There has been A LOT on my mind the last couple of weeks. God's word is piercing my heart, and maybe for the first time - THE FEAR OF THE LORD is entering me. I know that God is God. He is holy. He is just. And I know that the same things that made Him angry in the past, makes Him angry now. I tremble because we are doing those same things. Sweet Jesus! But then I came to realize that even though we prostitute ourselves, even though we follow after other lovers, even though we go the wrong directions, God still loves us, and He will intervene on our behalf. We don't realize that all we have came from God, not our (job-talent-intelligence-money-looks-whatever you think prospered you). We may not like the intervention, but He is so kind and gracious to stop us from our madness. Listen to what God is going to do for His people who have been unfaithful to Him.
In Hosea, God talks about us saying, "Their mother is a shameless prostitute and she became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, "I'll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks." - What are we running after that we think supplies these things? -
"For this reason I will fence her in with thorn bushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way. When she runs after her lovers, she won't be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, 'I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with Him than I am now.'
She (we) doesn't realize it was I who gave her everything she has - the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.
"But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness. I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands. I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days - all her appointed festivals. I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things the claims her lovers age her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit. I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about Me," says the LORD.
BUT THEN I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to Me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. When that day comes, " says the LORD, "you will call Me 'my husband' instead of 'my master.'" Hosea 2
Wow! God is going to take away every good thing He has ever given us so that we will come to a place where we want Him again. Then He is going to romance us there in the desert. The world will see us naked and destitute, but God will see His bride. Humble. Contrite. Beautiful.
He loves us so much. It is passages like this one that give me such hope. God loves us - even when we are lusting after other lovers.
Thank you, Jesus!

Hi friends.  Today is Thursday morning.  It was just two days ago that God began revealing to me "The Fear of the LORD."  I think somewhere along the way we lost the fear and reverence for our Maker.  Maybe we never had it.  I don't think I did.  God is so good!  He always has been so good to me, but two days ago I started trembling.  I saw the God who got so angry with His people that He wanted to destroy them time and time again, and I want to know:  WHAT MADE GOD ANGRY?   I want to know this because I know that my God never changes.  The same God who parted the Red Sea and rained Manna from heaven and caused water to gush from rocks, is the same God who caused the earth to open wide and swallow whole families.  I don't know about you, but I want to know why, because the same things that made Him angry back then will make Him angry now.  1 Corinthians 10 talks about the people of Israel.  All of them did eat the same spiritual meat and drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ.  But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  Now these things were our examples that we should not lust after evil things, as they lusted.  They were just like us - "Saved."  They ate and drank of the Rock that followed them, Jesus - so do we. (1Corinthians 10)  But most of them did not make it, and I don't want it to be the same for us, so I want to write down what I see.

FIRST, I SAW GOD SAY, "DON'T COMPLAIN!"

"And don't grumble and complain as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death."  (1 Corinthians 10:10)  When I look at the Israelites, and at our own lives, I see it riddled with complaints.  We have to understand what is really happening when we complain.  When we complain - against anyone or anything - we are really complaining against God and "testing" or "tempting" the LORD. (Exodus 17"2)  I don't know what that means exactly, but the death angel gets involved.  This is the same angel that destroyed all of the firstborn in Egypt.  We have to understand.  This is serious.

Right after they crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites traveled in the desert for three days without finding water.  When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink.  Then the people complained and turned against Moses.  "What are we going to drink?" they demanded.  So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood.  Moses threw it into the water and this made the water good to drink.  It was there at Mara that the LORD set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to Him.  He said, "If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, obeying His commands and keeping all His decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you."  (Exodus 15:22-26) The standard that God is setting before us all to test our faithfulness to Him is - will we complain?  If we will listen to the voice of the LORD in this area and do what is right in His sight, He will not make us suffer any of the diseases that He sent on the Egyptians.  Wow!  What an amazing promise.  If we refuse to complain about anything, we get to walk in health.  As I am typing this, this truth is becoming revelation to me.  I want to understand healing, and not complaining is part of that understanding.  Wow!

However, a month later, the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron because they wanted meat to eat.  Then Moses said, "The LORD will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for He has heard all your complaints against Him.  What have we done?  Yes, your complaints are against the LORD, not against us."  (Exodus 16:8)

These people complained and they turned against Moses and Aaron, but they were really turning their backs on God.  Oh my goodness!   Whatever situations we find ourselves in, God knows where we are.  He is the one who sent us there.  Sometimes we are in the places we are in because God wants to disciple us.  Other times, God wants to show Himself strong on our behalf.  Then other times, like Job, God wants us to know Him in ways we have never known Him before.  BUT just like the people of Israel, we want what we want, and we want it now.  We complain when we don't get it.  We demand what our heart craves.  And we fail the test.  God is testing our faithfulness to Him. If we only understood that complaining stops God's hand of blessing over our lives, but praise is an open door into the heavenly places for God to work on our behalf.  "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.  For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son."  (Romans 8:28-29) . With everything that is happening to us, God is using that as an opportunity for us to become more like His Son.  His Son would have given His Father praise and honor for whatever provisions He had - even if it were only a few loaves and fishes, because He knows His Father will take care of all of His needs.  He will also take care of all of our needs, too, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:19) . But complaining ties God's hands.  It not only ties His hands, but it causes judgment to fall on us - fire from heaven.

Then in Exodus 17: 1-7, we find another time they complained about no water.  At the LORD's command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place.  Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink.  So once more the people complained against Moses.  "Give us water to drink!" they demanded.  "Quiet!" Moses replied.  "Why are you complaining against me?  And why are you testing the LORD?"  But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt?  Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?"

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What should I do with these people?  They are ready to stone me!"  The LORD said to Moses, "Walk out in front of the people.  Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you.  I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai.  Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out.  Then the people will be able to drink,"  So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.  Moses named the place Massah (which means "test") and Meribah (which means "arguing") because the people argued with Moses and tested the LORD by saying, "Is the LORD here with us or not?"

When hardships come, we have a choice to make.  Will we trust God and praise Him, or will we complain and test Him, saying in our heart, "Is the LORD here with us or not?"  Psalm 81 says:  

          Sing praises to God, our strength,
               Sing to the God of Jacob.
          Sing!  Beat the tambouring.
               Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
          Blow the ram's horn at new moon,
               and again at full moon to call a festival!
          For this is required by the decrees of Israel;
               it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.
          He made it a law for Israel
               when He attacked Egypt to set us free.

          I heard an unknown voice say, 
               "Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
               I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
          You cried to Me in trouble, and I saved you;
               I answered out of the thundercloud
               and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.

OK.  God made laws and regulations in heavenly realms for us when He comes to set us free.  It is a requirement that we praise Him.  We cannot praise Him and complain at the same time.  It is not possible.  So this is the standard that is set before us to test our faithfulness to God.  Will we praise Him even when things get rough?  It doesn't get much harder than not having food or water.  And in the middle of those circumstances, God is asking us to praise Him and not complain.  When we do this, what we are actually saying in our heart is, "I believe that the LORD is here with us!"  Our faith is tested, and we pass the test.  God's hand is then loosed to take the load from our shoulders and free our hands from their heavy tasks.

​What I am asking myself and you is, "What are we complaining about?"  What is in our heart that causes us to murmur and grumble?  Did you know that it is at the LORD's command that you are in this place?  He is there with you, and He has made a way of escape.  "And don't grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.  These things happened to them as examples for us.  They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.  If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.  The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.  And God is faithful.  He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.  (1 Corinthians 10:10-13)

So if you know that grumbling and complaining is in your heart, get it out.  Come to Jesus without excuse and say, "I am guilty, and I am sorry."  Then begin to praise Him.  Thank Him for all of the great things He has done.  The LORD had just revealed His strong, mighty arm to the people of Israel, but they soon forgot.  Let's not forget the miracles God has performed in our own lives, because I am telling you the truth when I say, "He is poised to show Himself strong in our life once again!"  He wants to bless us.  He wants to be our provider and protector.  He wants to be our deliverer.  He wants to be our healer.  But there is an order to things.  We have to stop complaining and start praising His holy name.  Praise is the key that unlocks the doors for our God to move on our behalf. 

Philippians 2:14-15 says, "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life."  Can you see that?  God makes us blameless and harmless, children without fault.  Wow!  Blameless.  Harmless.  Without fault.  Lights that shine brightly in a dark world AS WE HOLD FAST TO THE WORD OF LIFE. 

We cannot hold fast to the Word of Life when we are complaining.  Our light goes out when we complain.  We are not blameless when we argue and complain.  LORD, we are so sorry.  We are sorry that we have tested You.  We are sorry that our light has not been allowed to shine brightly in the middle of this crooked, perverse generation.  We are sorry that we are not holding fast to the Word of Life.  Forgive us.  Teach us Your ways and show us Your paths.  LORD, help us to walk in it.  Teach our mouths not to complain.  But really, God, it has to start in our heart.  Teach our heart to be thankful.  Teach our mouth to sing Your praise. 

I ask this in Jesus' name.  AMEN  

Oh my goodness.  I am trembling inside.  It started last night at Bible study.  God is doing something deep in my heart, and it is moving me.  I am shaking.  As you can see from the last several posts, God is working inside of me to understand His ways and to walk in them.  Last night I saw my God clearly, and I trembled - my knees shook, and my stomach turned.  It still is.  My heart saw - maybe for the first time - the God that I serve.  The God who parts seas to rescue His people.  The God who rains down bread from heaven to feed us.  The God who causes the rocks to gush water so that we can have something to drink.  But He is also the One sent fire in the camp to destroy His chosen people (Did you hear that? That's us!) when they complained about their hardship. (Numbers 11:1)  Then the people craved meat, and He is the One who caused an east wind to blow and send quail to satisfy their cravings, but while people gorged themselves on the meat - while it was still in their mouths - the anger of the LORD blazed against the people, and He struck them with a severe plague.  And He is the One who caused the earth to open wide and swallow all who incited rebellion against His chosen leaders.  (Numbers 16)

Are you trembling yet?  This is us.  This is the same God we serve, the One who is gracious and kind, full of unfailing love - slow to anger - full of mercy.  This is the God who made a way of escape for us, too.  He sent Jesus to us to rescue us.  We walked over on dry ground.  He feeds us and cares for us.  But only two of the people who left Egypt (got saved) (the older generation) made it into the promise land.   They refused to believe God or to trust Him to care for them.  Please, let us learn this lesson from the past so that He will not have to discipline us like He disciplined them - with terror and disease and hardship and death.

Psalm 78 tells of the rebellion of God's people.  LORD, give us eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to understand what You are saying.  Show us what You want from us.  Cause our hearts to tremble at Your word so that we can turn and live.  Send light and truth, and let them lead us to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle.  I ask this in Jesus' name.

Verses 9-10:  "The warriors of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned their backs and fled on the day of battle.  They did not keep God's covenant and refused to live by His instructions."  OK, let's look at our lives.  When the battle gets tough, do we turn our backs and run?  Do we give up?  Do we check out?  Do we get a divorce, quit a job, give up on our children?  Do we refuse to love those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who spitefully use us?  Do we refuse to never render evil for evil.  Do we refuse to point the finger and speak wicked things?  Or do we give in and refuse to fight?  We have weapons in our hands.  The Word of God is a sharp two edged sword that is able to piercing to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow, the thoughts and the intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4;12) The Word of God is Spirit and life and able to give life.  (John 6:63) .  The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us, and it will quicken our mortal bodies. (Romans 8:11) . And God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.  He said that we will be partakers of His divine nature through His great and precious promises so that we can escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.  (2 Peter 1:3-4)  Friends, God is for us!  He has equipped us!  He has sent His Word and His Spirit.  All we have to do is stand tall, with our eyes firmly set on Jesus, and begin to do what He is asking us to do.

Verses 11-16:  They forgot what He had done - the great wonders He had shown them, the miracles He did for their ancestors on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.  For He divided the sea and led them through, making the water stand up like walls!  In the daytime He led them by a cloud, and all night by a pillar of fire.  He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them water, as from a gushing spring.  He made streams pour from the rock, making the waters flow down like a river!  Oh my goodness!  Look what the LORD did for His people, but they forgot.  We, too, forget.  How could we forget? But we do.  Life comes crashing in, the waves too high, and we don't remember.  We become fat and lazy and complacent, and we don't remember.  We fill our time with too much stuff, and we don't remember.  We set our affections on something else, and we don't remember.  We stray so far away, and we don't remember.  Will you please take a few minutes and remember all of the great things God has done for you?  Will you declare His greatness out loud?  Will you tell of His awesome deeds?  Will you shout to the nations, "Our God reigns!"  When we choose to remember - and it is a choice - something amazing happens.  Joy comes.  Our heart begins to take hold of God's hand and we start to trust again.  The Spirit then breathes life and hope.

Verses 17-22:  "Yet they kept on sinning against Him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.  They stubbornly tested God in their hearts, demanding the foods they craved.  They even spoke against God Himself, saying, "God can't give us food in the wilderness.  Yes, He can strike a rock so water gushes out, but He can't give His people bread and meat."  When the LORD heard them, He was furious.  The fire of His wrath burned against Jacob.  Yes, His anger rose against Israel, for they did not believe God or trust Him to care for them."  Wow!  When we demand things, we are testing God?!? WHAT?  What are we demanding?  What is in our heart that we just think we cannot live without? Are we testing God, too?  Then when we point our finger at God and say, "You are not able!"  Oh my goodness!  The God who spoke this world into existence, the One who set the sun and the moon and the stars in place, the One who spun this earth at just the right angle and speed to allow life to live, the One who took dust and breathed life into it, and it became a man, the One who gave man free will - knowing that we would rebel - and then sent His Son to make a way where there seems to be no way, the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the One who is the LORD of Heaven's Armies IS THE ONE WHO IS FURIOUS!  Because we, like the Israelites, don't believe Him or trust Him to care for us.   I don't know if you are trembling, but I am.

Verses 23-31:  "But He commanded the skies to open; He opened the doors of heaven.  He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them bread from heaven.  They ate the food of angels!  God gave them all they could hold.  He released the east wind in the heavens and guided the south wind by His mighty power.  He rained down meat as thick as dust - birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore!  He caused the birds to fall within their camp and all around their tents.  The people ate their fill.  He gave them what they craved.  But before they satisfied their craving, while the meat was yet in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and He killed their strongest men.  He struck down the finest of Israel's young men."  Oh my goodness!  We have to get this one.  What are we craving?  A new house?  Car?  Spouse?  Career?  Fame?  God gave the Israelites what they craved, but while it was still in their mouths, His anger rose against them.  What if we get what we crave, but God's anger will come with it.  Are we testing God in our heart?  Are we demanding what our heart craves?  Oh my!  LORD help us!  LORD forgive us!  You would think that when all of this stuff started happening, that the people would pay attention and change, but look at what they did.

Verses 32-34:  "But in spite of this, the people kept sinning.  Despite His wonders, they refused to trust Him.  So He ended their lives in failure, their years in terror.  When God began killing them, they finally sought Him.  They repented and took God seriously."  So what is it that God is wanting us to do?  He wants us to trust Him.  He wants us to believe what He says.  He wants us to know that He is going to do what He says He will do, and that is to take care of His people.  He said, "Don't worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.  Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds.  They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.  And aren't you far more valuable to Him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  And why worry about your clothing?  Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow.  They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all His glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you.  Why do you have so little faith?  So don't worry about these things, saying, "What will we eat?  What will we drink?  What will we wear?  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.  So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.  Today's trouble is enough for today."  (Matthew 6:25-34)

God is asking us not to worry about what we eat or drink or wear.  He is asking us to trust Him.  But despite all of the words and warnings and hardships, we still refuse to trust God.  And if we don't change, our lives will end in failure and terror too.  It was not until God started killing them that they finally began to take God seriously.  Is that what it is going to take for us?  This is a sobering thought. 

;I want to tell you what happened to us this weekend.  About eight years ago we had it in our heart to start preparing for the end of the world.  We, like many others, began to store food and water.  It was at that time that it entered our heart to dig a basement, a place to store food.  From the start, that basement was not blessed.  At the time we dug the basement, we were in a seven year drought, but when the drought broke several years ago, the basement filled to the brim with water, all of the food was destroyed.  We had to make a choice.  We chose to rebuild it.  We chose to put a pool liner inside the basement and have a brick layer come and put a new layer of cement blocks in so it would keep the water out.

As you all know, it has been raining in Texas for several weeks now.  A few days ago, my husband went down in the basement to reset the water heater, and all was dry.  On Sunday morning, however, I woke up with no hot water.  My husband went into the basement to check on the water heater, and it was floating on it's side - so was our freezer.  All of the stuff stored in the basement was floating.  The water had busted up through the floor of the basement, and as I looked into the mess underneath our house, my heart grieved.  I knew then what I had not known eight years ago, we had sinned against God.  We tried to take matters into our own hands.  We tried to be our own savior and provider.  We never consulted God about what we did, we just did it, and it could not be blessed.

Now some of you will think what I just said is nonsense, but I know it to be true.  Isaiah 3:1-3 "The Lord, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah (that's us) everything they depend on:  every bit of bread and every drop of water, all their heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders, army officers and high officials, advisers, skilled sorcerers, and astrologers."  God is going to take away everything we depend on so that we can only depend on Him.  So all of our prepping was for nothing.  I know that now.  We were trying to prepare, but we were not doing it in the right way.  Listen to what God says:

"Wash yourselves and be clean!  Get your sins out of My sight.  Give up your evil ways.  Learn to do good.  Seek justice.  Help the oppressed.  Defend the cause of orphans.  Fight for the rights of widows.  "Come now, let's settle this," says the LORD.  "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.  Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.  If you will only obey Me, you will have plenty to eat.  But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.  I, the LORD, have spoken!"

​God, give us eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to understand what the Spirit is saying.  I ask this in Jesus' name.  AMEN

And this is what the LORD says to all humanity: "The fear of the LORD is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding."  Job 28:28  I mentioned this passage in my last blog, but it is grabbing hold of my heart.  I want to share what I wrote yesterday on facebook.

I just want to chew on this a while. “The fear of the LORD is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.” This is huge. WISDOM is to fear the LORD - to know that He alone is God - to know that He makes the rules (we don’t)- to know that He gives consequences to the rules (good and bad) - to know that He makes sure the consequences are carried out. This should make us tremble because we are all unable or unwilling to do what He is asking us to do. But for those of us who are willing, God has made a way of escape. He made it possible for us to forsake evil. It is only through Jesus that we can do this. We come to Him without excuse and say, “I am guilty. Will You forgive me?” And He does. It is at this point that UNDERSTANDING comes. Finally we can see the beauty. He does give His people beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. We start to understand the goodness of God. We start to understand the good plan He has for us, a plan to prosper and not to harm, a plan to give us hope and a future. And when understanding isn’t quite there yet, (there is still something inside of us that needs to be healed) we begin to trust in the character and the great love of our God for us. That is true wisdom and understanding- to trust God. LORD, I am asking You to send us the spirit wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of the fear of the LORD, and the spirit of knowledge. May we no longer go by what we see or hear, but with righteousness let us make judgments. I ask this in Jesus ‘ name. Amen

Blessings, my friends,
​Terri

My search for understanding started back in 2011.  For a season I spent time in a prayer closet.  It was during this time period that God began to open up scriptures to me.  He especially opened up Leviticus 26.  It was fascinating.  In that passage I read that if we follow God's decrees and are careful to obey His commands, He will prosper us in every area of our lives.  "However, if you do not listen to Me or obey all these commands, and if you break My covenant by rejecting My decrees, treating My regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey My commands, I will punish you.  I will bring sudden terrors upon you - wasting diseases and burning fevers that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away.  You will plant your crops in vain because your enemies will eat them.  I will turn against you, and you will be defeated by your enemies.  Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will run even when no one is chasing you." (vs. 14-17) 

WHAT?!?  When we disobey God, HE PUNISHES US.  HE sends terror and disease.  HE causes our life to ebb away.  HE causes our crops to fail.  HE turns against us and allows our enemies (principalities and powers) to defeat us and to rule over us until there is so much fear inside of us that we run even when no one is chasing us.  GOD IS THE ONE WHO DOES THIS.  This blew me away because everywhere I look, I see terror and disease.  I see failed crops.  I see people so consumed with hatred and bitterness and anger and confusion and unforgiveness and feelings of unworthiness and self-condemnation and self-pity.  I see people who are live in despair and hopelessness.  But this is not what God ever intended.  We serve a God who wants to bless.  I wanted to understand!

Then God gave me the Parable of the Raccoon.  With this parable, He gave me that understanding.  From the parable I learned that the battle is between the Truth and a lie.  It is all about what we believe.  "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness."  This righteousness brings peace.  But if we believe a lie, we sin, and there is no peace for the wicked.  Once we believe a lie (it's a spirit), the lie enters our heart and moves us.  We have just opened the door for the enemy to send:  TERROR, DISEASE, FEVER, BLINDNESS, and DEATH.  We have also opened the door for the enemy to steal all that we work for.  Can you see that?  "The thief comes to kill, steal and to destroy."  But really it is God who is doing it.  That's right.  It is in black and white.  But that is not what He wants to do.  He wants to bless us.  He wants to prosper us.  He is trying to get our attention so that we can find life again.  "But I have come to give life and to give it to you abundantly." (John 10:10)

So how do we find that abundant life?  We face Jesus and we open our heart wide.  We let Him come in and search us and know us.  We let Him try our anxious thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in us and lead us into paths of life everlasting.  Once He reveals the lie, we come to Him without excuse, without pointing the finger at anyone else, and we say, "I am guilty, God, and I am sorry.  Will You forgive me."  Then just like that, our sin is gone.  As far as the east is from the west, our sin is gone.  I am watching this happen everywhere I go.  To everyone who has a heart wide open, God comes to save and deliver.  It is so spectacular!  Fear leaves and peace enters.  Our enemies are defeated!  Thank you, Jesus!

But now I want to UNDERSTAND physical healing.  I want to walk in this power.  The scripture says, "May you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers." (3 John 1:2)  So prosperity and health come when our soul prospers.  Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions.  It is who we are.  It is what we think.  It is what we do.  It is how we feel.  In my heart, I am thinking that if we truly start to believe the truth and begin to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus (our mind), and if we become a doer of the Word and not just a hearer only (our will), then our emotions - most of whom are associated with a lie - will line up with what God wants us to feel.  It is at this point that the kingdom comes with power.  "Behold, the kingdom of God is within you."  (Luke 17:21)  "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."  (Romans 14:27) . Righteousness, peace, and joy are our inheritance.  This is soul prosperity.  This is the kingdom of heaven.  And the kingdom comes with power, provision, and health.

Now, I want you to have an open mind here because I know that babies are born sick.  People die.  Natural disasters occur.  Things happen that we can't change.  Hard things.  BUT WE ARE NOT GOD.  His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts, and His ways are far beyond anything we can imagine.  (Isaiah 55:8) But we can trust that He has good plans, plans to prosper and not to harm, plans to give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)  He said, "In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find Me."   "I will be found by you," says the LORD.  "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.  I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land."  (Jeremiah 29:12-14)

Up to this time we have only given God half of ourselves.  We say to Him, "You can go this far and no further."  But God won't have it.  He wants all of us.  He is a jealous God, and He will have no other gods before Him.  He is going down into the depths of our heart to show us exactly what is in there.  It is there that we will find wisdom, and it is there that we will find understanding.  It is there that we will find health and rest for our souls.  But there may be a lot of digging and excavating to get there. 

Job says, "People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold.  They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock.  They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the dark for ore.  They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives.  They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.  Food is grown on the earth above, but down below, the earth is melted as by fire.  Here the rocks contain precious lapis lazuli, and the dust contains gold.  These are the treasures no bird of prey can see, no falcon's eye observe.  No wild animal has walked upon these treasures; no lion has ever set his paw there.  People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains.  They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones.  They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures.  But do people know where to find wisdom?  Where can they find understanding?  No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living."  (Job 28:1-13)

Can you sense that there is a precious treasure down deep inside of us.  No one can see it.  We don't even know it is there.  Deep, deep down there is gold and silver.  Hidden.  It may be covered by a mountain of disappointment and failure.  It may be buried in pain and sorrow.  It may be trapped in rejection and abandonment.  It may be wedged in between our selfish ambitions and bitter envies, but it is there.  Hidden treasure.

"Do people know where to find wisdom?  Where can they find understanding?  It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity.  Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.  Destruction and Death say, "We've heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found."  God alone understands the way to wisdom; He knows where it can be found, for He looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens.  He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall.  He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning.  Then He saw wisdom and evaluated it.  He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.  And this is what He says to all humanity:  "The fear of the LORD is true wisdom; TO FORSAKE EVIL is real understanding."
(Job 28:20-28)

Wisdom and understanding are set firmly in place down inside of us. To fear God and to depart from evil. Then God examines us thoroughly.  He knows if we fear Him.  He knows if we trust Him.  He knows we want to forsake evil for His sake.  AND He knows that there are things that are getting in the way of us doing this.  He wants to get those things out of the way so that we can possess the promise land - this land flowing with milk and honey - this land where fruit grows so big that it takes two men to carry it.  He wants all of the gold and the silver (wisdom and understanding) and all the untold riches in heaven to be ours.  He wants to bless us in every way possible:

          Your towns and your fields will be blessed.
          Your children and your crops will be blessed.
          The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.  
          Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.
          Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.

The LORD will conquer your enemies when they attack you.  They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!

The LORD will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain.  The LORD will bless you in the land He is giving you.

If you obey the commands of the LORD your God and walk in His ways, the LORD will establish you as His holy people as He swore He would do.  Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

The LORD will give you prosperity in the land He swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops.  The LORD will send rain at the proper time from His rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do.  You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.  If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.  You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.  (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

Can you see it?  God WANTS to prosper His people.  He wants to give us the good stuff, but is healing in the package?  Psalm 103:1-5  "Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name.  Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things He does for me.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.  He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.  He fills my life with good things.  My youth is renewed like the eagle's."

So we see that healing is a part of the package deal.   But things are getting in the way. We have other things have taken our affections.  We have allowed ourselves to embrace lies.  Can you see that?  Can you see the consequences of our choices not to put God first?  Not to trust Him? Are you filled with pain and sorrow, hopelessness and despair, anger and frustration, disease and terror?  Do you feel your life ebbing away? 

God says, "In the future, when you EXPERIENCE all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the LORD your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions.  If at that time you and your children return to the LORD your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commandments I have given you today, the the LORD your God will restore your fortunes.  He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where He has scattered you.  Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the LORD your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. (Deuteronomy 30:1-4)

If you are experiencing all of the blessings and the curses, God is calling to you, "Return!"  But we have to open our whole heart to Him.  But when we do that, listen to what God will do for us.  "The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love Him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!  Then you will again obey the LORD and keep all His commandments.  God will then make you successful in everything you do.  (Deuteronomy 30:6-9) . Wow!  God, Himself will circumcise our heart and the hearts of all of our descendants if we will just open up to Him.  He will cause us to obey Him and to keep His commandments, and He will make us a success.  He does all the work.  We just have to let Him.

It is kind of a scary to open our heart completely to Him.  Our heart is deep water, and it is dark and murky down there.  There are hidden chambers, crevices filled with unmentionable, painful, scary things, but God knows this.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He has come to rescue us.  We just have to lay down our pride and our power and let Him.  Some of you are saying, "I can't."  But God says, "You can."

This command that I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach.  It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, "Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?"  It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, "Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?"  No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.  Now listen!  Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.  (Deuteronomy 30:11-15)

This is not too difficult for us.  Jesus did the hard part, now we just have to let Him do the rest of His work in us.  Part of that work is that He wants to heal us.  It is written:  "He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and BY HIS STRIPES, WE ARE HEALED.  All of us, like sheep, have gone astray.  We have left God's path to follow our own.  Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all.  (Isaiah 53:5-6)

Now for some of you, the enemy will try to come with condemnation.  Don't let him.  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who follow after the Spirit and not after the flesh.  If you are sick or experiencing any of the above symptoms, just open your heart wide and let God in.  Let Him take you to a place of peace and rest, and then stay there.  He knows what He is doing.  We don't.  Begin to praise Him.  Begin to thank Him.  Remember all the great things He has done for you and rejoice.  God is might to save, and He is always up to something good!

Blessings, my friends.  May you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

Terri

For those of you who have followed my posts for the last few years, you know that God has poured His grace upon me in a way that I have come to a complete deliverance and healing.  It is glorious.  When God gave me the Parable of the Raccoon, He gave me power, and I have walked in that power for over seven years.  Once the LORD exposed the lies I had been believing, it was easy for me to confess, repent, and turn.  For me these acts of repentance brought complete healing because I have never had my heart broken.  I have never been abused or misused.  I have never known sorrow or loss.  I do not know the pain and sorrow and grief that the rest of the world knows.  I did not understand that there is another part of us that needs to be healed.  Then I met a man six months ago who was walking in this glorious power.

Six months ago, I visited a local church when one of the elders of that church held the door open for me.  We started talking, saying the same things.  "God is good!"  "He is moving mountains!"  "People are being delivered and healed!"  Then I started telling him all the things I was witnessing God do through the understanding that came through the Parable of the Raccoon.  He was the first person I have talked to that understood what I was talking about before I explained it.  He said, "It sounds like you are going into the Courts of Heaven."  I excitedly proclaimed, "My pastor is teaching on the Courts of Heaven."  Then he said something that blew me away.  He said, "Now God is also healing our pain and our sorrow."  Then he told me how God spoke to him and said, "Gary, I want you to give me your past."  He said, "God, you know that I have already given you my past."  Then God said to that man, "No, I want to take your pain and your sorrow."  Wow!  Wow!  Wow!

That man then told me that after God had completely delivered him from the sorrow and pain, God started using him to share this same good news with others.  He said that 70-year-old men and women were being set free.  I am like, "Gary, is there a scope and sequence?  Do you do one thing, then do another?"  He said, "No."  For some people the pain and sorrow and regret of the past is so great that they have to be healed of that before God can go any further.  For others, the anger and unforgiveness and bitterness and shame and guilt are so strong that they have to be delivered from those before God can heal the pain and sorrow.

So I left that man that night with a glimpse of something so very big, but I didn't know how to access it.  Since that time, several people have come to me with grief and sorrow.  I treated it like I would any other spirit.  I asked them to face Jesus with their heart wide open and say, "God, I am guilty of holding on to grief and sorrow.  Would You forgive me?"  For everyone who prayed that prayer, sorrow left!  Hallelujah!

Then this weekend I went to San Antonio to the Women of Joy Conference.  Every woman who spoke shared how God saw them through the pain and sorrow of life.  WOW!  God is so good!

So now, God is giving His people more.  He is coming to heal our pain and our sorrow.  He is coming to comfort those of us who mourn, to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that we might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.  (Isaiah 61:3) After God comforts us and gives us beauty and joy and praise, "we shall rebuild the old ruins, we shall raise up the former desolations, and we shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.  (Isaiah 61:4)  God is on the move.  All we have to do is let Him move us, and once we do that, He is poised to help us rebuild all of the desolations of our lives.

Now let's look at Isaiah 53:4-5.  In these passages we can see what Jesus paid for on the cross.  "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 

Jesus was wounded, stricken, smitten, bruised, and beaten.  The chastisement that should have been ours, He bore, and because of that, we do not have to carry the burden of:  grief, sorrow, our sins, or our iniquities.  Jesus already paid the price.  Peace is now our portion, not fear or worry or anxiety or insecurities.  Peace!  And let me tell you, I am able to walk in the power of all of this - and I am able to take anyone who wants to go to this place of glorious rest and peace.  Now the last part of what Jesus did 2000 years ago - BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.

I don't have understanding in this area yet, but it is coming soon.  I think it involves a soul healing.  May you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.  So my friends, we are living in exciting, powerful times.  God is on His throne, and He is coming to rescue His people.  We will all see it with our own eyes.  We will all rejoice.  We will all give our God and His Savior much praise.

Blessings, my friends.  May we all walk in the power of what Jesus did 2000 years ago!

​Terri

My goodness, it has been a long time since I have posted.  Really it has been a long time since I have looked at this web site.  My life is in transition, and I have had to remain focused.  Now I have more free time.  Thank you, Jesus.

There are a lot of things happening right now in the natural and in the spiritual.  It may seem like it is bad, but it is not.  God is moving.  He is moving mountains, and He is moving us.  I want to share what I am witnessing and what I am reading.  I hope that what I share will help you, but for now I just want you to know that I am back.  If at any point you have questions or you need prayer, feel free to reach out.  As much as I am able, I will try to be there for you.  I know that life is getting hard.

Blessings, my friends.
​
Terri Tidwell
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