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“Bring out the blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears…You are My witnesses…and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He.  Before me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.” (Isaiah 43:10) Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. (vs 14) Behold, I will do a new thing…” (vs 19)

It is when we pray according to the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to use our voices to pray that our prayers are answered.  We experience this through biblical prayers and intercession changes in line with the Father’s will and we harvest by following the Holy Spirit’s leading.  When we ask, the Holy Spirit will help us pray even with groaning that could not be uttered in articulate speech. (Romans 8:25) I depend on the Holy Spirit to lead me. If we don’t ask for souls, cities, and nations for the Kingdom of God, we won’t receive. “…ye have not because ye ask not.” (James 4:2) 

Don’t let a bad day, a weird week, a horrible month, even an awful year steal your joy.  Jesus wants to put a song in your heart.  To overcome the bad, we need to show joy in our lives.

Rejoice and demonstrate your faith in God! That is evidence of your belief that nothing is too difficult for Him. (Mark 10:27, GNB) If we act on the Word regardless of our situation, we are making a statement as to how we believe God is working on our behalf no matter what! We will win!  If we try something and fail, what have we lost?  If we never pray and keep moping and doing nothing that is failure.

God wants to do something new in each of us. His love is enough to help us blossom and flourish through Him!  Jesus wants us to be like He is: “a glorious church” (Ephesians 5:27, KRJV) or “a radiant church” as the GNB translates it… a church in all its beauty.  He can do mighty things through us.  Wherever we go, we should be ministers of His power – appointed by the Holy Spirit to do His Glorious work!  Remember Jesus (the Head of the church) said we would do all the works He did and “most assuredly I say to you… he will do even greater works than these.” (John 14:12)

By example, my precious mother taught me to be a co-laborer with my husband. Because my brother had infantile paralysis (polio), she was told her son might be paralyzed from the neck down or even die.  She did not give up. Mama fought a good fight!  God and Mama showed and taught me His truth.

I saw her Faith Walk.  And because of Mama’s faith, we all saw my brother walk, be active in sports, and grow to become a husband, father, and grandfather. The most important legacy a mother can leave her children is to train them in the ways of God.

Daddy wanted a girl (his family birthed only boys).  I was born in 1933 when girls and women often were disregarded.  For example, women were often considered not to need education but instead, should stay home, “barefoot and pregnant.”  Yet, my father insisted I get a good education (the Bible says get all the education you can).  Daddy helped take care of orphans, widows and widowers, people who were handicapped and needy. He built a godly home lifestyle.  The fruit of the womb is a reward… so are the children of one’s youth…” (Psalm 127) Read the entire Psalm. Daddy and Mama married at 16 so I truly am the child of their youth.

I am so thankful for each of you who have influenced my life. Some are relatives, church members, friends, volunteers, Ark participants – all races, tribes, and nationalities.  I want to use my gifts to make a lasting impression that leads others down the right path.

People need to see us doing the word of God.  With daily prayer, the Holy Spirit continues refreshing us by God’s Word.  Then we produce good fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” (Galatians 5: 22-23, NLT)

Many people can be against us, causing us trouble and pain – even sorrow. “What then, shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) These have been, and continue to be tough times but God says, “Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 4:10)

Larry and Renee Watson were part of my first growth. Ozark Christian College in Joplin, MO, made a request to the Ark of Faith to teach their students prison ministry. At first, I said, “No!” I was a recent widow with two teenage girls and one preteen boy. Praise the Lord!  I did ultimately say yes. Now after more than 30 years where we and Ozark Christian College all grew together, we are still growing!

Larry sent me a copy of his newly published book Churches of a Lesser God that he wrote with his friend, Ryan Bordner. (Affordably available on Amazon.com and Goodreads.) It is a most unusual book. After page 61, I could not put it down. Get it and read it for yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and reveal His truth to you!  Wait for the Lord!

“Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” (Psalm 62:2). When I came to page 60, I could have put the book down rather than pray and ask for understanding. But immediately the Holy Spirit got my attention. I saw I needed some truth and clarity.

Please read 1 John 1:5-10.  I want you to read for yourself. Focus on verses 8-10: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.”

Everything in the Bible is given to us to help us. God wants us to be happy and for our lives to be joyful.  He wants to enable us to make possibilities for service flow freely through each of us. He does all of it if we will only wait for the Lord in whatever difficulty you are having.

Each of us must make our own choices.  We need time alone with Father God daily, just as Jesus did.  We need to let the Holy Spirit lead, guide, and teach us.  My book Alone with God at Christmas was published in 1976 and contains the word perfect in many places.

As I’m aging, I am asking more and more for the Holy Spirit to be my perfector. That’s because he is the encourager of all who come to the Ark.

He encourages us to do Romans 12:1-2: “So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you; offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is true worship… let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind, then you will be able to know what is good… pleasing to Him and is perfect.”

I use the English Version for the Deaf and numerous other Bible translations to see and hear more clearly how His Holy Spirit gives answers to life’s questions.  James 5:15-16 states, “…the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

There must be no doubt! With all that’s happening in 2020-2021, Satan wants us to doubt. Sometimes God uses suffering to confirm His words or as Jesus used it, to learn obedience.  Some tests require us to endure; others ask us to make right decisions.

In Matthew 15:31 Jesus says, “Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

When we don’t doubt, we are learning life lessons.  Sometimes we must see the seed Jesus plants and wait for the blossoms on a gloomy day. Conflict within us by flesh and Spirit is spiritual warfare. In the struggle, we realize we can win a spiritual war. Still, the truth is, we cannot wander too far, or exceed Christ’s forgiveness.

Jesus desires “men to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” (I Timothy 2:8) Jesus, through his Holy Spirit, is teaching us to “Ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6)

We must live righteously and according to the principles contained in God’s Holy Word to honor the life Jesus gave up for us. We must do it to show our gratitude for His resurrection and promise to return for us.

Jesus is coming back, and we are told, cautioned, and warned to be ready.

My lectionary reading for today was 1 Peter 1:13-21. In it I read, “So then, have your minds ready for action.  Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus is revealed.  Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant.  Instead, be holy in all you do, just as God who called you is holy.”

The same scripture says: “Be Holy because I am holy.” The sacred words continue, “You call Him Father, when you pray to God, who judges all people by the same standard, according to what each one has done; so then, spend the rest of our lives here on earth in reverence of Him.”

I hope you will read all of 1 Peter Chapter 1 in your own Bible beginning to end.  No one knows when Jesus is coming back except Father God.  But we are told to show ourselves, to practice showing ourselves as holy and perfect in Him. Action is required. Faith without works is dead.

God makes your salvation and perfects you as His gift, but you must act on that. Giving birth is active – no action, no baby. Rebirthing is active – like plants and cells renewing after a season. It is always a continuing process of perfecting.

Strive for and work for perfecting yourself by practicing the discipline of the Holy Spirit.

At one time I was a perfectionist, hard on myself and others. I wanted everything perfect.  I came to see that by being so rigid I shut out the perfection God requires. I did not see His will, His way!

Now, as I am aging (and still seeking and learning), I am returning to the daily prayer to be perfect – to act it out, letting the Holy Spirit lead, guide and teach me!  Each of us must make our own choices. You and I are not the Perfector, God is.  I desire a perfect, blameless heart with the self-discipline to let Him give it to me.

Father, you have stated that You will give us new and creative ideas (change our minds) and that the Holy Spirit will show and tell us things to come.  I ask that You send Your Holy Spirit to help us in creating and developing new ways to do services in this community.  Give us ideas for now and future services so we will be a blessing for people’s lives.  Give us innovative concepts which translate into successful and more perfect growth, as well as blessings to us and others.  In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Use us readers and the Ark of Faith together, Father, according to Revelations 19:10 “At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!”

It is a new year and, Christians, it is time for us to mature in the ways and things of God.  We need to meditate in His word daily and find His truth moment by moment.  It is time we stop being spoon fed by someone else.  We need to really put into practice that gift of self-control!  There is great importance in discipline and consistent fellowshipping with Christ. 

This isolation time during the COVID 19 pandemic offers us daily devotional and fellowship time with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You must, however, carefully reserve time for fellowship to begin your day. It won’t just happen; you’ve got to plan it and determine to do it!  Like Jesus did, prepare yourself and listen for His instruction as He listened for God’s. (Jesus had a teachable Spirit.) Expect God to bless you and He will! Daily prepare your heart to listen with a teachable, joyful mind full of lovingkindness and trust.  

Find God early every morning as David said in Psalm 143:8, “Cause me to hear… know the way wherein I should walk and lift my soul unto Thee…”  David trusted God to guide him in daily activities and protect him from making sinful decisions.  Like David, we mess up, but God gives us the forgiveness to go on. Today let’s make a covenant to seek God early each morning and then DO IT. 

When we seek God early each morning, we must be fully available and “usable” in serving Him!  (Early varies by individual… just make coming to Him daily your act of free will!)  

Like Jesus, David came with willingness and desire to be consistent! Do not vacillate! Be dependable. Look at John 8:31, “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed.”  The Good News Bible says it, “If you obey My teachings, you are really My disciples.”  

How can we know His teachings if we don’t meditate on and practice them?  How can we teach what we do not know?  Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, so that you may be careful to do it… for then you will have success…”  Holy Ghost power is to be encouraged and asked for on a daily basis.  

Be steadfast! God will honor consistency and fellowship when we persevere and endure. Make it your New Year’s Resolution. Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, please be kind and merciful to us; give us peace, truth, and love. (2 John 3, GNB)

Because Jesus obeyed His Father, we now have the Holy Spirit living inside of us when we receive His salvation!  “Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.”  (Hebrews 11:1, GNB) Verse 3 ends with “…We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.”

The devil wants to put doubt and unbelief in our thoughts.  Confess Joel’s prophesy with the words of God:  “I will pour out My Holy Spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions; and even on slaves, men and women, I will pour out My Spirit…”  (Acts 2:17-18)

Thank you, Jesus, for fulfilling this prophecy for us today. When we pray allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through us in heavenly language, we are, of course, speaking for You! We need to allow the Holy Spirit to speak God’s will in relation to our concerns and His supernatural will and interventions. Father God, as your children we experience seeing the outcome of situations (even this pandemic). You show us the problem and outcome in Your due time! You give us dreams, visions, messages in tongues, evidence, and substance of upcoming events. 

God wants His children to allow His Holy Spirit to speak solutions through intercessory prayers. So, ask Him about His will for you in the pandemic situation as well as for your daily needs. We need God as Alpha and Omega (beginning and end) so we can build our faith firmly during unstable events.

He can show and tell us the beginning and, also, the end. He can do that in dreams or visions before they become reality on earth. Faith is evidence (proof) and He gives us faith to believe for that. The Holy Spirit can give us a solution-producing faith all the way to the end.

This is an example of how the Father works His will through Jesus and the Holy Spirit! God is the playwright (Creator), Jesus is the script (Word), and the Holy Spirit is the director, giving us actors the ability to – well – act in God’s will!

Working in ministry with people who are homeless is helping me mature. I love and enjoy having been called as an essential worker at this time! Is it easy? No. But I lean on God daily, and I hear Him speak strategic solutions to problems and situations that arise.

Together we can build our firm faith during these unstable times. Faith is indeed both evidence (proof) and substance (reality of what He supplies to meet our daily needs). As a result, when He gives to our daily needs, He is providing the ending to those daily problems!

We cannot conjure up faith in our minds for problems to be solved. Faith comes through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit giving to us and producing in us DESIRE for these intercessory prayers. And we intercede for others by the use of the heavenly language of the Holy Spirit!

I am learning to pray, pray, pray without ceasing. Real faith is being built!

What God puts in our minds is not mere human imagination or mere hope, wishful thinking. Rather, God gives us the desire to overcome such things as sin, suffering, sorrow.

That desire in our hearts comes as the Holy Spirit reminds and urges us to pray without ceasing. If you allow God’s Holy Spirit to speak His will and His word, and His truth, you will experience His supernatural intervention!

As a final prayer, I offer the end of the book of Jude. It is one, very short chapter asking us to persevere in being godly. It ends with verses 24-25: “Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ!  Only God can keep you (us) from falling and make you (us) pure and joyful in His glorious presences.  Before time began and now and forevermore, God is worthy of Glory, honor, power and authority.”