Breakthrough

1 John 4:18, 19There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Psalm 27:13, 14
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!

No matter what happens regarding my circumstances, I have experienced a major spiritual breakthrough in my life this week. And it was totally unexpected.

Besides deliberately spending time with the Lord just to be in His presence, I felt a strong urging to remove all secular influences for a time, including music, TV, and movies. I even had to tell my teenagers they could no longer listen to non-Christian music when they were with me in the car or in the house—not even “harmless oldies.”

This was really tough for me because I had a very legalistic, controlling, and religious husband who made life very difficult, and I didn’t want to become like him. My 16-year-old daughter in particular was extremely upset because she lives for music. I have only had her back with me for a couple of months, and she just can’t understand why I am being so strict all of the sudden. She was so angry that she barely spoke to me for several days. After being separated from her for over a year, that hurt me deeply. But the Lord had spoken to me through two different people that He wanted me to consecrate myself for a season to prepare me for ministry, and He took away my desire for everything but Bible teaching tapes and worship music just to confirm it. Yes, it has been tough, but the reward was incredible.

I have always had “trust” issues. Every man I have ever trusted, including my father, let me down. To my shame, I have even struggled to trust God, and there has always been a certain element of fear in my relationship with Him. Sure, He has gotten me through a lot of trials, but He sure let me go through a lot of suffering along the way! When I’m discouraged, Randy reminds me that my problems are just a “bad hair day” compared to the countless Christians who are being tortured and killed for their faith. I know he’s trying to distract me from myself, but the truth is, when I think about Christians suffering for their faith I feel that fear creeping up on me. Can I really trust God with my life?

Last week I got part of my answer from Randy. He thinks about persecuted Christians all the time, and he asked the Lord why He let Nero torture Christians by setting them on fire as living torches. He said he asked the Lord, “How could You let them suffer like that?” And he felt the Lord’s answer was, “How do you know they suffered?” When I think of Stephen being stoned to death for his faith in Acts 7, I have to admit he didn’t seem to be suffering.

The rest of my answer came just from spending time with the Lord, and praising Him constantly throughout the day. For the first time in my life, I really feel LOVED by God. Even though my circumstances haven’t changed yet, the fear is GONE. I feel complete trust and confidence in God for the first time in my life. Before, I walked by faith without the feelings. Having the feelings too is the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced. If you need to experience a greater trust in God, I hope you will “set yourself aside” for a season and get as close to Him as you can. The greatest love—the only perfect love--of your life is waiting for you.

Cathleen

Divine Favor

Esther 2:15 Now when the turn came for Esther… to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.

Esther 7:3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king….”

Esther 8:4-5 And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, and said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes….”

The Lord has been speaking to me over the past couple of weeks through the book of Esther about the vital importance of divine favor in fulfilling my destiny. You probably know the story of Esther. She was an orphan, raised by her uncle, Mordecai, in a foreign land. When the queen of that land defied her husband, he decided to find a replacement. So, he had all the young virgins brought to his harem and chose Esther as his queen. Ultimately, God used her in that position to save her people from total annihilation.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be an Esther—a woman raised up from the bottom of the barrel to a position of great influence, used by God to save thousands of lives and change the course of history. Looking at Esther’s story from the perspective of fulfilling my destiny, I had to ask myself why God chose her. Here’s what He showed me.

First of all, Esther was obedient. She didn’t ask to be taken from her home and added to the king’s harem, but she submitted herself to her uncle’s will, leaving everything that was comfortable and familiar to please him. Even after she became queen, she again submitted to her uncle’s will at the risk of her own life. That’s what the Lord wants from me—the willingness to let go of everything else to please Him.

Second, when Esther first went before the king, she requested nothing. Looking at this from a spiritual perspective, how often do I come before God requesting nothing, just for the joy of being in His presence? That is very convicting, because I have one teenager (18) who only calls me when he wants something from me, and it can be very annoying!

And finally, every time Esther came before the king, her primary purpose was to please the king. And guess what? Because SHE wanted to please HIM, HE wanted to please HER.
So, for the past couple of weeks I have really focused on spending time with the Lord without asking Him for anything, except to be found pleasing in His sight. At those times, I have felt His presence on me in a very powerful way.

And I have noticed something kind of funny. Ever since I started doing that, people have been treating me with special favor. People who normally don’t even talk to me at work have gone out of their way to say hello and tell me what a good job I’m doing.

Every Monday night, I attend a Bible class of about 500 students, taught by a famous evangelist (yes, you’ve seen him on TV). As my friends and I were walking to our cars after class this week, we passed his car in the parking lot and he said, “Have a good evening, ladies.” I didn’t realize it was him and just kept talking without even glancing his way. Then he started driving after us, stopped in the middle of the road, rolled down his window, and called us over to his car to shake hands with us.

A friend I helped a couple of years ago is coming to town tomorrow to buy me a mobile home with cash, so all I have to pay is the space rent.

Another friend felt led by the Lord to write a letter on my behalf to a very well-known and wealthy Bible teacher asking him to give me a million dollars (seriously!) to kick off my ministry of providing housing and job training for single women with children.

So… the moral of the story is, when we seek God’s favor through obedience and a desire to please Him more than anything else, we get favor with men as well, and God uses that favor to promote us into or divine destiny.

Cathleen

Proverbs 18:21

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Hebrews 3:7 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:"Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,And saw My works forty years.

Hebrews 3:12 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;

Hebrews 3:19 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Hebrews 4:11 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Romans 10:17 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
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A couple of weeks ago, I went with my pastor and some of my church members to hear a Bible teacher from out of town. I didn’t know what his subject was until I got there. He taught about the language of faith, and how our words reflect our faith in God.

On my way home from that study, Randy called to tell me he had just bought me a set of CD’s from another teacher on the Language of Faith. Hmmm…. Could be more than just a coincidence. So I started paying more attention to what I was saying.

Now, for years I rejected the concept that our words can affect our reality. It just sounded too “New Agey” to me—until the Lord started pointing out scriptures that challenged my opinion.
Do you see what Hebrews 3 and 4 are saying? The Jews could not enter God’s rest (the Promised Land) because of “an evil heart of unbelief.” Yet, Hebrews 3:7 reminds us that they SAW the mighty miracles of God. Hebrews 4:11 tells us in the same breath that we must be diligent (not let down our guard for a second) in order to enter that rest, and that the word of God is our living, powerful weapon.

Now, watch this. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. I know from personal experience that my faith grows by leaps and bounds when I hear myself speaking God’s promises out loud. What the Lord pointed out to me this week is that UNBELIEF also comes by hearing. When I listen to negative, complaining people, and especially when I complain or talk about my problems, I am feeding the unbelief in my heart. And I CANNOT enter God’s rest—His promises for my life—if I have “an evil heart of unbelief.”

I know, you’re thinking you HAVE to talk about your problems if you’re going to get help. But, are you really looking for help? Are you asking for prayer to change your situation? Or do you just want some sympathy? Even when I’m asking for prayer, sometimes I feel a little “catch” in my spirit that I am focusing too much on my problems instead of focusing on God’s promises. To quote Bible teacher Joyce Meyers, “You can be pitiful or powerful, but you can’t be both.”

Personally, I think I want “powerful”! What do you want?

Cathleen

Becoming a Woman of Destiny

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Although I can’t remember the source, I often remember a quote I read several years ago: “The greatest tragedy is not that one should die for a noble cause, but rather that one should not have a cause noble enough to die for.” I believe with all my heart that Christians are people of destiny, that each one of us has a special calling on our lives. Sadly, most Christians will go to the grave without fulfilling that destiny, because all we are taught to expect is ordinary lives.

For me, the most miserable subjects in school were the ones with no practical application to my life. Calculus comes immediately to mind. Algebra and Geometry I could see a use for, but Calculus? Not a chance. And that’s how I feel about trials and tribulations. If I don’t see the purpose, I have a hard time “counting it all joy” (James 1:2).

Now, wouldn’t you agree that your trials would be a lot easier to deal with if you had total confidence that they were absolutely necessary to prepare you for a far greater purpose, something that would change the lives of yourself and others, and maybe even the course of history?

Just yesterday, the Lord reminded of the vision He first gave me about seven years ago to help single mothers. The deepest desire of my heart was that no woman should have to endure an abusive relationship for financial reasons. Ironically, I was in an abusive marriage at the time and couldn’t even help myself, so I tucked that vision away for some future date, until it was all but forgotten.

Four years later, I became a single mother myself and started experiencing the problems other single mothers experience, except my problems went beyond those of the average single mother.

It wasn’t until this past week, as I thought about the story of Joseph, that I realized why I have gone through so much. Suddenly it all has a purpose. From the time the Lord gave me a vision to help single mothers, He started preparing me for that ministry. Like Joseph, I had to learn the culture and the customs of homeless women. I had to feel their pain and learn compassion. And like Joseph, I had no clue what it would cost to prepare me to fulfill my destiny.

I believe I am finally in “Pharaoh’s prison,” just about ready to be released into the ministry I prayed for so many years ago—just on the verge of becoming a woman of destiny.

Take a closer look at what you’ve gone through. Can you see your destiny?
Cathleen

Fulfilling Your Destiny

Genesis 45: 7-8. “And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So not it was not you sent me ere, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”

Perhaps you are familiar with the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Joseph was the son of Jacob, and the only son of Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel, and his father’s pride and joy. When Joseph was a boy, Jacob made him a coat of many colors, because Joseph was his favorite son. Then God gave Joseph a vision—that one day his father and brothers would bow down to him. His half-brothers were so jealous that they conspired against Joseph’s life. First, they threw him into a pit while they planned how to take his life. But then—by the hand of God—a band of slave traders passed by, and they sold Joseph into slavery instead of killing him.

Big deal, you might be thinking. Why didn’t God just get him out of trouble and send him back home? Because Joseph had a destiny to fulfill.

Joseph could’ve been bought by anyone, but he was purchased by Potiphar, the captain of the pharaoh’s guards. Joseph prospered under Potiphar’s ownership and became overseer of all his master owned—until Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of trying to rape her, and he was thrown into Pharaoh’s prison.

Sound like your life? You’re doing your best to serve God, and you think your problems are finally easing up a bit, when suddenly they go from bad to worse. Why? Because you have a destiny to fulfill.

Again Joseph found favor with the keeper of the prison, who put him in charge of all the prisoners. The Lord was with him, and whatever he did prospered (Gen. 39:23). When the king’s baker and butler were thrown into prison, God gave Joseph the correct interpretation for their dreams—that one would live and return to favor, and the other would die.

When the butler was returned to favor with Pharaoh as Joseph predicted, he forgot all about Joseph for two long years, until Pharaoh had a disturbing dream. None of his advisors could tell him what the dream meant, until the butler remembered Joseph. When Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, Pharaoh recognized the wisdom and anointing God had placed on Joseph and put him in charge of his kingdom.

Now, think about this. In Potiphar’s house, Joseph learned the language and customs of the Egyptians and how to run a household. In Pharaoh’s prison, he learned the customs of Pharaoh’s court and how to be in leadership. Without this training, he would not have been prepared to fulfill his destiny.

What is God trying to teach you through your current situation? Ask Him to show you the bigger purpose for what you’re going through. If you don’t know your destiny, Ask Him to show you.

Cathleen