REgeneration

Last year when I started writing one of my books, I kept hearing the word: Regeneration.
At the time, my writings revolved around inspiring MY generation.
My own life had been regenerated and I was focusing on how to inspire others to do the same.

Let's look at the definition of this word. One online dictionary source defines it as such:
re·gen·er·a·tion  (r-jn-rshn)

1. The act or process of regenerating or the state of being regenerated.

2. Spiritual or moral revival or rebirth.

3. Biology Regrowth of lost or destroyed parts or organs

 

In the body, the liver is the only organ that can actually regenerate once damaged. It has the capacity to grow new cells and new tissue. All the other organs in the body survive damage by maintaining life in the cells that have been unaffected. When 60% of an organ has been damaged or diseased, the blood work will reveal abnormal values, indicating  the amount of damage that has been done. Once the damage is done, it cannot be reversed.

 

Our spirit being is more alive than our natural being or body. The spirit being can be damaged or diseased in the same way as the body. Stress, anger, discourse, strife, guilt, sin, regret, un-forgiveness, depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness, helplessness, are all emotions that DAMAGE our spirit being AND our body. DIS-ease in our environment or thought process leads to DISEASE in the body and spirit. Words can heal or destroy. Words can bless or curse. The body, mind and spirit CANNOT be separated from one another. Therefore, what affects one, affects the other.

 

This trinity - spirit, mind and body makes a Being whole or complete. As I've said before, the spirit was meant to lead the mind and body, not the other way around, in which, the mind leads the spirit and body.

 

My generation and the ones following have developed into a "reasoning" generation. We must see first before we believe. However, we were created to believe and then see.

We were designed to: Believe.

Our beliefs shape our thoughts, the thoughts produce words and the words bring forth action and the final outcome to our situation at hand.

Over time we evolved to: Reason. 

Many "believe" this is the higher way, but it is really just the heady way. The spiritual realm far exceeds any reasoning or "natural" realm. Through this evolution, we chose to FIRST see something or a situation, then allow that something to shape our thoughts which then, in turn, produces the words which further carries out the action. For instance: We can't see God, so why should we Believe in Him?

 

This simple way of seeing to believe instead of believing to see, puts us in a position to allow our circumstances to shape our lives. This allows our circumstances or situation to PUSH us around, instead of us PUSHING them around. We should be undisturbed by problems in our lives. If we lived the way we were created, we would understand that difficulties or tribulations are not obstacles but opportunities.

 

Opportunities for what?

GROWTH.

REGENERATION.

REBIRTH.

 

My generation is also known as the "WHY" generation. I am very much a "WHY" person.

So why do we need to GROW, REGENERATE or be REBORN?

Well, you don't have to be a genius to see that this world is in a giant mess. And as insanity states, you can't keep doing what you've always done and expect different results.

We must CHANGE something.

 

Just as Gandhi once said, "We must be the change we want to see in the world."

Change starts with one person. And all change must start within.

When we make a conscious decision to BELIEVE in something we can't see, we will see it come to pass.

 

I once thought I could do this without God, that I could change without Him. I tried but it just wasn't enough. That change comes through consciousness and the mind and it just isn't powerful enough. That change still makes one vulnerable to life and circumstances.

 

We must choose to Believe and then we will SEE. Believe and then God will reveal Himself. Believe and then He REGENERATE your spirit being.

When one chooses this life of REgeneration through Christ, the healing is limitless. There is no amount of disease or sickness in the mind, spirit or body, that is past the point of REgeneration. God can heal anything! It doesn't matter if 60, 80 or 100% of you has been damaged, it is never too much or too late to be Regenarated. God's healing knows no bounds. He does not see and then decide. He ONLY believes. He created us in His image to live this same way. He truly believes that each and every one of us will become who He created us to be. Now why can't we believe in Him to make it so?

 

The Church and Religion has caused so much damage. They have damaged the minds, spirits, and even bodies of so many people. They have taught such wrong things, they have been led astray by their minds and reasoning. They have been led by their minds not their spirits. They have reacted through their emotions not through their belief and understanding of God. However, even that damage is REVERSIBLE. The lives they've destroyed can be REgenerated. All it takes is ONE touch from the Creator. That touch can be felt when we choose to BELIEVE.

 

So what will you do? Believe or not? There is no in-between.

 

Our Creator only asks one thing of us: To Believe that He is. -Hebrews 11:6
It is only through this belief that He can begin to move in our lives and reward us abundantly above all we could ever ask or think.

BELIEVE me, I know.

 

 

 

 

Faith FULL

 

Do you know SIN can be defined as anything that is not of FAITH?

The Bible states: Without FAITH it is impossible to believe God because ANYONE who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." Hebrews 11:6

 

Notice that scripture does not say, He rewards those who do good? or rewards those who do not SIN?

He makes it clear to us that He rewards those who BELIEVE or have FAITH in Him. The only requirement God asks of us, is to BELIEVE in Him. Once a person chooses to BELIEVE in Him, He reveals Himself.

He created this system and created us this Way, because He wanted us to live in this way:

Spirit controlling mind and mind controlling body  NOT    mind controlling spirit and spirit controlling body.

 

The latter way is damaging. The latter way produces DIS-ease and sickness in the mind and body. The latter way allows circumstances and situations and people to rule your life. When the mind is in control, emotions control the body. This creates chaos. This creates tension and anger and animosity, strife, fear. We then allow the things people say about us or to us to actually affect who we are..This way of life allows the world to shape us, rather than allowing our Creator to shape us. 

 

When we learn to live the way we were created; situations, negativity, or angry people will NEVER affect us. 

We learn to live in a place of rest, peace, joy and love. We learn to see the world differently. We learn to see that emotions and hurt drive others to say things they say to us. We learn to love because we understand that the world is controlled by the mind, not the spirit. We see people differently. We realize that the world is driven by their circumstances or situations affecting their lives. Their mind is in fear or discourse from whatever is in their life. This understanding allows us to remove "ourself" from the equation and allow God to work through us. We are able to put our emotions aside and let God's love pour through our unhindered spirit instead if blocking Him with our jumbled mind of emotions and self pity. 

If we could all understand the importance of REgeneration, we could lend a helping hand to the hurting world around us. If we could understand the importance of believing and then seeing we could take control of our lives and circumstances. If we could understand that DIS-ease in any area of our life is NOT ok, we could then begin to understand one of God's greatest commands:

"MY will be done on earth, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!"

God's will can only be performed through us on this earth through our faith in Him and His love for us- Jesus sent for us. 

Religion has made "faith" seem a rather impossible task. As if faith is something we work to achieve. I hear, all too often, "I am trying to have faith." 

Faith isn't an achievement. It isn't a goal. It is a continual process. It is a constant mode of action. And it isn't hard or difficult to achieve. It was given to us as a gift by grace. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (Ephesians 2:8 NIV)

God's way is never difficult, it's just different. His way is opposite of the world's way (which has shaped us and our way of thinking).

In Romans 12:3, we are told each person was given a measure of faith. Then in Romans 10:17 we are told how to grow that measure of faith. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God."

 

Faith is a development, a process that grows within us as we spend time developing our relationship with God and reading His Word. As we spend time getting to know God, we begin understanding His love for us (although the true extent of His love is incomprehensible). As we begin to see His love, our trust in Him grows, that trust shapes our faith. 

And with faith nothing will be impossible for you! 

He (Jesus) replied, “....Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. ” (Matthew 17:20 NIV)

Now go and move mountains and may God's will be done on this earth as it is in heaven. 

Worth the wait

Faith expects the best.

Fear expects the worst. 

Faith and fear are magnets. 

Faith is a magnet that draws provision. 

Fear is a magnet that draws lack. 

For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me. (Job 3:25 AMP)

"Worth the wait" was a phrase people used to say, you know back in the good 'ol days. 

This phrase instilled in me a deep desire for anticipation. It just seemed if the wait wasn't great enough to create anticipation then it likely wasn't going to be worth it. 

But that's far from the Truth now. 

We have moved into a completely different mindset. We have become a microwave society. 

If the gratification isn't instant, then we don't want to waste our time WAITING. 

Why is that? 

What is it about waiting that has become difficult for us? 

Judging from my experience, I have found, waiting makes me feel vulnerable. 

I feel helpless, sometimes even stupid. I don't feel the love of anticipation like I felt in my innocence. 

I believe it's because I think I am in more control of my situation now than I was then. 

But control is the spirit's enemy. 

When I seek to be in control, I, subconsciously, begin to expect the worst. This is because I have now moved from a place of faith to fear. 

Me. Me. Me. 

The desire for control comes from our ego. Ego and fear are best friends. That is what drives ego. 

Then fear says, "Go for it or buy it or just hurry up and do it!" 

"If you don't, someone else will."

"the healing isn't going to come, you need to see a doctor!"

Fear is pressure. Pressure distracts us.. From everything we need: patience, endurance, submitting our will, letting God lead, letting God provide or letting God heal. 

The mind says focus on the pressure. 

But, The Spirit says focus on the plan. 

The two can't go together. Just like fear and faith can't go together. 

So we defeat ego and choose to wait, but now our mind makes the "what if" list.

What if it doesn't happen? 

What if this is wasted time?

What if I miss my opportunity? 

What if I was wrong to wait? 

Or how bout this one? What if it isn't God's will? 

What if? What if? 

Fear will win everytime, if it isn't stopped in time.

Fear must be stopped. It is relentless and will never stop without our interference. 

Scream! Shout! Sing! Just do it loudly!! This weird exercise will break the monotonous roll of fearful thoughts. 

Once the pattern is broken then we can begin replacing the Fear with Faith. 

"Faith comes through hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Romans 10:17

Faith comes when we believe Truth over circumstances. It comes when we take our eyes off the natural and put them on the supernatural. 

If God said it, then He'll do it. 

"He's not a man that He should lie." Numbers 23:19

The more we focus on His Truths, the more we realize His abounding, limitless love for us. And with this revelation, we win. Love trumps fear!

"There is NO fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love!" 1 John 4:18

Don't fear the wait, use the wait to be perfected in love.

Learn to wait. 

Love the wait! 

Don't expect the worst.

Expect the best!

This is the way of heaven on earth. 

Resolve to Dissolve...

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Corinthians 5:1

Every day when I read Smith Wigglesworth, a new life, a new vibrancy arises within my being. Just to think a man so full of faith with a word so valuable for THIS time was teaching this over 100 years ago. God's Word says His words are spirit and life. Words can revive or destroy our spirit being.

God's Word is food or nourishment for our spirit being. The more we read His Word, the more our ego dissolves and the more out spirit being grows. This is the true way to lose SELF. Alter the course of control. Instead of mind controlling spirit and body, shift to spirit controlling mind and body.

Wigglesworth believed strongly in bringing heaven to earth, here is one excerpt of what he has to say regarding this matter:
There are two planes: There is a swallowing up and a dissolving. I like the thought of dissolving. Will that dissolving take place while I live? Ye shall want to be no other way. When will the clothing take place that I may not be naked? It will take place while you live. People take these conditions as not attainable while they live.
If I live on the earth I fail everything. If I continue on the earth, everything I do will be mortal and die. If I live in the heavenly things, in the heavenly place, everything I touch will become SPIRITUAL, VITAL, PURIFIED, and ETERNAL.

Most Christians talk about the rapture, "Some day we shall leave the earth, and everything will be dissolved, and we will be clothed upon with new bodies for heavenly conditions."

But let me come to a new plane of it. What is the good of a white raiment to cover your nakedness that it may not be seen in heaven? You know very well that isn't a heavenly position. There will be no flesh in heaven. No nakedness will be seen in heaven. Then what does it really mean?

That the POWER of GOD can so dwell in us that it can burn up everything which is not spiritual, and DISSOLVE it to such a perfection of beauty and holiness as Jesus was. He walked up and down, and when Satan came he could find nothing in Him. He was perfectly DISSOLVED on every natural line, and He lived in the Spirit over everything else.

And as HE IS, so have we to be.

"...the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17

We must resolve to dissolve! Allow out selves to grow and love in Spirit and in Truth!!! 

Off with her head!!!

"You must influence them; DO NOT let them influence you."Jeremiah 15:19 NLT

My husband and I decided to run a few errands today. We were planning on making a few purchases and doing an exchange.
Beau scored some amazing deals. He found his favorite Solomon shoes on sale for half-off at the outdoor store. When checking out at the register he learned that he had a store credit from years ago (?) and ended up with $150 pair of shoes for $32! Wow!!! I was amazed.
Then we headed to return a shirt of his, in hopes of an even exchange. When we arrived, we found the shirts were marked down from $80 to $21! Another wow!!! He got 2 for the price of 1.
We were on a roll!!! I couldn't wait to see what was in store for me!!!
So I decided I should check out one of my favorite stores. My aunt had given me her employee discount card which I had used a number of times. Technically, it is in my dad's name -immediate family - but this is a women's clothing store and we had both been told that it was perfectly ok for me to be the primary holder. 
What in the world could go wrong? We had gifted discount after discount today.I I figured at this rate, I would probably get my purchase for free!!!
Not so fast blondie......
I had found an exquisite dress, one in which the fabric was so fantastic I might not EVER take it off.
I couldn't wait to use the 25% discount card as it has NEVER been a problem before....
before NOW.
Before this new, bossy, control freak manager came on the scene.
Absolutely NOT, she said. Your dad will have to make the purchase, seeing the employee is his sister.
BUT, I'm his daughter, he doesn't ever shop here. I have had the ok from more than enough other managers...I felt like I was a five year old pleading my case before a principle.
The manager was about 10 years younger than me with an attitude of.... well, I'm not going to say.
Because, the bossy, control freak, and plenty other adjectives I may have used, is not really ANY of my business.
My business is not who this person is, or what this person does, and it definitely isn't any of my business if this person OFF-ended me. 

My business is me. My response, my reaction. 
While my normal or even first reaction might be, "OFF with her head!!!!" It isn't my place to say so. 

We have the right to influence others through our actions or not. 

Positive or Negative. The choice is ours. 

Love or hate. Peace or Anger. 

I left angry, irritated and confused.
What had I "DONE" to make this situation arise? I had been nice to everyone I've come across this lately, right? Had I not helped everyone who's needed me recently? I could not think of any negative seeds I had sown...
These questions literally went through my head.... What had I done to get treated this way?
The answer is: There are many reasons why I reaped this kind of treatment and it wasn't until my sister brought it to my attention that I awoke out of my Defense mode.

It isn't always about us! We want to think that it is, that is normal selfish thinking. 
However, there  is something deeper, something greater going on in the spiritual realm and I live my life to be a part of it. In fact, I awake every day "proclaiming war on the dark forces." I live to do battle with Satan himself.
But guess what? He doesn't play fair! And spiritual warfare is not battling demons and ghosts. Spiritual warfare is responding to people and situations in a manner of how Christ might have responded. 

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 NLT)

When Christ was tormented, tortured and was hanging on the cross, He cried out,"Father forgive them for they know not what they do!" 

He meant, they don't understand that there is a spiritual battle going on against me, they don't understand that they are being guided by the enemies unctions and thoughts to carry out the things they were doing. 

The most important aspect to always remember is that:

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10 NLT)

The enemy comes to steal our joy. He comes to steal anything he can at the most opportune time- when we least expect it!

My prayer this week had been for the Lord to help me to grow in grace and to help me not to get IRRITATED so easily.
So how might the enemy attack me?
Right in the middle of a purchase of a dress I fell in love with...one that I could already see myself wearing. He also knows, I refuse to pay full price for almost anything...
A simple purchase turned into a full spiritual battle.
How did I do?
Horrible. I lost. I didn't show grace for the manager doing her job...regardless if the other managers had ok'd my purchases in the past.
AND I got extremely IRRITATED!!!!
I don't know this young woman, obviously, but I needed to be that "Light" to her. I needed to be an exemplary person. I should have reached in my purse, handed her the card that says "God loves you" and paid full price.
But I didn't....
I'm writing this to show the subtleties of spiritual warfare. To expose the simple tactics of the enemy on a daily basis.
And most importantly to bring to attention: It is not by our works that we are blessed or not. It is only by God's grace and love and mercy. The grace He shows us daily, we must, in turn, show those around us. 

Our losses are most often brought on by our responses to the enemy's tactics in simple situations.
It wouldn't have mattered how many good deeds I did this past week or how many bad ones I was responsible for.....
God does not love us more or less based on our attitude or self-effort.
He loves us through GRACE!!!
All He asks is that "We love Him and love our neighbor as ourself." In doing this, He says, He will know we are His.
Loving our neighbor is not so easy sometimes and it doesn't even have to come from our self effort, it is God's love through us that helps us love our neighbor.
I must remember to practice these simple rules :
1) take a deep breath
2)count to 10 and
3)then let the love of God take over.

It is far to easy to act selfishly. Someone offends us and we want to defend our SELF. But that isn't at all how we should do battle.
Fighting the good fight of faith is knowing that God's grace is sufficient for us and all those around us. His love for us doesn't change based upon our works, it was given to us paid in full through His Son, Jesus.
We must also know that this battle's greatest weapon is resistance :resisting how we would REALLY like to respond and instead, responding the way that God would like us to respond.
This is the key to learning to live selflessly. This is what it means to suffer: to with-hold your initial response or reaction and allow God's love to flow through you. 

Learning to live this way, will allow us or God within us to influence others, instead of allowing them to influence us.
Yes, I failed today but I will try again tomorrow. Every day is a new day and God's mercies are new every morning.
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1
I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!!!!

Unconditional is NOT unpredictable

Last Friday I had a crazy busy day at the office. I don't like to miss lunch but I assumed I wouldn't have a choice. When I mentioned it to my mom, she informed me that my dad was going to bring me lunch.
I am 36 and finally married and that is NOT unusual for my father. This is the same man that made me breakfast every single day of my life while living at home. As I reached my teenage years, he realized he couldn't make me eat it BUT he would always make it for me.
To some, missing lunch is common place, and I've done it more than I know. But, in my parents' opinion, this should NOT be so.
The point I'm getting at is this: it is not odd for my dad to drive lunch to me any place, any time. He is never annoyed by doing things for his family. I, personally, would have made my "adult" child go without...but not my dad.
This is the same father who inherited a family Auto Paint and Body shop.
I don't know if I just wanted to keep him in business or what, but as a teenager, I wrecked every car I ever drove. I don't know why I had so many accidents but I did. They were not serious crashes..they usually involved a parking lot and a car in my infamous "blind spot." I would come home with a quite creative story or some times, no story, trying to make it appear as if it was the other driver's fault.
My dad could take one look at the damage and nail it perfectly every single time!!! He truly is a genius!! He would say, "Well, it appears as if you were going 35 mph around a corner and brushed a curb and then ricocheted into a car turning on the opposite side.." He'd say something like that...and he was always RIGHT!! I'm still confused how he always knew.
When I was in college, this same father took time out of his busy work day to drive me around downtown B'ham looking for my car that I had misplaced the night before. More often than not, I would lose my keys or lock them inside and to no avail, I would have to call my dad.
I knew when my father was displeased with me. I knew when he was restraining all the things he would like to say to me but my father lived by one most important rule: He showed unconditional love at ALL times.
I believe he sacrificed his self will of responding in a way he would have like to, just to give me an understanding of true unconditional love.
By showing this unconditional love, I could know the unconditional love of my heavenly Father.

It was instilled in me at a very young age that my actions would bring about my consequences. That people were responsible for the wrong things that occurred in their life, it was not because their heavenly Father was angry with them.
Because of the outstanding example of unconditional love I was shown through my youth, I was able to grow extremely close to my heavenly Father.
I knew where to lay the blame - MYSELF! Bad decisions lead to bad consequences and vice versa.

I'm writing this today because I watched an interview that really disturbed me. It was an interview with a well known Christian author. This author teaches about the love of God in his books. However, he is confused on one issue.
God is LOVE. He does not give love, He is love. His love is unconditional. His love is NOT unpredictable.
He does not get angry with any being and decide to destroy them or curse them.
God, the creator, put within every man the mind or soul. This is the gift or to some, the curse of reason. With this gift comes free choice. We are free to decide our future plans. We are free to bless or curse. We have a right to choose.
In Deuteronomy 30:19 God even tells us the best choice, "Choose life! so that you and your children may LIVE."
When the earth was created a universal law was put into motion. That law is seed, time and harvest.
Every word, thought and action is a seed. Over time, we reap the harvest. Whether the harvest is good or bad, that is our decision.

So let me give you another example of a situation that actually happened.
After moving out west, the frequency of my  automobile accidents didn't really change much. One might think that without having my father to rely on, I might pay more attention but I didn't... Well, maybe I paid more attention but the conditions were much worse. Snow and Ice ALL winter long can take a toll on a "bad" driver. lol
On top of that, I lived behind Snowmass ski mountain which is deemed in the Roaring Fork Valley,  "a horrible icy road." So one evening, I took a sharp turn going 20 mph instead of 5 mph and just barely missed going over a bridge into an icy river. The damage that  occurred was in the undercarriage of the vehicle. It had to be towed away to the ONLY auto body shop in Aspen.
Now, the scenario is this:
Knowing the history I have with my father; what if I were to call home and my mom answered.
After explaining everything that happened she then said, "No. Sorry. Not this time. You are out of opportunities. You should have learned your lesson by now."
Would I expect this from my father?
Absolutely not. I would need to get in touch with the source - My dad.
I would reply back. "Can you please put dad on the phone? I need to talk to him!"
I know from my past experience of unconditional love that it knows NO bounds. I also know that
UNCONDITIONAL is NOT UNPREDICTABLE.
In fact, after finding out the costs of the repair in such an expensive area, my dad ended up shipping almost all the parts I needed, so I only had to pay labor - which still ended up costing more than my SUV was worth...but that's not the point!
My dad's response to any situation I get in, whether it is my fault or not, whether he agrees with it or not, is not what he's concerned with...He's concerned with doing HIS part and that is to always respond with UNCONDTIONAL love.
So back to the interview with this author:
He was explaining that God was sort of unpredictable. That we can NEVER understand the mind of God. He used the scripture from Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
 neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
 As the heavens are higher than the earth,
 so are my ways higher than your ways
 and my thoughts than your thoughts.
While this is very true, God's ways are not our ways BUT God's ways are ALWAYS ways of LOVE! That is why He is so different than us. His ways are always Self-less, which is why they are always different than ours.
His ways may be trying to show us something that He knows will help us, but we are too blinded by our will, our own determination to see, so that we refuse to see what He's showing us.
God is LOVE and can be nothing but...
Therefore the points that the author was using were not points at all. He was forgetting one important fact:
free will. free choice. We choose!
Therefore, when a curse came upon the earth in the Garden of Eden, it was because Adam and Eve made a choice to listen to Satan versus believing in God.
When Job's life was destroyed by Satan it wasn't God teaching him a lesson. The scripture says, "That which you feared has come upon you." Job had more faith in his fear than He had faith in God.
Fear opens a door for the enemy. It also ties God's hands to work in a person's life.
God is not the author of anything but LOVE.
So, the next time you hear someone speaking something that doesn't make sense regarding your heavenly Father, ask to speak to Him directly about the matter.
He will show you who He really is...
Ephesians 3:17-19
"...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength TO COMPREHEND with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
His love is so great, that we have to pray to COMPREHEND it!!!! That is a love that we do not understand.
That LOVE is unconditional NOT unpredictable.