A Place of Truth and Restoration: October 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Fresh New Format for this Blog

Good Morning Everybody!

Today is a new day and we Praise God that His mercies are new every morning!!!! WOO HOO! \o/

Today I want to start a fresh and new format on this blog. I want to share a Scripture, maybe a word with you, and then a prayer. Prayer has always been a favorite part of my day and way I LOVE to spend with our Lord.

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and Her salvation like a torch that is burning. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the LORD will designate. You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem in the hand of your God. It will no longer be said to you, "Forsaken," But you will be called, "My delight is in her," And your land, "Married"; For the LORD delights in you, And to Him your land will be married, For as a young man marries a virgin, So your sons will marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices the bride, So your God will rejoice over you. ~~~Isaiah 62:1-5 (NASB)

There is just soooooo much in that verse, and I pray that Holy Spirit bring you His Word and a revelation through it. Let's pray!

Dear Lord,
I lift up my friends & family to You. You are so awesome and Jehovah Nissi, our Banner! I pray that each and everyone of them come to a deeper understanding and wisdom about who they are in You, about the plans, purposes and destiny that You have for each one of them. I pray against every word curse that has been spoken about them, their families, their past, and we speak blessing. They are NOT forsaken and desolate, but blessed, and You delight in each and everyone of them. I plead the blood of Jesus over them and pray that You shower them with Your grace, love & mercy. Take them into the deeper things of you with a refreshing and greater level of knowledge and wisdom in You and Your ways. Help us to speak blessings over others, even those that so not look out for our best. We want to be a light in the darkness. We want to advance Your Kingdom this and everyday of our life and to bless and praise You in all circumstances. We give You this day, every minute of it. We bless You, Lord! We go now, out as You are sending us, as Your ambassadors. Help us to stand strong today for You and to be bold anc courageous. We pray this and all things in Jesus' name! AMEN!!!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Iron .Sharpens.Iron

I recently received an e-mail from Glory of Zion entitled, Listen.Alert.Watch. It was talking about the times that we are in and the necessity that it is that we keep our spiritual eyes and ears open, be alert and watch (and move when we need to). It is no revelation to anyone (I hope, anyway) that we are in a very critical and crucial time in this nation. We each need to possess the wisdom, discernment and have a spirit of Isachaar to know the times/seasons we are in and then what we need to do about that. We ALL need to listen, be alert and watch. I also would like to exhort each of you to take heed of this Scripture:
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." ~~~Proverbs 27:17 (NASB)
Can we also ascertain from this Scripture that if iron sharpens iron, that iron can also become dull, if not sharpened, or even that there could be some things out there that actually dull us (the iron that we are)???
We just had incredible services at our church this past weekend with Bishop Jerry and Dr. Sherrill Piscopo. That was definitely a time of iron sharpening iron. Other "iron sharpens iron" times are the fellowship times when we spend with each other, times we go to church, home groups or Bible Study, Sunday School, even relationships (especially Paul/Timothy ones) we have with others.
But some of those things that we must be vigilant about that could "dull" us, and make us uneffective, less effective, or even indifferent might be: addictions/dependencies, TV shows and TV time, even computer/internet; pornography, time-wasters, people that we hang around that are not good for our character, etc., and anything else that keeps us from worshipping God, spending more time with Him, etc.
Let us be soooooo careful to be in "iron sharpens iron" places in our lives, so we be ready in season and out of season.
GO GOD!

God's love & mine,
Lauren

P.S. ~ Clay's mom (Melba) and our nephew (Patrick) are currently on the last leg of their journey home after spending a few days with our daughter, Ambs. up in Washington DC. We are praying for their traveling mercies. Also, pray for Ambs, she didn't get the score on her LSAT (test to get into law school) that she wanted, and will be studying to take it again the first part of December. Pray she does well, and more importantly, that God give her peace. Thanks!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Ambs back in DC

Hey everybody!

Just a quick shout-out to let you know that Ambs made it safely back home to DC tonight. (Thanks for your prayers for her traveling mercies.) She had a great trip while she was here and we really enjoyed having her home for a few days. We all got to see some old friends this morning at HCF in Lubbock. It was a great service and then tonight, we got to fellowship with some new friends (and some old friends too) at a Home Group in Tahoka. God is doing AWESOME things and we give Him all praise, honor & glory. GO GOD! WOO HOO!!!

Hope you have a super-blessed, SUPERNATURAL week.....I'm gonna!

God's love & mine,

Nonnie

aka Lauren

Saturday, October 11, 2008

2nd Re-Blog (Ruin Me)

Here is the 2nd of those re-blogs. ENJOY!

~Nonnie (aka Lauren)

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Ruin Me

I think this is my eighth catalyst conference. And I have to say that today was maybe the most powerful day of speakers I've ever heard. It ministered to my mind and my heart.The last session of the day was Craig Groeschel. And his last point or last prayer was "ruin me." It comes down to this: our hearts need to break for the things that break the heart of God. And I felt ruined. In fact, we usually try to beat the traffic and be the first ones out. But our team couldn't leave. We found a conference room to talk and cry and pray.As we sat in the balcony during that last session, I felt like the Holy Spirit took me back to my initial call in college. And He said in that spirit voice: what happened to the guy that used to pace the chapel balcony for hours seeking my heart? It messed me up. Broke me. Wrecked me.I need to quit ministry and go back to calling.May God ruin us!

Great Re-Blog (Three Translations)

Here is the first of 2 re-blogs from Ambs' pastor, Mark Batterson. They are excellent!

God's love & mine,

Nonnie

aka Lauren

P.S. ~ Oh yeah, we are back from Ruidoso. Ambs is already on her way to L-town to visit with friends, and we put her on on a plane back to DC tomorrow. Pray for her safe traveling mercies, and that she makes the 35 minute connection in Houston to DC. Thanks!

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Three Translations

Had a thought during one of the sessions today.There are three ways to translate the Bible. You can translate it with 1) your mind 2) your heart and 3) your life.
I think a lot of us settle for the mental translation. But the end result is information. And what happens is this: we learn more, do less, and think we're growing spiritually. But not if that's the only translation.
The second translation is emotional. And the emotional translation may seem more subjective than intellectual translation. But that is when our hearts break for the things that break the heart of God. It’s not just information. It’s transformation. For the record, I think one person with one deeply held conviction will make more of a difference than someone with a hundred good ideas.
Finally, there is the life translation. That is when we become a “living epistle.” That is when the noun turns into a verb. And that is how we change the world. At the end of the day, Jesus isn't going to say, "Well thought good and faithful servant." He's going to say, "Well done good and faithful servant."
Imagine a church filled with people who are translating the Bible with their lives!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Saw 2 Good Movies 2day!

Hey everybody!
Clay & I just got in from a day in Lubbock. We saw two movies today. We saw a western called Appaloosa (sp?), that was pretty good and then an AWESOME movie called FIREPROOF. I highly recommend, especially the latter one to you. Bring Kleenex with you for the second one, too (even you guys!).
Ambs feels she did pretty good on her LSAT today. She won't know the results for 3-5 weeks or so. She is staying in Lubbock tonight with friends, and they were going out to celebrate her 24th birthday (which is tomorrow---Sunday). We are all going over to Clay's mom's house tomorrow night for a big birthday celebration for not only Ambs, but our niece, Portia, who turned 19 on Friday night, too. Happy Birthday, girlz!
Have a super-blessed, SUPERNATURAL Lord's Day!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Ambs home (for a few days)!

Well, Ambs made it home yesterday (Friday). YEAH! She is taking her LSAT this morning. (LSAT = Law School Admision Test). She has been studying for it for quite some time now. Also, her birthday is tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 5th). She will be here about 10 days total. We are taking her out to Ruidoso to our camper there for a few days next weekend, and then she flies home on Sunday.
The llamas all seem to be doing fine, as well as the rest of the animals on Childress farm. LOL!
Not much else to tell. All is well here. Hope all is well for each and everyone of you as well.

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Perhaps (Re-Blog)

Ahhhh......... another re-blog from Ambs' pastor, Mark Batterson (but a really good one, too!):

PERHAPS

Here's one of my favorite phrases in Scripture. I Samuel 14:6 says, "Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf." I love that modus operandi. But I honestly think many if not most Christians take the opposite approach. Perhaps the Lord WON'T act in our behalf. We let fear dictate our decisions. We have a better-safe-than-sorry mentality. We live as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

Maybe it's time for a paradigm shift. When did we start believing that God wants to take us to safe places to do easy things? Here's a thought: the will of God is not an insurance plan. It's a daring plan.

I think we've made a false assumption that the will of God gets easier as we grow spiritually. Some dimensions do get easier with the consistent practice of spiritual disciplines. But I also think God will give us more difficult, dangerous, and daring things to do!

I love this phrase. It's so hopeful. It's so optimistic. And it's the key to living with holy anticipation. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. May God give us the spirit of Jonathan!