Mark 10:15 “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”

A drama group called New Life came into our church today and did marvelous skits.  Each one more powerful than the last…And, all centering around Jesus and His message to go and preach the gospel to all nations.  It was amazing and so intense.  With each skit came a deeper understanding and a solidification of what we are to do as Christians.  We are to follow Jesus’s words, and go out and teach to those who have the ears to hear and the eyes to see…But, most especially to the desperate ones who are in bondage and not living for Christ, and who have not been “saved.”

It is to those very souls that are wandering without purpose that stand to lose so much, but will gain the most through Christ.  The skits depicted people in “selfish modes”  who did not want to “lay it down for Christ” – and who live life in the fast lane without a care as to whom they hurt; and not even aware they are hurting themselves in the interim; which will have a compelling and sad ending if they do not heed the word and take note soon.

The skits, although humorous at times, delivered  strong and almost explosive messages to the audience, that we have a responsibility as Christians to “get out and follow Jesus and His order” – to preach to all nations; to reach out to the needy in Spirit and to feed them the word and to feed them the Truth.  Jesus is truth…he is the light for the ones ensconced in the dark, who are in a cage of uncertainty, who do not have the expansive capacity of which to see in terms of the word.  It is to these souls that the word should be preached and to these people that need to be taught, and Love is the way, for Christ is love.

The young man Caleb said today, “God is Grace, Compassion, Wisdom, and Love” and that is just a few ways in which to describe this supreme sovereign King…And, listening for His call, He wants us His children to “listen and wait for His direction for our lives” – we need to warn and help to spread the word.  What are we going to do about it?

In the very last skit, the four performers each had a scenario they were in, and all were negative and stating how much they hated life; and how they don’t need anyone.  And the last girl said, “I am in hell, I am here in hell and all I needed was Jesus-why didn’t you tell me?  Why?  You could have saved me.”

There wasn’t a sound in the entire church filled audience- so powerful the message, so intense.  And, yet so true.  How will you reach someone today?  It is something we should all think about, Amen.

Matthew 28:19, 20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

                                    O Abba Father, You are there,

                              Souls in peace righteous clothes they all wear.

                              Light that is brilliant without glare,

                               Your love fills our soul of this we are aware.

                               Colors so beautiful never seen before,

                               Peace, laughter, and angelic songs forever more.

                                All pain is gone and air so pure,

                                You made it to the right side of paradise

                                 of this I am sure…

I have often heard people say, “I have been praying so faithfully, and I haven’t heard anything yet.”  Or, “God doesn’t hear me, He isn’t anwering my prayers.”

This has long been a “bone of contention” with me.  But, before I go into the reasons why, I just want to say-we are all “flesh” and so we sometimes struggle with due dilligence in terms of patience, and being obedient to the Lord.  I know I have been guilty of it many times in the past, and who knows maybe I will be guilty of it in the future; but one thing I have never faltered in and that is my undying Faith in God and His ability to change everything in one second flat.

Faith is about “believing that which we cannot see” – for we “walk by faith and not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV.  And, in so doing we are fortifying and living in testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, and all that He has done for us.  His Father, our Lord  God gave us the Lamb who was slain for us, who became the “Living Word” as he walked amongst man/sinners; we are showing our hearts in unity as we follow and believe in the ministry and works of Jesus Christ, through our works in our righteous deeds.

So when the Lord, our God sees us, His children approach His Holy of Holies, and stand before His throne in the Name of Jesus Christ and pray, He hears us.  His will is perfect and His ways Divine and in perfect timing in accordance to all things, however that is what we need to understand, “HIS WAYS, HIS TIME” and “HIS WILL” not ours.  So, if we do not hear an answer right away, be patient, don’t give up, take a leap of faith and hold on. He will respond in His own time. 

We will be heard – and if the prayers aren’t answered, we cannot see the future, He can; and there may be something better waiting for us and He knows that and it will become apparent eventually.  Perhaps the “dawning of undertanding” will not be revealed immediately, or even ever – but just hold on knowing He has better plans for us, and what His purposes are we may never understand. 

 However, most times the prayers are answered, and the main thing is that we are “never alone” He is with us always.  Isn’t that comforting?  Knowing He is with us 24/7?  Watching over us even as we sleep?  Is that a comfort a joy a sign of His everlasting covenant with us, His very Word, and His very Promise to us?

So to those of you praying and waiting, or those of you in a desperate area in your life right now, hang on and keep praying…For it may be that very next prayer that will open the heavens with  His grace in which He will grant our requests.  Sometimes it takes “one more prayer” for the vial to open and be sprinkled out upon us.  God is refining us to become more like Him, and doing an inner working on us all, to become more like Him.  The trials and tribulations that we stand hand in hand in together as Christians, make us “stronger soldiers in Christ” and he is accomplishing a deed within us until we are shining from the inside out. Each trial and suffering a step closer to perfection in His image.

Keep praying, keep believing, and keep walking in Faith, not by sight – only God knows when your prayers will be heard, until such time- keep looking up for all of your answers, and for the direction in your life.  Amen.

Blessing Peace and God’s Love~

2Corinthians 4:17  “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

In a Christian sense when I hear the words “war and peace” what immediately comes to mind, is “God versus the enemy.”  Or when I hear “war and peace” I think of the old proverbial adage, “goodness will prevail over evil” and again, both having to do with my Christianity and my strong link to God.

In the bible a good portion of what can be termed war and peace, occurs throughout the Old Testament, with David going against a giant, and later leading his army against the Philistines.  One knows that for a good portion of the time David was running away from King Saul, who wanted to kill him.  This was a classic scenario of war and peace, and the constant battle with goodness versus evil.  God will always prevail in all circumstances, and He will be there for His children who walk in obedience and conform to His ways.  Our link to God is strong and His words reverberate against the enemy and will always bring “peace” to our circumstances, irrespective of our Goliath, or our King Saul that may be in our lives.

Having God in our lives will ultimately secure a life filled with peace, and we stand ready to take on the world with a vitality of which a non-believer cannot.  We have the distinct advantage, and honor of being part of God’s army and able bodied to handle the odds, it makes our chances exceedingly easy with God in our lives, and heart.  A person who has no belief system may think they are happy, and perhaps they might convince others, but I personally feel there is a major void in their lives; which can be termed an “inner war” therefore providing “no peace.” 

My husband and I recently went to a gathering/affair, and I am always amazed at the different personalities in the room.   Within a relatively short period of time you can sense who is filled with God and who is not.  The people who are filled with the Spirit are smiling, relaxing and truly enjoying the gathering, and they appear to interact with little effort as they mingle; Whereas, the ones who do not have strong ties to God seem compelled to speak about their social status and continue a monotonous litany of “me, me, and more me.” They usually have a spouse who seems interested in anything other than their own partner, and they appear restless, like they are having an “inner war” within their lives.

With Christ in my life, I can honestly say that I feel a constant peace and no matter what kind of war is staring at me during my activities of daily life; I never lose that inner peace. Christ lives in me; and the Spirit guides me throughout the day.  So peace lives within and I am able to be victorious and go throughout my day without trepidation pertaining to all that I do.

An acquaintance who is constantly complaining and very unhappy with her life doesn’t want to hear about God, she gave up on Him a long time ago.  I keep praying for her that God be part of her life again, for until she goes back to God and accepts Christ as her Savior she will always be void of an accomplished and peaceful life.  She has a raging war going on within her soul 24/7, and she doesn’t even realize it, therefore the “enemy” is having a field day with her as she goes around in circles, and cannot secure any kind of happiness for the past five years.  And, five years ago is the last time I saw her happy and peaceful…that was the last time she believed in God.

The enemy is tricky, deceitful, mean, and wants to keep a person in bondage while holding them back from living, wants to keep them in darkness, and wants to ordain a destiny filled with no hope and a bleak outcome.  The soul will never be at peace.

God is warmth and love; He is a comforter and is overjoyed to watch His children fulfill a life that was preordained for them.  He wants us to be within the confines of peace at all times. His word gives us peace and the compunction to act as Christians every day.  He sent His son to be crucified so we could be redeemed and extracted our sins for His stripes. The Prince of Peace defeated the enemy.

Praise you Lord – Thank you  God – I LOVE YOU~

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

“O Holy Spirit Come…Come…Fill me up with your presence…I love you.”

Thank you Lord my God for all things, and for all that you do…And, thank you for the chance to fellowship with your children, everyday-and in Church on Sunday, I love being part of that big family, what an infinite joy.

I feel at home in your”home” Lord- the church we attend, New Life Fellowship,  is filled with your Spirit and we bask in your Glory O God,  we are replenished and are honored to worship you and praise You Father.  The songs that we sing lift your name on high as we exalt you we bow down and worship you my Lord. What an absolute privilege it is to be in your presence as your Spirit washes over each and every one of us.  Thank you Lord.

I wonder what your “other children do” – the ones who do not recognize you as the supreme being and sovereign power who created us, the one true God, Our Father, and our Lord or Lords.  The ones who go about their lives with hardly a thought in your direction, who feel they are “living” when in fact they are the polar opposite of living –  yes, they are “dead.”   How can they exist in this world that is a virtural den of iniquity, where immorality reigns and where evil stands up to look you in the eye?  Without the helmet of salvation and the gospel suit of armor, how can they walk around and be so blind as to not see?

We are all sinners in our own right, Christ came to redeem us and give us eternal salvation- but I do know I try to be a barometer of morality in terms of helping people or setting things right.  In trying to produce words of wisdom that come from the Holy Spirit as He helps me in my quests to do honor to the Word and to the Father.  It can be a Herculean task to reach children who are non believers, who choose to ignore and who feel it is “crazy to give devotion to a God they have never seen.”  It is to these individuals that my prayers are lifted up daily, that they may see the light and come and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and our King of Kings.  That these individuals might know the peace and the love that encompasses their very lives should they accept Him and take Him into their hearts.  If it makes me sad to see them shun and scorn the Father, how much more so does it hurt the Father? 

I pray they become free from the bondage of devastation that they are enveloped in, that they break free and live for God and accept Jesus so they can be FREE and filled with peace, tranquility and an inner realm that is a piece of heaven in their hearts.  The consequences each are prolific in their own right, either live for the “false one and the devastator” and be kept in darkness and in bondage and be slaves forever more; or accept the Christ, the Light, the true God, the one and only King of Kings and Lord of Lords, The Prince of Peace who shall set you free.  There is but one choice for me – how about you?

 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast

Today was a good day overall, however let me state that everyday with God in my life is a good day overall.  Each day life is filled with unexpected treasures along our path, and some we may notice and others may not be as obvious.  And, then there are all the other variables in between.  Treasures come in the form of many different delights, a phone call out of the blue from an old friend.  Or, perhaps an item that was lost and now was found, or a raise at your place of employment.  The list goes on.  Or, your prayers were answered and the Lord shined His light and mercy upon you, and wrapped you in His arms filled with love.

I went for blood work-up today, and the lady that was there was a “temp” and not the usual phlebotomist  that I have come to know.  This lady was the polar opposite of the other woman who works there, she was quiet, demure and so low spoken I hardly heard her and made a mental note to take a “hearing test” to determine if I was now hard of hearing!

Well, anyhow the lady was busy doing her thing and I c0mplimented her earrings and she thanked me with a little smile. Then continued in her duties, diligently typing away in the computer all of the info presented to her on the lab slip.  And, clearly she wasn’t a “friendly type” but then something touched me in my heart and I opened my mouth and said,”I was pulling into the parking lot and had on my Praise and Worship CD and I got looks from others like I was nuts!”  Suddenly she looked up and smiled and her voice boomed (not hard of hearing after all thank God!) and she said, “Oh Praise the Lord, that is what I do…That’s right Jesus I love you Lord.  I get up in the morning, thank the Lord, ask for God’s protection on my day and His blessings.  And, when I get into my car I ask for the Lord to protect everything from my steering wheel down to the tires.  I ask the Lord to take the wheel and keep me safe.  Yes, Jesus. Amen.”  WOW!!!

The words the Lord gave me to speak opened up a whole spark that ignited her as she began to Praise the Lord and join me in sharing stories of our Love for God.  She smiled the rest of the time,  and laughed…And, I even told her, “I don’t know how you can stay here by yourself- it is desolate and you are in the back with no one on this entire  floor!”  She looked at me and said, “I am not brave, I am a little tense about that, however I have my Lord my God, Jesus to protect me.” She then went into a spontaneous prayer, that was powerful and filled with love and devotion to God; and it was beautiful to be a part of, and I found myself bowing my head in reverence to our Lord, and then raised my hands in thanks to Jesus Christ name.  She was truly anointed in the Spirit, and it was God’s glory that came into that room with the both of us.  I loved it and we parted with God’s peace and Love, and we gave each other “peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  And, I left.

Walking down the long narrow corridor, on the labs floor which is empty and extremely lonely-it made me realize that people filled with Love for God are fuel for the Lord’s soul – as we connect to one another, fellow Christians in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, it is truly a warm and loving feeling.  I will never forget that encounter it was truly one of which I haven’t experienced before in a laboratory- and I will never forget the quiet demure lady Jolata- that became so “robust and loquacious with a loud booming voice” that only happened when she spoke of God and His Son Jesus Christ.  Amen!

Blessings Peace and God’s Love,

CD Swanson~

 Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV “The Lord God in your midst, The Mighty One will save: He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Hello Everyone,

This morning I was saddened and yet not surprised  to hear about a kitten that was found in a trash can.  This is not the first time a horror story concerning a living creature was found in  the trash, and yet no matter how many times I hear about these wicked scenarios, it makes me very sad.  It brings sorrow within my very soul  knowing that something so precious and helpless can be left with careless abandon in a trash can!  One of God’s creatures thrown into a trash can!  The evil behind this garish act is yet again a cold splash of reality as one realizes these”evil spirited individuals”share the earth with us. 

Evil exists in this world and it always shall until Christ returns to earth with His army to rid the earth of evil once and for all, and to reclaim this world and change it into a haven of peace and a paradise to share with our Savior.  Until such time, evil is very much alive today.  Most times it can be subtle and not blatantly staring at you in the face.  It is up to us as Christians to be able to discern and keep our radar up at all times, the enemy likes to jump in and create havoc when we least expect it.

The vile and heinous act perpetrated against the kitten was sad and had the handwriting of evil all over it.  However having great faith, I know that God will always be victorious over evil.  And, He uses His children as vessels-we as Christians understand how that goes.  The kitten was saved by a compassionate young man who heard the mewing as he walked by the trash cans.  He stopped looked around and found it all dirty and abandoned in the trash, barely alive yet mewing for help. 

This young man that found the kitten brought it home, nursed it with loving and kind hands- and it began to recover, and not simply recover, she began to thrive!  The compassionate young man was the “good one” who rescued the kitten “from evil” – and in this poignant story a very big message is apparent.  Goodness will always prevail over evil.  We must have faith, and we must always believe.  This young man was walking by at the right time and heard the cries of a helpless creature and he acted quickly and thereby saved it. Undoubtedly this young man has a good soul and a heart for God, because this righteous act surely made our Lord smile.

Sadly there are stories that do not have this happy ending with all of the pain in this world, but those that bring about evil will eventually be charged with their dastardly deeds – in a place where “acts”  matters most – before the great white throne of judgement, before God.  So no evil crime will go unpunished for the ones that “get away” – God is watching the whole time.  And, goodness will always prevail.  I have faith in my Lord, my God.  Do you?

That kitten is a stark and telling representation of our world today – it had a happy ending…And when Christ returns, I will be ready for the happy ending & beginning for all eternity!  Amen.

See you next time,

Blessings Peace and God’s Love~

1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world -our faith.”

Hello Everyone,

It seems to me that it should be logical and extremely obvious that when a loved one passes away, we miss them and we will grieve.  Now, depending on the situation concerning the one who is deceased, there are various degrees of how the person will handle it; to be more explicit, what the person’s relationship was to the deceased and the circumstances surrounding the death.  By that I mean, was the person terminally ill and sufering, and was the person a parent, spouse, or child.  Grief is grief however, depending on the circumstances, it can be devastatingly difficult for an example a parent who lost their child to a hideous and monster disease called cancer; or perhaps lost a child in an accident  and the person that killed your child was a drunk driver.  Those can be debillitaing to say the very least to the parents, and they will grieve in a way that no one can understand unless  “God forbid” experience it first hand.  Whereas a loss of a parent although it is devastating to most, they will grieve differently because that is what is expected in life; that the parent will go before the child.  It is the turn of events in life that is as natural as child birth, it is a descending order of a natural progression in our lifetime.

Now I dare say I am not undermining or saying that the person experiencing the hurt from the loss of a parent doesn’t sting and break their hearts in two.  Rather, I am stating that it is expected, and not a shocking turn of events.  I lost my father 12 years ago on an operating table, the doctor sliced through his left ventricle of his heart, killing him.  That shocking turn of events was a death blow to my very own organs, making me reel with shock to the point of nausea and physical ills.  He died in an unexpected way, but we still knew that our earth father was to go before his children.

As Christians we believe Jesus is our savior, and He is the Son of God and our Redeemer; and He came to walk as flesh with man ultimately to be crucified for our salvation.  He rose again, and was victorious over the enemy, and He loved us so much He suffered, was ridiculed and condemned for us.  He was rejected so we might be accepted, He was persecuted and crucified, so we can be free.  He is our Savior and we know that  when we believe and walk in the Spirit according to His ways, we will live forever in His kingdom.  We will drink from His living water and NEVER thirst again.  Amen.

Which brings me to the conflict some Christians experience with the death of a loved one.  I cannot tell you how many times in my career as a social worker/counselor have I heard Christians feeling guilt over “crying and feeling sad” when their loved one passes away.  They state, “in the bible it says let the dead bury the dead and the living go on living.  So why am I so sad and and I going against God feeling this hurt?”

The answer lies in what Jesus said in His sermon the beatitudes to His  brothers and sisters; “Blessed are those that mourn for they shall be comforted,”  and NO for going against God.  God made us with feelings and a heart to love, and He is aware of our needs and how very different each one of His children are, just like their DNA is different, so of course is our personalities. 

 Our Father is a compassionate and loving God, and He loves us, and knows we are hurting when we lose someone we love.  Even though we know that person is in heaven and dancing with Jesus, and in a new beautiful Spiritual body, without pain tears or suffering.  We may know that, but our hearts at that moment are in flesh and we are reacting in the flesh.  Our hearts are breaking and we will cry and we will miss them, and we will always remember them. And, God wants us to go on living, with the living – but He also is a wise and brilliant God, He knows it will take time for the adjustment to living without that person in our lives; nor will he condemn us for crying or loving and missing our deceased loved one.  And, each person will grieve differently and each come to terms with it in his or her own way.  And, God our Father, our very Creator knows this; and He will be there every step of the way, providing comfort in the form of the Holy Spirit, and give us guidance and strength.  “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted” and so they shall.  Our Father’s words, all are promises to His children, and all are part of the covenant He made with His children.

As the rainbow comes out after the storm, we are reminded of our Father’s covenant in Genesis, that the rainbow will be a symbol of His words and His very promise to His children.  So , he will not forsake you, or leave you, especially in times of mourning. We may all be going through our own personal storms, but at the end of that storm- is the rainbow.  And, we will be stronger after the storm, and the Father will give us beauty for our ashes.

Genesis 9:13 NKJV “I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”

Genesis 9:17 NKJV “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

In conclusion, please do not feel guilty, or frightened because you are mourning a little longer than you thought, or that you are feeling pain and your heart is breaking.  That is all normal aspects of life, and the Father knows that; you will eventually after the suffocating grief is gone, be rejoicing knowing that your loved one is in heaven; a beautiful place filled with God’s love and compassion, and you will smile knowing you will see your loved one again, one day.

Until that day, keep those beautiful treasures within your heart and hold tight to them, and know that you were blessed to have had that special someone in your life, no matter the duration, it was special and be thankful to our Lord for having been given this “treasure” of knowing and loving that person, and say a prayer of thanks as you look up and smile knowing your loved one is happy, that should make you happy too. And, the next time you see a rainbow, smile – that is our Father’s sign to us that He loves us.  Amen.

Peace Blessings and God’s love,

CD Swanson~

Micah 7:7 NKJV “I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”

Micah 7:8 NKJV “When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”