Training & Growing in the Lord

Well it's been six months since I started this job in Northern Alberta. I asked to be trained on coach buses a number of times and I was told that I would have to wait my turn.  Well this week I  got asked to train on coach buses and I am learning so much! The first two training sessions I was overwhelmed, I must admit, but now it's all coming together.  I had no idea that there were so many things you had to look at differently when you drive a 45' bus!

Growing with the Lord is like that.  We coast along for a while and then if we ask, we'll get the opportunity to learn a lot more.  At first when our eyes are opened to the new possibilities it can seem overwhelming... but I want to encourage you to stick it out because it will soon become a lot easier.  God will not leave you or forsake you and He's way better at teaching than any trainer on earth.  Hallelujah!

If you don't give up you'll have another trophy for the Lord, to trade with on the sea of glass. And if you fail... no worries! Practice is never wasted, even when you make mistakes!  In this game we get to keep trying till we succeed or choose to give up.  It's up to us.

Also, If we don't succeed the first time we'll grow in compassion and will be able to comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received from the Lord.

So Thank You Lord that we are not quitters!  We can't fail for winning, we can't lose for succeeding and in all things you will cause us to triumph! Hallelujah!  Let's keep going... Thank You Lord that we are bright, witty, wise, and a joy to be around.  Thank You Lord for making all our enemies our footstool today.  Thank You Lord for the fear of You in our lives because it leads to wisdom.  Thank You Lord for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives today as we fellowship with You.  Thank You Lord for joy in our journey today.  May we always be so grateful for all You have done for us!  Amen!

Have a great day with Holy Spirit!

Big hugs and many blessings,
Brenda Gale Thompson

Constant Fellowship

I wrote this for the Facebook group "Come to the Table" May 15, 2013
Enjoy!

Constant Fellowship
For this is what the high and exalted One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Is. 57:15)

I love this verse because of what it means for us. God is promising to live with us, to be in constant fellowship with us as we are real and humble before him, in all situations we face in life. He's promising to revive the humble and repentant ones. I think we can all qualify for His kind of Revival!

As I am in this fellowship with Him, I love how Holy Spirit is always encouraging, always hopeful, always full of laughter and how he helps me to see the funny side of things. He's always telling me, "It's not as bad as you think!" You see, I'm naturally a serious person, and before I got to know the Lord I was Way too uptight!" Holy Spirit is so good at helping me see the humor in life. Thank God for all his comforts!

Personal journaling:
How has the Lord revived you when you were low?
Have you seen His encouragement when you didn't think you would ever make it?
Has he whispered your name lately?

Let's pray out loud... "Lord we come to you and ask for your encouragement today. Tell us things we don't know yet and show us the way to go. Make our lives count for Your Kingdom, in Jesus' name we ask. Amen!"

Further Reading:  Scripture: Psalm 51:17, Isa. 66:2, Micah 6:8 and

Rom. 15:5-6, "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Bless you!

Big hugs,

Brenda Gale Thompson

Cords That Can't Be Broken

I'm reminded of an old song, "Bind us together Lord, Bind us together Lord, with cords that cannot be broken...  Here's the link to the song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emCaGJfM0gs

I know but I know that God wants to do greater things in our church but we need helpers to come along side and make the work load easier.  Even Moses needed help!  His father-in-law came and told him what he was doing was not good!  "You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone" (ref. Ex. 18:14-24)

Moses obeyed and selected capable people and trained them so they could deal with the majority of the issues. They would report back any exceptional cases that they wanted him to handle.

So there needs to be a selection process, a training and mentoring process and then ongoing communication to make sure things keep running smoothly.

Every church will work this process out differently so the best thing to do is pray.

"Lord, we want camaraderie in our church groups. Bind us together with cords that can't be broken! Help us to esteem one another better than ourselves. Remind us Lord of the benefits of buying into a greater vision than just ourselves!"

"Lord, get us past surface greetings to real relationships! Show us how to get together in smaller groups where we can grow together and have good fellowship. Open up new lines of communication and feed back in our churches so everyone feels valued and important.  In Jesus' name we ask.  Amen!"

I bless you spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, relationally and financially.

Big hugs,

Brenda Gale Thompson

Everlasting Burning

I was just reading some old journals and this really blessed me, so I thought I would share it. 
Enjoy!


Isaiah 33:14 says, "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?" (italics mine)

vs.15 "He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil--


vs. 16 "this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him."

vs. 17 "Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar."

I was meditating on these verses and I started asking Holy Spirit to show me the king again.

All of a sudden I could see the King in all his beauty.  He was stunning!  He was clothed and haloed by fire.

He wants me to go hug him.  I am drawing closer and closer as I die to my way, my life, my opinions.

Heat... I can feel the heat from Him, yet I am not burning. It is Holy Spirit's heat.

His arms are open wide and He's beckoning me to come closer.  Do I dare?  "It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31)

Hang on... I have nothing else.  This is what I have dreamed of so many times over the years.  If I get vaporized He can recreate me.  I will be with Him... one way or the other.

Family... flashes through my mind. Sorry...  my steps are resolute.  I was created for this.  I was created for fellowship.

I can see the Father on his throne about 15 feet behind Jesus.  He is being careful not to move so that the glory exploding from Him won't knock me down.

I can hear the angels softly singing, "Holy, holy, holy..."  It is almost like they are holding their breath in anticipation-- of what?

Me!  In  Jesus' arms, right where I belong... the fire doesn't hurt!  I can feel the pulsing of the glory, like waves of the sea.  It's pulsing through me somehow.

Holy, holy, holy, love-- joy -- peace-- everything Holy Spirit is to me is flowing and pulsing through me.

Time is passing as I soak this revelation in.  I can feel so much joy now!! Time is standing still in His arms.

Jesus picked me up and carried me away from the Father a safe distance.

The angels are excited and happy.  I am clothed with His fire. There's a deep peace inside of me now. A really deep peace."
******************************

That's what I got one night as I waited on Him.  We can never out give God.  He always pays us back more.
Let's receive more of his purifying fire in our lives.  Hebrews 12:28-29 says, "Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." Thank you Lord for more grace in our lives.  Help us to walk in the light of your countenance always. Amen!

Bless you richly!
Big hugs,
Brenda Gale Thompson

Miracle In Our Orchard

The last few years we have had apple scab attack our apple trees.  This has been devastating as it takes a lot of fungicide spraying to control the fungus and we don't normally spray our orchard.

Last year we decided to go take the course required before we could by the fungicide, but when we found out it was going to cost us a couple of hundred dollars, we postponed it and then found out that there were not any more courses to take that summer.

It was a horrible crop last year.  The apples were the size of a walnut or smaller and black with split skins.  Most of them didn't ripen and we had only a couple of younger trees that were scab resistant. I ended up getting apples elsewhere so I could make apple crisps  for the freezer.

This year I was prepared to take the course and pay the substantial fee when my husband found out that we do not qualify to take the course because we are not a commercial orchard with farm income.

Well,  there was nothing else I could do.  All my options were exhausted.  So I told the Lord, "It's up to you. We have tried everything we can."

Every time I wanted to grumble I kept quiet.  Every time I wanted to get frustrated with all the mowing and maintenance I chose to Thank God that He was looking after it.  I ended up avoiding the orchard for a whole month.  You can imagine how tall the grass was!

I finally had to go cut the grass and as I was cutting I couldn't help but notice that most of the trees were scab free and the apples were looking really good on them. Could it be?  I told my husband and we went back to inspect the trees and we determined that almost all of them were scab free.

How does this happen?  I don't know.  Once the fungus is in the soil it's almost impossible to get rid of, even when you use an aggressive spraying regime.  We had nothing to spray with and we didn't want to destroy the trees and replant with scab resistant varieties.

All I know is that as I worship Him and exalt His name, He does stuff. Faith rests. It doesn't gripe.  Resting in faith is almost like giving up.... but you keep your confession lined up with His word and what you are believing for. 

We have the privilege of serving a great, loving God.  He is so awesome.  He can cleanse our land so easily.  He can cleanse our hearts just as easily-- if we will let Him.

On that note I want to encourage you to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge His sovereignty and He will direct your steps." (ref. Prob. 3:5-6)

For us, He knows that we love to give hay-wagon rides through our orchard. He already knows how much fun we have walking through the orchard, fellow-shipping with Holy Spirit and enjoying all the fruit. He knows how many people will be blessed by our place. He knows!

Someone once said, "When God is all you have, then you have everything." That sums up life well.

I bless you today as you pursue Holy Spirit. May you know his sweet fellowship and communion more and more. Amen!

Big hugs,
Brenda Gale

Flowers!

What a nice surprise!  After supper my husband made me close my eyes and then put some flowers with a card in front of me.   The card said "A more real way to recognize your work at the Mall helping people.  Dad and kids."

That made my day!  Better than the word I gave out at the grocery store even.   That is the first time my hubby has done something like that to affirm my prophetic ministry.  I was stunned!

So ladies, do not give up hope!  Get some powerful friends to pray for your marriage and your ministry, like I did and watch God break through!

Special thanks to my friends who were praying for me.  It was tough on my family because I was gone so much at the mall. They managed to survive without me, I am happy to report.  I am trying to work myself out of a job you know.  Who wants to be the maid of the house forever? Not me!

Anyhow,  Let's keep praying the word:

Thank You Lord for giving us better marriages than we ever dreamed possible.
Thank You Lord that “The secret of the Lord is for us who fear/revere You. (Psalm 25:14)
Thank You Lord that the secret things belong to You, but the things revealed belong to us and your children forever. (Deut. 29:29)
Thank You Lord for revealing the secrets we need, to break through our situations as we pursue You. (Ps. 112:4)
Thank You Lord that Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Ps. 119:10).  Thanks for showing me nuggets in Your word to help me grow into Your likeness.

Thank You Lord that the work you have begun in me, You will finish. (Phil. 1:6)

Okay, somebody needs to hear this. It's His job to finish the work in you.  Your job is to be available and teachable.  He has promised to lead you into all truth. He is faithful and He cannot lie, so relax and enjoy the journey. Really,  relax and enjoy His sweet fellowship.  You bring delight to the Father's heart every day.  It's not about the spectacular finish. It's about the day to day walk and talk with Him.  That is what He is after.  That is what His heart cries out for.  His heart can fellowship with the whole world at the same time and still have room for you. He is that big.  So don't grieve His heart.  Just tell Him You love him more than anything else, and show it with your choices.  Amen.

Bless you!
In His love,
Brenda Gale