Pipe Dreams

PIPE DREAM

Have you ever had someone tell you that your hope was a pipe dream and to get with it?  Well, I was surprised yesterday when someone told me this.  I was sharing about how our church is hoping to one day be able to support house missionaries, to spread the revival fire across Canada and the States.  Not a bad dream to have because it's a Kingdom motivated dream or hope.

It costs money to send people especially when they have to give up their work to do it, so we are stretching our faith, but that's okay.  Faith needs something to work on because it's a muscle.  Faith that can't be tested, can't be trusted.

Anyhow,  I was told to throw away my pipe dream and get with reality.   I didn't respond right away because I didn't want a fight and I'm trying to grow in the fruit of the spirit.  A fool vents all his anger but a wise man holds it in, right? Right. (ref. Prov. 12:6)

I started thinking about all the things people have told me I would never do and all the dreams people, well meaning people have told me to give up on and I got excited.

I started shouting, "Thank God for pipe dreams!" Thank God for the wild dreams that He gives us because He is able to bring them to pass!  I yelled, "Ha!" and it felt really good.

People told me I would never amount to anything, that I would always be a failure.  I went on to get my Engineering degree, with good marks and I have had several careers along the way!

People told me that I wasn't a good mom and I almost believed it. Thank God the worker at the Children's Aid Society took the time to open my eyes to see that I was doing a fine job with my daughter-- before I gave her up for adoption.

People told me that I would be back within three months when I shared how God was leading me to move to Ottawa, Ontario.  I was originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba which is about 2350 kms away. Ha!  I want to tell you that I have been living in the Ottawa area for 23 years so far.

People told me to sell my horse-back riding saddle because with all the debt I had and being a single mom it was a pipe dream to think of owning horses again.  I want to tell you that I have owned 15 horses over the last 17 years and I have a huge barn with foaling stalls and standing stalls, two run-in sheds, a round pen and a 1.5 acre riding ring on my property.  God promises that if we seek him with all our hearts that he will give us the desires of our hearts.  It's true!  He did that an so much more than I could ever initially hope for!

People thought it was impossible for Canada to be covered with the Glory of God as the waters cover the sea, but we are seeing it grow and spread over the last 12 years thanks to groups like the Watchmen, ( http://www.watchmen.org/ )

So, my advice is laugh!  I started laughing while I was working yesterday because I know how great my God is!  I have received the spirit of adoption. I know I am not an orphan!  My God loves me so much, he is not going to let me fall!  He takes no delight in seeing his children beat up by the devil. He specializes in making the weak and foolish look super.  Thank God we all qualify for his help.

Does anybody have any pipe dreams I can agree with you about in prayer?  It's time we started speaking to our mountains and asking the Lord for strategies. Oh, and let's make sure we ask for joy in our daily journey with Holy Spirit.  That's what he wants most of all-- our fellowship. I Bless you in Jesus' name; spiritually, mentally, physically, financially and relationally. Amen!

Big hugs,
Brenda Gale
(photo courtesy of photobucket.com) 

P.S. A good song to start with is Steve Swanson's "Changing the Atmosphere".  Here is a link to a youtube video of this song.  Awesome declarations!     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWqWauY0Nds&feature=related

Flowing With The Holy Spirit

I love how our church encourages people to step out in their gifts.  I know I am growing faster because I am using what I have already been given.   I had a couple of new experiences last Friday that I want to share about as encouragement in case it ever happens to you.

A lady that I got to pray for last Friday night crumpled when I laid a hand on her.  I felt a roar of indignation come out of me, Like "How dare you devil!"  I wasn't sure what the roar was all about but it felt good! It was interesting that she felt she had to throw up as soon as I put my hand on her.  When she crumpled I felt Holy Spirit insist that I keep my hand on her until he gave the release.

 

I asked the Lord what her problem was and he showed me some growths in her abdomen and she confirmed it when I asked-- fibrosis.  She was mightily healed and felt much, much better.

I prayed for another lady after the preacher had to move on... he had felt the lump in her throat... moving.   So I asked the Lord what to do and he gave me a few words of knowledge and a prophetic word that weren't about healing at all!  I shared with her the words the Lord gave me and the direction I felt the Lord was prompting her to look for work in. 

 

It was very cool... as her heart was encouraged and healed from emotional wounds her physical body responded as well.  She must have thanked me 10 times. 

Interesting eh? The Lord knew that emotional healing would remove the enemy's access point to attack her physically.

Next, on Friday morning as we gathered to pray for the evangelism team,  I suddenly got a sore back when I looked at a fellow so I asked if anybody had a sore back.  He said that his wife had just called and her back was extremely sore and she felt unable to look after their four young children. So we gathered around him and prayed for his wife that she would have a great day, that God would heal her back and that God would send encouragement and support her way via a phone call or visit.  

 

It pays to ask the question when you get a word of knowledge.  If no one responds all you have lost is your pride. I have had people come to me later and say, "Remember that word you gave? That was for my mom that I have been praying for."  So, my thought is be obedient and let God look after your reputation.

 

I gave out some words of encouragement to a few teenagers before and after the service.  I wasn't going to but the Lord kept at me so I obeyed. (Funny and tragic how quickly we can get caught by protocol and rules into doing nothing)  These young men were not in the ministry line waiting for someone to pray for them and I didn't have a person with me when I prayed either.  (Another protocol broken!) 

 

One fellow was sitting behind me and this well of encouragement came out for him. I ended up praying that he would get a double portion of my song writing ability.

 

With one young man the word was about him coming out of the shadows because he was already a mighty man.  Also, the Lord was very strong about not condemning himself because He was so proud of his 'tries'.  He had a statesman's anointing and I felt it  had the potential to go Canada wide.  PTL!

 

Finally, I want to share that I missed it with team member.   For the last two days whenever I looked at her I got a little pain in my rectum area.  I meant to go ask her if she had an issue with hemorrhoids or something down there but never got the opportunity to ask her privately. I was not shocked when she shared about having tests on her colon. Now I know that that little pain I got was a real word of knowledge.  PTL!  I'm still learning and that's okay! Holy Spirit will do something else to cause people to pray.  He's able! There is no condemnation for us! None! (Rom. 8:1)

I hope this helps you when you get opportunities to minister to people.  Holy Spirit is faithful, he's never let me fall on my face yet!  (Luke 21:13-19)

Lord what you have done for me, do for this precious person too. Give them boldness to step out of their boat and make a difference for you. Help them to ask clarifying questions to determine which way you want them to flow in every situation.

I decree that you rule and you reign through Jesus Christ. (Prov. 18:1, Rom. 5:17)  The anointing you have received abides and remains on you.  The holy of Holies is inside of you right now and you are building yourself up in your most holy faith by speaking and singing in other tongues. (1 John 2:27, Col. 1:26, Jude 20). Amen!

Bless you!
Big hugs,
Brenda Gale

Evangelism Yesterday.

courtesy of www.wcca.ca

Hi there.  Did I ever have fun yesterday.   There was an evangelism team sent out Friday morning from Logos Land and only 4 people showed up-- me and 3 guys. Well, the fellow wanted to send us out two by two, as in two women and two men but no other women showed up, so I went out by myself. 

I had so much fun.   I went and talked to people on the streets of Cobden, Ontario and chatted with people sitting on their lawns. I stopped a fellow that was mowing his lawn to tell him the good news of what God was doing at Logos Land.  It went really well.

I knew I had good news to share and that took all the pressure off.  I just asked each of them, "Have you heard what God is doing at Logos Land?" and proceeded to share about the miracles I had witnessed from the meetings.

A big thanks goes to those who backed me in prayer.  It was easy to witness.  The people were prepared and I  didn't have any problems.  I got to pray for a fellow that had bandages on his ankles from blisters.  I prayed for a lady that was going for dialysis every day and had never experienced the power of God. I gave out some million dollar bills to some teenagers that I stopped on the street and just chatted with them a bit. 

About half the people weren't home so I left a brochure where they would discover it on their way into the house.  Not bad results for a nice Friday morning.

I had lots of brochures left and about 40 photocopies of a note that said something like, "Come Experience a Supernatural Touch from God Tonight."  I was wondering what to do with them and I felt the nudge to go to Pembroke, a city about 15 minutes away.  As I started down the highway I asked the Lord where to go because the water baptism was at 1pm.  The Lord said to go to WalMart.

I got to Wal Mart and immediately started talking to people as they got into their cars, out of their cars, and as they walked by.  Many people had not heard about the meetings or about the miracles.  I made my way into Wal Mart giving out brochures and talking to people as I went and then got some lunch and talked to a couple of employees too and some of the customers.  I had fun giving out million dollar bills to the children too.  LOl.... of course I asked the parents if it was okay first.

Within 30 minutes I had talked to another 20 people easily and put the rest of the leaflets and brochures on cars in the parking lot.

Out of the approximate 50 people I talked to I only had two people that said not to waste my brochure on them and one person who wanted to argue that she didn't want anything to do with religion.  That's about 47 successful witnessing interactions.

We are definitely in the end times!  The people are hungry for the supernatural and many were amazed as I told them story after story of being on the ministry team and what I had witnessed.  One fellow that was sitting in his truck, looking at me sceptically as I shared some testimonies and I responded by putting a hand on his shoulder and saying, "We all need love."  That's all I felt to do but I know that God used that to witness to him.

It is not about having a canned response or knowing all the answers. It's about letting Holy Spirit flow through you. You might say something completely different and that's okay as long as we lean on Holy Spirit because we really don't know what to say or do.  He has promised to fill our mouths and his love will flow and the people will get touched.  (Luke 21:14-15, Rom 5:5)

So my thoughts for the day are:
1. Make sure you have prayer back up before you go out to do any kind of evangelism work. 

2. Know what you want to share about. For me it was about the meeting, "Did you hear about the tent meetings at Logos Land?  We've seen so many people healed  and touched by God..."

3. Excitement is contagious and dispels fear. You can't be full of Holy Spirit and fear at the same time so build yourself up in your most holy faith and speak out loud all the things you've seen and experienced.  The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy.  It really does make a difference! (2Tim. 1:7, Jude 1:20, Rev. 19:10, 1John 4:18)

4. Go!  Don't let anything or anyone stop you.  If someone is negative move on.  Ask Holy Spirit to guide and direct your steps, who to talk to, which cars to put a brochure on, etc., etc.

Have a great day as you step out of your boat/comfort zone!  The water is really great!
Big hugs,
Brenda Gale

New Knees!

I was helping with the ministry team on Tuesday night and happened to be beside the preacher as he prayed for a lady with metal in her knees.  She was in incredible pain just trying to stand up and move to where the preacher wanted the people to go stand for prayer. 

When he prayed for her she went down and he moved on to pray for other people that had surgical metal in their bodies.  I could feel an empowering as I was praying for her and I saw a quick vision of leg bones with knee caps.  The Lord wanted me to pray for her so I downloaded knees into her by faith, while she was down on the floor. 

She then moved her leg a bit and started to cry and when I asked what was going on, she told me that she this was the first time she hadn't been in pain bending her leg in 4 years.  Praise the Lord!   I found out that she had hurt herself while in military service and had had both knees replaced surgically.  She couldn't have been over 35 years old and was awfully young to be so debilitated.

I told the preacher  what was happening to her and he had her stand up and asked her what had happened. All of the pain and most of the metal was gone from both knees, so he prayed for the last little bit of metal to go (I joined in quietly) and she got totally healed.  I was so encouraged and empowered by the preacher's authority and to realize that I heard the Lord right and that he used me.

Also,  I believe I received something from the Lord as I prayed for the preacher... because initially I was just praying for the preacher, covering and protecting him in prayer.  He had asked the people to pray in tongues for him a couple of times... so I thought he might want help spiritually.  We can never out give God!

What an exciting service. I want to encourage you to get involved whenever you can because you get trained up as you help serve men and women of God.

Bless you today!  May you walk in the anointing you have received!

Big hugs,

Brenda Gale

Decrees and Encouragement

Good morning.  I just listened to Dr. Cindy Trim this morning about the Atomic Power of Prayer on you tube and she is bang on.  Here is the link...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxdGD8X153M
I used the pause button so that I could decree it myself as she spoke.

It is so easy to get discouraged about the discipline of commanding your morning.  We almost need the Lord to show us again just how real our words are in the supernatural realm so we will be more careful to say the right things.

I love what Maria Woodsworth-Etter used to pray.  She didn't have much of an education, yet God used her mightily in the late 1800's and early 1900's.   Let me share some of her words with you.
"Thank You Lord Jesus for using this clay for your glory and for giving me a message for this dying people!"   Amen!  She was so humble!  She sparked revival wherever she went and remained a humble piece of clay in the Lord's hands.  There's a lesson there for all of us.

Someone once said that "He who loves souls lives in constant revival,"  and I have found this to be true. "Lord, give us a love for people; the selfish, vain, hurting people.  Here's the link to a song I wrote about this...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoGR5cmlDvY

Another quote I liked from Maria's writings was, "Oh Praise the Lord for his tender care over us, and for His wonderful salvation, that fills our soul with glory, that takes away the fear of persecution, the fear of man and the fear of devils, and makes us rejoice in the midst of trials, remembering that 'all things work together for good to those that love the Lord', that takes away the fear of death, and as we look at the grave we hear a shout from Calvary, saying, "I am the resurrection and the Life."

Powerful eh?  She had a living, working relationship with Holy Spirit and relied on him completely.
When I get weary of the fight I remind myself of somethings that I read Smith Wigglesworth used to say. "Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials." Pretty awesome sayings, don't you think?  If we want great testimonies we have to build up our faith so that we can press through the trials with a good confession of faith. We have to practice shutting up all those niggling thoughts of doubt, fear and lack.

Therefore, we choose to persevere and ask the Lord for joy in our journey.  (Gal 6:9, Heb. 10:35) He will not test us beyond our ability to withstand it, but with every temptation will provide a way of escape (1Cor. 10:13).  As we keep lifting the body of Christ up to Him and praying for our leaders He will send encouragement to us because we can never out give Him.

Don't let a spirit of weariness attach itself to you.  It will sap your joy and purpose and steal your destiny if it can.  We must be on guard against the trickery of the enemy.  Great breakthroughs are at hand.  Something huge is coming down the pipe.  That's what the Lord told me.

So let's pray.  There is power in agreement and I agree with you by faith. "We thank You Lord for all the good plans you have prepared for us in advance.  Thank You That we are seated with you in heavenly places and we war from our position in Heaven.  The Victory you won on Calvary you have given to us and we enforce your victory over all the powers of the enemy.  Thank You Lord for showing us the schemes of the enemy because you promised that we would not be ignorant.  We come to you and humbly ask that you help us today. Help us to shine brilliantly for you today Lord. Help us to make a difference for You today.  Strengthen us as we recount all the victories you have given us in the past  and all the things you have promised us.  Please prompt us to pray and sing in tongues and we believe we receive the interpretation of them.  Help us to prioritize our lives so that we don't miss out on all that you have for us.  Thank You Lord for your abiding presence with us today.  We give you all the glory for what you are going to do today.  Amen!" (Rom. 8:30, Eph. 2:10, 2:6, John 20:21, Heb. 10:13,  James 1:5, Is. 60:1-2, Rev. 19:10, 2Cor. 1:20, Habb. 2:2, Col. 3:17, Heb. 13:5, 1 Cor. 10:31)

Bless you sister/brother as you go!
Big hugs,
Brenda Gale Thompson