Freedom Fest Gospel Jam

What an awesome experience we had at the Freedom Fest Gospel Jam. This was an outdoor concert with a number of bands and single artists. In times past, Life Application Ministries sponsored the event alone; it was called the “Freedom Fest”. I personally became involved in a local church called Fiddletown Community Church in Fiddletown, CA. They put on gospel jams at the church and I thought it would be a good idea to put the two together. So that’s what we did and called it, “Freedom Fest Gospel Jam.” It was a tremendous success!

The church members came out of the woodwork to help! They stayed after to clean up into the night! The place was spotless when we left it, and believe me; there was a lot to clean up. I was so moved the day after the concert at the Sunday service after one of the worship leaders asked for individuals to raise their hands who attended the concert. Every hand went up! My heart filled with gladness and joy, my eyes filled with tears at the support and love this church demonstrated. I’m so glad I found this body of believers and am counted along with them. If I was to sum up that church in one statement it would be this: “Fiddletown Community Church is a church with a servant’s heart.”

Pastor Cherry from the church was blessed knowing that we are putting Fiddletown on the map as a community who loves the Lord!

But, this is just the beginning. I expect wonderful exciting things to come out of the beautiful union between Fiddletown Community Church and Life Application Ministries. So stay tuned! As we’ve heard said, “The best is yet to come.”

It’s STILL About Me!

Before you read this article, some of you may never have had this problem about thinking everything revolves around you, and I am so glad for you. But for the rest of us, like me, we weren't so fortunate and have to find our freedom from this mindset. I had to come to grips with myself that everything is not about me. Let me share a few examples to help you understand what I mean.

• It was at the Sunday church service, the same one after the concert I mentioned about earlier that the Pastor had said that there was one person he wanted to recognize that really made the event great. Well, of course that person was me. And when he said another person’s name, I felt a bit deflated and almost embarrassed for thinking it was me, yet knew enough spiritually to congratulate him with the rest and mean it.

• Then something else happened moments later. One of the ladies I was getting to know well and ministering to shared a testimonial. It was on her life and her conversion and her walk with the Lord. Well, certainly I would be mentioned in that. But no mention of me at all.
  

• My husband and I took a motorcycle ride. He took off first and before I knew it, he was way up ahead of me. I started to feel like turning around and going home because I started thinking he was leaving me behind. Then I realized that I was doing it again. My husband likes driving fast; it had nothing to do with leaving me behind. So I had to say out of my mouth, "It’s not about me, it’s about him just wanting to drive fast."
  

• Someone had a pedicure and was showing me the designs done on their toenails. It was quite pretty, but I couldn’t be happy with it. I couldn’t say, “How pretty.” I said nothing but began talking about something else. I realized I did that because we weren't talking about "my" toes!
  

• Here is something else to consider. Have you ever NOT attended a seminar or an all staff meeting that was given at work because it didn't pertain to you? I know I have, lots of times. But since I realized that the world is not only about me and I need to stay informed, I've decided to go to meetings that may not have anything to do with me, I may be able to help someone else with the information I learned.
  

• My husband and I were watching a program on TV and he began to say that he had an idea. I was so eager to hear the idea, and he said something that I didn't expect. I started to laugh because I told him I thought he was going to say something about me. He laughed too. Then he said something very true. "No one wants to hear anything unless it involves them." As I thought about it, he is correct. When someone tells us about a vacation they were on, the first thing we want to do is tell them about our vacation. We have to be involved in the conversation somehow. I've been purposely watching for opportunities, that when someone tells me something, I'm not ready to tell them about my same experience, I just listen to what they say, and rejoice with them. It has nothing to do with me any way, so why do I need to interject me into it?
  

• OK, one more, and this one is HUGE! I began to pray for my son before I went to bed. I began looking at the baby pictures, etc., that I had in the room. One particular picture I began to cry. I cried and cried and asked the Lord why I was still hurting? I thought my heart was healed in July when I went to visit him in Alaska. Within seconds, the Lord told me it was because when I looked at specific pictures, I remembered how I was at that time. I was thinking about Me, not my son." Immediately I stopped crying. Self-pity had showed it's ugly face. It's the memory of the past that caused my pain, the memory of how I was as a mother that caused my pain. I remember Pastor Wright saying the self-pity is the super-glue to hell! I have to agree. Mistakes I made during the time the picture was taken, that caused my pain. Self-pity connects us to the painful past. So with that, I confessed to God my sin of self-pity, and even began to laugh some because this all falls into the area of "it's about me!" So, right after I got this revelation, I looked at the same picture that caused me pain, and it didn't! Now I can just look at it and say how cute he was, without any remorse. I was amazed at how quickly the pain and crying stopped when I realized I was thinking about "me" in that situation.
  

I'm reminded of a song that goes like this: “You’re so vein, you probably think this song is about you, don’t you, don’t you, don’t you?” This is almost hilarious if it wasn’t so serious. I lost count of the times in one day that I was hurt, offended, embarrassed, or felt rejected, all because I “thought” it was all about me!

I discovered that anyone who gets their feelings hurt easily has the “It's about me" syndrome. This is someone who has themselves on their mind far too much. Anyone who gets embarrassed easily or offended a lot is in this same category. A person who can’t compliment another and truly mean it from their heart has this problem too.

Even though I saw many incidents where I was in the “It's about me" attitude, I knew it was God showing me, me. It seemed like it was all of a sudden that I was seeing these things, but the truth was, I was doing this all along, just didn’t know it, not until it was time for God to reveal it to deal with. He knew I was ready, whether or not I felt I was or not.

The reason all this was becoming apparent now was because of a prayer I prayed not too long ago. I asked for more holiness in my life. This kind of prayer opens the door to so many areas, and this was an area God wanted to get at in me. I needed to get a revelation that everything is not about me. It’s about Him! The Bible teaches us to desire more of Him and less of us. I suppose I am experiencing this first hand. And by the way, these are just a few of the things that has happened to show me how much I think of myself, I can recall many more, but not enough paper! But I think you get the picture!

I hope by my sharing the truth about my life, especially things that aren't easy to share, helps someone out there find the truth within themselves so God can set them free! I'm still growing too!

But I Love God!

If I were to ask you if you loved God you would say, “Of course I do.” But I found a scripture (I know there are more) that says this, “When we love the brethren, we are loving God.” I John 5:2. Ouch! I don’t know if you fall short in this area with loving and forgiving each other, but I do. I’m getting better at it because I have been on this forgiveness journey for several years, but I still have irritants I haven’t quite dealt with. Do you have any? Come on; be honest. I found that these things aren’t hurting anyone but us. It hurts our relationship with God our Father. I don’t want to be counted among those that Jesus says, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” See, Jesus came to teach us to do the will of the Father. And the main thing, I mean the #1 thing, I mean the most important thing, is to Love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:38-40). It’s not now many times we go to church, if we are part of the choir, if we teach Bible study, or attended the most prestigious schools around, the question is, are we loving and forgiving every person you come in contact with?

Please do not feel condemned if you fall into this category, count it all joy that God has shown it to you. (James Ch 1) When He shows you things it means He wants to deal with them in your life. Be excited that God is drawing you closer to Him as He continues purifying you. After all, every true believer wants to become more holy. Holiness is not an act; it’s an inner condition. When our hearts are clean before God, we are holy. Cleanliness comes from confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness and forgiving others—continually. It’s not a bunch of works! It’s a true heart’s condition of love.

So if you still have unresolved conflict with a friend, family member, or even God; now is the time to reconcile. God is the God of the now, not yesterday or tomorrow, but now. If you are reminded of an individual that you need to go to, or just forgive without going to them, then do it NOW. As a matter of fact, I have someone I need to call this minute too! (Let me ask you a question right now. Did you just wonder if you were the one I needed to call? See how some of us are?)

The scripture that says to obey is better than sacrifice has new meaning to me now. Doing a bunch of stuff (sacrificing) is not as important as forgiving and loving (obedience to the scriptures of love and forgiveness Matthew 22:38-40). I know that I would say, “But Lord, look at all I’m doing for you, surely you will bless me for it?” And then I would hear the Lord say, “To obey is better than sacrifice, are you being kind to the brethren? Do you love the brethren? Are you providing to the brethren if you have it to give? You ever want to truly know God’s heart? That’s the heart of God. You want to be perfect? That is how you become perfect. Ever wonder what that scripture means in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect?" I thought all these years that I was to do everything right all the time to be perfect. But that is not what this means at all. It means we are to love perfectly. When we receive the perfect love of God, He equips us to love others perfectly. Has nothing to do with our performance, if it was, He never would have sent Jesus. We can still make mistakes, and be perfect!!! I like that. This gives me encouragement to press onto knowing more of the Love of God.

What is Worship?

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) Worship is the daily attitude and life of a true Believer. The Bible says we are to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. That truth is the life we live as a believer.

I was awakened at 2:30 a.m. with thankfulness coming out of my mouth. I was jazzed at all the wonderful things God is doing in my life, even in these uncertain times. Because see, I don’t count on the things of this world to provide, I count on God. He’s in charge of my job, my home, and my family. What I see may not be what I would like to see, but seeing isn’t faith. I look to God who is my faith to complete and provide everything I need. So I was being very thankful and talking with Him in the middle of the night. This is what transpired and this is what the Lord showed me.

But first let me ask you a question. Do you ever wonder why you feel so good when you go to church and get into the worship and praise? The Lord showed me that the enemy couldn’t stay where there was music proclaiming Him. He told me “The very thing that the Devil was in charge of in Heaven is the very thing that will destroy him here on Earth.” Wow! I was so encouraged by that Word. Because as I thought about it. I never recall a time when I was sad, alone or depressed when I sang praises to God? Can you think of a time you were depressed in a worship time? I mean the kind you got into? Sure we can just sit there sulking, but when we are sulking we are not praising.

It was right after we put on the concert that the Lord opened my understanding in the area of music. He showed me that the reason things went so well was because peace covered the whole place. We had a bump or two, but these things all worked out. We had chased the enemy off with our music! My sister commented to me two days later that she is STILL in peace. I told her that it was the music that chased the enemy away. And if I know my sister, she was probably still singing. I know now why it’s so important to have a “melody in our heart” to the Lord. It keeps the Devil away!

I also have a friend that is a musician at heart. She has circumstances that would put the average person into a deep depression, but somehow she just keeps floating along. As I observed her, she always sang, or talked about worship, or always was meditating on the things of the Lord. I just thought she was out there from time to time and let her be. But what I realized is that she was doing warfare by her attitude of worship that it was keeping her in peace!

There is a scripture found in Psalm 94:12-13. The Lord wants us to get to the point in our lives that no matter what is going on around us we will keep ourselves in peace! The Amplified Bible says that we will keep ourselves calm in the days of adversity. I like that! I spoke on “taking your peace” in the last newsletter, and its still just as important now. Peace is Kingdom Living!

QUESTION, QUESTION, WHOSE GOT A QUESTION?

There are two ways that we question God. The Bible is clear that we are to “ask." But why is it that when we ask Him, sometimes we don’t get what we asked for?

I believe it’s because of our heart condition when we ask the questions. Let me give you two examples on how we petition the Lord. See if you fit into any one of these categories.

1. Father, I want to know why my life is not working out in the areas I want worked out in. I want you to search my heart and show me if I need to address anything. I know that we reap what we have sown, so show me Lord what I have sown that is causing me to reap this situation. If it has nothing to do with that, give me peace even though I don't understand. Help me to trust you no matter what.
2. Oh God. Why doesn’t things work out in my life. Why can’t I have what Joe has? I’m a better Christian than he is; yet he is getting blessed more than me. I'm a good person. I try to help others, what is going on? I’m being attacked by the Devil and I feel all-alone. Why oh Why God is all this happening to me?

These two questions are asking for the same thing, but which question do you think will get an answer?

The Bible says for us to come BOLDLY to the throne of grace. We are NOT worms, we are NOT unworthy. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. We are heirs to the Kingdom and Promises. We are the family of God! We need to know who we are and who we represent. When someone comes representing someone in authority, that person doesn’t crawl in and make the request. No, that person walks straight up to whoever they need to address, and speaks boldly. They know who they are representing and are acting on their behalf. We need to realize we need to do the same thing with God.

If you ask your questions like the first one, then you are a person who is getting answers and direction in your life. But if you are asking like the second person, then you are probably confused and frustrated, perhaps even thinking God doesn’t hear your prayers.

We need to look at our hearts and discover our motives for asking our Questions and making requests to God. I know that anyone who keeps asking “why” about everything does not trust God. Does not know of His goodness and mercy concerning them. We can ask questions, but we need to ask questions deliberately and with boldness. He heard you the first time you asked so it’s not even necessary to ask Him the same questions over and over. When we do that, we are telling God we don’t think He heard us the first time and that we have to remind Him. The truth is, He heard you the first time, but wants you to start being thankful for the answer.

What kinds of questions are you asking? Something to think about.

What NOT to keep saying

I want to share a few phrases with you that perhaps you need to strike from your vocabulary. I know I said these things in my lifetime, but now when I say them, I recognize when I do, and ask for forgiveness. Our words are containers that bring forth things into our lives. The Bible says that our words can bring life or death. If we keep saying things like I’m about to share, it’s for sure we will begin to reap junk. But if we replace those things with truth, we will begin reap life.

Evil Communication	Replace it with Good Communication
I’m so confused	Forgive me for saying that, for I have the mind of Christ and can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I will not fear or be anxious for nothing.
I’m tired of…	Father, forgive me for saying that. I may be tired, but you have given me strength to do everything that you need me to do. I will not fear!
It figures	Father, forgive me for saying that. By saying this I am setting myself for more disaster in my life. I break that programming right now, and will begin to be thankful for what is taking place in my life. I will remain in peace and I will not fear!
Probably won’t…	I said this when I would “think” something is NOT going to happen. For example I would say, “I probably won’t find what I’m looking for.” Probably is used in the negative. This one was tricky but when I deliberately watched for that, I was able to pray immediately and say, “No probably about it, things will work out the way they are supposed to, I will not be negative and I will not fear.”

Well, you get the picture. Those little sayings may be a big part of our problem. We are staying stuck in our lives because our mouth is stuck. Let’s take every word and thought captive as II Corinthians 10:5 says, and begin replacing those things with the Word of Truth.

Hope this helps someone, I know it helps me!

HOT OFF THE PRESS REVELATION

One morning, while on my 120-mile a day commute, I began reflecting on the last twelve years of my commute to and from work. As I began to think of all the things the Lord has revealed to me, changed in me, and is still working in me, I was amazed! And these things were just things learned while I was driving to and from work! Not to mention the other things God is working in me that have to do with the other hours of my day! These are the areas God has developed in me or continues to develop in me, all from driving to and from work!

Patience, longsuffering, compassion, fearlessness, perseverance, determination, forgiveness, peace, stability, obedience, worship and praise, prayer, a better relationship with God, love, truth, trust, decisiveness, believing in Him more, mercy understanding, thankfulness, hope, cleanliness, holiness, trusting God's provision, friendliness, accepting others without judgment, freedom from co-dependency, freedom from controlling others and being controlled by others, freedom from fear of man, freedom from fear of evil, freedom from anger and hate and retaliation.

I have to say that I am thankful for the hours I've spent in that car. Let's see if I can calculate that out. 2.5 hours a day times 5 days a week equals 12.5 hours a week. 12.5 hours a week times 4 weeks in a month equals 50 hours a month. 50 hours a month times 12 months in a year is 600 hours a year. 600 hours times 12 years (the years I've been commuting) is 7200 hours!! As much as I have wanted to have a shorter commute each day, I am so thankful that I didn't. I've spent those hours learning, gaining truth, listening to good teaching material, praising God, getting revelations, developing my relationship and love walk with Him. I had tried to find another job for a shorter commute, but never achieved that. Now I know why. I needed these things worked in me so He could use me in the ministry I am now in, and very thankful for every minute spent in that car!

I imagine if you were to think of the one thing you did the most in each day, you will find that the Lord has been changing you and teaching you using that "thing"! In my case, it was driving; in other's cases it could be childcare, grocery shopping, work, golfing, etc. I challenge you to take a minute and write down the things God has been doing in your life, especially the things you don't like doing. I think you too will be amazed that His hand has been in it, teaching you the same things he has been teaching me.

Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

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