Author: Justine

Surprise

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God works all things together for Good so all the things that are going wrong will be turned somehow for our good.

One of the most vivid examples of this is ten years ago we were asked to leave our church. We were feeling scared and abandoned. What will we do if something happens and we have no pastor or church to call? We are new to the state and don’t have friends or relatives anywhere near! What will we do?

I said, “I know by next year all will be well and even Good!”

With in six months we found a new church and in that church God brought people into my life to start the healing of my junky past and a bonus at twelve months, God gave me a new sacrum. This took away 28 years of a constant dull ache.

I will not say the time between the hard end and the beginning of the Blessing is ever easy; but keeping hope alive changes life and, hope does not disappoint!

Walking in Hope, changes how the in-between is  experienced. Believing the Best puts Joy into your step!

What do you see in the picture? The beautiful flowers? or the weeds? That is an example of living in Hope.  Changing what you are focusing on to something enjoyable. So no matter what your struggle, find a way to Hope and change the atmosphere you are living in!

God is Good!

Joy In The Middle

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Today I am filled with Joy in a difficult season, most people would be stressed and upset but I see God moving and redeeming.

Receiving a phone call at 2 A.M. may cause panic, but I have found Peace Filling in my soul as I Trust Jesus.  I raise my arms and Praise Jesus in spite of all that is going on around me.

God is always working to keep His children safe, especially when we take our eyes off of Him. When something catches our eye, changing our focus, the road turns, and we fall into the ditch. Often it takes a few tries from different angles for God to get our attention, but He doesn’t quit until we allow Him to pull us out of our ditch.

This week my family is taking another stab at getting out of the proverbial ditch. I believe we are out of the rut that held us down as we Follow Jesus back into the Father’s arms.

Wisdom says it will not be an up only trial but God is working and I see the Promises of God being fulfilled.

God is Very Good!

Praising God!

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I know many are wondering why I stand up and Praise God.

January 2011, God gave me a miracle!

God took away 28 years of constant pain instantly and completely during a CT-scan! The spine doctor said, “Nothing ever happened to those bones!” He didn’t know in 1983, a 65 MPH impact broke my pelvic bone in 3 places and 5 vertebrae.

Holy Spirit prompted me to ask Jesus for nerves to be connected to my muscles that were cut in 1976 and 1983. I learned atrophied muscle will not gain strength without nerves connecting them. THE LORD started connecting those nerves in 2011, giving me the ability to gain strength and lift my arms in Praise.

I started lifting my arms when I joined the choir because I felt accepted and continued because Westwood believes the Bible is The True Word of God.

This week I learned the MOST TRUE REASON:

GOD KNOWS EVERY PART OF ME (everything I have done and everything that has been done to me) AND LOVES ME AND EVEN LIKES ME and HE WANTS TO SPEND TIME WITH ME!

The woman at the well in John 4:29 msg “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knew me inside and out!”

also in Psalm 27:10 NASB “My father and mother have forsaken me but The LORD will take me up.”

Healing/Miracles Have Been Paid For

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Back in the 80’s Bart and Justine are sitting at the kitchen table when Justine notices, “WOW! I’ve had a few minutes of no pain! What a Wonderful feeling that is!”

Quickly the devil plants a thought in her mind, “I deserve to hurt. I didn’t listen to God when He showed me the dangers of motorcycles!”

Fifteen years later, a new pain develops her tailbone making life more difficult. Realizing she needs help she cries out, “God, we are moving to a house with 2 acres. I need to be able to work in the yard.”

God replies, “Go to the radio station, ask them pray for you.”

Obeying, Justine asks for prayer, but nothing happened. Leaving the station she questions,

“What’s up, God? Nothing happened!”

God impressed upon Justine, “JESUS ALREADY PAID, you don’t have to pay!”

Seeing the cross, Justine grasps the concept, what Jesus did trumps what she didn’t do.

“JESUS ALREADY PAID! I DON’T HAVE TO PAY!”

The pain left before she reached her vehicle.

1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Praise Changes Lives

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Rejoice in the LORD always, again I say rejoice!

The things you have learned….Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you! Philippians 4:4,9

Do you believe you have to feel however you happen to feel? Have you ever noticed your feelings are fickle, changing with every thought?

When you get up on the wrong side of the bed, what do you do? Are you ever depressed because the weekend is over? If you notice someone looking at you strangely, do bad thoughts invade your mind?

Have you noticed thoughts are connected with emotions? Do you know you have a CHOICE in how to spend your days?

God says to take every thought captive, think the best, get rid of the bad thoughts, cover other’s mistakes, and walk in LOVE. These are choices!

I saw this played out last June. Bart and I were walking in the beautiful sunshine, but depression was taking control. God spoke through my mouth, “Choose to think of 10 things you are Thankful for every morning?”

Bart made the choice to act. He started being Thankful for 10 things, the next morning.

I saw the difference immediately! First he was filled with Joy! Changes showed in little things like Bart asking me to dance with him. It was the first time in our 35 years of marriage. Then out of the blue, Bart announced he is no longer afraid of heights! He offered to help me put up the Christmas lights! This fills my heart with REJOICING!

God knows what He is doing! Joy has invaded our home and is transforming it!

Being a Living Holy Sacrifice

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In Romans 12, Paul talks about presenting our bodies as a living holy sacrifice, acceptable to God.

It is a human fight with self, to be a living holy sacrifice for God. I see this battle of the mind, in our two dogs. The best place to watch it, is playing Frisbee and ball in the back yard with Sam and Charlie.

Sam is excited to run. He brings the Frisbee to us, dropping it so we can throw it, and barking if we are not fast enough. When Sam gets tired, he will try to play Charlie’s game, but quickly gives up to run.

Charlie wants to run and chase his ball but something inside him says, “Hold on, and don’t let go!”

I bend down to get on his level with a light hold of the ball, ready to release it if he pulls too hard. I say, “Charlie run! Let go and run!”

Charlie whines and complains thinking about letting go of the ball. He can spend 5 -10 minutes deciding to let go! I see his mind thinking, he gets close to letting go and then chomps down even harder. Finally, he lets go and runs. He is excited because he succeeded in letting go, to do what I asked!

There are days I am like Sam and I follow God through the day smiling, filled with Joy and Praise. When God prompts me to go talk to a person in the store or give a dollar to the homeless person I do it freely and easily. I walk in LOVE and take no offense at anything heard or seen, forgiving everyone freely.

Then there are days when I am more like Charlie. I want to have a pity party because I took offense and it feels good to wallow in the flesh for a while; I know I need to forgive and be free, help me Jesus!

Sometimes God urges me to talk to a person but I debate too long, “Is that you God? I don’t really want to. Do you really need me?”

When I realize I missed God, I condemn myself and berate myself until God reminds me, Jesus died to forgive ALL my mistakes! The faster I accept Jesus’ gift the faster I get on to enjoying my life which is what He died for!

How enjoyable life will be when we all walk in communion with God continuously and let go of self.

GOD IS GOOD!

Residue of Forgiveness

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How do I get rid of the thing in my soul that is still living even after I have forgiven, prayed for, and walked in love with?

God has impressed upon me I need to forgive and LOVE the person who controlled me for 45 years. There is still a rage that can surface when I remember the words I heard, “HOW DARE YOU!” and “YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO RESPECT ME!”

Is it a process? Looking in a journal from 2008 I found the question, “Who yelled at me?”

I asked God that question for 10 years. The answer was not in my daily life, but regular visits conditioned me to accept put down’s and yelling as normal! The only reason I knew a problem existed is my home is Filled with PEACE and JOY!

Spending 6 weeks this winter, being caregiver and helping him move, God helped me be Jesus to this broken person. Holy Spirit  worked in me and made me who I needed me to be. The only way I could do this was to spend an hour both in the morning and evening Praising God and praying to WALK IN LOVE, and BE AN EXAMPLE OF GOD’S GRACE! He gave me the ability to walk in Love and hold nothing against him, asking for his salvation.

RETURNING HOME, I found the need to continue spending an hour in Praise and Worship to keep my mind in Love and Grace; not letting it shift to bad thoughts.

So is that the answer?

Let The Word of God wash my soul and get back to Praise and Worship and The Word of God?

LORD HELP ME not short my time with Jesus?

Perfect LOVE Casts out Fear

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When we accept Jesus as our savior, we become new creations (Gal 6:15; 2Cor 5:17); God makes our spirit alive and Holy Spirit lives in us to be our guide and much more. (2Cor 3:17).

This exchange of Jesus taking our sin nature (Col 2:14) and giving us His Righteous nature (Gal 3:11,14; 2 Cor 5:17), moves us from living by our senses to living and walking by Faith (2 Cor 5:7).

With our spirit made new, God living inside each of us, our job is to laying aside the old self, and put on the new self (Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:22,24) by renewing the spirit of our minds (Eph 4:23; 2 Cor 3:18)!

One way we are renewing our mind is by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2Cor 10:3-5), our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day as we change our sight to the unseen (2Cor 4:16-18), not rejoicing in unrighteousness, but rejoicing with the truth (1 Cor 13:6).

God is LOVE; we who abide in LOVE abide in God, and God abides in us, and in this LOVE is perfected, as He is so are we in this world            (1John 4:16,17).

So do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that we may prove what is the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom 12:2).

There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (Jesus took our punishment), and the one who fears is not perfected in LOVE (1John 4:18)!

 

 

DAD

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After returning home from being caretaker, selling your home of 38 years, packing, and moving you to your new home; God dropped a Word into my heart.

He Said, “Your dad could not have treated you the way he did, without allowing Jesus into his heart.”

Romans 10:9-10 says if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness , and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

I believe as you watched me walk in Love; Pray and Worship God daily: you Received Jesus as your savior and LORD!

Galatians 5:20 says the deeds of the flesh include outbursts of anger. This is the issue that God is working to discontinue in both of us.

God tamped down my outbursts of anger; making way for me to walk by the Spirit, producing the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

You saw much of the fruit in action with little flesh.

God helped you walked in love with me most of the 6 weeks we were there and even prompting you to apologized for raising your voice, this is evidence of the Spirit working in you.

I want you to know that when you die you will go to be with Mom in heaven because you accepted Jesus as your savior. You will join Mom in the cloud of witnesses, as Hebrews 12:1 talks about.

After Mom died I felt closer to her; we were more connected because she is in the cloud of witnesses surrounding us.

God Bless you with the Joy of the Spirit in your every day life. Amen.