  

But.. well.. uhhh...

There's something else the Bible speaks of.  There's something God is wanting after He finds me.  He wants me to seek Him.  What? I'm found. His Spirit has taken up residence in my very temple. 

This is one of the mysteries of God:  Although He has found us, He wants us to seek Him.  Jesus was not shy about informing anyone who would listen that He was the only way to be reconciled to God.  Furthermore, He gave an indication that the way AWAY from Him was broad... open.... widely traveled... but the way of following Him is NARROW and FEW will FIND IT. (Matthew 7)

In the verse listed at the top of this blog.. God is reminding us of something WONDERFUL. Something beyond AMAZING.  He is assuring us that He can be found.  God.. who created all we see and all we cannot see.. is willing to be found by mere earthlings.  How is He found? Who will find Him? Seekers. `

Recently, my twelve-year-old grandson Michael has taken the time to ask me a question every time we are together.  He says, "So, Mema, how was your day? Did you have a good day?"  He melts my heart every time he asks.  And then he waits for me to answer him.  I cannot tell you how loved that makes me feel.  Michael, you want to know about ME? 

My mother passed away four months ago.  She was a great intercessor for the movie War Room. She loved Stephen Kendrick,who refers to her as "the real Miss Clara." (If you've seen the movie you understand what that means.) And while she received many miraculous answers to prayer, her main reason for having her own "war room" can be found in the verse in Hebrews 11:6, "Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists, and that he rewards those who diligently seek Him."  Fighting our battles in prayer is the only way to win the battles that come our way.  But.. my mom's primary purpose for prayer was to simply know God more. Know Him deeper.  Hear Him more clearly.  We seek Him to know Him. Right? Right. 

Seeker. That's what He wants me to be.  A seeker.  Of Him. 

And then He rewards me. With Him.

And all the other stuff - blessings, rewards, direction, prosperity, courage, faith, hope, love, kindness, endurance. wisdom, understanding, power, righteousness - come because He loves me. 

When I ask my heavenly Father to REVEAL HIMSELF to me, I wonder if He feels the same way I do when my grandson asks me about me. 

I pray to be a Seeker seeking the One who has found me.

"If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.  I will be found by you, says the Lord."

Jeremiah 29:13-14

CALLING ALL COWERING CAVE DWELLERS

They had gotten used to starving and hiding in caves.  STARVING. COWERING IN FEAR.  "They" were the descendants of the people who saw God split the sea, bring down the walls of Jericho, and feed them in the middle of a desert for 40 years. HE DELIVERED THEM ALL THOSE YEARS AGO BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT THE PEOPLE HE LOVED TO BE SLAVES.  And now, because they had sinned, God allowed an army to overtake them.   

The army that had overcome them was so scary and barbaric that they were afraid to live out in the open.  They hid in caves. They ventured outside to secretly plant food, and then these armies "thick as locusts with droves of camels too numerous to count" (Judges 6)  came and stole all their food, all their livestock and all their hope. They were slaves again  - with a slave mentality - cowering in fear, starving to death, accepting the awful life they were being forced to live.  

Once again, these people cried out to the God who loved them. The God they had abandoned.   They asked Him to rescue them from this slavery - and-  once again God heard their cry and delivered them.  He choose Gideon, who was also a cowering cave dweller to be their champion.  You can read the story of Gideon beginning in Judges Chapter 6.  God used him to deliver the people and defeat their enemies. 

Nice story. So what.  
Well, I noticed that Gideon kept asking God for signs to prove that He was really with him. Because, let's face it, the armies that God was asking Gideon to stand up to were pretty formidable. Gideon didn't think he had the strength to do what God was asking him to do. AND GIDEON WAS ACCURATE. HE DIDN'T HAVE THE STRENGTH.

Presently, the world is simply and seemingly out of control.  We have no power, seemingly, to stand up against, or overcome the evil flood that is sweeping the planet.  And then, in our personal lives, life can be scary, and sad, and frustrating, and overwhelming.  We feel weak, and limp, and powerless and without strength. 

This verse jumped out to me today: "Then the Lord turned to him and said 'Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites.  I am sending you.'" (Judges 6:14)

"Go with the strength you have"

God didn't tell Gideon, the cowering cave dweller, "Here let me give you supernatural strength to fight this army."  No.

He told him to "GO.. GO NOW.. because I AM GOING TO DO THE FIGHTING FOR YOU. The strength you have is the strength you need."

This reminds me that when I have become a cowering cave dweller because I have forgotten that I am Rescued Royalty....and I cry out to God to rescue me - He will.  He does.  Jesus, my Deliverer says, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free.." 

(Luke 4:18)

Whatever is causing me and you to hide in fear - sickness, despair, depression, fear, anger, lust and more - God is calling us to walk out of that cave and back in to the light.  He isn't going to give us the power to defeat our enemy AND THEN WE GO. NO. First comes the GO and then comes the STRENGTH.  Because we are accurate, as Gideon was,  when we say that we don't have the strength. That our enemy is too powerful for us. That is THE TRUTH.  But... we are in a better position than Gideon was. Why? Because our enemy has already been defeated.  And he knows it.

God is saying to us, "Just GO with the strength you have." 

However weak you feel... GO.   Don't keep living in a cave, starving to death spiritually, emotionally, physically, because you have evaluated the situation and have decided that you don't have the strength to defeat whatever is defeating you. 

You don't.

He does.

Remember that you are a ROYAL priesthood.. and.. Walk to the edge of your slave cave....take a step outside...and...  

Go with the strength you have

and

Trust God to do the fighting for you.

Whatever strength you have today is all the strength you need today