More Glory! If I pay the price...

The Lord has been telling me to spend more time with him again.  He wants me to drop all the other good stuff and just spend time with him alone.  My family has been through this before so they are used to it, Thank God.  For all my friends that I should be calling this article will have to suffice for now.

I was asking the Lord why we are not seeing the breakthroughs we've been praying for and the Lord told me to get more control over my mouth.  I have been learning about slander but I never realized how common slurring people has become in our society.

A slur can be a number of things: an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo or  words that have a shaming or degrading effect.  It can also mean to cast aspersions on someone or to depreciate a person's value.

The sad thing is that it's so easy to do, especially with family members.  Most of the time people don't realize they are doing it.  They have a stronghold of complaining and it leads to slurring their loved ones.

I asked the Lord what happens when I slur someone and the Lord showed me how my slurring someone puts a grey fog around them in the spirit realm so that the blessings of God are blocked and they have a hard time hearing God.  That woke me up!  Slurring by a Christian is tantamount to cursing them, plain and simple.

Now you do that to your husband, son or daughter once a day and you've blocked the blessings of God on them. The devil has used your mouth to stop God's kingdom from advancing.

This is serious stuff!  I need to get a better grip on my mouth and what I speak about!
I've been asking the Lord to help me recognize when this happens so I can repent out loud and get the person I'm talking to to agree with me for blessing our loved ones instead.  After all, it's only by God's grace that I am not doing ten times worse than them!

If complaining was all it took to stop the Israelies from entering their promised land, what makes me think that I will be able to keep complaining and enter my promised land?

Now you all know me and you know I've been working on my mouth.  This post is not meant to be hard on you but more of a self-confession so that you don't make the same mistakes as I have, lol.   If I can save you some pain or grief then I am all for it.

Here are some confessions that I've been renewing my mind with:

Lord, please give me more fear of You so I won't want to sin against you.  I know that the reverential fear of you leads to life. (ref. Prov. 19:23)

Thank You Lord  that the reverential fear of you is Life and that he/she who has it will rest untouched by evil. (Prov. 19:23 NEB)

Thank You Lord helping me to recognize when I am complaining or slurring someone.  I want to live by your standard, not the world's standard.

Thank You Lord for helping me to hate sin the way you do so that I won't want any part of it.  Show me how much you love my family members and the people I would tend to slur; politicians, bosses, leaders, pastors, etc., etc.  I choose to speak blessings over them instead, on purpose!

I am going to end with Psalm 15.  It's a special psalm for those who want to live in God's presence.

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

¹ Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?

² The one whose walk is blameless,
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander,
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person
    but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest;
    who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken. (bold highlights are mine)

Bless you!

Brenda Gale Thompson
p.s.  If this has blessed you please share!

Breaking Strongholds in Marriages

This is from a precious friend who asked me to post it so that you would be encouraged.  He is so excited about the breakthroughs he is seeing in his marriage and his friend's marriages.  Be  encouraged!  God is on your side!

"Today I spent the whole morning breaking down strong holds in a married couple's house. When we thought that we where through Holy Spirit stayed and brought forth more and more revelation. After calling out peoples names living and dead we made a great step forward in discernment  by breaking off curses one at a time. 

Again, just as I said, we thought we were through, but HOLY SPIRIT wasn't. We felt to call out each of the married couples to forgive each other. After they both forgave each other we could feel something lifting off. 

I did this months ago with my wife and I also could feel something breaking off of me. Now here is the discernment that I was given at that time; when we get married we stand before the LORD and give a pledge to each other.  At this time our love is so great between us. 

As life goes on we start to drift. We don't keep our love guard up and become less loving and all that goes with it.  Oh how the devil is so glad. We don't even know what is going on behind the scenes. After some time in our marriages we start thinking about our partner in negative ways. Now look closely, we are just thinking. So where do you think these negative thoughts come from? 

It build and builds until there is great disagreement, bitterness and no forgiveness. Our marriage is now in great danger. Oh how the devil is so slippery. We think that we can do it on our own and that is such  a lie!

So what do they do now?  They split up and blame it always on the other partner because they cannot see through their own bitterness. 

This would not have happened, if right from the start we received the proper education. It is about 'being tried' people, just like Adam and Eve. We are all in this trial forever and without proper education we will stay in this prison forever. 

We have to fight back and take back what satan stole from us and the LORD says it is love. You see satan can't love and he doesn't want you to either. On the other hand, OUR FATHER is full of love, he heals with love and believe me his love is a total healing dictionary. A first aid kit that never runs out. The only time it runs out is when we run out of him. 

Lets go back to our love problem. We have to forgive each other and go back to the alter where our vows were and take a stand against satan. My advice is to kiss your spouse regularly. Tell them you love them. Hold their hand and watch the world look at you. Speak well of them all the time.  Focus on their good points, not the things that irritate you. 

The people around will all wonder and wish they had this. Choose to Stand on top of the world with your confession and faith in Jesus and Holy Spirit's comfort and counsel... instead of sinking into it to join the fallen."    (L.Jones)

Isn't that exciting?  I love to hear about people getting breakthroughs.  I don't want the devil to win in anybodies life!

Repeat this after me: I am a light set on a hill!  I am salt that is meant to preserve and flavor everything! I am a blessing everywhere I go!  I am 'love' walking and talking because his love is shed abroad in my heart as I ask him for it! I am his beloved and I can love those God puts in my path; especially my family, church family and coworkers!

Bless you!
Brenda Gale Thompson

Sunday School Yesterday & How to Start Prophesying

Sunday school went really well yesterday.  We had a fairly short class and since the girls have been going over the basis of prophesy I thought we would focus on how to get ready to give a word.

First we praise and worship and stay thankful because that's how we draw the manifest presence of God around us.  Also, He inhabits or is enthroned in the praises of His people (ref Ps. 100:4, 22:3)

Second,  we pleaded the blood of Jesus over us and asked the Lord to show us if there was any sin that would hinder us from hearing His voice (ref. Is. 59:2).

Third, we checked to make sure our motives were right. We want to bless and encourage people.

Fourth, we asked the Lord to "shed His love abroad in our hearts".  (Rom. 5:5)

Fifth, we asked the Lord to give us a word to encourage someone and asked Holy Spirit to confirm the word to them when we shared it.

Then I went on say that when we are in public places, we can ask the Lord to highlight someone to us. Sometimes, my eyes will be drawn to a person over and over again.  Other times I will see a person and immediately a word pops into my head. Sometimes, I will look at someone and  get a feeling of hurt, anxiety, or pain and I know God wants me to go talk to them.

These are just some of the ways God will highlight a person that He wants you to share with.  So keep asking clarifying questions and don't  let fear grip you.  The Bible says that the righteous are as bold as a lion.  "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind." (ref. Prov. 28:1, 2Tim. 1:7)

When you go up to a person  always ask their permission to share the word you got from the Lord with them.  I have only been refused once in many years and I think that was because they were in a hurry and thought I was going to take too long.

When speaking to the person leave out all the Christian jargon that they might not understand.

If they are broken up because of the word you gave, ask the Lord what to do next.  Sometimes, I have been allowed to pray for people right in the grocery store!  If they do not want prayer that is perfectly all right. You have planted some supernatural seed into their lives. I always carry million dollar bills that I give out before I leave.  They have the gospel message on the back and when they are ready I know Holy Spirit will use the words on the tract.

We then practiced giving words of prophesy.  The Bible says to prophesy in proportion to your faith (Rom 12:6) so  we picked a man we didn't know and asked the Lord for one word each for him.

After praying for a minute each of the girls got a different word for him.  I wrote down what they said in point form and asked the Lord and them if they wanted to elaborate.  It was really good stuff.

I was so blessed to see the willingness of these girls that I asked them if we could do one more person.  There had been a man at the front of the church that I felt to go hug at the beginning of service and I didn't because of protocol.  (See how easily fear can shut you down?)  Anyhow,  I wanted to somehow make it up to him so the girls and I prayed and we got some neat words.

One of the girls got the word 'coffee' and I thought, "Coffee what?"  Immediately I heard that the Lord likes having coffee with him.   So I put that together with the other words and the girls were able to add more thoughts to the words they got.  It was awesome.

We gave the prophesies to the resepective men  and  I found out that the 'coffee' man said that the word was bang on for him.  Isn't God amazing?   You should see how excited these young girls are to teach the Sunday service how to prophesy!  That's going to be an interesting service.

Let me pray for you now:  "Lord I ask that You would help this precious person to share  Your words of encouragement and love with others.  Give them lots of words to share and the boldness and compassion to do it well.  We give you all the glory for what You have already started to do in them. Amen!

P.S.  Make sure you write down all your exploits in your notebook.  Then you can ask the Lord questions about each prophetic encounter later on.  There are always ways we can improve. Also, you will have lots of encouragement to get you excited to go out again.

Waiting Patiently, Muddy and All

 ¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in him.
(Psalm 40:1-3 italics mine)

I love this Psalm because it is so encouraging.  The author has been in a slimy pit, in the mud and mire. Have you ever been in a slimy pit?  Maybe not a physical one, but how about a situation where no matter what you say people misunderstand you?  That's no fun for sure.

How about finding yourself in some mud or mire?    Maybe not physically but how about the gossip that people throw at you?  All the innuendos,  the slurs and slams behind your back.  It hurts and it sticks to you just like mud.

Have you ever been mired in a messy situation? You might not have done anything wrong except be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  These situations can weigh heavily on your mind and steal your peace, your joy and even your sleep.

This Psalm promises that if we will wait on the Lord, He will lift us out of the mire and put us on the rock.  That means so much to me because God does not change and He has exalted His word above all things. (Mal. 3:6, Ps. 138:2) He will lift us out of the mud and the mire (verse 2).

If we will wait on the Lord, muddy or not, He will make it right.  And while we are waiting, let's go after the  spirit of leviathan that causes people to misunderstand us and jump to wrong conclusions. Let's claim, clear, open communication without hidden agendas, in all our relationships and Let's ask for a great guard on our mouths and our lips.

Let's declare some good words: "Thank You Lord that Your words of love, grace, mercy and power flow through us all the time. Thank You Lord for camaraderie and mutual respect in all our relationships. Show us how to ask clarifying questions where there is opportunity for offense. Teach us to extend grace to all the people we meet.  Amen."

Verse three does come to pass.  He has put a New Song in my mouth every time I was in mud, mire or a pit.  He is faithful!  What He's done for me He will do for you! Hallelujah!

I'm So Thankful...

The song says it all. I ask the Lord from time to time to give me a thankful heart because that's who He likes to hang out with-- the thankful ones.  Yes, he is with us all the time, but there are different levels of intimacy we can enjoy. I want to be as close as I can possibly get, maybe even the best of friends with Holy Spirit.  I need him to show me things and teach me things.  Thank God, he is such a good teacher. LOL!

Let me pray for you now: "I bless you with more of Holy Spirit.  May you know him in a greater way today. Amen." The Apostle Paul wrote, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better," (Eph. 1: 17).  Double Amen to that!

Last Night Ministering, (written Nov. 27, 2010)

 
Myspace Graphics, God Graphics at WishAFriend.com

Hi Saints.  Something unusual happened last night during the ministry time at our Friday night healing service so I thought I would attempt to share what happened. 

I was sitting between two ladies in the front row of the church sharing some destiny words that the Lord had given me when one lady noticed that a leader  was waving me over to come help him.

I excused myself and went over to help him and he told me to put my hand on the lady's lower back.  I started to pray for her and got  the giggles almost immediately because she wasn't receiving the anointing we were 'pulling in' for her. (Hang on, I will explain.)

I told this leader that there was a blockage and asked the Lord what to do and He told me "thankfulness".  I didn't get the opportunity to talk to her as the other fellow was talking.   We weren't getting very far as this blockage had her cut off from Heaven's flow.

The leader eventually left and I still had my hand on her back. Another man was praying for her and the Lord gave me a detailed word for him.  He was so excited that it affected the lady, who I think was his wife. She turned to face me and I was able to give her a word of knowledge from God's heart and I could see it softening her heart.  I then felt the Lord prompt me to share about choosing to be thankful.

 I shared by way of example, "Thank You Lord that my feet don't hurt. Thank You Lord that my head doesn't hurt. Thank You Lord that I have shoes to wear. Thank You Lord for my wonderful husband and my beautiful children. Thank You Lord that I have a bed to sleep in." 

As I was sharing this, God's presence showed up and her back got mightily touched and she started to move it around, from side to side and started talking really fast in an Asian language. She was so excited!

I explained to her how the Lord inhabits the praises of his people and that we enter His presence with thanksgiving and praise". (Psalm 16:11, Psalm 100:4)   The Lord's presence backed off a bit while I shared this, so I started giving thanks again and a thick, tingly weight of God's glory came down on the three of us.

Talk about the Lord confirming the word that was spoken! I was rejoicing last night because some times I have shared the word and not felt His presence confirming it with signs and wonders.

These are new days.  I was so encouraged to keep going.  I asked the Lord to help me share with boldness outside of church again and He told me that if I would stay in thankfulness and praise that the anointing would flow wherever I was.  Hallelujah!   Now, we know that the Lord is 'no respecter of persons', so what He has told me will apply to your life too.  (ref. Acts. 10:34) Therefore, I exhort to stay thankful and claim that His anointing flows through you every day.

Now go and expect Him to do mighty things through you! Bless you as you pursue Him for more in your life!

Big hugs,
Brenda Gale

Victory Over Frustration

Hi there.  I had three phone calls the last two weeks by friends that were totally frustrated with their lives and circumstances so after the third phone call  I asked the Lord what was going on.  He told me that the enemy is trying to wear out the Saints so that they will give up or become bitter.

For  those of you who have not read my first response to frustration please use the link and read it as this article will be brief and to the point and I am not going over the same material again.
//greatcommissionhow2s.blogspot.com/2010/09/frustration.html

A) Ask the Lord for a promise for your situation then meditate on it and speak it out over your situation. His word will not return empty. (Is. 55:11) Make sure to watch your words.  Don't cancel out your faith with unbelief. A double minded person does not receive anything! (James 1:5-8)

B) Realize that the battle you are facing is not just about you.  It's about all the people you will influence.   Once you get a victory in an area of your life, you have authority to give your victory to others.  Duet 29:29 says that, "the revealed things belong to you and your children.

C) Check to make sure you don't have a stronghold, a belief pattern that stops you from taking God at His word. (Prov. 3:5-6)  Acknowledge Him in ALL your ways. Spend time daily focusing on Jesus and ask him to heal the wounds of your heart, so that you can have your promise.  Let the sun of righteousness arise with Healing in His wings.  In His light we see light.... and we all know that light has healing properties.  God's light has even more healing in it. (Mal. 4:2, 1John 1:7) God delights in the prosperity of His servants and He has commanded blessing to pursue us and overtake us. Also, He wants us to prosper and be in health as our souls prosper. (Ps. 35:27, Deut. 28:2, 3John 2)

D) Keep up the praise and thanksgiving.  He inhabits the praises of His people.  Every day worship till His glory is all around you or Holy Spirit tells you that He is there and ask Him what to say or do that will bring the answer.  Holy Spirit is the spirit of revelation and you can expect Him to reveal things as you seek Him.

E) Day dream with God. (1Cor. 2:16)  Envision the solution. Plead the blood of Jesus over you before you worship and then as you wait in His presence ask the Lord what He wants to show you.  Use your faith to believe that He wants to show you things and then ask clarifying questions to sharpen your mental pictures.  (Eph. 1:3, 2:6, 1:17)

F) Remember that the vision or the dream is just the beginning.  Once you have a dream or vision then take it to the Lord when you are in His presence and speak it out.  Call in what you are seeing or what you dreamed every day (in His presence) till it manifests.

You know God waited for Holy Spirit before He spoke. If God waited till Holy Spirit was hovering/moving  upon the waters before He spoke... how much more should we? (Gen. 1:2-3)

Therefore, to sum it all up, practice Psalm 100:4, "enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise..." and then speak what the Lord leads.... decreeing the things Holy Spirit has laid on your heart so that they will be established. (Job 22:28 )  Make sure you ask for  joy and strength too! "In his presence there is fullness of joy..." and  "the joy of the Lord is our strength." ( Ps. 16:11, Neh. 8:10)

Remember you are more than a conqueror.  You are called to rule and reign on the earth for the Lord.  ( Rom. 8:37, Rom. 5:17, 19, Heb. 10:13, Heb. 1:13) For example, when the devil tries to attack me with sickness I rebuke it. If the symptoms try to linger I stand with a good confession and I pray for my family. If they still linger then I go on a major assault praying for every single person I know and all those I don't know in town.  Be an expensive target!  Make the devil pay for every second he tries to oppress you.

Be encouraged, He is working while you wait on Him.  I know your life is busy and it's hard to make time to seek Him but it is so-o-o-o- worthwhile.  "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him" (Is. 64:4)  That is why you keep Him first. The Lord told me once that if I would spend my anointing on Him, one hour a day, that He would work on my situation for me.  I obeyed and found out it works!

Let's pray: Thank You Lord for giving us joy in our journey with You.  Thank You Lord  for protecting our praise and worship times with You.  I declare that no evil comes near our dwelling.  Thank You Lord that You are sanctifying us completely and that we are more than conquerors through You. We command all these trials to turn into blessings for us.  Show us Lord what to decree in Your glory regarding all our situations.  We give you all the thanks and praise and  glory for our victories now. Amen! (Is 61:3, 1Thess. 5:23,  Rom. 8:30-38)

Blessing is ours!

God wants us blessed, plain and simple. We can't bless others if we are not blessed ourselves so it's time that we started believing for more so we can do more for the Kingdom of God.
 
In Psalm 24 we read, starting at verse 3, "Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness/vindication from the God of his salvation." (italics mine)

Psalm 112 we read, "Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. (Psalm 112: 1-4)

Now don't reason yourself out of God's blessings for any reason. His grace is enough.  God knew that we could not do it so He sent his son, Jesus and Jesus fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law.

That's how we apply Galations 3:13.  Jesus became a curse so that we could have the blessings he deserved.  He had a clean hands and  a pure heart.  He did all that we could not do so that we can boldly say, "Jesus' blessings are mine, now!"

You might not know how to turn things around so that you can come out blessed in your particular situation but Ps. 112:4 gives us the answer.  Even in our deepest darkness, LIGHT (revelation) dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man/woman. Hallelujah!  

We have the right to ask God what to say or do to command our situation to turn into a blessing. Then we stand with a thankful attitude, having done what He told us to do and watch things turn around. 
Psalm 112 doesn't end there. In verse 7 we read, "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes."

God wants us to have no fear over bad news!  As things are shaking economically around us and our livlihoods are being affected God wants us to know what to do.    He wants us to trust in Him, to trust in His great and precious promises.  He wants us to look in triumph over all our foes at the end of the battle.(vs 7)

Lack, poverty, famine, sickness, disease, mental infirmity,  all these foes must bow to the name of Jesus!

I love that verse about having no fear over bad news.  If there was ever a time to meditate on that verse it's now. 

For example, we waited too long to make dentist appointments for our 3 children and then I lost my job so we had to postpone them again.  I was starting to claim dental health, but at that point I had not had a breakthrough personally.  I asked the Lord one day if I could make appointments for the kids and I heard yes, so without any money on hand I booked appointments for myself and the kids.  I had no clue where the money was going to come from but I was standing.  Every day I tried to praise and worship the Lord and then when His presence would show up I would ask him to provide for the dentist.

Three days later my husband came home with a cheque for $1650.00 from a completely unexpected source. He started to cry when he told me about it, shocked and amazed at God's goodness and the kindness of the man who helped us.

Isn't God good? I should say so.  We claimed multiplied blessings back to the man who obeyed Holy Spirit's prompting and I set the money aside for the dentist. I want to be faithful with what God has given me.

So I can say this works.  I have many more testimonies to share when I get some time.
Have fun meditating on God's promises for you.  He really does want you blessed so you can be a blessing!

Justice or Grace?

Someone was complaining to me today that God was unfair and that He would help someone and then maybe not.

I cannot agree with that.  God does not have multiple personalities.  He is the embodiment of Love.  His mercy and grace are over all his works and even in the old testament He extended grace to King David, a murderer and an adulterer because he cried out for forgiveness.  Of all people King David deserved to lose his throne, his kingdom and his life, and yet God forgave Him.

So what's the deal?  One thing I have learned is that our mouths get us into more trouble than we ever realize.  What we speak about God limits what we will receive from Him.  God asks us every day to choose life and much of the time we won't.

We want justice, whether it be the person driving without regard for the rules of the road or the coworker that got the promotion we thought we needed.  Wanting justice costs us grace and the price is too high, in my estimation.  We can't walk in justice and grace at the same time.   Wanting justice shuts down our faith and paralyzes our praise and worship.

God has promised that 'all things will work together for our good' and we have to take him at His word. (Rom. 8:28)  If He really is God almighty then it's high time we start asking Him to turn our troubles into blessings.

As we stay in grace the promise of Galatians 3:13-14 becomes available to us. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."  Since we have the blessing of Abraham on us (as we walk in grace) we have the right to ask God what to say or do that will turn this circumstance, that's coming at us, into a blessing.

He's our Daddy and as we run to him, with the right attitude He'll show us what to do.  He wants to help us.  He gets no glory when we suffer with lack and hurt and torment.  Rather, God gets glory when His people get breakthroughs financially, physically and mentally.

Bless you as start to command your troubles to turn around into blessings!

ps. Testimonies are coming. It's been a busy summer and I've been keeping my journal up to date with lots of nuggets from the Lord and testimonies... so check back every so often.
Bless you again in Jesus' name!

Breakthrough!

I got a desperate call today from a friend going through some huge warfare. She has been ministering a lot of deliverance to people and the devil's mad. I am glad for all the people that she is ministering too but I don't like to see a friend beaten down.

I am going to give you the best solution I know for anyone going through warfare. I have tested so many things over the last 25 years as a prophetic intercessor and a street preacher and this works.

You can shout, claim and decree all you want and most times you will break through. But when the going gets tough and the normal stuff is not working, this always works for me.

I ask the Lord for a song to sing to Him. I choose to forget about my problems and I offer up the sacrifice of praise.(Hebrews 13:15) The first song that comes to my mind I sing to Him. Only for Him, with no instruments or music. Usually by the second or third song I am marching, clapping or dancing around my kitchen. If there is any situation that comes to mind that needs cleansing, I repent, plead the blood of Jesus over me and KEEP SINGING!

By the fifth song, I am usually singing a new song that the Lord gives to me.
If it's not a prophetic song then He will gives me a prophetic word, a knowing of what to do or say, or sometimes He wants to waltz for a bit. He leads and I follow. When He says stop--I stop. When He says write-- I write. When He asks me what do I see, I tell him what I am seeing in the Spirit and He helps me clarify the vision.

There are times when it takes me 5 songs to breakthrough and times it takes me 20 songs to breakthrough, depending on the day etc. However, I have to emphasize that when the devil knows I won't quit--I ALWAYS Breakthrough... always. It will be the same for you.

When God's manifest presence shows up the enemy disappears. LOL! Sometimes God shows up like a heavy, comforting blanket, sometimes He's the mighty warrior, sometimes He's the all knowing seer who has read your mail and still loves you. I love all the different ways He comes.

Why does Praise always work? Because God won't let us out give Him. He is the greatest giver of them all, bar none!

Also, He is always seeking worshipers who are worshiping Him in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:23) As you sing the song Holy Spirit prompts you with, you are blessing Him, acknowledging His greatness and your need of Him. No good Daddy can resist the gift of His child, how much less Father God?

In addition, when we praise Him, we are not saying that the problem does not exist, we are just going for the quickest solution available. Nobody messes with our Dad!

In conclusion, I exhort you to give this praise idea a try. Ask the Lord for a song to sing to Him. You do not have to be a singer to do this. God has amazing ears. It's like He doesn't hear the mistakes. I'm all choked up and hoarse and He's loving it. Go figure!

So, how about we pray for a minute? I want to bless you.

"Lord I ask that you would bless the precious person reading this article. And I ask that You would protect their times with You Lord. May they be so rich and fulfilling that they never forget them. Show them how to get breakthroughs even greater than I have gotten. Show them how to live in Your manifest presence, day by day. In Jesus' name I ask. Amen."

You are blessed and Highly favored by the greatest King of all!
Big hugs,
Brenda Gale Thompson

Make Each Day Count!

Life is short so I'm making the most of each day. Every new day I want to make sure I make time for the Lord, to praise and worship HIM and to hear His thoughts for my day.
It's amazing how much better my day goes when I do this. You would think that I would have learned this by now and have no problem putting God first.

However, there are a lot of sneaky distractions in life. Kids, walking the dogs, work, husband, commitments in church, errands, housework; need I say more?
In themselves they are not "bad" but when they get between me and the worship that Jesus deserves then they become idols. I keep saying to the Lord that I love Him more than anything... then by my choices I say that He's last on my priority list.

All I can do is repent and get real with Him. Sometimes I'm aware of the distractions and sometimes I'm not. The devil does not want us to worship God because he knows that we will get refreshed and come out of His presence empowered. Thus he tries everything in his arsenal to keep us from seeking the Lord and basking in His presence.

It's a learning process. We all have to journey through the land of distractions and learn to ignore them and just keep seeking the Lord.

Yesterday, I asked the Lord to protect my time with Him. It really helped. I had a great time with Him (Holy Spirit) and got some great downloads to think about.

Today, I finally got to a place where I could sit down after supper and the Heaven's felt like brass. Aha! I've been there before. So I put on a couple of worship songs on youtube (Chris Tomlin and Hill Songs) and agreed with the songs they were singing. Then I started singing my own new song while the songs were singing.

Breakthrough! It worked again! Heaven's open and His presence is all over me etc, etc.
Thank You Jesus for Breakthrough! Now I'm decreeing things He's told me before, calling in the promises He's given me and asking Him who needs prayer (shoring up, protection) and where is the enemy active.

Now that's living! And some people think being a Christian is boring. They don't have a clue!

Got to go... Holy Spirit wants another song and it's another opportunity to make this day count for eternity.

I Missed a Breakthrough

I was in Rochester, New York on the weekend. We had a great time getting some great teaching and making connections. After the course finished we went for a drive and ended up at Wendy's for a bite to eat, before heading back home.

Right outside the door was a homeless man, sitting on the ground with his back leaning against the garbage can. I walked by him into the Wendy's praying about what to do. It was bothering me that he was out there. At that point, I was fighting fear, so I ordered my salad and kept praying.

I waited for my friends to get to the table and asked my friend if I could borrow ten American dollars because I was out of American money. "No problem," she said and we proceeded to eat our lunch. As it turned out, she forgot to give me the ten dollars and I forgot to ask her again for it.

We talked a bit after lunch, then left. I didn't see the man on the way out. I didn't think about it till we had left the parking lot and I remembered that I had forgotten to get him a meal. My friend was driving away so I prayed out loud, "Lord send someone else."

I missed a great opportunity. You see, that was a love test and I chose to be comfortable rather than to risk upsetting my friends or embarrassing myself. I used to be really good at talking to homeless people. In Winnipeg, where I grew up, they used to come talk to me all the time. Sometimes they just wanted to talk. Sometimes they pan handled and I would ask Holy Spirit what to do. He always protected me.

You know Holy Spirit always rewards those who will love the least of them. He is always searching for His lost sheep. (Matthew 18:11-13) Sad eh? This man could have been an angel for all I know. It has happened before. The Bible says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels." (Hebrews 13:2)

I could make excuses for myself, but I know the truth. All I had to do was treat him like a human being and ask him if he was hungry. It's not rocket science. Then I could ask him what he would like and order it while he goes to wash up. For me washing is important and if he gives me trouble about it, I would joke with him saying, "Don't you want to look your best eating lunch with a pretty lady like me?"

That's how easy it is. $7.00 can keep a homeless man going for another day. The Bible says, "He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given." (Proverbs 19:17) If you are bold you can tell him about Jesus and His power that can set him free from addictions and save him from hell. If that is overwhelming, then give him a tract and let him eat by himself. He'll be glad for a good meal.

Here I have been asking the Lord for the spark I need to get this revival bonfire going in the valley and this man was the situation I needed. You see I have learned from experience that outrageous love leads to outrageous breakthroughs.

So you can understand why I am asking the Lord for another chance. If you dare, you can pray this with me; Lord have mercy on me, and help me get back to where I used to be -- totally, outrageously in love with You. I'm too comfortable these days, too apathetic. I want to be Your hands and feet in this dying world, really I do. So help me Lord to be more like You. Amen.

Bless you as you go love on purpose, in His name!