When the Spirit Says Go…
My husband Bobby and I traveled from South Florida to Marianna, Florida this past weekend. We spent the night in Tallahassee to see family, then left early Friday morning to go to Marianna because Bob had a job to do there.
The drive was pleasant and we made good time. The further we went, the southern hospitality was apparent, life seemed to slow down a bit, and the accents became more distinct. I was born in Alabama but raised in Florida, I know southern. But I noticed something else, there seemed to be an underlying tension in the air. We stopped at a fast food place to use the restroom and as I walked in, I saw two policemen talking to an employee at the counter. I kept on walking and I heard a man talking to two other people. He said, “If that had been me, they would have arrested me on the spot and carried me off to jail.” I went on to the restroom and thought, “Huh, I wonder what happened here?” I came out of the restroom and a woman customer, was talking to the two policemen and she was saying, “You know, you just can’t make God mad. If you make God mad he just won’t take it.”
I walked out the door and got back in our car and told Bob what I heard and saw. Like I said, I could feel something strange in the air.
We got to our destination Bob went in to work and I stayed in the car reading a book called, The Hidden Power of the Holy Spirit. At lunch-time we went to the local Burger King and we ordered our food. Again, I sensed that tension. Bob and I sat down and began to eat. Low and behold, the woman who had been at the McDonald’s earlier that day came into the Burger King. She got in line and then said, “Burger King…why isn’t there a Burger Queen?” She said it sincerely and waited for an answer. A couple of men heard what she said and answered her but they were a little sarcastic. They laughed. One man got his order and walked out the door. The other one laughed and said, “Well at least I was nicer than he was.
Bob and I were sitting up front in a corner and could see and hear everything that was going on…there was a big man who came in and sat at a table in the center of the room. The lady doing all the talking went to sit in a section behind us by a window. She said to a young man sitting across the aisle, “I haven’t had any sleep for seven days. We drove all night and we got kicked out of our apartment.” I could sense something was weird so I said to Bob, “We need to go.” Bob said, “Yeah.” So we left.
I don’t know what happened with that lady or what else was said, all I know is that when the Spirit says leave, you need to listen. I got in the car and I prayed over those people and the place.
When we pray and are in tune with the Holy Spirit he will let us know when to stay and when to go.
We went back for Bob to finish his job and when he was finished we left to go back to Tallahassee. We had a wonderful time with family and the weekend was fun.
We left spent a few hours and enjoyed our time, with our Tampa family, and made it home safe and sound.
I’m writing this to say this, “Pray, stay connected to the Lord and listen when you sense something isn’t quite right. When the Holy Spirit says to leave…then leave.
We are all here for a reason. If for no other reason than to be at a certain time, at a certain place, to deflect evil, then so be it, and when it’s time go…Go!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 28, 2017
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Romans 8:14 New International Version (NIV)
What Is It Going to Take
What’s it Going to Take?
What would it take to cause you to change the way you think, talk, walk and live…?
What would it take for you to completely turn around and walk a different road and give…
Your heart to someone you’ve never met…
And Yet…He knows all about you…
You’ve heard the old, old, story…how a Savior came from glory, how he made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see…How he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me….
God I pray for people today. I pray they will feel the sting of sin’s ugly hand and see that it robs them of their youth and puts pain on them in old age…
You never said sin wasn’t fun…you just said, “Don’t do it.”
You knew what sin would do to the body and soul and spirit.
A lie is a lie. Satan came to steal, kill and destroy…but Jesus came to give us life, a full, wonderful, life.
I pray, Lord Jesus that your conviction and great love will fall on America, on each individual that eyes will be opened and hearts will be changed. I pray that a grief so severe will strike their hearts and minds that they will cry out to you…a cry that has not been heard since the beginning of time…I pray hearts will fear and tremble at the things you will send to cause them to humble themselves before you Oh God, and know that you are Truth and Life and the only Way…Jesus I pray that your Holy Spirit will once again fill the hearts of men and women and children and that your Holy Wind will shake the very foundations of Churches and homes all across America and true repentance will penetrate hearts and lives will once again turn to you and follow you in purity and grace…I pray that those who are seeking for more of you will experience the tongues of fire with a Holy Heavenly Language that all unbelievers will hear, and know, the wonderful things of God being spoken in their own languages…send holy dreams and visions to those non-famous people, people who are unknown because their hearts have cried out to you in holy repentance. Those whose hearts could not be tainted with worldly goods or enticed with the devils schemes…raise up powerful Holy Ghost filled people that will not back down or be silenced by religious scribes and Pharisees…Let God Arise and His enemies be SCATTERED!!!! PRAISE THE NAME OF JESUS!!!
God forgive us and SAVE us from these days of evil…where people call good, evil, and evil, good…there are wars and pestilence and floods and famine…there are murders and thieves…people, killing people, over a slice of bread…and thinking nothing of taking a life…
Oh God, Oh God, I beseech you, I cry out to you in much tears and groaning’s…for the souls of people everywhere…
Lord we need you…our world is sick and perverse…
Life goes on and souls are dying headed straight for hell…
Great floods and fires and wars continue…men killing men, women killing women…children rebellious to their parents and parents go into rages with their children…
Abandoned, sickness, cancer, diseases, even the animals cry out for you…such abuse…
Last days…yes! But people have been hearing, these are the last days for thousands of years…they don’t realize it has been your great mercy and love sparing life, so that people have the opportunity to come to you…Just like the days of Noah…people were marrying and given in marriage…life went on as usual…they kept right on sinning, right on rebelling, right on living their own selfish ways, deigning God and living in putrid disgusting lives…until…the rain began to fall and the waters began to rise…but it was too late…you shut the door of the ark and only eight souls were saved from death…because they believed you, God!
Look at the world…it is in total chaos and destruction…why? Because hearts are evil and will not listen to the Words of God spoken…Jesus is saying, “Come unto me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest…”
Just look around, can’t you see…the world is not going to get better…but you can…What is it going to take…? Do not put off the Holy Spirit, he is tugging at your heart, open the door and let him in. Then live your life pleasing to the Lord. Death is coming…it is coming for everyone…but those whose hearts are covered with the Blood of Jesus will not die…we will life forever with Him! Amen
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 28, 2017
Ephesians 5:15-20 New International Version (NIV)
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Reckoning
I weep before your throne oh God
As I see Jesus on the cross…
Crucified and there he died…
Satan spread his vile lies…
Men listened and then they cried…
Crucify, Crucify, Crucify….
I watched the faces of all that day
I heard their slanders, and their sneers, the whispers of the evil one…
As Jesus, your son, hung…
Nails held his hands and feet, but it was love for us, that he suffered seemingly defeat…
Death came and took Him away…but there would be a reckoning day…
Two thousand years on this day I’ve seen…Jesus in glory, the Reckoning…
Interceding for all the lost, as we pray down here and count the cost…
Souls still lying in Satan’s wake…How long God…what’s it gonna take?
For the saints of God to get serious and see…that prayer and fasting is what we need…
Repentance for the life of sin, deaths grip will take us to the darkened crypt…if we don’t turn around from lives of deceit…the reaper will come with no retreat…
Now is the time to come clean, and live a life holy, righteous, before the King…
The door is closing, the alarm has been sent…
Surrender your lives, humble you hearts of stone, God is calling, “Repent!!!”
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 23, 2017
Matthew 3:2-3English Standard Version (ESV)
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
The Miracle
How long do you have to wait for a miracle?
I’m not really sure how long you have to wait for a miracle; they are all around us all the time. But sometimes a miracle takes a lifetime, and sometimes not long at all…
There’s the miracle of a new born arriving…hearing a bird sing or watching a sunrise or sunset…those are miracles…
Miracles occur with each new breath we take and each new day that arrives…the miracle of walking and talking when you think about it how does that happen? It’s amazing when your baby takes their first steps and says their first word…it is thrilling, it’s a miracle.
Look around there are miracles everywhere…
And sometimes miracles; the ones we have waited for and prayed for…cried and begged God for, seem as though they will never happen.
Then suddenly, when you least expect it, something wonderful happens…
Out of nowhere your miracle appears and you’re left speechless, dumbfounded, and well just utterly surprised…
40 years I’ve waited for a miracle…40 years in the desert, going round and round and round, wandering, and then suddenly…I still wait to see it unfold and grow and survive…
What an adventure…I can hardly believe it…someone today said, “You’re glowing.”
Happiness does that to you, it makes you glow!
The miracle of love, and life, and new beginnings, are unbelievable…somebody pinch me…is it real?
It’s a lot for the mind to comprehend but without miracles life would be dull, boring a non-life…
Even the miracle of death…I never thought of death as being a miracle before but it really is…
To think that the body can just shut down and you’re gone…is a miracle…
And to have the assurance that because you’ve accepted Jesus as your savior, because He is the son of God, and to know that you will live forever, well, that is truly a miracle…
What are we waiting for…?
Live each day full and free…no worries, no pain, no fear…
Be courageous and daring and watch the miracles unfold before your very eyes…
Even if takes 40 years…it is so worth it!
God bless you! There…are….miracles…everywhere…open your heart and believe!
Your miracle is going to appear, suddenly!
(Bobby came back into my life after 40 years at our 40th High School Reunion the Miracle is still alive.)
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 23, 2012 – Revised August 23, 2017
God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Hebrews 2:4 New International Version (NIV)
We are Gathered Here Today
There will be a wedding in heaven
One day we will gather there…
The bride will be dressed in a pure, white, gown
And upon her head a golden crown…
Graced with the blood of the lamb she smiles
Majestic and holy, her life, she laid down…
To follow her Lord not being earth-bound
He takes her hand in His…
The brightness of His glory explodes in the courts of the King…
His robes of white, and gold, and red, symbols of the life he led
Where blood and water poured out, for all those dead…
This moment he’s waited, patiently, to behold
The ancient stories have all been told…
The bride of Christ, and her Groom, stands still
Vows of Love are said…
Eternally, they are wed!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 22, 2017
Revelation 19:6-9 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Hope is More Than a Four Letter Word
It has been five years and counting since hope was restored to me. I struggled for years with no hope. I was heartbroken and devastated by divorce and broken promises. Relationships of the weirdest kind happened because of unwise choices. But for me in 2012, my hope was no more deferred. Hope had been realized and the four letter word no longer ugly, but beautiful, it came flooding back with new life and new purpose.
Hope, is, a beautiful word…but more than that, when our hope is in the Hope-Giver we have no pain, no sorrow, and no regrets, too big, that we can’t overcome because our Hope is in Him.
H-Holy
O-Omnipotent
P-Precious
E-Eternal
God is my hope and in him I live and breathe and move and have my being. For without Him there would be no hope, no life, nothing to live for. His hope gives us everything to live for, everything to gain. When I gave up my desires, and accepted Him, then Hope flooded my life with a tree of life that sprung up within me whose roots grow deep and branches grow wide and fill the sky with beauty, security and strength like I’ve never known before. Hope says, there is a way, it says, do not be discouraged, it says, I’ve made the way for you, you are not alone. Let hope arise within you today. Our only Hope is Him!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 22, 2017
Hope deferred makes the heart-sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 (NIV)
Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around. Proverbs 13:12 (MSG)
The High Places
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12 KJV
I listened as Bob read out of the Bible some scriptures and the word High Places echoed in my mind and wondered what it meant…
This morning I was praying and I was holding my Bible and I opened it to read and I found myself in Ezekiel 43 verses 1 through 7. I get to the end of verse 7 and it there it is it jumps out at me ‘High Places.’
Ezekiel 43:1-7 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Return of the Lord’s Glory
He led me to the gate, the one that faces east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of mighty waters, and the earth shone with His glory. The vision I saw was like the one I had seen when He came to destroy the city, and like the ones I had seen by the Chebar Canal. I fell facedown. The glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate that faced east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from the temple. He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel and their kings will no longer defile My holy name by their religious prostitution and by the corpses of their kings at their high places.
So I stopped reading and did a little research and this is what I found. There is so much more to it than this, but this is what God put on my heart.
High places, in biblical times, were places of worship on elevated pieces of ground. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship. (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:30)
But I also found that not all high places were dedicated to idol worship. They played a major role in Israelite worship. The earliest biblical mention of a site of worship, later called a “high place,” is found in Genesis 12:6-8. Where Abram took his son to be sacrificed and traditionally it later is said to be the place where this “high place” was where the temple of Jerusalem was built.
Jacob set up a pillar to the Lord at Bethel. Genesis 28:18-19, and Moses met God on Mt. Sinai Exodus 19:1-3.
Joshua set up a stone pillar after crossing the Jordan. Joshua 4:20. They “came up.”
I Samuel 7:16, Samuel the prophet visited the high places regularly.
God’s people would forget what God said, and would begin to practice pagan ways of worship. The Canaanite’s would worship idols in high places. (Judges 3:19.)
When something is elevated and lifted high everyone can see it from a distance. On a hill or tower or high-rise, a mountain-top or, like, people of authority in high positions they make decisions for the masses. Leaders, nations, kings, these are seated in high places. Lets take a more personal look. What are some of the high places, idols, in our own lives?
Self, money, position, materialism, dreams for self-gratification, politics. Maybe it’s a sport or an animal, we just have to have. Or maybe it’s a person, an actor, or a celebrity. A car, or a home, or food, or drugs and alcohol, something that controls us, something we put before everything and everyone. What is it that we idolize that has become our god?
I’m writing those who say they are followers of Christ Jesus. When is the last time you took inventory of your heart? When is the last time you did something for someone else with no strings attached? When is the last time you gave up some of your time or money to help someone or a cause, without anyone knowing about it, but God? What are our high places, of worship?
Scripture says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Is our body clean, do we have pure thoughts and motives? Is our heart humble before God and man? Are we seeking our own glory? Do we cause pain and shout obscenities to those we are supposed to love and cherish? Do we cut people off in traffic and feel superior to those less fortunate? Worse, are we killing the unsaved thinking we are doing God a service? Is lust and pride the high places we hide thinking no one will see? Are we loving our neighbor as our own selves?
What are your high places? Ephesians says we aren’t wrestling against flesh and blood, that would be, people. We are wrestling against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in HIGH PLACES. (It’s a spiritual battle)
You can’t see them with your natural eyes, you are not even aware they are there whispering in your ears, but they are there. The prejudice, hate, murder, curses, envy, and strife against one another, jealousy, injustice, and it goes on and on. We are being manipulated and deceived not by who we can see, but by those evil ones that we can’t see. Jesus gave us the power by the Holy Spirit to discern them and to bind them and cast them out. We the “Christians” must be aware of this war…Praying and fasting, is the only way we are going to win this battle. The lost are not going to do it. They are the ones we are to be praying for, fasting for, so that their hearts will turn to God.
WAKE UP! It’s past time to get in the fight. You are in this war whether you won’t to be or not…search your own heart before God and see if there is anything that displeases Him…then get rid of it and pray a heart pounding, earth shattering, repentant prayer before God so that he will hear you and turn his wrath away from you and your family and turn it on the evil forces that are raging…If you could see into the invisible realm you’d see a war more fierce than anything in this world…it is real!!
The only way our Country is going to change for the better, is if we the people, bow our hearts to the living God and turn back to him and live a life that Honors God. Then God will hear our cry and answer! We have been born for a purpose, many are called but few are chosen…are you one of the chosen? You can only know that if you seek God. The reaper’s are reaping…the sickle has been swung…please heed the call…
This is how we fight the evil in the High Places…
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 King James Version (KJV)
And…
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Ephesians 6:10-19 King James Version (KJV)
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.) 1 Corinthians 6:19-20New International Version (NIV)
I love you, but most of all God loves you and wants the very best for you, his children. Be alert, be aware. Let the High Places of your heart exalt the living God and follow Him! Amen!
When you look to the High Places, let it be the place where Jesus dwells and makes intercessory prayer for us. Then join Him in prayer and fast and pray for all human kind.
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 21, 2017
The Neglectful Gardner
It was late when I walked into the garden…
Weeds had grown around the flower-beds and the dirt was cracked and dry…
Neglect had shown its ugly head and in disbelief I cried…
Lord, I’m sorry for not tending the garden the one you sent me too
I was tired and lonely in the garden I wasn’t thinking of you…
I didn’t want to take the time to water and fertilize, to prune and love
the precious earth that you said was mine…
Little creatures of every kind have taken its toll on the beautiful vines
What once was tended with loving care,
Has become weeds and tares…
Forgive me Lord; I’ve been selfish and unkind, living my life my way, not thinking of
The garden that needed my time…
The ones who will never bloom, because I decided, to walk on too soon…
The ones who died of thirst, because I didn’t want to care for their wounds…
The ones who were young and the ones that were old…left all alone with no care,
They withered beneath the scorching sun, you had chosen me, but all I did was run…
I’m sorry Lord, for all I’ve done…
I bow on crumbling ground and ask you to forgive me…
I will take up this task once more, to tend the garden where you sent me…
I’ll work and plow and dig in the dirt, with hand and sweating brow…
For this garden is yours after all…I won’t ever again let you down…
The roses they will bloom again, and the honeysuckles scent, will rise in fragrant adoration to the one who gives them life…
The fruit trees and honey bees will awaken at the sound
Of little birds singing, in their branches will be found…
New life will spring up and the sun will warm the flowers…
I’ll give to you, my all, dear Lord, and in every waking hour…
This garden will flourish and come alive…I promise they will survive
I’ll take my place in the garden Lord; the harvest will be many…
And you will walk among the grounds of a Garden where there won’t be any…
Briars or tares or weeds, oh no…just beautiful flowers from tiny seeds
Springing up to you, in glorious deeds, of fragrant lasting love…for thee!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 18, 2017
The New Born
I was lost in a world I did not know
Only a child filled with shame and woe
Left behind with no one to care;
Just a child, alone, who dared…
To travel on Street Desire…
A balancing act upon a wire
Hopeless, defeated, poor and weak
I had no voice, I could not speak
Faceless, nameless, no one discreet…
Until one day this man appeared
A light in the darkness, he said, “Do not fear…
I’ve come to take you home, with me, where life is good
There’ll be no more tears…”
Standing in the sunlit room…no more heartache no more gloom
In the presence of love I find
A Street called, Love Divine…
I took his hand and as he held mine…
Savior, Yeshua said, “Come and dine.”
Now golden streets are where I walk
Robes of white washed in the blood…
Songs of praise and joy and love…
I’m a child, new-born, with God above.
~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 17, 2017
Matthew 18:3-5 The Message (MSG)
For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.