Turtle Dream

A few years ago I had a dream that bothered me for quite a while.   God's turned it into a testimony so I will share it with you.

I was breathless from running, trying to get away from the turtle men chasing me and throwing knives at me.  What was going on?  Why did they want me so bad? I couldn't understand. I hadn't done anything wrong.


From a  corridor I ran into a large room, but with no doors or windows that I could see.  The only fixture I could see was a large fireplace with bricks going up to the ceiling.


I didn't know where to go!  I saw that a couple of the bricks were sticking out and there was an opening in the brick wall much further up so I scrambled up the side, on top of the mantle and dodged the knives that were being thrown at me.


For some reason the turtle men didn't want to climb the fireplace. They kept trying to kill me with their knife throwing so I squeezed into the air passageway and slithered down it.  All of a sudden a wasp's nest erupted around me and started stinging me.  I couldn't get away fast enough!  Stinging pain all over my body as I swatted them away and tried to keep going.

I woke up hyperventilating, tears streaming down my cheeks.  I couldn't go back to sleep for a while then, when I did, I had the same dream over again, from a slightly different viewpoint.  I couldn't get past the dream.

I did what little dream analysis I knew about and searched the internet for more answers.  I could never find out what turtle men represented.  I figured out that the knives were an attack and that I was running away.  The wasp nest was the stings from all the people's curses.

The big room with the fireplace was symbolic of the open spot I had. What's significant is the fire place.  I had to step on the mantle to get away from these turtle men and yet they didn't want to climb it! I believe that's because the mantle was my mantle and it wouldn't work for anyone else.

I just found out what the turtle men represented thanks to a cd by Charlie Robinson.  In it he talks about the turtle spirit  and how it causes everything to slow down so that you can't make any forward motion of any kind, whether in thought, speech or action towards your destiny.

I had this dream years ago, weeks after I was cut from a street preaching organization.   I wasn't getting any results with their canned, legalistic script and I couldn't memorize the leader's funny stories to save my life. I really did try to memorize one of them but when I got onto the streets I forgot it all and had to preach what the Lord gave me.

What was working for me was calling out words of knowledge and praying for the sick intertwined with the Good News of the Gospel.  I had hundreds of people watching when I went to go pray for a man in a wheel chair.  I wasn't even paying attention to the people watching.  My heart lurched in compassion and I had to go minister to him.  It wasn't until  I said good bye to him that I noticed that the whole street and lunch crowd were watching me.

I never felt more alive than when I was out on the streets, telling people about God's great love for them, and giving out words of knowledge and prophesy and healing the sick.  Sure it was scary at times, but I knew I was born for this.  It was really interesting to me to realize how my message would change slightly, depending if I was in front of the Dept. of Justice or in front of the CBC building or at the Ottawa University.  God knew what these people needed to hear and I relied on him totally.

That's why it hurt so much when I was dismissed. I was crying out to the Lord for help.  I couldn't find anyone that would go with me. I just needed one person to go with me as a witness in case of trouble and I couldn't find even that one person.

Now that I know what the turtle men represent, which was everything possible to slow me down from discovering my destiny,  I have been seeking the Lord for what to do, to get back on track. Thank God he always has a back up plan.  That should give all of us reason to rejoice!

You know I am not that far off track according to the Lord.  I am now in a church where I am encouraged to grow in my ministry gifts and I get to practice every week.  Instead of street preaching I am giving out a lot of encouraging words and praying for people for healing and deliverance. It's working!  The Kingdom is being spread every where I go.  The world is my ministry ground and God is touching people everywhere. 

I am here to tell you that it does not matter what the enemy throws at you, if you won't quit God will bring you through it and he will turn it to good.  It's amazing but true. I am living proof of this.  He does cause all things to work together for your good, for those who love the Lord. (ref. Rom. 8:37)

So don't quit!  Better days are ahead of you. "Rejoice not against me oh my enemies, for though I have fallen, yet shall I arise!" (ref. Micah 7:8)

Let's pray. "Lord we claim your victories in our lives. Show us how to beat every scheme of the enemy and thank you for your power to work all the circumstances in our lives to our good. You are amazing and we worship you and give you all the glory for what you are doing in our lives today. Thank You Lord for giving us eyes to see your kingdom, ears to hear your gentle voice and teachable hearts to treasure and obey your words to us. In Jesus' name we ask. Amen!
I bless you as you go today!

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

God's Not Answering

There comes a time in every Christian's life when you feel that God is not answering.   Everything was going great and you could get blasted by Holy Spirit at every meeting, get healed, get touched and now it feels like nothing is going on.

I am hear to tell you not to give up.   God only allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent by His power.  If you are not feeling His presence right now, it could be that you are moving into a new season of your life, where you walk by faith and not by sight (or sensation).  This is quite normal in the Christian life and it's a sign of growth.  You are getting rid of the diapers and moving into training pants.

You see, the only way you can personally please the Father is to walk by faith-- not sight (ref. Heb. 11:6).  So that means you thank Him for touching you, even when you don't feel it, because you are convinced by the Bible's promises that God can't lie.  If you ask Him to touch you, He is, whether you feel Him or not.

The same is true with regard to healing.  I know some people who are upset because they still have some symptom or other and they have gone to many healing meetings.  My heart goes out to them as I hear them express their frustration with God.  "They've been healed before so why doesn't He do it now?" is the usual line I hear. 

I don't have all the answers.  I can share a bit from my own experience and I hope this will help you.
As we grow up, the Father wants us to grow in faith-- and faith is a muscle.  We know that muscles that don't get used are not healthy and will eventually shrivel up.  Therefore, we need obstacles to overcome for our faith to grow.  We need to grow our faith and not rely on someone else's faith all the time.

Also, we can only give away with power the testimonies we have gained.  Head knowledge doesn't cut it in the Kingdom of God. There's no 'umph!' with it.

I didn't have a preacher or a meeting that I could go to when I needed healing, so I went to the Word of God. I read the verse, that "by His stripes I was healed" and said, "That's mine." I knew that God can't lie and if He didn't want me to have that promise,  He shouldn't have put it in His book.  I already knew that He was no respecter of persons. (ref. Is. 53:5, Heb. 6:18, Acts 10:34)

Then I rested. I quit fretting and I let God be God. I stayed thankful and kept the praise and worship playing and tried to go on with my life as best as I could.

I was healed... It took me a while to realize it because it was progressive, like so many healings, but it started the moment I claimed it as mine and rested.

Our heads get us into so much trouble.  We need to learn to take negative, doubt-filled thoughts captive and not speak them out loud.  Negative talk has undone many a good healing confession.

Faith comes when you've planted the promise of God in your heart and meditated on it a while and it  dawns on you. That's when you know you have the goods.  Then you can pray and rest with a thankful heart.

Also, don't let circumstances or stress push you into messing up your faith-filled words. Many a healing has been lost by pressure.  It's time to double up on the anointed word of God, not throw Your Bible on the shelf.

Then when you get to a healing meeting your faith will work with the ministry team person or preacher and not against them.

After you get a victory or two start giving away your victories by agreeing for healing for others when they go up for prayer.   

Okay, enough said. Let me bless you now.

I declare that you are blessed, highly favored and passionate for God and His kingdom. May you plant the word of God deep in your heart and may it always bear fruit.  May His word come back to your rememberance when you need it and may your life be full of blessing, in Jesus' name I ask. Amen!

Fisherwoman

Jesus said, "Come follow me and I will make you become fishers of men."(Mark 1:17 NASV) I like the "make you become" part. For me that hasn't always been easy. I was taught that a person's faith was their personal business and not to go meddling. Unfortunately, the only way to make sure a person is really saved is to ask them some questions and see what they answer.

If they can't explain how they know they are saved, or if they appear "wishy-washy" or vague there's a very good chance they don't have that assurance.

Many times I won't ask people to tell me "how they know they are going to heaven", because that can make them defensive. I treat each individual as the Lord leads. If they are not full of pride, I can just pray with them and get them to agree with me and Holy Spirit will touch them and soften their hearts. For example, I must have prayed with one lady five or six times, for her daughter and husband, before I felt the release to ask her if she wanted to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was going to heaven when she died.

There have been other situations where I have told people, "Here, read this (tract) and get back to me with your questions." Sometimes the proud, or complacent need something to jar them awake and you can be the "elbow" God uses to wake them up to their fate without Him. If someone gets offended at me, I don't take it personally. Fleshy reactions happen when you wake someone up suddenly.

You cannot mess up bad enough, to use it as an excuse not to witness or get involved in God's Great Commission. Our witness, however insignificant it might seem (to us), is so important. As we live for Him and ask Him to use us, He will put people in our paths for us to love and talk to. Sometimes a person will need months of loving, encouraging, kind words and prayer before they are ready for the seed of the Gospel. Just being full of His life can help so much. We don't know sometimes how much our witness affects others.

I took the lady that leads the prayer group to the grocery store, for a few things and I must have talked to ten people in the store, some shoppers, some employees. This lady was quite surprised at how well I'm known and how people are so receptive to me. I've built a rapport with many of them so now I have credibility when I pray for them or say "God Bless you". With each one of these precious people I am claiming their salvation and asking the Lord when I can share the seed of the Gospel with them. God knows and He will direct as I ask Him. What He's done for me, He will do for you too! The key is "be available," ask the Lord to use you, then obey His promptings.

Let's make sure that we have a good witness here on earth. Let's be vessels that are cleaned and prepared for noble purposes.(2Tim 2:21) We want to be of earthly use to our Father. Let's make every day count for Him as we "try to serve one another in love." (Gal 5:13)

Wherever we go we can bring His hope, love and encouragement or... we can be affected by the world's negativity. It's our choice. Like Jesus, we are called to rule and reign over circumstances. (Rom 5:17) Let's spend time with the Lord every day, so that we can "be a sweet smelling fragrance" to our world. (2Cor 2:14)

Bless you in Jesus' Name! Let's go fishing for the Lord today!

Tough Times

When Times are tough that's the time to run to God. I've learned the hard way. It took me many tough times to learn to make the effort to run to God, when the devil and all your circumstances are saying God's let you down. I exhort you to make every opportunity to get into the presence of God, at church and at home, through the word and praise and worship, because God is not mad at you.

Seriously, God will never be angry with anyone ever again. All his anger was poured out on Jesus at the Cross of Calvary. He sees you through the blood of His son Jesus. You never did anything to earn His love and you can't mess up enough to stop him from loving you. You see, He is love. Love that never quits, that never stops hoping, that always sees the best in you and me. (1Cor.13:4-8)

You can mess up twenty times a day and He'll say, "Okay, here's the plan for the 21st try." His love conquers through us and somehow, as we choose to stay tight with Him, we give off the most beautiful fragrance. A beautiful flower gives off the most delectable perfume when it is crushed. (ref. 2Cor 2:14)

Let me say it again. He's your best and fastest way out of the mess you are in. Wallowing in self pity only prolongs the mess, because you are focused on yourself and not God.

So let's quit blaming God because it didn't turn out the way WE wanted. Ouch, I know that hurts - but it's the truth isn't it?

Turn to him and He'll guide you step by step through the valley to the other side.
Easier said than done right? I know all about it.

Some of the questions I asked were, "Why did you allow this to happen Lord? Why didn't you stop it? Don't you love me?"

These are all questions that we ask when the bottom falls out in our lives, and they are very real, hard questions. God doesn't mind hard questions, as long as we are willing to hear His answers, so I've learned to be listen for His answers.

I love something that Graham Cooke said, "God allows in his wisdom what He could easily prevent by His power." That saying has helped me to regain a better attitude.

Some better questions to ask are,"Lord, how do you want to reveal yourself to me in this circumstance? Lord, what do you want to teach me through this? Lord, what are you trying to impart to me so that I'll grow in my trust and confidence in You?"

I know from experience that He'll guide you step by step through the valley to the other side.
It's helpful to think of it as a course correction in your life, so that you can be more of the person God has dreamed you to be.

Remember... change is not always bad, it can lead to some great opportunities. You don't know what dream God had for you, that will make you so fulfilled as a person, that He's working on right now.

You can trust His heart. He's working through your circumstances. Again, I've got to say, you can trust His heart. He loves you so much that He gave up his 'darling' for you... yes for you. The darling of Heaven crucified for you. He gave his greatest treasure up for you.

Now go! Run into His arms, where you belong. He's been waiting for you, looking down the road, hoping you would come back, just like the prodigal son's father. Go, and be blessed in His love.

Big hugs,
Brenda Gale Thompson