Be Courageous Be Bold Hebrews 4:16

 Time not standing still

While men’s wills of iron, bend in God’s holy fire…

Not waiting until that Heavenly day to shout and proclaim God’s holy desire…

Here and now is what we’ve got…

To give our all, it means a lot…

Taking hold of the Savior’s hand

Walking it out at His command…

Do not wait until life is over and you’re standing on Jordan’s shore…

Shout with a roar here and now,

For Jesus is knocking at every hearts door…

Do it now and live and be…

Let His life give victory…

In every trial and every test

Breaking barriers give God your best…

Death will come soon enough…

But God has made you rough and tough…

Filled with Spirit and Holy Fire…

Drive back the enemy he’s the liar…

Truth is found in Jesus Christ…

The Way you know, yes, He’s the life…

Every minute of every day

Follow Jesus and obey…

Now is the time to act and pray…

Shatter chains today is the day…

While we are here in this fallen world

Take up your sword let his arrows twirl

Into the depths of demons sneers…

Do not be frightened and do not fear…

God is with you every step of the way…

Here the battle cry…come what may…

We are Victorious…We have overcome…

Don’t wait until heaven to take up the call…

Tear down strongholds, break down the wall…

We are Children of the Risen King…

Our life is now, so give everything…

Word of God ready…Faith on the move…Souls for the harvest…

Stand strong and bold…

Warrior’s cry out…now behold…

We are, right now…bombarding the enemy’s camp

With the light of heaven’s holy lamp

Guiding our pathway

Making it straight…

Not knocking on the pearly gates…

Why wait…

Do it now with fervent prayer…

Take up your cross and fight and declare…

‘Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords…’

We will not take the abuse any more…

FOR WE ARE VICTORIOUS IN THE LORD!!!!

WHILE  STILL STANDING ON THIS WORLD’S  DARK SHORE…

~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 3, 2017

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15 New International Version (NIV)

This is a fictional story I wrote today. It demonstrates the heart of a little girl who loves God and has questions. She prays and God answers her. When we pray from a pure heart and wait in the presence of God…He will answer us too.

Sitting quietly in a park, a little prays.

Lord, it’s me, you know, Betty. Yeah even my name is insignificant. But I was named for my grandma Elizabeth and I really don’t mind. It’s a beautiful name. Lord I’m only ten years old. I’m just a plain-Jane kind of kid. My arms and legs are skinny and my teeth aren’t very straight. I’m taller than most of the girls my age, they call me, Skinny Lizard. My mama doesn’t have time to fix my hair for me she’s pretty busy. But Lord I’m real clean. I brush my crooked teeth and I wear clean clothes even if they aren’t name brands.

I’ve been going to Sunday school all my life and I’ve learned a whole lot about you. But Lord I just don’t understand some things.

Like why don’t more people understand about your great love? I don’t understand things like why people are so full of fear and don’t trust anyone. Why are they suspicious and why do they hurt each other? Why do colors of skin matter so much and why in the world do people get so angry with each other?

I heard someone say that a family who lives at the end of my street abused their children and was arrested and their kids were put in a foster home…and I heard that a man was found dead from an overdose of pills. What’s wrong with people Lord? Why doesn’t someone tell them about Jesus and that they don’t have to live like that. Maybe I could tell someone before it’s too late.

I don’t know any famous people. I see them on television but it seems in their real lives they are very unhappy. I don’t make straight A’s in school. But I do alright. I read and write and I’m getting better all the time in math. I don’t live in a big fancy house or ride in a new shiny car. I reckon I’m about the poorest kid in school. But Lord I know my mama and daddy love me. We’re just simple folk. My mama bakes cookies for the elderly in the nursing home. My daddy helps the neighbor cut his grass. He doesn’t even get paid for it. He says it pays to be kind to others.

But my best friend Sally says my family is rare. I wonder why that is, Lord? Why don’t more people care. A missionary came to our church and showed a video of poor, hungry children and I thought we were poor. We are rich compared to them. But most people just don’t care. They say it’s not their problem and that they have their own problems. Where are the good Samaritan’s like the one in the Bible? I just don’t understand Lord.

Betty sits real quiet for a few minutes and listens…she hears birds chirping, a car races by and a dog barks in the distance.

Then suddenly a sunbeam shines through the trees over her head and onto the ground where she is sitting. A warm feeling comes over Betty and she hears these words spoken to her heart.

Sweet child of mine listen. Oh that my children had a heart like yours. I don’t see your poverty. I don’t see your crooked teeth or skinny arms and legs. I don’t see the clothes you are wearing or the house you live in, or the car you ride in. Every time I look at you Betty, I see my beloved child. I see a heart that’s compassionate and full of my Son’s love. I see kindness and peace and I see concern for others. When I look in your heart Betty I see a reflection of the one I love. Don’t ever get caught up in this world’s distraction of hate and evil. Keep your heart tuned to my Spirit. Keep your eyes fastened on me. Listen with the ears of my Spirit and never let the enemy lead you down the wrong path. Your wisdom and insight is beyond your years and most people never attain it. There is good and there is bad in the world…but I use it all to draw people to me. Some will listen and accept my love. Others will not and will suffer greatly because of their choices. Yes you are a rare jewel. I would never call you Skinny Lizard…I call you Elisheva, (Elizabeth) in Hebrew it means, ‘my God is abundance.’ I will go before you all the days of your life and I will lead you in paths of righteousness for my name sake. I have called you and I have chosen you to be my hands and feet to be used in the lives of many people. Famous or not…I will take you to places you’ve never dreamed of and I will put my words in your mouth. Because of your pure heart and love for me I will open doors that others only dream of walking through…Stay humble and true and you will never walk alone. Receive the blessings and gifts I am pouring on you. Study my word and keep them in your heart. There will always be wars in the world. But in the world to come, there will be peace and life forever. ~Yours always, Papa God!

I love it that in the scripture below God calls Jacob a worm, little Israel…because Jacob was brought low and insignificant but God raised him up to be a great nation. God is so awesome!!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 3, 2017

Isaiah 41:10-15 New International Version (NIV)

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

“All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.

I woke this morning with thoughts concerning pride and humility. As I was doing some research online I saw a poem I had written in November 2015. I read it. I was humbled by what I read.

The Giving Heart

Surrender and Humility

Two friends that walk together

Surrender says, I lay it down

Humility speaks without a sound

Pride will drive you to hold your own

In haughtiness and defiance

God looks for the broken heart

As it stands in contrite obedience

Humility bows before her foe

As Surrender walks down the rocky road

Right may stand within their grasp

At all the wiles of circumstance

But in the end, these two friends

Gain everything…

Victorious in giving…

They win.

~Marla Shaw O’Neill November 5, 2015©

You see, in living life, I realize, God gets ALL the glory. After all He is the Author of the Word, He is the Creator of all living things, He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End…He does not change…all things were made by Him all things exist because of Him…Even if we never acknowledge Him and who He is…In the end…you will discover He Is!!!

Humility comes when we surrender our will, to His will. Knowing we are nothing without Him. He Is God!! Don’t let the sin of pride take you down the wrong side of the Red Sea.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17 (NKJV)

The Taking Heart

Pride brings with it the self…

Pride brings lust and destruction…

Pride will kill with the tongue and with the gun…

Pride blocks out the Son.

Pride is the mask of the hypocrite…

Pride stands tall and will not let you quit…

it will run you into the ground…

Pride brings with it arrogance, and boastfulness,

Pride will not let you rest…

Pride builds kingdoms for the self,

It doesn’t care who it hurts until there’s nothing left…

Pride scatters nations and steals dreams of all…

Pride will take you to the top, just to see you fall…

In the end…Pride does not let you win!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill August 3, 2017©

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 New International Version (NIV)

Exodus 14:1-31 New International Version (NIV)

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

Yesterday was a day of prayer and fasting at our home. We could have fluids but no solid food. It would end at 5:00pm. I figured I could handle that. For some it would seem like no big deal but for a diabetic, type one, it’s a bit more challenging. I had to test more often and drink sips of orange juice to keep my blood sugar from going to low. But I wanted to draw closer to God. I wanted to bring my family and marriages and friends and my church family before the Lord. I wanted to bring the city I live in and my country and the world before God. I want to lay hands on the sick and have them recover. I want to cast demons out and have them stay out. You see the disciples were perplexed when they tried to cast a demon out of a man but they couldn’t do it. They asked Jesus why this occurred. Jesus said, “This kind come not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:21

I’ve done partial fasts in the past where I just eat limited amounts of food for a time. I’ve fasted other things and I believe God honored those fasts. But there is a fast unto God that will truly make a difference before Him. There’s a fast that He desires. It’s a Holy Fast. Sacred, set apart, to honor Him and pray and seek His face…read His word, to reveal His plans and secrets…that will bring change and conviction. It will bring repentance and revival. It will give us power to break strongholds those chains that hold people captive. It’s a fast that will bring men and women to their knees and cry out for more of God. It’s a fast that will shake the gates of hell, cause demons to tremble and run a fast that will conquer death…a fast that bring change and turn people to the true and living God in the name of Jesus. Where lives will forever be set free…

My husband, Bob, was confronted with a phone call today. You know one of those irritating calls you get from solicitors. Push this button to…1, 2, 3…

So for some reason he decided to push the buttons. He said a man from another country came on the line and began to question him about his credit history…Bob answered a question with a, “no” and the man began to curse him out…calling him some terrible names something about his mother…etc.…Bob took a breath and said, “God bless you. I am going to pray for you.” This isn’t really how he would have handled it in the past. But Bob had fasted and prayed he had an encounter with God…and God had given him a special blessing. So do you want to know what the man said in retaliation to Bob? He said,

Wait for it…

The man said, “Thank you.”

You see when you spend time with the Lord and you make Him your first priority and you filter everything through Him…the old you begins to die and the Love of God comes in and changes you. This kind comes not out by prayer and fasting…Thank you Jesus for your grace and for giving us a new heart to honor you in the face of conflict. To give the devil a big black eye instead of him giving us one.

Jesus, let us continue to honor you in the fast you have called…All for Your Glory and Honor, Amen!!

However this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:21

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?” Isaiah 58:6 New King James Version (NKJV)

 

        

If I could stop the rain. I would not. For at the end, there’s

a beautiful rainbow…

If I could keep from falling down. I would not. That’s how we

learn to get back up…

If I could make every tear cease, and stop every disappointment,

I wouldn’t do that either because at the end of those tears a beautiful smile

appears…

Struggles create endurance, endurance causes persistence,

persistence creates dreams, and dreams become reality.

If I knew then, what I know now, I’d still live my life just

the way I have. Because without that path I would have never learned the lessons

that make me who I am. By the grace of God; I became a person of deep

compassion, merciful, humbled and forgiven.

We will make mistakes, we will go through many heartaches

and setbacks and trials that torment the soul…

But every tear; every heartache; every trial that comes and rips us apart

it tears at our being and shapes us, into who we are supposed to be…

We could become bitter and waste our lives, but I pray we

become better and live a life of honor…Strong and courageous!

Celebrate the joy when it comes and the sorrow; embrace loved ones before

they go; we never know when this life will be cut short…

And remember…always, always, that…love is better than hate!!!!

By: Marla Shaw O’Neill,  July 30, 2014 revised July 30, 2017

Adam loved God with all his heart and wanted to please God. He had no fear or pride or jealousy. He had a pure undefiled heart and mind. He lived in the garden that God had created. He spent his days naming plants and animals it was what he did and he did it with excellence. Then God gave Adam a wife, life was wonderful. But one day everything changed…and you know the rest of that story…let me tell you what happened after they sinned and had to leave the garden.

Eve conceived and had a son, she named him Cain. Cain was the very first of their children then Able came along.

Cain worked in the fields; his job title might be that of a farmer. He knew hard work and took pride in what he did but he was self-centered and arrogant. These were traits of the sin life that came from the sins of his parent’s disobedience to God. Good and evil. Cain chose evil. Keeping the best of what he had for himself, he gave God the left overs. He gave God the “stuff” that was not too badly worn there was still a lot of good left in it. Thinking to himself, God won’t mind, he knows I deserve the best for this and after all I’m the one who worked from sunup to sundown to accumulate all this wealth. It’s not like I’m throwing the “stuff” away. It’s good enough. I’m sure God will understand.

(The tempter still at work whispering in man’s ear.)

God did understand. He understood that Cain was his own God. His heart was far from pure, his heart was full of evil and it would not abide well with him.

Able, the youngest son of Adam and Eve, tended animals he was more of a shepherd than a farmer. Able loved God and wanted to please God with all that God had given him. His was a labor of love, joy and thankfulness. He rose early in the mornings to make sure his flock was watered and fed. He anointed them with oil to keep pests off of them. He walked with them in green pastures and slept with them in fields. He would protect the flock from predators, putting the flock above his own needs. To show his gratitude to God he would select the most excellent of his flock, the first-born lamb, and he would give them as a sacrifice to God. He gave only the very best to God, second best would not do. This pleased God because Able gave it to him in faith. A blood sacrifice, Able followed God’s example that only blood can cleanse the stains of sin and wash away guilt and shame so that fellowship and relationship can be restored between God and man.

“Why doesn’t God accept my sacrifice?” Cain whined and wiped his brow. “Look at Able always happy, always getting everything he wants. I need to teach him a lesson. Life isn’t easy all the time. I sweat and toil in these fields and I barely get by. I love God. After all I give him everything I have that’s left over from my fields. Still he does not honor me or give me favor. Everything I touch is desolate and sun-scorched.” Crying in his soup bowl he tosses it aside and runs into the field where Able is tending sheep.

Cain sees Able and calls out to him. “Able come here, I want to talk to you little brother.”

Able smiles and runs to greet his big brother. “What’s up Cain?”

“Wipe that smile off your face you know what’s up. It’s you and God.” Cain sneers as evil rises up within him and spews from his mouth. “You think you’re so good. You think I don’t notice how you and God are always hanging out. You’re his favorite golden boy. You’re the apple of his eye. If he’d give me just a second of his time my fields would flourish and I’d be as well off as you are. But no, He smiles on you, takes walks with you and makes sure you prosper.”

Able stepped back his smile quickly vanishes. “What are you talking about Cain? Why do you have to be so jealous and envious? Your fields are thriving. What is your problem bro?”

“What’s my, problem? I’ll tell you what my problem is…YOU!! You’re my problem.” Cain in a rage picks up a rock and hits Able in the head. Able stumbles and falls down his blood spilling out onto the ground. Cain is a murderer. He killed his brother, Able.

Cain stares in horror… “What have I done?” He runs away to hide.

God calls to Cain… “Cain where is your brother Able?”

“I do not know? Am I my brother’s keeper?”

God said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer give its strength to you. You will always travel from place to place on the earth.” Genesis 4:1-12.

The tree of knowledge of Good and Evil is ever present as proven in the story of Cain and Able. Jealousy, pride, anger, envy all stem from the nature of man because of disobedience to God. The sin of Adam and Eve continue throughout time. The only way to restore obedience to God was with a perfect blood sacrifice. God’s plan was hidden although he gave hints and revealed his secrets to his prophets and seers along the way. He would redeem mankind through His only begotten son…but it would take years to come into play. (God’s plan would be foretold but not manifested until it was time.)

People didn’t believe Noah when he was building an ark on dry land. Rain had never fallen from the sky until that day came and it began to rain. The world cried out but it was too late.

People didn’t believe the Son of God, Messiah was born in a stable in Bethlehem until the day of His resurrection when over 500 people witnessed him alive and men of Galilee saw him ascend into heaven. (Jesus said I will come again.)

Some people still don’t believe…but just because you don’t believe doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

A lot of people today don’t believe that Jesus is going to return to the earth…but I’m telling you as sure as I live and breathe that He Is Coming…it is going to happen just like the flood came…just like the Son of God was born and died and rose again…Jesus is coming again!!

No not even the angels in heaven know exactly when he will return but he gave us signs…watch and pray…be ready…and tell others…

We are our brother’s keeper.

~~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 27, 2017

The Coming of the Son of Man

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31 (NKJV)

The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 1 Corinthians 15:1-16 New King James Version (NKJV)

 

Do you know Jesus?

Do you walk with Him and talk with Him…moment by moment?

Do you know His story?

Did you know He died on a Cross for you?

Did you know that the cross is a symbol of love that Christians have carried throughout history?

Did you know that the cross represents death and pain and sacrifice it was used to crucify people in Roman times…

The cross was a tree, a pole that Jesus hung upon. He shed his blood, and sweat, and tears. There was such anguish and betrayal and persecution. He hung there naked and beaten. Nails held his body there…

Oh he could have called angels from heaven and they would have taken Him from that cross if had asked…he could have said, “Father this is too much to bear.” But he didn’t say that…He said, “Father forgive them they don’t know what they are doing.”

The cross was not only a place of death. It was a place where life would be restored. The veil that separated men from a Holy God would be ripped in two all because the Son of God hung there and died for humanity because of His great love for all mankind.

The thief, the murderer, the liar, the cheater, the adulterer, all sinners…God loved each of us even in our sin even before we asked Him to forgive us. He loved us so much that He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross; a tree; so that you and I could be free from death, hell and the grave!!!

The cross is more than a pole that stood on a hill described as the place of the scull. It is a landmark in history that will stand throughout all time…

Men of evil intent may burn it…destroy it…hide it…bury it…smash it into dust…that will not matter…it is sealed in the minds and hearts of every living being…WHY? Because the Only Begotten Son of God hung on that cross to give us reconciliation to the Father of Heaven…The Living God and Creator of every living thing…

You think you can destroy it…There’s No Way…hold out your arms and look at yourself…you are a cross…

Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”

Oh it’s not just a symbol to be worn as an accessory…it not just a symbol to be set on a church steeple…it’s not just a symbol to be sung about or carried on someone’s back at Easter-time…It is so much more…

The Cross is a place of Liberty and restoration…It was used to show the whole world that the Son of God was sent to hang there so that we would know His sacrifice was greater than any, that could, or would, ever be able to stand in the midst of evil. To bear up under demonic torture and shame and guilt and betrayal…but it did not end there… It was not a pretty sight…it was no Hollywood movie…it was not something to be proud of or glorified…it was heart breaking, a horror to watch as the stench of blood and urine and sweat poured out…His skin was ripped, bones stretched a torture beyond anything imaginable… can you get that? Can you see the precious Son of God hanging on that cross for us?

Jesus/Yeshua the son of the living God…Gave His life freely…He died there. His blood and water poured from there…and Glory to God in the Highest…He did that so that we would live and never die…so that we wouldn’t have to be crucified…

Mockers and soldiers and family and friends…outcasts and beggars…tired lonely women and old men…lepers and blind, lame and demon possessed watched the man, Jesus/Yeshua die, upon the cross…

You can’t destroy the cross…it is indestructible because, Jesus/Yeshua lives…in spite of evil’s tactics…they’ve already lost…

Give me Jesus/Yeshua give me the cross…

I’ll carry it always; it will never be lost…

Child of God, stand tall, stand strong…

This will be your calling; this will be the cost…

Come follow Yeshua…and carry the cross…

The thing is…Jesus/Yeshua is no longer on that cross…He is ALIVE! But because of that cross, and His love for us…we as His children…know the price of what He accomplished on that cross, and one day, every knee is going to bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus/Yeshua the Christ, is LORD!!!

~~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 26, 2017

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 English Standard Version (ESV)

Brothers…

Sisters…

Hear the Joyful Sound…

Great Joy overflowing from the cup held within your hands

The Oil of Joy, bubbling up from the depths of your soul, pouring forth

Not just for you but to all you come in contact with…

I give you My Joy…so that your Joy will be full

Spirit Joy…poured upon the heads of my Priests, Prophets and Kings…

This Joy is from Holy Spirit it is strength promised by the King of Glory…

Blown in by the wind… to set you on fire… producing life and the fruit thereof is obedience which is so much greater than sacrifice…

Receive My Joy for it is the FULLNESS of Life…

Ever….Lasting….Joy!!!

Rejoicing in battles lost and won…

Taking back what has been stolen…

Triumphant over death and the grave…

Healing the broken in spirit…

Breaking chains of captivity…

Restoring fellowship with your friend…YHWH…

Conversations in Holy Tongue…

Revealer of Jesus, the Son…

This Joy…My Joy…poured out on Pentecost…

Sealed and delivered…The Comforter, teacher, living breathing Preacher…New Life Soul Maker…Author and Word Revealer…giving light to the darkness and hope to the hopeless…unimaginable Peace from Peace Himself. Spirit Joy brings restoration and reconciliation…bridges the gap between dimensions unseen but visible by Spirit Joy…

This is my gift and my promise to all who will ask and receive…The Joy of the in-filling of the Holy Spirit.

It is a time to rejoice knowing God is Holy and that He, is, your Joy…and In, Him, you have life…Rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! Let the oil of His Holy Joy Remain…Be complete in you and through you! For The Joy of The Lord is your strength…Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)

~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 25, 2017

Psalm 45:7 (NIV) You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

John 15:11 English Standard Version (ESV) These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Nehemiah 8:1-11 New International Version (NIV) all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

 

I didn’t write out the whole chapter of Daniel 7, so if you like, go back and read it later it’s very interesting. I did this because I wanted to make a point about what Daniel did while seeing a vision. It says that he looked…but he didn’t stop looking at what he was seeing it says he kept, looking, and he also asked what it all meant. The really cool thing about his asking is that, he received the interpretation.

Many times we seek God and he gives us a dream or vision or tongues but we don’t press in to get the understanding and that’s on us. God says to ask and we will receive.

So here in Daniel 7 it says,

Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

Again it says…

“After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast

After that, in my vision at night I looked…

“As I looked,…

“Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking…

 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

“I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.  I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of  all this.

“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 

Then I wanted to know the meaning…

“He gave me this explanation:

So here is the point I want to make…

Yesterday after church we were driving home and I asked Bob to call his mom. He said she was probably at her church. I said just call her and let’s see. It turned out that she couldn’t find her car keys so we went over to help her.

We looked in her car, around the car, under the car, in the trunk, no keys. So we went into the kitchen looked in the refrigerator, yes that’s right in the frig, she said she had put away some groceries. But no keys were found. We looked through the garbage, in the dishwasher, under cabinets, and in every nook and cranny…she said she had put them in her pants pocket but she’d washed and dried those pants and put them away. So we looked in her closet and on the floor, no keys. It was disconcerting for her because she said she was starting to feel like a forgetful, little, ole lady. If you know Mom O you know she is very independent and has all her faculties about her. I mean she still drives and goes to work. She is extremely intelligent and has a great mind. So Bob said, “Let’s go get a bite to eat, give yourself some time to de-stress and when we come back we’ll find your keys.” She agreed and we went for some lunch.

When we came back home we looked some more…just like Daniel we kept looking. Then I prayed silently and asked the Holy Spirit to show us where her keys were. Bob was in the kitchen looking. I went into her bedroom; I looked under the bed in the bed and all around. Still no keys… “Lord, please let us find her keys.” In her room is a chair, I pulled back the throw pillow and I saw some reading glasses in the crack of the cushion, and then I saw them and with great joy I said, “I found the keys!”

Mom O shouted, “Really? Where were they?” Bob came rushing into the room and said, “Where were they?” I showed them where I found them and Bob said to his mom, “You must have had them in your pants pocket and laid them across the chair and they fell out.” She was so relieved and happy.

Sometimes we have to look and keep on looking. Did we feel like giving up? Yes. Did we give up? No. We knew they had to be there someplace…but it took asking the only one who knew exactly where they were, the Holy Spirit, to find them.

To look and keep on looking…many times we are weary and confused and afraid but if we will look and ask for directions…God never fails to lead us to the destination of where the treasure is hidden.

And I gave him all the glory…we couldn’t find the keys no matter how much we searched…but with His help we will never fail…

Look, watch, ask…no matter how much effort it takes…because we will find the answer if we don’t get discouraged and give up.

~~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 24, 2017

Galatians 6:9 New International Version (NIV) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

 (Not the actual house but similar.)

Growing up I lived in a tiny rural area called Rocky Creek. There was actually a creek, I was baptized in it. I lived in a little house made of wood with real wood floors where the knots in some of the boards were missing so my granny would get a roll of linoleum and nail it down over the floor.

There were no screens on the windows and in the summer time the windows were propped open with a wooden plank. A fly swatter was used to swat flies and from time to time, a snake would find its way through a tear in the screen door. Summers are hot in Florida. We had something very few have today…we had sweat and heat rash. Every afternoon at nap time I’d lay in the bed wearing only little shorts and I’d toss and turn until sleep would overtake me and I’d doze into peaceful bliss…or maybe not so peaceful…

We didn’t have much money in those days. My mama worked to put food on the table and granny would take care of us and the household duties. My parents were divorced so I rarely saw my dad.

My cousin Maria lived down the dirt road from me and my cousin Juanita lived across the street, caddy corner from us. I loved to play outside. I was always running and doing cartwheels and skin the cat on an old swing-set we had. But my favorite thing to do was to play in the woods, of course granny would scold me every time she caught me going there because she said there were rattle snakes in those woods.

For me it was an adventure, a jungle, to be explored and there were lots of trees to climb. I was only four or five years old but I thought I was grown. It’s funny how our perspective changes as we mature. I remember like it was yesterday as the saying goes…I’d have a wonderful time in those woods but I paid the consequences when granny found out. She’d get the switch and around and around we’d go…she would sting my legs and I’d scream, “I won’t do it no more, I won’t do it no more.”

But come Saturday afternoon, back to the woods I’d go.

Until one day when my brother was in those woods with his dog, Rough-Neck, a gray-hound someone had given him. Regan loved that dog. That dog also loved Regan. A rattle snake was about to strike Regan when Rough-Neck jumped in front of the snake and saved Regan’s life. That was one of the saddest days of our lives. Mom wouldn’t get off work to take the dog to the vet and he died. It broke Regan’s heart and it broke my heart to see my brother in so much pain. I don’t think he ever got over it.

There are always consequences for the things we know not to do but we do them anyway. The Bible says the wages of sin is death…

We can be forgiven but that doesn’t change the fact that we will have to pay a high cost for our actions.

Last night I had a dream in the dream someone was talking to me about what I thought was important. I looked at the person and I said, “The most important thing in this life is people. Relationships. You can have lots of toys and fancy cars and big houses and take trips and have lots of money but those things aren’t as important as people.”

I thought about that this morning, and the relationships I’ve had over my lifetime and where some of those people are now. My Uncle Book died in 1966. My granny died in 1989. Maria died in 1993. My brother died in 2007. My step-dad died in 2003, and my precious mother died in 2015. I can’t bring them back. I can’t talk to them anymore. But the times we spent together were priceless and I will never forget how much we loved each other. Even in disagreements we still loved each other, we got over it, and moved on.

I think when we are young we take people for granted without even thinking about it. We just figure they’ll always be around. But as I age and time goes by I’ve come to realize anyone can die at any time. I know we can’t live our lives in fear and constantly worrying about it. But we can be a little more aware and when there is a disagreement we should to be quick to forgive. None of us are perfect we are just people.

People with emotions and challenges and health issues…people with personality conflicts and some people can make us so mad sometimes…but you know what, we should realize that people are the most important to us in life.

And I have to bring this up because, well, it’s in my DNA…God thought people were the most important too…He sent his only son, Jesus, into this world to die for us because he loved people so much …You and Me. People with flaws and sin so dark, so un-lovable, so wretched, vile and evil, but he loves us anyway. He knew, that if people would ask His son to come and live in their hearts that they would change. He knew that if they would build that relationship with His son that they’d come to know, and love Him too. He knew that if they accepted Jesus and talked to Him and would allow the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts that they would love others too.

John 3:16 is a scripture I learned early on in the little Baptist church I went to as a child…it was my first memory verse… “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever (people) believeth in him should never perish but have everlasting life.” (I was raised on the King James Version)

If you’re having a disagreement with someone, don’t put off getting together with them and restoring that relationship. Humble yourself, let go of pride and wanting to be right. I’d rather be reconciled to my loved one, than have them die and never have the opportunity to see or talk to them again. The other thing is, you could be the one to die. Keep your heart right before God. He’s never wrong.

Now on a happier note because I don’t want to leave you in this somber state of mind…

Today is a good day to love people, forgive people, go and enjoy your life!

~~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 22, 2017