" VICTORY IN JESUS ! "

      By: Donna Selma Lind

 One night recently our dog Judah was outside barking. 

Straining my eyes by the moonlight all I could see was Judah circling around an animal and barking. He was trying to warn us that an enemy had trespassed into our home territory.   Judah was trying to protect his home and family when the enemy attacked.

"Judah Mighty Warrior"

                                         Turns out the enemy was an Armadillo!



"Judah's Nemesis"

Before the fight was over Judah had a bite and deep scratches on his neck. 

The Armadillo never made it out of the gate.

The Vet put Judah on Antibiotics and said he would be fine after a few days of rest.

Three days later Judah was out playing when Stanley saw him  looking at the ground and growling. Then Judah jumped back yelping and ran away. He was desperately rubbing his face back and forth in the grass. Upon close inspection Daddy found a snake coiled up showing his fangs and hissing. It was  later identified as a Copperhead an extremely poisonous snake!

~Judah's Kryptonite ~

Dead Copperhead Snake in a Jar"

Judah was bitten above his eye, his cheek and neck . Thankfully because he was already on  Antibiotics he had enough medicine in his system to protect him from the Copperheads venom.  His eye was swollen shut and his face puffed up like a Blowfish.

 Attacked by the enemy twice within a few days !  Judah was weary from the Battle but he remained victorious and retained his title as "Mighty Warrior."

"Mama's Mighty Warrior"

We  have all experienced attacks from the Enemy. 

Sometimes we barely recover from one attack when we are hit by another. 

As Christians we need to fill ourselves up with the word of God and soak in his presence daily, so that when the enemy attacks we will be able to resist his poisonous venom and we too shall be Victorious in Christ Jesus!

Some attacks take longer to recover from and require a stronger dosage of the     

"Gos-pill" aka the Gospel!

Jesus said we will suffer great trials and afflictions in this life.

As Christ followers we are taught in

Ephesians 6:13  

"To put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. Then after the Battle you will be standing firm."

Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 5:8

"Stay alert ! Watch out for the great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." 

It  states in Romans 8: 31

"What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

And then the blessed assurance  in verses 35-39

" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Did you get that? WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS IN CHRIST JESUS!

2 Corinthians 4:10 promises

No matter how bad the enemy attack is we are never abandoned by God! We get knocked down but we are not destroyed!

1 Corinthians 15

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Hang in there, you are not alone.  Every Battle is for a reason. Every Battle is for a season. Whenever you are under attack remember the enemy has been defeated  and we have the Victory in Jesus! 
Just smile and tell that snake:  
" I read the end of the book and we win!"

~

HALLELUJAH!

PRAISE THE LORD AND SHARE THE GOOD NEWS!

~

Donna Selma Lind



"WEEDS"

By: Donna Selma Lind

Weeds . Unwanted, undesirable, aggressive and damaging.  Left unattended, weeds can spread like a wildfire . Weeds can turn a beautiful garden like this....

Into an ugly mess like this in no time at all.

Weeds are a lot like bad habits and sin in our lives.  At first glance it looks attractive and inviting.  Like a Wildflower , it usually starts out to be beautiful and enjoyable before it gets out of control and turns into a bad habit and sin.

And then before we know it WHAM!  It has taken over our life and now we have become a slave to the "Weeds."  Little by little we allowed them to creep in until they have taken over .

We all have different weeds that have infected our lives. Some are simple surface weeds that are easy to see such as being messy, bossy or late all the time. These weeds are easy enough to pull out and stop from growing any further by making a conscience effort to change and try to become better.
Some weeds have deeper roots and require digging beneath the surface to find where the root took hold in the first place.  The deeper the root the more power it has to spread and grow over into other places in our lives. These are the weeds that affect our attitudes and relationships. The seeds from these weeds take advantage of the bad soil and reproduce more and more ugly weeds in our lives.

The Good News is .....

Jesus is the "Master Gardener".  He has the power to remove every weed from our life!  All we have to do is ask Him to help us. Softly and tenderly He will cut away the weeds and get rid of all the ugly things that have taken over our lives until we are beautiful once again .

What are the Weeds in your life?

What habits and hindrances  need to be removed?

Will you invite the "Master Gardener" Jesus into your garden today and allow him to tend to your weeds?

John 15:1-10 

" I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful... I am the vine; you are the branches...This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit....As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you... Remain in love, so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

HALLELUJAH!

PRAISE THE LORD AND SHARE THE GOOD NEWS!

                                                                           Donna Selma Lind

"HEART BURN"

By: Donna Selma Lind

This past Saturday our Church hosted a community outreach called "Lot of Love."

We partnered with "Convoy of Hope" and created an event that helped nearly a thousand people in need.

Here I am before all "Heaven" broke loose!

We were able to Bless people with free services such as : Haircuts, New Shoes, Clothes, Medical and Dental assessments, Vaccinations, Toiletries, Diapers, bags of Groceries and much more. There was a Pampering room for Women to have their nails painted and we had Carnival activities for kids along with a Fire truck spraying water hoses up in the air like a fountain for the kids to run under. Our Awesome Worship Team gave a great Concert while folks enjoyed a nice lunch and enjoyed the fellowship of one another.

I am the "Prayer Ministry Coordinator" at our Church so my role was to have a team in place to pray for the needs of the people coming to our "Prayer and Resource Tent."
Our team prayed with  hundreds  of people!  There are so many folks that are hurting out there! They were so thankful to know we cared and took the time to listen to their stories and pray with them .
When you know Jesus as your Savior, you can offer Love, Hope and Joy to someone who can't see a way out of a dark place.

Hundred's of people came and sat for prayer in our tent that day.
There was however one special lady who never came into the Prayer tent. 
She is the one who touched my heart the most.
I saw her sitting in a parked van for most of the day. She was in the drivers seat so I assumed she was waiting to pick up someone who was in the church.
I walked over to the van and introduced myself.  Her face , neck, arms, and hands were covered with severe burn scars. She must have had many surgeries to graft the skin on her face and body. 
I asked How I could pray for her and she mumbled under her breath;
 "Where do I begin? There is so much."  I placed my hand on her shoulder , she tensed up and pulled back at first. I could tell she wasn't used to people touching her. As I  prayed out loud I asked God to heal  her heart and something broke inside of her. She slumped over the steering wheel and began to weep uncontrollably.              
 A river of tears that were dammed up for  many years broke forth as I told her how much God loved her and how God still had a purpose and plan for her life.
I could see years of hurt and shame in her eyes.  Though her face and body were covered with horrific scars from a fire ,  it was her heart that was burned and damaged most.
 Scalded with scars from years of abuse, rejection and shame , she felt unlovely and unloved.
I held her and hugged her as best as I could through the window of the van, she held on to my shoulder and as she wept I could feel the years of pain melting away.

It wasn't anything that I did that erased  her "Heart Burn."  It was Christ alone that washed away her pain. It was he who bore her grief and sickness.  

Sometimes the scars on the inside hurt more than the  scars on the outside. We have all experienced " Heart Burn". Some of us have carried it around for our entire lives.



As I said goodbye to her she mustered up a smile. I could tell she hadn't smiled in a while .  Her voice cracked as she said , " You will never know how much this day has meant to me.       I feel free for the first time in a long time. Thank you so much."
 ~

Today I ask you, just as I asked the lady in the van...

"Won't you give your heart to the Lord and allow him to heal your pain and scars from the past?"

Let Jesus take away the hurt and heal your "Heart Burn."
~
May your Heart be grafted into the heart of Jesus!

~

" I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble. But take HEART!
I have overcome the world."

John 16:33 ~

BE A ORGAN DONOR...GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS!



Hallelujah!

"Praise the Lord and Share the Good News!"

Donna Selma Lind